The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, February 25, 1900, Page 10

10 THE SUNDAY CALL. | P < “ y o o : 4 : ecommittee. The counsel who appeared epeeches were bitterly personal. There The Invest! d, but were Genéeral Charles H. S. Willlams, was the bloody termination that seemed whatever :,f:;w;‘a:f;g‘:'l':fld::fif; s Stephen J. Field, Hall McAllister and unavoidable, as the custom of that day the wardrobe incident it had the’ effect N > Colonel Edward D. Baker, among the ;‘{“;1 “k'”“ "I"gl'hflffl""fl';yikngw" ‘h:‘ of destroying the chances of Phelps. It blest lawyers in the State. But when Broderick wou e killed—in fact, the e \ s R . mewspapers had Fone 50,886 as to isvne /oL Lov Jowever, (RADLEArk, but e, al contestr interesting al annals—e o other State can with many btiess well with the, masterful oliticians of ho had beeny pa-ts t might y tragedy of Senatort Sornin ot of romance in the She was never robed As she sprang ? P s a. without Terri- s Minerva was b ? f She was a 1850, ted e TUnion September 9 r her duly ra of Congr . . > . etors T s ¥ had been u or of one of the 3 ommander at Geary ame ¢ w explire March y served some a desper o n. There was then no w ™ the two « ne n and it a 2 ) set the meeting. However, Feb 7 was y < the time for the to prepare t Assem- »er was on the t of the crowd hold the con- hall upstaf*s. he Sepate was re- several Assem- that there was memb before to pre- While a vote te to postpone embly was at postpone was Assembly was convention te to help to ad- v-five were neces- no one had near that sfied that ntion adjourned re of 1852 the first con- Y 2. The total e w . Broderick then rance as a Demo- for Senator, and the other John B. Weller. On t nt was arrived at and Weiler was elected for the term to expire 10 17 that we: the Whig nom- i k storica k-Gwin struggle e en were Democrats » the party. Br - ammany g nd Gwin the or Southern wing. s were the d. Broder- tter, with as was self-acquired. »scurity into promi- natural tact for r neand, the path thorny strewing r of General as given the saw at the r the possibility mors in the new in California, fluence he could The election nf Gwin should logical- e but Broderick, feel- uld not control the Legis- determined to bring on f‘;e year in advance. The Whigs in a hopeless minority. but having g to lose by delay united with the orces of Gwin. At one stage in the ex- ting events that transpired & single vote d have turned the balance in favor of erick. On January 19, 154, Elisha T, . Senator from Butte County, rose to estion of privilege and stated that on 7th, while a passenger on the steamer om San Francisco to Benicia, the then te capital, he had been introduced to Joseph C. Palmer of the banking house of mer, Cook & Co., and that later on that day Palmer had offered him 35000 i¢ e would vote to bring on the election at A committee was appointed to investigate the bribery charge. Palmer turned the tables on Peck and explaineq that the latter had approached him with # suggestion that if he was paid the sum named he would not only vote to bring on the election but would secure an addi- tional vote There were exciting meetings of the the Benate took the final vote the result was ridiculously absurd. It was in effect that the bribery charge against Palmer head not been sustained, but that the de- ¢ision was not intended in any degres to reflect upon the honor and dignity of Peck. At the same session the question of the removal of the State capital to Bac- pamento was an important is‘ue and it 4 interjected into the Senatorial fight— the friends of Broderick favoring the re- m The bill to remove to Sacramento passed and it was assumed that the fight Broderick had been won, but the movement did not accomplish the result that was expected. At the Sacramento it Assembly would pass the bill to bring on the Benator election as Broderick desired, and his opponents confined their efforts to beat him in the Senate. The Assembly passed the bill on March 6 and the fight went to the Senate. In that body the greatest excitement prevalled, mani- fested by an ominous silence. Broderick won out one vote, but on reconsidera- tion the following day the Senate receded from its position and the project of forc- ing on the election was ruined. The hopes of Broderick to obtain the coveted prize were, for the time at least, hopelessly crushed In