The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, January 15, 1899, Page 18

18 THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, JANUARY 15, 1899. “WILD BEASTS ARE PREFERABLE TO THE HARPIES| THAT ‘HOVER OVER THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS.” “THEy WINE YOU AND DINE Y AM politically dead. Friends, enemies and politicians alike are jubilant over my political demise My friends see in the death of the politician the resurrection’ of the man. My enemies chuckle, because as man 1 am powerless, as politic I had some power. The politicians—weil, they always speed the | and welcome the coming off But let me »m all that T am a political suicide, is a political Coroner who recc such things let him put me on the list. And, like the other suicides, I want to leave a little “tired-of-life” fareweli note. I want to warn others from seeking to be a member of the Board of Super- visors. 1 say no decent man should go th Why, if Moses or any ideal Jawmaker were to sit in their midst he wouldn't escape calumny. It I8 not a question whether I could re-enter the political arena if I would. I would not if I could. Wild beasts are preferable to the harpies that hover over the Supervisors with = wide- stretched mouths, waitin~ for pickings -fat or lean. Even during the ele the candidate real that the thin sugar-coating around any political pill cannot disguise the bitter dose. And a man enters the office with a bad taste fn_his mouth. For the handshaking and hail-fellow- well-met, smooth-tongued cordiality tion for the office which a candidate must bespla over every man he meets becomes tasteful. Individuals one would other- wise never notice must be treated as brothers. Then there is the “baby-kissing act” and all the standard and time-honored accomplishments and arts in which he must become past grand master in or- der to win office. I went my own way and followed my own peculiar course while I was run- ning for office. I left undone many things which, according to politicians of all decades, have ever been consid- ered absolutely necessary to win suc- cess. But the repugnant dose forced on you during the campaign is nectar com- pared to what you are obliged to swal- low once you are in office. You are bound tc fur enmity. All sorts of people, with all sorts of favors to ask, dog your shrinking footsteps and make vour daily life a nightmare. Some of these people, bent on heating their pri- vate frons in the political fire, vou have never even seen before. But they téll you that they have voted for you, and upon that dublous ground they proceed to demand the most fantastic favors. There is the man who buttonholes you in the theater, or usurps your ears during the concer There is the friend who rings you doorbdll midnight to wheedle your4 vote in his favor on a selfish measure. There is the fawning, hand-rubbing individual who hints mysteriously of + + Sketched Frem Life. the board for the purpose of reducing one of the chief light-giving properties in gas. I was sick in bed when I first heard of the resolution. From my own knowledge of chemistry the scheme ap- Ex-Supervisor Rottanzi D OU AND THEN THEy ASK YOU TO VOJE FOR SOME MEASURE” EX-SUPERVISOR ROTTANZI, peared to me to be impossible, sheer I made a careful study of the matter and came to the conclusion nonsense. that it was utter rot. When the matter came up for con- B e R R = S S R SR R S R R R R S h t th g 1> 4 — = THoUaH | i Lr.zfig‘sfoApog|Txch cone the Late Board. Qu HT RONER sideration the committée asked an in- definite postponement of the resolution. The league minority opposed this. After the vote was taken, I then, in the dis- cussion of the resolution itself, demon- strated that it was against public in- terest and public welfare. Even the introducer of-the resolution, after my exposure of the foolishness of the scheme, did not dare to vote upon the question. He asked for a postpone- ment until a report could be had from the chemist of the Board of Health. This report more than verified my statements and the resolution was never resuscitated. The yellow journal, however, got back by berating me soundly in the freedom but not the un- restrained license of the press. While in office T always held that cor- porations, like individuals, had _their rights. I was not a party to any dema- gogic grand stand plays. On such occa- sions the Mayor always took the prin- cipal part. Only to-day I have seen that through his mouthpiece, Colonel Sullivan, he stated that he wanted a person who was competent and upright for the po- sition of gas inspector. Yet to the last board he refused to submit the name of a chemist indorsed by the faculty of the chemistry ‘départment of the Uni- versity of California. It will be interesting to note whether the assessment will be raised on down- town realty merchants and railroad franchises, in.accordance with the views that were advanced to the former board. If so’the Phelan building, at present assessed in the neighborhood of $1,000,- 000, but yielding, according to real estate men, interest at 5 per cent on $3,600,000, will be raised according to their 60 per cent valuation an extra million odd dol- lars. This alone in taxes at $1 81 should give an added