The San Francisco call., 1898-03-31
NEW WAY OF
 BUYING VOTES Rea's San Jose "Ganu Springs a Unique
 Innovation. Insurance Policies Taken Out to Gain the Support of
 Agents. Thirty Thousand Dollar Risk on a Building tho City Does Not
 Yet Own.
Special Dispatch to The Call

SAN JOSE, March 30.-Mystery has hitherto surrounded the motive which led the City Council at a recent meet ing to place $30,000 worth of insurance on the uncompleted High School build l ing at the same time that $40, 900 worth | of insurance on the City Hall was re- ! neWed. The mystery has now been dis sipated. The facts that explain it make up another illustration of how the gang" fraudulently utilizes the funds of the taxpayers to intrench itself in office.
 At the time the matter of insuring the High School building, which is now in the course of construction under the contract awarded to D. J, Byron was up for consideration in the Council Mayor Koch objected to this expense on the ground that the city had no in- terest in the structure until 1t was turned over to the municipality after 1t was completed by the contractor Despite his protest the motion to place this insurance was carried.
 Contractor Byron, in an interview with The Call correspondent, expressed himself in accord with the view of the Mayor. He said further that he had $S000 worth of insurance on the build ing, and would keep that amount on 1t until he had completed his contract and had turned the property over to the city and it had been formally accepted by the Council. Until that time he con- sidered the risks of fire and other dan- | gers were entirely his. He did not in- sure for more, he said, because he thought sS000 would cover any damage | that would be likely to occur.
 Why, then, was this insurance placed when there was absolutely no necessity 1 for it? And why were hundreds of dollars of the cit-'s funds thus wasted l? | These are questions that tho tax-payers have asked and are still asking. Here | Is the answer:
 The gang realized that it was go- ing to have one of the hardest battles to fight in the coming city election that it had ever been engaged in, and that one of the strongest factors in the con- test would be the real-estate men. many of whom act as agents of yarious insurance companies. By giving them a little sop in the shape of some of this insurance, as we'll as part of the re-in- surance on the City Hall, it was hoped to keep them in line for the gang ticket.
 J. D. Miner, the gang candidate for Councilman at Large, was selected to peddle out at least part of this insur- ance. He went from one agent to an- other, and made deliberate proposi- tion to swap insurance policies for votes and influence in behalf of the gang" ticket, which is masuuerading 2 under the name of the Peoples Munf- cfpal ticket. To the credit of the real estate men, most of whom realize thor oughly that their best interests lie in the defeat of the gang" MT. Miner was not in all cases successful, but he kept to his task until he had no more policies to peddle.
 By the part that MT. Miner took in this matter he not only made himself party indirectly to the robbery of the people, but he made himself liable to punishment under the purity of cleo tons law He was virtually spending the money wrongfully taken from the city treasury to further his election on the 11th of April. MT. Miner is the boss candidate. who is running in opposition to J. P. Jarrnan, whom Jim Req is charged with having slandered and damaged to the amount of $50.OOO.