Los Angeles herald., 1909-11-27
RIVER BED GRAB
FULLY EXPOSED
tContinued from Page one,


Los Angeles county there has been
some of that going on. 1t was Uncle
George who prevented some of the
most fragrant betrayals of the people
ever attempted. When $3,50000O worth
of road bonds were offered for sale
it was not done in public but in secret
Mayor Alexander, then a supervisor,
was sick in bed the day the deal
was made. A private sale OF the
bonds was ordered, with no opportunity
for public bids. The entire issue was
offered for sale, although the money
was not to be expended all at once. A
bonus of $3.50 was received from the
secret sale.
Alexander to Rescue
"Then Uncle George heard Of the
proceeding, arose from his sickbed ana
demanded that the sale be set aside.
He won after a legal fight, so that at
the second public sale a bonus OF SoO,O6o
was received by the county for a pof-
ton of the bonds. BY Withholding
rortion of the bonds so that no interest
was to be paid upon them the county
was saved $4,000 the first year. BY
the time all the bonds will have been
sold the county will have saved 100000.
That is the sort of stuff Uncle George,
is made of. He is honest, fearless ana
capable. He is a man!
"When you ask man to vote for
certain candidate, tell him something
about his good qualities. When you ask
a man to vote against a candidate, tell
him why you make the request. have
told you why you should vote for
Mayor Alexander. / shall now tell you
why you should vote against the ma
chine candidates"
Mr.. Woolwine then read Mr. Le-
landes affidavit in which the city clerk
related the circumstances leading up TO
the offer of $1,000 il he would sign the
river bed franchise grab. In the atti-
davit Mr. Lelande points out that ne
was first asked to sign the ordinance In
a hurry, as 1t was only for spur track.
He relates being approached by sum-
merland, who used his persuasive pow
ers to no effect. Again, the afhdaVlt
tells of the call at Mr.. Lelande's home
when Gilmore offered to give Mr.. Le-
lande all his political support if Mr.. Le-
lande would sign the ordinance quickly.
Tells of Meetings
Further along in the affidavit Mr..
Lelande relates of visits to the city
clerks office by Walter Parker, and of
a meeting of Parker and Lelande at the
Alexandria hotel buffet, when Parker
asked Lelande how much he would take
to sign the ordinance, and then Offering
$1,000 to Mr.. Lelande if he would sign
the ordinance. The affidavit says that
when Lelande refused the offer, abso-
lutely, Parker said: "Well, there is
money being passed, and you. might as
we'll get your share Huntington wants
the franchise, so you better sign it,
"Why did the corporations seek that
franchise?" asked Mr.. WoolWine. Be
cause it is the only feasible route for
railroad into the city. The council
wanted to give it away, and it is worth
now at least $1,000, 900 and will be worth
many times that in time to come. Those
Barney Healy and Doc
Houghton were two of the gang-voted
to give away that valuable right. They
tried to betray the people, but Harry
Lelande prevented them, in the absence
of Mayor McAleer, who was then out of
the city.
Look at Records
"There are two others on the coun-
ell ticket put up by the machine who
need a little attention-Yonkin and /
Lyon. They say their records are
clean. Just look into the public utili-
ties ordinance. 1t is disgrace. Yon-
kin and Lyon were for that
"If by any mischance Healy and
Houghton should get back into the
council, there will be such fmen as
Works and Washburn and others who
will be the watchdogs, and those steals .
go to the polls, and when you cast /
your votes remember what have told
you-that the machine is dominated by
men who are accused of offering a /
public official a bribe, and that the !
machine has asked you to forget that |
some of its candidates have betrayed ;
the people. There will be no doubt
of your decision. 1t will mean Good ]
Government landslide"
AS Mr.. Woolwine ended his remarks |
he was cheered to the echo.
Other Candidates Speak
Judge r. M. Lusk, II. L. O'Brien, w. !
J. Washburn, councilmanic candidates;
Captain Hance, candidate for city |
treasurer; John S. Myers, candidate for |
auditor; Clarence M. Taggart, candi- |
date for tax collector and others spoke !
briefly. In his remarks Judge Lusk |
said that the eyes of the world are |
upon Los Angeles to see If city which |
has the right and the power to govern |
itself will exercise that power wisely |
and make Los Angeles a good govern |
ment city. Judge Lusk spoke pointed |
ly and was interrupted frequently with |
applause of approval.
Captain Hance briefly detailed his |
work as city treasurer. He said that |
he has saved Los Angeles $2S, 900 on the |
sale of Owens river bonds by making |
four trips to New York in the last |
year and that in lending city funds he
has netted Los Angeles 100000 in the |
last year. He quietly asked that he be
given the support of the people if they
believe he has fulfilled his mission as a
public servant. The reply of his
auditors left no room for doubt that
Captain Hance will continue in his Of
fica for he too has made good