Newspaper Page Text
10 TAX LEGISLATION PROBLEM INVOLVES CAUCUS STRATEGY Plan Adopted Must Insure Two-Thirds Vote for In crease of Corporation Tax Rate BOURBONS CONTROL SENATE SITUATION Proponents of Exclusively Progressive Organization Look to 1916 GEORGE A. VAN SMITH How will the adoption of any one of fhe proposed conflicting schemes for legislative organization affect the tax legislation problem with which the ad ministration and the legislature must cope at the ensuing acaelon? That question is productive of more worry for some of the legislative sup- Forters of the administration tlian is he probable effect of such organiza tion on the ISI4 and 1916 campaigns of the progressives in tins' state. In the opinion of some of them the tax legis lation program adopted by the 1913 legislature will play a bigger part in the 1911 campaign than any scheme of partisan organization can be made to play. It is generally believed that legisla tion for tiie imposition of an advalorem tax is outside the pale of political prob ability. If that conviction b. sound fhe tax alternative to be accepted by the governor and the legislature is the exercise of the constitutional power to raise the gross earnings rates on pub lic service corporations hy the votes of two-thirds of all the members elected to both houses. That deduction involves in turn seemingly the adoption of that scheme of organization which will best insure the affirmative votes of *_7 senators and 64 assemblymen when the final rolls are called. When Marshall Black sb cessor is chosen at the recall election in Santa Clara county there will be 27 srnators generally designated as pro gressives. 3 regular republicans and lo socrats. t'UtlS LIMIT _.« VOTES Organization of an exclusively pro- j gressive party caucus tin: senate would reduce the membership <>f that caucus certainly to _■■ and possibl; a smaller number. The organization of a republican caucus and the admission of al! senators not elected as democrats would make a caucus "J" M. but could not be relied upon to furnish 27 votes for an increase or" public utilities tax rates. It might afford an excuse for the democrats to do some practical party politics with an extremely deli cate question. Not all the 27 progressives can be rVIH-d upon to vote for an increase of gross earnings rates, and two of _rular republicans may be relied upon to right such increases. Senator John B. Curtin, father of the segrega tion constitutional amendment, may be I expected to make tiie tight of his life is dearest legislative child. -\t the last session the administration was assured of the co-operation of Caminetti, Holohan and Campbell, dem its, on all measures, and generally could rely on Shanahan. democrat. Holohan will not be in the next legis lature. Grant of San Francisco is ex pected to give liis undivided support to the administration. Campbell has a grievance. Shanahan has passed his free textbook amendment. Caminetti always a good partisan politician when strict partisanship looks profit able. NEED DEMOt HATS' VOTES. The senate success of a measure in creasing the gross earnings tax rates must depend upon democratic votes. There Is an element of working politi cal capital in a vote to increase cor poration taxes that could be accepted l>y some of the democrats without in volving serious risks in their home dis tricts. On the other hand, the demo crats, or virtually all of them, might embrace an opportunity to do a stroke of party politics, if the majority adopt ed a caucus plan that did not provide fe* a strictly nonpartisan distribution _f the plums. * Failure to organize the legislature through exclusively progressive cau cuses probably would have lees effect on the political future of Governor Johnson than the proponents of such caucuses are willing to admit. The progressives generally believe that the plans of the national party leaders contemplate either the nomina tion of Roosevelt and Johnson in 1916 or the nomination of Johnson at the Jnrad of the national ticket. Either plan, they believe, necessarily involves Johnson's re-election as gov ernor or his election to the United States senate to succeed Georgi Perkins. The proponents of the ex clusively progressive partisan cau cuses next month argue that the adop tion of their plans by the governor ;ld insure either his re-election or liis election to the senate. I'I.OPI.K < HOOSE SEINATOHS Their argument is based on the ■ "ry that the governor could not c in a three handed fight, which they would be insured by the ndonment of the republican name i organization. Their argument is *Ticl and it is an open secret that the ernor has desired to make his