Los Angeles herald., 1910-07-15
JOHNSON HITS BACK

| CHIC TdllTOdu 1dllIlul agent Nht
| secretary of the Republican state COM
mittee, when he sent out his letters to
the five party aspirants for the gov
ernorship is made plain by the reply
of Hiram Johnson.
The letter was sent with the mani
fest purpose of letting four of them
! reply that they are regular" and loyal
| to the party, and making Johnson,
! either by silence or otherwise. stamp
| himself as a proselyte and therefore
| unworthy the support of good" Re-
! publicans to whom the party banner,
even when borne by such a man as
| William F. Herrin. means much Mr..
Johnson has not failed to avail him
self of the opportunity to steal all the
thunder In the situation.
His letter reveals the attempted coup
of the machine element as the monu-
mental political blunder of a genera
ton. If Johnson had planned with
all his wits for a chance to gain
wider publicity for his proofs of South
ern Pacific control in California he
could not have secured so good an op-
portunity as his enemies placed in his
hands on a silver salver, as 1t were.
Mr.. Johnson reviews the incident of
Chester RowelIs resolution in the state
committee meeting pronouncing
against Southern Pacific influence in
state affairs, and shows that the
promptness and ease with which it was
10 i al
of the charges Johnson has been max
ing on the stump. namely that the
railroad controls the party machinery.
Therefore under the old Mosaic law,
which is embodied in the statutes of
California, mo man can serve two
masters" and the Republican of prin-
ciple who feels as the Rowell resolu-
tion expressed it is forced to choose
a course away from that mapped out
by the party committee.
This gives Mr. Johnson the chance
to maintain that the state committee
no longer represents the rank and file
of the party, and is therefore not Re-
publican, and that any member who
concurs In the action of tabling the
Rowen resolution is not Republican.
Mr.. Johnson says on this point:
say to you, therefore, that
your committee is not a true Re
publican committee, nor do I rec
Ognize it as such; and I say to each
of its individuals who concurs in
the attitude of the committee to-
ward the Rowell resolution. that
he is not a true Republican. Your
L
not the Republican party, but Will
liam F. Herrin and the Southern
Pacific company. Your communi-
cation merits no reply from any
free or Independent Republican in
the state of California.
This is perfectly good logic. If the
leaders of an army so conduct them
selves that the army no longer will
follow them, they are not leaders any
longer That is the exact situation in
California today. The constituted au-
thorities of the Republican party are
shorn of their following. More than
that, Clifford Pinchot, fresh from
Oyster Bay and the real national Re
publican leader is on his way to de-
nounce them as renegades, and Hiram
Johnson as the real leader of the real
party in California. Their credentials
are not Republican. but Southern Pa
cific. How, then, can they assume to
represent the party and read out others
who outnumber them ten thousand to
one?
Both facts and reasoning are with
johnson. He has utterly confounded
his enemies, who emerge from the dis
cussion discredited as leaders and un-
fit, as ludicrously poor politicians. to
assume to be the head of any move
ment calling for tactical skill Finally,
Mr.. Johnson comes squarely to the
point and gives an explicit answer to
the question asked of him:
WILL SUPPORT AND URGE
THE ELECTION OF ANY RE
PUBLICAN CANDIDATE FOR
GOVERNOR w II o HONESTLY
WILL ENDEAVOR TO KICK OUT
OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY
AND THE GOVERNMENT OF
THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
WILLIAM F. HERRIN AND THE
SOUTHERN PACIFIC COMPANY.
There is nothing equivocal about
that. 1t is somewhat better than the
reply of Alden Anderson, who says, in
effect, that he will support a yellow
dog if it has the party label, be-
cause he is regular" and for the party
every time.
An outsider who does not profess
allegiance to either side must admit
that Johnson comes out of the con-
troversy stamped by it not merely a
better leader to follow, but an infinite
ly better politician than those who
sought by a ludicrous ruse to bring
o,1f,-fo, 1, him