The San Francisco call., 1898-12-31

I lne bOdIu OL Cu-
 \N ucation is devoting the closing
 w days of its official career to such
 barefaced jobbery as to cause a member of the Superior bench to publicly express the wish that the reign of the Vigilance Committee might be re-estab- lished, a majority of the incoming board has outlined plan of procedure which. if carried out, promises to result in a continuance of the present scandal.
 This plan if 1t is persisted in, will have the effect of driving five members out of the board who are opposed to debauch- ing the Public School Department, for they have declared, so 1t is stated by their friends, their intention of resign ing at once unless the majority manifests an inclination to be honest.
 This is the situation as 1t stands at present. Shortly after it was definitely known who the twelve men comprising the new board were a caucus was held. at which 1t was decided that Vanderlynn Stow should be the president. Mir. Stow is man of experience in the commercial world but he is a novice in the art of politics, and to his ineXperience in that line is due the miscarriage of his plans for the honest administration of the de- partment for the coming term. MT. Stow is of unblemished reputation, and he knew of four other members in whom he could place absolute confidence. They were H. M. Holbrook, Charles P. Eels, w. c. Stafford and H. U. Brandenstein, Bells and Brandenstein being the only two Democrats elected.
 Stow, with the innocence due to his in experience in the political arena, accepted this informal action of the caucus as tan- tamount to his election to the presidency, and proceeded forthwith to make up his committees. That would have been all well enough had he been possessed of sufficient political sagacity to keep the matter to himself until after the board had formally organized; but he lacked that qualification, and 1t was not long be- fore the other members knew just what he was doing MT. Stow did not hesitate to show by his actions, if he did not say it in so many words, that he did not place the majority on the same plane as Caesars Wife-abOVe SuSpicion-and so in making up his list he took pains to have all The important committees in control of the four members besides himself in whom he placed full faith, with just enough of the others distributed among them to fill them out. The chairmanships of the minor committees were given to the seven, and Stow rested secure in the belief that he had so ara lged matters that there could be no possible chance of any scandal arising.
 But MT. Stow soon learned his mistake. The majority were not slow in letting him into few tricks of the profession among others being that an informal eau GUS decision was the easiest thing in the world to reverse. Stow and his four con freres were dubbed the ''club fiush,'' and 1t was to beat that hand that the majority bent it's energies. They were so successful that a pair of deuces would made bobtail by the desertion of Hol- brook to the majority. giving them the requisite two-thirds majority and abso- lute control of the board.
 Stow and the others were shocked be- yond measure at the duplicity of Hol- brook, at any rate they professed to be. that they had proven apt pupils in the political school and had progressed even further than the majority cared to have them.
 At all events Holbrook openly joined forces with the majority and was made an honored member of its secret councils But Holbrook had not surrendered to the allurements of the practical politicians, even though he would have it appear so for the time being. It was essential that the schemes of the majority should be- come known, so he undertook that means of ascertaining them.
 Another caucus was held on the even ing of December 2l, at which only the solid eight were present, including MT. Holbrook,. and during that one session that gentleman gained clearer insight Into the practical workings of machine politics than he would had he delved along with a hopeless minority for his full term. Orders form the bosses were freedom that was startling to the novice, while Stow and his followers were buried under an avalanche of abuse. It was evident before the meeting was an hour old that the majority was pre- pared to ''do business" of almost any de- scription; this became conviction by the time of adjournment. But MT. Hol- brook manfully filled his part, and as a reward for his supposed desertion he was given the chairmanShip of the Finance Committee because of his known ability
 Bergerot was decided upon as president of the board in place of Stow, and all the committees were made up according to the rnajoritys ideas of the fitness of things. Needless to say that Stow and the other three were relegated to the places Stow had given to the seven in his list.
 Ed Head. who has been with the mi nority in the present board-his enemies say because he did not get into office un- til after the majority had got things all fixed up and didn't need him-made a hard fight for the chairmanship of the