The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1891-01-16
WORTH ATTENDING To.


Owing to the rascally manner in which
political affairs have been managed in San
Francisco for several years past, most persons
are anxious to have some plan similar to the
Australian system Of voting adopted As
things are now managed, few persons with
money, used through INSCRIPTIONS agents,
may absolutely secure the nomination of the
important candidates for Office This is done
by boss arrangement. Ike that which pre-
vailed under the Buckley regime. Our citi-
zens have put down Buckley, but the system
OF fraudulent nominations is be no means
dead, for there are still few knaves who
are quite as ready to sell positions and they
are confined to neither party. What the
public want is a system for securing nominal
lions Of candidates for Office, instead of
permitting such men as Buckley to do it for
them. The Australian system provides that
a certain number of persons may place in
nomination candidates for Office when they
believe the public are cheated out of their
rights by men who will sell positions. Both
parties were pledged prior to the last cleo
ton to favor the passage of a law giving our
citizens substantially the Australian system
Of holding elections. If this should be done,
we doubt not party conventions will be
purified, and the abomination of buying and
selling positions will be done away with. In
this connection We copy the following local
paragraph from these columns yesterday,
emanating from Sacramento:
IN FAVOR OF THE BILL.
1t was stated yesterday that Governor Mark
ham had sent word to this city that he is in ac-
cord with tie Council of Federated Trades on
tile Australian Ballot BIZ, and would sign ii
should 1t BE- presented 10 him. he now expresses
himself being well satisfied with the bill.
Our object in calling attention to the sub
ject of elections particularly at this time is
- because we hear that there are two or three
persons at Sacramento claiming to be Re-
publicans who are striving By every possible
means to defeat the passage of such bill
by the Legislature as the party was pledged
to favor. They doubtless believe it would
be a good thing to sell positions, as the
buckley regime has done heretofore. The
public cannot endure much longer such
fraudulent system of nominations as has
been fastened upon San Francisco, for it en-
tiers into the vital affairs of life. When
worthless men can be secured for Judges
and juries packed 1t is time for good citizens
to consider the situation. Some of the offices
in San Francisco have been filed by the
worst creatures among US. THE CALL does
not hesitate to say that the corruptions
which have crept into public affairs in the
United States of late are owing almost
wholly TO permitting worthless wretches to
marshal their forces in convention. While
we permit men to run our conventions who
sell positions we must expect to witness
bribery and the corruptOns of the fountain
head Of justice. The CALL asks the mem
hers OF the Legislature to give the Council
Of Federated Trades and the Farmers ALI
ance law by which nominations can be
made without having TO wade through a
convention full OF the worst men in the
community.