Los Angeles herald., 1910-06-27
LICENSE ABUSES
A VITAL PROBLEM
Ordinance to Be Decided by Ref
erendum Means Much, Says
Taggart
PREPARES FACTS FOR PUBLIC
Complies TabuIation Showing In
duStrieS to Be Affected
by Changes
PREPARES FACTS FOR PUBLIC

| "NeXt to the importance VI elSCIiIlS
Frederick ]. Whiffen and George II.
! Stewart to the city council" said City
Tax Collector Taggart yesterday, ana
| of indorsing the ordinance which re-
duces our exorbitant lighting rates,
the adoption of the business license
ordinance, which goes by referendum
to the voters of Los Angeles next
| Thursday is perhaps the most vital
| issue which has come before the peo-
pie Of this city in many years.
| LOS Angeles is developing rapidly;
| 1t Is progressing materially and NOR
ally and it's slogan is better govern
ment. Whether lit shall attain to
perfect realization of the commission
| fern. or whether IL shall adopt other
methods is to be decided by the peo-
| pie; but the recall has enabled us to
| purify our municipal politics, to clean
! out the city and to place it on one or
the highest social and moral planes OF
any city in the world.
"The Initiative and referendum, also,
are considered valuable provisions or
| our city charter and the referendum
row is to be put to the most crucial
test in the history of any city pos
sessing 1t. 1t is a terrific and decisive
battle. Shall the corporations or the
people rule?
'"This vital question will be answered
at the polls next Thursday and would
L
three issues of the campaign If there
| were no others involved. But at this
election there are three distinct prob
lens, each involving the rights of the
people on one side and the interests
CT the corporations on the other.
1.-THE business license ordinance is
| as strenuously opposed by the large
corporations as is the lighting rate or
dinance by the lighting corporations,
| and the election of Stewart and Whit
fen is bitterly opposed by many of
them, including the S. p. push, the
public utility corporations and the spe-
cial interests.
MUCH AT STAKE
"But there never was a time when
Los Angeles has had such vast num-
ber of enterprises on hand as at pres
ent; never a time when so many mil
lions of dollars of the taxpayers
money is at stake to be expended in
harbor, water, lighting plant, highway
and other improvements, and so the
people alone will be responsible for
the expenditure of this money, depen-
dent upon whether or not they elect
the Good Government candidates or
the push candidates, Houghton and
Healy.
'In view of the extreme Importance
of the business license ordinance and
it's far reaching effects, all of which
will be vitally beneficial, 1 have COM
piled tabulation of facts and figures
for public information. 1t will be seen
that the ordinance, ii approved by the
people, will completely do away with
many present license abuses, revolu-
tionize our old unsatisfactory method,
evenly distribute the burden of taxa
ton and increase our revenues, all
though the smaller business concerns
will pay less and the largest corpora
tlons will pay more, according to it's
income, which is the only fair system
to be devised.
Following are some of the changes
embodied in the business license ordi-
nance:
LIST OF BUSINESSES ON WHICH LICENSE
WILL BE ABOLISHED BY THE NEW
ORDINANCE.
GARAGE-No mora reason for compelling
garage to pay q license than a machine shop
blacksmith shop. cabinetmaker and those In a
like business.
BoTTLLNG NoN-INToxICANTS-Do not re-
quire health or police inspection or protection,
are not using the streets for business pur-
poses; have a fixed place of business; pay rent
and a personal property tax, which are suf-
ficient reasons for abolishing license.
CARPET CLEANING ESTABLISHMENTS
Same reason for not licensing as given under
bottling non-intoxlcants
DYE WAGONS-They are on the same basis
as grocery or dry goods delivery wagons and
do not require inspection or protection; do
not~ask any special privileges; have a fixed
place OF business.
LoANING MONEY ON REAL EsTATE-No
reason earth why they should pay a
license
OIL WAGoNS-If any one hauls oil for hire
they will be compelled to pay an express
license; IL they peddle oil from house to house
they will pay a peddler's license, but If the
wagons and teams are owned by people owning
the oil and used Just to transport from one
hAU mot no q
license any more than any other line of bus
mess should pay license for hauling their
own goods.
TICKET BROKERS' illegal business
DOMESTIC WATER coMPANIEs-Do not
require inspection or protection; do not re-
quire special privileges.
CHIMNEY SwEEPS-It was purely oc-
cupation tax and, am informed, was only
put there so that one man could monopolize
the business.
COMMON CARRIER-Included in the Sec
tion relating to express wagons.
LIST ON WHICH LICENSE WILL BE
REDUCED
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. from $3.50 a year
to $25 a quarter. Under the old ordinance a
monopoly was created which worked to the
detrment Of people who were compelled to sell
their belonging at a forced sale.
LAUNDRIEs-Reduced from license which
was based upon the number OF wagons used
to a flat rate Of s5 per month. There was
no reason for the laundr1eS 10 pay 1Or their
wagons any than grocery dry goods
stores but they do demand health inspection
and should pay license to reimburse the
city for the cost of such inspection
LINES OF BUSINESS LICENSED UNDER
NEW ORDINANCE THAT WERE NOT
LICENSED UNDER OLD ORDINANCE.
AUTOS FOR HIRE NOT ON THE PUBLIC
sTREETS-Heretofore automobiles that stood
on the public streets while awaiting employ
ment were licensed at SIS per quarter In the
new ordinance this is supplemented by plac-
ing license on automobiles that stand in the
garages for hire, at $3.50 per quarter-just
one-half OF the amount charged for those
standing on the public streets. The reason
for licensing public conveyances is that they
should be under police surveillance.
COMPRESSED AIR CARPET CLEANERS,
OPERATED BY HAND POWER-Under the
old ordinance there was license of IS per
lmonth for compressed air carpet cleaning
machines. This was originally intended for
the machines that are run by power, but
there has developed business of compressed
air carpet cleaning by machines operated by
hand This Is particularly true in the new
annexed districts, and these hand operated
machines could not pay the s. a month license
levied on power machines. Therefore new
section was added to the ordinance which