The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, August 18, 1898, Page 3

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 1598. 3 members an from the so- anization; while the rganization was com- | We further find that | effort inade the | mittee to as ain Democratic voters of primaries, or other- matter of the attempted re ¥« tion, but no effort was made to into c of the lead- embers in San Fran- ca,-on whose cracy and anti- | oss record 1 imputation could be. cast In the before our committee Org: he propo- zation ion of the but the | s that of obscur- t issue, and be ing with ishes no justifi- cation for t of the reg the fact sion that t tion is t Democratic i that its s on the | ng 1 succe rival half vote; recommend ifare of the | of Cali- ] and county it both of the or- F sco con- n_as the regular red disbanded, New reorg: an Francisco ervision of the tee to be a tion, on a ba: Democratic In it ctively give expression | e Democratic voters of Respectfully submitted. | n, A. M. Seymour, T. V. idox, W. M. Gibson, moved the adoption of rt T W. M. Gibson has of tne : San 1 | the that an Joa- hat the not the ted and motion | Jority re- manner in e attention | dence ention the on to ba majority the »er of the minority the adoptl of ther comes up minority report, n the majo tute gt conven- in this informed this case. eire g3 oL y member of thi »d circulars in con- hair—I thought he was golng to motion in regard to limiting the jen—Then 1 m ite to the te upon hour let us s question each side get through will hold up the motion n as amended, and the Deuprey and proceed to £ time limit and recognize before the house, if there seconded by severs moved and n of the prop- the debate be h slde eda—Mr. Chair- the convention: | questions which | we are to pass upon | to-day are fraught with the very great- est interests of th Democratic_party ol the State of Califor- nfa not only now but for all tim It seems to me idle to limit discussion or statement of facts even to half an hour, when such a question as this is before a Democratic convention. The question is not only a question of part policy, but the pow- 1 State Central Committee to go ny county in this State and usurp ns of the local governing body. ntlemen of this conven- ate Central Committee, roxy or otherwise, has thority, then this convention ¢ 1t be a fact that the tion is the true organiza- to be recognized by now at this time is 1 am no partisan In It has got_so in California man undertakes to raise ense of what he belleves her whispered to death th by the newspapers. tion; time 1o ¢ this matter now .that if his voice in T, 1o be right he ed to de ] ate m I rise to a point of order. is not talking to the ques- going ptic it *he gent tion. He prior to the the: rejection ¢ Ar into the discussion of this metion or The Chair—I think he is in order on that proposition. He is stating the rensons why a full d ton of this matter :ghould be had on the floor of the hous We. will probably take up s much time in discussing this question as we would in discussing the other if we had s tion to limit debate. [Laughter] —= o Mr. Foote—l am Not going to bore this o 8 ned patlent) - tentively last night to the r'hmmi:{‘(ge ‘o'n ;,,.,\,,.,,t tr;\_\hw statements made by oth sides. No gentleman F: et w0 ol Dot atiend ha o tE thg e ¢ can vote Intelligently upon the moan: stion {»rrm‘n((-tl by these two reports, un. Jesa he hears the evidence that was ad- duced there, and the statements that wero made, and 1 think that a Hmitati, of the discussion of this question fa ton to be had. T can stand hing. cannot drive me out of the Dem party, no_matter what you m: i Dlausé) T bave been denounced ture of the Spreckels, & corporatio S84 all that sort of thing . My ag. monopoly_reco-d, Mr. Chairman, is as 00d as that of &ny man on the floor of 1g' convention. (Cries of “That Is Hght S a crea- DISTRUST HANGING IN THE AIR @ through a n me; mon decency, right, 1 ‘appea Democracy, do not shut off a hearing o! this knife ever come before a State convention. deliberated on with calm- 1 have no personal aims to grat- no friends to reward or enemies to punish, but I do not like to see the Dem- ocratic party members until fact: cause I expect to have no more to say | upon this question, that whatever ought to be ify, | ter. and applause.) can remember, sir, at a meeting of the State Central Commit- tee two years ago, when 1 stood by Mr. McNab and the gentleman there Wright and others in the State Central | | Committee room tried to s organization they are now trying to drive | from this convention, and I had the honor | upon that occasion f holding up the e d Stephen M. against the refunding bill. and Mr. | the very At to introduce in the State Central Committee, for the purpose 0 | | onds of J. G. Magulre | White, a T .’4;lullnn‘ | 1 introduced it upon the floor of this convention and sted in passin onal . I appeal to yor 1 appeal to case. If you into the party of the State s the most important question which has -h And 1 avk m; be desired by question, may be 't tion. It is 'a mol even than the nom! the next State elec: this question, you d party not only In t apathetic all over t and you will have \.