Los Angeles herald., 1909-07-30
CONSOLIDATION
SPEAKERS THEME
ENTHUSIASM OVER PROJECT
RUNS HIGH
MASS MEETING IN SAN PEDRO
ADDRESSED BY CALL
Los Angeles Men Drive Home Argu-
ments for Union of Cities TO Insure
Harbor for Worlds
Commerce

SAN PEDRO, July 29.-The big Fiftl
street auditorium was again hlled thl
evening to overlooking with an enthus
iastic body of citizens and taxpayers
who listened to speakers from Lo
Angeles on the great question of con
solidation.
Led by the San Pedro marine band
the members of the Los Angeles con
solidation committee, and the speakers
escorted by the local consolidation
committee, marched TO the meetlm
place and took seats on the platform.
Promptly at s o'clock Chairman Dr
w. A. Weldon of the San Pedro com
mittee called the meeting to order.
Before introducing Joseph II. CAL N
said:
I'VE are met here tonight to discus
the benefits to our city Of consolidation
with Los Angeles. We have here
member of our committee who lives il
Los Angeles, who will be the mrs
speaker to address you"
In the course of his speech Mr.. Cal
said:
One and half years ago I had
the pleasure of speaking in this
hall before the United States corps
of engineers, on behalf of a doz-
en- surrounding cities and towns,
in advocacy of so establishing the
government harbor lines as to open
up to public use the greatest
amount of harbor frontage.
Upon that occasion / called to the
attention of the engineers the fact
that all railway rates were estab-
lished and maintained my monop-
olyl or trust and that it was
part of the policy of the railway
trust, then practically consummated
to acquire and control the whole
of the available dockage, not only
at the harbor of San Pedro, but at
all other harbors upon the Pacific
coast, and having thus acquired a
monopoly of both rail and water
transportation, to constantly ad-
vance the rates and force freight
to move by rail at exorbitant
charges.
Since that meeting we have made
astonishing strides towards the
opening of a free harbor at San
Pedro.
A year ago last month a men,
orable meeting was held at the
CITY hall Of Los Angeles, to pro-
mote the free harbor at San Pedro
under municipal ownership. I see
before me many old free harbor
leaders who were present there, in
cluding Tom Gibbon, Leslie Hewitt,
Col. Gaffey, Lee Gates. e. D. Sc
ward, j. A. Anderson, Lewis Han
sen and DR.. Weldon.
Terminal Rates a Myth
For a quarter of a century the
railways have been consolidating
their interests and stealthily ac-
uuiring a complete monopoly of both
rail and water facilities. Origin
ally the railways established genu-
Inc terminal rates at terminals of
roads where they came into COM
petition with water, and so these
through rates came to be called
terminal rates" but after the rail-
way trust had with one hand
seized the public highways of COM
merce upon the land and with the
other had seized the ports through
the control of harbor frontage and
dock facilities, there was no water
competition to meet, and so the
so-called terminal rates" became
a mere myth and an arbitary charge
used as a basis to raise interior
rates to points east of Pacific ter
minal by making their rates the
terminal rates plus the local rate
back. That Is the condition which
confronts us today.
I have before me, subject to your
inspection, document called
"Transcontinental Tariff" which
took effect January 1, 1909, and is
on file in Washington with the
interstate commerce commission
It is a schedule of rates agreed to
by all the railroads in the United
States legally fixing all transpor-
tation rates between Atlantic and
Pacific ports, between the Great.
Lakes and the Pacific, between the
Missouri river and the Pacific and
between all other places In the
United States having any advant-
age in water transportation. These
rates are fixed and maintained by
all of the railways through the
medium of a freight bureau, in
which an agent of each line is
representative, and the entire sys-
tenn of railroads is operated as
single system and under a single
control.
Government Within Government
These rates are from time to time
advanced by the trust and the peo-
plO lldNS lltlu AlO ACAl NSo ehAlh VIZ
have none except to open the har-
bors and waterways to free public
use.
One and a half years ago L called
your attention to the fact that
these rates had been advanced Is
to 20 per cent during the preceding
three years, and since then there
has been another advance amount
ing to about 20 per cent on east
bound freight and 10 per cent on
west-bound. During the last four
years the average rates have ad-
vanced more than rs per cent.
The monopoly Of transportation
and power to advance rates amounts
to a grant of unlimited power of
taxation, and in effect establishes
a government within a government,
over which the people apparently
have no control.
The gross earnings of all the rail-
ways in the United States, includ-
ing express lines and car lines,
amount to the gigantic sum of
three billions of dollars a year, and
the net earning to the enormous
amount of one billion dollars a
year, an amount equal to a gross
take OF $35 per year to the person,
of which one third is net to the
railways after deducting operating
expenses and maintenance.
Coasts Burden Heavy
The gross railroad taxes are four
times as much as the gross United
States taxes, and the yearly net
earnings of the roads are $14 per
capita, whereas the total increase
of wealth for the entire population
in the United States reaches in