The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, October 23, 1898, Page 6

THE SAfi' FRANCISCO CALL UNDAY, OCTOBER 23, 1898 JOHN D. SPRECKELS, Proprietor. s | Address All Communications to W. S. LEAKE, Manager. | | | ;aBLICATIUN OFFICE......Market and Third Sts., S. F. Telephone Main 1868 EDITORIAL ROOMS... 21T to 221 Stevenson Street Telephone Main 1874. THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL (DAILY AND SUNDAY) Is served by carriers In this city and surrounding towns for 15 cents a week. By mall 36 per year; per month 66 cents. THE WEEKLY CALL. One year, by mall, $1.50 OAKLAND OFFICE. +ese-.-908 Broadway NEW YORK OFFICE. Room 188, World Building DAVID ALLEN, Advertising Representative, WASHINGTON (D. C.) OFFICE.. Rigges House t HEARST'S ‘“ MALICE AND MALIGNITY’ CONTRACT. tract which Hearst compelled the Southernt Pa- cific to make with him. In all the history of crime there is not a parallel case. In that contract it is stipulated that for thirty mounths Hearst will not treat the Southern Pacific by “malicious attack or misrepresentation,” and that will only publish “such criticisms (of the Southern Pacific) as may be found necessary to keep and main- tain the confidence of the public (in the Examiner).” Let every citizen read this carefully and consider what it means. It is Hearst's confession that, unless he was paid to abstain, his treatment of the Southern Pacific would be “malicious misrepresentation * * from motives of malice or malignity.” As every lawyer knows, and every business man understands, in a contract by which one party agrees for a money consideration to abstain from doing cer- | TIIF. CALL has published the text of the con- C. €. CARLTON, Correspondent. CHICAGO OFFICE Marquette Building €.GEORGE KROGNESS, Advertising Representative. BRANCH OFFICES—52T Montgomery street, corner Clay. | open until 9:30 o'clock. 387 Hayes street, open until | 9:30 o'clock. 62! McAllister street, open until 9:30 | o'clock. 615 Larkin street, open untll 9:30 o'clock. | 1941 Mission street, open until 10 o'clock. 2991 Market | street, corner Sixteenth, open until 9 o'clock. 2518 Misston street, open untll 9 o'clock. 106 Eleventh street, open untll 9 o'clock. 1505 Polk street, open | untii 930 o'clock. NW. corner Twenty-second ana untli 9 o'clock. AMUSEMENTS Baldwin—'Tove {n Harness. Columbia—'‘By the Sad Sea Waves. Callfornia Theater—'‘The Span of Life.”” Alcazar— The Wif Morosco's— *‘Straight From the Heart.” Tivoli—'The Circus Queen.’” Orpheum—Vaudeyil New Comedy Theater—Where's Matilda?” | The Chutes—Lillfan Stewart, Vaudeville and the Zoo. Olympla, corner Mason and Eddy streets—Speclalties. Glen Park—The Mission Zoo. Recreation Park—Baseball. | Butro's Bathi | Sherman - Clay Hail Sherman - Clay Coursing. side Coursing Park Metropolitan e—Concert Thursday Evening, October 2. | Rosenthal—Coming in_February A VALUABLE LETTER. l‘ TTENTION is called to a letter by “A Plain | Citizen.” It appears in this issue, and, though long, is ft No more lucid dis- cussion of issues_ has been projected into this cam- paign. It is fitted to open the eyes of the followers | of Phelan as well as to confirm the advocates of Pat- of inter: ton in the wisdom of their choice. THE PRESIDENT'S SPEECHES. pRESIDE.'T McKINLE during through the Mississippi Valley to attend the Omaha Exposition and the Peace Jubilee at Chicago, has delivered a series strikingly i ate his happy ¢ right impress the hearer and in the fewe Ex-President Harri 1 self to be the his tour | speeches th the nt force to faculty of saying right thing at tl le words. possit T administration, of greatest master of the art iority T s predecessors in office s believed he would hardly have a in that r It now Certainly the Presi- pears, however, dent has learned how to say notable t brevity, and many of his addresses during the last few days are as excellent in their way as anything spoken by Mr. Harrison. The highest achieveme: ngs with in the way of a short speech in the an rican oratory was that of Lincoln at at oratior stands alone among Mr. I ’s brief addresses. He never other at all equal to it spiration 4 ion and the made a due as much to the grea intensity of th s as to The short speeches of Ha not been of that exc delivered at and on all so: in the extr one, but in t been | orts of times, at all sorts of places rit lies not h he It is notable that eches made speaking directly the has lation to home during his tour the to the said nothing of a part politics, nor anything diplomatically unwise with ref- erence to foreign a They have been thoroughly Republican and thoroughly rican, and yet they | have contained not one word offensive to either Dem- | ocrats or Spani | The tone of all the speeches has been one of lofty patriotism. The President has words over the restoration of a common loyalty in all | sections of the Union, has paid a deserved tribute to | the men who in the ar 1d navy fought the battles | of the nation, and has recalled to the attention of the | people the blessings they