\¥;.Iauns.; Mr. Wright of Lo man and gentlemen of the Cd seems to me that a better disposition’ of | this question would be that e this controversy would person o present t before the committ evening, and then of this matter, the gates in this hall si to five minutes each. ought to be a prett ed to this matter. course could be take expedite a satisfactory end of this mat- T would, therefore, move an amend- ment of the motion made by the gentle- man from San Luis Obispo to the effect that each party to this controversy select some gentleman of accorded thri ch to present ea A Delegate—Make it an hour. hour. Mr. Wright—Very each this matter to this afte: the peeches otion seconded. The Chair—Will San Luis Obispo accept the amendment? Mr. Crittenden— nent unl his time Wate: Shairman, that we make no time limit the house discuss [Applau: P,E TYe Chalr—Then, agamst both motions. Mr., Heeney of Alameda— 1 alffsr from the radicals on both sides of this question, and I am a member of the committee of o in selecting this del men wh Guestion, And w! very loud} other. No committee resignation gramme, Mr. Wright & Los Angeles—We object, Mr. Chalrman. The Chair—Ar objectfon is made, Mr. Heeney. Mr. Heeney—I yant to state my posi- tion. question before t asons. If the chall\please. T, "Braunhart—Mr) Chairman— The Chair—Sit dowa, You will have to sit ddwn. You will have to excusehmE. but e at a time. “ir. Wright-—The eaicing to the eI ey —1 i position. you are explaining Mr. Heeney—l am talking to the ques- tion, While that pendini whl{(e giules and to urge whi h would have avolded this dfficulty— 1o \Wit, the holding ‘of ot one hundre committee of o8 Stonewall of five considered undemocraf T hope_this State Conventl not pass at this f“;'fig e‘);"en nv::,th (' 2id tance o 54 votes wiie AN e end. into this convention and up agal whic which 1 helped to send which I personally fn_this convention The Chair—Gentlemen on the amendment of each side be allowed one hour to discs this matter, the chairman of the commi' tee, Major Harney, heart of the Democratic xivicken an Francisco, but And I think that if the motion made by the gentleman from San Luis Obispo were amended so that this quarters of an hour within sy—each to have three-q ide be accorded one hour to present those presentations have been made ¢ delegates upon the floor 2 limited to five minutes each. half an hour to each s—T are sitting before you, and who will havé the right to 2 n ose in favor of one side or the W, sir, while a member of that one hundred, I sent in my cause 1 counld with what Ticonsldered Mr. Wright—He \ he leman 1s uestlo ke Mr. Chairman. oPhe_Chairman—There 15 o doubt that a five-minute rule was adopted was absent and whey here to discuss Democwatic prin- with a full vote, it for the first time | convention Gentle- u in the name of har- you in the name of appeal to you In the name of P9 you'in the name of the 4 do, you drive - the | of California. This It down by its own know all of the | in all sincerity, be- | time both parties to this aken by this conven- re important matter ination of officers for tion. If you smother estroy the Democratic he city and county of you will render it he State of California | your ticket beaten. Mr. Chalir- s Angele: vention, it ch side of | select some ome | he case as was done | ee on credentlals last after the presentation speeches by the dele- hould be limited, say, 1 believe that there ¥ full hearing accord- :n, it might very much each committee to be his contro- rters of an ch stde of well, one hour; that convention, and that the gentleman from do_ not accept the Mr. Wright will kind- move vou, Mr. throw oft all gag law, and let everybody in this if they want to. doctor, you will vote Mr. Chalrman, ne hundred and aided legation of 154 gentle- vote upon voice will this be heard not agree to be a pro- not speaking to any house. He ls glving Mr. Braunhart. we will have to hear nk I am explaining my your postion. reconsideration was 1 came the adoption\of a plan primaries by that -1 fount myscif inutes. and will ald want to remain seyted the_question) is Mr. Wright t to seleat his charipfo! San because to pi dow { and the chairman of the committee from Francisco, Mr. Dunn, to select his 1 would not select ou wan ut forward the best talkers you have n_there (laughter), and after the hour has expired then the debate be lim- ited to five minutes to each member who wishes to speak. The motion was put and | carried I Mr. withd tion a viva voce vote. Deuprey—Mr. Chairman, I desire to aw the amendment as to_the adop- of the majority report and let it go up on the question of the minority report. The Chair—The motion then is that the minority tute report be adopted and substi- d for the majority report. Are you ready for the question? MAJOR HARNEY’S ADDRESS. Major Harney—Mr. Chairman and gen- | tlemen of the convention: ing and self. The underly- principle of our Democratic faith is a firm belief in the supremacy of the | pecple. From _ the very Inception of the Democratic party it has been the frm advocate of that great principle in Democratic govern- must come from the [eople. Through the eneficent influence of the Democracy of the nation, this great principle has become ymbolized In the present greatness grandeur of the American republic it- 1f in the administration of the af- fairs of government all power must come | from ciple should apply to the the the people, then the same prin- great political parties of the country