The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, April 7, 1901, Page 13

- | i | | Pages 1310 22 VOLUME LXXXIX—NO. 128, SAN FRANCISCO, SUNDAY, APRIL 7, 1901—THIRTY-TWO PAGES. PRICE F1VE CENTS. SUPREME COURT HOLDS THAT COUNTY OFFICERS DEPUTIES ARE EXEMPT FROM MERIT SYSTEM Power of the Civil Service Commission Is Limited to the Holding of Examinations for “Municipal” Offices Only. Three of the Justices File a Dissenting Opinion _—————+ lants that the case of Kahn vs. Sutro had been overruled or materially modified by the subsequent case of Martin vs. Elec- tion Commissioners, 126 Cal., 404, which, it was urged, had considerable bearing on the suit decided yesterday, the Supreme Court says: There is no foundation for this contention. Kahn vs. Sutro was decided before section 8% had become a part of the constitution, and it was there held that under, the constitution b IR WELLSFARCD HUST PAY WaR REVENLE TAX Supreme CourtHands - Down Important Decision. Express Go?pfi Must Put Stamps on All Receipts Issued. e L o e The Supreme Court has handed down a decision by which Wells, Fargo & Co. and other express corporations must hereafter pay the war 15 to provide “‘for the number of deputies that each shall have and for the compensation pay- able to each of such deputies”” By no rea- sonable stretch of construction can this be held to include the power to prescribe the qualifications of such deputies, by any mode or process whatever, The foregoing views are conclusive of the case in favor of the respondent, and it is not necessary to pursue in detail the various points and arguments made by counsel for either side in support of their respective contentions. The orders appealed from are affirmed. In the dissenting opinion of Justice Van Dyck, concurred in by Justice Temple and Chief Justice Beatty, it is held that by the consolidation act of 1856 it could not be claimed that “city officers” and *“‘coun- ty officers” had separate existence. The dissenting opinion holds that the ‘‘county officers” are part of the corporate organ- ization of the city and county of San B e e e e The power of the Civil Ser- vice Commissioners was con- siderably lessened yesterday by a decision of the Supreme Court in the test case filed by deputies in city and county of - fices. The Court holds that “county offices” are. distincet from “municipal offices” and that the merit system does not apply to the former class. In another case a victory was won by the Commissioners, where it was sought to declare the civil service clause of the charter invalid and unconsti- tutional. By the decision the offices over which the Commis- sion has no jurisdiction are | those of Sheriff, District At- t to restrain Auditor | torney, County Clerk, Coroner, ing and paying any war- | Assessor and Recorder, salary of the Civi or for any expense | @ =imisiiininiririirieiininl et + the ground that all | | 5 1o gratutes as they'then stood, the terms bject of | ¢ oeice and the times of election of county offi- titutional and void. | cers were fixed by the general State laws on in the 10Wer | the subject; and was based entirely on the as affirmed yester- | amendment made by that section, which ex- rt. In the other | pressly makes the law as to the election, etc., ked the existence of the | of county officers different from the law as 'ommission 2 general de- |it stood on that subject when Kahn vs. Sutro was sustained in the lower court, | was decided. a S ainef yesfeniay S County Officers Do Exist. , the case of Crowley vs, | 1% AnSWering the arguments of counsel s written by Justice M. | 1O the appellants, who claimed that the red 1n by Justices | TPNE in the case of Martin vs. Election | Commissioners substantiated their claim ed question as to Service Commis- tion over the depu- county officers of the of San Francisco ed yesterday by the Supreme held that the rules of the not apply to the deputies | and county was dec ided by the Supreme Court, were as follows: Timothy | ff and respondent, vs. et al., defendants and Cahen, plaintiff and appel- s. A R. Wells, Auditor, etc., de- and respondent, and A. C. Bauer, ppellant, vs. John E. Quinn and respdndents. | wley against Freud et al. | 1 the Superior Court to re- | ivil Service Commission from | for holding ex- ndidates for positions as nty offices, while in the two 1 to suits were brought | nts ic money HLH—H‘X—I—H-(' et el @ fefofelefenfofofne o frflefefonfodlods donfofolefoforfofefoeodoiels defole @ X on the s nshaw and Garoutte. A dis- | o' Vs s 5 was written by Justice | (22t “county