the shifted Legislature of 1855 the scenes Gwin started in with a Demo- cratic majority, but still with not enough to control the election. Fifty ballots were n from January 18 to February 16. On the first ballot Gwin had 42, Broderick 12, F L. iwards (Whig) 36, Joseph W. McCorkle 14, James A. McDougall 2, with 4 scattering among other Democratlc can- didates. The play of Gwin was to bring on a caucus; that of Broderick to prevent that move and to stave off the election for the session, with the hope that the future Legislature would be favorable to him. There was a reversal of the posi- tions of the factions from those that had been mssumed in 1S4. With consummate skill Broderick and his adherents fought off the caucus and when it became appar- ent that the time of the Legislature was being wasted to no purpose the joint con- vention adjourned, leaving the term of Gwin expired with no elected successor. {now-nothing’’ or American party . election in 835 and controlled At that session formerly of Mississippi, Foote 8. came within one vote of election to the Henry vacant Senatorship. Wilson Flint, a Sen- ato: from Sen Francisco, though a mem- ber of the American posty, sturdily re- fused to vote for Foote. beileving that he was a pro-slavery man 2nd a carpet-bay- ger to this State. Witaout the vote of Flint no progress could be made. His life tnreatened, but his friends guarded m so well that no harm came to him. The new party lacked discipline, and wus €0 divided that no. candidate could be sgreed on. The Democratic minority, with a little ald from dissatisfied “Know- through nothings,” passed a resolution the Senate declaring it inexpedient and contrary to the wishes of the people to fill the vacancy, and the election was post- poned until the succeeding Legislature. In the Legislature of 1857 Broderick was Kking of the caucus. There were two Sen- ators to be elected—one for the full term and the other for the four years that re- mained on the unexpired term of Gwin. Broderick was elected for the full term on the first ballot. There were many aspirants for the short term, and all paid court 1o Broderick, for the decision lay with him. The history of the intrigues connected with this election and the cun- ning of Gwin in estranging Broderick from some of his friends is too famlliar to be again recourted. Gwin abjectly appealed to the magnanimity of his tri- umphant enemy, and while under exas- peration at disclosures that seemed to point at treachery of those he had trusted Broderick Instructed his followers to vote for Gwin and he was elected. Gwin had promised in writing to permit Broderick to dispense all of the Federal patronage, but no sooner had the new Senators reached Washington than it was apparent that Gwin had the ear of President Bu- chanan and the control of the offices on this coast. The bitter war that had been waged between the two men broke out with added rancor; the Democratic party in the State was rent in twain, and the culmination of the storm of battle was in the gubernatorial election in 1853. Both Benators stumped the Btate; their session at’ was understood that the, the subject during the campaign. After the election a challenge was passed to Broderick, and he fell in the famous duel in September, 1859, Governor Weller appointed Henry P. Haun of Mar: ille to serve out Broder- fck’'s term on October 26, 1859. Milton S. Latham was elected Governor In 185 by the chivalry Democracy, and the second day after his inauguration the Legislature adopted a resolution to go into the electicn of a Senator to fill the Broderick vacanc There was then no inhibition to the elec- tion of the Governor to that office, and 1t was well known that Latham wanted it. He was presented to the joint con- vention by the triumphant chivalry De- mocracy, Edmund Randolph was the ean \ didate of the Tammany Democracy and | Oscar L. Shafter was named by the Re- | publicans. There was but one ballot. The vote was for Latham, 14 for Randolpa and 3 for Shafter. The Legislature of 1861 was called on to elect the successor to Gwin, for the term to commence on March 4 of that year. The prominent candidates were James A. an? B. Wel | MecDougall, a Northern Democrat, John Nugent and John Democrats. There ballots. On _the ved 27 votes, Wel- ler, were chivalry twenty-two first McDougall rec ler 27, Nugent 9 and G. Phelps, the Re- publican