The San Francisco call., 1901-11-26
Removals Depend Upon
Result Of Inquiry
Instituted.
REFUSES to Affirm or Deny
Story That He Will Be-
head Newhall.
Mayor Elect Declines to Express His
Private Opinion Concerning Witt
mans Appointment as Chief
of Police.

Mayor-elect Eugene z. Schmitz' S sojourn
at " atsonville has developed his bump of
caution to the degree that he positively
refuses to discuss public affairs IN detail
A Gay or two after his election he did not
disda1n to outline his policy TO The Call,
but since his return from the country he
OecIneS 10 continue that particular line
OF discussion NeVer-1eiess he received
d CaI representative with courtesy yes
Jeroay anu in a general way expressed hls
ideas guardedIy upon topics brought to
MS attention by The ,Call reporter.
~ hat do you think or the appointment
OF Captain Whitman as Chief OF Ponce,
A1r. SChm1tZE was asked.
Il haven't given the subject any special
thought" was the reply i doubt II the
commissioners wouIo nave paid any at
lentlOn TO my views IN any case.
do you mean by that that you would
have gwen an opinion adverse to Witc-
man had you teen consulted IN the mat
Ier2''
mo. 1 mean just what say" was the
guarded reply. THE appointment of a
chief of Police rests with the Police
commissioners entirely. The action ot
that body, therefore, nay be regarded as
nnal. L could not have prevented the ap-
pOintment even had L uesired to do so.
What my private opinion may be DO not
care to say.
with the appreciation OF the labor un =
ions?"
4 cannot answer that question. No
ldDOI uUlOn mas ll6O d pIOl6SA WILL AA4C
relative to the matter
As to Newnall's Position.
"A report is current that it is your pur-
pose to demand Police Commissioner New
nails resignation as soon as convenient
after your induction into cfice. viii you
deny or affirm that rumor?"
u cannot do either at this time. Under
the charter no Commissioner appointed by
the Mayor may be removed except for
good and sufficient cause. If any Com
n1iSSinnfr fails TO do his duty
will remove him. AT present 1 have no in
tention 20 remove any one when l assume
the discharge of my official duties. That
course Will be dependent upon the results
Of The Investigations which L will prose-
cute without delay after 1 take my office -
Which commissions is ii your purpose
to investigator"
"An of Them answered Mr.. Schmitz
decisivey.
The Mayor-elect spoke of his trip to the
country. He said he passed his time
studying the charter and particularly that
portion Of ii which defines the duties and
authority of the Mayor. The sections re-
lating to the streets were not neglected,
for it Is his intention to watch street i'm
provements with a vigilant eye
I'VE reed public improvements he re
sumed cheerfully. That subject has long
been neglected in San Francisco. We
want more and better school buildings
We waIu better paved streets. We want
benefits in this respect. One part of the
city, should not be improved and another
neglected
Have, you decided upon the personnel
OF any Of your appointments"
4 hare not.
WHOM viii you select as your private
secretaI y?''
''I dcIft know vet"
The Mayor-elect remarked that his wife
was not: quite well, and this brought up
the ma ter Of his failure to attend the
banquet Of the Merchants Association
last week.
1T is reported that your refusal to at
tend the banquet on the ground that
your wi te was i'll was a mere evasion and
that yoII feared to attend the banquet for
reasons best known to yourself. Is the
report well based?'
sponded the Mayor-elect warmly. why
should fear to meet the local mer-
chants anywhere? Il is foolish to hint
at anything of the kind. The fact was
that my wife was too i'll for me to risk
leaving her for even an hour. There was
no opera bouffe about the affair. l re-
gard my duty to my family before every
thing e sc in this life Since nv return
] have cen forced to refuse numerous in
vitatiOns of a social chara cter, and why?
simply because my little daughter whom
] idOliZs, is lying sick at this moment
with pneumonia While the little girl is
now coLNaiescent nevertheless refuse to
stir from my house until 1 have the as
surance that my help is not required 1
think more Of my wife and children than
Of all the world besides. / am no hypo-
critic, whatever else my political op-
pOnents may term me. Ny declination
TO attend the merchants banquet was
based on honest grounds and that is all
there is to it.
The Mayor-elect was called to the tele-
phone at this juncture and the interview
was closed.