The anti-machine forces held meetings - caucuses if you like - to decide
upon the course to be pursued. They numbered at first twenty members,
fifteen Republicans and five Democrats. The Republicans were Bell,
Birdsall, Black, Boynton, Burnett, Cutten, Estudillo, Hurd, Price,
Roseberry, Stetson, Strobridge, Thompson, Walker and Wright; the
Democrats, Caminetti, Campbell, Cartwright, Miller and Holohan. George
Van Smith, of the San Francisco Call, credited with being an expert on
Direct Primary legislation, was admitted to the deliberations of the
twenty.

Senator Price, however, became alarmed at the irregularity of
anti-machine Republicans meeting with anti machine Democrats, gathered
his virtuous partisan skirts about him and fled in dismay.

Senator Caminetti also left the meeting. Caminetti is a strong advocate
of the Oregon plan for the election of United States Senators. When
Caminetti found Senator Wright, the accepted leader of the pro-primary
forces, opposed not only to the Oregon plan, but to any plan that would
give electors a State-wide vote for United States Senators, he refused
to go to Wright's assistance. Later on, however, when Wright went to
Caminetti pleading for support, Caminetti agreed to abide by the
decisions of the anti-machine caucus. Curiously enough, after the
machine had worn the anti-machine forces out, Caminetti was the only
Senator who refused to accept the machine's amendments to the bill which
the anti-machine caucus had agreed upon.

With Price and Caminetti out, the anti-machine forces were reduced to
eighteen Senators, although it was known that Rush sympathized with the
movement but was not present because he had been unavoidably detained.