The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, April 5, 1902, Page 6

THE SAN FRANCISCO NEUTRALITY IN WAR. ! situation has now changed. The French company has offered its property and its franchise at a sum which the Isthmian Commisgion deems to be a fair one, and accordingly there has developed a strong 'sentiment in favor of accepting that route. Pos- sibly the controversy on that phase of the subject may prevent an agreement upon the bill at this ses- sion, but even that danger is lessened by the will- ingness of influential men on each side of the ques- tion to pass a general canal bill and leave it to the President to determine the route. Among the Senators the determfination to pro- cure the adoption of some sort of canal bill seems to be shared by the more resolute men of both par- ties. Republican Senators are reported as declaring that the demand of the country for action on the bill is so strong that it would be a great tactical mistake The= b Call, SATURDAY S a matter of sentiment the question of neu- A trality in the Boer war may be of much con- sequence. = 3 3 The terms of our treaty, of neutrality are very plain. / They recite that: “A neutral Government is bbund not to permit or suffer either belligerent to make nse of its ports or waters as the base of naval opera- tions against the other, or for the purpose of the re- newal or augmentation of military supplies, or arms, or the recruitment of men.” % The day after we declared war against Spain Vic- toria issued her proclamation of neutrality, which was up 10 the sternest requirements of our treaty of 1871 and to the general rules of international law. In this she was followed by the other powers. Hawaii, which was then an independent republic, flagrantly violated her neutrality obligations by fur- rishing port facilities to our navy, supplies of all kinds, and permitted the landing and sojourn upon her soil of our military forces. g}ut Spain was a weak power, and the act of Hawaii was in our favor, and we are a strong power. Weak powers have no rights which the strong are bound to respect. When the South African war was young British warships seized several caigoes of American flour en route to Lo- B s pes e AT RIL S, TR00S JOHN D. SPRECKELS, Proprietor. Aééress All Cemmunications to W, 5. LEAKE, Xazager. MANAGER’S OFFICE..... ‘elephone Press 204 PUBLICATION OFFICE. . .M Teleph i EDITORIAL ROOMS. ....217 to 221 Stev: Telephome Press 202. cet and Third, §. F. 201. ot Mk Delivered by Carriers, 15 Cents Per Week. Single Copies, 5 Cents. Terms by Mail. Including Postage: DAILY CALL (including Sunda: DAILY CALL (including Sunda: DAILY CALL (including Sunda: DAILY CALL—By Single Month. SUNDAY CALL, One Yea WEEKLY CALL, One Yea All postmasters are suthorized to receive subscriptions. Sample coples will be forwarded when requested. STATEMENT COF CIRCULATION OF THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, Month of March, 1902. without having disposed of the nieasure; some Democratic Senators liave declared they will resist any effort at adjournment until action has been taken, ¥ It appears, indeed, that Congress has at last rec- ognized the urgent need of the waterway and will not again postpone acting upon it. There are doubt- less some men in each House who would be willing to hold it up for the purpose of forcing other meas- MarcL 1 .. 9,540 | March - irenzo Marquez, and consigned there to Portuguese |ures to the front, but ‘they are not the kind of men March = 70,420 | March : i A . g_ é % ! o e 59,980 | Mareh : {and French merchants, claiming that it was destined | who can control a Congress Republican in both Mareh 4 . FA20 1 Mareh 2 for the Boers and was contraband of war. The prop- | branches. March 5 . March 5 g prop Mareh ¢ . | March . | erty was released only upon her failure to prove that e — e A | Maren S lits destination was the Transvaal or Orange Frdk | Every season“has its tragedies, and even the T | — $ State. blessedness of Easter has been eclipsed somewhat by March 11 Harch . Since then nearly 200,000 American mules and |the report that the wife of a New Jersey man is March 13 . March : horses have been bought for remounts and draught |S4ing for leOl’C:' because he would not give her :::: :g e :::;: 4 ,800 | Purposes in South Africa and have been delivered to [More than half his week’s salary to Lay an Easter March 16 . ——— | Briti R £ bonnet. - BN e eeeenen..1008,385 | British agents a: New Orleans, where a detention T T ——— land shipment establishment is maintained and | whence they are shipped to Cape Town. Wharton's International Law