now enjoy in the speedy re- | turn of peace after a successful war in the interests of | Jiberty and humanity i One point made in many of these addresses is de- | serving of particular attention at this time. After re- | minding the people “we have pretty much everything | in this country to make it happy: have money. resources, unguestioned credit,” he said: “People who think a try like ours must act together. in the nation’s history we must not be divided, issues w country, nature i s exulted in noble we good | national | e in a coun- | At this critical hour | The | triumphs of war are yet to be written in the articles | of peace.” | In that short statement is the moral of the political | situation. This is no time for people who think alike | on great issues to be divided on smaller ones. Let us act togeth:: ample There will be no worldwide sympathy for the Vienna physicians who have died of bubonic plague contracted by monkeying with the microbes of the malady. They had no right to introduce the frightful | and incurable ailment into society. If the experiments they were making were necessary, at least they should have been conducted far from the haunts of men | France may soon have so much trouble of her own on hand as to cease trying to settle our affair with Spain. But when she has acquired the trouble the Government of the United States will go right along attending to its own business. S 1 Two love-lorn swains have been threatening death to the women who had too much sense to marry | them, Perhaps the political adherents of Phelan are keeping the foolkiller so busy that this apparent neg- lect is inevitable. Secretary Long of the navy refused to rebuke an officer who was heard to swear at a critical moment. His act leads to the conclusion that the winning of a sea-fight is as important a function as the driving of mules. —e There are plenty of people here to fill creditably all | the available offices. For this reason carpet-bagging is not a profitable industry. | contract. | fidence he was abusing by { to raid the settlement which paid him tain things, that abstention is the consideration he gives. In a contract between two parties each must bring a consideration, Hearst brought to this con- tract as his consideration the promise not to be a liar and a blackguard toward the Southern Pacific for the space of thirty months. To restrain himself as a liar and blackguard for that length of time he thought was worth $30,000. The Southern Pacific, as the other party to the contract, looked into his ability as a liar and blackguard, weighed and measured his capacity for “malice and malignity,” and concluded that immunity from his lying and blackguardism, his malice and malignity, was worth $30,000, and agreed to pay it. These are the cold facts written into that It is an advertisement that Hearst used his capacity as a liar and blackguard to extort money. In certain districts in the Orient robber bandits live | in the mountains and raid the peaceful people of -the valleys, murdering them and stealing their property, kidnaping their women and holding them for a ran- som. In those districts there has grown up the cus- | tom of making contracts with the chief of these thieves, under which, by paying a certain sum of money to him, the raids cease. In this case the robber brings to the contract as his consideration his capacity to steal and murder, and agrees for a fixed sum to suspend for an agreed time the use of that capacity. The people of the exposed district figure up the losses of property and life he has caused, and conclude that immunity from like losses for the period fixed is worth the price, and they pay | it. Can any one discover any difference in the prin- ciple of such a contract and the one Hearst forced | the Southern Pacific to make? The two contracts, in another aspect, differ ma- i Hearst had played the Examiner to get public confidence in it as an anti-railroad organ. This con ‘malicious attack and mis- motive of malice or ma and blackguard representation” from a lignity,” because by being a liar towa prejudice very dangerous to that corporation. Un- less the public confidence was given to his paper his | agreement to cease being a liar and blackguard for | thirty months would be of less value. Therefore the Southern Pacific, like any other contracting party de- sirous of getting value received for its money, stipu- lated with Hearst and he agreed that the Examiner might indulge in enough criticism of the railroad “to keep and maintain the confidence of the public.” In this respect Hearst's contract is unique. Having se- cured the public confidence that his lying and black- guardism, his “malice and malignity,” were truthful and genuine expressions of sound sentiment against the railroad, he stipulated for permission to publish innocuous criticism to deceive the public, while he pocketed the ransom of $30,000 paid for suspension | of his lying and blackguardism. So, in all of its aspects, this contract stands as a It is a confession by