The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1898-03-02

one man who is not on the Board of Ed
ucation.
tie more than a fgurehead. say this
without intending to discredit him. Tor ne
cannot remove or change teacher or IN
any way control teacher.
An ex-Councilman told me that when
on the Council he learned that the man
holes for our sewers could be bought tor
So So and that they were being bought Tor
such a price by other cities, while the city
of San Jose was paying $50 apiece TOR
them. He called the attention or the
Council to that fact, and made motion
that bids be advertised for to furnish
these devices. and his motion prevailed,
all the Councilmen voting for It, In Que
time bids were received from several par
ties, and he knew that some OF the plos
were very low.
When the bids were about to be opened
a certain Councilman arose and said: II
it please your Honor, when voted for the
motion calling for bids to furnish these
manholes 1t escaped my memory that l,
as one of the Sewer Committee, had let
the contract to a certain foundry in TINS
city for SIS apiece, the manholes to be fur
nished at such times and in such quaint
ties as may be needed. i therefore move
that these bids be not opened. Every
Councilman but one voted for the motion,
and the Council continues to pay $40 TOT
device which can be bought for 50 o. ana
bear in mind that the foundry receiving
this contract is owned largely, II not en-
tirely, by one of our city bosses.
The Councilman who arrogated to
himself the letting of this eXtOrtionate
contract is William T. Noting. The
firm to. which 1t was let is the San
Jose Foundry, of which Andrew S.
Mackenzie is manager. Andrew is a
brother of Johnnie Mackenzie, and the
latter Is the chief lieutenant of Jim"
Rea.
Under the old charter. the policemen
were annually in danger of being dropped
from the police force. This danger oper-
ated against efficient service, because the
criminals use their influence to have them
dropped from. the police force.
A policeman told me that there is
saloon in this city, in connection with
which there is a room the walls of which
are flied with sawdust, so that sounds
cannot be transmitted through them. In
this room nightly gather dfsreputable
characters of both sexes, who sing and
drink and dance until late hours of the
night. A telephone with large receiver
transmits their ribald songs and vulgar
conversation to friends in remote parts of
the city. He further informed that he
dare not enforce the ordinance against
this place, for If he did he would lose
his position on the police force.
Under the new charter policemen VIII
hold their positions during efficiency and
good behavior, and policemen cannot be
discharged for having done their duty.
Do you ask how all the imposition ana
interference and subserviency and thiev,
cry can be enforced by few po1tlcal
ringsters? / answer, the leaders IN this
disgraceful movement make study or
the situation; they make a study Of
municipal politics. While you and | are
attending to the business of our lives,
these men are intriguing and devising
means by which to spread net In which
to catch the politically unwary.
After relating in detail how primar-
les are controlled, conventions are
packed and a boss ticket forced upon
the voters, he called attention TO now
all this Is prevented by the provisions
of the new charter, which provides for
all nominations for the coming election
being made by petition: He also 1a1d
stress on the: Importance or electlng the
right kind of men as members or the
Appointing Board, and the necessity OF
electing a strong and honest man to
FIJI the Mayors chair. Commenting
on the result of electing gang men to
these offices he said:
In that event our city will be plunged
into a gulf of political scheming and cor
ruption from which It can never escape
until the citizens adopt another charter:
Suppose on the other hand that at the
next election we elect a man to the
nlayoralty who believes that the citys
interests are paramount to any indtyid-
:ual,s. and that they elect an appointing
board which will appoint honest, indus
trious, self-respecting, intelligent and
conscientious men to the. various official
boards, then the city will be assured of
ain intelligent, economical, wise, humane
and respectable administration. Then,
| ceive what It pays for and pay for what
|. it receives. Then, and not until then, will
/ our citizens be able to speak with pride
I+of our municipal affairs.
|. If the political ringsters succeed in d.
viding our efforts and scattering our
votes the ring Will succeed and we will
+ fail.
The new Charter Club is composed of
Democrats, Republicans and Populists, of
! Protestants and Catholics. 1t is COM
e ety who Ii are engaged in ali kinds Of
reputable business-lawyers, physicians,
/ schoolteac cheers. bankers, carpenters, sur
yeyors statesmen, shoemakers, merchants,
| farmers, orchardists, all of whom have
! pledged themselves to do all they can 70
! elect men to office who are opposed TO
bosses and bossism, and who believe that
! the only kind. of men who ought to hold
! office in the city Of San Jose are those
who believe the citys interests are al
ways paramount to any indlviou u 5; ana
/ on business principles and not on political
| principles.
/ He referred to the ticket of the New
| Charter Club being beyond reproach,
and added:
! All of them are anti-gang: all Of them
are sworn enemies Of bossism.
In uttering a caution against the
methods Of the gang he said
All sorts of falsehoods and misrepre-
| sensations" will be hurled against this
! ticket by the enemies of municipal re-
form; schemes will be put on foot which
viii be so plausible that they will de-
ceive the very elect; religious and politi.
cal prejudices will be marshaled against
fhe ticket with all the cunning of Satan
himself. Other tickets will be put in the
! field with the sanguine expectation OF
| dividing the votes of the unsophisticated
but order-loving people.
Let US remember that the New Char
ter Club represents the wisdom of large
| number of San Jose's best citizens and
! that I'm working for that ticket, talking
! for that ticket voting for that ticket and
! forsakng all others, we will be doing
good service for our fair city, and that
| Casting our votes for other tickets will
! Certainly result in continuing in office
! political ringsters and municipal cormor-
ants