officers do not exist in the Tomeureed 1n by Justies | €ity and county of San Francisco, the de- % cisiy says: L f Justice Beatty | Dotersy ision the court first| Whether there were counts officers in San Francisco was not a question in the Martin and there was no pretense of overruling | Vvs. Sutro on that subject. The onl)" question involved was, When are county offi- | of the lower court, consolidated munici- f San Francisco had no | e Commis- | Civ th rnalBents el cers to be elected and what are their terms of | he qualifications Of | ofce? Miller vs. Curry, 113 Cal, 644, is to | unty officers, such as Sheriff, | (ke same effect as Kahn vs. Sutro. and Recorder. | The 1 ccunty A Cle that dn a consolidated city and No Power Over County Officers. ere is neither a sepurate county gov- | ther such power exists, the | S"°7¢ntal organization nor a separate city | | Bovernmental organization, each distinct and ertirely independent of the other—as there is in ordinary counties and cities—was fully rec- ognized in Kahn vs. Sutro, as in Martin vs. Election Commissioners. There s mno con-| | clusiveness in the argument that there can be mo county officers for a consolidated gov- ernment, because to hold otherwise would be | to violate the original section 4 of article XI of the constitution, which contemplates a “‘uniform” system of ,county governments, Functions of Officials Defined. question does not exist unless in that clause of section 8% of the State constitution, adopted as follows: *“Where a city vernment has been merged and municipal government, it etent in any charter framed ot said article XI, to in which, the times &% ms for which the several county offic be elected or appointed, for their cor ation and for the number of | Not only is the State itself interested in deputies ths each shall have, and for the | county officers 2s parts of its Tmecessary gov- c pensation § to each of such | ernmental machinery. but the people of any deputies.” perticular county of the State are interested, The conte of the Civil Service Com- | and some of them are frequently deeply. inter- mission, the appellants, thiat “there is no | oy, 10 SOUntY officers such as el o Thiee s comt R ‘sl: curders, clerks, etc., in other counties. The . o s ¥ officer " In the| s nctions of such officers are generally not bounds of the city and county of San | " . : » municipal Francisco is briefly reviewed by the Su- B tion 8% power ovi preme Court, which holds that “cOURty | oo oo v roaseioatity ooty o s 18 given to the municipality only to the eoxtent of providing for the manner of their election end their terms of office and compensation. As to their deputies—and they alone are in- volved in this section—the only power granted do exist i this municipality and hat they are recognized by the section f the Statc constitution above quoted. 1n dealing with the claim of the appel revenue tax on all shipping receipts issued to patrons. i 1- . @ it Hereafter when patrons of Wells, Fargo & Co. desire to send packages through the agency of that organization they need not pay the stamp tax hitherto demanded by the agents of the transporation cor- poration. The Supreme Court yesterday handed down a decision in the case of The People of the State of California, by Tirey L. Ford, Attorney General of the State, Plaintiff and respondent, vs. Wells, Fargo & Co., a corporation, defendant and ap- pellant. The decision of the Supreme Court af- firms the judgment of the lower court, where a writ of mandate was granted to ¢ompel the express company to accept, carry and deliver a certain package of- fered to it for transportation, the offer being accompanied by a tender of the full amount of defendant's regular charges for such services. The company had re- fused to accept the package without a further payment belng made by the plain- Hff of one cent or of a one-cent docu- mentary revenue stamp, the tax provided by the United States Jaw of June 13, 1808, commonly known as the war revenue act. Federal Decision Not Applicable. The contention of counsel for the ex- press company that the case was fully | covered by the United States Supreme | Court in its decision in “American Ex- | press Company vs. State of Michigan, 177 | U.'S., 404" was not upheld by the Su- | preme Court of this State. The Federal decision only related to a case where the express company had raised its rates so as to include the expense of the war rev- enue stamp. The Supreme Court of the United States gave a decision in favor of the express company on the ground that | it had