The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1894-07-28
DEMOCRATS FLED.
Afraid to Meet Buckley in
the Field.
HURRIEDLY SOUGHT COVER.
Their Primaries Indefinitely
Postponed.
Pepper AGAIN TO THE FRONT
He Presides Over a Meeting of the
General Committee and Apollo
gizes for His Course.
Pepper AGAIN TO THE FRONT.

past have been in a state of confusion,
: took a remarkable turn last night. The
general committee met in Pioneer Hall
and declared the primary, which was to
have been held next Monday night for the
election of members OF the new governing
body, indefinitely postponed.
1t was complete stampede. Frightened
by the presence, actual or suppOsititious. of
the blind man in the field the Democratic
. manipulators threw up their hands, as at
=some uprisen ghost of dead and terrible
past. and fed their posts incontinently
THE only semblance of order in this re-
treat was its unanimity. A few, very few
of the OLD guard stood their ground, nut
the leader and the rest, at sight OF the
Buckley opposition, went pellmelI.
. Ever since the meeting OF the Slate Gen.
trail Committee in this city TWO months
.. ago Max Topper. the chairman of the
State and local committees, has profesSed
TO see the hand of Buckley in the political
movements OF the party. Recently he
asked fuller powers Of the general commit
tee in order 20 permit him TO combat its
Baneful influence. 1t was given him, and
in the midst of the work he intended to
:. have done he deserted the committee he
:. had selected to carry ont his ideas OF
pnriication because he said the party was
held hand and foot by Buckley. Then.
when the district clubs met last Tuesday
To appoint election officers for the primary
:: ordered by Mr.. Pepper and the general
committee il was discovered that number
= of the former followers of Buckley had
been working together for the purpose of
:. putting into the election booths his friends.
p: This Increased the general CONSERVATION
:. which Peppers forebodiDg had aroused,
, and the Democrats were at sea.
. They were afraid TO hold their
: primary and they beSought Pepper, who,
= though he bad deserted the task of purif.
cation and ordered his name off the ticket.
*was still chairman Of the general com.
:: mittee. 20 call meeting for the purpose OF
=. devising some method of salvation from
: the arch-enemy. The call was issued, and
. last night 305 members of the BODY and a
: crowd of outsiders assembled in Pioneer
=: Hall.
Max Pepper, who, during the afternoon,
had had a consultation with Andy Clunie
of the primary committee, over the sItua-
: ton. presided.
=: Almost as soon as he had ceased rapping
. for order and crying, Take your seats,
81: please" Andy Clunie was on the floor.
He said he desired to submit to the CON-
mittse the report of the primary commit
tee of seven. which is now better known
as the purity committee" There was in
slant silence, and Clunie read:
-. To the General Committee Of the Democratic
Party Of the CjtD and County Of san Fran
clSCO-JENILEMEN. YOUR committee on DrI-
= maries heretofore appointed beg leave 10 re-
port as follows:
That since our appointment we have devoted
our entire time to The publication of the club
rolls OF the Democratic party of this city ana
county, and in the course OF the performance
of these duties we have thoroughly familiar
: lied ourselves with the condition of our party
10 the different districts, and believe 1t to be
=. our duty TO report TO your committee the result
of our Investigations. We found that
I'm the various districts factions exist, each
of which during the enrolment just
=: closed has endeavOred To swell the club rolls
: by all means known TO the average politician
= ana We regret 20 say that in their eagerness t.
accomplish this purpose they nave resorued Ia
: what is commonly known as stufting the rolls
80 The amount Of this which has been done it is
now impossible for your committee TO state
with any degree Of eXactness. ana we are like
wise unable to fix the responsibility for the
same upon any particular person or persons.
. Your committee are of The opinion that 1t will
g. be impossible for Us in justice TO ourselves and
our party 10 accomplish the purpose for which
we were appointed and secure the holding OF
such primary representing the legitimate
. voters Of the Democratic party Of this city and
: county between now and next Monday, the
date set for The holding of the primary.
In addition to this since our appointment the
Democratic party OF this city and county has
been thrown into a state OF turmoil and confu-
sion by reason Of the declinatiOn of Max Pop
per, the chairman of your committee, to permit
his name TO remain upon the ticket TO be voted
for al said primary and the reasons assigned by
him for such declinatiOn. These statements
have gone out TO the public, have been heraded
TO the people by the newspapers OF the State,
and independent of the question of their truth
or falsity, have formed an impression
upon the public mind, which If permitted TO re-
main will result In the overwhelming defeat OF
our party at the coming election. In the
opinion Of your committee il is the imperative
duty of the Democratic party of this city and
county 10 adopt drastic measures at once to
stem The current OF public opinion and show to
the people OF the State that the Democratic
party of this city and county is owned by no
man or men. This committee believe that the
determination as to what the measures shall be
Is matter for consideration by the COM
bined wisdom OF the Democratic party
of the city and county of San francisco,
and for that reason we determined upon and
secured meeting of The general committee OF
our party. we are unanimously of opinion
that pending this consideration and until de-
termination OF these interests no primary elec-
lion should be held, and we therefore recon-
mend that The primary called for Monday, July
80. 1894, be Indefinitely postponed. Respect
fully, ANDREW }. CLUNIE,
P j. HARVEY,
THOMAS E. HEAIY
THOMAS 2. CUSICK.
AS Clunie approached the close of his
report Pepper called James OConnor to
the chair and before the document had
reached the platform SAID, MIR. Chair
man. move that the primary called for
next Monday be indefinitely postponed. D
There was SONS applause, which quickly
subsidized when it was seen that Pepper
proposed 10 make speech. he said
1.-THE events IN the history OF the party IN
the last few days make it necessary, make
it incumbent upon me TO make this mo-
ton and to explain why take the position
do. | desire to say that L owe
an apology to the gentlemen who COM
pose the committee of seven. and who have
worked so faithfully with me IN CARRYING
out the duties of the committee. They did
all that they could possibly have done. The
first thing they did was 10 eDdeayor TO
purge the rolls Of the names that had been
Improperly placed thereon. Unfortunately
u mas been found impossible to conclude
the labor assigned to them.
In reference to tho reports that have
been circulated within the last few N onths
as 10 my utterances, l desire to say that
DeHeVe L was justified in asserting that
theTe was concerted effort on the part of
the leaders of three years ago To reassert
themselves In power. do not in any way
charge that the Influences at work have in
any way asserted themselves in the men,
bers OF the committee. How could /.
when they have set themselves the
task OF establishing All Organization that
would exert its influence for good
in this city and county? will again ad.
nit that | have in the past held Intimate
relations with Christopher A, BuckIey
and | assert that willie he did at first lead
the Democratic party TO success. in the
close his management was q failure and
resulted in defeat
Il challenge any man TO state reason
why we should abandon the reorganized
7