The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1898-10-24
BOOMERANG AT TALC0TT
USED HIS ROAD FUND TO THE
BEST ADVANTAGE.
Contrast Between MAGNETISM and the
Honest Principles of
FARMER J. v.
Webster.
Oakland once San Francisco Call,
nnf

This fact Is more plainly demonstrated DIT
each political gathering 1t is a cam
paign Of dstrust, one being able 10
feel any confidence as to how MS nelgn-
Dor and friend will vote. This Is not con
fined to any one party, but is painfully
general. It is shared by candidates as
well as voters. Party lines have been so
intermingled and there has been so much
connecting that politics has been lost to
sight and personality has been suDsu
tuted The Republicans are, OF course
united on State and Congressional nonl-
nees. but for county offices it IS every one
for himself and his ambitions and
schemes. Party honor has been banished
TO the winds and many openly declare
they are not bound to vote on party lines
This is the result of the rule or ruin
policy which has been a feature OF local
politics for some years whereas, years
ago. it was a novelty to find scratched
ballot. I venture to predict that two
weeks hence a majority of all the ballots
cast will not be straight Not so very
long ago q man was honored Tor having
been the choice of his party for office ana
the prefix honorable" was something 10
be proud Of Now the sacred word is so
often misappled that 1 have heard 1t ire
quently call forth derision: rms Is pc
cause the grand constitutional idea OF
politics in government mas Deen ue
based by professional office hunters IN
IN II is simply q business with party
name for a trade mark. can CONCEIVE
of nothing more revolving TO Patrlos
than for man to creep on his hanuS ana
knees and drivel out such WORDS as IN
COIN Jefferson or Mckinney, When
his sole ambition is to get his mana IN
the county treasury and take out salary
ten times greater than he deserves or
could earn in any legitimate walk OF lie
One of the genii of the union" party
made great discovery last week 1t
was that Supervisor TalcOtt had spent all
his road district money in the township
where he resides. AS the lawmakers
w-~e discreet enough to decree that a Su-
pervisor, in common with every other dis
trict officer in the State, must reside IN
the district which he represents, 1t is not
easy to see what particular merit tnere -
in the discovery of this fact. MT l al
colt has, we are solemnly informed, spent
large sums of money on the roads IN the
vicinity of his own home Truly re-
narkable! Had he done anything else
the grand Jury might have handled him.
MI Talcott is not a 'colonzed super
visor. 49,. ...-,,,o -
nsrepresenting one OF the most honest
Supervisors Alameda County has ever
known, is the greatest compliment ne
could desire. Had it been insinuated that
the money spent had not gone into us
roads" but into some pocket then MI
Talcott might have felt aggrieved. This
vvonId nave been too palpable falsehood,
however, for Mr.. Talcott's roads are the
delight of every wheelman, teanster
Since the Democrats have paraded their
weakness by such silly opposition to Mr.
Talcott, his assurance of election has been
doubly assured.
There are hundreds of politicians who
try to create the impression that they are
honest, well knowing that they are not;
there are others who believe they are hon
est and vet others who are honest, but
so lack Judgment that they do nothing
bur arouse suspicion. There are a few who
so conduct themselves that, without any
effort on their part, they force their hear
ers into the belief that they are honest.
OF this latter class is ]. V. Webster, the
San Luis Obispo farmer, who headed the
Populst State ticket in "a. | spent three
hours with Mr.. Webster a few evenings
ago and each hour added to my firm con-
viction that the two leading articles Of his
creed are truth and sincerity. man OF
mature experience and marked pontlcal
views, twenty years ago, he sat as dele
gate in the constitutional convention and
some of the most notable sections OF the
State constitution are his work NOW the
whitening head and kindly features and
intellectual expression at once invite the
respect and confidence which his speech
and argument later compel. Mr.. Webster
10 out of place in his party to-day. he
went into the Peoples party from an
honest motive. He believes its principles
are nearer the practical solution of mod
ern economy and political complications
than those of any other party: and his
have almost wrecked the ship which more
honest men built.
Nothing could be more widely separated
than MAGNETISM and the principles of
Mr. Webster. Mr.. Maguire's diatribe of
apology, abuse and self-adulation deliv-
cred at the Tabernacle a few weeks ago
left not a single principle for an intelli-
gent nearer to ponder over His speech
same old speech delivered everywhere
simply resolved itself into this: TN an
position where 1 can make a bigger ass
of myself than l am, and I'll grasp the
opportunity
And what does Mr.. Webster say of Mr..
Maguire's issues: 1.-The Governor of
the State has no more authority to regu-
late railroad traffic than the man in the
moon. The single tax principles, if en-
forced, would quickly place every farm
in the State in the hands of the bankers
more than the corporations would dare to
ask. These are the only two strings to
Se stan9 f6f RMsh ON MEAT earth e 6aH b dof
common with the Peoples party?"
Private Meadors showed excellent judg-
ment when he chose Alameda County as
a fitting place to practice homicide Many
other manslayers-a long list extending
over thirty years-set the precedent for
Meadors, and with two notable excep-
lions, all are now alive to tell about it.
.~nless nature has come to their relief
Just why Meadors should have killed but
one man instead of wiping out half of
camp Barrett is not quite plain. Certain
" he had nothing to fear from the law
as Interpreted by an Alameda County
jury. The four Judges should get their
panels together and frame a new defini-
ton of manslaughter, for it Is evident that
there is at present nothing in the statutes
that fits the case. Justice Allen must be
man of nerve to desire four-year term
as District Attorney of this county.
People travelling on the street cars In
the country to-day were somewhat sur
prised to see a portion of the trunk Of
tree. For several weeks such a sight
has not been witnessed, but this morn
ing a piece of bark was visible. 1t was
due to the storm last night. which blew
away one of the candidates cards. News
that there was a spot available for anoth-
er card soon reached the candidates.