Los Angeles herald., 1909-01-31

ton of Mayor A. G. Harper from the
City club was accepted by that organi-
cation at its meeting yesterday. Let
us add with thanks" were murmured
expressions from all over the big din
ing room Of the Westminster.
Because of the action Of the City
club in indorsing the recall movement
instituted by the Municipal league, the
mayor, who has been a member Of the
City club, but who has seldom attended
its meetings, withdrew. The letter ten
dering his resignation was signed by
his clerk, H. D. Kennedy, but the club
accepted it as the mayors personal
expression.
AS sixteen men, who because Of their
business and professional affiliations
and their personalities will be a credit
to the club, applied for membership as
soon as the mayor resigned, Mr.. Har-
per's withdrawal was not construed as
weakening the organization.
T. E. Gibbon was the speaker of the
session yesterday. In his Introductory
remarks he said he had been asked to
speak on municipal reform from an
academic point of view, but the neces-
sity for municipal reform in the gov
eminent Of Los Angeles brought 1t
down to a concrete basis, and on the
concrete basis he spoke:
MT. OlDDOu SDOh6 DIS lOllOWOs
"Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen Of the
City. Club: I hope no one came here
today expecting me to address myself
in an academic manner to the subject
of Municipal Reform which has been
assigned to me. If there ever has been
a subject which has been concerted into
one of absolute and present interest
and Importance to q community 1T has
been the subject of municipal reform
! 7 A tod n
the last six months I have spent some
time and some money studying condi-
lions existing in this city. I have hon
estly and earnestly endeavored to in
form myself as to those conditions. l
have spared no reasonable pains or
labor and no reasonable expense in
such effort, and it is my deliberate
conviction that conditions in Los An
geles have never been anything like
so bad within the twenty years that
I have been so fortunate to call this
city my home as they are today; bad
not only from a moral standpoint, but
from the standpoint Of actual law VIC
lations.
There is no doubt that there exists
in our city today a concentrated and
combined effort to set aside laws which
have been adopted for the purpose of
governing and controlling certain mat
"
which experience has proved are not
only good but are absolutely necessary
If the city is to exist and exist as a
civilized community should. There is
no question there is today a combined
effort among men in authority in your
city to permit the violation of those
laws, and for that permission they have
been paid in money of the realm.
I'm weekly publication that comes
IN nffinn nQPb vvppl- oDd xErbn
criticism [ value I read the statement,
probably not over half an hour ago,
before I started to come here, that no
body had ever accused the head Of
the city of receiving any financial ben
eft from any of the matters he has
been criticised for; that nobody had
ever accused him of receiving any
financial benefit directly or through
his friends from the money that The
Herald has shown during the last two
or three weeks has gone into the pur-
chase of certain corporation stock, etc.
], however, call your attention to one
thing which will be demonstrated in
a moment, that while he has not re-
ceived that money directly, he has re-
ceived the benefit Of it as surely as
Ruef in San Francisco got the benefit
of the money received there.
zone of the articles published by
the Los Angeles Herald under the
caption, Is Vice Protected in Los An
geles% showed Mayor Harper to be
the owner in certain sugar companies
of POOL shares of stock of the par value
of 100000 1t showed a member of
his police commission to be the owner
of 1902 shares at a par value Of $780,
600 1t showed another police COM
missioner to be an owner of 1901
shares of a par value of over $150,0O0
of that stock.
Had Stock of Great Value
Zone of those commissioners had
stock standing in another persons
name of very much larger value That
stock, a large portion of it, and l think
all of it, came to them as what is
known in the phrase Of corporation
thimble-rigging and organization as
bonus stock, for which they did not pay
a dollar, and in which they had not
dollar invested. 1t has also been shown
that the liquor dealers of this city sub
scribed for something like a quarter Of
a million dollars worth Of stock of each
of these companies, and I have no idea
that is the total amount, but it is all
we could show in black and white
That money went to add capital to the
bonus stock, held by the officials of
your city and has cost them nothing;
anu IL IillS uOeS HOI absolutely prove
that this money was practically and
actually put into their pockets, then I
don't know anything about finance or
mathematics.
"It has also been shown in the in
vestigation The Herald made, the re-
suit Of which was published, one of
Mayor Harper's police commissioners
was owner of shares in the stock of
an oil company at par value Of SIPS
and $3.50 That stock was NOT maid for
in money. It was bonus stock and
every dollar Of that was obtained in
money by the subscriptions Of the
liquor dealers Of this town. who de-
pended upon the good will Of this man
in order to be permitted to transact
their business. That went to make
that stock valuable and it accrued to
the financial interest of those men
ust as absolutely as If they had taken
he money and put it in their pockets
s profits in the. course Of business on
,hich the value of the stock might be
.ased; it was just as If the stock had
cen made valuable on account OF the
susiness succeeding, and beyond any
question that stock was sold for the
purpose of adding to the value of bonus
took which they held without any
cost to themselves. Now, tell me that
that does not represent money paid;
tell me that If any of those men who
received that stock, those liquor deal
ers who purchased that stock, were not
TO be protected in their business by
being permitted to sell at all hours
and to sell to minors and to violate
he moral and statute laws as well;
tell me that all the law-breaking
privileges they enjoyed were not paid
for. and I would not believe it, and
neither would any respectable, respon-
sih1e Intelligent man believe it.