The San Francisco call., 1898-01-06

they would eschew politics, the politi- cal lines have been drawn already, and this before they have received their certificates of election.
 There is every promise of a lively battle when the charter framers meet to organize. The first skirmish will be over the selection of chairman There are two candidates in the field Joseph Britton, who presided over two prev ious conventions, that framed charters that were voted down by the people, is the choice of Mayor Phelan. The other candidates is ex-Mayor L. R. FL lert, who ran away ahead of his ticket. It is over these two candidates that the battle will rage the hardest.
 When Mayor Phelan suggested Brit ton for chairman, he believed that there would not be any opposition. He was so used to having matters go just about as he wanted at the convention of the Committee of One Hundred he did not dream that any other aspirant would appear in the field. But the friends of ex-Mayor Ellert among the Freeholders decided that he was the logical candidate for chairman. The fact that he ran over 1000 votes ahead of any of the other candidates on the ticket seemed to them to be a pretty fair gauge of the will of the people in the matter. In addition to this, his four years service as a member of the Board of Supervisors and two years in the Mayors chair gave him a better insight into municipal affairs than any other of the Freeholders. For these reasons his friends decided to nominate him for chairman and they are hope ful of winning their fight.
 But there is more than the mere mat ter of craftsmanship involved in the tr,er fer1,f desire for political gain.
 Mayor Phelan is ambitious and de sirous of political advancement He would gladly accept the Democratic nomination for Governor, but as mat ters now stand Congressman Mcguire appears to have the inside track Ii the gubernatorial plum falls to Ma guire the Mayor will consent to again head the local ticket. Therein lies the secret of the fight that Is now being made to secure the chairmanship for Britton.
 The political advisers of Mayor Phe- Ian work out the problem in a manner that causes him considerable uneasi- ness. They argue that if Ellert is chosen chairman of the convention and a charter is framed that will meet with the approval of the people, there will be a boom in Ellert's political stock. They fear that he might become an as- pirant for the highest place on the State ticket, or enter the mayoralty race. They recognize Ellert's strength and so far as either nomination is con- cerned they consider 1t good Demo- cratic politics to keep him in the back ground.
 So it Is that the fight for chairman of the freeholders' convention will be a lively one. The workers for both can didates are pulling hard on the other fraohnldQrE and trying fn af 1T, line to support their favorite. Several of the freeholders have expressed their choice for chairman but the majority of them seem to think at present that it is the best policy to keep silent and look wise.
 J. Richard Freud, who was secretary of the charter convention, IS the only candidate thus far named for the sec retary of the freeholders' convention It is generally conceded that the high office of treasurer will go to Isador Cutie without opposition.