says: “Horses and their furni- ture are contraband of war,” following our treaty | with France in 1778. Hill's International Law says: | “Horses are generally considered as contraband of war and are so mentioned in many treaties between different states.” It is beyond controversy that we are violating neu- tral rights by permitting this renewal of Great Brit- | ain’s military supplies. In extenuation it must be ad- mitted that we became hardened to such acts dur- ling the Cuban rebellion, .which was managed by a {ijunta quariered in New York and was supplied with {drms and munitions of war from every one of our Southern ports. But there, again, the party injured was a weak power and our people had no respect for |its international rights During the discussion of the remount scandals in the British Parliament there was no attempt to con- ;ceal the fact of this American trade in contraband |of war. It was admitted, and the financial scandal | | impinged upon it was even thrown back upon some of our own horse and cavalry experts, supposed to be connected with our military service. eople were aware of what Jad |y, oo G0 T stopping it. Men engaged in The idea was not altogether fool- | trading contraband of war to the Cuban insurgents The great mass of the pgople during the winter [ were arrested by our executive and tried in the Fed- are busy with their cwn affairs and pay little atten- | eral courts of Florida and other places in the South. tion to a political campaign which is not to be for- | But their rights had to 2o before a jury, and no mat- Y s el e, miSle: o pemwin Seich HiDhl e S St being the case it was natural the bosses should deem | went right back to their profitable contraband traf- it possible for them to “fix things” before the cam- b5 A we bave oken said in connection with the paign begins and get posstssic_n of “the works” | observance of our treaties and international obliga- while the people were not watching. | tions, if the people will not keep thé national faith The scheme would have worked all right, perhaps, unbroken and the national honor spotless it is not bad it not been for the fact that the people have {50 the power of an administration to do so. Marmed by expesience: that ‘Billy “Herviw and “Gage | 3 3i"/:5 Gonbt true also.shat” if the question were will bear watching at all times and all seasons, and . brought into serious solution the claim would at C'C'HIS(‘CI“&""{‘.\'»MCd";!\'" ‘;_‘:1011}' b‘"‘d to ‘}';‘hat the | once be m.adc that England, having annexed the clever pair are doing. e activity of the bosses | South African republics, their existence has ceased attracted attention months ago. In fact, ever since ;Iand they have no claim to belligerent rights, and are Dr. Osborn was removed from the Home for " . . A | not under protection of neutrality treaties nor of the Feeble-Minded Childien, and that institution turned | of - internatiogal 3 2 | neutral provisions and principles over to the control of 2 worthless and discredited tax- It is upon that theory that Kitchener shot | Taw. eater, the public has been alert to find out the cause pers and other Boer prisoners. They are held | : find use | Schee of that dezl and the U‘j‘-‘"‘ il “ih‘c“ it was carried | o have no international rights nor any appeal to the out. They soon perceived that it was a part of a | laws of war as laid down in the Geneva convention. plan to put all State institutions into the spoils of | It is exceedingly doubtful whether the United politics znd use them as a means of rewarding poli- | States could ‘successfully dispute this contention. ticians who do the work of the bosses. Furthermore We have just assumed the same position as to the they perceived that the chie'x’ wv?rk rcguired of the lFi]ipinos. General Funston used forgery and the h just i3 that of fixing ll?mgs for Gage. | enemy’s uniform to entrap Aguinaldo, and it is given 7 was made voices of protest | oy by our War Department that he had a right to have been heard all over the State. | They have come {do both, because the ‘Filipinos from men of all parties and have been not only fre- | quent but emphatic. They have been accompanied in | the main by clear statements of reasons why Gage should not be renominated, and the reasons have been drawn invariably from the record Gage has made in effice. In ro instance has there been any review of his private record, or any revelation made of his methods of geiting a start in life. He has been judged exclusively as an official, and upon his official acts he has been condemned. Stalwart Republicans have noted the significance AL INIA, T AND cgrsz-;;) o fax rmmcxsco,! .