The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, March 27, 1895, Page 1

VOLUME LXXVIL—NO. 107. PRICE . FIVE CENTS. A STROKE OF THE PEN THAT SETS CALIFORNIA FREE. Santa Clara County sent up several of her most prominent citizens yesterday to meet the board of trustees of the valley road and give those gentlemen substantial indications of the great interest with which the new road is viewed by residents of the county named and their willingness to aid it by the liberal investment of their means and an equally liberal donation of rights of way, depot facilities, etc. In the speeches which were made there Wwas & noticeable lack of even the most re- mote suggestion of antagonism to Stockton or the interests of that city connected with the proposed line. A spirit of harmony pervaded the utterances of Santa Clara’s representatives, and they bore voluntary testimony to a desire to see Stockton suc- cessful in her efforts to secure the line. The delegation was composed of: P.P. ‘ Austin, Mayor of San Jose, who acted as | chairman; J. H. Henry, president of the | 8an Jose and Santa Clara Railroad; W. C. | Andrews, president of the Farmers’ Union | and also of the Board of Trade; C.M. | Wooster, secretary of the last-named body, and C. M. Shortridge, proprietor of the | CaLr. Besides these gentlemen Hon.P. | W. Murphy of San Luis Obispo was also | present and gave loyal assistance to the | delegation in voicing the merits of Santa | Clara County as a profitable and inviting | field for the new road. These gentlemen came to this city pre- | pared to make a general proposition to the | directors, which in itself shows that splen- did work has been accomplished. They | stand ready, so they said, to gnarantee the road $300,000 in subscriptions to stock and valuable rights of way through the county. ! The enthusiastic earnestness of the visit- ors had a very favorable effect upon the directors, and they were instructed, after | all remarks had been concluded, to return | to San Jose and ascertain just w hat rights ofway could be secured, outline a course through the county and city, and prepare maps which would intelligently give this information. The gentlemen from San Jose were well pleased with the reception accorded them | by the board. and expressed themselves as satisfied that a favorable impression had | been created toward the proposition sus- | tained by them that a branch, at least, of | the new road should by all means be built | through the great valley of which San Jose is the fitting and favore d metropolis. The first speaker was Hon. P. P. Austin, Mayor of San Jose and chairman of the committee. who said: I propose prasenting to you some facts and statistics which will incline your board to build & line of reilroad trom Sen Francisco through Ban Mateo and Santa Clara counties. The committee, of which I have the honor to be chairman, has been quite industrious in cir- culating subscription lists and inviting sub- scriptions from our people. The result, up to date, is $148,000 in bona-fide subscriptions, every dollar of which will be paid upon call by this honorable board. The committee feels safe In assuring the pro- | jectors of this road an aggregate subscription of not less than $300,000. In addition to thid) while we are not able at this time to guarantee 8 right of way, we desire to assure you that our people are fully-awakened to the great im- portance of this proposed road, and that they give rights of way and terminal facilities | in San Jose, fully up to the expectations of this board, as indicated by conversations with va- rious members thereof. Numerous large property-owners have guar- anteed to the committee rights of way which, if added together, would reach,I think, from gan Francisco to Hollister. But, naturally enough, not knowing on which side of the val- ley your road might be built, the committee has not been in a position to accept a definite propo ition. However, if you will indicate to us the portion of the valley which you think would be best to build through I feel safe in saying that at least 75 per cent of the entire right of way will be donated by our people. | | | | | | Lalso call your attention to the fact that we | arc a large shipping community, as shown by statisties collated by our secretary, and which I here present to you. 3 | Lbs. Gerden Seeds............ @ 5 8 3 Lbs. Apricots Dried.. EE B e g R S S n o 3 32 ot 0 a Lbs. Peaches Dried................ |8 8 & S 3 ® S NS = 18 & ® o 12288 Lbs. Prunes Dried................ 28832 D0 |a S @ =828 12 S 2 2 ] 32wl Lbs. Other Fruits Dried......... 2959 4 ® D B D Lbs. Canned Fruits.. Lbs. Green Fruits............ 10,186,5675/15,808,545 21,461,655 Lbs. Wige....... 1,662,840{11,768,810(18,047,085 | 5,482,145/13,118,075|19,894,935 15,664,015 24,012,170{15,207,690 BEASON ... 1892-93... 