The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, August 2, 1902, Page 4

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SATURDAY, AUGUST 2, 1902 GAGE MAKES A RECORD FOR ECONOMY AT EXPENSE OF HELPLESS ORPHANS AR S Ignores Them and Their otection of the orphans, ns and abandoned children guaranteed by the-con- titution of California is a mat- to every citizen of Governor jority of the Board of E: gle stroke of the pen, and with- cuse for their action, tary of State (*mryl‘ etary of the Board | ved a dozen or more ate of funds aggregating they for which were entitled the tutio the care and ance of the orp! half-orphans ed children within their cor- nder mainte and abandon the ate of benefits childre policy of an admin- »d by a man who is record for economy who openly defles the stitution and mmonwealth of this money, ment * orphar slightest authority extravagances in without restriction, be- part of a plan through istration hopes to suc- which will commend it- us politicians, but sondemnation of of Cali- of other use both who has the weifare of the commc th and of the people sin- cerely tance of a small coterie of do what is known as lities for him, ~Governo without protest the law: orn to support and carr: “pi Gage which he out even the smallest detail. He is chairman f the Board of E: aminers, a body consisting of the Gov- | or, Secretary of State and Attorne ‘ w requires that this bod > first and third Mondays | which meetings action nst the State shall be sworn into office rly met only two | ree times ané it was at one of these | herings that :Pdeadly blow was dealt of the State, for provision, and which C e and his creatures ovi n with the countiess | or which childhood vearns and | er the law is their due | secretary of | has ings of the Board | nd_with the spect the records of the otice, those relating to the < for the care and main- half-orphans and curt refusal is-in- Kevane. i in_political circles #hat er the boom of his chief Kevane is holding up | descriptions presented | h the com- | forthcoming deubt, | s these iexion 2 s PECULIAR FACTS ARE DISCLOSED BY, SUIT Claims of the Orphans Are Rejected | Without Slightest Examination Into the "Fac on with | Governor of E laims of | maintenance | phans and abandoned brought to public notice in ty of San Luis Obispo v T. Gage, Attor- 3 d and Secretary rles F. Curry, composing the of Examiners, for the re Boar State - covery of claims amounting to $10,179 25, which was recently decided by Superior Judge Peter J. Shields, at Sacramento, in favor of the plaintiff. The testimony in | s ac indicated that the claim in questic as disallowed without the | slightest examination into the facts, and in the language of Milton Shepardson, at- torney for San Luis Obispo County in the suit alluded to, “was a piece of politics that would cause Martin Kelly 1o blush. The suit in question was brought under of article 4, section 22, of on of California, which pro- never any county shal pro- »ort of minor orphans, or duty shall be ‘en- ame pro rata appro- priations as ¥ be granted to institu- tions conducted for the support and main- tenance of minor orphans or half-orphan ch other control an act was passed by the Legis- lature granting aid to institutions sup- porting orphans or half-erphans. It pro- vides as follows: For each orpban supported and maintained such institution, the sum of $100 per a: provision he. % or each half-orph: ach ¥ rted and main suppol tained in nstitution, the sum of §75 per anpnum For each abandoned child supported and maintained in such institution, the sum of $76 per am In many of the counties of the State where orphan children have for years been mafntained at public expense, the provisions of the act of 1580 were evidently unknown. Bither through ignorance or through neglect of the county officials, the claims arising under the law were not presented unti 18%, when the vario counties, realizing the justice of the claims, presented them in the aggregate, one by one, to the State Board of Exam- iners for their approval and payment. The claims were considered in bulk at a meet- ing of the board, October 4, 190, and di: ellowed on the general ground that they were barred by the statute of limitations. Thus at one stroke some dozen counti were deprived without sufficient ‘legal e cuse of more than $100,000 to which under the law they were justly entitled. At no time was the justice of any of these claims disputed, nor was it alleged that any of the accounts were fraudulent. The claims were