through which the people act as a col- lective force. ernment are chos Elective officers of our gov- sen by reason of certain definite principles of governmental policy advocated by them. These principles of governmental policy are originally out- lined by the great political parties who name candidates on. platforms adopted | and appeal to the voters to sustain the principles enumerated in their party plat- form present the enforcement of these in selecting those candidates who prin- ciples In the conduct of public affairs. ment that all power | management of | | I Therefore, the great the country are really component part the Government itself, and when one man or a set of men control or attempt to control a great political party, then that political party becomes a menace to repre- sentatlve government and dangerous to the free institutions of the land. (Ap- plause.) In violation of every time-hon- ored principle of the Democratic party, a bold, deliberate attempt has been made to prevent the Democratic City and County of ny voice in the managcment of the af- s of either party. Strange to say, this bold and deliberate attempt was originally conceived hy the Democratic State Cen- tral Committee, itself a body which, un- der all circumstanc foster and promote a rit of harmony within the Democracy of the State of alifornia se that on the 8th of next No- ember our Democratic standard could gentlemen of the convention, so far as the controversy existing in th ranks of the San Francisco Democracy is concerned, and in order to give you an opportunity of understanding the con- dition of affalrs existing in that city, it will be necessary for me to begin in the For ten years prior to 15892 the cratic party of the city and_county of San Francisco was held in the iron rasp of a volitical boss. c voters of San Francisco of that year were thoroughly aroused to the existing conditions, the humillating condition, I may say. of their party in that year. The result of this was that there was a uni- versal desire on the part of the Demo- cratic voters of San Francisco for a gen- eral party reorganization. In fact, an organization was formed that was termed the Reorganized Democracy of the city and county of San Francisco. There are eighteen Assembly districts in the city. In each of these elghteen Assembly dis tricts_enrollments of Democratic voters were held. The strength of these enrollments in these eighteen Assembly districts proved | beyond all doubt the universality of the desfre on the part of the Democratic vot- ers for a general party reorganization. A primary was held under the reorganized Democraecy for the election of the gen- eral committee of 450, composed of 25 rep- resentatives from each of these eighteen Assembly districts. Four hundred and SAYS IT'S ABSOLUTELY DEMOCRATIC. Senator White Believes the Convention Is Not Under the Domination of Monopolu. SO0O0000C0O000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 SACRAMENTO, Aug. 17.—The present convention Democratic, which means that it is not under any monopoly influence. In the course of events many things have been said This has resulted from thelr association with per- very good men. sons whose conduct has not received public approval. to which I refer has not beer made by any means for ulterior poses, but has been either accidental, or because of an effort to bring about the acomplishment of some good result by means of doubtful validity. . The platform has not yet been adopted, but will contain provisions insisting upon the absence of special privilege in legislation, economy in public administrtion and the faithful There has been no contest for Governor be- servance of promises. cause of a gradual process commencing several sentiment has-crystallized and has made it out of the question for any one to oppose the candidacy of Judge Maguire. The assertion that this gathering merely ratifies the proceedings of the Populist conven- The latter assemblage anticipated the verdict of the Democracy of Californi _and predicated its conduct upon that knowledge. California is admittedly a doubtful State. do with the solution of election events in this part of the world. think, speaking without any partisanship at all, that Judge Maguire 1s at this time the strongest individual before the people in this entire I am not able to speak of the personnel of the ticket outside of Maguire, because there has not been sufficient expression of opin- fon to warrant the designation of the individual; strained to the conclusion that as a rule those who are to be led by tion is untenable. State. him will be wisely chosen. 1 do not think that the war issue will have any material bearing upon the election, because it Is recognized that the war has been con- ducted by the soldiers and sallors of the nation, whose politics variable, but whose heroism is uniform. departments and the political force from the executive down have been Republican, but when the smoke of battle has cleared away it will probably be discovered that the soldiers and sallors have made no mistakes, but that there have been errors elsewhere. uniforms, mismade boots and shoes and supplies of an inferior char- acter have been purchased at Government expense, the offense, if any, is not chargeable to Democracy. There is sufficient time between this convention and election day to ventilate these matters. It would not, perhaps, be prudent to discuss the subject were we in a desperate and dubious conflict, but the struggle being practically over, and in view of the fact that we are now merely determining how much we will permit the enemy to retain, it is not improper to refer to the fact that some investigation will be made as to the re- sponsibility for the conduct of the war by the politiclans who con- trolled the supply end of it. Generally, I think that the Democratic ticket will be success: and while hereafter I will be a mere toiler in the ranks, I will regard that result with much satisfaction. 