revenue to the city of $18,100. The question of a fish and game war- den came up at one of our meetings. The Mayor stated that such a person would be entirely useless. Yet the rep- resentatives .of several shooting clubs. comprising over 1000 citizens and tax- payers, conclusively demonstrated that such an official was an absolute neces- sity. l-%videnny the Mayor considers it his prerogative to change his standpoint as one would a necktie. The fact that N I SAIb, WHY DONT YOou VOTE AS YOUR CONSCIENCES DICTATE -2 he wishes to extend cencillatory meas- ures to a Republican board has prob- ably dissipated his opposition to this measure. There is an old adage to the effect that it is better to teach by example than precept. Yet during our entire term the Mayor never visited the pub- lic offices which duty is prescribed in the consolidation act. If he had devoted a little of the ener- gy consumed in advancing demagogic measures to visiting offices and ascer- taining whether men were attentive to their duties, there might possibly have been some diminution of the city’s ex- penses. But during his entire regime, his newspaper and other duties pre- vented his fulfilling this prescribed duty. In the last three months of my office as a member of the Finance Commit- tee I signed hardly any bills, observing that a possible defeat was ensuing. I am glad to note that the present board has supported the Mayor’s veto on the furniture contract of the new Hall of Justice, or better, Injustice. By this alone the actual deficit that exists will be entirely wiped out and the new board can start in with a clean page. There was one ordinance that I de- termined to make the board nass. But every time I brought it up they cast it aside. That was the “high-hat” or- dinance. I was tired of playing bo-peep with a feather every time I went to the the- ater. . I knew that my fellowmen did not enjoy two solid hours of millinery any more than I did. But every time I brought up the proposed ordinance the board laughed and passed on to other business. After repeatedly casting it aside for four months they finally passed it. Constant nagging won. They passed it just to quiet me, protesting that it would be a dead letter. The night the ordinance was signed I took it over to Manager Morrissey of the Orpheum. Placards were printed and conspicu- ous]y placed in the theater. The next night every other theater enforced the “hats-off” law. That ordinance has brought me just as many congratulations from ladies as from gentlemen. Not long ago I sat behind a lady whose hat, adorned with nodding plumes completely shutting off escribes His Experiences as a Member of the stage, insured the man behind ‘her of an uncomfortable nap. Now I hap- pened to be that man. And I had pro- posed that ordinarce for my own bena- fit as well as that of suffering human- ity. So I had the usher read her the part of the progran 3 aali v B g e S dealing with “If 1 ever meet Dr ped the lady, removing her hat, “T'll give him a plece of my mind, that he won't forget in a hurry.” She certainly looked as if she meant what she said and since discretion is the better part of valor, .I hastily changed my seat to another part of the house. I am going to try and forget the two years I have spent on the Board of Su- pervisors. My disgust is so great that to-day I would not advise a decent man to become a Supervisor. He may retire from the office untarnished, but the or- deal ts too hard. How little I cared for the office after I learned its shady surroundings is shown by my Jjoining the army. I elect- ed rather to serve the Government than the municipality. And . again, no mat- ter how I have been scored by politi- cians and papers, I have never resorted to money to defend my position on cer- tain measures. Everybody knew that my vote was the result of my convictions. Mayor Phelan paid me the highest compliment when in order to have a just measure passed, he delayed the announcement of a vote until T could be summoned from the Clerk’s office. The vote stond 6 to 4 and had he not believed that I would vote in favor and thereby pass the measure, he would not have had me summoned. Of course this experience in polities that I have had is invaluable to me. My knowledge of men and their meth- ods has been marvelously increased. It has taught me to turn my back on Rottanzi,” snap- official life. If you would learn “ways that are dark and mysterious” you needn’t study the heathen Chinee. Just pick out a politician. But don’t learn the lesson by becom- ing a Supervisor. The experience isn't worth it. T am probably the most dis- gusted ex-Supervisor in the land. Of course, if T specified. why this ig so, I'd be called up before the next Grand Jury and then there would be war, indeed. O S R R S S S AR R R AR E o e B P CHINESE: BEN g AND HREE or four gaunt, dingily dressed Chinamen were gazing . intently into a little showcase af- fixed to the wall at a corner of Dupont street. In any other part of the town the case would have been too commonplace to attract the slightest attention, but here, in the bustest and foulest center of China- town, it seemed strangely out of place. The exhibit consisted of nothing more than a few sets of cheap false