The San Francisco call., 1896-05-01

L
favor of the Santa Monica harbor scheme
have been brought to light and exposed by
atfidavits from the parties who circulated
the many false and forged documents. 1t
| is an exposition of double dealing to the
point of utter amazement.
Tomorrow morning when this daring
mess of pertidy is published to the world
| the public will know for the first time how
to account for many apparent incon-
| sistencies in connection with this double
| harbor fight. Petitions have, from time
to time, been forwarded by Huntington's
henchmen in Washington purporting to
| come from Labor organizations" and "cit-
| izens of Los Angeles" in great numbers
| and with hundreds of signatures. The
Chamber of Commerce and Free Harbor
| League here, favorable to the San Pedro
/ appropriation alone, have been at their
! wits end to account for these numerously
| signed petitions favoring Santa Monica.
| The first inkling the people here had of
| these wholesale forgeries was contained in
| the Times here this morning, in dispatch
| from its special correspondent at Washing
| ton. Tie very first name forged was that of
| Colonel Otis, editor and manager of the
| paper. From Washington comes tele-
grams from committees of the Chamber OF
| Commerce and other friends of San Pedro
making inquiry as to purported messages
| from various prominent citizens and
bodies of men here favoring Huntington's
schemes. When it was discovered that
| petitions sent by wire had been forged,
inquiry as to mail petitions were sent to-
| day by the Free Harbor League to Patter-
son and Hazard, representatives in Wash
ington of the league and the people. The
following response was received here this
afternoon:
| WASHINGTON, D. c., April 80, 1896.
| To T. E. Gibbon: Have just prepared for
] Wells full copies of petitions mailed to White.
Many signatures evidently written by same
| person. w. G. PATTERSON,
h. T. HAZARD.
| These are undoubtedly the petitions re-
ferred to in affidavits of Lowden and Man
ming hereafter appended. In addition to
this dispatch, Hon. John F. Humphreys
of this city, mem Der of the Chamber of
Commerce and Free Harbor League, re-
ceived this afternoon the following:
| Did you and Workman {referring to ex-
Mayor Workman) forward me q postal tele-
gram April 16, containing petition of large
| number of mem bers of Chamber OF Commerce
| favoring Santa Monica and inner harbor (San
Pedro)? See original postal Office.
STEPHEN NJ. WHITE.
To this Mr.. Humphreys Immediately
sent the following:
| To Senator Stephen NJ White Washington, D. c.:
We did not. Any item with our names thereto
| ia voring Huntington's Santa Monica scheme is
| d forgery. Long list OF forgeries published in
| to-day's Times. Great indignation exists here
L ahpr,t Thn 1n
ton gets recognition now he is strong enough
| to defeat San Pedro later on.
| JOHN F. HUMPHREYS.
| The first and most startling affidavit is
that of George Anderson, who manipu-
lated the whole business for Huntington's
local managers. These affidavits have
been procured by the Chamber of Com
merce here and the Free Harbor League
They weta given to the correspondents
late this afternoon, and tonight will be
telegraphed to Senator White, Congress
man McLachlan and Patterson and Haz-
ard, and will be made public there to-
morrow. This, it is believed, will defeat
one of the biggest steals ever attempted on
| the National treasury for private ends.
These atfidavits will be corroborated by
statements from fifteen out of twenty two
clare that the names of persons purport-
! ing to belong to said organizations are
| fictitious from beginning to end. The
league has also the affidavit of E. D. Nor
rs, referred to in Anderson's affidavit, fully
corrobor ating all the allegations in regard
to himself.
| According to Anderson s affidavit, he en-
ploved one E. D. Morris to procure names
to petitions favorable to Huntington, with
out regard to residence or occupation, and
that the whole was manipulated and paid
for at so much for each petition; that J. F.
Carrere, editor of the Evening Express of
this city, made the bargain with him; that
said Anderson filled a clerical position on
the Express and that J. NJ. Crawley of the
| Southern Pacific knew about the arrange
ment; that he employed E. D. Morris to
secure the signatures, and that as fast as
Morris brought in the petitions he (Ander-
sony took them to said Carrere.
| Morris, in his affidavit, tells how he
wrote the names of any one he could think
of to the petitions and got signatures from
loafers about saloons and similar places
and at Santa Monica. Two supplemental
af1idavits are given as follows:
| State OF California, County of Los Angeles
w. Lowden, being first duly sworn. deposes and
says: That he is citizen of the city of Los An.
! geles, by occupation a waiter, and is ac-
| Quainted with Z. d. Morris; that some three
weeks ago the said E. D. Morris came to him
| and asked him to sign his name to peti ton
addressed to Senator White and Mr.. McLach-
| Ian purporting to be from the citizens of Los
Angeles and asking them to endeavor to secure
| the appropriations tor San Pedro and Santa
| Monica harbors which the House Committee
| on Rivers and Harbors had at one time agreed
| to recommend; that he signed his own name
to said petition, and at the request of Mr. Nor
| ris signed several other names, probably seven
! in all; that in signing such names he was not
endeavoring to get the name of any particular
| person, but signed such names as came into
his mind, without reference to any indi vid ual
| 10 whom they might belong.
W. Fl. LowDEN
Subscribed and sworn to before me this 3oth
day of April, 1886. NJ. X. YOUNG,
Notary Public, Los Angeles County
State of California, County of Los An
geles.-J Manning, being first duly sworn, de-
poses and says: That he is q citizen of the city
Of Los nv lob