siece of unique scoundrelism. Pacific had been “malicious misrepresentation * * from a motive of malice or malignity.” It is a bar- gain made by Hearst that he should pocket $30,000 of Southern Pacific money for which “the company is to enjoy immunity * * from malicious misrepre- sentation * * from motives of malice or malign- ity.” while at the same time retaining the public con- fidence by pretending to be anti-railroad! It is as if the robber chief should feel that ceasing to abstain would injure his reputation as a thief and murderer, and so make him less formidable to other settlements that had not come to terms, and therefore he would ate for the right to steal-a kid and kill a child stipt or two! There were other corporations, perhaps the Spring Valley Water Company, and wealthy business men who had not been despoiled yet, and Hearst desired to retain public confidence in his paper in order that he might force these to purchase the right to “enjoy immunity” from his ability as a liar and a blackguard and make them enter into such contracts as he forced out of the Southern Pacific. This fellow indulges in personalities in his paper, but it is only because the persons abused have not He should understand that he cannot get any more money in this community by posing as a scoundrel, for the experience of the Southern Pacific with him bought. When he becomes sufficiently annoying to justify it his victims will punish him judicially, or condignly, but nobody will be fool enough to buy him THE REFORM MENAGERIE. fl S a reform collection it must be said that Mayor failures. They are making an especially sorry figure in this campaign because they are all mostly professional purists who base their claims to public honest, more moral and more respectable than other men. Indeed, many of them have for years criticized men and measures in this city on the theory that dis- ing would ever go right until they were allowed to direct affairs. By virtue of the power vested in him by the Dem- placed the whole brood of loud-mouthed purists be- fore the people, including himself, the most blatant and loud-mouthed of the lot. This has given the tion of reformers they are proving to be. The Mayor is already on- record as a violator of the purity of elections act. He uses a “sack” in politics and then ley, the “Sword of Damocles,” has been shown up as a traitor to his country, who in the hour of its trouble left it and swore allegiance to a foreign po- even thirty-three years after the event one is amazed that its perpetrator should dare come before the peo- ple as a candidate for office. seen fit to pay him not to be a liar and blackguard. proves that he is a scoundrel who will not stay again. Phelan’s job-chasers are turning out rank consideration on the proposition that they are more honesty and corruption were the rule, and that noth- ocratic State Committee, Mayor Phelan has now press a chance to scrutinize them, and a choice collec- swears that he has expended a trifle. tentate—an act so cowardly and discreditable that Five of Phelan’s Supervisors have been shown to } be colonizers. Registrar Biggy has cited them to ap- | can get nearer to a job. il | he | i the Southern Pacific he could create a public | P Hearst that his preceding attacks on the Southern'! Barclay Hen- | pear and explain their false registration. Phelan’s Public Administrator has turned out to be a carpet- | bagger, and perhaps also guilty of fraudulent regis- | tration. It is well known that his candidate for City and County Attorney is a carpet-bagger, and that his candidate for Auditor came near being indicted by the Grand Jury for failing to account for public money while occupying the office of Tax Collector years ago. We have not had time to'scan the entire list colonizers, carpet-baggers, traders, frauds and fakers nominated by Phelan, and probably the limits of this | campaign will not afford us the time. But sufficient | has transpired to show the people that the Mayor's “reform” cothbiriation is a delusion and a snare. His entire ticket is made up of office-seekers—kickers, bolters, sandlotters, Popuilists, alleged Democrats and others who have for years been playing to the gal- leries in this city in the hope that they might some time acquire a reputation for “honesty” which would procure for them a-nomination and an office. | The question for voters to answer is this: Can | these leopards at this late day change their spots? | Do men who colonize, register falsely, or who violate | the purity laws intend to render the public honest of service in office? In other words, are these so-called purists seeking office for the good they can do or are | they inaugurating a vast scheme of pelf and power? s s e o | e ——— WELLS-FARGO DEFEATED. ATURALLY this paper feels a degree of ela- N tion at the decision of Judge Troutt that the | Wells-Fargo Express Company must pay the | war tax levied by the Government. The corporation has steadily refused to accept its share of the burden, and its good