The San Francisco call., 1898-01-03
.="..NEBB NOW TAKES THE
 OFFENSIVE Will w age War on Those Who Made
 Charges. Claims to Have Been the
 Victim of Political ;: Enemies. Behind Them He Claims Is the League for Better City Government.
MAE OWENS FRIENDS.
They Have Been Active Because the :, Director Refused to Consent to Her Reinstatement.
Special Dispatch to The Call.

=: LOS ANGELES, Jan. 2.-Walter L..
 Webb. the School Director, who was :. tried and acquitted of the charge of ' having extorted moneys from school :" teachers, janitors and employees of the : School Department, has now taken the : offensive, and proposes to carry the : war into Africa, so to say.
 .. =. Webb broadly intimates that the
 prosecution of the charges against him is the result of a conspiracy on the :: part of his political enemies and the friends of Miss Mae owen to weaken his political prestige and to break his political power.
 =. Behind the people who are working
 on political lines, he charges, is the : League for Better City Government, Which sought but failed to get control :. of the Board of Education a year ago, when the present board was originally
 organized. Webb and his adherents
 then effected the organization, and
 have remained in power ever since.
 The enmity of the friends of Mae Owen was aroused, he declares, be- cause he, as a member of the teachers
 committee of the Board of Education
 had refused to consent to the reinstate- . ment of Miss Owen as a teacher in the
 public schools, after she had been
 dropped because of her rating as poor
 to fair.
 Members of the League for Better City Government deny that their inter- est in the prosecution is due to any
 thing more than to desire to expose . corruption in public office in the cause of good government. The friends of Mae .r Owen deny that they have taken any part in the prosecution of Webb or that the"p prosecution was instigated or .eQntinued against Webb by them in : any manner.
 :. It will be remembered that early in November the Grand Jury of Los An : geles County began an investigation of
 what has now come to be known as :: the school board scandals. It was de- : .NgIoped that moneys had been paid by
 two janitors, two teachers and a con- tractor to retain or secure employment in the school department.
 The testimony taken before the :1Srand Jury showed that these moneys had passed through or to the hands of
 J: F. Adams, a member of the Los An
 geles City Board of Education, and of :: C. H. Axtell, the Superintendent of
 Buildings and Janitors This was
 proved by numerous witnesses and by
 their own admissions under oath
 In their original testimony, given before the Grand Jury, both Axtell and Adams denied all knowledge of any
 .suth moneys having been received by either or both of them. At subsequent
 sessions of the Grand Jury, after they
 had learned of the damaging testi- n1ony given against them, they reap :peared by their own request and Cor .: :rected" their testimony. They also added to it by alleging the moneys had been ultimately paid over to .ANebb No other testimony to support their statements in reference to Webb
 was. adduced during the sitting of the
 Grand Jury.
 :Dn the trial of the charges against Webb in the Superior Court, he was
 acquitted by the jury ir less than twelve minutes. The investigation of
 similar charges against Webb by the
 Board of Education is still pending.
 and will be resumed on Tuesday even .-.iiEg- There is an evident disposition on the part of those who were most active : and energetic in starting the investi- r gatlOn to now let it drop. Webb, how "eEer proposes to take up the running +sn0W and force matters to full and logical conclusion. The defense has .. now got its inning and he proposes. he '. says, 10 either be proved guilty as charged or to be able to show to the
 public a full and complete vindication. :.'~ Meanwhile there are many people.
 ands they are not all friends of Webb either, who are asking why are not Az tell and Adams prosecuted for the ner :" juries they committed when they gave
 their testimony, and why are not the
 people who paid money for their posi-
 tions dismissed from the School De partment and prosecuted for the crim-
 inal offense of which they have been - shown to be guilty?
 Both Adams and Axtell were permit ted. to resign their positions If the League for Better City Government : say" these people, are earnest and sin
 eere. in this matter, why have they not
 taken action against others than
 Webb?