00000000000000000000000000000000 is absolutely in criticism of The connection pur- undoubtedly ob- years ago, popular Individuality has much to 18 but I am con- It is true that the heads of And if poor 1, STEPHEN M. WHITE. 00C00CO000000000000000000000C000000000000000000000C000 voters of the | n Francisco from | . should endeavor to | The Democrat- | fifty representatives were chos primary. The general committee was ganized and the Hon. Joseph J. Dwyer was the fi \irman of the Reorganized | Democracy. Shortly after the Reorgan- | ized De: acy of San Francisco appear- ed befc Democratic e Central Committee and asked at the hands of that body to be recognized as the Demo- party of the city and county of San time, gentlemen, there plan of organization of the Democ- that had existed in fact for a period of ten years before. The State Central | Committee, considering the fact of the | existence of this regular County Commit- | tee, declared to the Reorganized Democ- | racy that it, the State Central Committee, had no power under the circumstances to interfere with the political organization, and while the regular County Committee continued In existence it could not, and in fact it did not, have the power to rec- ognize the Reorganized Democracy. The members of the county committee, however, all realized the condition of affairs of the party. They came | to the conclusion that they would report | | and inform that body that if it would in- struct the Reorganized Democracy to open an enrollment of Democratic voters and after the completion of the enroll- | ment to call a primary at which every Democrat could participate if he desired | for the election of a Democratic commit- | tee, the regular county committee | would then agree to adjourn sine die. | The State Central Committee, after hear- ing the report from the regular county committee, accepted the _proposition, | they declared the reorganized Democracy | under the leadership of Joseph J. Dwyer | the regular Democratic committee of | | the city and county of San Francisco. It | also decided the Reorganized Democracy | should open up an enrollment for the vo- | ters throughout the municipality and so- | licit the enrollment of all Democrats in that enroliment. After the enrollment was completed, it also directed a primary to be held for the election of a new general committee. The primary was held. A new general committee was elected under the direc- tion of the State Central Committee by the voters of the party. The new general committee convened and organized with the election of Joseph J. Dwyer as chair- man, and from that time forth the name of the reorganized Democracy was chang- ed to the Democratic party of the city and county of San Francisco. In the year 1892 it placed In nomination a ticket for municipal offices, and most of that ticket was elected, Including eleven out of the twelve members of the Board of Super- visors. DECLINE OF BOSS RULE. The only ambition that the chafrman of | the Reorganized Democracy had in en- tering into politics was to free the Demo- cratic party of the influences of a poli- cal boss. Having succeeded in this zm- Dbition, Joseph J. Dwyer, in the early part of 1803, resigned his position as cha! man of the general committee of the Demo- cratic party. Max Popper was chojen as the successor of Mr. Dwyer. The next election year was 1884. Under the consti- tution under which the general committee elected In 1892 existed, a new committee under that constitution had to be elected in the month of April, 18%. Early in 1894 enrollments were ordered under the auspices of the general committee of which Mr. Popper was chairman, prepara- tory to the holding of a primary undar the constitution of the party for the elec- tion of a new general committee. Witn- out any provocation Max Popper resigned as chairman of the general commitiee. The result of this resignation caused con- fusion among the Democratic voters, u3| Mr. Popper at that time was the rec)z. nized chief of the Democratic party by virtue of his position as chairman of the general committee. The general committee failed to pro- vige for the election of its successors. In August, 1894, it called a municipal conven- tion for the purpose of nominating municipal candidates. That municipal convention convened and placed {n nomi- | nation municipal candidates. This | municipal convention, gentlemen, ‘was | composed of the representatives of the | Democratic party of the city and county of San Francisco, and I belleve that you will agree with me when I say that, in a political subdivision of the State like San Francisco, the highest authority in any political party in a county is the municipal convention of that pnrtg