Los Angeles herald., 1910-04-19
.CITY'S FUTURE At
. STAKE; BOND FATE
IN VOTERS HANDS
BaIIOting Expected to Be Big Vic,
tory for Power and Har-
Dor Project
MEANS BUSINESS SUPREMACY
Students of Civic Science Say
Polls Offer UnpreCedent-
ed Opportunity
MEANS BUSINESS SUPREMACY
BY sIDLE LAWRENCE

1 O1AIS IOr Lne power anu ndTDOE
bond election-the most important
u election held in Southern Cali
fornia since the people, by their votes,
assured the success of the Owens river
water project-will open at 6 o'clock
this morning and will remain open un-
til s o'clock this evening.
Within that time the voters of Great
er Los Angeles are expected to roll
up tremendous majority for the
bonds-a majority which will assure
investors of the security of the bonds
and that also will make 1t plain to
congress that Los Angeles is unani-
nous, or practically so, in the demand
for a free harbor.
To the bonds themselves there is
almost no opposition. Perhaps it would
have been better had some show of
opposition developed for it is not suf-
fcient that Los Angeles merely vote
these bonds. 1t is necessary that the
vote be heavy, decisive and indicative
of the city's fixed and stern determina-
tion to carry to a successful conclusion
the great projects involved.
MUCH AT STAKE
More depends on this vote than is
generally realized. Congress has been
asked for an immediate appropriation
of $57S,0 for harbor betterments. If
today's vote is what it should be this
money will be forthcoming. On the
other hand, should a considerable
number of voters prove apathetic and
remain away from the polls, it is likely
that San Pedro harbor will not figure
to any great extent in the next bud
get.
Capital is notoriously timid. The dol
lar is the greatest coward in the coun-
try. To reassure investors and to give
them that confidence which will be ex-
pressed in premiums paid for the bond
issue, it is necessary that the bonds
be carried not by few thousand, but
by tens of thousands. Thus every vote
cast today means something in ac-
tual cash in the city's Golfers. 1t is
more than a matter of sentiment 1t
means more than an expression of
civic loyalty. 1t is a business PROPOSE
tion.
Every voter whose name apears
either upon the old or the new great
register is privileged to vote today
and it is the duty of every such voter
to vote. to vote right and to vote early.
NOT A PERSONAL MATTER
Ordinarily what is everybody's busi-
ness is nobody's business. There is no
personal element in today's election. No
one man, no corporation, no group of
men even, has an AK to grind. The
bonds, voted and voted decisively, will
benefit no one individual more than
another but their benefit to the city
at large will be well nigh incalculable.
Thus there will be few automobiles
to carry apathetic voters to the polls.
There will be no cSW~sdateS with their
followers and bangers-on to prod the
forgetful, to stir the Indifferent. In
short, it is up to the people. That a
great majorit, OF them will do their
duty today as they have done it in
the past admits of no argument; but,
the majority should be greater-it
should He the most tremendous ma
jority ever accorded at a Los Angeles
election, and it can be made so only
If every man entitled to vote exercise
his privilege.
The voter who steps into a polling
booth today will be asked to pass upon
two great projects-the one, a free har-
Dor, destined in short time to make
Los Angeles the foremost Of Pacific
coast cities; the other a power develop
ment which will make possible cheap
manufacturing, and which will give the
city an industrial Importance un-
dreamed of few years ago.
MEANS SUPREMACY
The carrying of the power bonds will
mean industrial supremacy. The
carrying of the harbor bonds will mean
commercial supremacy. The bonds
themselves are an investment, made by
the city, an investment assuring great
returns. With municipality owned pow
er plants, of capacity making pos
sible the delivery in the city of so per
cent more power than is now used in
all Los Angeles county and at an orig
inal cost of only $50 per horsepower,
the dollars and cents profit on the in
Vestment will mean lower taxes and
better civic accommodations: more and
better schools, a new and efficient
drainage system, cheaper light, more
and better paved streets-in short, mu-
nicipal improvement all along the line,
paid for out of the municipalities prof
its from the municipalities business.
The carrying by a decisive vote of
the harbor bonds will put Los Angeles
in a position to secure for herself the
maximum benefits from the opening of
the Panama canal and at once to taka
her place as one of the worlds great
marts of trade Under privte owner
ship of harbor facilities a total tom
mage of 1,250,000 was handled last year
at a reported private profit in excess
of 100000. And that is merely be-
ginning.
TO ISSUE AS NEEDED
The bond issues to be submitted at
today's election are $3,000000 for har-
Dor betterments and $S,500000 for the
power project. In neither case will the
full amount be required Immediately
the plan being to issue the bonds only
as the money is needed to carry on the
work in question.
Today's duty to the voter is plain
and pleasant. 1t is his duty to vote
and to so cast his vote that the future
prosperity of Los Angeles shall be as
sured.
The bonds, decisively voted, consti-
tute an investment, not a speculation;
and an investment promising certain
and large returns.
Carried by a record-making majority,
these bonds will mean that Los Ange-
les in fact has become a business COR
poration. a corporation in which every
. Lnnntinued .nr, L,ana sauar,A