a right to make a rate not unrea- JoAn- B QUi - | sonable, and further that the increased rate had not become unreasonable solely because increased by the amount of the | war tax. The decision handed down yesterday says that the Sipreme Court of the | Unitea States did not and has not decided whether primarily the duty to pay the tax is cast upon the carrier. “If a decision upon this point had been necessary we entertain no doubt that but one conclusion could have been reached— that this duty is primarily upon the car- | rier. The language of the act seems to foreclose any controversy. upon the mat- ter.” After quoting the section of the war revenue act upon the subject of express companies the decision says: Company’s Demand Arbitrary. May an express company to which has ad- mittedly been tendered its regular charge for the transportation of a package refuse to ac- cept and transport that package upon its ar- bitrary demand that something more than the regular charge shall be paid? Here it is true that the exaction is small, amounting to only onme cent, but, if the principle is good, it would apply equally well if the amount were large. Being an arbitrary demand of the com- pany, that is to say, a demand which it could waive at pleasure, it would mean, if the prin- ciple contended by an appellant bBe upheld, that one shipper might receive the services of the express company upon payment of the regular charge, while others for the same ser- vice would be compelled to pay varying sums, arbitrarily exacted, in addition to the regular charge. So stated, and we think the state- ment a falr one, it will not need discussion to | show that the principle is erroneous, and that | this may not be done. Fach and every ship- per is entitled to the services of the company upon the payment of the regular charge for the same sexvice. The judgment appealed from is, therefore, atfirmed. 3 The decision was wrltten’l)y Justice Herskaw and concurred in by Justices Garoutte, Temple, Van Dyke and Chief Justice Beatty. A dissenting opinion was filed by Justices McFarland and Harrison. The decision also covered the case of Thompson, Beard & Sons vs. Wells, Fargo & Co. Bk ~ . CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION- ERS, WHOSE POWER IS CON- SIDERABLY LESSENED. e <3 Frarcisco, and that since the consolida- tion gct there has not been.nor is there now any county of San Francisco. The opinion says: Being officers of the city and county of San Francisco and recognized as such by the Free- Kolders' charter they are subject to its pro- visions the same as the officers who Lefore the consolidation were known and recognized as officers of the city of San Francisco. The dissenting opinion closes with a tribute to the “merit system” and opines that the court should adopt a liberal view in its construction and resolve all doubts in favor of the charter and “not weaken it in a vital point.” NEW CHARTER IN NO DANGER Alleged = Unconstitutional Section Would Not Affect Legality of the Whole Act, Say Supreme Court Justices. In deciding the cases of Cahen vs. Wells and Bauer vs. Quinn, both of which sought to restrain the Auditor from pay- ing any warrant for salary or expenses of the Civil Service Commissfon on the ground that the provisions of the charter on the subject of civil service are uncon- | stitutional and void, the court upholds the demurrer to the complaint sustained in the lower court. The decision first quotes the articles of the charter covering civil service and the commission created thereby, and then proceeds to deal with appellant’s conten- tion that section 12 provides for a life tef- ure of office, and is thus unconstitutional and void, being in violation of section 16 of ‘article XX of the State constitution. The decision contains the following: Our conclusions are that these sections of articie XTII of the charter, which provide for the method of appointment. are not insepar- ably interwoven with section 12, which deals with removals; that those gections stand as valid enactments, even though section 12 be eliminated, and that there applies to the case | at bar the well established rule of construction which is stated in Cooley on *‘Constitutional Limitations,”” page 211, follows: *‘If, when the unconstitutional portion is stricken out, that which remains is complete in itselt and capable of being executed in accordance with the apparent legislative intent, wholly inde- Mysterious Stabbing. Frank Jackson, colored, and employed as a Pullman car porter, is lying at the Receiving Hospital