The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, January 21, 1899, Page 1

Call VOLUME LXXXV—_NO. 52. SAN FRANCISCO, SATURDAY, JANUARY 21, 1899. PRICE FIVE CENTS. INVESTIGATION COMMITTEE been begun. licited a bribe. 00000800890 00000020020006C200000000000060000000€000C00 20083000000000000000000000000000000 TRYING TO SHIRK ITS DUTY refused to call the committee together. 000060000000000000000006000609080000000000000000000000062000068606000000000000000000000008000000000 CALL HEADQUARTERS, SACRAMENTO, Jan: 20.—The Assembly committee having in charge the investi- gation of charges against Speaker Wright and other members of the Assembly held no meeting to-day. Chair- man Cosper, who is himse¢lf charged with having solicited a bribe of $6000 for his vote for United States Senator, Subpenas that have been issued for witnesses that are expected to testify to important facts have been held up, and there is small reason to suppose that they will ever be served. Committeeman Mellick, who has so far acted as chief obstructionist for the committee, admits that Wright is attempting to force the committee to make a report and wind up theinv estigation before it has fairly He opposes the introduction of new and important testimony. Chairman Cosper is accused of having so= Committeeman Wade has attended but one session of the committee. ed from a district into which Green testified to having sent $100 to insure the election of the legislative candidate. Committeeman Mellick seeks to prevent the attendance of important witnesses, among them being William F. Her= rin, chief counsel of the Southern Pacific Company, and Charles G. Lamberson, who, it is said, acted as agent for Cosper in the solicitation of the $6000 bribe. Committeemen Lardner, Sanford and Burnett are the only members who have displayed a desire to get at the facts. They will attempt to call a meeting to-morrow, and will elect a chairman and proceed with the business before them, re- gardless of the evident desire of the other members to smother the inquiry. Committeeman La Baree was elect= INVESTIGATORS NOW LOOK FOR WHITEWASH Chairman Cosper and Committee- man Mellick Become Obstructionists. ENTHUSIASM SUDDENLY CEASES Entire Tendency of the Permit It to Die of and to Drop Inquiry at Present Is to| Innocuous Desuetude the Whole Business. HEADQUARTERS, SACRA- against ght and other members v is in imminent danger Unless the voice of ninority of the investig: is allowed to prevail it may ted that within a few days a whitewash will be appli irched person of 1 the charges and accusa- against other members will be | entirely. of the investigating com- | vas held to-day. It is due to a| of the members of the com- : to say that Chairman Cosper »p at this most interesting t made particularly inter- act that Mr. Cosper has, afternoon, rested under t he had solicited a urn for his vote for tor. of the committee embly chamber for stk afternoon for their , but he failed to put in an It was afterward ascer- t he was down town dis- 1e merits of the charge against | him with intimate friends. When the! lisgusted members grew tired of walt- | they ed a meeting for 7:30 word to that effect | Mr. an appearance He then informed his astonished associates that they could urn to their boarding-houses as he | yuld decline to hold a meeting on the ground that he had not called the mem- bers together. nan Cosper. r did not put in 8 o'clock. Cosj until terday a subpena was issued for .amberson who, it is said, r's agent in the alleged $6000 transaction. The subpena has not and no attempt has been made to secure its service. When asked about the matter to-night Chair- man Cosper said he would telegraph to Lamberson to-morrow and request him 0 come to Sacramento, If such a tele- vet been served r | committee. first message Lamberson has recelved from a member of the Investigating This afternoon Committee- man Mellick telephoned to Lamberson at Visalia. The nature of the conversa- tion that passed between the two men is not known. In the meantime the subpena is still in the hands of the clerk of the committee and there it will probably stay unless a minority of thé committee can force its service. Yesterday the committee passed un- der protest from Mellick and others a resolution ordering the issuance of sub- penas to secure the attendance of John D. Spreckels, M. H. de Young and William F. Herrin. These subpenas have not yvet been issued and they are not likely to be, always providing that the minority of the committee has not the power to go ahead with the inves- tigation regardless of the will of the majority. For tha »n~~+ two days Com- | mitteemen Lardner, Sanford and Bur- inett were the only members who gave evidence of a desire to pursue the in- vestigation. Indications point to the conclusion that the work of the com- mittee will terminate in a general