The San Francisco call., 1898-03-25
RESENT ITS
 MOST VILE
 ASSIMILATION The New Charter Club Acts on a Doodle
 Organ Story. Attempt of the Mercury to Stir Up Religious
 Strife. Men Who Are Fighting to Drive Jim Rea and His Gano From
Men Who Are Fighting to Drive Jim Req and His Gang From
 San Jose Are Firm.
THEIR SHARP RESOLUTION
False and Contern ptible Reports of a San Jose Newspaper Dictated
 by the Boss BoOdler.
Special Dispatch to The Call.

SAN JOSE, March 24.-In its issue Of this morning, the organ of the gang showed the cloven foot of the boss in an unmistakable and characteristic manner. It undertook, under the puerile guiSe of describing an imagi- nary meeting of the New Charter Club, to throw out all manner of base and despicable insinuations against the Charter Club, it's members and its can didates Its course was the more rep rehensible as the men on the bosses ticket, which the Mercury is support ing had approached the leaders in the good government movement, and re- ouested that the campaign be carried on without resort to personalities and misrepresentatiOns. They were told that so far as the Charter Club was con- cerned the campaign would be conduct ed on absolutely clean and manly lines.
 The indignation aroused by the bad faith and unwarranted course of the gang organ led to the adoption of the following resolution at the meeting of the New Charter Club tonight:
 Whereas. Mean, false and contemptible reports have been circulated against the New Charter Club, calculated to foment discord, suspicion and stri1e among the friends and supporters Of its ticket, to divide the candidates into parties and Cliques, to array party against party and sect against sect, and to engender bitter personal animOSitieS by appeals to the religious feeling of the people of San Jose; and whereas, Such reports were first pub- liShed in the San Jose Mercury, the organ of the boss, which Stings with its venom the very people at whose expense it fat tens at the public crib, and has also been circulated at the command of the boss by his unsavory following of political henchmen; and whereas, The San Jose Mercury has inaugurated against the New Charter Club, it's individual members and its candidates a campaign of abuse, Vili- fication and islander without just cause and provocation; and whereas, This club has indorsed its list of candidates to the public without hostility to any honest men or organization of men, and not for any purpose of rewarding some and pun iShing others, but for the sole purpose of securing good government and the plac- ing of honest and capable officials in charge of municipal affairs; now, there fore, be 1t
 Resolved. That we, the members of the New Charter Nlub, do denOunce such re- ports as the unclean and slanderOus ema- nations of a set of political cOrmOrantS; and furthermore, unqualifedly pledge ourselves and each of our candidates to the jealous and unanimous support of all the candidates indorsed by the New Char ter Club.
 Several strong and pointed speeches were made in support of the resolution and the gang organ was handled with put gloves. Dr. Wright opened the dis cussiOn. When a paper" he said, stands in the way of reform 1t ought to be denounced. The Mercury Is everything that is mean. that is con temptible, that is unfair in politics. The Mercury ought to be denounced. Instead of standing by the honest and decent people of this city it is lending its influence to the boss, who is re- sponsible for the present shameful con- ditions in local official circles
 D. M. Burnett began by saying that the resolution was particularly direct ed against the Mercury. ''The article in that paper" he said, "purported to give an account of a meeting of the New Charter Club, in which it says it was decided to throw down Messrs. Riehl, Coopers and O'Brien and that the support of the club was to be cen tered on Jarman. Dittus and Krieg for Councilmen." rLaughter]
 You will notice" he continued, 'in that resolution that a reference is made to an attempt on the part of the Mercury to inaugurate a bitter reli- gious controversy, similar to one that ragged here a few years ago. The sole object of that article is to engender a war between people of different reli- gious beliefs. This is an attempt-a low, cowardly. contemptible attempt to renew religious strife. They do not care what may happen as the result of this strife. There is an assertion in this article that nine men of the ap- pointing board are to be elected by the votes of the New Charter Club It must be remembered that five of our candidates for members of the ap- pointing board are Catholics. Here is another dastardly attempt to wean away Catholic votes from the Charter Club ticket. There is no use mincing matters. Their sole purpose, I repeat, is simply to arouse this religious an tagonism."
 The fact that MT. Burnett is himself a Catholic gives added value to his manly and courageous words.
 '"The Mercury" he said, asserts that our ranks are thinning rapidly. The idea. is to scare the people. The Mer- cury knows there is always large floating vote that can be captured by the side which appears to be certain of success. They therefore seek to con- vey the idea that we are losing strength, when in fact, every day sees 1Is growing stronger in membership and in the good opinion Of the people of this city. They speak of our allylns ourselves with Dittus and krleg: Dit tus and Krieg were anle 10 ei noIa thell heads high in the Council until they got into financial difficulties. Then the boss was able to reach them, and they took their stand with the boss.
 4The gentlemen interested in the peo- ple's municipal ticket, put up by the boss. asked US to make a clean fight We are making it. If the candidates on that ticket are not responsible for the Mercury's course why don't they take means to stop these contemptible attacks. If they don't we must hold them responsible, and they must De considered as no better than the gang organ, and the boss who controls 1t. '' (Applause)
 Adam Riehl declared that he never for a moment believed what appeared in the Mercury and expressed the hope that none of his friends would pay any attention to it's statements
 MT. Brown denounced the Mercury s article as a mean attempt to divide the