President, Mr. Valentine, has quoted 1'Scrimurc in support of the contention that while | others must pay his company was exempt. As there was neither in law nor justice any ground for this contention, The Call took the liberty of remarking to that effect. Now the company has been defeated, the fallacy of its plea judicially exposed, and yet we We told you so,” although we | refrain from saying, * | did. | It was on advice printed in these columns that Mr. | | Costley brought suit to compel the company to trans- | mit a package on which he was willing to pay the | tolls, but to which he declined to affix the stamp which Congress had specifically declared must be affixed by the company. Before Justice Barry Costley was victorious, and an appeal to the Superior Court | resulted in the sustaining of the Barry decision. That | there could be no other result was an advance con- | ! clusion. J There remains to the company now the privilege | | of appeal only on technical points, or it may conclude | to be honest and abide by the statutes. Sooner or later | | it must follow the latter course, delay being the only | solace for which it can hope. Whichever method may be pursued, there is nothing to prevent President | Valentine from issuing more circulars, to the joy of | his own heart, counseling his employes to exact | tribute from patrons only in a genteel way, to be ever courteous, so as not to let the public know it is being robbed, and to remember that an honest man | is not only the noblest work of God, but ornaments | the executive chair and inspires an express company | to fatness of dividend. | CONGRESSMAN LOUD. A S the voters of the Fiith Congressional Dis- trict have re-elected Mr. Loud to each succes- sive Congress since 1800, it is not likely they will defeat him now that his ripened experience and high prestige in the House have-rendered his services of more value than ever. In fact, the most gratifying | | reports come from all parts of the district giving | promise of the largest majority he has ever received. | Mr. Loud’s career has been one of steady success attained by honest and useful work in fulfillment of | every duty intrusted to him. Born in Massachusetts, he came to California while yet a boy, arriving here in the spring of 1862. With the loyalty of a true pa- triotism, he at once put aside all thoughts of ad- | vancing his own fortunes at that time of peril to the | | Union, and enlisted for the war in the Cafifornia Cav- | alry battalion, which was afterward merged with the Second Massachusetts Cavalry. He remained in the | service until August, 1865, being with the Army of the Potomac and with Sheridan in Shenandoah Valley. The fidelity and the courage which he proved dur- ing the war in fulfilling the duties of a patriot soldier, he has since conspicuously shown in all the respon- sibilities of life. He has made his way upward by | steady degrees, and has merited each successive ad- vancement in public life by the honesty and efficiency of his service at every point in his career. It was by the good work done and the reputation achieved in the Legislature, in the Tax Collector’s | office and in the general business of his private life | | that he laid the foundation of that popular esteem ! which won for him his election to Congress in 1890 | over so strong a competitor as General Clunie, who had carried the district two years before. | With his election to Congress Mr. Loud’s oppor- | tunity came. He at once took rank among the mem- | bers of the House who go there to work for the na- tion and their constituents and not to make speeches | | and acquire a reputation for oratory. Having been |a..igned to the Committee on Postoffices and Post | Roads, he made himself master of the subject, and soon became recognized as an authority on all mat- ters relating to the postal service. His abilities and his industry received their reward by his appointment by Speaker Reed to the chairmanship of the com- mittee, and as a consequence he now holds one of the ‘1 most important positions in the House and is recog- | nized as an established leader on the Republican side, | one of the trusted licutenants of the great Speaker. Throughout his career at Washington Mr. Loud | has been a potent factor in promoting the interests of California and of his district in all matters where such | interests are affected by legislation. A thorough pro- | tectionist and a consistent sound money man, he has { been a stalwart supporter of all the far-reaching poli- cies of the Republican party for the upbuilding of the | prosperity of the nation. He has, moreover, provided | for many reforms and improvements in the postal system. Conspicuous among these is the extension | of rural mail delivery, an improvement whose bene- | fits are now strikingly illustrated by the extent to ! which the system has been put into operation in | Santa Clara Valley. | The people of California need at Washington men | of experience and of influence. It is only by long- continued service in the