The San Francisco call., 1908-11-02
Machine Will Not Dominate
the States Senate
Holdovers and Likely Candidates Will Make
Up Fairly Representative Body
By George Van Smith

{. B. Martinelli, who will succeed
Belshaw in the ninth, is organization,
but he is not of the whiffet machine
type. Martinelli will undoubtedly rep
resent interests peculiarly local to
Marin county and his representation of
those interests may involve biting off
other chunks Of program, but he is a
clean man personally. and it is not
believed that he will permit himself
to be delivered without a protest.
CAMINETvTI A BUSY MAN
Caminetti. democrat, holds over in
the tenth. He is one of the busiest
men ever elected to a state legislature.
A keen and capable parliamentarian,
he is overanxious to engage in Tits
with the majority to make democratic
capital and incidentally capital for
! Caminetti, but he is straight and his
militant partisanship is Offset by the
fact that after he has extracted all the
political capital possible from any sit
uation his vote is cast right. ]. T..
Lewis Of Stockton, nominated by the
organization in the eleventh, has no
record. J. B. Curtin, democratic hold
over in the twelfth, is a better repub-
lican machine man than the ostensible
republican leaders of 1t. When the re-
publican machine floor leaders are un-
willing to tackle an especially raw
proposition they turn it over to Honest
John who tones down the odor with
liberal applications of the constitution
and pronounces it fit for machine con-
sumption.
E. K. Strobridge, nominated in the
thirteenth, was an organization mem
Der of the assembly, but was not a raw
programmer. That he will refuse to
debase himself in the senate is indi-
Gated by his assembly record. He will
not be an overzealous opponent Of the
] i
with those who may be expected to
throw down their constituents in
obedience to machine orders.
John w. Stetson. who trounced the
machine for the nomination in the ff-
/ teehth. was one of the conspicuously
straight men in the last assembly.
Stetson has ability and is honest and
fearless. He will not submit to tho
halter and he will undoubtedly take a
/ prominent place among the peoples
: representatives in the upper house. j.
c. Bates, who holds over in the four
I teenth, is a straight, decent and hard
working senator.
Frank W. Leavitt, who holds over
1 in the sixteenth. is the best OF the
machine men, of whom he is the real
! leader. Leavitt is frankly enough the
representative of the racetrack inter
1 ests. When the interests which he rep
resents are not involved he is a most
valuable public servant. His word is
good. That word given, Leavitt can be
relied upon absolutely. He does not
relish some of the doses he has to take
and when his hands are free, as they
! frequently are, Leavitts votes are cast
right. Tom Finn. who viii win in the
I seventeenth, belongs to the machine
coming and going. D. ]. Reilly, who
holds over in the eighteenth, is sore
over the treatment he received from
the machine two years ago and may
not be willing to take his medicine so
straight next year. Richard ]. Welch,
who will win easily in the nineteenth.
is not a militant senator He prefers
/ the way of peace, but he Is reliable.
He has and is entitled to the conf
dence Of the people of his district and
in a pinch he can put up a vigorous
! fight, as was evidenced in the passage
of the India basin improvement act
amendment In the committee on cleo
tions.
Tom Kennedy, democratic holdover
in the twentieth, made a good record
as a first termer. Eddie Wolfe. who
will doubtless be reelected in the
twenty first, is one of the best trained
and most capable men in the legisla-
ture He is machine first, last and all
the time Gus Hartman, who holds
peciaIly interested, but he takes his
program straight John McGee. who
! stands TO win handily in the twenty
| third is a clever, energetic, reliable
young attorney. He can be relied upon
| to make good as senator and he will
not need watching. Marc Anthony was
nominated by the machine but voted
/ against il oftener than with it in the
last senate. His vote was right on I'M
portant measures, and while he is In
no sense a reformer, Anthony may be
counted among the straight men II
Lester Burnett wins in the twenty tn
as he Will probably will, he will have
to be counted in the machine column
until he demonstrates his Willingness
to throw down the powers that named
him.
George w. Cartwright, democrat
who holds over in the twenty sixth
district, is one of the big men of his
party. He made good in the last SEN
ate. Quiet, energetic and honest. Cart
wright won the respect of the sena-
tors opposed to him and to his meas
ures, as well as Of the Independent
men of the upper house. His anti-trus
bill was the one bit Of genuine con
structive legislation put on the stat
utes by a democrat. The republican,
of his own district believe in Cart
wright and the democrats have NJ
} more valuable man in the ranks o.
their party.
/ George Walker, whom the Hayei
crowd failed to defeat for the nomina
tion in the twenty-seventh, is organ
/ ization," but he is the straight kind o
: organization man. Walker was a goo'
senator. ue was honest, and he go
things for his district. In the last sen
: ate he was chairman of the committee
on elections and election laws and mad
good.
: Marshall Black, who has served onl.
half of his term from the twenty
eighth, is clean. reliable and vigorous
Black is anti-machine. The machin
men never wax eloquent over Black
: but the people of his district ar
t 1ustihably proud of him.
Hall C. Ross of San Mateo, nomi
! mated in the twenty-ninth by the or
r ganization, is a first timer in politics
1 His father, George c. Ross, has alway
] been regular. Young Ross has no rec
: ord, and IL would be unfair to lum
5 him off to the machine until he has ha
an opportunity to prove himself. E.
Miller, democrat, of the thirty-secon
! is one of the strong men of the legis
D lature and is straight on the records
H. NJ Willis, republican holdover i
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