cession from the republican party for- However It does not follow that pro *"-'>-' lucus organization of the -islative houses is the only method insuring the presence r,f throe par a I light in Cali sion for the recog nition of existing parties or the or izatlon of parties by registration ild provide for both republican and ■ gressive parties in California, and nearly as any visible influence, pro vide for a three handed fight for gov ernoi. The srnatorship is a slightly dif ferent matter. California has adopted regon system for the election of :te<i States senators. As far as the ■ -ords disclose, there is not man in the. senate who will serve 19 a holdover who has not form, bound himself in writing to : i ision of the people at the. rdles- of partisan affilia : . if any, not bound by that elected to the legis lature in 191). The man who succeeds to the seat of George"»C Perkins in 1915, will lie the man who polls tiie greatest popular vote la 1914. which ! not her way of saying that it would i>e a cinch for Johnson in a three party fray. i'Ort'l'l,*.Ml I'HVSH I\\ < OV*. It 1 I.l> r-OUTLAN! >, Dee. 17.—Dr. Hal in, was today convicted . f unspeakable offenses. Start, with 1 •". other men and hoys, al leged members of a ho called "\ r ii-e ihqup." hms indicted following the rl will he sentenced on Frid . Grant Romance Ended Wife Is Given Divorce Mrs. Ruth Goodrich Grant. HOPE ABANDONED WHEN AVIATOR'S SHIRT IS FOUND Wreck of Kearny's Hydro- Aeroplane Picked Up on Rocks Near Redondo i LOS ANGELES, Dec. 17. — Fragments ; of a hydro-aeroplane and cl-thinST. which Were washed ashore and promptly iden tified, proved with practical conclusive- | ness today th.it Aviator Horace Kearny, and his reporter companion, Chester Lawrence, met death soon after they j started last Saturday on their proposed : flierht over the ocean to Sin Francisco, j The circumstances surrounding their j death probably always will remain hid- i den among the myriad secrets of the i sea. They may have died within a! few hours after they vanished Satur- j day afternoon in the mists off Point | Firmin. or they may have, clung dcs- j perately to their fragile craft all j through a stormy night and the next j day. Bot judging from the position of' the wreckage which gave today the j first definite clew to their fate, they j died almost within shouting distance : of shore, and in all probability their] bodies now rest in the tangled morass t of the kelp beds near Redondo Beach. ' : DAY OFF WELL I'TILIZI_I. The wreckage of the hydro-aeroplane ! was found today at Fisherman's cove, j four miles south of Redondo Beach, by I Paul Banzhaf, a young sheet metal j worker, and two companions, who de- j voted a day off to conducting a search of their own along the rocky shore line between Redondo and Point Vi-| cente. The wreckage consisted of a] five foot wing pontoon, companion piece j of the pontoon which was recovered Sunday floatine: five miles off Redondo; Beach, and a fragment of a wing tip. which probably was wrenched pit the flying machine at the same time the two wing pontoons went adrift. Banzhaf and his companions found the aeroplane fragments upon the rocks which protrude their jagged tops above water at low tide. Nearby the searchers picked up a light nainsook shirt and a gray checked vest. Charles Day, who built Kearny's aeroplane, Snookums, promptly identi fied the pontoon and the broken wing tip. Glenn Martin, who undertook the dangerous hydro-aeroplane flight in search of Kearny Sunday in the face of a gale, declared that the vest was part of the clothing Lawrence wore when he hoarded the aeroplane with Kearny for the ill starred flight. BROIGHT TO LOS ANCiKI.KS Banzhaf brought wreckage and cloth ing to Los Angeles this afternoon. Tie was accompanied by Martin and Day, who joined In the statement that Kearnv recklessly undertook a flight in a machine that was defective and that in their opinion broken connec tions witli the fuel tank "killed" the en gine, and that the hydro-aeroplane was forced to descend upon a rough, wind whipped sea at a point where gale and currents joined to carry wreckage and men down into the treacherous kelp b< ds. In this surmise they were supported by seamen and the keeper of the light house at Point Firmin, who was one of the last to glimpse Kearny as he sped out into the mist Saturday after noon and vanished. I'HIP OI T 01-' oßl>l.ll "Of course, one can only Uicorize as to what happened after Kearny and Lawrence flew into the fog to the north of Point Firmin last Saturday,"' said Charles l">ay. "hut it is known that the pump of the hydro-aeroplane mech anism was not in good working or der. thus affording