The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1895-02-07
Fire Commissioner A. J. Martin Gives
His Ideas.
CHIEF CROWLEY III FAVOR OF IT.
The Special Election Leads Some to Think
1t Will Be Dtfeated-The "Gang"
Will Fight 1t.


instrument that will meet with general
approval. 1t was only Tuesday morning
that the proposed new charter was pub
lished in THE CALL, yet before noon there
were hundreds of men going about the
streets announcing their determination to
"knife the proposition from beginning to
end" Even those who were not openly
against the charter were condemning 1t
with faint praise, and very few were out
spoken in its advocacy.
Tax Collector Block said he had not
given the charter a careful reading, but
had gained the impression from what he
had heard that too much power had been
vested in the Mayor.
81 agree with the Freeholders that the
offices of Tax Collector and License Col
lector should be consolidated" he said
"for believe that every cent of tax money
should be under the supervision of one
man. However, [ fear that the charter Is
doomed to defeat on account of the i'm
mense influence that will be brought to
bear against it.
Il don't see how they figured that the
consolidation of the offices of License Col
Iector and Tax Collector could be accom-
plished, said Fred Lees, WHO'S the incum-
bent in the License Collectors office. 1.-The
officer who will preside over the combined
departments will not be allowed any more
clerks than l now have. The plan is not
practicable From what l can hear the
general sentiment of the people is against
such radical changes as are proposed, and
l look for the defeat of the proposed in
strument by big majority"
This idea of presenting the charter for
consideration at a special election is all
wrong" said George T. Marye. Had
the board decided to place it before the
people at a regular election, when every
one gets out to vote, l would have strong
hopes of its passage; but at a special cleo
ton many of the better element will not
take the trouble to vote, while the element
opposed to it, the professional Otfice-seek-
ers and petty politicians, will work against
its passage with might and main. OF
course, 1 hope for the best, but fear for
the result"
Michael Smith (sans whiskers), who may
safely be said to understand how the
push" stand on the proposition, said.
This business of making the Mayor the
kingpin of the whole city government won t
go down with the boys. They want to see
things more evenly divided, and to have a
fair chance for the fat jobs. Under the
new charter their chances are poor. Then
them hustle against it. For myself think
it would be poor policy to give the Mayor
so much power, and l would vote against
it for that reason. You can bet the boys
will be out in full force on election day.
Attorney George R. B. Hayes, who was
a member of a former Board Of Freehold
ers, said:
"Of course I desire to see the charter &C
cepted, for we need one very badly, and
q ms ct far haI a
chance of reading it, is a good one, but l
fear from the fact that it will be voted on
at a special election that it will be de-
feated. We have had the same experience
before, and it will come again. Special
elections do not bring out the desirable
element of voters, but every member of
de gang as 1t is called, will be on hand to
vote as early and often as possible"
81 was opposed to the charter" said
Chief of Police Crowley, until | saw by
THE CALL that the Freeholders had recon-
sidered their intention of giving the Mayor
the power OF removing the Police Commits
sioners and other officers at will. This
would have been a great mistake.
Suppose for an instant that under such
conditions a man like |. S. Kalloch was to
be elected and a serious strike should
break out. Being in sympathy with the
strikers, he would refuse to order out the
necessary, and if the police showed a dis
position or ability TO suppress the lawless
element that always springs up on such
occasions, he could put a stop to their
operations by removing the Commits
slonerS, CHIEF or any one else he chose,
place his own men in office and completely
cripple the department. The Mayor should
be permitted to suspend officials for cause,
pending an investigation, but it should
1-ear,r 4rr-c- j. r n >
supervisors to remove them permanently -
THE fact of the matter is, said Fire Com
missioner Martin, this scheme of put
ting the power Of appointing all these Of
ticiais in the hands of the Mayor is simply
transferring the municipal patronage from
one set of bosses to another The great
trouble with the Board of Freeholders was
that they did not have time enough to do
their work carefully. Instead of eighteen
or twenty days they should have had six
months. The head of each department
should have been called on for a consulta-
ton with the members, and after his sug-
gestlons had been exhausted the subor-
dlnates should have had a hearing. In
this manner the board would have arrived
at better understanding Of the needs of
each department and the public would
have had better document to pass upon.
AS to whether the public will accept the
CHdlIel, Will sudIdIltee. lnat IL VIII never
receive the necessary majority. The work
ingmen are against it to man, for while
the heads of departments have in many
cases been granted raise in salary, the
subordinates have been cut down. Take
the draymen of the Fire Department, for
instance. The teamsters of some of the
large firms of this city, Holbrook, Merrill
d Stetson as an example, receive $50 a
month and do not even have to care for
4t,ai,- l., NJ, -. L L
be a popular measure? The engineers. ma
chinistS and ironmakers of this city will
also fight hard against the charter, because
the pay of the men holding similar posi-
tons in the department have been reduced
below what they could make working for
private individuals. l have talked to fifty
men, at least, this morning, and each one
said he would vote against the charter"
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