caucus nominee, 23. On the last ballot McDougall recelved 55, Nugent 47 and Weller 6. The president of the con- vention, supposing that McDougall had re- ceived a majority of the votes, announced his election, but a few days after it was resolved that there had been no choice. McDougall relinquished all claim to an election, and on April 2 a new elect'on took place and on the first ballot McDov- gall received 57 votes, Nugent 29 and Wel- Jer 4, whereupon McDougall was electel regularly to sérve until March 4, 1867. In the course of this contest a quarrel oc- curred between Daniel Showalter and Charles W. Piercy, members of the As- sembly, that resulted in a duel on May 25, 1861, in which Piercy was shot in the mouth with a rifle and instantly killed. Latham’s successor was elected by the Legislature of 1863—a Union body. The principal candidates were T. G. Phelps, Aaron A. Sargent, Trenor W, Park an1 John Conness. There was a very bitter contest, and for several weeks little or no progress was made. Phelps had the de- clded advantage at the outset, but he could not secure enough by five or six votes for the caucus nomination. Toward the end of January rumors of bargain and sale on the part of Phelps and Con- ness, and of corrupt trickery on the part of Park, became rife. It was reported that Assemblyman F. M. Smith, a Park adherent, had been approached by Charles Watrous, a friend of Phelps, and offered $3000 and a political position for his vote for Phelps. At the same time it was stated that Cyrus Palmer, a Park Assemblyman, had been approached by Zeke Wilson and offered positions for Limself and friends if he would procure six votes for Phelps. These charges came up in the Union caucus in the shape of an inquiry as to their truth on Janu- ary 27, 1863, when Senator McCullough, a son-in-law of Park, rose and stated that Smith had notified him of the corrupt proposition of Watrous, and had asked him and R. C. Gaskill to be present at his room In the Golden Eagle and hear its repetition; that they concealed them- gelves in a wardrobe, and heard Watrous speak of the matter with Smith in de- tafl. These charges created great excite- ment. There were other serious charges and counter charges, and the more the pool was stirred the fiithier it became. Conness to the surface, and he was elect- ed on February 10 for the term to expire March 4. 1860, The election of the successor of McDou- gall was tame and uneventful. The joint convention met on December 16, 1865. The Union caucus, on account of the difficully of agreeing upon a more prominent canc date, had nomirated Cornelius Cole, and he was elected by, a vote of 92 as against 26 complimentary votes thrown for Will- fam T. Coleman, Democrat. On® December 20, 1367, Eugene Casserly was elected to the Senate to succeed Con- ness. He was chosen as a Democrat on the third ballot, receiving 69 votes as agalnst 45, including a majority of the Senate, cast for Thomas A. Brown. This was another election in which the accusa- tfon of bribery was made. the day on which the voting commenced, Senator W. J. Shaw, a Democrat, gave notice of an act to punish the offense of lar person for United States Senator. A month later Shaw again arose and asked leave to withdraw this notice. Then Sen- ator L. B. Mizner (Unlon) gave notice of R i On the 1Tthy bribing a legislator to vote for a particus=y JAMES T. EARLEY.. LeLaND STANFORD a similar bill and presented a resolution calling for an investigation of the recent election. This resolution was adopted by the Senate but failed in the Assembly. ‘While the Legislature refused to proceed with the investigation, the charges did not die out. The arnoyance their discussion occasioned, with the culmination of a di- rect charge by the Democratic County Committee of San Franeisco In the fall of 1873, caused Casserly to resign his scat, after having served a little over four years. In the Legislature of 1871-72 the Demo- crats had a majority in the Senate and the Republicans a majority of over two 16 one in the House. There was a de- clded advantage for the Republicans on Joint ballot. That Legislature was called upon to elect the successor of Cole for the term to commence March 4, 1873. This was the second election that was held under the Federal law that requires the election to be proceeded with on a cer- tain day. after organization, the law of Congress