House or in the Senate that men acquire there the rank of leadership and the ability to be of great service to their States and their constituents. It would be a blunder of the worst kind for the people of the Fifth District to set aside Mr. Loud for an untried man, but, fortunately, it is a blunder the intelligent voters of the district are not going to commit. Labor Commissioner Fitzgerald professes to be- ing a resident of only two counties, but probably he is willing to live in the rest of them if by doing so he WHICH BOSS IS THE MORE DANGEROUS? Dear Sir: Every election is a call to American citizens to consider thelr rights. Every time they face the ballot box they are bound to think upon their duties. I do not write for those to whom an election is the way to a fat place. I do not write for those to whom an election is the satisfaction of ambition. I write for the plain citizen, who has no political office in sight. 1 write for the ordinary voter whose power is in his vote and whose ambi- tion is satisfied when that vote Is honestly counted. To the ordinary citizen, to you and to me, the time before election must be a time for thought. There are men who move in herds like sheep. They may be left out of account. There are men who are drilled in squads, in companies, in battalions. They may be set to one side. The plain citizen follows no man’s lead and takes no man’s orders. His vote is his own. It is as personal to him as his thoughts, his wishes. When he casts it he desires that it should be cast in accordance with reason. Therefore before he casts it he is bound to think. Here we enjoy the political heritage that our (a!her.s won. They swinked and sweated and bled for it. We use it in peace. We are free. The We can elect whom we please; we can government is on our shoulders. make what laws we please. We bow to one ruler, the will of the people expressed in the voice of the majority. For these reasons the manner in which our political heritage is admin- istered depends upon us. WE ARE NOT MINORS UNDER GUARDIANS. We are men and we carry on our own affairs. The Government is not for the benefit of others, but for our benefit. We do not pay taxes in order that some men may wear titles and other men draw salaries. We pay taxes that our property may be protected, that our persons may be secure, that our children may be educated, that the common conveniences of clvillzation may not be wanting to our lives. The Government, politics, the State, the nation, all exist for the plain people, for you and for me, for our use and for our benefit. Hence it behooves the plain people to look sharply to their own inter- ests. It was said to them of old time, “no matter how kings may quarrel, the people suffer,” but we have changed all that. We have made a Government of the people and by the people and for the people, and if we are true to our- selves we shall not permit the quarrels of politicians to work us wrong. Therefore before election day it is the bounden duty of the plain people to think and to think seriously of their own interests. I should simply waste my time should I try to prove that the politicians will give you and me very little thought after election. If anything is to be done the time to do it is now. If the plain people wish to protect their interests they must now consider what their interests are. Now is the time to see stralght. Now is the time to think seriously. The day is at hand when you and I must act without fear of party displeasure or of political wrath. To the plain citizen the present municipal campaign is of no small im- interests portance, After all municipal politics touch his, interests—your and my inter —more closely than national politics. By the results of the municipal campaign are decided the tax levy, the services rendered the credit of our city and by public officials, the condition of our streets, the efficlency of the police to no small extent the conduct of our schools, force and the worth of the fire department. For which reasons the plain citizen should not let the municipal campaign pass by without thought. It is for him and his, that is, for you and me, the most important thing in the world of politics just now. THE PRESENT MUNICIPAL CAMPAIGN Rresents some strange features which demand earnest and concentrated attention from the plain people. Above the din of the candidates, each prociaiming his own virtues, is heard the persistent cry of boss, boss. No matter how loud the thundering of the captains that note of alarm soars above it all. No matter how confused the shouting, like the strident tones of the steam whistle over the discordant braying of the horns on New Year's eve rides triumphant the note, bo bo What is the Men who live together influence one another. Like the stones in the A of the stream or the pebbles on the seashore they are rounded and polished by mutual friction. Some men have the power of influencing They impress their opinions on others. They have a certain magnetism which draws others to them. This