only defective pres sure. "Kearny before the start told Law rence not to be frightened at any odd action on the part of the motor, but to use the hand pump as hard ,as lie could. "It is a plausible theory that after flying to the north of Point Firmin the motor quit because of the defective pressure, which Lawrence probably was unable to improve. The only thing to happen after that was an en forced lighting on the .water. The sea was rough and the plane was prob ahly heaten to pieces by the waves and the men drowned. PONTOON RECOGMZED Glenn Martin, the aviator. recog nized the pontoon and the canvas as parts of Kearny's hydro-aeroplane and said he distinctly remembered that Lawrence had had a suit of gray sim ilar to the vest found on the rocks. Martin said I'ay's theory of what tied to Kearny and Lawrence after they dew past Point Firmin was most plausible. Confident that the bodies of both Kearny and I.awrenec are lying be neath the kelp beds, preparations were made at Redondo Beach tonight to send men out tomorrow i>> make efforts to ieeo\er them. ■ lower bowel. Dr. liccsc, *. JO Market. S.. F.—Advt. THK SAX FKAXriSCO CALL, WKDXKSDAY, PECKMBKR 18, 1912. DEMI IS CHARGE NAMED IN DOCUMENT ! Millionaire's Son Secretly Married Vivacious Beauty Against Father's Will The romantic attachment of Dong- j las Grant, San Francisco millionaire i and son of Joseph I). Grant, to beau tiful and vivacious Ruth Goodrich, Which was followed by a secret mar- | riagc in Hoboken. X. J., a honeymoon j trip abroad and later alleged attempts | on the part of Grant's family to sepa- j rate the couple, ended yesterday with j a divorce on the ground of willful de sertion, granted by Judge J. J. Van .Nostra ml. Although a general denial of the de sertion charge wai tiled hy the Log Angeles attorneys for the husband, divorce was not seriously con toted He claimed that hl« income was not |iOO a month, as alleged by the plaintiff, but she produced C. W, j Disbrow as her witness, who testified ; that Grant receive;. $."'OO a month from the Grant building alone. She was j awarded |250 a month alimony. No mention was- made in the brief j proceedings yesterday <>f the alleged kidnaping of Giant on the part of his relatives and of the attempts of Mrs. Grant to regain him by proceedings in habeas corpus. The wife said her husband deserted her October 10, 1911. "Eligihle bachelor" was the mo3t fitting title bestowed on Grant by the matrons of the smart set less than three years ago, when, as heir to great wealth, member of the ultra exclusive sets of San Francisco. Del Monte and Santa Barbara, and an amateur golf champion, be was known throughout the state. IIIADKII OF AOMIKKH**" Fascinating Ruth Goodrich was for merly from Minneapolis, and soon after her arrival here (.rant became the of her train of almirers. The elder Grant had matrimonial plans of his own about his sqn and tried to hreak up the attachment. Voting Grant refused to be influenced by paternal advice, but after numerous family con ferences agreed to postpone his mar rl ige and make a tour of Europe. lie set out early in j|9li, and tflS- Goodrich was missed by her San Fran cisco friends shortly afterward, but the parents refused to believe rumor-: <>!' an elopement. Grant wa." Joined in the east by the young woman and t bej were married secretly in Hoboken Feb ruary 21. ItlL They then sailed fo* Europe, where they remained until the senior Grant heard of it. DOIGI.VS ORDERED HOME lie ordered Douglas home again, and both he and his bride obeyed the order. Wheq they read ed Los Angeles the \ husband insisted that they be married | again, as the first ceremony was a civil i one. The second nuptials took place : August 24, 1911. Shortly afterward she was summoned j east by the death of a relative, and i then, according to her affidavit in court later. Joseph D. Grant secured control of his son, brought him to San Fran ; cisco, placed him in charge of a pri vate detective and arranged to send ! Douglas and the detective away to the ! orient on the steamer Siberia. The steamer tickets had been bought, j the trunks sent to the wharf and every ! thing ready for departure when youiiu i Grant balked. He refused to go on 1 boa rd the vessel. A habeas corpus warrant against Grant's father, tiled by Attorney Car [ roll Cook mi behalf of Ruth Goodrich Grant, alleging that he had restrained j Douglas of his liberty at some place unknown to her. was the next event in ! their troubled marital history. ' SON IIS DISOWNED It later developed that young Grant i was on liis way east when she was r« turning from her trip to Minneapolis and that he took up his residence In London. Joseph