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
In summarizing his findings, Judge Smith holds that the local Board of
Supervisors exceeded its legal power in declaring vacant the office of
voluntary warden, which Welch held; exceeded its legal authority in
removing Welch without specific charges being prepared, notice served on
him and an opportunity given for a hearing.
[101] All sorts of estimates have been made of the income that would
have been enjoyed by the Fish and Game Commission, had this bill become
a law. The lowest that the writer knows of, made by a disinterested
person, places the increase at $50,000 a year.
[102] Some of the commission's expense accounts on file with the State
Controller are curiosities. For example, General Stone when he is on
commission business taxes the fund $1 for breakfast, $1 for lunch, $1
for dinner. It thus costs the Commission three annual hunter's licenses
to feed General Stone for a day.
Chapter XXV.
The Rewarding of the Faithful.
Senators and Assemblymen Whose Votes Were Cast Against Reform Measures
Given State and Federal Positions in Some Instances, in Others Appointed
to Holdover Committees or Sent on Trips at the Expense of the State.
The machine has many ways of rewarding the faithful who persist until
the end. The faithful member of Senate or Assembly may be rewarded by a
Federal appointment (Senator Bates has just been graciously recognized
in this way[102a]) or he may be given a State job (witness Senator Price
or Assemblyman Beardslee) ; or he may be put on a legislative hold-over
committee to investigate something, or to represent the State at
something, or to prepare some kind of a bill to be introduced at the
next session of the Legislature.
This last is perhaps the most genteel method of reward. It entails
little work, gives the beneficiary a certain distinction and pays very
well.
Nine Senators were rewarded in this way in the closing hours of the
session of 1909. There might have been ten, but that prince of
"bandwagon" Senators, Welch, had to be rewarded twice, so but nine got
holdover committeeships. They are Wolfe, Welch, Wright, Willis, Leavitt,
Bills (labeled Republicans), Kennedy, Hare and Curtin (labeled
Democrats). The names of the nine are not unfamiliar. With the exception
of that of Curtin, their votes during the session were consistently cast
on the side of the machine. For them to be rewarded came as a matter of
course.
The machine will continue to reward such men until the people take the
Legislature out of machine hands. But that is another story.
The Legislative Holdover Committee is about as useless a thing as can be
imagined. This is very well illustrated by the State's experience with
the so-called Harbors Committee, appointed by the Legislature of 1907 to
inquire into harbor conditions throughout the State.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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