bunched togeiher and Gage, suggesting that the statute of limitations operated against them, Secretary of State Curry moved that they be dis- wllowed. Gage and Curry voted in the irmative, while Assistant At- toimey General C. N. Post voted in the negative. None of the representa- tives of the counties interested were present, and had they been it is doubtful f any other action would have been taken. The disallowance of the claims was dictated by Gage, and the evidence tends to show it was resolved upon by the Chief Executive of the State long be- fore the date on which the meeting was h Not satisfied with the action of the beard, Attorney Milton Shepardson of Colusa, who was prosecuting the claims of San Luis Obispo County, applied to the Buperior Court of Sacramento for a writ of mandate to compel the Board of Ex- aminers to allow the claim of San Luls Dbispo. Inasmuch as the action was in many respects a test case, considerable mterest in the outcome was manifested. it was ued by the defense that Board of Examiners was vested with dis- sretion in the consideration of claims, | | | | | | i | | | [ [ [ [ | [ | | | t | CHAsS F CURRS: : e e RECORDS OF THE STATE BoaRmD OF EXAMINERS ATTORNES” MILTOMN SHEPA®RDS.So™N Colusa . Sutter . Modoc . Napa . - Los Angcles Lake . Lassen . tenance of orphan children. the maintenance and care of orphat rejected by the State Board of E ... si16250 of Examiners to allow that county - $824 24 | Alameda . . . . 8$L162 50 - .. -81,3427 09 Butte . San Benito . . 83064 00 | Sonoma . . ... .8599683 | Tuare. . CLAIMS FOR THE MAINTENANCE OF ORPHANS WHICH WERE REJECTED BY GOVERNOR GAGE OLLOWING is a complete list of the counties together with the amounts of claims for half-orphans and abandoned children which were aminers at the dictation of Governor Gage without any examination whatsoever as to the correctness of the claims, and solely for the purpose of mak- ing a record of economy for the administration: MoBtevey . - . .. oo os - $701 00 | San Luis Obispo . The application by San Luis Obispo County for a writ of mandate tc compel the Board s claim has been granted by Judge Shiclds of Sacramento. Governor Gage appealed from the decision, and 'the matter will be heard by the Supreme Court sitting in bank onthe 13th instant. Meanwhile the other counties are arranging to con- solidate their claims for collection. The result of the litigation in the Supreme Court will be watched with great interest by all the counties having claims against the State for the main- S S “. .. .$3,08925 e ..y $2,120 85 cee. . 812,532 04 . . $11,998 57 eeeae. . $IGLE29 26 ceee .. . $28,261 14 ... .$88125 hitherto having been made in behalf of the State in any tribunal except in actions | whege breach of contract or negligence | were the controlling tontentions, ——e s | ACTION OF THE BOARD ! PART OF POLITICAL MOVE Attorney Milton Shepardson Scores the State Examiners in an Original Brief. N his brief to, Judge Shields Attorney 1 Shepardson discussed the contentions of the defense in vigorous style. Re- garding the claim that the board was vested' with discretionary power, Shepard- son said: Who ever heard of the Board of Examiners shot at all e clalms of the es of the State, and killing the one roke of the pen, without considering the evidence in favor, without hearing any cvidence against them, and then trying to shield themselves behind the bul- wark of their own illegitimate construction and say, ““We have.vsed a judicial discretion, we robl you of your money and deprived you of your rights, but we are monarchs of all we survey and cur rights courts cannot dispute?* The defense claimed that the Board of Supervisors of San Luis Obispo County might have been doing politics when it passed the claims rejected by the Board of Examiners. In reply to this, Attorney Shepardson had this to say: I wonder what the Board of Examiners were doing when Wwith one swipe they rejected all the claims of the different counties of the State? This was not politics, but it causes ind that for that reason it was not sub- mandamus process. It Pguded, that ‘he claims in question were barred by the ftatute of limitations, a contention never Martin Kelly to blush. This senseless yot pitying: appeal, at the sight of the terrible ca- lamity that confronts them, i enough to tauch a heart of aamant. Why, its politics, pure snd simple; A record of economy had to be | re made for the good of the cause. and to do_this many claims of many countfes of the State are sacrificed while others receive