teeth, the kind that have rubber instead of gold plates to them. ‘What could Mon- golians want with false teeth? As far as 1 know such things were entirely unheard of in the flowery land, and I could not see what Chinamen would need them for in this country. It did not occur to me at first that the display was for the benefit of Eu- ropeans, rather than Chinamen. But the sign beneath the case was conclu- sive. There, In the plainest English lettering, was James B. Landon, Den- P e 2 TISTS THEIR TRICKS tist. Even the name had an English sound. Certainly there were a lot of Chinese hieroglyphics scattered about the wall, but who could tell what they meant? I decided to watch the place for a while. A lot of Chinamen went' up, but they did not look like dental pa- tients. They were well favored and dressed, and were evidently bound for the Shanghai Club, a mysterious and exclusive institution which occupies part of the same bulding. But by and by a young European woman. neatly, if not fashionably, dressed, went up the narrow stairway, carrying a baby and followed by a smart looking Chinese maid, who seemed to be acting as guide. A little later a respectably clad workingman sought the establishment. and then, emboldened by these exam- ples, I thought it time to offer myself as a patient. The narrow stairway brings one with a sudden twist face to face with the closely barred doorway of the Shanghai Club, whi¢ch seems to monopolize the greater part of the building. The place was not so dirty as it might be, which is saying a good deal for Chinatown. 4But on the other side of the narrow 4bassage the door of a cupboardlike room stood open, and from it a cook emerged, carrying a great wooden tray filled with strange comestibles, which, what he is week jof t higher,pedestal and vou “to put a certain thing through” in a grandilo- quent manner that puts you in the light+ of beneficiary while he assumes the4 role of benefactor. Worst of all there are people who have been life-long friends who request zoing to do for you. favors. It is often necessary to refuse$ these, and it is impossible to make them+4- MERICAN municipalities have long been the anderstind ‘_(_'x‘j{m‘n’;‘“r]‘"(’;;‘,‘r‘“;"(-hm A despair of good citizens. I believe that Socialism to the honest Supervisor's lot is the® . holds the key to American municipal problems. blarney that is showered on one for 1 make the assertion that private ownership political reasons. They wine you and+4 of the means of production, distribution and com- dine you, but you reap an aftermath ofy mynication is responsible for the insecurity of subsistance requests to cast an aye or a no for dg .4 tne poverty, misery and degradation of the ever- r vhich cerns the host. 3 mfy,,m‘,:al\‘ :‘,(":i,:g" and dm,ng" breeds* growing majority of our people, and that the liberty and indigestion. The hot bird and cold bot-4happiness of every man, woman and child are conditioned tle are not palatable when you know4 upon equal political and economic rights, possible of at- the host has other fish to fry. 4 tainment only through the establishment of the co-opera- One gets so nauseated with this “f"tlve commonwealth. fensive work that at last he mistrusts¥ = yopije it is not possible for any municipality to guaran- \is own friends. While the host4 AL 2ol e bt ser hie dessert i are wondering4 (€8 to its citizens all their economic rights, whether his. mouth waters for a plum, much can be accomplished in this direction and that every from the political ple. + power the municipality possesses should be placed at the To be a Supervisor Is to slowly sizzle® disposal of the people in the Interest of civilization, and on the gridiron. The seeds of distrust4 mankind may progress to a grander and nobler life. that- it plants promise nothing but a, With the development of machinery there follows the crop of discontent. displacement ~ of labor, and the concentration of capital My position toward my fellow mem-" forces into the working classes those of the middle class bers on the board was not always en-+economically unable to compete with the gigantic com- viable. I belonged neither to the league4 binations of capital that are the features of America's majority nor the league minority. I4 industrial life. voted according to my own convictions, From these sources there has come a class previously There were times when I have scored ¥ unknown in society—the unemployed, whoseexistence can- the entire board on the course it was®not be denied, and whose rights as human beings require pursuing. My views I know were sup-4the formulation of some immediate plan for their relief. orted by members who sat next to e, 4 While no municipality can hope to solve this great prob- hey personally were in the same mind4 lem, it being a national and even an international one, with myself. Yet when it came to a, vet some little relief at least can be afforded by any city vote, although they took my point of government. view, they voted contrary to their opin- A tract of land suitable for the raising of food products jons. Poliey or politics tempted them®can be secured by any city, which can also furnish the to do this. Possibly it was because4 unemployed with tools and seed and permit them to work they feared the enmity or a clash withy on it. A free fuel yard may be provided. Employment some business or social power if they, may be given directly upon public works, not in compe- proved that they had the courage of¥tition with the regular city employes, but on special works, their convictions. +such as improvements of park systems and construction of On one such occasion 1 remember4 bicycle paths. that in a burst of anger I turned ony The system of contracting with the lowest bidder for them and in language more fercible work performed by the city should no longer be tolerated. than elegant said: “— —— why don’t*Low bids mean cheap work. Cheap work means cheap you vote as your conscience dictates?’