Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1884-04-23


within the purview of the extraordinary session.
Granger replied that il was. 1t related to the
revenue of the State
Flynn moved to refer the resolution to the
Committee on Ways and Means. Carried.
The special order of the day. Assembly Bill
No. 46, introduced by the Committee on ConSti-
tutional Amendments as u substitute for Assem-
bly, Bills Nos. , ., IA, IT, Is - and -, relating 10
the Railroad Commissioners.
Irwin moved to amend by substituting for the
pending bill Assembly Bill No. 10.
Crumpton moved as substitute forthe whole,
Assembly Bill No. IL.
Irwin spoke on the amendment offered by
him. as follows Mr.. Speaker, did not think
when introducing this amendment that was
opening the door 10 a food OF campaign speeches
to be made for the benefit of parties in the com
ing election but | find that the occasion has
been greedily seized upon for that purpose The
gentleman from Sonona, in his opening, says ::
The amendment offered by the gentleman
from I'll Dorado presents the great question for
which the Legislature was convened" Is this
true2 | had been led To believe that the princi-
pal object had in view by the Governor in max
ing the call for the extra session was 70 propose
such amendments to the Constitution and enact
such laws rs would compel the railroad cOnpa
nieS to pay the taxes due from them to the state
and counties, as other taxpayers are compelled
to pay theirs, and |, as one, came here resolved
To act with Others in bringing about that result
But il would seem, from the arguments of the
gentleman from Sonoma, that the question of
taxes is Il mere secondary consideration and II
might be inferred therefrom that all the other
subjects enumerated in the call are mere
blind for the purpose of conccaling the real oh
iect had in view-that Of removing the Railroad
Commissioners
| cannot believe this to be true | have too
much confidence in the honesty and integrity of
the Governor to believe that he would Stoop to
SO mean subterfuge, but would rather believe
that he was induced to insert the third clause in
his proclamation more to satisfy the clamor of u
few interested and designing politicians, than
from belief that these men, who have been
elected on the same ticket with him, and who
are responsible 10 the same constituency for
their official acts, should be Summarily removed
in this unconstitutional manner, without an
opportunity of being heard in the manner pro
Yided by the same section of the Constitution
creating the office. ! say unconstitutional, be
cause il is provided by that instrument that
the Legislature shall have power by a two
thirds vote of all the members elected To each
house, TO remove any one OF more of
said Commissioners from Office for derelic-
ton of duty, or corruption or incompetence, ~
and venture To say that II never entered the
mind of any member of the Convention fran
that there provided would be rcsorted TO for
the removal of those officers.
Such proceeding is new in the history of this
state, and ! think may say with safety that II
is without precedent in any state. The prcCe-
dent is a dangerous one, and if adopted in this
instance it Will hereafter only be necessary to
have Il safe party majority in the State To re-
move by Il constitutional amendment any officer
in the state, from the Governor down.
The gentleman says these men were dis
trusted. beg to remind him that 1t is no UNI
common thing for those who are opposed to the
pretcment of a political opponent to distruSt
the honesty OF the successful candidate and il
is not strange that one or more of these Commits
sioners should have been distrusted by the
friends of the gentlemen p!tted against them in
the nominating Convention
The gentleman from SOnom0 says that he was
Chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means
at the last session. and that the committee beinl,
ff,,r nor
as they had promised, decided to give them no
more than they were compelled to give under
law for their expenses. He does not inform us
at what time in the session this conclusion was
arrived at, but il is safe to presume that the
Commissioners had not then been in Office one
month, and had not yet had time TO tamiliarize
themselves with the general duties of their
Office This only shows the illibCral spirit with
which they were then treated by the gentleman,
and his action now shows that the spirit of
illberalty and uniairnesS still clingS to him.
Nor does he tell us on what the conclusions OF
himself and his committee were based, and we
are left to infer that it was based solely on un-
fair and uniounded prejudice. This was in en-
tire keeping with the present attempt To remove
them from office without giving 10 them the
privilege awarded to the most petty offender,
that of being heard in their own defense before
IL body of their peers, as was clearly intended
they should be by the provision of the COnsttu-
ton to which have referred.