- On thie 34 day of April; 1902, personally appeared before me, William T. Hess, a Notary Public in and for the city and county aforesaid, W. J. Mertin, who being sworn according to law declares that he is the business manager of The San Francisco Call, a daily newspaper published in the city and y of Francisco, State of California, and that there d distributed Quring the month of March, 1902, T\HE “OPEN DOOR” PPOLICY, HILE the nations of the earth are profusely pledging themseives and one another to the ~ ~ maintenance of free and unrestricted trade in China, there is growing up in Great Britain a set of skeptics who frankly declare the conviction that ithe open door will not remain open, and that free trade in Asia is a commercial impossibility. The skeptics are of course the men who are clamoring Torty-five (1,906 ,345) copies of the said newspaper, which nu Yer divided by © hirty-one (the number of days of issue) giv 1902 W. T. HESS. Notary Public in and for the City and County of San Fran- cisco, State of California, room 1015 Claus. Spreckels build- ing. be denied that their clamoring isemade impressive at times by the statement of very convincing reasons for their lack of faith. A writer in the Fortnightly Re¥iew discusses the rapid advance in trade and industry that has been made by protective tariff countries like the United States and Germany, and contrasts {huir successes with the comparative stagnation in Great Britain. He asserts that if the policy of free trade has not al- ready collapsed by reason of the pressure put upon British industries by American and German compe- tition, the development and exploitation of China by European and American capital will. “strain it to the breaking point.” It will be impossible, he says, for Britain to hold open the door for trade in the prov- inces of China that are within her “sphere of in- fluence” when her own trade is shut out of provinces controlled by Russia, France and Germany. Whether anything like a grab game for Chinese trade is likely to take place in- the near future is questionable, but it is not to be disputed that free trade so far as it has been tested has proven ‘to be a failure. At the present time prosperity and progress are with the protective tariff nations, and not with the exemplar of freedom of trade, Even in’ Great Britain a considerable and increating number of people perceive that fact clearly enough. The writer in the Fortnightly says: “The rank and file of the Conservative party, predominant in influence to a degree unprecedented in our history, is almost to a man protectionist; among its leaders only one re- tains the reputation of a convinced free.trader.” It-is the argument of the British protectionists that iree trade is beneficial only when practiced within an empire, and that as against foreign competition there must be protection. Thus the writer says: “It must not be forgotten that the free trade of other nations has proceeded almost entirely on lines analogous to these, the breakdown of local and interstate tariffs and the substitution of national or imperial tariffs. The great areas of internal free trade, which we term France and the United States, represent the rule in ave merely s ;modem l?ist.ury. It has long l')een doub‘tful whether gents, and we recognize in their case no uniform .Gr,eal Britain sould hold out in hér solitary career; > |it is now tolerably certain that she will collapse to and in dealing with them are not bound by the he Sib 155 = A 3 i 20 Geneva convention nor by our own articles of war. t e'.m :rent ogic which binds imperialism to pro- ection. It will be seen that this ruling not only decides that We have here not only another evidence of the i we violate no neutral rights by recruiting Great Brit- > 7, : {ain’s military strength, but it is also timely as an ac- d"f.t of Brms}: A ent towz?rd protection and im- quittal in advance of Lieutenant Wailer for the |P€Tial f:deratlon: bm. a warning of.the probability shooting of hélpless Filipino prisoncrs. of further conflicts in the Orient. If the nations None of this is pleasant and most of it iswrevoit- | A1t keep an open door at home. how will they manage it abroad? It is an issue which Uncle Sam | ing to a sense of justice, but it ig among the appall 3 . 