Some of the letters of refusal to contribute are of curious interest. For example, Timothy Hopkins, a capitalist of large affairs, wrote curtly: “Yours of the 4th in reference to contributions for the entertainment of the United States Fleet has been received. I am not contributing. Yours truly, TIMOTHY HOPKINS.”
E. E. Calvin, for the Southern Pacific, wrote “that under present conditions we cannot afford to contribute money to any purpose other than charity or a pressing public necessity.”
A. H. Payson, for the Santa Fe, wrote that under his instructions he “was not able to make a subscription for this purpose in behalf of the Atchison Company.”
Mr. Ralston, in an interview printed in the San Francisco Examiner, September 26, 1908, said of this incident:
“The true facts of the case are that when P. N. Lilienthal and myself called on many of the banks and all of the public utility corporations they came out boldly and stated that they would not give one dollar while Phelan was Chairman of the Executive Committee, or connected with the reception of the fleet.
“Some of the banks that refused are the Crocker National Bank and the Wells-Fargo National. Some of the other banks only gave $100 when they would have given much larger amounts. They disliked Phelan. Among the corporations were the Telephone Company, the Spring Valley Water Company, and the Gas and Electric Light Company. The Southern Pacific and Santa Fe refused to subscribe and it is presumed their reasons were the same as the other corporations.
“When I learned the true situation,” Mr. Ralston went on, as he widened the mouth of the bag for the certain escape of the cat, “I went before the Executive Committee, at a meeting at which Mr. Phelan was present, and guaranteed the sum of $25,000 more if Mr. Phelan resign or step out. I even went further and said that besides guaranteeing $25,000, I felt assured that the sum of $50,000 could be easily collected if Mr. Phelan would drop out. This Mr. Phelan refused to do. These matters all came up in executive meetings.”
In this connection it is interesting to note that at the 1914 election in California, Mr. Phelan was elected to represent the State in the United States Senate, while Mr. Ralston was defeated at the Republican primaries for nomination for Governor.