The San Francisco call., 1908-03-19
WATT SUCCEEDS
HALE IN LEAGUE
Ex-Fire Commissioner Unani-
mouSIy Elected to Lincoln
Roosevelt Committee
FiilSbury Shows Railroads Have
Cheated People Of $4,000, 900
in Twenty Years
Bv George Van sr,1itI,

It o4lA4tE Ire commissioner hOllG v
Watt VIII succeed to the place on the
state executive committee of the Lin
coin Roosevelt league OF republican
clubs vacated by the resignation OF
Marshall Hale.
Hsies resignation, which has been
IN the hands Of the executive commit
Tee for some time. becomes effective
today when Hale leaves with his fam
ily for long deferred vacation in Eu-
rope. As executive committeeman
from the fifth congressional district,
Hale has rendered the Lincoln -Roose-
Welt league invaluable service. With
Vice President Byron Mauzy and
Executive Committeeman w. .. Fen
.nimore, George L. Center and DR.. Hugh
Aagan he has labored necessarily and
successfully to bring about harmony
ia the antimachine republican factions
IN san francisco and to unite them
under the Lincoln Roosevelt banner.
Hale. with Mauzy, Fennimore. Cen
ter and Lagan. assumed the response
bility of directing the Lincoln Roose-
Welt leagues work in San Francisco,
when the machine forces confidently
considered machine success assured by
v hat then seemed an irreparable
breach between the so called regular
and independent republican organiza-
rOns. Machine organs and strikers
were industriously engaged in attempts
TO belittle the league as the private
political machine Of one or another al
legged Office seeker. The acceptance by
Hale and his associates of places on
the state executive committee siienced
the detractors instantly. The public
knew these men could not be bossed by
either corrupt corporationist or Office
seeker. Factional differences were
buried and the antimachine republicans
Of San Francisco were united in COM
mon cause.
WATT UNANIMOUS CHOICE
In the work Of selecting men to con
drct the organization work in the sew
eral assembly districts Hale has been
indefatigable. He left the committee
with that work virtually done and
after participating in the selection of
successor admirably equipped to carry
out the plans with which Hale has
been 50 prominently and actively
Identified
The selection Of Rolls V Watt to
succeed Hale on the state executive
committee was happy He was the
unanimous choice Of the local members
Of the committee, and their selection
was instantly ratified by the other state
officers and executive committeeman.
Watt is a resident OF the big thirty
seventh assembly district. He always
has been identified with the best things
FIRE commission made splendid record.
He enjoys in the fullest degree that
measure of confidence which the pub
lie reposes in his associates on the
executive committee and he will bring
TO the league botn splendid energy
and ripe political experience. Watt
will assume the duties of executive
committeeman at once and viii par
ticipate in the formal launching of the
district organization work which will
be put under way next week.
ROADS DODGE sI5y0OOyooo TAX
That the Southern Pacific and Santa
Ee railroad companies in a period of 20
years had, through their control Of the
state government. forced the people of
California TO pay taxes aggregating
nearly $l5,o00,000. which should have
been paid by the railroads, was the
startling assertion made yesterday by
A J. Pillsbury, principal speaker at
the Lincoln Roosevelt leagues Wednes-
day luncheon, who supported his asser-
ton by the records of the state con-
trOlIer's office and the United States
census bureau.
This luncheon. given by the executive
committee of the league, was attended
by 50 prominent republicans who Wig
orously applauded the clean cut and
forceful speech made by Pfllsbury, who
resigned recently as editor of the Sac
ramento Union, when that paper was
acquired by the CaIkins syndicate and
was taken out of the ranks of the
splendid aggregation of republican
newspapers engaged in the peoples
fight against the corrupt railroad ma
chine.
Pillsbury briefly discussed the meth
DDS employed by great corporations to
obtain control of the legislative, execu-
tive and judicial branches OF govern
ment. The major portion of his ad-
dress was devoted to a consideration
of the direct profits accruing to the
California railroads as the result of
that control.
His figures were taken from the re-
port Of the United States census bureau
and the state tax records, and his aver
ages were based on the taxes of 1904,
the year in which the net results were
most favorable to the roads. Pills
bury saio that in 1904 California's total
property valuation was 5000, 766, ,997.
The total valuation of the railroad
properties in California as estimated by
The United States census was $S5O,6e4,-
GOO or 7-IO per cent Of all the taxable
rroperty in the state. The railroads
should have paid 8 7-1o per cent of the
taxes, but the tax records for 2l years,
or that period from 1854 to 1904 inclu-
sive showed that they paid only 7-10
MACHINE CHEATS PEOPLE
IN that period the taxes collected
amounted TO s1o2,S54,317. The rail-
roads paid into the state treasury $4.-
s36.6o3, or At per cent of the whole
amount If their properties had been
assessed according 10 their true rela-
tion TO all the taxable property the
railroad companies would have paid
ST per cent OF the amount collected
for the state. and the people of Califor-
MIA would have saved s4,114,l72, the
payment Of which was evaded by the
railroads and which came out of the
peoples pockets. Considered in a lump
sum. the state taxes the railroads man
aged 70 evade through friendly assess
ment was less than half the county
taxes they managed to shirk.
In that same period the railroad COM
panies paid into the treasures of the
several counties s12,141,727. Assessed
fairly on their true proportion off all
the states taxable property, their
county taxes would have amounted to
$22,474,1I3- Friendly boards of equal
ization save the railroads s4114172 in
state taxes and s10,332.3e6 in county