whitewashing report uiiess the pro- tests of the members named can pre- vail. An attempt was made in the As- sembly this morning to increase the membership of the committee by the appointment ef one of Burns’ followers | and one who marches under the stand- ard of Grant. The proposition was made by Committeeman Mellick, who gave notice of his determination not to serve longer on the committee unless his wishes were carried out. ‘The proposal met with unfavorable action and later in the day Mr. Mellick reconsidered his determination not to serve. The incident was one of the many that occurred during the day and which are held to be a certain indica- tion of what the future action of the committee will be. Mr. Mellick’s work on the committee has been marked by obstructionist tactics and the assertion made by him to-night that Speaker Wright and the Burns forces were try- ing to force the committee to make a report, though the investigation has just begun, may serve to show that Colonel Burns is attempting to use the committee as a ladder up which he ex- pects to climb to the Senatorial chair. It has been evident from the begin- ning that Chairman Cosper and others of the committee were industriously seeking to bring out facts injurious to the Senatorial candidacy of U. S. Grant and to suppress facts tending to throw discredit on the candidacy of Colonel Burns. Because of this the committee has come to be known as a “Burns committee,” marked success. The examination intc the charges against Speaker Wright was merely perfunctory and was pur- and as such it has been a | | establish facts to the discredit of Mr. | Grant. But for the fact that the truth of the charges against Wright was self-evident and could not be con- cealed, it is doubtful if he would have been asked to even deny the charges. As it s he has convicted himself out of his own mouth and it will take a heavy coat of whitewash to even par- tially cover up his misdeeds so that the decent members of the Assembly will consent to endure his presence among them. The whitew is being pre- pared at Colonel Burns' headquarters, and there is no good reason for doubt- ing that certain interested members of the investigating = corumiiitee are * the brushes with which it is to be applied. That the job that seems to be in store is not to the liking of Committeeman Mellick is apparent from his words and actions to-day. He wished to shift the responsibility to other shoulders. but was whipped back into line. Then he telephoned to the witness. who is pre- sumed to know something of the charges against Chairman Cosper. “I am not prepared to say what I think of to-day’'s proceedings,” said Committeeman Lardner to-night, “but I may have a word to say to-morrow. Mr. Cosper’s actions have been peculiar, to say the least. It may be all right, but it has a bad appearance on its face, I must confess, We will have a meet- ing to-morrow or I will know the rea- son why. If Mr. Cosper will not call the meeting some of us will get together and elect a chairman and proceed with the business before us. “It may be that the Burns men are holding this Investigation over the heads of some of Grant’s followers as a club to force them into the Burns ranks. I am not prepared to say that this is so, but as I said before, the whole proceeding has a peculiar look. “Of one thing I am convinced, and that is that the Burns forces are using every means in their power to prolong this investigation and at the same time make it barren of results, for the pur- pose of disgusting the many good men in the Assembly who are anxious to have done with the Senatorial election and begin the work of perfecting im- portant and necessary legislation. By doing this they will soon be able to force a caucus and then they will gobble up the Senatorial plum. It is an unfortunate and deplorable con- dition of affairs.” It is the general belief among every one in Sacramento who is even remote- ly interested in the work of the inves- tigating committee, that Milton J. Green, U. 8. Grant’s political manager, is just now suffering from a very pro- nounced ease of “cold feet.” He was cited to appear before the bar of the Assembly this afternoon to show cause why he should not be punished for con- tempt for refusing to answer questions concerning the payment by him of money to legislative candidates prior to the election in return for their promises that they would support Grant for Sen- ator. When the time came for him to appear he did not put in an appearance, but sent, instead, a physician’s certifi- cate to the effect that he was suffering from a variety of ailments which would be seriously complicated were he re- quired to appear at the bar of the As- sembly. He was excused until Monday afternoon. In the meantime the very serious charges against Chairman Cosper of the investigating committee remain