Los Angeles herald., 1909-01-28
PUBLIC SHOULD
OWN FRONTAGE
JOSEPH H. CALL DELIVERS
POWERFUL ADDRESS
ARRAiGNs MONOPOLY ENJOYED
BY RAILROAD COMPANIES
Annual Tax on Southern California
Residents Exceeds $50 Per
Capita and Relief Must
Be Obtained
Especial to The Herald.

dress delivered by Joseph H. Call,
president of the Municipal Waterways
association, before the realty board at
its o'clock dinner Tuesday night was
the occasion of much comment here
today. 1t has given great impetus
to the movement for the municipal
purchase of water frontage along the
new harbor.
Mr.. Call delivered the strongest ar
rafgnment Of the railroad monopoly IN
land and water transportation ano
gave by far the most emphatic plea
for a free harbor that has been neard
here. He said, in part:
We are called on to consider facts, not the
cries Briefly stated, the facts affecting the
value of a public harbor at Long Beach are
these:
The railroads Of the United States now
acting in Combination with each other to fix
and maintain rates, all the railroad tar1ns
those fixing so-called terminal rates as well as
intermediate rates, being hieo Dy tlie Iaiirou
as the joint action of all, and there is no
internal competition in the United States be-
tween the railroads.
When the railroads were constructed it was
found that the lines generally terminated on
the coast or on some navigable river or lake,
extending thence to some other point upon the
water, and a condition resulted which placed
the rail line in competition with the water
rate. The consequence was that the railways
were compelled to make low through terminal
rates in order to meet the water competition
If the rail rates were not made low enough
to meet the water competition the commerce
would naturally move by water.
Corner Water Frontage
The railways having perfected combina-
ton among themselves for establishing and
maintaining rates and suppressing competition
the legality OF which l am not now argulng),
next proceeded, by every means and device
suggested by ingenious attorneys, to acquire
the water front and secure the ownership and
control of the docks and wharfage on every
seacoast of the United States and on every
lake and river where competition might be
brought 10 bear the railroad rates.
This has been successful in California
by means of the grants of tide lands and the
control of harbors through so-called harbor
boards and by the acquisition of wharf fran
chises, that it is a matter OF common notorl-
ETY. at the present time that there are no
public or municipal docks in California.
Formerly San Pedro a real terminal,
and dominated the railroad rates from the
east But after the Southern Pacific and its
confederated corporations secured control OF
that harbor and suppressed water competition
the rail rates were advanced from time TO
time so that today San Pedro has lost her
terminal rates
Twice the Average Rate
The normal water rate from New York to
San Pedro is about Sc ton, and the present
so-called terminal rates between Los Angeles
or San Francisco and eastern terminals, which
Missouri river points, Chicago or New
York-say an average length Of haul of 2Soc
miles-now amounts to $50 ton on an average,
or five times the actual water rate. The av-
erage rates throughout the United States as
3. cent a ton mile for 2300 miles would give a
rate of $17.2 .25 q ton. In other words, the pres
ent so-called terminal rate, long as it is and
low as it ought to be for that reason, is act
ually nearly twice as high as the average rate
throughout the country on the average haul Of
240 miles
No city or place can secure. or. having
secured, can hold a terminal rate based on
water competition without public docks. and
without actually having the water trans
portation Public docks at Long Beach or
San Pedro would mean a cut in the present
railroad terminal rates of more than half, and
those terminal rates could never be taken away
from Long Beach or San Pedro so long as the
public docks were maintained
Huge Net Earnings
Since the great combination of railroads was
effected some ten years ago the railroads have
more than doubled their net earnings per mile
of road, and the gross earnings of the steam
railroads of the United States, including the
gross earnings of the express companies and
car lines which operate under control of the
railways, now are about billion dollars
year, amounting to more than $50 year on an
average to every inhabitant of the United
States
The rail rates in California considerably
more than double the average rail rates
Throughout the United States It has been
shown by reports of the commerce commission
and statements of numerous railway presidents
that the average rail freight rates in the
United States are u cents ton mile, while
the average rates in California exceed 23
cents a ton mile, and on many classes of com
modities exceed 20 cents ton mile.
The annual tax laid by the railways on the
Inhabitants of the United States, therefore,
exceeds on an average of $50 to the person,
and the tax laid by the railways on the ueo-
pie of Southern California exceeds $50 a year
to the person, or an average of $500 to the
family.
Half Could Be Saved
With public docks, establishing and securing
water competition half of this total sum
could be saved, and half saved is half
earned
1 make the statement without fear of sue
cessful contradiction that adequate public
decks at San Pedro at Long Beach and
connecting good roads to the interior for fifty
miles would result in saving of $600,O00 year
TO the city of Long Beach; that it ould save
to the city of Los Angeles $9,000,00O a gear,
and that it would save to the district controlled
by Los Angeles more than $20, 100000 year.
Instead of public charge or debt against
acquisition at this time of sufficient water
front to construct adequate docks, and their
construction, that expenditure would not only
be met by the ordinary revenues of the docks,
but would be source of enormous profit to
the city Docks and frontage costing $500. 900
would be paid back in one year and would in
crease enormously the manufacturing and the
commercial business Of Long Beach, which
would surge to the front as manufacturing
center.
Los Angeles Determined
The city of Los Angeles is determined to
construct public docks. and the public mind
of the city is centered the harbor of San
Pedro or Wilmington, being the nearest
and most advantageous for the city of Los
Angeles.
Annexation Of either of those cities to Los
Angeles is not the ultimate object sought, but
a mere incident to secure public docks for the
people
1t unfortunately happens that one city cannot
construct public docks and maintain them in
another city, and so it results that IL those
docks are to be built they must be built by the
city having Jurisdiction the harbor. No
one pretends that either Wilmington or San
Pedro has sufficient money credit to improve
San Pedro or Wilmington, and they cannot be
improved by Los Angeles while remaining out
side of the territory of Los Angeles. Hence
the business interests of Los Angeles desire
to annex and unite with those harbor towns
in order that the public docks may be con-
structed, and annexation is only incident
and not the ultimate object in view.
It is a matter of little consequence what
the name of the municipality which
rounds the docks is, so long as they are
public docks, operated for the public benefit
Long Beach has the capital and credit to
construct public docks and occupies a very
different position from that of either San
Pedro or Wilmington
However. the boundaries Of the city Of