The San Francisco call., 1899-04-14

VI " ern racine COMPANY 10 III
deadly danger of disgrace
with his employers. Like the
infant terrible he has blurted out a
suggestion of facts Of a secret cam
paign upon which the masters of the
railroad have entered and which they
are nourishing toward a hoped-for sue
cess with all the energy that revenge
inspires. In a moment of ill-advised
enthusiasm for the cause of his super
lors, Sproule reflected in a few ap-
parently idle words, the facts of a
scheme over which the managers of the
Southern Pacific Company have deeply
thought. 1t all happened on Wednes-
day night at the annual banquet of the
Manufacturers and Producers AssO-
citation.
In the course of a brief address on
The relation between railroads and COM
merce Sproule seized an opportunity to
5enounce the newspapers. The allusion
10 the press was uncalled for and many
of the two hundred merchants, pro-
ducers and manufacturers who were
present were concerned to know what
provoked Sproule's remarks. Curiosity
did not end with the feast and yester-
day gossip upon the subject was rife.
Gradually out of the mass of rumors,
conjectur5s and surmises the truth was
sifted.
The Southern Pacific Company has
declared war upon the Independent
newspapers of the State William
+. Herrin, acting under orders from his
superiors, is in alliance with Governor
Gage to harass, cripple and if possible
crush the newspapers of California
which can neither be bought, betrayed
nor broWbeaten. The proof of this
great conspiracy is absolute. The
Southern Pacific Company is deter
mined that it shall do as it pleases and
shall not be forced to exposure when
it commits evil. 1t is fixed in its pur-
pose to control, without interference.
the politics and the policy the com
merce and the trade of the State and in
this purpose the Southern Pacific Com
pany has the subservient support of
Governor Gage
The plot is one of the most serious
ever concocted to injure the people of
the State. Already the schemers have
placed upon the statute books iniuuitous
laws and plans are perfected to carry
these laws TO the letter into effect. The
railroad authorities will not, if they can
help it, tolerate longer an honest and
effective expose and criticism of their
dishonest manipulations in California
1t is not a new game Of the railroad
people to seek to control the news
papers of the State. Some have been
bought by advertising contracts The
proprietors of others have been gagged
with the promise of political honor.
Some sheets have been subsidized and
maintained at small cost. The railroad
has been in too many dishonorable
schemes, political and commercial. not
to have established a bureau of bribery
for the suppression of honest news
paper criticism.
All of this the people of California
know well, but now the railroad has
gone further. 1t has, with the assist
ance of a subservient Governor,
placed evil laws upon the statute
books, and with the great authority of
the State itself will seek to crush fear
less newspapers. The railroad company
was in a desperate mood when it took
this extraordinary step and decided to
give open battle to the press of Cali
fornia. This struggle was determined
upon during the last session of the
Legislature, when the Southern Pacific
Company sought by every means in its
power to elect its tool, Dan Burns, to
the United States Senate. AS a matter
of course Governor Gage espoused the
cause of the railroad and its candi-
date.
Everything was done for success, but
defeat, overwhelming and disgraceful,
came. When the contest was on and
failure threatened the plot was Matched.
During the Senatorial battle the South
ern Pacific Company suffered from just
newspaper condemnation more than
ever before. In the opinion of William
f. Herrin and his employers it was bad
enough to lose the election of one whose
servility could be commanded in the
Federal Senate, but it was worse to be
unmasked before the people of the
State as the greatest corrupting influ-
ence against which decent people have
to contend in California.
The Independent newspapers of this
city and of the State showed what the
railroad is in politics. It's bold attempts
to corrupt public men, its strange
power over the chief executive of the
State, it's debauching, debasing inter
ference in public affairs, its manipu-
lation of laws and aw-makers, were all
exposed to public view, and the South
ern Pacific Company plotted revenge.
Ii has bought courts and commissions;
it has bribed legislators and Super
viscrs; it has made and unmade pub
lie men; it has enacted, through it's
tools, laws designed for its commercial
and political advantage. And when the
Independent newspapers of the State
could not be bribed into silence the
Southern Pacific Company determined
that they should be crushed until they
no longer could be heard by the peo-
pie whose interests were being defended
in the arraignment of railroad methods.
This is the new campaign of the South
ern Pacific Company 1t is interesting
to review how the first steps in the plot
were taken and what now is the pur-
pose of the manipulators.,
William F. Herrin is a clever lawyer;
Henry T. Gage is a serviceable Gov
ernor. Herrin is credited with an abil-