thel- share. Some countigs are taxed to pay the money which has already been drawn by other coun- tles; but at the same time are denled the cor- ponding privilege. Well, we dyed-in-the- wool Democrats propose to make the G. 0. P. practice what they preach, and make an hon- est dollar in currency pay an honest dollar in debt if we have to attach to our mandate and shake In their faces the skeleton of Yankeo Doodle until its milk white teeth rattle like a pair of Spanish castenets. They have been grinding the sword of Gideon and flourishing the jawbone of an ass over the heads of the southern Philistines—your petitioner — long enough. Our claim is correct, it s exact, it i3 true, it is precise it is proper, it is free from error. it is faultless, and the law does not permit them to willfuily disregard It and the evidence which we have produced in support of it and act wholly against law, against the evidence and the fact, and then leave us reme- diless, In combating the contention of Gover- ror Gage that the orphan claims werc barred by the statute of limitations, At- torney Shepardson said to the court: San Lufs Obispo County is a political subdi- vision of the. State. It is a part of the Stats, It cannot run against one part of Itself and not against another part of it. The State Is inseparable. To say that the statute of lim- itations will run against one part without run- ning against every part of it would be like suing on a contract which a man Has made ‘with himself. We ask, therefore; what part of the State it is that tite statute of limitations does not run against? Is it that part just outside of San Luls Obispo County, or does it inelude petitioner as part of it? The evidence in the casé was. discussed by Shepardson at some length before the court, and he contended that the Board of Examiners never raised directly or in- directly an issue of fact. He claimed: that Gage and his fellow: members of’ the board, with the exception of t Attorney General Post, were driven to the -+ wall by an unbroken chain of authority. Resuming, he saids They now piteously appeal to the court to Presume in their. favor things which never ex- Isted. They assigned their reason for reject- ing the ciaim in their answer, and have thus CUL_out every presumption which under the most_favorable circumstances could exist, and | the doctrine, expressio unius exclusio al- terius, forever closes the door to inquiry. Tha learned Attorney General is not responsible for this result, for with his counsel and ad- vice he protested against these outlandish. pro- ceedings and did all in his power to prevent | such, result, but disregarding his sound ad- vice and without his approval, without right, Agzainst the fact aguinst the evidence and against law, the Board of Examiners, without a claim in Sight (no doubt) summarily reject- gd clalms of many of the counties of the State, and daprived tham of moneys expended in behalf of the helpless poor, which the h'gh- est law of the land said' was ightly theirs. It might be not improper here, though not in the record, to cail to the attention of the court that a few years since $60,000 was bor- lowed on the honor of this State by Governor Budd' from' Claus Spreckels to relieve the suf- ferings of some of the very people whose claims are now: before this court. Are these the claims. defendants would have you believe are dis- hemest? Are not these the claims upon and about which the defendants are endeavoring to. cast a suspicion. of dishonor, at which they er- riogly point the finger of scorn? The Legls- lature passed a bill appropriating sufficient money to redeem the honor of our fair State which had been pledged to Mr. Spreckels, but the Governor vetoed it. It has not becn. re- deemed, V. death, where ig thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? Than to have the Governor of this fair Stats pledge the honor of her people for their sup- port and then repudiate that pledge, these paor, Doverty stricken wretches would ~sooner _ be: dead; far soomer be dead, dead, damned and delivered, forever and a i they would sooner be buried alive, surrounded by their: friends and pauper relatives; they would: be hung Dbetween heaven end the Danm KEWVAMNE f TS [l :://41///)/)/14)11 [ NN DRI PRSIt SECURED THE REJECTION OF ORPHANS AND ATTORNEY CLAIMS FOR MAINTENANCE OF W HO LEGALLY RESISTS ACTION. — SECRETARY AND MEMBER OF STATE BOARD OF EXAMINERS WHO e — — depths of perdition and ha whose interests have wantonly been ig- | thrown. to. the buszard; they would. 