The San Francisco call., 1897-03-16
March Is, /;
SITTING THE SCANDAL.
Secretary Brandon Says the Governor
TiOidted Pronise.

SACRAM ENIO CAL., Marcn l5.-Ihe
reading of the Governors message in the
Assembly created MS much interest as it
did in the Senate, and when Private Sec
retary McCabe had concluded its reading
Chairman Coombs said:
In relation TO the com munication Just
received from the executive l think this
House should take some action without
delay, as very serious charge has been
made against one OF the clerks of the
House. 1t should be investigated.
There should also be joint committee
| appointed for the purpose of framing
| bill which may carry out the suggestion
of the executive"
| Wright of Alameda said that he would
draw up bill 10 cover the matter.
Price of Sonoma introduced resolu-
ton to the effect that a special committee
OF three should be appointed by the
| Speaker to fully investigate the matter, in
so far as it related to the Assembly or any
persons under its control.
Speaker Coombs appointed Price,
Wright and Bridgford as the committee.
John Varcoe, the enrolling clerk of the
Assembly, came in alter the report was
read and was considerably surprised, as
| Denale DILL 31t udQ ucNcE DCSu III ulS
| hands.
Senate bills are not handled by him at
all. He informed a CALL reporter that
| Governor Budd had this morning de-
manded from him a dispatch which he
| (Varcoe) had received from Henry French.
| Varcoe replied that the dispatch was per-
sonal and private and that he would not
show it until he had gained permission
from the author.
| When the committee met in the even
ing Varcoe produced two dispatches and a
letter, the only communications he had
ever received from the French. The first
dispatch reads as follows:
SAN JOSE CAL, March 9, 1897.
| John Varcoe (perSonaD Sacramento, CAL:
Please wire me latest point on Assembly bill
68s and Senate bill 494. What is their pres
ent position Is there a probability of their
| passage Have they been amended or not
Answer paid. HENRY FRENCH.
The second dispatch is dated March IL
and reads as follows:
| Is there probability of Senate bill 494 be-
coming law? Wire answer Immediately. If
amended send copy Please mail me histories
from both houses to-day and write full
particulars. Is Assembly bill 6SS dead be-
yond hope of resurrection? HENRY FRENCH.
State Printer Johnston was called be-
fore the committee and testified that on
March 8 he received dispatch from
Henry French, and seeing that it con-
tained an improper suggestion, he showed
it to the secretary of the Senate and an
other person for his own protection.
He received letter, also, and these
two he handed to Governor Budd, who
promised to return them to Mr.. Johnston
in the afternoon, but he had not done so.
Mr.. Johnston did not know Mr.. French
personally. He might have met him
once. but he was not acquainted with
him.
Frank Brandon, Secretary of the Senate,
said that the face of the bill showed a
clerical error, said error being the neglect
| to stamp "receded from" on one of the
amendments. Hence it was printed with
the bill when it should have been omitted
LAS matter OF fact" continued Bran
don, on the subject of changing the
phraseology of bills, "the clerks of both
Houses and the gentlemen in positions
under them find very often errors in
amendments, sometimes of such a kind
that they will give the bill nonsensical
reading.
Il make it a point where anything is
discovered by the clerk that does not seem
right, we aim to go to the member who
has made the error and ask him to correct
it, at the same time placing their initials
on the sergin.
1T would cost the State $50, 900 some
sessions to correct those bills if the clerks
did not discover the errors before they
went to the printer. In one bill we found
seventeen mistakes. That bill but for US
would have had to be printed seventeen
times. 500 copies each time, if we had not
called the attention of the mem bers to
them"
The material error was the change OF
! the date when the ne W board should be
appointed from 1897 to 1899. The latter
year was an amendment which had been
receded from and which had not been
canceied or stamped by the clerk of the
Senate desk. Hence the date in the bill
as printed was 1889"
Chief Clerk DUCK worth of the Assent bly,
was examined respecting the amendments
made by the Assembly to Senate bill 494.
Assembly bill 6S3 was withdrawn because
it was identical in language with Senate
bill 494. All the amendments adopted in
the Assem- bly, were receded from at the
request of the Senate.
John Varcoe said that the Governor had
informed him that when the bill was sent
to the printer it did not show that the
amendments were receded from. The bill
il tn. hands of the com mittee pore the
stamp with the name OF the secretary of
the Senate.
Secretary Brandon was recalled and
said the clerk of the Assembly had mad
vertently neglected to mark across me
face of two amendments the words
'receded FROM" and Mr. Brandon in the
Governors office in the presence of the
Governor and others, wrote in pencil
"receded from March l1-Brandon."
On another amendment on the same oc-
casion he had penciled "receded from"
and had forgotten to sign hi. name.
Mr.. Brandon added that Assembly En-
rolling Clerk John Varcoc was as innocent
OF any wrongdoing as a man in South
Africa, because the enrolling clerk of the
Assembly is not allowed to handle Senate
bills at all. Mr.. Brandon said that he
was not able to fix whose fault it was. aaaE
Price asked whether if these things had
been properly indorsed "receded from ("
would the Senate enrolling clerk have
made the same error that he did make?
Mr.. Brandon declined TO say. That was
for the committee to decide. Mr.. Price asked
u 49, <t1 1okx