The San Francisco call., 1897-01-18
PLAN TO CHECK
TREASURY RAIDS
Proposed Bill to Fix the
Number of Legislative
Attaches.
Would Prevent the Paying Of
Ten Men to Do the
Work of One.
The So.Called Scandal at the Capitol
May Result in a Restrictive
Enactment.

SACRAMENTO. CALI, Jan. 17.-Thts
was the dullest Sunday noted in legisla-
tive circles since the session opened. Few
members were left in town, and most of
them were of the stay-at-h home kind.
The so-called legislative scandal will be
settled tomorrow by the report of the
Committee on Attaches and Employees in
the Assembly. The committee Is expected
to report generating Chief Clerk Duck
worth from all blame and presenting
bill restricting the number of employees
that may be appointed on organization.
From a statement made tonight by Mr.
Duckworth 1t appears that general mis-
understanding exists concerning the mat
ter of the organization OF the Assembly.
In the first place, the clerk says that the
attaches appointed by him at the request
of nearly all the mem bers were appointed
to serve during the organization only.
The Assembly completed its organization
IN one day, and at the close of that day
the term of the employees on the tempo
raIy rollcall came to an end. They were
no longer attaches or employees of the
bly,.
Their compensation amounted to $500,
but on the next day the Assembly voted
them an allowance for one week. The
vote was unanimous. This action ran the
bill up TO something more that $4,000 The
payroll was certified to as correct by
Speaker Coombs, and upon that the Con-
troller drew the warrants.
Wesley Dixon, whose name appears on
the roll, was not in Sacramento at all.
The chief clerk explained this by saying
that Mr.. Dixon was a total stranger to
him. He had never seen him. but had
appointed him on the recomm endation of
q member from Alameda. The person
who had secured Dixon's appointment
failed to notify him. Dixon did not come
to Sacramento and the warrant for his pay
was never cashed, but remains in the
hsR1s of he e.seant-ss-sTsns. ItappCsrs
further, from Mr.. Duckworths statement
tnat nearly all the Assemblymen requested
him to appoint friends on the TEN porary
roll, and these Assemblymen did not
think that they were eighty in number,
and that if each OF them put a man on the
roll there would be eighty employees draw
ing pay for services which could be per-
formed by ten.
Il have placed men on the temporary
roll at the request of Democrats" said
Mr.. Duckworth, land nobody has made
any complaint except ShanaEan and Dry
den"
The foregoing statement of the chief
clerk makes it plain that the system un
der which the Legislature has been organ
lied is so loose as not to deserve the name
OF system at all. 1t is clear that the first
work Of the Legislature should be to make
II impossible, by the passage of the neces-
sary bill, for such a thing to occur again.
1t is not the first time that 1t has occurred.
The temptation to give hungry camp
followers q job for a week was too strong.
The town was full of them from all parts of
the State, and when an Assemblyman was
indebted in the same degree for political
favors to two of his constituents and could
appoint only one to clerkship, he settled
the matter by having Mr.. Duckwoth place
the other on the temporary list. Thus
his political obligation was paid out OF the
contingent fund of the Assembly.
The mum ber OF men necessary for the
purposes OF the organization OF the Legis-
Iature is as well known as the hour and
the minute on which the sun will rise to-
morrow, and it wo2ld be the easiest thing
in the world to pass law fixing the num-
Der of tenn porary attaches. Then The As
semblyman who had promised the same
lob to two men would have to face the
music and nay the fiddler.
The Democrats in the Senate have not
improved since the party received such
thrashing at the hands of the people in
the last cam paign, and placed themselves
on record in the first week Of the session
as opposed to the protection of the pro-
ducers and laborers of this State from the
ruinous competition of cheap foreign
labor. 1t is almost unthinkable that
Americans should object to the shutting
out of foreign competition which has
closed so many factories in the East, and
it is unthlnkable that Californians should
vote against resolution protecting the
industries OF this State from competition
with European and Asiat.c products. Yet
this is what the Democratic Senators lid