500 nored by Governor Gage and his: politieal the raven would make their desolate home its | friends. has attracted general attention roosting place—dle, yes. die in the midst of | and great interest is manifested in_the plenty—in a land of milk and honmey where [ Ghtogme’ The matter will be argued by the grajes hang ripening In the southern sun. | Attorney Shepardson of Colusa. for San | than to be one of those whose unfortunate cir- | T i "y 2o Gonnte while the interests cumstances had caused aspersion to be cast ‘of Governor Gage will be guarded by the upon the land. they. love—the State which gave | 9 (ONCUnor BOES WL BE ERaTol OF toe them birth. s | to ba exerelsed nceording to la | on the 13th inst. 5 i BRI JUDGE SHIELDS ISSUES Court Holds Orphan Claims Are Le- gal and Should Have Been Allowed. J UDGE SHIELDS, after considering plaintiff and ordered that a writ of mandate issue compelling the Board of Dxaminers to allow the claim. After reviewing' the facts as encited at the Tke discretion which is vested in the Board of Examiners in the consideration of claims presentzd to it is not an absolute nor an arbi- trary diserétion, which would; permit them moment might suggest, but a legal discretion, and certain- ly not in contravention of the vested rights of an honest claimant. In the case under cons and sufficlency Of the petitioner's claim was in its petition alleged to exist, and no leg reason is stated In- defendant’s answer why such claim should not be approved. The abso- clajm’ being admitted, no discretion remained with the Board of Examiners which would permit them to legally disallow it. I am quite satisfied that, in view: of the admitted legality n Yas but ane logal action possitle on the. part of the Board of Fxaminers, and that action was. to allow the claim. Referring to the contention that the barred by the statute of limitations, the. court says: I am not prepared to hold with regard to claims. of the nature under review, that the egainst a county even by a soverelgn state of which the county is a component part. The issue of the statute of limftations has nowhere been raised in the record—no demurrer was ter been adequately presented in the answer. The defendant having answered, it is pre- sumed to have made the most of its case and pleaded the best defense possible, and to have Mt to disallow the claim. It appearing o the justice and lemality of the petitjoners claims: is admitted, and no legal reason being stated Jjustifying its disallowance by the writ should iseue as prayed for and the attor. ney for the petitioner will accordingly prepase findings and jedgment in accordance with the facts herein expressed. by the Board of Examiners and it wiil be heard by the Supreme Court in bank The importance of the litigation, involving as it does the wel- WRIL AGA}LNS’I‘ BOARD ‘the facts, gave judgment for the hearing, the court goes on to say: priciously to act in any way the impulse of th. eration every condition requisite’to the legali lute justice and legality of the petitioner's d correctness of the petitioner's claim, there claims of San Luis Obispo County were statute of lmitations could not be pleaded interposed upon that ground—nor has the. mat. stated all of the legal reasons: which prompted Board of Examiners, I am convinced that the An appeal from this decision was taken fare: of thousands of orphan children luw the Board of Examiners and Messrs, Devlin & Devlin, leading attorneys of Sac- ramento. -, METHODS OF KEVANE ARE LAX AND CARELESS Many Claims Are Nfif Stamped When Filed and Notices of Rejection Are Not Issued. HE carelessne: ness is- transacted by Secretary vane of the State Board of aminers. is illustrated by the that many of the claims of counties with which busi- Ke- Ex- fact for the maintenance of orphans have not been adorned with, the file mark, so that it is impossible to say when the same were filed in the office. This is notably in the'case of Monterey County, wi claims were disalowed October 4, on the ground that the claims were filed within the statutory time. The of filing is not recorded upon the ck although they were sworn to in Apr the preceding year. It is a notable cumstance that the whiclt should under the 1 a majority of the board cigned by Secretary attorneys who are fighting the claim: the varfous counties are preparing make the most of this circumstance, making the point that th invalidated thereby. < Pgtione hat Governor Gage, with th ance of Kevane Dolic: favoritism in hi sidered by toriety. of