Elusive Eden: A New History of California, fourth edition

1. Elusive Eden: A New History of California, fourth edition CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: PROGRESSIVE CALIFORNIA

2. Abraham Ruef and the Union Labor Party • 8.3 earthquake northern California April 18, 1906 --Extensive damage in San Francisco --Fire April 18-21, 1906 • Municipal government dominated by party organizations

3. Abraham Ruef attorney, Republican party boss --Tutored by Bill Higgins, Martin Kelly, Phil Crimmins --Ran for office 1901, failed --Labor dispute brought second chance

4. 1901 San Francisco Employers' Association took on Teamsters, City Front Federation, Labor Council --Unions struck, shut down port --Association locked out workers, hired strikebreakers --Democratic mayor James Duval Phelan, police sided with Association --Alienated workers organized Union Labor Party

5. Ruef aligned with ULP --Engineered Eugene Schmitz nomination for 1901 mayor's race --President of musician's union --Appealed to Irish, German working class • Schmitz elected mayor 1901 --Reelected 1903 --Reelected 1905, w 18 ULP supervisors

6. Schmitz and Ruef engaged in numerous illegal operations --Ruef accepted "fees" to present proposals to mayor --Police protection for "French restaurants" --Franchises for public utilities, streetcar company --public funds to establish a brothel • New supervisors expected share in proceeds

7. Indictment and Trial • 1901 Fremont Older publicized misdeeds in Bulletin • 1905 Older appealed to Rudolph Spreckels, SF DA, Theodore Roosevelt --Roosevelt loaned investigator and William J. Burns and attorney Francis J. Heney --Earthquake intervened --October convened grand jury to review evidence

8. November 1906 grand jury indicted Ruef, Schmitz --Most counts involved French restaurants --Burns, Heney aiming for bribe givers • 1907 Burns trapped two bribing supervisors --Offered immunity for testimony --16 other supes agreed to testify

9. March 1907 grand jury added 65 indictments for Ruef, Schmitz --Indicted bribe givers • April 1907 Ruef agreed to testify in exchange for immunity • Grand jury added indictments for mayor, United Railway Company president Patrick Calhoun, chief counsel Tirey L. Ford

10. Jury selection dramatic --Near-fatal result replaced Heney with Hiram W. Johnson • Jury refused to convict majority of bribe takers, givers • Prosecution reneged on Ruef immunity • Ruef convicted of bribery --sentenced to 14 years at San Quentin

11. Hung jury on Schmitz charges --retried, convicted --sentence reversed • By 1909 San Franciscans sick of graft trials --Business leaders unsupportive --1909 elected mayor on promise to end trials

12. The Lincoln-Roosevelt League • William Randolph Hearst sabotaged Democratic candidates for governor --Franklin K. Lane lost narrowly 1902 --Theodore Bell " " 1906 --Helped Republicans • 1902 George C. Pardee elected with railroad help • 1906 James N. Gillett “ “

13. Southern Pacific favored candidates sympathetic to rr interests --SF papers, Sacramento Bee, Fresno Republican, Los Angeles Times, critical of rr interference • Frank Norris's 1901 The Octopus increased pressure for regulation • 1907 Chester Rowell, Edward A. Dickson investigated Southern Pacific influence over legislature, governor's office

14. Organized reform party: "Lincoln Republicans" --August 1907 held convention in Oakland --Formed Lincoln-Roosevelt League for 1908 elections --Campaigned for direct primary elections, woman suffrage, popular election of U.S. Senators

15. 1908 Lincoln-Roosevelt League candidates elected to legislature --Capitalized on anti-railroad sentiment, SF graft trials --Association with "trust-buster" president Theodore Roosevelt

16. 1909 legislature passed key reforms --Passed direct primary law --Eliminated statewide nominating conventions --Reduced party control over selection of candidates --Made 1910 successes possible

17. Hiram Johnson and the Election of 1910 • Lincoln-Roosevelt Republicans chose Hiram Johnson --Native-born Californian --Father Republican assemblyman --1902 opened law firm in SF --Represented corporations, unions

18. Campaigned on anti-rr platform --August 1910 won Republican nomination --Democrats nominated Theodore Bell --Bell lost when Southern Pacific gave their support

19. Economic Regulation • 1911 legislature focused on corporate regulation • Unanimously passed measure written by railroad commissioner John M. Eshelman, senator John W. Stetson --Stetson-Eshelman Act expanded railroad commission authority --Commission allowed to set passenger, freight rates

20. Legislature called special election for October 1911 for dozens of amendments to state constitution --Most passed --November 1911 unanimously passed Public Utilities Act --Created Public Utility Commission (PUC) --Governor to appoint commissioners -- PUC oversaw all public utilities, including railroads

21. California government went from most corrupt to most progressive • National measures helped --Hepburn Act of 1906 created Interstate Commerce Commission --Set "just and reasonable" rates --Outlawed secret rates

22. Johnson key figure --Sought help from national leaders (LaFollette, Roosevelt) --Drafted bills, lobbied legislature --Threw weight of state behind progressive reform

23. Political Reform • Progressives convinced political parties the source of all evil • 1891 reformers pushed through Australian ballot --state printed ballots --all candidates listed --balloting behind curtain --public officials collected

24. 1911 legislature proposed mechanisms to reduce party influence --Initiative --Referendum --Recall

25. 1911 legislature limited information on state, county, municipal ballots --1st name on ballot "incumbent" --Parties of governor, lieutenant-governor, legislators identified --Other candidates listed without political affiliations

