Los Angeles herald., 1909-03-14
Los ANGELES HERALD SUNDAY MORNING MARCH a 1909
CITIZENS DENOUNCE
MACHINES PLAN TO
MAKE SMITH MAYOR
CONTINUED from Paae One,


familiar with wolves, say that when
the pack was in pursuit of the quarry
and one as killed. the others turned
on him and ate him up. His friends
have certainly turned on "A. c. In q
most brutal manner.
IF any iian is entitled to be deliv-
cred from his friends 1t Is undoubtedly
Mr.. Harper. Never in any campaign
have / seen such devilish attacks on a
man as have lately been made by the
papers that had been friendly to him
prior to his resignation.
up to the time of the recall there
was no effective method of getting rid
of unfaithful officials by any munici-
pality. Impeachment had never worked.
But the recall came as an inspiration,
and we have set the pattern for the
world Now cultured Boston, Pitts
burg, Chicago and others are going to
adopt 1t. And here in Los Angeles the
recall Is established, and If 1t should
go to the people now it would carry by
twenty to one.
"The recall has a double aspect, of
which the first is the recall of the in
cumbent, and the second is the selec-
tion of his successor. You can't sever
them; they are Siamese twins, and TO
remove one. kills the other.
If the council has right to appoint
a mayor to serve until next January
1t could certainly accept Harper's res
ignation and then turn around and
name Harper to succeed himself, thus
multiplying the recall entirely Harper
Is just as ineligible as is Geaorge A.
Smith.
"The reins are in mighty safe hands
when In the hands of the people of Los
Angeles. We are going to keep them
there. and If you had any doubt about
1t before, have you any now?
". IL ~ frlxxF le,t oh
to make themselves felt and heard at
the council chamber next Monday
morning Gwen be right there-we'll
do it, called out several mem. And
We'll hold the election and name Alex
ander by a big majority"
Mr.. Alexander made brief speech In
which he said If chosen mayor for the
Intervening time he would not ask the
commissions under Harper to resign,
but to remain until after the election.
81 know the recall provision is in the
charter" he said, "and If / prove un-
faithful / want to be recalled. Mr.. Har-
per has my sympathy now, but have
no sympathy for the newspapers that
are throwing mud. They haven't made
any stick on me yet; think they are
finding it a good deal like splitting on
red hot iron.
"Why didn't the Republicans put up
candidate? They could have placed
a man on the ballot, Tor the SOCIALISTS,
a much weaker party. got their man
on. The reason the Republican ma
chine didn't put on man is because
they were satisfied with the man al
ready in. Now, since he went back on
them they are trying to break up the
election. I am a Republican, but II
am not Republican that the bosses
can use, and they never shall control
me. The men behind the recall never
asked any promise of me. and I have
never promised anything to anybody.
except to serve the city to the best of
my ability, promise I make to you
and to every voter"
Before the meeting closed o. B. Car
ter, an attorney, reviewed the legal
construction which may be placed on
the recall election. 1.-THE councilmen,"
he said, "are merely agents of the peo-
pie, but in the recall the people are
doing business themselves, and there
is no necessity for the agent to step in
and take the business out of the prin-
cipal's hands,