with a serious knife wound in his neck.. Jackson was taken to the hospital in a hack at a late hour last night by two other colored men. None of them wouid telt how the cutting occurred, and Jackson’s two friends were placed under arrest. e Chinese Embezzler Strangled. Chin See, a Chinese fisnerman, was founc dead in a building at 1024 Stockton street by the Dolice last night. A knotted rope, pendent of that which was rejected, it must be sustained. * * * If a statute attempts to accomplish two or more objects and is void as to one it will still be every respect complete and valid as to the other.” We must not be understood, however, as in any way expressing an opinion as to the constltu- tionality of said section 12. The judgment appealed from is atfirmed. the ends of which were clutched by his hands, was about his neck, and the deep impressions in his throat showed that he died of strangulation. The man was an embezzler and it is thought that his death was the result of Chinese vengeance. BOERS KEEP UP THEIR RAIDS AND BRITAIN STILL POURS TROOPS INTO SOUTH AFRICA Cecil Rhodes, Former Premier of Cape Colony, Who Is Supposed to Have Greatly Aided in Bringing on the War, Is Reported in London to Be Seriously i — ONDON, Aprii 7.—Judging from recent reporis from Lord Kitch- ener the pacification of South Africa is as far off as it was six months ago. Boers continue their daring raids and guerrilla tactics, while the British columns go on in their ap- parently fruitless pursuit. The London War Office has not abated the steady stream of reinforcements for the big army Great Britain already has in the field. One interesting bit of gossip in connec- tion with the strife in South Africa is the reported serious f{llness of = Cecil Rhodes, who is given credit with having b & ES CECIL RHODES, THE NOTED DIA- MOND MAGNATE AND POWER IN SOUTH AFRICA. | — o Qone more than any other Briton to bring about tngilash with the Boers. THe news of the Sickness of the ex-Premier of Cape Colony was published yesterday in the South African Critic. @ittt et : A special from Utrecht, Holland, says: Mr. Kruger has started for Hilversum, where he will stay for some time. The Burgomaster of Utrecht and a big crowd bid him good-by at the’ station. SHIPMENT OF MULES. Injunction Prdceedings WNot et Heard at New Orleans. NEW ORLEANS, April 6.—The Boer in- junetion proceedings to stop the shipment of mules through New Orleans to the British army in South Africa were not taken up in the United States Court. A supplemental petition was introduced by the Boer people yesterday and the law- vers representing the other side asked for time to consider them. Without ob- jection | the case went over until next Tuesday. WASHINGTON, April 6.—The executive has so far taken no part in the proceed- ings at New Orleans involving the de- tention of the British steamship Anglo- Austrelia with a cargo of mules and horses destined for South Africa. But it is thought that the national Government will be called upon to take action in the matter_if, as is expected, the New Or- leans court declines to assume jurisdic- tion. In that casg¢ the subject yould be one for. diplomatic rather than judicial treatment. CASSIUS M. CLAY STILL BARRICADED IN HIS MANSION-FORT AT WHITEHALL Aged General ~Establishes He Is at. War With FOXTOWN, Ky.. April 6.—General Cas- .sius M. Clay remained barricaded in his mansion, Whitehall, to-day and refused all propositions to be seen, except to talk with Zach White, a negro sent by his son, Brutus Clay, late Commissioner to the Paris Exposition, and Jim Bowling, who went to deliver a note sent by newspaper men. The old man told White to tell Brutus that he was at war with the world and that no man dared cross the “dead line” placed by him fifty feet in front of his .door across the walk. ' To Bowling he said that he had no statement for the press'to-day, but would make one Jater. He tried to write his answer on a ‘“‘Dead Line” the back of the note, but his writing is illegible. Bowling says the general was not wourded in the battle yesterday with Sheriff Colyer and Deputy Terrill, but is barricaded and armed with pistols and knives and with a shotgun. At the front door he has placed a long pole, to one end of which he has tied a white handker- | chief and to the other énd a red handker- | chief. The end bearing the red handkerchief is | raised, denoting, Bowling says, that the war is on, and that he will kill the first | man who dares approach without his leave. and Boldly Declares the World. General Clay's dead line is denoted