1893-94... This table shows Eastern shipments only from San Jose. Add to this the local shipments and those from the other towns in our county and we have & grand total of raflroad export traflic amounting, in the season-of 1894 alone, 0 $159,000,000, or 6650 carloads. This does not include incoming freight nor the lecal emall shipments from outside towns, actual statisties of which are difficult to obtain. I conclude, however, from as careful an estimate 4 | as is possible to malke from all figures obtain- | able, that the products of Santa Clara County | alone will supply a train of twenty-five cars | every day in the year. |- As will be seen by these statistics, the Santa Clara Valley is a Jarge producer, and the amount of money now paid for freights and | fares is a strong argument why this board should decide to build through the Santa Clara Valley. There are other gentlemen here who will speak upon other points in advocacy of our interests. J. H. Henry, president of the San Jose and Santa Clara Electric Railway Com- pany, and a large capitalist, was the next speaker. He said: I havea few solid facts here which I would like you to conmsider. I take it that the purpose of this board of directors is to build a road which, primarily, is to be & paying investment: and secondarily, to build up the city and county of San Fran- cisco, as many of your promoters are large |reacha point i the San Joaquin conneeting | with the road from Stockton within a shorter | owners of real estate and business interests of San Francisco. I would, therefore, call your attention first to the proposition of building a paying road. . Santa Clara County is particularly a desirable Governor Budd Yesterday Signed the San Joaquin| Valley Railroad Bill. veyed ffom Monterey, which is now known as | the Fresno and Monterey road and that a con- | tract had beén already let to a responsible | firm to construet this road at $17,000 per mile. | The country through which this road would run, via Monterey, while not as productive or great as Santa Clara Valley, offers sufficient freights to make the road self-sustaining. | Iwould also urge that the Santa Clara route be adopted, as by that route you could | distance by many miles from San Francisco. | Fresno are now, I understand, quite willing to | join with this board and transfer the rights of The projectors of the road from Monterey to | down through this rich country and along the route surveyed for this proposed road would give direct connection at Fresno with the pro- posed Monterey road, and the road could be extended on to Mojave, where another Eastern outlet would be rendered available. | Our committee is in possession of the surveys made by the Sante Fe people, and will be glad | to furnish them to this board. | Hon. P. W. Murphy was present and by invitation of the San Jose committee ad- dressed the board, urging the interests of | Santa Clara County, pointing out the great productive capacity and the large area of land yet undeveloped which will soon go into orchards and furnish many thousands Harbor Commissioners Will Afford Ter= minal Facilities in This City for the People’s Line. sis of the resources of that county, a review of the work done by her citizens and a forceful statement of the various other reasons why the valley road should seek an outlet through the county named. After the Santa Clara delegation had de- parted the board took an intermission of a few minutes while the members indulged in mutual congratulations over the good news contained in the following tele- gram: = SACRAMENTO, March 26. John D. Spreckels, San Francisco: The bill has been signed. E. L. COLNON, Private Secretary. It is hardly necessary to state that the 1 & | mation which will prove valuable to him in the future. The bill which Governor Budd has just signed was introduced by Senator Gleaves | and designated in the calendar as S. B. No. | 709. It is as follows: | LET THE PEOPLE OWN THE ROAD. | . From the Examiner of March 2, 1895. The mere construction of a new railroad is not in itself a thing t# occasion effusive popular rejoicing. The original Southern | Pacific line throngh the San Joaquin Val- ley has already been paralleled by addi- | tional lines, but they have not helped San | Francisco or the State, because they were | built by the Southern Pacific. They were | merely new wheels in the compressing ma- | chinery by which it was squeezing out the | life of California. The peovle have welcomed the San Fran- | cisco and San Joaquin Valley Railroad be | cause they believe it is to be a people’s road. And the best way to make sure that it will be one is for the people to build it themselves. | The large capitalists have already made | the construction of the new road a cer-| tainty. It remains for the public to insure its maintenance as a permanent, independ- place for railréad buflding st this time. While | way, now held by them, to thiscompany. It ot ons of freight, in addition to what are her industries are extensively developed, they | Many thousands of | able grading and have completed surveys over | acres of land now unimproved will be planted to fruit and vines, and within the next three to five years it is safe to say.that the products of Santa Clara County will double, possibly quad- ruple. Ashas been shown by Mayor Austin, there i§ sufficient freight and passenger traflic now to pay large dividends.on the road now in existence. Our people are very anxious for a competing road. They have large -fruft ship- ments to make, and this road would come in for & very large share of the business. gentlemen, I urge you to secure the right of way now, because it will grow in value esch year, and would cost many thousands of dol- lars more if delayed for even s year from | to-day. I see that the Governor has just signed the bill giving & terminus in what is known as China Basin. If you build the road down through Santa Clara Valley you would natur- ally obtagn a right of way down through the southern part of the city of San Francisco, and it would be a practical and feasible plan to run | a branch line along down the coast, reaching | Santa Cruz and opening up much new country | on the western side of the mountains. This | might be considesed as one inducement