4 ing incidents of war and is a warning to the weak to himself may have to Ceal with before long. of the fact that Gage’s campaign is being conducted | bear much and suffer and be patient before raising under the direction of Billy Herrin, a railroad Demo- | their hands against the strong, for they have no crat, and is being supported mainly by the notorious | treaty rigts, nor rights founded in the law of na- yellow journal of this city, which always professes to | tions. As for their general rights as human beings, be Democratic. Working with Herrin are a set of | these are not any more respected by those who can bosses such as Kelly, Burns, Crimmins, Burke and 5 afford to disrespect them than rights derived from Lynch, who entered the Republican party as burglars 5 | the Taw. enter a bank for what they can make out of it. They | have made a good deal out of it since Gage has been " : THE CANAL AND THE SENATE in office, and observant Republicans are well aware | of the fact. The Normal Schools and the charitable | R GAGE AND THE PEOPLE. W Gage t carried HEN Bi d subservient bosses undertook early in the year to zrrange for the renomination of Herrin and his gang of allied ey doubtless thought the scheme could be out before the been going on ich Since that di The fact that a mother consented to sell her daugh- ter to a life of shama in this city scems to have oc- curred to certain gentlemen in authority as a miti- gating circumstance in the conduct of the male rascal in the case. Teo ordinary and healthy minds, the new evidence would be proof of a crime far more dastardly than that first charged. “Footpads get twenty years” has become a wel- come and familiar headline for accounts of proceed- ings in our local courts. Every man in San Fran- cisco who does not covet his neighbor’s property will continue to hope that the marauding gentry will never get anything else for their labors, EPORTS irom Washington to the effect that iriction between the House and the Senate would probably lead to a postponement of {action on the isthmian canal bill have been promptly refuted. Senator Allison, chairman of the Republi- can steering committee, states that provision has been made for taking up the canal bill at an early date and giving it the right of way. Cther Senators have indorsed the statement, and it seems agreed by leading men of both parties that the measure will be disposed of at this session. . As a matter of fact it has never been at all likely that any considerable number of Republicans would be in favor of sacrificing the canal bill to any other measure no matter how important it may be. The country has for so long a time been eager to see the construction of the great waterway begun that it would be a gross political bltinder for the party now in power to postpone the work merely because some other bill could not be carried. Up to this time the enterprise has never been looked upon as a partisan one, nor a sectional one. It has been studied from a broad rational standpoint, and the people wouid never approve of the conduct of any statesman in cither House who would imperil it for the sake ‘of doing politics for some pet measure of his own. The one danger to the bill is the conflict over the route. For a long time the Panama route was not R taken into consideration by the mass of the Ameri<'| The Ohio Legislature has repealed the act against can people because it was supposed to be in French |corrupt practices at elections on the ground that i hands and unattainable by us on fair terms. Hold. |encouraged: perjury, and now for the same big rea- ing such views, the Nicaragua route became identi- !son the Ohio fellows might as well repeal all their fied in the popular mind with the canal project. The tax laws." 1 . institutions of the State have not been turned over | to political henchmen for nothing. By the judicious distribution of that patronage Billy Herrin has been able to relieve the railway treasury of a considerable charge and make a showing of cgonomy to please the : new directors With those and other facts before them Republi- cans perceive clearly that if Billy Herrin carries out his scheme and Gage be renominated the party will enter the campaign heavily handicapped. It was possible to elcct Gage once, because the people did not know him, and because they believed him when he said he had no affiliations with the railroad bosses; but now the people know him well, and they do not believe him any more. They have tried him and they have found him to be false, tricky, narrow- minded, cgotistical and vicious. Such a man can- not be re-clected, and as a consequence the most earnest and loyal Republican papers in the State are engaged in rousing the rank and file in opposition to the scheme of the bosses so that the party may not suffer from their domination. It is that fecling of loyalty to the interests of the