Mr.. Speaker. | do not hesitate to pronounce
the attempt to remove these men from office, in
the manner proposed, rs little less than con
tcmptible and beneath the dignity of the assem-
bled representatives of the great State of Cali
forniu If these men have been guilty of dere-
LECTION of duty, of corruption, or of incOm-
potency, let them be brought before the Legisla-
ture upon proper charges, as provided for in the
Constitution, where they will have an Opportu
nifty of defending themselves, and if shown tC
be guilty no man in this house will sooner vote
for their removal than viii |. But the gentle
man from SonOma SAYS that the people of the
-rpf, "a will Ia
with nothing else. Where. / ask him. is the
proof of this assertion? Have any conventions
been held through which such expression has
been had2 ON the contrary. the State Central
Committee of the party by whom they were
elected declined to call IL convention. Perhaps
the gentleman refers TO the action of some
county committees often composed mainly OF
proxies. These, would remind the gentleman,
are not always to be relied on, as evidenced by
the recent action of the Democratic Committee
of the gentleman own county, who assumed 10
appoint the delegates to the State Convention.
and whose action was repudiated by the party,
And here let me remind the House that in my
county this provision in the call has had the
effect of disrupting the party and my colleague,
now on this floor, Republican, owes his election
to that and to nothing else. The Democrats,
many of them, taking the same view of the call
that the gentleman from SonOma does-that il
was for the express purpose of removing these
men by Il constitutional amendment-stayed away
from the polls or voted for the Republican, cau-
didate to fill the vacancy ocCaSOned ly the
death of Mr.. Rowland, II Democrat; ard the
Democrat who was pledged by the County Cen
tral Committee making the nomination,
TO support the Governor, was defeated
In precincts containing large Democratic
majorities polls were not opened, whilst
in others the vote was solid Re
publican | have no hesitation in SAYING that
had the third clause of the call been left out
other Democratic candidates would have been
elected. for on all other propositions contained
in the call the party would have indorSed the
Governor.
Mr. Speaker, in this matter am actuated only
by Il sense of justice and tair dealing Compare
the work done by these men with that done by
their predecessors III office, OF which
Governor Stoueman was one, and the
verdict must be in their favor. and
! refer the members TO the testimony
given before the House Committee on Corpora
tions at the last session. found on pages s. 10 and
IL of their report, and also to the finding of the
committee on page !, to show the comparative
labor performed by the two Commissions
And now, Mr.. Speaker, as To the merits of the
amendment proposed by me. IL provides for
the election from the State at large of two Com
missionerS at the Presidential election, and three
from the districts ut each eubernatorial election
thus combining the district system with that OF
the State at large Ii seems to me that this
should commend itselftO every member Rail
road Commissioners have not always been, and
probably Will not be in the future, elected on
account of any peculiar fitness they possess for
the position, but rather for the amount of intiu-
encc they may be able to bring to bear
upon tIlc nominating convention. Inc DuSl-
ness Is very intricate, requiring a large amount OF
study and research to comprehend, as has been
demonstrated before the Committee on Corpora
tonS at the present session, and by adopting
this amendment there viii always be a portion
of the Board in existence having two years ex-
perience, the benefit of which may be impaired
To the newly-eeeted. Either of the other plans
If adopted, Will have the erect of placing in of
flee every four years three men entirely unin
formed as to the business with which they are tC
grapple, and Il large part OF their term will
necessarily be spent in learning the business be
fore they can act intellgently in the matter.
trust that members viii consider this carefully
and instead of being controlled in their action,
by blind prejudice, they Will vote in favor o
right and justice. and for the future welfare o
the State, by adopting the amendment.
breckenridge claimed that he could not agree
with the gentleman from FL Dorado that the
passing of this constitutional amendment wa
removing men from Office in a sneaking anC
underhanded manner. 1t is the people them
/ selves who would do this. The people gave anC
1 the people could take away. The people of thu
State, he claimed, were in favor of the result t.
/ be obtained by the BILL and that Hum
/ phreyS and Carpenter had been false Il
( the party and the people of the State
The gentleman from Fl Dorado, he said, seemed
/ to be satisfied with the official acts of the tw,
Commissioners. He would like to ask the rep
/ sentatives OF sam Joaquin, Kern, Tulare, Fres
/ no and Stanislaus to answer how il was witt
/ their constituency. The Commissioners arr
agents of the people, and this proposed amend
ment should be submitted to the people and le
! them decide for themselves The speaker con
/ tinued quite at length and reviewing the dues
/ tiOn covered by the bill. which he described n
! being in favor of riots and mob violence. Hi
! language and manner were decidedly inham
matory, and contrary in tone to the respect 70
! law and order which he prOtcssed