The San Francisco call., 1909-03-17
DEADLOCK OVER
DIRECT PRIMARY
Divided Vote on Assembly
Amendments Hangs Bill
High in Senate
Continued From Page /

afternoon. 1t was a fight for SUI
premacy which, in spite of the fact
that democrats and republicans, per-
formers and reformers, were hopelessly
mixed on both sides, was in the very
nature of a scrap or fight for political
capital between republicans and demo-
Gratis, in which the long haired re-
publicans took part on both sides and
the direct primary bill went into hid
ing.
1t is a to l bet that when the dead
lock is broken-and 1t will be broken
before the legislature adjourns-the
break will be on the republican per-
former side and that the senate by
margin Of one vote will ask the assem-
bly to recede from its sneak" amend
ments only. The assembly would
probably recede from all its policy
amendments If the demand were made
upon it, but the chances are that by
the precipitation of the fight for nom
concurrence the fghting senators have
given the organization an opportunity
to march down the center aisle ana
make the passage of the direct prl-
mary bill a party matter, and at the
same time pass it in form whlch VIII
be satisfactory to a majority or the
men who are fighting now-and thal
regardless of their attitude ana votes
for nonconcurrence.
EXPOSITION OF OPINIONS
The jawfest, which at no time ran
to the merits or dement's OF the OIL
either in its original or amended Iorn'
was for the most part hlghIy olE
ing exposition of the opinions enter
tanned by the 20 senators who spoke OF
each other and of the noncomodldnes' es'
Wright was accused of bad faith by the
Il
pendent conference with him. CANT
nettf hurled defiance at the southern
Pacific machine and denounced the dls-
trict vote plan as a scheme TO save
Senator Frank Flint. Leavitt accused
Caminetti of saying that he wanted TO
see the bill defeated John Curtin de-
livered what he termed funeral ora
tion of the corpse of the republican
party. Wolfe lambasted the democrats
hip and thigh, charging them with
willingness to defeat the bill for politi-
cal capital.
Walker separated himself from some
accusations. which he subsequently ad-
mitted privately, were untrue ana
which he knew were untrue when he
made them Sanford of Ukiah sent up
a fervent plea for the preservation OF
the agreement made in the independent
conference, but failed to mention the
fact that Wnen the lnQSpeHOSHL CuA-
ference was working, the combined ef-
forts of republican and democratic pro-
ponents of the bill failed to drag him
into it. Cutten, one of the republicans
who stuck to the independent confer
ence agreement, did not like the par
tisan talks made by Curtin and Can't
netti and he banged Curtin for plead
ing for a conference In which he took
no part and Caminetti for running out
of the conference so fast his mus
taches brushes both sides of the door"
Miller, democrat, and Boynton and
Anthony, republicans, were the only
ones of the 20 orators to fight shy of
partisan political spellbinding.
FAVORS DISTRICT PLAN
Wright, in opening the debate in the
morning, said that he had always
favored the district plan, and supported
it now to insure the enactment of a
direct primary bill. In the afternoon
he talked politics, too, joining in the
general accusation fieldday sports.
When the hour for noon recess ar
rived Savage. who was known to be
on the concurrence side, was absent on