party and to the weliare of the State that explains the vigor with which the Republican press is de- nouncing Billy Herrin’s programme at this early stage of the campaign. As the Pomona Times has expressed it: “Every Republican on principle wants his party to win in the coming election, but there are thousands of Republicans on principle who would welcome defeat with Gage the nominee for Goy- ernor.” in order to stop gambling, which the police wink at, it will be necessary to raise a large campaign fund, Is it possible that he means to bribe the blacklegs of the department to do their duty? —_— j In one of the local courts a woman is asking $50,000 damages for the alleged alienation of her presumably worthless husband’s affections. It would be interest- ing to know what the lady would want if the gentle- man was worth having. Highwayman Woods, who was one of the rascals involved- in the murder of Police Officer Robinson, is entitled to the congratulations of decent citizens. He is recovering from the wounds he received in the fight and will live to be hanged. The young New York bank official who quietly walked out of the bank the other day when his ac- counts were found dishonest . will probably find that walking under such conditions will inevitably lead to a penitentiary. for protection in Great Britain itself, and it is not to | The District Attorney of New York declare’s th;t\ . CALL, SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 1902. ' |FIRST OF NEW YORK'S from a party point of view for Congress to adjourn | while | o+ CARNEGIE LIBRARIE§ PLANS FOR THE FIRST OF THE NEW BUILDINGS HAVE BEEN COMPLETED. THREE-STORY STRUCTURE, AS SHOWN IN THE ILLUSTRATION. | YORK CARNEGIE LIBRARY 1 IT WILL BE A CLASSIC ; | b IRST of the sixty-five Carnegie Ii- braries to be erected in New York City will be the building at Nos. 222 and 224 East Seventy-ninth street, plans for which have been filed in the Bureau of Buildings. As these strue- tures will follow one general plan, the picture here given represents approxi- mately the sixty-four ather structures which will rise in various points in the five boroughs of the. city. The cost of the first library building will be $50,000. Where the price of the land is not so high the building will be made more ornate or larger. Carnegie's plan of gift contemplated the expenditure of 380,000 for each of the sixty-five libra- ries. The struciure will have a classic front of the Ionic order and will be built en- tirely of limestone. It will occupy forty feet of frontage and ninety-two feet of deph, being three stories above the basement in height. At the rear a fourth story will be raised for the use of he janitor. : All’ the rest of the building will be de- DINNER GIVEN COMPLIMENTARY TO BRIDE-E LECT Miss Dottie Ames of Santa Rosa, who is soon to wed Sam N. Pond, was guest of honer at a dinner given last evening by the parents of the last named, Mr. and Mrs. E. B. Pond, at their residence, 1015 California street. Covers were laid for forty, and the guests were chiefly ;‘he g set. It was a pink and white din- iz:'l.nb’l'iee' decorations were beautiful and artistic, comprising cherry, pear and peach blossoms, interspersed with foliage. y d Everything was perfectly appointed, an the r:ll(:sls were delightfully entertained. LS Two hundred and fifty young men and women in evening dress danced at the Dulce Domum cotillon last evening uat Golden Gate Hall. No german was ar- ranged, as|the dance was perfectly in- formal. The floor managers were H. A. Peckham and R. Schord. The evening was very pieasantly spent. Mrs. Mary Fairweather's Saturday Morning Club has changed its piace of meeting to Golden Gate Hall, 625 Sutter street, owing to the increased number of students in literary interpretation. The club will start in this morning with Rob- ert Browning. The first six lectures will be devoted to “Parcelsus,” “Ring and the Book,” etc., to be followed by six mis- cellanecus lectures, the subjects for which will be announced later. Browning will be continued until June 21. Dante's “Di- vine Comedy” has been under discussion for the last twelve weeks. This little club has been in existence for the last four years, and its foilowers have been earnest students of literature. .l e Thursday was the wedding day of Cap- tain Ormond Mitchell Lissak, U. S, A.. and Miss Alice Warrington Hartzel of Philadelphia.’ Christ Church Chapel was the scene of the marriage in the Quaker City. The bride is a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Andreal Hartzel, well known resi- dents of that city, while the groom is the son of Mr. and Mrs. A. H. Lissak, who have spent much of their time in Califor- nia. The wedding was military, six offi- cers acting as ushers. The bride’s cousin was flower girl—her only attendant. Miss Edna Lissak of San Francisco went down from New York for the wedding. Mr. and Mrs. Lissak will spend their honey- moon in San Francisco and return to Philadelphia in June for their post-nup- tial receptions. R “Yesterday was the reception day of Mrs. Elizabeth Saunders, the well remembered actress, who is now over 80 years of age. Mrs. Saunders is a relative of Jd® Jeffer- son and has many prominent friends. Many callers were received and delight- fully entertained at her residence, 510 Capp street. = = Miss Lucille Thornton of New York was guest of honor at an Informal tea given by Mrs. H. T. Scott at her residence Thursday afternoon. The intéresting fea- ture of the afternoon was the songs so beautifully rendered by Miss Thornton. Mrs. Andrew McCreery and Miss Thorn- ton return to New York to-day, after a pleasant visit ln. thl.s cl:y. Mr. and Mrs. Walter Magee entertained at dinner Wednesday evening in honor of General and Mrs. O. F. Long, U. 8. N. The table was decorated in American Beauties. Those present were: and Mrs. C. M. Goodall, Mr. 'and Mrs. Frederick Magee, Mr. and,Mrs. H. M. A. Miller and Mr. and Mrs. George S. Whea- b s ¢ S Miss Marion Eells Valley. —_—— The sea coast of Germany is sinking, es- pecially in the neighborhood of Hamburg, and the exact rate for the last fifty years has now been determined to be five feet . is visiting at Ross aine inches. L e e Y voted to library purposes. In the base- | ment the librarian will have his office. | Special attention will be paid to the! lighting of the library, and skylights will be used at the rear of the first floor for this purpose, extending to the full| helght of the structure. The first, second and third floors will each consist of one room running the entire length and width of the building, | to be fitted up with book shelves. The building will be fire-proof. | The heating and ventilation of the building will be both by the direct and the indirect hot-water systems. Two elec- i tric dumb-waiters will run from the basement to the top floor, one for the transfer of books and the other for the use of the janitor in the rear. The pa- trons of the library will find wide and | gasy staircases leading from floor to loor. The third floor can be used as a hall for neighborhood gatherings, should such | use be decided upon, the floors below | being capable of holdirg all the books | necessary. A large skylight will give the top floor all the daylight needed. | DEVELOPMENT OF BIG SCANDAL IN HONOLULU HONOLULU, March 29.—A finaneial | scandal involving some well known local | men has been exposed by the suit of Mrs, Ellen McCully Higgins against the Waiki- ki Land and Loan Association and others. | Mrs. Higgins brought the suit on account | of a note exccuted for her for $50,000, and held by the trustees of the Queen's Hospi- tal. It appears that the note was execut- ed by her attorney during her absence and that she was never infurmed of it. Later the sale of her Honolulu property, known as the McCully tract, was negotiated, for $140,000, and the property was taken by | the Waikiki Land and Loan Association. | Mrs. Higging never got ony of the money. | Some of it Was used to pay accounts ow- | ing to her. The testimony brought out the fact that E. O. White, who acted for her under salary, received $7000 as com- mission from the other side. The firm of Ashley & Paristook $100,000 in paid-up stock of the Waikiki Association. During the hearing of the case, which has not been concluded, Judge Hum- phreys threatened E. O. White with per- jury proceedings. A. B. Wood, another withess and interested party, was sum- moned to answer for an attempt to in- fluence a witness. The schooner Olga, which arrived here on the 22d from Newcastle, with a cargo of coal, has been found $6 be leaking. The transport Meade arrived here on the 27th, from San Francisco. She will prob- ably leave to-morrow for Manila. A revolting story of neglect and ill- treatment has come from the leper set- | tlement on Molokal and is being investi- gated by the Board of Health. It Is stated that two lépers who were accused of stealing sheep were cast into prison and kept on a bread and water diet, though one of them was-in a very weak condi- tion. He did not receive medical at- tendance, according to the charges that have been made, and lay helpless in jail until he was found by friends in a fear- ful condition and was removed. He