is true in every department of life. It is a fact. It does not help us to quarrel with it. Plain people like you and me do not butt their heads against stone walls. In politics there are men who influence others. Some have a natural turn for political affairs. They think politics, they talk politics, they dream politics, they do politics. They have either talent, or what the same thought, their labor to boss? be thing, industry, and they give their time, their political questions. Naturally they gain a following. People look to them for arguments, for objections, for information, for light, for leading. It makes little difference where or how the questions are dis d—over saloon, over the wine and walnuts of a club. The process f men gathers round the oracle of the corner gro- ayed by the periods of the orator reproduced in One man is a leader. Other steam beer in & is the same. One class o cery; another class is sw: the morning paper. The result is identical. men are his followers. IN POLITICS THE LEADER IS The popular idea of a boss is that he masses The popular idea is erroneous in Commonly known as the boss. votes as a contractor masses Chinese. details. The boss 1s a leader because of his talents and industry, and he holds his followers by the same human forces of love, fear, interest, ambi- tion, gratitude, resentment or revenge that hold all other bodies of men together. The leader may be honest or dishonest, with principle or with- out it. Some try to draw a distinction between a leader and a boss. It is a distinction without a difference. The boss is a boss because he is a leader. The leader is a leader because he is a boss. There can be no doubt that the cry of anti-boss is a popular ery. So many crimes, outrages, indecencies have been charged against the boss that the people are stirred to indignation at the very name. But again let us face facts. As long as men ave men there must be bos There may be good bosses or there may be bad bos: ; but bosses there must be. The plain man recognizes facts when he sees them. You and 1 are not given to the practice of holding on to the moon by our teeth. This being so, the question that the plain people, you and I, must an- swer is, how are we to cut down the power of the boss so that he may not endanger our interests? Luckily experience has solved the problem for us. After all, what is a king but a boss? He is the leader of his people. This continent has spewed out Kings. ‘We have in these United States taken the stand that no nian shall lead us except the man we choose to follow. BUT BEHOLD THE DANGER. Having once chosen to follow a man, he may compel us to follow him when we have tired of him. What remedy have we? We elect our leaders for short terms. We divide and subdivide their power, so that no one man shall have too much of the meat on which Caesar grew so great. We jealously define and guard the limits of offices and of officlal power. Thus, as far as man's ingenuity can go, We prevent any one man from ob- taining so much power that he can compel the people to follow him whether they will or no. But the boss tries to render these checks and guards useless by filling offices with his creatures. Thus he sums up in himself the power that belongs to all. Against such methods we have but one remedy. The plain people try to preserve their rignt to their own opinion. - Hach voter fis made free and independent. His ballot is so protected that it is marked in freedom, deposited in safety and counted with justice. The plain citizen i{s thus saved from the compulsion of following any leader. Our trust {s placed in that tendency of human nature which multiplies opinion. We do everything in our power to preserve and increase diversity of opinion, and therefore to add to the number of leaders. The more leaders we have the greater the liherty of cholce and the less danger there is that we shall be compelled to follow any one particular boss. The safety, therefore, of the plain people, your safety and mine, con- sists not in the elimination of bosses, for that' is impossible, and plain people like you and me are not striving after the impossible. ~ It consists in the increase in the number of bosses and in the consequent diminution of their power. The ideal condition of affairs would be, every man his own boss. But the plain citizen is not such a fool as to look for ideal con- ditions on this old earth. He takes the best thing practicable and the best thing practicable in the case of bosses is “the more the merrier.” WE ALL SEE THAT ONE BOSS With twelve thousand votes is a far greater evil than five or six bosses with two thousand votes aplec The small bosses act as a check, one on the other. None of them is powerful enough to act alone. In order to gain more strength they are willing to pay some attention to the inter- ests of the plain citizen, to your interests and to mine. They need your vote and my vote, and to gain our votes they will respect our rights. Fven when they combine they are subject to violent