toward building in that direction, as you could use the same terminal facilities for this branch line as for the line that would run through our valley, and, outside of the great benefit to the State in general, as I have stated, and one of your ob- | jects, the upbuilding of San Francisco, this, as you would see, would give direct communica- tion with this rich, growing country to land its wonderful products into your city and take from here many goods that they consume. The passenger traffic would naturally be large coming in on the land side and give opportunities for people living in the valleys to visit the metropolis and do business with your San Francisco merchants. I am satisfied our people will do their part in obtaining the | right of way and also in subscribing to the { additional stock. And I urge this board to 1 adopt as oneof their routes atleast the one extending down through the valley of Santa Clara and through one of the passes into the San Joaquin Valley to connect with the line at Stockton. You will notice that the subscription list already signed by the people of Santa ‘Clara County evinces a most liberal support, and that they donot attach any string to their subscription other than that the road be built through their valley. They are a liberal, pro- gressive and generous people, and this board of directors may depend that they will meet this board at every point and give it every assist- ance which could be given by any people. As 30 the feasibility of route our secretary, Mr. Wooster, is better posted and can give the board more definite information than I. The board then invited Clarence M. ‘Wooster to give his views and to speak of his trip down through the valley of Santa Clara and on into 8an Benitoand Monterey counties. Mr. Wooster said: The people along the route evinced an inter- estin the new road and expressed their will- ingness to aid it in every way. As to the line to be adopted I would like to indorse what has been said with reference to the Santa Clara Valley and call the attention of the board to the fact thata practical route had been sur- BesMes, | will be noted that.they have done consider- | & perfectly practicable routewhich are now of muen value. Mrt. Wooster was then' asked by one of | the directors how much it would take to | secure this right of way, but he was un- | able to state a definite sum, but said he was given to understand by Mr. Sonntag and | others in Monterey that the price would be very reasonable. Mr. Wooster continued: 1 will glso call attention to a bonus tbat has | been raised by the people along the route of | $150,000. The terms of this bonus are that | the sums would be paid providing the road | should be completed by July 1 next. This s now a physical impossibility, and I understand the | now sent out from that section. He also {aimed the climatic conditions and the direct short route connecting with the | metropolis. were advantages which should |‘not be overlooked. He said he would do |all in his power toward obtaining the right of way through Santa Clara County, | and also in securing the guarantees of chipments of freight and products from hat valley. Mr. Murphy spoke most posi- tively of the feasibility of the route through | the Pacheco or Los Augulos pass. ‘W. C. Andrews, manager of the Farmers’ Union, San Jose, and president of the | Board of Trade, urged the board to adopt | the Santa Clara route. He assured the | board of the active co-operation of the | Board of Trade of San Jose and the large fruit drying and canning associations, and | subscribers are not willing to make good this | believed that not only additional subscrip- guarantee, but on the other hand are most | tions could be obtained, but also terminal willing to make double that amount good in | facilities in San Jose suitable in every way subscriptions to stock in the new road. | to accommodate the great traffic which the Granting that you would build the road from | new road will secure. Stockton down through the San Joaquin an-] C. M. Shortridge concluded the presen- ley, this road running from San Francisco | tation of Santa Clara’s claims by an analy- .bill referred to is that authorizing the Har- bor Commissioners to lease to the directors of the valley road desirable terminal facili- ties on the water front. The directors were naturally highly gratified that snccess had finally attended their efforts and'several of them expressed the opinion that the lease would probably be signed before the expiration of this week. The next important action was the pass- ing of a resolution that the hoard accept the invitation of the people of Stockton to visit that city, and to-morrow was named as the day for the trip. The board will Jeave here in the evening and will prob- ably spend all of Friday and possibly a portion of Saturday in looking over the advantages which Stockton has to offer the road. After the Stockton trip a similar visit to San Jose will be made, but the date of that event has not vet been set. Engineer Storey will accompany the board on both occasions and give the mem- bers advice as to the eligibility of proposed routes, at the same time acquiring infor- THE - PENINSULA. Approved March 26, 1895. approved March 19, 1889, their discretion inclose them. terms and conditions as they may determine. a term exceeding twenty-five years. Section 8. This act shall take effect from and after its passage. THE LAW THAT MAKES IT POSSIBLE FOR A COMPETING LINE TO SECURE A FOOTHOLD IN An act to amend an act entitled “An act to amend