The San Francisco call., 1898-08-16

| iSh the WOrk so well begun DS IheAA Populistic brethren, and it Is right here that the old timers meet with the sur prise already referred to. To them 1t | seems inexplicabIe that Democrat who has once held office should not 1 thereafter for all times seek for It madly.
 1 General Jo Hamilton. the old war horse" explains this feeling by relating an anecdote at his own expense.
 When I was a boy" he said, T was treated to frequent dissertations by my parents on the subject ot the evils of strong drink. I accepted their teachings in good faith until one day In an upstairs room devoted exclusively to my fathers use I stumbled across flask of old bourbon. To see was to drink. but alas for me my father sur prised me in the act. He hesitated not to remonstrate with me, and being vigorous old man he punctuated his re- | marks with very stout cane. Be- tween screams caught the voice or my mother in the hall below shouting swat it to him, dad; if he ever gets taste of it the fool will never know when to | quit "
 The only thing that has up to this time formed topic of general interest is the contemplated contest for supre- 1 macy between the Harney delegation and that other San Francisco delega- ton, which was brought into existence by the so-called Committee of One Hundred, appointed by Chairman AL ford of the State Central Committee, Frank H. Gould, late of Stockton, whispering Gavin McNab and their coterie of dyed-in-the reformers. Having no other cares to worry them, the country delegates, following the lead of the State Central Committee. are occupying their minds with the dis | sentions of the San Francisco Democ- racy.
 That this contest is a bitter one Is not to be denied, and tonight all signs | point to very lively time on the floor | of the convention hall when Chairman | Afford raps for order tomorrow after noon.
 Both sides are preparing for the struggle, and even at this time, when the time for the rap of the gavel is only few hours distant, the result is uncer- tain.
 The Harney men are making a good fight and are pulling every possible string that will bring them vote. They claim that their cause is right and just and therefore should win, provided al- ways that the majority of the delegates l are the kind of men to whom right and justice appear. The McNab forces, on l the other hand, are loud in their aSsur- ances that they have a majority of the | convention on their side, and point with l pride to the fact that the names Of the men in their delegation occupy a prominent place in the temporary roll They. like the Harneyites, have a strong following, but, strange to say, these followers fix their reasons for ! their faith upon other grounds than that of right and justice. Not all, but l some of them, admit, not without re- 1 luctance. that it may be true that right | is 11non the side of their opponents, but, Nbeing politicians by right of birth, edu- ca+ion and natural inclination, they rn1st first take into consideration the question of policy and expediency. Hav- ing done so. they find that policy and | exDediency win first and second money, and that right and justice also ran. And so if goes. with the result still ob- scured in the haze of the unforeseen events of tomorrow and the day fol-
 
 lowing.
 Tonight the Harney forces received valuable endorsements from the cities around the bay, and if all promises are kept the scene of to-morrows contest will be marked by the familiar forms and punctuated by the familiar war cries of such old-tiners as w. w. Foote M. F. Tarpey, John Daggett, M. J. Lay
 nance and others who in times past have raised their voices to the con fusion of their political opponents.
 What the end will he no man can say, but as has already been intimated, there is every prospect of. the warmest kind of a time for everybody, not to mention the spectators in the rear of the nall, who will assemble in antici- pation of a real old-fashioped Demo- cratic mix up.
 Here and there is to be found a del- egation from some of those smaller counties that have come to Sacramento prepared to fight fusion to the death. They are earnest in their denun unciation ol the arrangement by which certain; self-appointed leaders of the strict Democracy traded off the party patri- monv. but, unfortunately for them selves and thelr constituents, they are in a hopeless minority. Chief among these are the Sonoma and Mendocino co1Inty delegations. Up that way they have had some experience with fusion and still retain recollection of how George W. Monteith, Populist and ex- ,niddle-of- -the-roader, assisted the pro- cession attending the entrance of Con- gressman Barham into the legislative halls of the National Capital They de- clare that they will never. so long as