com- | posed of the representatives of the or- ganization itself. That municipal con- vention fully realized the conditions exist ing in the Democratc party at that time. It recognized the fact that the Demo- cratic party was in a disorganized state and therefore a resolution was introduced | and adopted providing for the appoint- ment of a committee 0f twenty-five Demo- crats by the chairman of the convention | itself for the purpose of reorganizing the Democratic party of San Francisco. The chairman of that municipal conven- tion was the Hon. Eugene N. Deuprey, a member of this convention as a delegate tfrom San Francisco, appointed by the committee of 100. The reason that I refer to the fact that Mr. Deuprey was the chairman of that convention {8 that the organization that I have the honor to-day to be the president of is an organization that was created under the authority of the committee ap- golnted by the Hon. Eugene N. Deuprey imself, and which he i{s now trying to committee elected in istence, although it term, and therefore elected successor de its nd continued to be th general committee of the Democ: ty of San Francisco. Mr. Popper res! 1884, The vember, 1895, general committee Wi a chairman. At t of strengt pose of electing meeting there was a te was generally recogniz city and county of San elem comprising the general tee was alded by Christopher A. Bu and it was considered that he at | The other side sented the anti-Buckley forces. contest at that time. A. the candidate of the anti-Buckley f and J. H. O'Brien was the man by a ma{flri!)‘ of thirty-two. the election the general committee acted. Therefore, it is the only purpose of this meeting w: elements. appointed by chairman of the convention, was in no meeting. man of the general committee an was concetved by Mr. Gavin McNab pose of adjourning it sine die. The lgoi municipal n chairman of the de facto committes A. Watkins, to appoint with the committee of twenty-five pointed by the municipal conventic reorganizé the Democratic party. Watkins, In conformity with the that w made of him, additional committee appointed of twenty fifty good Democrats. the Francisco who are now sitting on floor of this convention. the committee, the de facto general continued in existence there migh! some question as to the validity o reorganizing committee of fifty, s fore, in order to avold any possibilf question as to the validity or legall the committee of fift; the general mittee 6f 450 was convened for the pose of adjourning sine die. most of you gentlemen remember . th cumstances of that meeting. It wa: stormlest political meeting, In my ment, that was ever held In 3 county of San Francisco. general committee ' of party. mittee having adjourned sine die, the composed of twenty-five members man ‘of the municipal convention, twenty-five appointed by Mr. A. A kins, the chairman of the general mittee. of San’ Francisco. That enroliment held, and under the enrollment a was held under the auspices of this committee on reorganization. At McNab himself. Therefore say now, without fear of contradiction, trying to have this convention aside. The primaries were held under the pices of the committee of fifty. A ge tl ward convened and elected Colonel Wi P. Sullivan chairman. claimed to represent the in this hall on June 20 of that year. minority of the general committee, monly called the Buckley faction, el representatives to the Same conves also. curred on this floor at that time. representatives to the convention committee of which Colonel Sullivan chairman, after a heated discussion after grave consideration on the pai as the regular delegates to the State have this convention throw aside. s committee was appointed. The general vention, as representatives from the and county of San Francisco. ascertain the strength between the The committee of twenty was facto atic par- igned as chairman of the general committee in cy was not filled until No- nd then the meeting of the called for the pur- this h. It d throughout the rancisco that one commit- ckley, that | time, was trying to_gain control of the | Demoeratic party. clear test of strength—the chairmanship . Watkins was orces, candidate of what were termed the Buckley forces in ad- journed, and no other business was trans- proof positive that as to two y-five Hon. Eugene N. Deuprey, exist- ence, although up to this time it had held After A. A. Watkins was elected chalr- idea him- self that it would be proper to convene the general committee again for the pur- xcuse me, I am a little bit ahead of my story. twenty-five members appointed by convention requested the e, A an additional committee of twenty-five to act jointly ap- on_to Mr. ‘request this r-five, Therefore, there was a joint committee of majority them the friends of Mr. McNab and_of the leaders of the delegation from San of the The leaders of com- mittee, of which Mr. A. A. Watkins was chairman, thought while that committee t be the general committee. I had been charged with being the emissary of a boss. At a meeting of the general com- | mittee. and at the request of Mr. Gavin | McNab himself, I had the honor to place |in nomination for chairman Mr. A. A. Watkins. Mr. Watkins was elected chair- After | f the | there- ty of ty of com- pur- It met and e cir- s the judg- the city and The general committee adjourned sine