an act entitled an act to amend section 6 ofan acten- titled an act concerning the water front ofthe city and county of San Francisco,” approved March 15,1878, and to confer further powers upon the Board of State Harbor Commissioners, approved March 17, 1880; The people of the State of California, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows: Section 1. Section 1of an act entitled “An act to amend an act entitled an act to amend section 6 of an act entitled an act concerning the water front of the city and eounfy of San Francisco, approved March 15, 1878, and to confer further powers upon the Board of State Harbor Commissioners, approved March 17, 1880, approved March 19, 1889, is hereby amended so as to read as follows: Sec. 6. The said Commissioners shall have the possession, jurisdiction and control over the blocks and parts of blocks formed by the change of the water front and the extension of the streets to the thorough- fare aforesaid, and remove any obstructlons placed thereon in the same manner as provided for the re- moval of obstruction from the piers, wharves and thoroughfares. The Comfmissioners are authorized to keep and maintatn said blocks and parts of blocks as open spaces for the use of the public, or they may in The Commissioners are also authorized to assign the use of such portion thereof as they deem expedi- ent for such purposes solely as will be most advantageous to the commerce of the port and upon such All such assignments shall terminate at the pleasure of the Commissioners. The Commissioners are also authorized to lease such portion or portions of seawall lots numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16 as they may deem expedient for such pur- poses solely as will be most advantageous to the commerce of the port; provided that before the execution of any lease notice of the letting or leasing of any of the lots herein mentioned, or parts thereof, shall be given by publication in three of the daily papers published in the city of San Francisco for at least ten days; such notice shall state the lot or portion of lot to be leased, and the bids will be received by the Com- missioners in a place and time designated in such notice, and that such property shall be let to the highest and best bidder; provided further, that all bids for lease of lots or portions of lots herein mentioned shall set forth the purposes for which said lots or the portions thereof shall be used, and that the statement of such bid shall be embodied in the lease given by the Board of Harbor Commissioners with the comdition that the ot shall be used for such purposes only ; provided further, that said board shall have power to reject any and all bids; and provided further, that in no event shail any such lease or leases be made for Section 2. All acts and parts of acts in conflict with this act are hereby repealed. O ent, competing highway. That can be done by such a popular subscription to its stock | as will make it unnecessary to issue bonds, | and leave no opening for a Huntington raid wpon the control. | The Examiner offers its servicesin se- curing such a subseription. On the first | page of this issue will be found a blank to | be filled out for any number of shares, from | one upward. To-morrow arrangements | that from the start, but if they will be made by which persons unable to | subscribe individually for as much as one | share may club together. When subscrip- | tions to the amount of $10,000 have been | received through this office the Examiner ‘ will add $1000 to them, and it will keep up this proportion until further notice. | Let us have the first $10,000 to-day. The entire amount needed to complete the road could be taken from depositsin the savings | and other banks of this city and never be missed. The sooner it is applied to the construction of the competing road the sooner business will revive and the greater will be the earning power of the money | remaining. Although the San Joaquin Valley Rail-, road is not expected to be operated exclu- sively for the direct profit of its stockhold- ers, an investment in its stock can hardly fail to be at least as profitable as a savings bank deposit. In most.American railroads the elements of security and of profit are separated. The bonds represent security, and, although they pay only a low sate of interest, which no business prosperity can increase, they sell, in the case of most well-managed roads, at par or above it. The stock represents the chance of profit, and, although almost the entire value of the road is generally covered by the bonds, whose interest must be paid before any dividends can be declared, the shares are often quoted at high figures. In the case of the valley road, if built on a cash basis, security and speculative value will be united. The stock will be as safe as first mortgage bonds, because it will be entitled te the first returns from the busi- ness above operating expenses, and, at the same time, it will have all the chances of unusual profit that make Lackawanna stock sell above 163, in spite of the existence of a debt of over $55,000,000. Theonly thing that stands in the way of extraordinary dividends on the stock of the San Joaquin Valley line is the policy of the company, which is that of reducing rates whenever possible, for the purpose of promoting the general prosperity, instead of charging all the traffic will bear. There are not likely to be any 10, 12 or 15 per cent dividends, for the simple reason that the policy of the stockholders wiil be to gain