The San Francisco call., 1909-01-04
CAUCUS TO TEST
POWER OF MACHINE
Anti-Herrin Republican Sena-
tors Will Open Battle
This Morning
Admission of Bell Will Be the
Point Over Which Battle
Will Rage
Continued From Page 1. Column

II EOhhh dtC II NpAuAtAA
years ago. There has been a change,
and a change of decided promise TO the
people on the republican side. and the
slight democratic increase has only
added to the machine difficulties. That
comfortable working majority-or. to
be more exact about % TO p out of the
total of 40 votes in the senate-can not
be handled for raw stuff is quite appar-
ent. If the preliminary indications are
borne out by the developments of the
session two-thirds rule furnishes the
only hope for absolute machine domi-
nation of the upper house.
While the anti machine republicans
rather expect to be compelled to rely
upon democratic assistance. they do not
wish to be put in the false position of
seeming boilers, which they are not,
and they propose to make desperate
effort to show such strength in the ma
jority caucus that no raw program will
be agreed upon and labeled as matters
of party expediency. The proposed
fight on Wolfe is deemed by some of
the antis as of wholly secondary I'M
portanee. and it is possible that it will
be abandoned even in the event that
they succeed in forcing Bell into the
caucus.
CLEVER PARLIAMENTARY
Wolfe is one of the cleverest parlia-
mentarians in the legislature, and We're
it not for the fear that his wits as a
presiding officer would be turned
against them TO defeat popular meas
ures, there would probably be no
thought of offering opposition to him.
even if the antis were assured that they
could swing a clear majority of the 50
votes which will be represented in the
caucus tomorrow morning.
Senator Bell whose admission to the
caucus viii be made the bone of con-
tention. is a republican whom the ma =
chine men DECLINE to recognize as such.
rustling vote getter and a straight
public servant, Bell won and held sew
eral local offices in Los Angeles county.
He tried for the republican nomination
for the senate two years ago. and was
turned down by a convention which he
and his friends contended was handled
He was given a nonpartisan nomina-
tion. The democrats of his district in
dersed his candidacy and he beat the
regular republican nominee, Hahn, by
nearly 500 votes. When he showed uI
at Sacramento two years ago and APP
piled for admission to the republican
caucus the machine said to him in an
emphatic way that there was none 10
make anything like a vigorous objec-
tion to the program.
THINGS HAVE CHANGED
Now things have changed. Twelve
republicans were lined up to make the
fight for him before dinner tonight and
the leaders of the movement conf
IDENTIFY believe at midnight that the Is
votes necessary to rehabilitate Bell as a
real, blown in the bottle republican.
would be present and counted in the
caucus tomorrow. If that be true the
house caucus on matters of general leg
islation, but of course such control
would in no wise affect the reelection
of Senator Perkins. who viii undoubt-
edly receive the entire republican vote
of the upper house and that without
debate
Neither would such control Of the
caucus mean radicalism in legislation.
since the leaders of the movement are
such conservatives as Senators George
S. Walker and Marshall Black of Santa
Clara county: that clever and hard hit
ting little fighter Senator a. T. Boyn-
ton of Oroville; c. W. Cutten of Eureka
and F. 5. Birdsall of Auburn, two of
the best members of the last legisla-
ture, whose conspicuously clean serv
ices in the lower house won them pro-
paotion