The San Francisco call., 1897-03-15
SEEKING
A NEW
MASK
The Examiners" Futile
Excuse for It's Convict
Made Twine.
SAYS SOME ONE ELSE
BUYS PRISON BAGS.
]. D. Spreckels Directly Charged
With Encouraging a
State Industry.
he WOULD NOT PATRONIZE
CALCUTTA.
Officers of the California Gotten Mills
Declare That Spreckels Wanted
he WOULD NOT PATR0NIZE
CALCUTTA.
Officers of the California Gotten Mills
Declare That Spreckels Wanted
Them to Max All the Bags.

The Examiner tries to escape the re-
sponsibility of establishing twine fac
tory in San Quentin for its own personal
use and benefit to the extent of cents
pound by crying out that John d. Spreck-
els buys certain Of the jute bags that are
manufactured there. The Examiner has
been unmasked and compelled to stand
out in the light that the workmen OF Cali
fornia may see it for what it is. The pitt
full spectacle it makes demands of it some
excuse, some place to hide.
Excuses or hiding-places are neither of
them at hand in this instance. In the
first instance it whined that its purchases
lid not constitute big transaction and
therefore should be overlooked or con-
doned by workingmen because of the
charities it had time to time bestowed.
When it read the expressions OF disgust
and contempt that came from working
men all over the State-from men who
had hitherto believed the Examiner to be
their friend as it had claimed to be and
mad waited 10 hear what explanation it
might make before they would accept
THE CALLS revelation as true-it felt that
it must AT least find something else to say.
And so. it being i'm possible TO deny the
q
San Quentin worked by convlcts, whereby
1t might save cents a pound, while twlne
factories employing Tree white labor are
in operation within telephoning distance
of its Mission-street fakery-not denying
this, 1t seeks to divert atten ton from its
pitiful position by crying that John d.
SpreckeIs buys jute bags at San Quentin.
Just what that has to do with the fact OF
the Examiners twine factory, it does not
explain. 1t says that 1t has known this
long time. Indeed? And why not? 1t
has always been a matter of common
knowledge. The affidavit required by the
law to be made and which was industri-
ously avoided by the Examiner. was al
ways filed in Mr.. Spreckeis' case. The
manufacture of lute bags has been under
stood to be carried on at San Quentin for
years by a ecial exemptlon-the one
thing that was not likely to compete with
the free la Dor of the State. The factory
was established as a means OF making the
Institution self-supporting
Why any act of John ID. Spreckels or
any other business man should be offered
as an excuse by the Examiner for what
it may do is not clear, however. AS a
matter of fact Mr. Spreckels says be buys
bags for certain hawaiian plantations
giving the preference 10 California over
the English market.
Mr. SpreckeIs' business is Mr. Spreckels
business and no others. 1t may be said
for him, however, that the order for jute
bags left at San Quentin was in response to
special request by the board of directors
of that institution and even after the
California Cotton Mills had declared its
inability to furnish the bags at the price
at which the market had been fooGed
here by foreign manufacturers.
The bag furnished AT San Quentin is
peculiar quality, which is used exclusively
for export sugar manufactured at Homo
lulu. The California Cotton Mills, with
its free labor, manufactures every bag that
is used by Spreckels in the home market,
and they number millions. The rough
spocket'' bags used in Honolulu were for
merly manufactured in Calcutta, and in
giving the order TO San Quentin keeping
the money in the State aud enabling that
institution to become sel1-supporting both
the San Quentin directors and the Cali.
fornia Cotton-mllls Company give Mr..
Spreckels credit for doing patriotic and
worthy thing.
The statements of Mr.. Spreckels and of
officers of the cotton mills bearing out
these statements follow.
THE bags we purchase at San Quentin"
eaid Mr.. Spreckels, ARE purchased for
various Plantations in Hawaii for which
we are agents.
"Our purchase of sugar-bags is not a
question of competition between local
manufacturers, but between this State
and England.
'The Prison Directors came to us some
time ago and asked US to get our bags
from them rather than from India, and in
this way save The State Just that much
We thought it a patriotic policy to do so
and consented. None of the bags pur-
chased at San Quentin. however, ave
been used In the sugar business here. The
sugar from our refinery goes into bags
made by free California labor. The bags
made at San Quentin go to Honolulu.
how hau
teen ounces.
''Tbe ordinary grain bag weighs twelve
ounces, but these, on account of the pur-
pose for which they are used. are made
extra heavy. Even when they are or
dered from Calcutta they have to be spe-
cialIy made.
ain Honolulu we also come into COM
petition with bags manufactured in Eng
land and sent to Calcutta by English ves-
sells. We aim to compete with England,
that gets her jute from India, and yet to
get the freighting of the bags from here
to Honolulu. That gives employment to
our ships.
NOW, say, for instance, that the annual
expense of running some department of the
penitentiary was $4,000. and they made a
profit of that amount upon the bags we
bought from them every year, it would
simply mean that much saved to he
State. would it not?
1--WE used every effort to get the local
manufacturers to compete and furnish US
with bags at the same rate we could get
them from Calcutta. but they declared it
was impossible. So there was no alterna-
tive-it was Calcutta or San Quentin, and
we decided, Tor the reasons stated In favor
of San Quentin. / wish to repeat, how
ever" said Mr.. Spreckels. that every bag
for sugar used by US in this country is
made by free labor ana in California"
$. OAKLAND, CAL. March 4.-Reports
were circulated to-day by emssaries of
the Examiner that John D. Spreckels e.
Bros. were larger purchasers of San Quen-
tin goods than the Examiner and conse-
quently greater enemies of free labor.
Spreckels, it was stated, purchased largely