The San Francisco call., 1908-07-04

upon. 1t passed the senate and was
taken down to the house. And then
there was secretly compromise meas
ure known as the Sewall reassessment
bill introduced. 1t went through the
legislature without any oposition eX-
cept from Carpenter himself. who
was so stung by the outrage that on
the floor of the senate he refused to
take orders and declared that the bill
defrauded the people out of more than
million dollars over what his bill
called for in railroad profits. He de-
clared on the floor of the senate that
the Sewall bill was against the people
more than a million dollars in excess
of his bill But not a paper in the
state except one made mention of that
fact or that speech, and one of them
exposed the bill
Later. at the time of the railroad
strike. when I was off the commission,
and a new commission was elected,
which commission was inimical to the
railroad interests. having followed
Leeds program and agitation and given
the railroad company horizontal re-
duction, there was railroad strike.
Many of the boys in that strike were
friends of mine, and 1 had recon-
mended them for positions. and 1 felt
as though it was wrong for them to
tie up the railroad company. I organ
lied so men in the city of San Jose,
and took hold of the strikers at that
point, and we took the strike boys and
threw them all in Jail and ran the cars.
I was sent for at once by William
F. Herrin, who said that the railroad
people appreciated me very much, as
they had considered me inimical to
defeated me for my denomination for
railroad commissioner, and they
thought that I was very wrathy
Herrin asked me why had done as
did. I explained TO him that with
me it was matter of principle, that
didn't want Colonel Fred Crocker
to think that was party to tying
up his road when most of my friends
were in the strike.
He then asked me how to defeat
the order of the railroad company on
the reduction I referred him to a
decision which I had submitted, and
which was prepared by my attorney,
John z. Richards of San Jose, at the
present time Judge of the superior
court. He looked at 1t and asked me
to return the next day. which I did.
He claimed that it was the only po-
sition that the railroad had left to
take. He believed with me that it
was right. and that it was the law,
and wondered why the railroad people
had opposed me 80 bitterly as to my
denomination. He made an appoint
ment for me with Mr.. Huntington.
HUNTINGTON SAYS
HE WAS SORRY
1 met Mr. Huntington and he apollo
gized for the position he had taken,
and said that he was wrong and that
I was right, and If there was anything
he could do for me, politically or finan-
cially he would gladly do so. thanked
him very kindly. 1 told him was sur
prised at him for robbing the people
out of 100000 by the Sewall reas-
sessment bill.
He assured me that he'had done moth
ing of the kind, and put it in this wise:
ALLOW me to present my case to you
Mr. Rea, and then you give me your de-
cision. / could not go upon the steam
boat, in the streetcars nor on the rail-
road cars, nor in the hotels nor any
where, and in the most private quar-
ters that I would frequent, without /
saw myself caricatured, my features
distorted and my position misrepre-