serious opposition. The Speaker named the Assembly committees. It
developed at the test that the important committees of the Assembly
were, generally speaking, controlled by the machine.

The Lieutenant-Governor is, under the State Constitution, presiding
officer of the Senate, under the title of President of the Senate. But
the Senators elect the President pro tem., who, in the absence of the
President, has the same power as the President. The reform element,
although in the majority, permitted the election of Senator Edward I.
Wolfe as President pro tem. Wolfe was admittedly leader of the machine
element in the Senate. At critical times during the session, the fact
that both the President and President pro tem. of the Senate were
friendly to machine interests gave the machine great advantage over its
anti-machine opponents.[3]

The reform majority in the Senate made the further mistake of leaving
the appointment of the Senate committees in the hands of
Lieutenant-Governor Warren Porter. Governor Porter flaunts his machine
affiliations; is evidently proud of his political connections; indeed,
in an address delivered before the students of the University of
California, Porter advised his hearers to be "performers" in politics
rather than "reformers." It was not at all surprising, then, that the
Senate committees were appointed, not in the interest of the reform
element, but of the machine. And yet, the reform element, being in the
majority, could have taken the appointment of the committees out of
Porter's hands. In the concluding chapter it will be shown there is
ample precedent for such a course. But the reform element let the
opportunity pass, and Warren Porter named the committees. Thus in both
Senate and Assembly the strategic committee positions were permitted to
fall into machine hands.