The San Francisco call., 1898-10-20
PHELah I AND THE PRIMARY.

was no better-thai that of the County Committees of I8S2 1886 and 1892 years in which the Democracy carried San Francisco. But the State Central Com mittee set aside this duly elected County Committee and appointed three trustees one of them a resident of this city and the others from the country to ar range government and organization for the party ot San Francisco Out of this issued the Phelan Com mittee of One Hundred, which stepped into the place of the regularly elected County Committee and not only usurped all of its regular functions, but went far ahead of them by appointing the delegation to the State convention. This delegation contested by one elected at primaries called by the regular County Committee. The delegation of the Committee of One Hundred was seated by the State convention, but the committee credentials reported for that delegation the condition that in future the party should be permitted to hold primaries in San Francisco. Upon this condition, which doubt rested on promise by Phelan and his managers that the Committee of One Hundred would call primary, that delegation sat in the convention nominated Mcguire, indorsed fusion and did the job lot of things required by the programme The primary delegation came home, refused in the convention, but with the sting of defeat mtgated by the order of the State convention that there should be primary in San Francesca It was expected that at this primary delegates would be elected to a city convention to nominate a local ticket, which, coming from the people, would have the right to ask the people ratiy it at the polls
 But it was never the intention of the Mayor to trust his ambitions to the popular decision at primary. His theory that at a primary ot his party he would be beaten but that ii he could get upon the ticket again his sustained pretense ot re- form would secure for him enough of independent and Republican votes to offset the detection of even majority of the Democratic voters.
 Therefore, by his orders and procurement, the Committee of One Hundred violated the agreement which seated its delegation in the State convention dsobeyed the orders of that convention disappointed the expectation of the party refused to call pri- mary for the election of delegates to the city tion and announced that it the city convention and would nominate ticket.
 As well might the State Committee have announced that 1t was the State convention This seconsttuted city convention teetered for many days on plank which had at its other end the so-caled Non-Parsan convention. Mayor Phelan manipulated the Com rnittee of One Hundred self-eected as a convention, and his brother-in-law, MT Frank Sullivan, manipu lated the Non-Partsan convention also self-elected These two bodies with origin from the people, in cooperation selected ticket for the people to vote.
 The Mayor is so we'll satisfied with this method so pleased with the success of trick by which his dele gaton was seated in the State convention on prom ise that has been violated and so exultant his success in running the Committee of One Hundred as nominating convention, and exhilarated with his exercise the teeterboard while his brotherin- law, Mr. Sullivan, occupied the opposite end, and they chanted after the fashion of children:
 "Teeter totter.
 Milk and water
 I'm the Mayor and
 You're the brother-in-law."
 that he has now made proclamation that there will be no more Democratic primaries in San Francisco
 AL. l,. done. In speech which is reported in Sundays Examiner on page 25, column 3, he says
 Until the Legislature passes primary law, which it will do next year. 1t is futile and the mockery of Democracy to appeal to the primary because 1t does not represent the Democracy"
 This in Pheanesque verbiage, is proclamation that there Is to be Demoepatic primary permitted in this city until after 1900 The Legislature of 1899 may pass primary law, and it may not. If it do not Phelan's Committee of One Hundred will con- tinue to act as the County Committee and the city convention and will renominate the Mayor in that year. If 1t do pass primary law, that law must go through the courts. It pass the Supreme Court successfully before proceedings under it can be of assured legality and before tickets based upon it can get upon the official ballot All this cannot be done in time for action under such law in 1900 Therefore the Committee of One Hundred will do in that year as it has done now-consttute itself a city convention and nominate ticket.
 The Mayor has in effect, proclaimed himself "Phean I" of San Francisco, and having nominated himself proposes to do it again in 1900 In the speech in which he gives notice of his intention he says: Tt is mockery to appeal to primary" Why? This is an unsupported declaration. Phelan I was himself nominated to the office he holds by convention chosen at primary Why is a primary any more of mockery now than it was then? Was his nomi- nation in I8o6 corrupt9 He stands to-day exposed in procuring citizen to abandon his home and ward register in another ward in order that the Commit tee of One Hundred may nominate him for Super visor from the latter ward. Was there any worse "rnockery" in the convention of I8e6? The offense is one for which others have been to the peni- tentary Is it less "a nockery' done by the commit tee of Phean I than by convention issuing from nrimarv2 If nlain man do such thing and is in