The herald., 1898-01-27
,alled to the ridiculous condition of af-

fairs, that whereas the state owed q
million of dollars, upon which it was
paying per cent interest, it possessed
an equal amount of money, thus par
celed out among the banks and the in
terest upon it going into the pockets OF
the gang. The question at each recur-
ring election was not who shall be our
governor. or who shall be our chief just
ice, but who shall be our treasurer? For
the whole political machine revolved
about that office, which furnished the
Doodle with which to pay for the stuffing
of ballot boxes and the bribing of cleo
ton judges in all of the counties of the
state. What with the added plunder
furnished by state and national admin
istrations in the way of snecure official
positions, the ramifications of the gang
were complete, their power without
limit. The corruptionists controlled the
state land board and the department of
justice, including the attorney general,
was subservient to their behests. The
public lands of the state, sacred heritage
of the schools, were absorbed by the in
dividual members of the push. and par
celed out, under the forms of law, TO
their henchmen, as the exigencies of the
occasion demanded.
Their peculations in all departments
of the state government became so bold
and audacious as to really at last revolt
the popular conscience. Further toler
ance was not to be thought of. The
party whip was no longer potent. The peo-
pie, without regard to past party affilia
tions Joined in a movement to overthrow
the gang, nor yielded until the last one
of them had been run to earth. There
was a complete revolution in the affairs
of the state government. reform
Legislature passed a law compelling the
state treasurer to cover all interest col
lected upon public funds, aggregating
$50, 900 per annum, into the treasury;
passed an adequate primary cleo
ton law; adopted the Australian
system of balloting; threw ad-
ditional safeguards about the pub
lie lands, and provided means fer
recovering the broad acres that had been
illegally sequestered. The gang was
vanquished, it's cohesiveness, the power
of plunder, removed and it's continued
mschievous domination destroyed.
Some of it's leaders were indicted and
others We're driven from the state for
The fact came to the surface, and was
much of a surprise to everybody, that
the real beneficiaries of the wholesale
plundering of the people that had been
in progress for years, We're by no means
confined to the dominant political party
in the state, and the one that had the
numerical strength to carry every elec-
ton, but embraced Democrats and Re-
publicans in about equal proportion.
once nomination was made that was
deemed weak, care was taken to have
some one named on the other ticket with
still less strength, and through this and
long to dominate and plunder a great
state.
1 trust the people of Los Angeles will
not be so tolerant of official abuse. l
trust they will give ear to the warnings
which The Herald is giving. hope the
masses will believe, as l do, that 1T is
inspired by the best motives, and that
they will encourage it to continue its
crusade against the "Allied Villainies,'
wholly regardless of the opinions and
totally Indifferent to the threats of any
and every man calling himself Demo-
crat, but who is that for revenue only
1t has declared itself independent of the
machine in it's own party-let 1t defy the
push of both parties. In no 9TH
er way can it so effectually endear
itself eventually to the masses and make
itself an indispensable adjunct to hon
est. decent, decorous government in
city and county. d.