of July 25, 1866. On Tuesday, De- cember 19, 1871, the ballots were taken in the houses separately. There had been but little friction in the partisan caucuses. The Republicans had settled upon Aaron A. Sargent and the Democrats upon Wil- liam T. Wallace. The vote in the Senate was 21 for Wallace and 18 for Sargent: in the Assembly, 54 for Sargent and 24 for Wallace. The following day, the joint convention elected Sargent. The Independent, or “Dolly Warden,” party carried the State in 1873 and elected the majority of the members of the Legis- lature, Newton “voth had been elected AARON A SARGENT |governor tn 1871 by the Republicans, bus became the leader of the new political movement, and there was no misunder= standing that he would be urged for the senatorship in the event of the success of the Independents, for he had In his speeches during the rampaign declared that he had “burned the bridges behind him,” that would have led back to the Republican side in the case of a failure, As stated, Casserly had resigned and Booth sought the long term that would commence on March 4, 1875. There was also to be considered the election of a Benator for the short term, to end at the date mentioned. The matter came up In the houses on December 16, 1573. In the Senate, for the full term, Booth and James T. Farley (D.) and James McM. Shafter (R.) received each 13 votes; in the Assembly Booth had 43, to 28 for Farley and 9 for Shafter. For the unexpired term John S.Hager (D.) had in the Senate 18 votes, Jesse O. Goodwin (Ind.) 8, Cor- nelius Cole (R.) 5; while in the Assembly Hager had 22, Goodwin 10 and Cole 18, There being no joint choice the matter came up in convention on the 20th, when Booth was elected for the full term, to expire March 4, 1881, by a vots of 61 to 37 for Farley and 27 for Shafter. Three days later Hager was elected to the unexpired term by a vote of 55, as against 20 for Thomas H. Laine and 13 for Shafter. This had been the second instance in which a Governor had been elected to the Senate. Booth retained the office of Governor un- til he was ready to proceed to Washing- ton to take his seat in Congress. Directly after that election Senator Philip A. Roach proposed an amendment to the State constitution that the Governor should be ineligible to the office of United States Senator during his gubernatorial term. While the amendment failed in proposal by the Legislature it played a part in the reasons for the calling of the Constitutionai Convention in 1S79. A few days after the Senatorial elections A. D. Bell, an attache of a San Francisco news- paper, published a statement that the final vote of Senator S. J. Finney. that had at the last moment been changed from Shafter to Booth, had been infiu.: enced by the receipt of a specific sum Bell refused to give the authority for his statement, and the Senate adopted he alone a resolution to the effect that was responsible for the authorship of the charge and expelled him from the reporters” desk in the Senate Cham- ber. Afterward thers was a recon- sideration by the BSenate and the in- cident ended by a general smooth- ing over and apologies. A similar exposure transpired in the Assembly In reference to one Converse. He had stated that he could for money control the Leg- islature. The Assembly issued & warrant for his arrest; a committee to Mnvestigate was appointed; a conviction of contempt followed, and_ha was sent to jail for six AP WILLIAMS. days and cautioned to bs more careful about his future utterances. Later on an- other Assembly committee of investiga- tlon reported that no money had been used for the election of either Booth or Hager—in effect that everybody was pure and no one gullty—and the matter dropped. The election of the successor to Sar- gent was a .ame affair. The balloting was had In the houses separately, on De- cember 18, 1577 Two candidates were CHARLES N. FELTON. STEPHEN M. WHITE... T nominated—James T. Farley, a Democrat, and M. M. Estee, a Republican. In th Senate Farley received 28 votes and Est 12; in the Assembly Farley had 5 and Estee 24. The next day, in joint conven- tion, the journals of the two houses werc read and Farley was declared elected fo: the term to commence March 4, 1879. The term of Senator Booth was to ex- pire March 4, 1881, and it became neces- sary for the Legislature of that year tc elect a successor. On January 13 the