explosions and erup- tions, and the long experience of the race has been crystallized in the say- ing, “When thieves fall out, honest men come by their own.” One of the chief objections to the boss comes from the charge that he is for sale. Bosses sell out. Behind every anti-boss campaign lies this charge. Bosses make money by doing politics. Now the plain citizen knows that it is inevitable that money will be corruptly given and corrupt- ly taken in politics. Your interest and my interest is not to lament this state of affairs. We might as well deplore the rise and fall of the tides. Our interest is to cut down the amount of money thus given as far as pos- sible. You and I, in the long run, pay the bribe, no matter who 1is the briber. In the end it comes out of your pocket and out of mine. Our interest therefore is to decrease the sum. better for us. COMPETITION PULLS DOWN PRICES. The more bosses we have in the market the cheaper it will be to buy them. Bosses come high when they form a trust. Where bosses are many a trust is impossible. One might as well try fo form a trust among a pack of hungry dogs for the proper division of a bone. But be it understood there are grades among bosses. There are big bosses and little bosses. The little bosses control fifty or a hundred votes; the big bosses control twenty or thirty little bosses. When the plain citi- zen thinks of bosses he thinks of the big ones. The men who can cast a few thousand votes are the men who can decide elections. It is the num- ber of the big bosses that must needs be increased if the interests of you and of me are to be safeguarded. But—and here is the most portentous feature of this campaign—a big- ger boss may arise to control even the big bosses. The bosses whom the people fear are for sale. A leader may arise with means to buy them all When Mr. Fay, Mayor Phelan’s man, a few days ago walked up and down his office in agitation, as he learned how the tide was setting against his master, and said, “We have millions; we can buy Buckley and Rainey and Kelly and Crimmins and the rest of them,” he put in concrete terms the fear which must never be absent from the mind of the plain citizen. It may be that Mr. Fay's enemles invented the expression. Whether they aid or not it describes a danger—which is the greater menace to the plain citizen, to you and to me, the nine or ten co-ordinate bosses or the boss that can buy them all? MR. PHELAN IS THE ACKNOWLEDGED BOSS Of his own party. He has devoured or expelled all the other bosses. He reigns alone. His friends glory in the fact. The Committee of One Hundred was his creation. The majority obeyed his beck and call. He has nominated his lieutenants for every office save one or two insignificant posts. If his ticket is elected he will control the whole city government. He makes no con- cealment of his aim. He wants men who will support his policy, which is only another way for saying men who will do his bidding. He is, therefore, the acknowledged boss of the local Democracy. If what he says about the other bosses be true they are purchasable. Which is more dangerous to the plain citizen, to you and to me—the nine or ten secondary bosses or the boss that can buy them all? 2 But, it is objected, Mr. Phelan is working for the good of the city. He has made a good Mayor; he will if he obtains supreme power &ive us good AROUND THE The less we have to pay the government. He is so rich that he has no need to steal. Our taxes Will g0 down; our revenues will be honestly ex- pended. Let us suppose for a moment that Mr. Phelan is all he claims to be and that e, will do all that he promises to do. Whether he is or not is another ques- tion, and what his promises are worth need not now be discussed. Let us take him at his word. The best, the cheapest, the most economical and effective government this city could have it could get from the officers of the regular army at the Presidio. If we should let them govern the peninsula as they govern the reser- vatich we should have fine streets, good sewers, honest work on public buildings and a very low rate of taxation. Shall we, therefore, call in the military to rule over us? We love our freedom too much. We are willing to pay more taxes and to put up with many incon- veniences to preserve our civil liberty. We have taken our stand against despots. A benevolent despot would give us a perfect government, but we are on record in our constitution for a popular government. And why? Be- cause experience has taught the_wurld that a despotic government is in the long run the most costly and the worst. As long as the despot is benevolent and capable the government is well admin- istered, but experience has proved that in a long line of despots ninety-nine out of a hundred are incapable and ma- lignant. i BUT WHY WRITE SO STRONGLY Of Mr. Phelan? If be is a despot, he is benevolent and he cannot perpetu- ate his power. What has been done once can be done a second time, and if the bosses compel the people to follow Mr. Phelan in