The record-union., 1897-01-02
CALIFORNIA; LEGISLATURE.
What May be Expected Before and After
Il COnYeneS.
REFORMS Proposed to Curtail the
Number of Place. e-Seekers-Who
Some of Them Are.

Another session of the California Leg
1slature will convene Monday next, and
While such stirring scenes as were en-
acted at the session of 1895 are not
anticipated, it is expected that there
Will be plenty of variety, which the
world over is recognized to be the spice
OF Hfe Legislative or otherwise.
True, there will be no contest for the
Governship, for even Morris NJ Estee
now admits ungrudgingly that "Jims
in," and that there will be no inaugural
ball where fair women vie with each
other to captivate the legislators from
the mountain counties. True also Is it
that there is as yet no organized re-
sistance to the reelection of United
States Senator George c. Perkins to
succeed himself, though mutterings are
heard from one element of his party in
his own unty-Alameda-and the
Spectator must look elsewhere fer
sensation or amusement.
There will nevertheless be an election
OF United States Senator, which event
never fails of interest, even though the
absence of a possibly dangerous op-
ponent of the outs detractS some
what from the outlook. And besides
this there will be the usual pickering
and hustle for place among the men,
bers of the third house which cannot
fail to interest the unshackled citizen
who is without strings.
The election of a Speaker for the AS
Sembly seems to be definitely settled,
and unless something shows across the
line that has been kept carefully in the
background, Frank l.. Coombs of Napa
Will have a walkover. 1t is pretty we'll
understood that Mr.. Coombs will be a
pronounced liberal, if chosen, and will
call a caucus and take the advice of
the members of his party before ap-
pointing the Chairmen for his commit
tees. The Democrats will also caucus
for committee places, and it is expected
that the organization as relates to the
formation of committees will come off
without a hitch.
Even those persons who claim to be
Oh the inside can do little more than
hazard prophesy as to where the pat
ronage of the two houses will go. The
question, Where will the plums drop?''
important though it is to those who con-
slider that campaign services performed
have made them fit applicants for pre-
ferment, is far from settled, though
many of those same applicants are now
on the ground ready to try their pow
erS Of persuasion upon the first legis-
1ator who appears toward securing their
hearts desire, usually summed up in
the words of Sam Weller, Plenty to
get and nothing to do" Where the
plums will fall is vague and conjectural,
and the hanger-on has only the word
of the man for whom he expended ora
tory and influence 90 for place. AS
usual, the applicant depends upon COM
binations to give him the place he
seeks, but there are vastly more ap-
plicants than SS day positions. Here
tofore members have made places for
their constituents who claim patron
age as their right, but the reform move
ment inaugurated two years ago has
grown, and a great many members have
pledged themselves TO cut down the pay
roll Of both houses and to slaughter,
iLdiscriminately, the anticipations of
the man who hopes to wine, dine and
winter at the expense of the State. |
This being the case, the probabilities
are that many cry will go UP, Il was
hungry and ye fed me not" the echoes
of which will travel from Siskiyou to
San Diego, and from Sierra to the sea
1t is said that the San Francisco AS
uous efforts to form a com bination with
that of Los Angeles for the purpose of
cOrnering patronage, to the exclusion
of Alameda, Sacramento and other
counties, but the men from the citrus
belt refused to combine until something
substantial was offered them. There |
was to be no cat and monkey work |
with them and they did not propose
TO rake cheStnutS out of the fire for San |
Francisco with nothing in sight but |
burnt fingers. So they have waited m-
til Sacramento was reached, in order |
to secure a good idea of the topography |
of the field of battle. 1t is further
said that a howl has gone up from
the San Francisco men that the Los
Angelans want the earth, and the |
prospects for a mbination between !
the two cities are not fiattering.
The failure of the Los Angeles dele |
cation to stand in ON the combine was !
responsible for the dense gloom which |
rervaded the caucus recently held by |
the San Francisco delegation, and |
while some effort was made toward |