Los Angeles herald., 1906-08-02
MATHEWS URGED
To MAKE RACE
"DEFEAT MACHINE" Is THE
SLOGAN
Friends of Attorney Declare He
Did Not Get Square Deal
and Insist on lndepen-
dent Candidacy

Although congressional primary cleo
tions will be held today in the pre-
cincts in Los Angeles county outside of
Los Angeles city and Pasadena, they
will be entirely devoid of interest, as
the withdrawal of Mr.. Mathews from
the field leaves the situation altogether
in the hands of Congressman McLach-
Ian, the only remaining candidate in
the race.
The announcement that Mr.. Math-
ews had decided to withdraw caused
no surprise in political circles. Such
course on his part had been looked
upon as foregone conclusion by those
in close touch with the situation ever
since the failure of his committee to
induce the congressional committee
to change the date for holding the
county primaries so as to give him
reasonable time in which to make his
canvass in those districts.
That Mr.. Mathews would have been
overwhelmingly defeated at the pri-
maries which are to be held today is
conceded by his managers and friends.
They were willing to take their chances
If the congressional committee had
shown a disposition to give them a
square deal, but failing to secure that,
they say there was nothing for them
to do but to withdraw as any fight
they could have made would have been
a hopeless one from the start. They
insist that they were treated sha bbily,
but at the same time they had no re-
dress the action of the congressional
committee being final in cases of this
kind.
Will Close Headquarters
Mr. Mathews was at his own office
in the Merchants Trust building dur
ing the greater part of the day. attend
ing to city business that required his
attention His headquarters al the
Westminster hotel presented rather
deserted appearance. Secretary Ed
North swas on hand most of the time,
but there was little for him to do ex-
cept to entertain occasional callers
and to arrange affairs preparatory to
closing the rooms.
Mr.. Mathews gave out statement
during the day, giving the reasons
for his withdrawal but with these
reasons the public is already familiar.
He referred to the scant time which
had been allowed him in which to
make his campaign and to the snap
judgment on the part of the congress
sional committee of which he felt him
self to be the victim.
Would Receive Strong Support
Although Mr.. Mathews will not go
before the Republican congressional
convention. it remains to be seen
whether he is out of the congressional
race for good. Strong pressure is being
brought to bear on him to become an
independent candidate So far, it is
said this movement has met with
little or no encouragement from him;
nevertheless some of his closest friends
continue hopeful Of eventually secur-
ing his consent. They feel that if Mr..
Mathews would make the race for
congress as an independent candidate
he would attract a strong following
from all parties-a following composed
of men who would welcome an oppor-
tunity to vote for him as a means of
rebuking the Republican machine.
1t is felt that his popularity in this
city and county is so great that strong
\ Democratic support of his candidacy is
wholly within the bounds of probable
ity and that with this support, to-
gether with that which would come
from the ranks of dissatisfied Repub
licans, he would sweep the field.
Friends Still Hopeful
One Of the members of Mr.. Mathews
campaign committee, and a man who
probably has stood closer to the city
attorney than any other in the last few
weeks. admitted yesterday that an
effort was being made to induce Mr..
Mathews to permit the use of his name
/ as an independent candidate. At the
same time he confessed that the results
so far had not been encouraging.
"As is well known" he said "Mr.
Mathews is a strong party man. and
never has had much sympathy with
men who bolted the party. He was
anxious to secure the nomination at
the hands of the Republican congress
sional convention, and was confident of
his ability to do so, provided he was
given a square deal, but since he has
found this impossible he does not feel
inclined to put himself in the position
of one who goes outside of his party
for something the party itself refused
to give him.
1T will be a big Disappointment to
all of his friends If he refuses abso-
lutely to become an Independent candi-
date but am frank to say at the mo-
ment I am considering the chances OF
securing his consent exceedingly re-
mote We have not altogether given
up hope, however and possibly may
yet induce him to reconsider his de-
cision."
Many Of Mr.. Mathews friends argue