The San Francisco call., 1910-02-13
STATE TREASURER
WOULD KEEP PLACE
w. R. Williams Denies That He
Is Candidate for Secretary
of State
By GEORGE A. VAN SMITH

|
State Treasurer w. r. Williams has
called a halt on the attempt to play
| horse with him politically by announe-
Ling himself as candidate to succeed
| himself and repudiating the report that
he would be a candidate for the repub-
lican nomination for secretary of
state.
The attempt to connect Williams
name with the nomination for secretary
of state was one of those well inten-
toned bits of intensely high browed
politics which usually inflict serious
| damage upon the person or party they
are designed to advantage.
1t originated with some of Williams
admirers in southern California. They
locked themselves up with a lot of
| heavy thoughts, which they proceeded
to work into a masterpiece of factiOnal
strategy They decided that since Will
| Jams was the sort of man who would
| develop into good gubernatorial tim
| ber, that Development should be has
tened by passing him around through
the state offices in succession. The
secretary of states Office was an inn
| portant post; Williams a competent
man. Let him take that next.
! 1t was nuts for Williams political
enemies. The organized men who rec
| ognized the fact that it would be diff
| ficult to sidetrack Williams for renom-
ination for treasurer. but who were
charged with that job, cried, 'Surest
| thing you know" Williams cried. No
| fair
| Williams has made good as state
treasurer and that despite machine at
| tempts to hamper his work. He was
elected before the birth of the Lincoln
| Roosevelt league, but he was such a
poor programmer that he was promptly
consigned to the league end of repub-
| ltcan politics Immediately after the in
| dependent organization was perfected.
! The organization word was passed to
"get" Williams, just as it was passed to
| get Attorney General Webb and Con-
| troller Nye.
Getting" treasurer who has made
good is not an easy job, even with a
convention system. The difficulties at
tending the getting" are materially in
creased by a direct primary system.
What the organization men found diff
fcult some of the leaguers went out to
make easy for their political enemies.
In deciding upon their painless opera
tion they counted without their patient
WHAT WILLIAMS SAYS
For some reason said Treasurer
Williams yesterday, "a story is per-
sistentIy going the rounds that 1 am
seeking nomination for the office of
secretary of state. Such is not the case
[ am seeking nomina tion to the office
of state treasurer to succeed myself"
The Lincoln Roosevelt leagues can
didate for governor viii not be chosen
next Tuesday. Indeed, the leagues
choice may not be made and announced
to the public for some time. The meet
ing of the leagues executive committee
set for Tuesday has been postponed
until Saturday. The postpOnement,
which was announced yesterday, was
the direct result of illness in the family
of President Chester II. Rowell of
Fresno.
The postponement of the executive
committee meeting will bring forth no
shouts of acclaim from the proponents
of former Senator Charles NJ. Belshaw,
but it looks like good politics to the
Ieaguers who are endeavoring to head
off the Contra Costa mans demand for
their Endorsement for governor.
The advocates of Colonel Harris
Weinstock will utilize the postpone
ment period to get a more accurate
size up of the southern California sit
uation and to intensity the pressure
for Weinstock in central and northern
California.
The executive board of the Wholesale
Merchants Charles f. Curry club viii
meet Tuesday night in its new head
quarters in the Foxcroft building in
Geary street The local wholesalers
Curry organizati tion is reaching into
every town in the state through the
representatives of its members. Their
work is directly with the retailers of
| the state and the officers of the club
insist that they are meeting with Hat
| tering success.
Curry himself has been giving con-
siderable attention TO the perfecting
of a personal organization in Alameda
county. The Curry men are deal
more than confident. Naturally enough
they have not taken the world into
their confidence as regards their or
ganizations in the interior, but they
are in a position to demonstrate that
Curry has the support of a large num-
ber of prominent men who ordinarily
would be found waiting for the or
ganiZation program or with their
sleeves rolled up for the anti-machine
campaign.
STRONG FOR ESHLEMAN
The southern Lincoln = Roosevelt
Ieaguers are out strong for John NJ.
Eshleman for railroad commissioner in
the third district to succeed Theodore
SummerIand of Los Angeles Eshle-
man is district attorney in Imperial
county, where he went for his health
during the Legislative session of 1867.
He was a member of the assembly from
Alameda county and made the first
fight against the racetrack. Alameda
county is a part of the third commits
sioner's district. The leaguers believe
Eshleman can carry his formed home
county with a whoop, which in their
opinion should insure his nomination.
From San Bernardino come doleful
sounds. Senator Willis has lost his
residence in San Bernardino and his
Job in Los Angeles, where he went TO
become a deputy United States district
attorney. There are at least two YER
sions of the story relating to the sep
aration of Willis and the federal job.
One is, as matter of course, that
Willis resigned. The other is that the
department of justice directed his chief
to demand his resignation. Either will
do. Willis is out of the job, and the
organization is out with another can
didate for his seat in the senate 1t
is said that the organization will give
it's support to A. C. Denman Jr. of Red
lands The Lincoln Roosevelt leaguers
probably will back DR.. w. p. Burke of
Ontario.
HELD WOULD LIKE TOGA
From Mendocino county. birthplace
of combination partisan politics, comes
a rumor that may develop into either