D. Grant, it is said, had disowned his son and cut off his allowance, but relented after some time |and authorized his attorneys to treat ' with the young man's wife with a view :of inducing her to accept a settlement j and follow it with a divorce suit in San I Francisco, where she claimed a resi ! dence. i jj these negotiations fell through, young Grant told friends in London he expected to institute divorce proceed ings in the British courts. Service of the actual divorce complaint was had in Los Angeles December 14. !nobby £ CHAIN! TREAD 0 TREAD Rainy season tires If you dread the constant danger of skidding dur ing the rainy sea son, by all means equip your car with these famous tires. They will absolutely protect your car and its occupants. I United States Tire Company NEW YORK Sold Everywhere VALUATIONS TOO HIGH, IS COMPLAINT Public Utilities Corporations Say That Assessments Are Excessive SACRAMENTO, Dec. 17. —Public util ity corporation representatives ap pearing before the California board of equalization today argued that the stock and bond valuations of the vari ous concerns they represented were inflated and should not be considered by the hoard in assessing for taxes. Stock especially was declared to "represent a greater value in the market than the property owned would warrant. The market value, it was asserted, was higher because of the expectancy with which property it represented would increase in value. The board of equalization is comput ing a new valuation on corporation property in an effort to increase the state's revenue and force corporations to pay a rate as high as that of the private property owner. Among the corporations represented today were: Pacific Gas and Electric company. Northern Electric Railway company. Western Pacific railway. Southern Pacific railroad, Pacific Tele phone and Telegraph company and the Spreckels companies of San Diego. PALO ALTO LOAN FIRM ELECTS NEW OFFICERS -f — More Tluin DO Per tent of Stock Hold er* Attend Mutual Association Annual Meeting (Special Dispatch to Tbn Call) PALO ALTO. Dec. 17.—More than 90 per cent of the owners of stock In the | Palo Alto Mutual Building and Loan i association were present either in per son or by proxy at the regular annual meeting of the stock holders last night. The election of officers for the re organized concern resulted as follows:! Prof. C. H. Gilbert, president: George i \\". ifoeher, vice president; B. G. Allen, | secretary; Bank of Palo Alto, treasurer, I and J. S. Hutchinson, attorney. Directors. <'. JI. Gilbert, Stanford pro- i fessor; George W. Mosher, contractor and builder; A. B. dark, Stanford pro fessor; James Fraser, dry goods mer chant; J. O, Griffin, Stanford professor; J. s. Hutchinson, attorney; C o. King, debUty county assessor: Willis Thoits, shoe merchant, and Miss Clara Stolten -I'org, Stanford instructor. GRAMM TRVCKS Anticipate and prepare iJ"W XHEN the temperature goes down your horse even five teams, but this varies, according to the naturfe «/% / * ia,d^n 6 expense goes up. The first flurry of of your business. «j snow forces your horses to work slower than ever. t T The first ice coated pavements are responsible . Gramm trucks will plow clean through big snow, for the thousands of accidents, falling horses, drifts, without a bit of effort; will not be affected by a gale mai ned horses, and horses that have to be shot. or a blizzard; cannot slip, slide or fall; operate as easily rr, ... _, . . , - over icy pavements as over asphalt; do thirty miles of I he piling up of snow in the streets means fewer de- work at 10° below zero as readily as at 70° above- in short liveries per mile, smaller delivery radius, and more out will make as many delivery stops in the teeth of a terrific of patience customers. The huge snow drifts that form snow storm as on the Fourth of July, in the out-lying and suburban districts, which your horses are absolutely unable to buck, mean a transporta- The rapid approach of winter is something every tion expense, which, in the eyes of ordinary business transportation man must face. Anticipate a little this judgment, is a rank extravagance. The cost of hauling mer- winter. Think now, not after the season is too tar ad chandise (by horse) in the winter has, in some instances, vanced. Prepare for what you know is bound to happen, been found to be greater than the profits on the goods Be ready for the most costly hauling period of the year. / delivered. xv . _uu li-.. *.