162 THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 



our children, nor our children's children are likely to see the day when 

 the political boss in California will again raise his head. There is 

 just one change in our laws that has brought about this political revolu- 

 tion, that has cleared our political atmosphere, and that one change in 

 our laws was the amendment to the constitution. I think it was, that 

 wiped out the political convention and replaced it with a nominating 

 primary. You say at first glance, "I don't see quite the importance of 

 that change." I will make it plain in a few words. Under the old 

 system of political convention it was a very simple matter for a political 

 boss to bribe a certain other gentleman, who. in turn, would bribe 

 certain members of the nominating convention, which in turn would 

 nominate candidates for public office. Under those conditions, we were 

 politically like driven cattle. We had no voice in the selection of our 

 public officials. Conditions such as existed in 2ny own city of Sacra- 

 mento could be found everywhere throughout the commonwealth. To 

 cite you an instance that came under my own notice: There was to 

 be a mayor elected in Sacramento; I went down to the polls to vote. 

 Inadvertently I found myself standing behind the political boss of the 

 town, a great, big saloonkeeper, and inadvertently I overheard him 

 say to one of his lieutenants standing on his left, pointing to a decent 

 neighbor of mine. "There goes one of those purity fellows to vote. He 

 thinks he is going to vote for the man of his choice, but whichever 

 one of the two candidates he votes for, he will be voting for my man, 

 because I own them both." Under our present political system, it is 

 absolutely impossible for any boss to get control, because to get control 

 he would have to bribe a majority of the men and women voters of 

 California, and no man living can do that. And so for the first time 

 in the history of our commonwealth we are living in a real democracy, 

 where you and I and the rest of us can vote for the men of our choice. 



Under the present political system there are no political debts to be 

 paid. The men elected to office owe their office to the people and not 

 to bosses, and hence they are lice to appoint men on merit and not to 

 pay political debts. As a consequence, we are enjoying in the State of 

 California today the most efficient and the most economical and the 

 most intelligent state government thai California has ever had, and I 

 think we will continue to enjoy that government so long as we adhere 

 to our system of political primaries in place of political nominating 

 conventions. 



Living, as we are. under a real democracy, we are just as safe in 

 inviting the state to lend us its aid and its support and its cooperation 

 as are the people who live in Germany, as are the people who live in 

 Austria and Fiance and England and Ireland and Italy, where they 

 gladly welcome the cooperation of the state in guiding and directing 

 their movements of this kind. So. to my mind, the criticism that a 

 movement of this character is inviting a political machine to put its 

 hand into our private affairs "ill net stand'. 



The next criticism thai has been offered is this: Granting that your 

 State Market Director is honest and granting that he means to do 

 right, what in thunder does he know about distributing seventeen 

 thousand carloads of fresh fruit a year? I don't know anything 

 about it, but I don't propose to do the distributing. I would invite the 

 distributors in proportion to the tonnage they ship to select from their 



