Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1897-01-09
CALIFORNIA AJAX
Defies the Lightning Of a Great
San Francisco Editor,
AND SHAKES HIS FIST AT sUTRo.


Railway Bill Exceedingly Interesting
for an Hour and Gets Roasted by Cooper
Of Wisconsin, Who Taunts Him with De-
feat in . Republican District-Pottery
Before Dingley's Committee.
Washington, Jan. SAN attack by
and Editor Hearst, of San Francisco.
and the reply to Cooper of Wisconsin
was the feature of the house debate on
the Pacific railways funding bill. john
son is always ''red-hot" speaker and
for twenty minutes he poured denun-
citation on the mayor and the editor.
He said. with reference to the Pacific
roads. that the fact that the projectors
of the roads had made money was some
things some members could not forget
Everybody wanted to make money.
/ What would those who denounced
Huntington have done II they had had
/ the building of the roads? IF Mayor
Sutro and that Hearst" to whom he
applied an opprobrious adjective. had
built these roads they would not only
have made money: they would have
pose the projectors did make money.
I the question with us as members and
| custodians of the governments inter-
ests is: How shall we get the govern
ments money back? Johnson de-
nounced the ex-members who were
lobbying" on the floor against the bill.
He then proceeded to argue that il was
| idle to insist that the roads should pay
more in interest than they were able.
California Members All Gagged.
He next declared with much feeling
that there was not a member from
California. except possibly Bowers. who
if he would express his honest senti-
ments would not support this measure.
He said they were all afraid OF a news
paper of San Francisco. All this full
mination against the bill. he said, was
due to Adolph Sutro and William r.
Hearst. The mention of these names
seemed to arouse all the pent up ire in
Johnson's nature, and he proceeded to
pour out the walls of his wrath upon
them. Johnson is always a vigorous
| talker inclined to use strong diction,
but the members who sat listening to
him were not prepared for the philippic
which he launched at these two men.
He detailed Eea-st's connection with the
San Francisco Examiner, and how he
had built uD that paper. and said
the people of California admired him.
! He said they were suspicious at first,
and knew that Hearst was erratic in his
conduct. He then made insinuations
and allegations against Mr. Hearst's
personal habits, but added that the peo-
PIE believed he was honest.
Editor Intimiiates the People.
This was followed by more sensa-
| tional charges, and vituperative
language. And that is the
man." he added, who has
created all this furore in California.
He said that Hearst had inundated the
! people and created terrorism among
| them with his paper. The paper had
| maliSned and caricatured people in the
house-the chairman of the committee
| Powers), and the honored speaker. Il
| will not speak for myself" he said.
because 1 can get reasonably even with
this man before I get through with
him." He said that Hearst had issued
his edict that any man who dared favor
the funding bill. shall be driven from
public life and be ruined in private
life, and shall be disgraced before the
| people and the gods"
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