un- refuted and unsubstantiated. and Green is the only man in Sacramento who, besides Cosper, has a knowledge of the facts. An unscrupulous person might see in this situation an excellent opportunity for a settlement of con- flicting interests. That is to say, if the contempt charges were allowed to go by the board Green could well afford to decline to testify against Cosper, if indeed he has knowledge of facts dam- aging to that gentleman. The investigating committee has not vet taken any steps to investigate the charge that Assemblyman Morris Brooke was approached with an offer of patronage and the dismissal of the contest that was being made for Fis seat if he would vote for Burns for NOW COMES THE DRAG IN INVESTIGATION A Day Spent in Unseemly Wrangling Before the Assembly. COMMITTEEMEN ASK ASSISTANCE Caminetti and Mellick Throw Verbal Bricks at Each Other, but Were Excusable Owing to the Strained Conditions of Their Nerves. SACRAMENTO, Jan. 20.—Milton Jay | and somewhat turned, they had inducea that Mr. Green was only cited. He Instead came the cer- sued no further than was necessary to AS SEMBLYMAN WITH A LITTLE CHIN mMusic gram Is ever sent it will not convey the‘ DELSMAW ObuLGES CONRIED STARTED THE BAL BY OFFERING A RESOLUTION. COMINETTL FLINGS "MOT SHOT" AT MELIKK WADE ASKS DELSHAW HAS THME BILL BEEN RETURNED FROM THAE PRINTER ? PLEASANT WORDs (iR FOR TRME ; NEWSPAPERS, MELICK saiD “UAM & MEMBER OF THMIS SELECT COMMITTEE ¥ COSPER "THROWS TME CON INTO GROVE. — Senator. Of course, such an inauiry would be detrimental to the interests of Colonel Burns' candidacy. therefore is not strange that Brooke has not been called to tell of the indignity put upon him by the disrep- | utables who are seeking to influence decent legislators to vote for Burns. | Mr. i p tificate saying that Mr. Green was quite prostrated from fever and gastric dis- and 1t | tyrhance and really unfit for the ordeal romiged him. Quietly, though, it was whispered in the lobbies that Mr. Green had dined on mushrooms, and that, being canned Green, political manager to Ulysses S. |a chill in the Green feet. By motion of Grant Jr., was cited to-day to the bar " Mr. Dibble Mr. Green was allowed until of the Assembly to say why he should | Monday afterncon at 2:30 o'clock not be duly punished for the contempt | in which he so palpably holds body. did not appear. to eradicate the chill. The morning session was one long unlovely wrangle. Though Assembiye man Mellick had not eaten of the chille inducing fungi that laid low Mr. Grant's manager, he was very evidently afflicted with .the same trouble. He wanted to get off the investigating com- mittee and opened the morning session by saying so. He said it was not just the right thing that three Bulla men who were on the committee should be obliged to stand the brunt of the fight and the newspaper criticism. He wound up by refusing to go further unless at least one Grant sympathizer and one Burns adherent were added to the list. Mr. Mellick’s plaint was somewhat as follows: “The investigation by this committee,” said Mr. Mellick, “has taken a broader scope than I thought it would and—" “Pardon me,” broke in Speaker ‘Wright, “but if this has to do with the investigation now going on I wish to call the Speaker pro tem. to the chair.” And Mr. Anderson took the gavel. “There are now ‘three members of that committee who are voting for Rob- ert N. Bulla for Senator,” continued Mr. Mellick, “‘and I ask that the com- mittee be enlarged. It is unfair that the brunt of the work and all the criti- cism should fall upon us, and it seems to me no more than right that one Burns man at least and one Grant man should be appointed to act with us. “I want to say that I am unwilling to act further with this committee un- less this is done. I do not care to take the responsibility of offering a resolu- tion or making a motion, but I ask some one else in the House to do so for me.” “A resolution!” shouted Mr. Conrey of Los Angeles, “and I want it read before any further action is taken.” Mr. Conrey’s resolution was unique in its intent. If adopted it would have shut out all investigation, for the pres- ent at least, of the charges preferred | against Chairman Cosper and would have protected Daniel M. Burns from being questioned upon what Mr. Con- rey was pieased to call “street rumors.” It also left a loophole in section 2, through which Cosper and Burns and every one else could eventually crawl to safety. Mr. Conrey denied that his resolution did all of these things. He said it in no wise restricted the scope of the in- vestitgation or circumscribed the pow- ers of the committeemen. But when his resolution was read there was none to believe his contentions. It read as follows: Resolved, That the committee on inves- tigation appointed by resolution adopted on the 16th day of January, 1899, be and