counties were rejected on the ground that they were barred by statute of limitations, it is known Gage has allowed clai three years. which, if tI tations really red. of Stafe Curry. , IS pursuing a polie; s action upon claims the board is a matter of true hosa 1900, not date aim. il of cir- notice of rejection aw be signed by is, in_fact, only The s of to they are sist- Y of con- no- Although the bulk of the claims main the that ms Cating back he statute of limi- 3 applies, were actually bar- Claims were acted upon whenever %, x’ | it suited the convenience of Gage or his right bower, docino Count; and were ne until the attention Curry was called to the circumst Kevane. The claims of Men- y were ignored for two years ot even indexed by Kevane of Secretary of State And this was done in the face of the law, which provides th: aminers shall act uj a peflo? of thirty da; before the board. That Kevane knows how to the will of his superior is evi th‘n:hpete):zllarl gll;cu::.ltnnces in wi e cla of Sonoma 928,261 14, which, it is allege carry eflCmm(y king 'to a Secking to compromise on a basts ol Attorney Q. O. Webber of out denced by connection for $10,- t) declined by District that at the Board of Ex- pon all claims within ¥s after thelr filing “Dan” Kevane Defies the Pubpblic. 5 org re 1E prvilege of citizens of the State to examine ail public re will one which Se Kevane ignores. Witk ary out the slightest authority, s without guiding dents, Kewane steadi the records of his office to the of even the members of the to display inspection press, his the right to unless he can excuse being ‘“‘that nmo ome has mspect show in claims in his office that he has a per- | sonal interest the Acting on this theory K ne succeeds admirably in eoncealing from the public gaze what- ever suits the convenience of himself or the Governor, whese interests he will go to any length to subserve. When a Call reporter sought to scan the claims of the various counties for the maintenance of orphans Secretary Ke- vane stated that he had no knowledge of the whereabouts of the claims and that nothing could be dene until the arrival of his_chief deputy McGrath. Ke vane them lefi the office for luncheon an a few minutes later Deputy McGrath a rived at the office. He seemed surprisec when the demand to see the claims in queszion was made upon him. cannot allow the claims to spected in the absence of S vape,” said he. £ The reporter stated in answer that Ke- vane had volunteered the information that the deputy would furnish the doe- uments asked for. McGrath insisted that he could not do so. “I Fave no right to furnish these doc- uments far public inspection,’ he re- plied. “I am an enploye of the State and am not privileged to furnish possible i igants with information against the Stat Unless you can show how you are int ested in the claims, I must refuse be etary in- Ke- to show them to you in the absence of my chief. Upon the arrival of Secretary Kevane the request to_ examine the documents was repeated. Kevane demanded to know the business of the reporter, and on iearning that his visitor was a newspa- per man he grew very reticent. n what manner is your paper inter- esfi(]l in the orphan claims?” he asked coldly. ‘‘As citizens and taxpayers of Califor- nia’’ was the reply. ‘“You cannot see them unless you fur- nich a better reason.’” The reporter suggested that he would secure a written orcer signed by Secre- tary of State Curry and Assistant Attor- ney General Post directing Kevane to al- low the reporter to inspect .such papers and records of the Board of Examiners as he might demand. Would that do? No, it will not do,” replied Kevane in- solently. “If you wowdd present a dozen such orders, I would still refuse to allow you to inspect the documents.” Kevane disappeared in his private office and the incident was closed. Subsequent- ly The Call man reported the facts to Sec- retary of State Curry, who said that Ke- vane’s conduct was perfectly regular. “Kevane has discretionary power in the premises,” he added. “As secretary of the board be is custodian of the records and he is privileged to do with them what his judgment may dietate.” “Do _you countenance such a const: tion of duty in an official of the State? “‘Secretary Kevame represents Governor Gage, and as far as 1 am econcerned will stand in with the administration. - e e e T ) who states that the claim was presented during the last few days of Governor Budd's administration. The expert of the beard had made a searching Investiga- tion of