their returns in another way. But that there will be good, substantial profits sufficient to make the shares of the new line a gilt-edge investment, irrespective of other considerations, hardly admits of a doubt. Although there is every reason to sup- pose that the stockholders will draw good dividends from their ivestments, we do not urge subscriptions entirely on that ground. The new line is to bea weapon for the emancipation of San Francisco, and it is not to be kept in a glass case. The stockholders ought to be men who would not be afraid to go into a fight, if one should be necessary, even at the cost of a Lemporary loss of direct profits. They should be men whose interests as citizens, as producers and as consumers were greater than their interests as investors. Hence the little accumulations upon which widows and orphans depend for support should not be put into this stock, nor should any man pinch his family to make a subscription. It is essentially a fighting stock, and should be owned by people who can afford to take chances in using it to club the head of monopoly. That does not mean rich people. The money wasted by workingmen, clerks and small tradesmen on lottery tickets, cigar- ettes and drinks would build. the road. There is hardly a storekeeper in town who could not afford to take at least one share of stock merely for the sake of the in- | creased business he would gain from the enterprise. An unmarried workman with | $100 for which he had no immediate use could help to insure the permanence of his job by helping to build a road which would keep his factory open and reopen others that are now closed. The interest paid by the savings hanks on $100 is from $4 to $5a year. There is every reason to believe that the dividends on San Joaquin Valley stock will ‘exceed ould not, what of it? Is there anybod in San Francisco to whom the prosperity of the. city and State is not worth $5 a year? The profit on the sale of one ordinary suit of clothes, or half a dozen pairs of shoes, or two or three tons of coal, would make it up to the merchant. Two days’ wages would return it to the workingman, or one day’s to the more highly skilled worker, | who is most likely to be thrown out of em- ployment in dull times. There are mer- chants in San Francisco who do not make sales enough to pay their rent, and work- ers who have not had steady employment for six months out of the. year in the past five years. If the construction of the new railroad brought them' thriving business and permanent work they would have reason to consider the investment profit= able, whether the nominal dividends were $5 per share, or $10, or nothing. But it is not at all likely that the invest- ors will have to call on their philosophy even to this extent. The only thing that can make the valley railroad stock unpro- fitable, even from the point of view of direct returns, is a cut-throat war of rates on the part of the Southern Pacifie, and such a war would so stimulate the business of San Francisco and the State as to make up a dozen times over any loss the stock- holders in the new road might suffer from a temporary suspenson of dividends. Inci- dentally, too, it would mean the bank- ruptcy ofthe Southern Pacific. With interest amounting to about $1,200,000 a year to pay on the bonds of its lines in the San Joaquin Valley the old monopolv would be at a fatal disadvantage in fighting a new road built at bed:rock prices and free from debt. i As a rule the operating -expenses of American railroads amount to a little over half their gross receipts. Then come fixed charges, principally interest on bonds, and finally dividends on stock. It is a very extravagantly built or badly managed road that cannot pay the interest on its bonds after méeting its operating expenses. The majority have something left over for divi- dends on stocks, although the stock is chiefly water. But in the case of the San Joaquin Valley road everything above the operating expenses will be available for dividends, provided the people accept the invitation to subscribe for the full amount of stock and thus render a bond issue un- necessary. The route proposed is one that will render the cost of maintenance light, and the margin between expenditures and Teceipts is thus sufficient to cover any con- ingency thtat can now be foreseen. It 15 not likely that the stock of the new line will ever sell at less than par. If it should, all the lessons of experience would go for nothing. There is no railroad enter- prise in the Union that has been launched under such favorable conditions. The route of the new line lies through a coun- try of which every mile is productive. Business does not have to be created-—it is waiting and clamoring to be accepted. Materials are_at 4¢he lowest -figures ever known, and rights of way, devot sites and terminal facilities arg offered for nothing. All along the route the good will of the public offers voluntarily a patronage for which an ordinary road woufd have to fish with expensive bait. ———— e In this issue of the “Call”" the telegraphic news of thé Pacific Coast will be found on the second page. LERGE SORES ON FACE Lost Use of Hands From Blood Polson ing. Physicians and Remedies No Benefit. Cured by Catlcara Remedles. I have nsed your CuTicURA REMEDIES and ean truthfuily say that they are everythin 5 than you repres spring I was greatly with blood poisonin by diphthe made sbelr on my face and Iy hands were in such a copaltlon that I couid not use them. 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