died the next day. The Board of Health has appointed a special committee which will take a steamer to Moloxal next Monday and investigate. Delegate Wilcox of Hawali has written to a friend here, from Washington, ex- pressing the opinion that as a result of Governor Dole’s trip to Washington the latter will serve his full term as Gov- ernor. Wiicox says that the chances of Sam Parker to.be Governor are gone. Bishop Nichols of California has arrived here, to take over thc Anglican church of Hawail, which will come under American Jurisdiction on the first of April. On that date the resignation of Bishop Willis takes effect. He may go to Tonga. ————— ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS, TRUMPS—E. J. N, City. In double pedro you have to follow suit if anything else but trumps is led, unless you trump. A player can trump ny time, for-akeidi e, ‘WILLARD—Theater-goer, City. The last time that E. S. Willard was at the Baldwin Theater in this city he appeared in “The Middleman,” in “The Profligate" and in “Judah.” Lo, e NIGHT SCHOOL—J. H. §, City. The night school that was at the corner of Bush and Stockton streets has been trans- ferred to the Lincoln School building and is now known as the Lincoln Evening School. The course of study is business methods, shorthand writing, typewriting, Spanish and French. the re: er being o’ strip of white and one of red, each of the same breadth at | committee recommended | Secretary Ames of | ent fiscal year (which ends July 1, INCREASING REVENUE OF SPRING VALLEY ALL: The passage of EDITOR THE C. by fhe Board the new water ordinance of Supervisors illustrates the futility of public contro! in dealing with the water question In San Francisco. The hew ordinance increases the revenue of the Spring Valley Water Works without reasom. As ‘one of '!‘h: Supervisors said at the time of its pa:sa;e: ll is a complete surrender to the water company. The predecesscrs of the present board went into office on the high tide of reform. The plat- form which all the majority Supervisors signed pledged them to “institute a searching \n\'P!lhl- gation of the operating expenses, a?d into l‘n real value of the water company’'s property used for the water supply of this city, and to allow not more than 5 per cent on the stock representing said real value thus determined. The board fixed its first water order without any investigation other than a perfunctory one, but attempted to carry out its pledges by mak- ing a 10 per cent cut in the usehold rates. The Water Committee in ing the ordinance recited reduction to the ratepavers of the city of ap- proximately $154,000, and a corresponding di- minuticn -on the basis eof Xl\l yaar's rates. . the fiseal year e o the water company ordinance that the ded $1,855,883 10— 2 reduction of onls $21,200 27 in the ineome of the company, instead of a reduction of §154,- 0ce, as anticipated by the committee, Big Increase in Company’s Revenwve. In 1001 tXe same board again tried to reduce the revenue of the company, This time it made a clean cut of $142.000 in the hydrant rates paid by the eity. It was thought that this would certainly make a reduction In_the reve- nue of the company, bui the testimony adduced at the recent im tigation from the mouth of the Spring Valley Water ‘Works shows that for the first half of the pres- 1901) e vater company has actually collected $956,577. ich, being mutlplied by two, will make the reverue for the fiscal yedr $1,913,154 Secretary Ames testified two years ago that the receipts ! for the second half of the fiscal year were | usuaily greater than for the first half, so that the figures given are conservative, The first ordinance passed by the last board produced k5 10; the second one will produce 54, an increase of $39,270 90 more than rst ordinance, although it was designued to reduce the revenue of the compapy by $142,- 00c. The last Board of Supervisors twice at- | tempted to reduce the revenue of'the Water company, but that corporation succeeded in col- lecting $130,0€0 more than was anticipated the first vear, and will succeed in collecting $200.