Story of the Session of the California Legislature of 1909Hichborn, Franklin
History
Story of the Session of the California Legislature of 1909
Hichborn, Franklin
California -- Politics and government
Had the reform element been organized, however, Bell would have been
admitted to the caucus. Three Senators, Reily, Savage and Welch, who
ordinarily voted with the machine, because of personal friendship voted
to admit Bell to the caucus. But their votes were offset by those of
Burnett, Estudillo and Hurd.[8] The vote was as follows:
To admit Bell to the caucus - Anthony, Birdsall, Black, Boynton, Cutten,
Reily, Roseberry, Rush, Savage, Stetson, Strobridge, Thompson, Walker,
Welch - 14.
Against admitting Bell to the caucus - Bates, Bills, Burnett, Estudillo,
Finn, Hartman, Hurd, Leavitt, Lewis, Martinelli, McCartney, Price, Weed,
Willis, Wolfe, Wright - 16.
The Bell matter out of the way, the real work of organizing the Senate
was taken up. Curiously enough, the only contest came over the election
of the Chaplain of the Senate; the naming of the President pro tem., of
the Secretary of the Senate and of the Sergeant-at-Arms was not opposed.
Senator Price moved that Lewis A. Hilborn be the caucus nominee for
Secretary of the Senate, and J. Louis Martin for Sergeant-at-Arms. His
motion carried unanimously. Price also nominated Senator Wolfe for
President pro tem. Not an anti-machine Senator protested. Wolfe was
accordingly declared the caucus nominee, with the thirty Senators
present, machine and anti-machine, obligated to vote for him on the
floor of the Senate.
The election of a Chaplain was then taken up and several candidates
nominated for the office. Rev. Father H. H. Wyman being finally
selected, which, of course, was equivalent to election.
The caucus was held at 9 o'clock of the morning of January 4. At noon of
the same day a second caucus was held at which it was decided that the
division of patronage[8a] should be on the following basis: That $18 a
day should be set aside for the Secretary, Sergeant-at-Arms and
Chaplain; that the Lieutenant-Governor should be allowed $22 a day, and
each of the thirty caucus Senators $15 a day. This practically concluded
Republican caucusing for the session. At previous sessions the
Republicans caucused practically every day. But before the session of
1909 had advanced far, the real line that divided the Senators, the line
that separated the machine from the anti-machine members, had become so
pronounced that caucuses of machine and anti-machine Republicans became
impracticable. Senator Wright, toward the end of the session, made
frantic efforts to get the caucus together; but he failed. The caucus on
organization was about all that the anti-machine Republicans could
stand.
As they had left the election of the officers of the Senate to the
machine, the anti-machine element left the appointing of the Senate
committees to the machine Lieutenant-Governor.[9]
How well the machine, given the appointment of the committees, fortified
itself is shown by consideration of practically any one of the
committees. A few examples will suffice.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Story of the Session of the California Legislature of 1909 — John Shaqi
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