one election they can compel them to follow him ‘in a sec= ond. Mr. Phelan is wealthy it is true, but the sad annals of humanity have taught us that it is always the rich and the powerful that grind the faces of the poor. Long ago the world learned from Nathan the parable of the poor man’s one ewe lamb and the hearts of generations have burned with righteous indignation because of the vineyard of Naboth, the Jezreelite. The deliberate opinion of the men who founded this republic was that no one man should be trusted with too much power. They, knew that every system of government had its failings and they considered that it were better that this Government should at times fail in vigor rather than in protecting the rights of the plain citizen. There- fore it is the plain duty of the plain citizen, of you and of me, to see that this wise provision suffers no detri- to. think seri- ment. It is our duty ously of the present problem and the present campaign. eat results flow from little causes. Let us put the question to ourselves and answer it in sincerity: Which b s more dan- gerous—the nine or ten lesser bosses or the boss that can buy them all? A PLAIN CITIZEN. CORRIDORS Dr. J. A. McGuire is at the Lick. Jullus Cain, a prominent merchant of Newman, is at the Baldwin. - J. Jerome Smith, a widely-known citi- zen of Stockton, is at the Lick. Dr. T. A. Tooly of Willows, accompan- fed by his wife, Is at the Grand. Major C. F. Williams of the United States Marines is at the Occidental. D. S. Rosenbaum, the well-known bank- er merchant of Stockton, is at the Palace. Dr. W. S. Taylor, a prominent medical practitioner of Livermore, is a guest at the Palace. Captain William Ward, in command of the transport Rio de Janeiro, is a guest at the Occidental. George T. Killam, formerly chief clerk of the Hotel Vendome, San Jose, is now a clerk at the Baldwin. Philip B, Fraser, cashier of the Farm- ers’ and Merchants’ Bank of Stockton, is registered at the Palace. Majer W. A. Wadsworth, U. S. V., hall- ing from Geneseo ., returned yester- day from Manlla, and registered at the Palace. He will leave for the East to- night. —_— e CALIFORNIANS IN NEW YORK. NEW YORK, Oct. 22—R. R. Donalds of San Francisco is at the Grenoble. W. E. Fraser of San Francisco is at the Netherlands. Samuel E. Adair of Los Angeles is at the Hoffman. —_—e————————— ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. THE NEW YORK—G. B. and O. J., City. The steamer New York was wrecked on the Marin County shore, near Bonita Point, on October 25, 1593. PAY TO SOLDIERS—F. J., City. For information as to the payment of soldiers at the Presidio, address the paymaster's office, army _headquarters his city, Phelan building. MY GIRL OF GUAYAQUIL—Kathline, City. The verses by John Paul Cosgrave entitled, “My Girl of Guayaquil,” pablish- ed in The Call about a year ago, have not been set to mus WITHOUT GLASSES—L. E. F., San Mateo, Cal. “Visual acuteness must not fall below fifteen-twentieths per cent of the normal in either eve” in the physical examination of candidates for admission to the Naval Academy at Annapolis means without glasses. GERMAN COLONIES—E. 8., Seattle, ‘Wash. There is no distinctiv German colony in any of the counties of the State of California. There was one In Merced, another in Tehama and another in Monterey County, but now people of other nationalities have joined in, with these people and therefore they cannot be called German colonie: TROOPS ON TRANSPORTS—A. R. §., Sacramento; A. 8., City; N. B. B., City. On the 25th of May, 1898, the City of Pek- ing salled from this port for Manila car- rying the First California Volunteers; the Australia, the Second Oregon Volun- teers, and the City of Sydney the officers of the headquarters, a batialion of the Fourth Infantry and a detachment of heavy artillery. —_—————— Treat }"our :riends to Townsend's Cali- fornia glace fruits, 50c_Ib., in fir boxes. 627 Market st., Pa})ace l';)ul]dein:'.m‘h in —_——— Speclal information supplied daily to business houscs and public men by the Press Clipping Bureau (Allen’s), 510 Mont- gomery street. Telephone Main 1042. ¢ Ladies’ Pocketbooks. Our assortment of.ladies’ pocketbooks, billbooks, letter and card cases, lap tab- lets, Mexican_carved leather belts, bags and valises. Your name stamped in gold letters free of charge on any of our fine leather goods. Sanborn, Vail & Co., 74 Market stree B “See the poor soldies cried one of the girls. “How ragged!” sald another.. ¢ “And thin!” : I “And dirty!"" *“And bedraggled!" “And shaggy and unkempt!” “How perfectly horrible all over!” “Girls! Let's kiss him!"—Philadelphia North American. —_—— Through Tourist Car to St. Paul. This car is nicely upholstered in leather, leaves every Tuesday night, no change. Goes via Shasta route and Northern Pacific Rail- way. The scenic line of the continent. Tick- ets on sale to all Eastern cities.at lowest rates. T. K. Stateler, general agent,- 3§ Market st., San Francisco. —_——— Commercial lunch, 11 to 2. Am Bar- rels, 803 Masket sty i