the claim and reported in its fa- vor: It was accordingly allowed by thae beard, but subsequently, by a peculiar coineidence, the certificate of allowance signed by a majority of the board was lost. The claim thereupon was acted upon for a second time and this time re« jected. No evidence as to its genuine- ness was heard by the board, ner was there anything before the board tending to show that it was incorrect, but in the face of the favorable repert of the sv pert of Governor Budd and its allowancs by the previous administration, Gage and Kevane, with the assistance of Secretary of State Curry, promptly rejected it Every attempt of the- officials of Sonoma County to secure a reconsideration of tha matter has met with failuge. OFFICE IS USED BY GAGE FOR POLITICAL PURPOSES TTORNEY MILTON SHEPARD- 4 SON, when seen by a Call reporter at Colusa, made the following ar- raignment of the methods of Gage and Kevane in deallng with the general public and others who have claims agal the State: s It is a notorious fact that the Board of Ex- aminers is a machine used by Gowernor Gage to further his political aims. Kevane is his servant, and all that he does meets with the approval of the Governor. A eitizen of the State s denied the privilege of examining the records of the beard, but at the same time they are carried about the capital by a colored messenger employed in the Governor's office. [ have it on the best evidence that the board bas met only two or three times since the in- auguration of Gage, notwithstanding the law provides the beard shall meet on the first and third Monday of each month. The procedure is for Kevane to call an imaginary meeting on the days specified by law. at_which Curry is invariably present, but the Governor, mever. The mirutes of the board are thus kept up, but the business is actually done by Kevane, with the aid of the colored messenger. When bills meet with Kevane’s approval they are sent to Curry’s office and signed by himwithout the slightest question as to their correctness. The claims are then sent to General Post. who signe. them in turn. With the exception of a few claims, I doubt if you will be able to find the Governor's signature to the hundreds of claims which are annaally allowed by the board. The rejection of the claims of the various counties for the maintenance of orphans, half orphans and abandoned children is an- ndica- tion of the manner in which the board violates the law. There was not a scintilla of evidence that the claims in question were not legal, and yet, without the siightest investigation, they were rejec There can be no question that the claims were rejected In furtheranee of Gage's plan to make a record for ecomomy. I protested to Secretary of State Curry against the action of the board, and he informed me that it was the Governor's wish that the claims should be refected, and he (Curry) believed in supporting the administration. That may be sound polcy, from the standpoint of a polit cian, but from the standpoint of justice and equity it Is an outrage upon the citizens of the State. Inquiry develops the information that none of the counties were officially noti- fled of the rejection of their claims, a duty that devolved upom Secretary kKe- vane, but which with characteristic energy he ignored. The result was that the counties interested have thus far fatled to apply for a rehearing in order | that their rights under the law might not lapse. Unless this Is done within the next thirty days, or the claims refilled with the board, the counties failing to do so will be barred by the statute of limitation. It has been suggested that the counties consolidate their interests and take the matter into court for adjudication, and this action is likely to be taken within the next few days. The counties whose claims were re- jected by the board. together with the amounts due them, are the following: Colusa, $848.24: Sutter, $162 30; $1162 50; Napa, $1447 09; Los Angeles, Lassen, . mito, $11,998 87: San Luis Opispo, $10,129 Sonoma, $28.261 14; Tulare, $881 25, The number of children affected by this sweeping action of the Board of Examin- ers at the suggestion of Governor Gage is unknown, but that it rums up into the thousands is a certainty. Should the rul- ling of Judge Shields in the San Luis Obispo County case be upheld by the Su- reme Court there is no question but that 5(& counties ignored by the board will ventually receive their just dues. That this may be the result of the pen: 1t~ the friends of the orphm%nn [