+men and low wages, and low wages lower the standard of Much friction is the result of such4citizenship. heated arguments. Strained relations The city should perform its own work and furnish its existed among fellow memlers of the' own material, giving employment to its citizens. board. Though we elbowed during the’ In common with every progressive thinker of the nine- meetings, outside the chambers we4teenth century, I believe that a municipality should own turned a cold shoulder on each other.4and operate all public utilities, such as street railroads Obviously our weekly meetings under,and gas and electric light plants. Public ownership of such conditions were not pleasant. public utilities is no longer an experiment. It has been Last winter, owing to vellow journal-*successfully practiced in this and other countries, and ism, a resolution was introduced into#the results have been the minimizing of corruption and spetHOW THE PEOPLE SHOULD GOVERN A CITY i mns i BY MAYOR JOHN C. CHASE of Haverhill, Mass., the Only Socialist Mayor in Americd. <$after much ingenious maneuvering, he +4+managed to get through the doorway of the Shanghai Club. Evidently the members of this ar'stocratic institu- tion live well. It needed no other +the cupboard was used as a kitchen, and I did not penetrate farther into its dismal depths. th ondition of the labor employed A glass door at the end of the pas- g:d“l‘r‘xp:?::e;n\:;(n;no{ l?recservlce rendered the public. sage led into the dentist's waiting- I submit as a self-evident truth, that no public neces-<4room. It was small and clean, fur- sity should ‘be pr\\'ntt"ly owned. There are social andgnished in strictly European style with economic reasons for the public ownership of street rall- ja few chairs and a table. Here I roads. found the workingman waiting his The burden of taxation should be equitably dislr[buted‘turn, and in exact proportion to the holdings of each citizen.4 s Dr. .Lundon European?” I asked. Large property holders should not be allowed to evade org o, he's a Chinee right enough, dodge their just proportion of taxation because of theirgthough his name sounds like a white {nfluence in the community, and in the election of Assgs- mfin'fi," gors extreme care should be taken to select men who \wul’h‘ Ang] :mw dn"you like being treated show no partiality. v & Chinaman?” Secret sessions and “star chamber” proceedings in City4 Don’t like it much.” Councils should be abolished. The people should at all “Then why do you come here?" times know what thelr public servants are doing, and 10, “Can’t help myself. You see, I'm a servant who hides his work under the mask of secrecy¥cleaner at the car house, and my wages is a proper person to be intrusted with the Interests of the#won’t run to fancy prices. But I've people; he stands guilty of the charge of unfairness, arnd4got to get teeth somehow. I know a whether innocent of not, he at least lays himself open tog fellow that had been here, so I cam tHe suspicton of corruption. The guardians of the pu}l‘fl:c “What Had fhe denblEt done to you " welfare should be at all times willing to openly state their¥ .go "hoe ' gng o opened his mouth. position on public questions and to have a correct recnrdQNearly all the teeth in the lower Jaw of their vote on such questions open to the inspection ofg were ™ “gope, A e avities thelp gunsticyen.e +whence they had been extracted just I believe in absolute home rule for municipalities in all fhealing over. ‘“He took the teeth out matters not conflicting with the rights of other cities; theTrjght enough, and now I'm come to try adoption of the initiative and referendum; the imperative® o1 the new Dblate.” mandate or the right of recall of officials by their eon-4 Just then the room door of the ope- Atifussas. <+rating-room opened, and the young wo- Food and clothing should be supplied. to those schooléman with the baby, holding her hand children whose parents are unable to provide for theray o her jaw, emerged. The working- that none may be debarred through lack of the necessities man went in. of life from attending school and receiving (ha; tnl;lnl'nlg Presently my turn came, and I found and knowledge which will make them useful and valuable¥ mygelf confronted by a smiling little citizens in years to come. man, dressed in well cut KEnglish Well lighted streets add more beauty to a city, in my4tweeds. There was not much of the mind, that almost any other thing that can be accom-4 Chinaman about Landon. At first plished_in the way