26. 1913 legislature introduced cross-filing --candidates could run in all party primaries without stating party --if candidate won in multiple primaries, could run without opposition --gave incumbents advantage • special interest groups hired professional lobbyists to take place of professional politicians --lobbyists most knowledgeable about political process

27. woman suffrage amendment included in October 1911 special elections • progressives welcomed allies --Katherine Philips Edson an example of women's politics --Moved to Los Angeles 1899 --Joined Friday Morning Club --1908 club formed Committee on Public Health to study infant mortality

28. --Committee inspected dairies, published findings --Appointed to Los Angeles County Medical Milk Commission --Appointed to Los Angeles City Charter Revision Committee --Appointed to Los Angeles County Board of Health --convinced California Federation of Women's Clubs to sponsor state regulation of dairies

29. --brought her to Lincoln-Roosevelt League, campaigns for direct democracy, woman suffrage, etc. --campaigned for Hiram Johnson --1913 Johnson appointed Edson to Bureau of Labor Statistics

30. Federation of Women's Clubs ready for 1913 legislature --Elected members from Los Angeles, Sacramento, and San Francisco as Women’s Legislative Council of California --Created platform of seventeen items --health certificate for marriage --joint guardianship of children --community property --mothers' pensions

31. --maternity homes --parole, treatment for mentally-ill criminals --state registration of nurses --state training school for girls --raising women's age of majority to 21 --ethical, vocational, and hygienic training in public schools

32. --paternal support for illegitimate children --civil service reform --red-light abatement --conservation measures --minimum wage law for women

33. turnout of women voters small --1910, 1920 : 2/3 of eligible men registered to vote --Same years: + 1/3 of eligible women registered • No "woman's vote" emerged

34. Labor in Progressive California • SF labor movement still strong --Representative Assembly of Trade and Labor Unions --Coast Seamen's Association --Federated Iron Trades Council --City Front Federation

35. 1900 Employers' Association of San Francisco opposed unionism • 1901 election of Union Labor Party benefited workers --Graft trials undermined

36. Southern California anti-union --Increasing population, industrialization brought unions --1880s Merchants' and Manufacturers' Association organized employers --AFL, other unions sent organizers

37. Strikes, lockouts increased after 1900 --1910 city passed anti-picketing ordinance --M&M, Harrison Gray Otis, LA Times usually won --LA wages 30% lower than rest of state • May 1910, several LA unions went out on strike --Support from Labor Council, AFL, Socialists, state labor organizations --Police enforced anti-picketing ordinance

38. October 1 bomb killed 20 employees in Los Angeles Times Building --Police arrested union leaders John and James McNamara --McNamaras denied personal or union involvement --Local, national groups suspected frame --raised defense funds, hired Clarence Darrow, ACLU --1911 trial McNamaras pled guilty

39. Undermined organized labor --Members quit unions --Anti-picketing ordinances passed around state --Victory for Otis, "open shop" forces

40. 1916 SF Merchants' & Manufacturers' Association launched new anti-union campaign --SF Chamber of Commerce formed "Law and Order Committee" --Raised $1 million to break longshoremen's strike --Broke strike in 1 week

41. July 1916 SF business leaders organized "Preparedness Day" parade --Anticipating US entry into WWI --Labor orgs opposed entry, preparedness --10 killed, 40 injured in bomb blast --Police arrested union organizers Tom Mooney, Warren K. Billings, others --January 1917 jury found guilty --Death for Mooney, life sentence for Billings

42. Case procedurally flawed, evidence exonerated Mooney --Mooney pardoned 1939 --Hard for labor to overcome

43. Fears of Radicalism • Gov Hiram Johnson's position on labor ambiguous --Attorney for labor unions --Labor support crucial to election --Appointed union leaders to government

44. Like most progressives, preferred legislation to unionization --E.g., Employer Liability Act for on-the-job injuries --Industrial Accident Board --8-hour day, minimum-wage laws for women --Industrial Welfare Commission for working women, children --state workers' insurance program

45. anti-union groups also appealed to legislature --proposed 1911 compulsory arbitration bill (almost passed) --defeated bill limiting use of injunctions against strikes, forbidding "black lists" and "yellow-dog" contracts, legalizing boycotts, peaceful picketing

46. Progressives like James D. Phelan identified with business --Phelan attorney for banks, corporations, real estate investor --linked unions with radical politics, violence • State, SF leaders harassed Emma Goldman --Visited San Francisco 1908, 1909 --Arrested to prevent lecture

47. Little sympathy for Industrial Workers of the World --Organized 1905 Chicago --Accepted women, farm workers --1000 members, 11 locals in Cal in 1910 --Officials in Fresno and San Diego outlawed IWW public appearances --1910 Fresno arrested IWW speakers, jailed --1912 San Diego organized vigilance committee to prevent IWW speeches; 2 beaten to death in jail

48. Gov Johnson ordered investigation of Free Speech Fights --led by Harris Weinstock, Sacramento merchant --Weinstock, Older, Rowell investigated, blamed cities, citizens --State, federal courts overturned laws

49. August 1913 IWW recruited farm workers at Wheatland --2,800 workers came for harvest at Durst Hop Ranch --Advertisements promised high wages, bonus --only wanted 800 harvesters --bonus a scam --workers required to rent inadequate housing, buy "lemonade" in fields --no water in fields, 8 outhouses --Wobblies offered to represent workers in meeting with Durst --Durst brought law enforcement, "deputies" --5 killed: 2 deputies, 2 workers, Yuba Co. DA

50. Authorities arrested IWW organizers Blackie Ford, Herman Suhr --Charged with second-degree murder --Convicted, imprisoned • Commission on Immigration and Housing investigated Wheatlands incident --Blamed Durst --Durst no worse than most California farm employers