The San Francisco call., 1906-09-20
Decides to Nominate Nobody
for Governor and Then
Names Theodore A. Bell
ABSURDITIES AND
CONTRADICTIONS
Mayor Schmitz and A. Ruef
Go Down to an Inglorious
Defeat Of Their Plans
BY Thomas b. Sullivan.

night before the first State labor con
vention held in California The chief
executive and his political adviser
swung the municipal lash. bat the la.
Dor delegates would not jump to itl
music 1t is the first time his Honor
and his counselor faced a stubborn and
a successful opposition and discovered
that those who make a politica,
programme are not always the mer
who carry it out.
True TO their promise to william f
Herrin the Mayor and Ruef bent every
energy TO nominate a Union Labor
candidate for Governor. They brought
every pressure at their command to
bear upon the leaders of the conven-
tion. They went so far as to name
the man who should head the labor
ticket They threatened. cajoled, prom
ised. but TO no purpose. The labor
convention would not swallow the dose
and after a little struggle last night
decided that the State Labor party
viii place Theodore A. Bell In the field
for Governor. The repudiation OF the
Mayor and his many sided friend was
perhaps the most significant incident
OF the night
When the convention assembled
three definite propositions were. pre-
sented to the consideration Of the dele
gates. The Schmitz and Ruef forces.
determined to carry out the purposes
of the administration TO aid Gillett,
were aggressive and extremely tact
ful. They had received instructions
from Mayor Schmitz and Ruef to in
sist upon the nomination of Harry
Knox for Governor and to disguise
their plan Of action under the plea
that It was absolutely necessary to
nominate a strictly Union Labor man
for the first place on. the State ticket
The municipal machine, largely rep
resented by employees Of the city de-
partments. was led by Tom Egan, Com
missioner ef Public Works. and Tom
Finn. Under sherin. When these men
spoke the faithful knew 1t was the
voice Of Ruef, and they fought accord
ingly. For the information OF William
r. Herrin II may be said that Abe Ruef
and Mayor Schmitz struggled valiantly
10 keep the letter and spirit of their
contract with him
Violently opposed to the municipal
machine were the Building Trades
Council. largely represented in the con-
vention and led by Secretary Tvietmoe,
who suffered the humiliation of acting
as a delegate on proxy from Los An
geles. The delegates he represented
were loud in their insistence that the
machine programme be resisted. and
that Theodore A Bell be Endorsed and
placed at the head OF the Union Labor
ticket Supporting this policy were
many delegates who arrived either in
person or by proxy from the country
districts.
The third and nnal element in the
contest was a group Of delegates who
believed that neither an Endorsement
should be given nor a nominee be
placed in the field. These delegates had
fixed their minds on the belief that
the nominees of the two leading par
ties present clearly enough an issue
upon which the labor unions may
choose with satisfaction to themselves.
and TO place anotherfcandidate in the
field would simply cloud the question
and 3eopardize the result.
AS a matter Of fact the mo nominee"
men were playing directly into the
hands Of Bell. who did not want the
indorsement, but sought to prevent the
introduction OF an independent dele
gate. The labor Endorsement will do
The Democratic nominee no good in the
southern part of the State. where he is
palpably weak
When the convention met the ad-
ninfstration forces saw they were
hopeiessly beaten The Bell crowd and
the -no-nominee" men held the field
Eean tried to throw out the proxies.
and failed The convention was in an
uproar. Points OF order exploded like
nrecrackers from all parts OF the hall
A dozen delegates were talking at once
and some Of the talk bordered danger
ously on fight. The session bristled al
most as il every Democrat was a dele
gate OF the old school
Then order came out of chaos A
resolution was introduced and adopted
and the convention soiemnly pledged
itself TO place no nominee for Governor
on its ticket Schmitz and Ruef were
routed. the ~no-nominee" men were
content but the Bell men were uneasy
The convention decided to adjourn for
FIVE minutes and reassemble for the
transaction Of other business. When 1t
reconvened a motion was made that it
resume as a club. not a convention.
The country delegates raised howl OF
protest They had come too far and
were at too great an expense to be in
troduced 10 anything less in dignity