of improvements. The truest economy, sight, from the manner in which he demands that the city shall own and operate its own plant,7 wore his foreign clothes. I should have ond thus be able to furnish all the lights that a city may+taken him for a Jap. A Chinaman can require at a less cost than might be paid for an insuffi-¢-rarely wear Western garments with clent service. grace, whereas a Jap takes to them Through the development of machinery and the con- | with the greatest ease. centration of capital the army of unemployed increases¥ The operating room was well lighted daily, and in proportion to its increase comes an increase+by a window looking on Dupont. It was in the demands made upon the poor departments of thesfurnished exactly after the fashion of cities. Every possible assistance to the unfortunates ingan American dentist’s chamber of hor- need of assistance should be given. Everything possible rors. There was the same curiously ghould be done to spare them from the odlum which un-%shaped chair, with all sorts of devices fortunately has attached itself to the act of receiving such+for raising it up and down, and grip- asgistance. 4Diug the patients head as with an iron Every atom of power possessed by me as a chief magis-_ vise. There were the same little steel trate is being exercised in the defense and support of the instruments for prodding and poking principles of socialism as they are applicable to munici-*1aid out on the table, and in the corner palities. +4+stood one of those flendish wheel ma- chines, which bore holes with a revolve ing drill, and seem to penetrate to the very base of your skull. These things were all arranged in the old familiar way, and except for a certain shabbi- ness in the furniture, and a certain stuffiness in the air, I could have imag~ ined myself in a dental parlor of the second rate kind. But an opium-scent ed whiff came now and again from the Shanghai Club, and rendered a mistake impossible. ‘‘What you want?” broke in Landon, astonished at my long silence. He speaks our language perfectly well, and it is not necessary to translate his re- marks into that absurd Pigeon-Eng- lish which all Chinamen are popularly supposed to speak. It occurred to me that I had better explain by presence. “Oh, I want soma teeth,” I answered vaguely. “Well, sit down, let me Ipok.” It is not pleasant to have one’s mouth pulled about by a Chinaman’s fingers, but T had to submit. The doctor was well dressed and looked clean, but still there is a certain peculiar aroma about the yellow skin which is most objection- able to us. To be just, Europeans have also their special scent, which is quite as objectionable to men of other races. The dentist, with the aid of his finger, examined my mouth carefully, and then announced that I should require about half a dozen teeth in the lower jaw. He would undertake to carry out the work in quite superior manner for forty dol- lars, with gold plates and everything else in superfine style. Or he would put in a cheap rubber job for fifteen dol- lars. “If you go to an American Wllll:‘hiarge you twice as n’lu(";"Aé?'r"'l'!:;t 1-‘«1? marked, by way of clinchi r fach nching the bar- I explained that I was short, of money just then, and asked a terms of payment. it the fi I\\'nv\lt a deposit of ten dollars,”™ said Landon, “and the by . A ndon, <an alance on com- “Can’t T get time; pay installment plan?” H3vaHof onthe “Not unless you are in busin I might give credit; but not e gers. Landon understands his business per- fectly well, and is not going to take any chances when dealing with casual visitors. He told me that he had many European patients, most of the mechanical work he did being for whites. Chinese came mostly for sim- ple operations, such as tooth drawing, “Do your countrymen ever wi ; teeth?” I asked. X SROyeNS (aine “Not in China, but here learning to.” “And where did you your i . you get your experi- “Oh, I learned partly in China, an then I came here and studied Ame‘rh‘s?\ methods.” T should like to have learned more, but just then the door bell rang, and Dr. 'Landon gave me his card, asked me to call again and bowed me out with all the grace of a well-fed Western practitioner. I visited about half a doze; Chinese dentists, but the resul’tnwg‘shnerr; every case the same. Their establish- ments cluster thickly around Dupont and Stockton, between Sacramento and Jackson streets. They are all on pretty much the same scale, up a flight or two of narrow stairs, and arranged to imitate as closely as may be an American dental parlor. The furni- ture is more or less shabby, and the atmosphere more or less stuffy, accord. ing to the prosperity of the occupant and the situation of his rooms. Their charges, also, are pretty much alike; none of them varled more than five dol- ars from the price given by the dentist I visited. i e One man, indeed, a great coarse fel- low, whose place was the dirtiest and shabblest of all, offered to make me a complete set of false teeth for nineteen dollars, “lubber,” or thirty-five dollars if gold plates were used. I was not tempted to accept the offer, and has- tened to the mnearest cheémist to have my mouth disinfected after the exam- ination. J. ¥. ROSE-SOLEY. they 'are 4