The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1899-01-18
THE WHOLE STORY OF WRIGHT'S DEGRA-
DATION BROUGHT OUT.
Verbatim Report Of the Proceedings Of the Committee
Which Is Looking Into the Charges Against the
Speaker Of the Assembly.


as | understand it this resolution was in
troduced by Mr.. Johnson, and in his pre-
amble to the resolution he says that there
have, been charges made of improper con-
duct. Now, it seems to me that 1t would
be proper to first put before your COM
mtttee some charge of improper doings
on the part of some Senatorial candidate
ana then those candidates can be sub
penaed here to refute those charges. II
seems to me that it would be a very Pc
cul1ar state of affairs If a candidate for
United States Senate can be brought up
before. a committee of this kind and have
the conduct of his campaign investigated
without there being the least charge that
there is anything wrong about his cam
ness and in justice to Mr.. Grant to OBJ
ject TO Mr. Grant being the first witness
in this case for the reason that there is
absOlutely-So far as this committee is
concerned-nO charge here of any i'm
proper conduct of this campaign. Now,
as l understand it, Mr.. Chairman and
gentlemen of the committee, l do not
think there is any question but that 1t is
public property, and il is already conced-
ed by the public to be a fact, that these
resolutions grew out of a, certain article
me that Mr.. Leake, the managing editor
of The Cali, should be put upon the stand
and substantiate his chargeS-or make
these charges; say what Mr.. Wright said
TO him, or what Mr.. Grant said to him,
or what somebody said TO him, that led
him TO believe that something improper
had been done in this campaign. And 1
appeal to YOU gentlemen that It is not
fair and it lowers the dignity of your
committee to ask Mr.. Grant to be put
upon the stand here to refute something
that he knows nothing about. ask you.
gentlemen. in spirit of fairness that
you put somebody upon the stand TO say
something that will indicate TO you that
there has been wrong committed
would like to have the permission of the
committee to address it for a few min
utes.''
The ,Ghajrman-'Your name"
Mr.. .McEnerney-'G Carrot McEnerney"
The chairman-"You have my permits
sion.',
Mr.. McEnerney-"Mr. E. S. PiIsbury and
l appear here for Mr.. John D. spreckels,
proprietor of The Call, and Mr. w S.
Leake, the managing editor. The resolu-
ton adopted by the House of which you
gentlemen are members recites that GER
tain charges have been made AS Mr.
Bacon has already stated, it is common
property that those charges We're made in
The Call. We expected to address the
committee before IL outlined the procedure
which it had determined to follow and to
suggest that inasmuchs as the charge was
made By. men who occupy positions of
prominence and financial stability in the
State 1t may be readily presumed that
they are familiar with some of the facts
by which the charges could be proven,
and If it were the sense of your commit
tee-which presumably has no information
about the matter and which is to sit here
with no precOnceiVed notions about the
matter and no prior knowledge-to permit
US to put in proof to subStantiate our
charges and let us bring out the facts
with directness and with expedition, the
proceeding could be brought to an early
close. If it was found. after a short period
of time. that we were wasting the time of
the committee it could take the matter
out of our hands. 1t seems to US that
having, as we claim, the facts within our
knowledge, which the committee does not
itself possess, better results could be ac-
complished by asking us to establish the
charges if we are able
The chairman-"I will say to the gen.
tlemen that this committee is not a court
trying specific charges, because, as has
well been said, no specific charges-at
least, no written charges-have been
placed before this committee. 1t is COM
mittee of investigation, and ! am quite
willing, on my part, as chairman of the
committee, to submit the matter as
to the course to be pursued to the
committee, and indeed, | raised that
question last evening, in our first meeting,
but the matter was left undecided, as I
thought, and l Will hear any suggestions
from the committee upon the PROPOSE
ton
Mr. Mellick-"I want to say for my part
that | am absolutely opposed to the at
torneys of anybody coming here and run
ming this matter. If The Call wants to
establish its charges 50 that it won't
need to carry them out in the courts
am dead opposed to that If they have
been sued for Hbel-if they want to es-
tablish any line of argument or any facts
IT is their business in the courts, not here
AS far as Mr.. Bacon is concerned, I'm his
talk | am willing for the attorneys TO go
this far before this committee, and that
is: When there is witness on the stand
then, of course, he has the right to adj
vice from an attorney, but l am not in
favor of having an attorney step in here
and dictate to this committee what it
shall no
appointed to investigate this ourselves,
and, by the Eternal, for one l want to
investigate! l don't want attorneys to
step in here and ask this question nor
that question and stop us in it. My ex-
perience in the last session was the attor-
neys, one side and the other, would come
in here and they would offer this sugges-
ton and that, and until we banished at
torneys, except as advisers for any par
ticular witness, we made no progress;
and / am in favor of following that pro-
cedure now. We know what we are after.
Let us go directly and get it without re-
gard to any attorneys for any party"
Mr.. Bacon-''Mr. Chairman 1 certainly
do not desire to make any suggestion at
first place, ask for information as to
what procedure you propose to adopt.
Mr. Mellck will grant me this: that Mr..
Grant is candidate for United States SEN
ator, a high and honorable position, and
he should not be, by any committee, put
in a position of defending himself
against a - OndTBe JIlaI Is not IOr-
INFLATED. There never has been COM
mittee in the Houses of Congress, nor in
a Legislature, that l ever heard of that
would not allow man who is charged
with doing something wrong a chance
to be represented by himself and by an
attorney"
Mr. Mellick-"Mr Bacon, let me answer
that"
Mr.. Mellick-"Y suggestion is a good
one. l think there is no question that at
torneys very often get into a committee
meeting of this kind and seek to divert it
from it's proper channel That is not my
idea at all. We are here at this investi-
CATION. but what we want to know is what
we are investigating"
The chairman-"Your contention, if l
understand you, Mr.. Bacon, is that there
should be formulated charges made be-
fore this committee"
Mr. Bacon-"No, sir; not formulated
charges. We don't want any informa-
ton or any indictment, or anything of
that kind written out: but what we want
is to have somebody get IN in this COM
mittee room and say that something
wrong has been done. That is ali we
want. Tt seems to me it Is one OF the
most simple requests ever made"
The chairman-'H would 1t then be
properly denominated an investigating
committee?"
Mr.. Bacon-"Why, what are you inves-
The chairman-.eWe are investlgat ting
whether wrong has been done
Mr.. Bacon-"1nvestigat whether a
wrong has been done, Now, as 1 have