mat- ter was taken up in each House. The Re- publicans nominated General John F. Mil- er, and the Democrats Judge Willlam T. Wallace. In the Senate Henry Georgo was nominated as a third candidate, and in the Assembly Campbell P. Berry. Mlil- ler won out in both houses, and the next day in joint conventlen was declared elected. Miller did not serve out his term, dying at Washington on March 8 1886, and_Governor Stoneman appointed gisnrze Hearst to serve the unexpired The inside history of the election of the successor to Farley by the Legislature of 1885 has never been written. The Lexixla- ture was Republican on joint hallot. Aaron A. Sargent had been understood since his return as Minister to Germany to be in line for electlon to the United States Senate. During the campaign of 1884 his candidacy entered largely into the election of members of the Legislature and it was believed that he had the back- ing of the Huntington wing of the railroal people. George C. Perkins and M. M, Es- in California tee were also aspirants for the R caucus nomination. When t met those three were and the odds were An unknown factor, however, w reserve by Creed Haymond a Henry Vrooman, and the sprung until the eve of Republican cauc lative session og at the rooms of Vrooma building, and after was drawn up tc vote on the first Senator, but t their votes should caucus for Leland St a further understandir seven should irtervie and that such as would abid derstanding expressed in th be icvited on the following e thus swelled the names of a members. The fri and joined in the those who had been p fell into but Sargent were his dream of hours _before the scheme. Stanford was nomir caucus on the se came to the balloting in t were but two candidates J ford on the part of George Hearst on crats. In the } had 79 votes, Hea and Farley 1. Governor Storeman Legislature to meet uly, 1886. After the adjourned the year bef had died and Hearst his ste not occurred to th ator could be el but the Federal stat: the subject, and on Aug roceeded to elect a sh William H. Parks, sembly, occupied the s contest that Sargent e s 0 votes, to 24 clared elected for the end March 4, 18§ The Legislatur: & view to the electi was apparently a Democrat the railroad preference was known George Hearst. As the campalg on this became apparent by binations made in Republica There was opposition to Hea party, his invineible a - s railroad made all attemp lefeat him apparently futile. When Democrat didates for the Legislat wer rated Hearst sent them each, with the money in their campaign if electzd. These checks were re me, but most of them were kept d in v cases more was as sald that this use of money ir al fight was the motive gpeech ever made b It was at the Dem State tion at San Jose. and began: “T am a bitlous to make it possible f n to aspire to the never forgiven by Hea fner. When the Legisla it was suposed that Hea His fight was In the har ltam _D. English, S Tom - and Christopher Buc mon rumor. however, Clunle handled the sack English, who was to bor Commissioner, was repor laces on the water front for {:!ear,u but as cash was story got out t Hearst's ma were holding out the cash and promises of patr he feel came so bitter th caucus met on only 46 were present not elect a Se of 120 legis! elected chairman of Green” Lawrence supporters made bitt ing the absentees. 4 ling the caucus adjourned to became apparent that some d existed between English an at w ore side and Buc Hearst was present part in the fight statement ext ters in his own I pald for each vote Toll call of the Legislatur afterward to be lst,” and on _a¢ sum of $1%0.000 was pa next meeting of .the members were present absentee was reported to ha own bargain and r 1 others and got a plac house. Hearst was ballot, getting fift Samuel M. Wilson and 3 for I. W. H he was elected nominated by T. J man. _F and Chanc Hearst dled at W 1891, and on March 19 ¢ was_elected to serve out of the term. Stanford was re- succeed himself on January 14 died at Palo Alto June 20, 1393, an C. Perkins wa ted by ¢ Markham to suc m lature of 18% elected him t balance of the term. In Janua Perkins was elected for the full term that commenced in March of that year and w|sll e;p!reu.‘vla‘r(‘h 4, 1903, tephen M. White was electe 21, 188, for a full term to succ’egd‘x;'r;"l.ol;\y and that terminated an the 4th of Marchy, 99. WINFIELD J. DAVIS.