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
Of the eighteen San Francisco Assemblymen only one, Callan, voted
against the amendments; fourteen - Beatty, Beban, Coghlan, Collum,
Cullen, Hopkins, Lightner, Macauley, McManus, Nelson, O'Neil, Pugh,
Perine and Wheelan - voted for the amendments, while three - Black,
Gerdes and Schmitt - did not vote at all.
The Local Option bill was also killed by San Francisco votes. This
measure was strongly backed by the rural districts. The various
counties, particularly those engaged in farming, dairying and fruit
growing, sent representatives to the Legislature instructed to vote for
Local Option. The issue in all ways concerned the country districts
rather than the large cities. But the votes of the San Francisco
Senators defeated the Local Option bill.
The first fight over the Local Option bill came when in the ordinary
course of events it reached third reading. Instead of letting a vote be
taken on the measure, Wolfe moved that it be referred to the Judiciary
Committee. This was clearly a move against the passage of the bill, for
it meant delay which might prove fatal. But Wolfe's motion prevailed by
a vote of twenty to fifteen. The nine San Francisco Senators voted to
refer the bill to the committee, only eleven Senators from outside San
Francisco voted with them.
The nine members from San Francisco continued consistent in their
opposition to the measure. When the Local Option bill did come to a vote
their nine votes were cast against it.
The people of Del Norte county and the people of San Diego county are
denied the privilege of voting "Wet or dry" because of the opposition to
the Local Option bill of the solid San Francisco delegation in the
Senate. It will be seen that the people of these distant counties are
decidedly interested in political conditions in San Francisco, for in a
large way the character of the San Francisco delegation in the
Legislature is unmistakably reflected in the laws which are passed for
the government of the entire State.
Taken as a whole, the San Francisco delegation in Senate and Assembly
were nothing for that city to be proud of, and at a critical moment San
Francisco came near paying dearly for her Hartmans, Hares, Macauleys and
McManuses. But for the intervention of the country members the Islais
Creek bond project would have been defeated.
The improvement calls for the purchase of sixty-three water blocks at
Islais Creek to be converted into an inland harbor. The future
development of San Francisco depends largely upon this improvement. But
private interests demanded that nineteen of the sixty-three blocks be
excluded from the plan, which would have rendered the whole project
impracticable. When the fight came on, San Francisco Senators and
Assemblymen opposed the purchase of the sixty-three blocks.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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