The San Francisco call., 1908-07-24
BROWN BALKS PLOT
OF HERRIN MACHINE
District Attorney Forces Read
iustment of Lines Laid Down
for Primary Delegates
Alameda Supervisors Reject
Scheme for Separate COnven-
ton in Fifteenth District

OAKLAND. July 23.-District Attor-
ney Z. J. Brown forced a readjustment
OF the lines laid down by the Herrin
county machine for an apportionment
Of delegates TO be selected at the Au-
gust primaries from the fourteenth, If
teenth and sixteenth senatorial dis
tricts. The machine had blanketed the
hfty-frst ana ifty-second assembly
districts, which overlap the three SEN
atorlal districts.
Complaint was made by the Lincoln
Roosevelt representatives that in both
instances voters in the fourteenth and
sixteenth senatorial districts, which do
not elect a state senator this fall,
would have a voice in selecting dele
gates to nominate a senatorial candi-
date from the fifteenth. The protest
was sustained in every particular.
With the action taken by the board
Of supervisors today sitting as elec-
tfon commissioners, Brown also
knocked out a scheme suggested by
machine representatives by which they
hoped 10 create an entirely separate
nominating convention for the fifteenth
senatorial district. Behind the COM
pleXities Of such a body they hoped
70 carry on projects advantageous to
themselves. Two separate sets of del
egates would then have been chosen,
but Brown said today that only one
set could be chosen for the general
and subconventions.
ALL PARTIES AFFECTED
, The decision arrived at affected
every political party in the county,
for IN Browns opinion they had all
copied the republican call for a pri-
mary election and had all fallen into
the error Of overlapping districts, in
defiance of law and constitution.
The chairman Of all party commit
tees in the county who have issued
calls were invited to attend a confer
ence In the supervisors assembly room
tomorrow morning, when steps for rec
tifying the mistakes will be taken.
Browns opinion was given orally
he said that mistake or an error"
by the republican central committee
had merely the effect of an omission to
mention the district affected, and that
1t was the duty Of the supervisors to
I'll the lapse. The committee might
not amend its call and on that ground
he rejected the subterfuge presented
on Monday, when counsel for the Lin
Roosevelt league pointed out glar-
ing violations of the law. At that time
the smooth device of the separate con-
vention for the fifteenth senatorial dis
Il IL RdS Ddllutu III dS an amendment
TO a clerical" error.
REED QUESTIONS LAW
George Reed, chairman of the Herrin
machine committee, disagreed with
Brown on law points, saying that in
his opinion the rejected amendment
was proper and that the committee had
merely followed long established Gus
toms in dlefung the CALI AS a citi-
zen, Reed presented reaIignment of
the districts, which, after conference.
was accepted as satisfactory to ali
sides.
The announcement was then made
that probably every party call con-
tained similar errors and that all
would have 10 be changed by the SUI
pervisors.
The league was represented TO-DAY
by John E. Sanford and Vernon p.
Franklin of East Oakland and bv O.
c. Young of Berkeley.