Los Angeles herald., 1909-02-24
PR ;CTION FOR
O. MS RIVER IS
,ALL KEYNOTE
ALEXANDER CAMPAIGN OPENS
ENTHUSIASTICALLY
HIGHLAND PARK ASSURES HON.
EST GEORGE OF SUPPORT
Marshall stimson Presents Emphatic
Arguments Against Continuance
of Harper's Administration.
Socialists Hit snag

| lI HE temper of the recall campaign
was shown last night at a meet
ing held by the Highland Park
| George Alexander club and addressed
! by Mr.. Alexander Marshall Stimson
and Lorin A Handley The speakers
were interrupted frequently by ap-
] plause and expressions of approval,
ana Uncle George" was pledged a
| large vote from the first three pre-
! cincts on election day.
Il am willing to make my platform
my record of work for the county," said
Mr. Alexander. IF they attack my
character l tell you they will have to
get something l never heard of. Since
| have gone into this fight / am not
afraid to tackle it. / think / have a
right to say | have been well trained.
For the last eight years l have been
in the minority all the time. I've
| bucked against a stone wall so long
| I'm used to it.
80 if l am elected I purpose fighting
this thing out. [ expect 10 be a law
! abiding citizen, and l intend to say if
1 should be made mayor, that others
shall be the same. 1 have favored so
| far as / have had opportunity, having
| things out in the open, aboveboard,
where the taxpayer can know what is
! going on. In my experience on the
board of supervisors l have run into a
great many secret sessions-they want
ed from the first to get me into an
agresment TO keep things quiet. Not
for me,' / said. My experience is in
such deals that the public get the short
end Of it.
Il am glad that they have brought
up the purchase of the site for the hall
Of records, for that is an excellent case
in point. They wanted to make it q
private deal, but l insisted that it
J ISl1 ha n6 IN nj
the district attorney, who held for con-
demnation proceedings. That public
condemnation avoided buying with d
cloud on the title. The county got pos
session of the site, while title is being
established the money is held waiting,
but the county has the site. By a
private deal there is no knowing how
much we should have paid, and in ad-
dition there would have been an unCer-
/ tainty which might have caused much
additional expense and would have un-
doubtedly delayed possession. The
county paid only the actual value, as
the testimony of experts has shown. In
attempting to make an argument they
! have misrepresented the facts by talk
| ing only the Broadway side of the
I property as basis.
Shows Attempted Deals
| Mr. Alexander referred to a number
|
board of supervisors where attempted
deals had been worked out through
kSecret proceedings. He called attention
/ to the county hospital deal when the
| chamber of commerce stopped useless
! expenditure by an injunction. When
the character Of the deal became evi-
dent Mr.. Alexander first called the at
tention of the chamber of commerce to
it's import and urged that body to take
action against it.
The contract for new cells at the
| county Jail when the "solid" members
of the board of supervisors let the job
to the second highest bidder, and pro-
ceedings later saved the county more
| than $4,000, was mentioned by Mr.. Alex
ander. They wanted this taken up in
secret" he said, ''but I told them: NO
| private session for me. Whatever
have to say about it 1 want to say be-
fore the taxpayers.
The same penchant for secret meet
ings was exhibited in connection with
and opposed by Mr.. Alexander. Their
argument, he said, was that a better
profit could be realized by private sale,
but his answer to the "Solid three" was,
eff you gentlemen do this you will have
on hand one of the nastieSt fights you
ever saw"
In referring to the Owens river
evident the present administration has
not shown a proper appreciation of this
great enterprise. The board of public
works must be kept up to a standard
which shall leave no doubt as to the
preservation of the aqueduct water and
power to the people, and 1 think the
last appointment of the present eX-
ecutive to that board a poor one.
want to say definitely that political
service for me will not count
at all in my appointments of that
character. And if 1 am elected
don't think you will ever be ashamed
of it."
Marshall Stimson, who followed Mr..
| Alexander emphasized in his speech
the fact that the campaign was not a
personal one against Mr.. Harper.
There are two questions involved, .
he said. "Shall Mayor Harper be re-
called? If so, who would make the
best mayor, Harper or Alexander?
| f'There need be no personal animOSity
to Harper in this campaign. When he
was elected no one ever went into
office with more friendly feeling for
his success, for everyone opposing his
election said when he went into office,
we wish him WE'LL 1 will make no
attack on his personal character-that
is not involved in this movement; it
is a plain question of whether his Of
|
public trust.
Who Is Most Favorable?
"Now, looked at in that attitude,
what did he do, considering Harper's
record as mayor in the most favorable
manner possible? He at once sur
rounded himself with a group of po-
litical self-seekers. He put in two
police commissioners of the worst sort
we have ever had. One commissioner
in an intoxicated condition disgraced
himself on the street and insulted some
of our best people. Another, also while
intoxicated. made a most disgraceful
nuisance of himself at a theater.
"Other official appointments by the
mayor of the same ilk might be men
! toned to demonstrate how he has al
lowed himself to be used. He has
lately appointed Edward Kern to the
board of public works. At the outset
it was established as a vital principle
that men appointed to this board
should not be politicians or job hunters,
but men of substantial business '~ter-
Continued on Page Ten)