The San Francisco call., 1909-02-11
DIRECT PRIMARY
ADVOCATES ACTIVE
Caucus Held and SOl0ns Decide
to Wage Battle for Measure
on Senate Floor
Friends of Bill Confident Ma
chine Will Suffer Rout in
Showdown
Especial Dispatch TO The Call
By GeOrqe 4. Var Sn1jfh

by george A. Van Smith
CALL HEADQUARTERS. CHAMBER
OF COMMERCE BUILDING, sACRA-
MENTO. Feb. 1O.-The battle for decent
direct primaries will be fought out in
the senate on the Wright-Stanton bill,
its original policy intact and in sub
stantially its original form.
| Declaring for a showdown and a
vote that should put every senator on
record. an independent caucus, repre-
senting clear majority of the upper
house, rejected today all suggested
compromises touching the policy of the
| Wright stanton bill and completed
| plans for forcing showdown on the
| floor not later than next Monday or
/ Tuesday.
| When the noon recess was announced
today 21 out of 40 senator's went into
conference, and when that conference
adjourned it had Instructed Senator
| Wright to announce that the fight for
decent direct, primaries would be
clean cut, with the original policy of
the Wright-Stanton bill as the issue.
! The only changes from the original
| form decided upon were the substitu-
| ton of conventions for the purposes of
| selecting governing committees and
formulating platforms an dthe neces-
sary changes in the form of ballot In
| volved
COMPROMISE REJECTED
That the independent caucus would
declare emphatically against the ini-
quitous majority nomination scheme
proposed by Wolfe was conceded. The
rejection of all forms of compromise
touching the nomination of partisan
candidates for the United States senate
was a surprise.
While there were only 21 senators,
or bare majority, of the upper house
actually present in the conference, at
least three other senators are definitely
pledged to support the bill, and the
friends of genuine direct primaries con-
fidently assert tonight that they will
have the Wright-Stanton bill out of
the senate and in the assembly early
next week.
The machine forces, led by Walter
Parker, who went down to overwhelm-
ing defeat in his fight against direct
primaries in Los Angeles are making
desperate efforts to break down the
front placed by the independents, but
Wright and his colleagues insist not
only that they will be able to hold a
majority of the senate. but that they
expect runout not unlike that on the
racetrack bill when they demonstrate
on the floor that they have majority.
Senator Miguel Estudillo, chairman
of the senate committee on elections,
who presided at the independent eau
Gus, is expected to call meeting of the
committee tomorrow. Wolfe is Ill, but
his absence will make no difference in
the committees action, since EstudilIo
Wright and Stetson can be voted down
by a vote of 5 to 8 instead of the
usual to which prevails when Wolfe
is on the job.
MACHINE PREFERS SHOWDOWN
The machine men prefer to have the
senate instruct them to bring out a
bill with the senatorial and plurality
nomination provisions rather than make
their fight on a majority and minority
report. That the first showdown in the
senate may be made on this basis is
not improbable, but the majority and
minority report plan is the one which
has probably appealed stronger to the
INDEPENDENTS That will involve but a
single showdown and decide the SEN
ate's attitude with the bill before it.
Senator Wright said tonight:
"I am confident that the bill in sub
stantially it's original form will pass
the senate. I have always believed
that the people would win, but at no
time have 1 felt so entirely confident
as I do now. I believe that senators
who have said they would stand for
the bill will stand. Either late this
week or early next week the policy OF
the bill will be voted on in the senate
and every senator put on record. 1t
will be made special order and every
one will have an opportunity to be
heard.
Not all the senators who are pledged
to our bill were present at today's con-
ference, but / have no doubt of their
loyalty. The feeling in the senate may
be gauged somewhat by the fact that I
have the assurances of Senator Rose
berry, who introduced the postal pri
mary bill, that he will give our bill his
hearty, loyal support; that he will
speak for it, and vote for it. Senator
Roseberry reserves the right to present
and discuss his bill for educational pur-
poses. but he does not expect to pass 1T
and he does expect to help pass our