"Not on your life," came Caminetti's protest.

And Caminetti did not vote for the Free Conference Committee's report.

But in spite of Caminetti's protest, both Senate and Assembly adopted
the Conference Committee's report. They had to do so or defeat the bill
entirely. Caminetti was the only Senator who voted against it. The
machine, after a fight of nearly two months, in which it was twice
defeated in the Senate, and escaped defeat in the Assembly by only one
vote, that of Pulcifer, had carried its point, had succeeded in denying
the people of California the privilege of casting a practical,
State-wide vote for United States Senators.

What the anti-machine Senators[61] thought of the outcome is best
expressed in the little speech which Senator Stetson made his
fellow-Senators in explaining his vote to accept the report of the
Committee on Free Conference.

"Before voting on this matter," said Stetson, "lest any one in the
future may think that I have been passed something and didn't know it, I
wish to explain my vote, and wish to say that this permission accorded a
candidate to go on record to support that candidate for United States
Senate, who shall have the endorsement of the greatest number of
districts, comes from nobody and goes to nobody. It means nothing -
mere words - idle words. The only way in which a candidate could have
been pledged would have been to provide a pledge or instructions to the
Legislature. The words 'shall be permitted' mean nothing and get
nowhere. I shall vote for this report, not because I want to, but
because I have to if we are at this session to have any Direct Primary