The San Francisco call., 1899-01-25
Speaker Pro Tenn Anderson Raises a
Storm With His Bill.
An Effort to Prevent Convict Labor From
Coming in Conflict With That of Freemen
Brings About a Heated Debate
in the Assembly,.

CALL HEADQUARTERS, SACRA-
MENTO. Jan. 24.-Speaker pro TEN. An
derson's bill is not more than paragraph
long but il raised column of storm when
It came up in the Assembly this morning.
Its provisions are as follows:
Section lit shall be unlawful for the Board
Of State Prison Directors or the state Prison
authorities at Folsom, or any other state
penal Institution in the State Of California
10 engage or employ any person connned or
employed in any penal institution In said state
in the quarrying OF raw material, or IN the
manufacturing of anything whatever that Is
an article Of commerce in this State except
broken stone TO be used exclusively upon
county or State roads. other material TO be
used exclusively on country or State roads,
Jute bags, and articles consumed exclusively
IN the state Institutions provided, that moth
the inmates OF any State institution upon
county or State roads
In other words Assemblyman Anderson's
object is to prevent the product of the
convict coming in competition with that
of the freeman. Rock crushed. ot the
prison is sold to contractors in the cities
at a price which would ruin the free
owner of quarry, and the result has
been, according to Mr. Anderson, that
many of the private quarries have gone
under Mr.. Anderson's bill provides that
the prison product shall be sold only TO
County Boards of Supervisors or for use
on county roads.
II came up under the head Of unfinished
business, and Assembyman Knights of
Sacramento came to his feet with an
amendment which provided that the rock
should also be sold to private contractors.
The amendment, If passed, would have ut
terly destroyed the intent of Mr. Ander-
sons measure. He rose TO defend it. but
was headed off by Dibble of San Fran
cisco. who took the defense on his own
shoulders, and for the first time during
the present session delivered one Of those
forcible, timely speeches that have won
for him his own way on the floor on more
than one occasion. He struck the keynote
TO his argument when he said, Convict
labor should never be permitted TO come
in competition with that of the freemen,"
and upon it he based his speech
Caminetti of Amador, who voted for a
similar bill in 1897. had evidently since
become convinced for he came out against
ii to-day with all the wind of his well
stocked lungs. He argued that the low
provements possible that otherwise would
not have been made, and that as result
of 1t more freemen were given work than
would be if private quarries were per-
mtted to maintain a monopoly.
He was hotly replied to by Mr.. Ander-
son. who threw up to him his past record
on the bill and brought statistics into the
matter in a most convincing manner.
Assemblyman Dunlap of Stockton took
the prison end of it and declared that be-
cause contractors had been able to get
prison crushed rock at a less price the
street makers of Stockton had been able
TO pay out to free laborers over S3OO,OOO
that they otherwise would not have got.
Dibble again took the floor and Conrey
of Los Angeles and Brooke of Sacramento
both moved that both bill and amend
ments be referred to the Committee on
Labor and Capital and State Prisons for
Joint consideration.
Just after the noon recess Dlbble moved
that Senate messages be at once taken
up and Senate Bill 345. which the attenu-
ated assistant secretary of the Senate had
brought in in the morning, came under
immediate consideration. Bill $40 takes
the place of bill 199 and embodies the
same intent, viz, to let the treasury gate
open TO the horde of would-be attaches
waiting just outside.
Valentine of Los Angeles moved that It
be given it's second reading as a matter of
emergency, but the roll call developed
that the two-thirds vote necessary to pass
the motion was not in the House. A roll
call of the absentees was called for ana
later a call of the House, and after the
recalcitrant ones had been rounded up
the doors were locked and another roll
call ordered.
Belshaw opened a fight by introducing
an amendment inserting the two-thirds
clause, instead of the three-fifths, but
was promptly voted down.
On the roll call on suspension the min
ority all voted no, but did the graceful
thing by changing to aye" providing
enough votes TO carry the question, and
the bill was finally passed and sent back
to the Senate.
Adjournment was taken on motion of
Conrey of Los Angeles.