die, although a minority of the general committee con- tinued m existence, claiming to be the Democratic Now, the de facto general com- there ‘was no other organization that could pos- sibly represent the Democratic party of the city and county of San Franelsco out- side of the reorganized committee of fifty, ap- pointed by Mr. Deuprey himself as chair- and Wat- com- This committee on_reorganization as- sembled, and it called an enrollment un- der the auspices of the Democratic voters was rimary same that time the leader of the committea on. re- organization of the Democratic party, the man who held the control of that commit- tee_on reorganization of fifty, was Mr. here that Mr. McNab was the leader in the move- ment that organized the general commit- tee of the Democratic party of the eity and county of San Francisco, that legally exists under the constitution'of the party {tself—the committee which he to-day is hrow aus- neral committee was elected at these primaries. The general committee so elected after- 1lam As I remarked be- fore, & minority of the general committee elected in 1895 continued in existence and Democratic party. In the month of April, 189, a prim- ary was called by the committee of which Colonel Sullivan was chairman for the election of delegates from San Francisco to the State Convention swhich assembled The com- ected ntion You remember the contest that oc- The who were elected under the auspices of the was and rt of the committee on credentials, were seated Con- city. { Democratic | county of San Francisco. | Gavin McNab, | tee shall constitute a quorum.” After the State Convention adjourned both parties returned to the city and county of San Francisco again and re- newed the struggle. The general commit- tee, of which Colonel Sulllyan was chalr- man, called a municipal convention in 189. That municipal convention placed in nomination candidates for the various municipal offices. The Registrar of Voters of the city and county of San Francisco recognized the ticket that was nominated by that convention as the regular Demo- cratic ticket of the city and county of San Francisco. The minority of the general committee, commonly called the Buckley faction, held a municipal convention ~and the municipal convention placed in nomina- tion candidates for the various municipal offices. They filed their certificate with the Registrar, demanding that the candl- dates named by them be recognized as the candidates. The Reglstrar of Voters refused to recognize them as the Democratice nominees, so theérefore mandamus proceedings were Inaugurated against the Registrar of the city and The hearing of that_writ of mandamus came up before the Supreme Court of the State of Cali- fornia and the decision of the Supreme Court of this State is reported in the [lith California, and in that decision the cand dates that were nominated by the con- vention that was called under the aus- pices of the general committee of which Colonel Sulljvan was the chairman, were virtually déclared to be the candidates of the Democratic party of the city and county of San «rancisco, a party which at the election preceding held In 1894 in that city and county polled over 3 per cent of the entire voters. The ticket was placed before the people and the Demo- cratic party was triumphantly successful, most of the municipal candidates being elected. Now, gentlemen of the conven- tion, the general committee that I have the honor to represent, is the same gen- eral committee that existed in 1896 and which was declared by the Democratic State Convention to_be the representative committee of the Democratic party of San Francisco. This same general com- mittee was virtually recognized to be the representative party of the Democratic party of the State of California by the Su- preme Court itself. The Demacratic party of San Francisco is an organized politi- cal body itself composed of 35000 voters. It exists under a constitution and rules provided for its government. Its consti- tution has been accepted by the Demo- cratic voters of the municipality itself. The constitution was also approved and ratified by the Democratic State conven- tion of 159%. The general committee ex- fsting under that constitution was also approved and ratified by the Democratic State Central Committee of 18%. 1 defy any of the gentlemen who may appear here for the other side to deny the fact that the general commigtee, of which P. J. Harney is chairman, is not the suc- r of a general committee elected in ce 18 I defy any of them to deny that fact. (Applause.) Gentlemen of the convention, before the committee on credentials last evening I submitted a constitution which reads, “onstitution and rules of order of the general committee of the Democratic party of the city and county of San Fran- cisco, adopted April 15, 1896 1 will read a few sections of this constitution for vour information: (Reads.) ““The name of this organization will be the Demo- cratic party of the city<and county of San Francisco. All. the bona fide Dem- ocratic electors of the city and county of San Francisco shall be eligible for membership, provided they are not dis- qualified by law from taking part in pri- mary elections and conventions. “Section 3—There shall be a general committee which shall be the organized representative body_of the Democratic party of the