- The Gramm truck has been in use for over ten years. Winter, to the horse-hauling man, means perishing It is built by practical truck builders in the largest indi horses, damaged equipment, costly veterinary bills, and v idual truck plant in America. It is tha most hi__hlv big losses due to dissatisfied customers. Those mer- developed and practical truck built. We have studied chants and manufacturers who still stick to the horse, transportation requirements and problems for years lose hundreds of thousands of dollars every single winter, What you are up against we can solve. which can be saved. As you cannot change or control the weather the solution lies in changing your equipment. We will be glad to send our nearest representa- The Gramm truck is as efficient in zero weather tive f fj you would prefer to call Gramm trans as it is in June. And in June one Gramm truck can do P<>rtat,on plans equipment, facts and figures ar„ wort* the work of at least three first-class teams. In some cases y ° ur mOSt Careful considerat ">n. one Gramm truck can accomplish as much as four and All advice and information gratis. KLEIBER &. CO. 1504 Folsom Street San Francisco The Gramm Motor Truck Company. Lima, Ohio GOLDBERG'S GUY AGAINST REFORMATORY | (Special Dispatch to The Call) XAPA, Dec. 17. — A movement has been started in the Napa valley to pro test against the location of the state reformatory for first offenders in Yount ville, where a site was selected by a state committee, and a fight will I»e madg before the next legislature to prevent the erection o.f the institution there. A mass meeting has been called in this city for next Thursday night to protest against the reformatory as a drawback, instead of an asset to the county. A committee consisting of Frank 1.. Coombs, P. S. King, Charles EL Tower, H. L. Johnson and I>. A. Dunlap has been named to arrange for I the fight before the legislature. LEE NAM CHIN WILL HANG STOCKTON", Dec. 17.—For the first time in more than two years a local jury today rendered a verdict providing the death penalty in the case of Lee Nam Chin, a Korean, charged with shooting Lee Jim, a fellow- countryman, on Staten island. The jury left the courtroom at 3 o'clock in the afternoon and it was not until 8:15 o'clock that they announced that they had agreed. REQUA TO SPEAK Oakland, I>< • >.. 17.—Mark I".. Henna, prt-ideßt -if the Alameda County Tax association, "id speak en the proposed now county charter at a mooting ot tho manufac turers' eo-Bmittee ■__ the Chamber of Cotuiueree Thursday night. TRAGEDY AT SEA ON BARK BENICIA Cook Kills First Mate, and Himself When Second Mate Attacks fSpeci.il Dispatch to The Call* ABERDEEN. Dec 17.—Bringing n tale of murder and suicide following a tierce fight on its decks 38 days a**.". the barkentlne Benicia made port Sun day and came upstream to the Linstrom shipyards this morning. The Benicia came without its first mate and cook. former having been shot by the latter, who then ended his own life. The cook. Teddy Weise, was a member of the Fagles and Odd Fellows and well known 1, re First Mate Anderson was also known along the front of *'■■■• Harbor. According to the tale brought by the crew of the Benicia, the day the vessel was to sail north from Bs Rosalia, Anderson and "Weise came aboard and were quarreling. Beco Mate Harry Cddy was already aboard. The two went into the cabin and k their quarrel going, i'ddy separal them, but they met again and started the trouble. Finally Weise got a | and came on deck. Anderson and he had some words, and before Fddy could prevent Weise had drawn his revolver and shot Anderson, killing him instant ly. Weise then threatened to kill I'ddy. who was forced to be wary while at tempting to got the gun away from the cook. Uddy had lifted a grating to throw at Weise, when the latter shot films. his head nearly being carried ay jp*- --hv the charge. Uddy had a particularly hard time, owing to the fact that Cap tain Hayes' children had come aboard with him and he wished to keep them out of harm. He was kept busy for some time trying to keep the youngsters under cover and prevent murder. Mrs. Hayes came aboard just at the time Weise killed himself. Both bodies were buried at sea. MINER'S WIFE IS DEAD OF TYPHOID IN EAST Drr.a*.d ami Two Daughter*, Both Very 111. Contracted Dlaeaae Prom Ice Water (Special Dispatch to The Call) OROVILLE, Dec. 17.—Mrs. Rlchar-1 Phillips is dead and her two daughters are .seriously ill at their old home Its Hartford, Conn., according to news re reived here today. The telegram states that the members of the family at tended a social function %t the horn, of a friend and that ice water the. drank contained typhoid bacteria. Mrs. Phillips and her daughters left Oroville live weeks ago to visit relatives. Phil lips is the owner of the Old Glory and the Banner mines near this city.