- | 000 more this year than was intended to be al- iowed. The new Board of Supervisors tried its prentice hand at fixing water rates last month and has increased the revenue of the Spring Valley Water Works, because, as avowed by Supervisors in public debate, the water com- pany had been treated unfairly, and its reve- nues had been dmproperly reduced by the, old a00 S > board. The increase allowed was only $1 on hydrant rates, but. as already shown, revenue from the present water ordinance v be greater than the preceding ome, although it was expected that the revenue would be de- creased $142,000. In other words, during the present fiscal year the Spring Valley Water Works has found a way to squeeze over $200,- 000 more out of the people than the Supesvisors designed to ellow and If the same ratp of in- crease prevails for the next fiseal vear the fn- crtase In the revenues will be_over §156,000, without conz ng the increased revenue al- lowed by the Supervisors. Water Order Confuses Rate-Payers. The increase in revenue was partly the re- sult of new business, but the real rea: the water order is based on a form twenty years past, which containg many elas schedules, and is so complex that hardly any ratepayer can tell what he should be charsed Y an inspection of the ordinance. Thus it is that the water company increases its revenue at | Will, In the face of attempts on the part of Su- pervisors to give relief to the people. An element of humor is imjected into the controversy by the fact that the Spring Valiey Water Works s actually suing .in the United States courts to set aside the ordinance under which it is at this moment Tevenue. on the ground that its revenue has been greatly reduced, while the figures submitted by its own secretary demonstrates that there will be an actual increase of Gver $50,000 for the fiscal year. I have always thought this suit was noth- ing more than a “bluff,” designed to frighten the new board into allowing an.increased reve- nue. It will now be conveniently dzopped. Another element of humor fs the assevera- tion of the proponments of the new water ordi- nance that it was necessary to increase the rev- enue of the water compady because the former ordinances were unfaiy, when the fig- ures Iying on thefr table at the moment of making the statements showed that the water company is securing an increased revenue. After all the platform pledges, all the talk about watered stock, and of corrupt practices on the part of the water compaly the revenue of that corporation has been on a comtinual in- | crease. The first water ordinance passed by the last board yielded over $130,000 more than was intended. The second one is ylelding over $200,000 more than was Intended and the pres- ent one will unquestionably yield an increase of at least $150,000. The revenue { r the next fiscal year will be nearly $2,000,000. For every dollar paid in taxation the people will have to add a half dollar for water. Our water is the costliest in the world, and getting cestifer evry | year. Surely public control by the City Fathers is a public folly, leading only to successive fa:l- ures in every attempt to regulate or ecomtrol the revenues of the water corporation. Is it not high time to try public ownership? CHARLES WESLEY REED., Ean Francisco, April 4. PERSONAL MENTION. E. L. Webber, a Napa attorney, is at the Grand. - B. Roca, a physician of Hollister, is a | guest at the California. E. C. Moulton, a prominent resident of Riverside, is at the Palace. F. O. Gray, a raisin manufacturer of Fresno, is at the Occidental. E. G. Hatton, a prominent resident of Monterey, is a guest at the Lick. P. J. Guran, a mining man of Butte, Mont., is registered at the Palace. Charles Murroe,” an attorney of Los Angeles, is a guest at the Palace. o James McCudden, the naval contractor of ¥allejo, Is among the arrivals at the Grand. R. F. Winchester, a medical practitioner of Santa Barbara, Is a guest at the Grand. W. J. Pendrey, a merchant of Victoria, B. C., is spending a few days at the Grand. H. E. Dillon, a mining man, who re- sides at Reno, Nev., is among the arrivals at the Grand. & George R. Elliott, a merchant of Port. land, Ore., is at the Lick. He is accom- panied by his wife. —_——— Californians in New York. NEW YORK, April 4—The following Californians are in New York: From San Franclsco—E. Brineyar, at the Manhattan; W. N. Duval, at the West- minster; R. H. Hugg, at the Park Ave- nue; Mrs. A. C. Taylor and Mrs. M. H. Stayner, at the Criterion; A. C. Dennell and Mrs. M. B. Medbury, at the Imperial; C. Rummelsburg, at the Cadillac; S. A. Sarle, at the Herald Square, and H. Wil son, at the Broadway Central. From Los Angeles—M. A. Murphy, at the Navarre. 5 & From San Jose—A. L. Wyllle, at y! the —————— Stuffed prunes with apricots. Townsend's.* Cal. glace fruit 50c per Ib at Townsend's.* —_——— " ' Townsend's California glace frut, 5tc a m:d.Aln Meh:g ‘Bon- o‘r Jap. bas- nice prese; 'or East frien 639 Market st.. Palace Hotel buliging. 2" Special information suppliea houses and public men ¥ by, the Zornta street. - Telephone Mom o i~