city and county of San Fran- cisco, whose duty it will be to consider all questions relating to the party. “Sec. 4—The general committee shall consist of twenty-five representatives from each of the Assembly districts of the ity and county. Said delegation of five representatives from each as- sembly district shall be chosen by the | Democratic voters of the district. | "Now, Mr. Chairman, I desire to inform | the members of this convention that this | constitution itself was prepared under the guiding Inspiration of Mr. McNab him- self. fwlll tell you how the trouble be- gan in the San Francisco Democracy. At- tached to the general committee of 450 were several sub-committees, amon, which is a campaign committee compose of twenty members, made up of one mem- ber from each of the Assembly districts, together with the chairman and secretary of the general committee of 450 as ex- officio members. Under the constitution the chairman of the general committee is made a member of all committees, with the right to vote. I will read that portion of the constitution. (Reads.) ‘“Duties of the chairman: He shall have the power to appoint all committees and shall be ex-officlo member of the same with the right to vote.” The duties of the secretary of the general committee—just mark the distinction—shall also be a member of and secretary of and ex-officio of all com- mittees with the right to vote. Now, there, under the provisions of this constitution, I maintain that the only of- ficer it provides for sub-committees is the scretary of the general committee, who made, under the provision of the con- stitution itself, the secretary of all com- mittees. 1If it was the intention of the constitution to have the chairman of the general committee act as chairman of all committe then the constitution would be as specific on that point as it is in re- gard to the secretary, for the campaign commfttee had never elected a chairman until at this meeting held October 18, 1897. I would say for the further information of the convention on this point that I had the recotds of the committee before the committee last night. In everything that I have said I challenge denfal, I have the records of that meeting to prove everything stated. A meeting of the campaign committee of the Democratic party was called to meet on October 18, 18% The meeting was called under the constitution by the secretary. At that particular meeting there were sixteen members _present out of a possible twenty, the only mem- bers of the committee being absent were M. C. Hassett, A. A. Wal- kins and George Marye. Under the con- stitution of the party, which I will read in regard to a campalign committee, sev- en members of that committee consti- tutes a quorum at any time for the transaction of business. Under the pro- visions of section 5, article IV, of the con- stitution, which sa. “The presence of seven members of the campaign commit- At that particular meeting of the campaign com- mittee there were sixteen members pres- ent. Your humble servant was placed in nomination as chairman of that com- mittee and I was elected. Immediately on my election Colonel Sullivan took um- brage at the action of the committee and retired from the meeting of that body. He was the only member of the sixteen who retired. After Colonel Sullivan re- tired fifteen members out of the twenty of that campaign committee remained all during the proceedings of that body, and on this point I challenge contradiction. A week or two after the adjournment of the campaign committee the flat was is- sued by Colonel Sullivan as chairman of the general committee without any au- thority whatever under the constitution of the,party, and I defy Colonel Sullivan or McNab or any other exponent on the other side to show me or to produce in any way any authority for the action I am going to refer to. The chairman of the general committee arbitrarily and arrogantly removed the entire campalign committee of the Democratic party and appointed a new committee in its stead. The new campaign committee appointed by Colonel Sullivan convened. They passed a resolution removing the entire general committee of 450 representatives chosen by the Democratic voters them- selves. Under the very provisions of this constitution that was framed and drafted by Gavin McNab and Colonel Sullivan, and in place of the general com- mittee of 450 they appointed this new campaign committee of twenty without any authority under the laws governing the party,and this new campaign commit- tee without any authority appointed a committee of 110 members. he consti- tution of the party provides that there shall be a general committee of 450 members. This committee of 450 members by virtue of the . constitution is the governing organization of theparty. the voters of the party elected those 450 members. Now the mew campalgn com- mittee appointed by Colonel ~ Sullivan without any authortly whatever under the constitution, removed _the entire general committee of 450, and, mind you, provided by a resolution for the appoint- ment by themselves of a general com- mittee of 110. Under the head of amend- ments the constitution also provides: “‘Amendments of this constitution must be submitted in writing at a meeting of the general committee. “Notice of any proposed amendments 'shall be mailed to members of the gen-