The San Francisco call., 1896-03-14
BUCKLEY WARRIORS READY.
The Fate of the Junta Depends on the
Hazard of the Meeting This
Afternoon.
The Democrats will occupy the politica

4 y
The meeting to-day may not decide the
friends of his who have rallied together in
exceedingly formidable array, but it will
have strong if not determinative influ.
ence on the local party situation.
The party now consists mainly OF three
| elements. First come Buckley and the
! Democrats who lean to the faction he
| dominates. This faction has the bulk oil
the push" the bulk of the old time and
experienced practical politicians of the
party, and the bulk of the votes and vote
makers, which count at election time. II
has, too, the bulk of the political skill and
| shrewdness if not the brains and influence
| of the party in San Francisco. 1t regis
| tered II, 300 votes at its last enrolment
| uncontested primary. A large ma jority OF
these nam.s are believed to be legitimate.
! Among the avowed members and cham
pions of the Buckley element are. such
| men as Judge Robert Ferral, George R. B.
! Hayes, Peter F. Dunno. the United States
| Land Receiver, Railroad Comm issioner
| James l. Stanton, John Mccarthy, James
H. O'Brien. E. T. Mills, Joseph Roths-
child, A. J. Clunie, James G. Nealon, DR..
! Bryan.
Secretly favorable to this element is a
large number of men of party influence
who would exhibit no open alliance.
Among them are generally reputed to be
Russell Wilson, w. W. Foote, Judge Gar
Der, E. c. Coogan, W. F. Goad Fleet F.
Strother. E. p Cole, Thomas E. Bishop,
A. H. Lough borough, w. B. Wiltshire and
many others of like standing.
The second most notable element con-
Nf ha nf ttin
which has come to be Known as the Junta.
Gavin McNab and his friend and follower
W. 2. Sullivan now and for some time
have controlled and managed this organ
ization. 1t contains larger percentage
leaving actual nun bers out OF considera-
tion-of the decent, honest and respectable
element of the party than does the Buck
ley element. The Junta was organized
and it exists solely to oppose Christopher
A. Buckley's return TO political power. 1t
has no other end. 1t proclaims the slogan,
'Decency, anti-Buckleyism and anti-boss-
ism," and it asks recognition on this
ground alone, regardless OF the wishes of a
majority OF the party and regardless of
whether or not large majority of the
The Junta enrolls among its supporters
a large number of good, decent and some
what influential Democrats.
This support of influential and yet highly
respecta bic Democrats is, however, rather
passive than active, as is often the case
under such circumstances. But these good
people constitute minority of the organ
ization. The Junta aggregation is COM
posed first and mainly of Sam Rainey and
his Fire Department political strength,
Superintendent of the Mint Daggett and
his patronage political strength and Inter-
nal Collector Welburn and the political
strength ne wields through his patronage
To those three powers Gavin McNab is in
close friendship. Gavin McNab alone can
hold them together and Gavin McNab
welds their combined powers as one club
Added to these factors is minority ele-
ment of unquestioned decency in the name
Of which all things are done by Gavin Nc
Nab.
So as far as practical politics go the stu
alton now presented is one of Gavin Nc
Nab VS.. Christopher A. Buckley.
But there is third element in the party,
and it is big one. 1t is composed of
Democrats who have no use for Buckley
for one thing. For another thing they
have no more use for Sam Rainey who
they believe controls the Junta, when it
comes to practical politics-not the talk
ing which is attended to by Gavin McNab.
This third element includes nearly all of
that large element of the party that has no
use for John Daggett, who figures so
his personal and political friend, Sam
Rainey, who has fought Daggett's battles
in Sacramento and elsewhere and who gets
men in the Mint whenever he wants them.
1t is the general understanding among
local politicians that Daggett and Rainey's
combination looks to Daggett's interests
in State politics and Rainey's interests in
local politics. Daggett has had the hand
OF many Democrats against him since the
famous Stockton convention of 1884. when
he was formally read out of the party, and
he has reopened lot of those old sores
and gained a fresh lot of Democratic enc
mics through the way he has welded his
Mint patronage. Some are simply dis
appointed and some kick because Daggett
has come down from Siskiyou and tried to
control San Francisco politics. What Dag
gett wants Just now is the delegation to
the National convention.
This third element includes, too the
many anti Buckley men who have no use
for Gavin McNab, the anti-Bucklev boss
Among the legion of local Democrats who
have enemies ready with a club McNsb is
star. Among these are counted Judge
Sullivan and ]. J. Dwyer, who led the
anti-Buekley revolution of 1892, and MANY
who took leading parts with them. Still
others, who have simply hopeless desire
to see something decent loom up in Demo-
cratic politics, care nothing for anybody
whose name gets mentioned in all the mess.
Their position toward the Buckley and
Junta factions is. "a plague on both your
houses" Eugene neuprey, chairman of
the last municipal convention, and ap-
pointer of that .Deuprey committee
which was used to start the Junta organi.
zation, is one of these anti Bucklevites who
will have nothing to do with the 5unta.
This is the local situation which con-
fronts the Democratic State Central Com
mittee to day with its chief problem. 1t is
partly matter of principle and discretion
and largely a matter of practical politics.
The members from the interior are nat
uraliy opposed to Buckley. For four or
tive months Gavin McNab, assisted by Max
Pepper and others, have been seeing and
writing to the country members OF the
committee, explaining that the situation
was one of the entire decent elements of
the party against dethroned and unscru
pulous boss. who has sold out and who
won d sell out the party, and getting their
assurances of support and their proxies.
he State Central Committee consists of
l03 members. Most of the eighteen San
francisco members are against Buckley.
Nearly sH the interior members are
against Bucfley; but the Buckleyites
have not done the missionary work that
Gavin McNab has done.
There are two main questions related to
to-days meeting-huw far will the mem |
bers present consider the situation to