Los Angeles herald., 1909-02-02
PEOPLES CHOICE
FOR NEXT MAYOR
is UNANIMOUS
CHEERS GREET SELECTION OF
CANDIDATE
STRONG MAN ASKED TO LEAD
RECALL FORCES
Representative Citizens Decide on
Former President of Chamber of
Commerce as Their Stand
ard Bearer
Developments in Recall

4
!" LILLIAN ID. STEPHENS, former nreS,-
| wv dent of the chamber of commerce
| and member of the firm Of Carr &
S'ephenS' named as the to oppose
Mayor Harper at an enthusiastic meeting Of
representative citizens.
More than three-fourths Of the reauirad
"unlOer OF signatures of qualified electors
secured to recall petitions, making it GER
tam that the petitions will be filed with the
city clerk prior to February 23
Arrangements made to have petition at
every polling place today to allow every
voter at the charter revision election an
opportunity to sign.
William D. Stephens, member of the
nrm OF Carr & Stephens, and one of the
| most prominent men in Los Angeles.
was named yesterday as the opponent
oI arthur 2. Harper in the forthcom-
ing recall election for mayor.
The meeting which selected Mr
stephens for nomination as the peo-
| pies candidate against Mayor Harper
! SVedIed an earneStneSS, unanimity and
decision which gratified and even sur
prlsed the Municipal leagues execu-
tive committee. The vote to make
| Mr. stephens the nominee was unan-
ing shouts and cheers from staid busi-
ness men who voiced their feeling and
frequently demonstrated their settled
determination to stand by the good
name of Los Angeles
Mi. Stephens, who emphatically as
sured the meeting that his heart and
soul were in the movement, is a for
mer president of the chamber Of COM
merce and prominent retail grocer.
Unless the effect of a campaign will
prove disastrous to the health of his
Wlte, who is an invalid and has re-
Gently been in poorer health than usual
Mr. stephens will accept the response
blllty and lead the campaign against
the policies Of Mayor Harper.
He asked for three days to give the
matter full consideration, as he had
'-nIy returned from a trip to San Fran
CISCO and said that he had not been
given opportunity to weigh the effect
o. campaign. IF you are here to
nominate candidate today | want
you to go ahead said Mr.. Stephens,
and L am here to help you nominate
him and to work for him. But if you
wish to give the time for me to de-
termine whether my home duties will
permit me to take up your standard 1
promise to give this the most careful
consideration and to make a decision
which you will say is just"
Cheer TOR the Recall
The meeting adjourned upon ac-
complishing the purpose for which it
had been called by the MunicipaI
league, but the forty-f1ve minutes of
the session were full of an atmos-
phere which revealed the sentiment pre-
| Valling in favor of the recall. When
the fact was shown that rs per cent Of
! the necessary signatures of actually
qualified voters had been secured in
less than a weeks work, the roof was
nearly raised by cheers, and the en-
thusiasm was repeated in the ovation
given as Mr.. Stephens walked down
the aisle to the platform.
| The mayors supporters were alarmed
when the news came out that Mr..
Stephens would accept the nomination.
| Walter Parker had been deVOting his
attention to the question of charter
amendments. When the nomination
was made he was on his way to the
courthouse, where in company with
Justice of the Peace ]. w. Summerfield
he held a consultation with Charles j.
| NelliS, chairman Of the board of super
visors and 'Tus'' Eldridge of the board
Mr.. Parker has his own candidate for
| the mayOralty at the regular election
next winter, and it is not Mr.. Stephens.
He is anxious to see a nomination of
another sort made against Mayor Har-
per.
Accordingly, the plan has been
Matched up to send one Of Mr.. Stephens
best friends to him with virtually the
prOffer of the seat in congress from
this district if he will back out of
the mayoralty campaign. The ma
chine believes that Congressman Nc
Lachlan cannot be pulled through
again, and believes that a leading Of
ficeholder has sufficient influence to
present the matter attractively to Mr..
Stephens.
Mr.. Stephens himself took occasion
plainly to tell the organization where
he stands in his speech at the Mu-
nicipal club meeting. 'If I undertake
the movement which you ASK he said
to yesterdays gathering Of citizens,
| Il want you to understand that / am
not tied to any Republican or Demo-
| cratic machine or any Municipal league
or Lincoln-Roosevelt promises what
ever. I stand always for what is right
for a fair and square deal to any
citizen, any corporation, any section.
any interest, and no more. While I
have always been a straightforward
| Republican, do not believe party poll
tics should enter very largely into mu-
nicipaI government, but I do believe
| municipal government, particularly in
| this city, should be administered along
square and sound business lines.''
! ]. o. Koepf1i, president of the Mu-
| nicipal league, called the meeting to
order on behalf of that organization.
When nominations for a presiding of
ficer were asked, Albert M. Norton
nominated Judge John w. Works, who
was chosen unanimously.
Considers Time Critical
"This is a critical time in the history
Of Los Angeles" said Judge Works in
taking the chair. 1T is a time when
/ goodupyin should rally promptly to do
Of Glendorsy, whatever may seem to be
anted over
/ zxrrcn Judge Works announced the
purpose of the meeting and read the
Continued on Pare Fivcl