by a walking cane lying across the walk. It indicates that he is not crippled, but ge to meet his enemies in open battle. He cooked his dinner in a boiler in front of the fireplace. He boiled a ham and had canned goods with the meat. Bowling says he has some 200 cans of apples, pears, tomatoes, corn, etc., in the house, besides several dozen eggs. Brutus Clay, after failing to get an au- dience with ‘his father, returned home. The old man’s desire is to gain the con- sent of his children to relinquish their claims to the property that he may give the old homestead to his child wife, now divorced and married to a laborer, Riley Brock. EARLY MORNING BLAZE DAMAGES MUCH PROPERTY Flames in Cnrp;z;tar: Shop on Jones Street ~ Cause - Double Alarm. A fire which caused a double alarm broke out in the carpenter shop of J. Sanders at 421 Jones street at.1 o'clock this morning and damaged that structure to the extent of $600. The flames com- municated to the building occupied by H. W. Vette & Co., on the corner of O'Farrell and Johes streets, and also- to the frame building at 419 Jones street, occupied on the lower floor by Mrs. L. G. ‘Butler and on the upper floor by Lewis Haub of the California Cafe. Haub esti- mates kis damage at $600, and he has an insurance policy for that amount. Mrs. Butler's property was damaged by water and is fully insured. The occupants of the four-story frame building, owned by William Johns at 415 Jones street, ran into the streets in their night clothes, but suffered from nothing but fright. A Japanese jumped from the second story of one of the buildings and was in- jured on the head. ——————— Chinese Murderer Arrested. ‘The police believe they-have the high- binder who kicked a Chinese woman to death about four years ago. He is known as Ah Louie. He was arrested yesterday morning on Dupont street. CAR AND PASSENGERS TOPPLE INTO A CANAL SYRACUSE, N. Y., April 6—While a car on the old East Side suburban line of the Syracuse Rapid Transit Company was crossing the James-street bridge over the Oswego canal in the heart of the city this afternoon the bridge suddenly gave way, dropping the car und its sixty passengers to the canal bed, thirty feet below. Sev- | eral persons who were crossing the bridge \ at the time went down with the car and a horse attached to a wagon loaded wita lumber were piled on top of the heap. About forty persons were injured, several dangerously. Had the canal been filled with water the result of the accident would have been terrible. The ecar struck the towpath end first and then slid off into the mud at the canal bottom, where it stuck. When the crash came persons -n the strect called the fire department. Ladders were quick- Iy lowered and the injured carried up ard sent to their Fomes or to hospitals. The bridge was about eighty feet long and sixty feet wide.' It was broken shdrp off at both embankments, the.entire struc- ture going into the canal. * —_— Fears for Serviere. ALGIERS, April 6.—Military officials here are anxious over the absence of all news from General Serviere, operating on the Moroccan border, whose whereabouts is utterly unknown. Couriers have been dispatched in various directions, but have failed to communicate with General Ser- vfere, and it is feared that he is short of provistons and ammunition. BECKER SAYS PICTURE IS NOT RECOVERED "Report That Famous Gainsborough Painting Has Been Found Is Viewed With Skepticism. The report from the East that the fam- ous Gainsborough painting of the Duchess of Devonshire had been found in Chicago has created no end of discussion. Wheth- er the original has been found is still a conjecture. Charles Becker, alias “The Dutchman,” the world-notorious forger, now serving a term at San Quentin, and who is supposed to know where the famous painting is, said yesterday: “They think that they bave the original, but they have not,” and refused to make any further statement. A member of the firm of Messrs. Agnew of London, who is here, said: “This is the eleventh time the picture has been found, and I am afraid that this will turn out to be like all former recoveries—a dis- appointment. The only news we have is a cable from Moreland Agnew stating that he had succeeded in buying a Gainsbor- ough. This may mean that he has recov. ered the missing ‘“Duchess of Devon- shire,” but until I see # I must be skep- —— Death of William Mooney. JOLIET, I, April 6—William Mooney, aged 60 years, a Democratic politician and widely known lawyer and formerly a member of the Tllinos Legislatpre, is dead from paresis.