[140]Ruef had, as early as 1904, secured a hold on the State Legislature, by putting up andelectinga Union Labor party legislative ticket. “I told the legislators,” said Ruef in a statement published after he had entered San Quentin prison, “to vote on all labor questions and legislation directly involving labor interests always for the labor side. I told them on all other questions to follow the Herrin program. Herrin was appreciative. He expressed his sense of obligation.”—Abraham Ruef’s “The Road I Traveled,” published in San Francisco Bulletin, July 6, 1912.Keane, at the trial of The People vs. Ruef, No. 1437, admitted that he had supported “The Assembly bill providing for changes of place of trial in certain cases,” at the special request of Ruef. See transcript on appeal, part 3, book 1, pages 442-3. Keane was also active in the advocacy of other measures changing the law governing criminal cases. One of these practically forbade public comment on a criminal trial from the impaneling of the Grand Jury until the rendering of the verdict. Commenting upon this anti-publicity bill, E. H. Hamilton, in a dispatch from Sacramento to the San Francisco Examiner, published in that paper March 5, 1907, said: “This bill had been sneaked through the Senate the other night when no one was paying any attention, but Senator Boynton moved to reconsider the vote by which the bill was passed, and brought up the matter to-day, asking that the bill be given a free discussion before it was acted upon. He showed that it was directly in opposition to the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State, because it was aimed directly at the freedom of the press and intended to prevent newspapers from publishing accounts of criminal trials.“Senator Sanford of Mendocino said that it was an attempt to muzzle the press and to prevent people from ascertaining what was going on in criminal lawsuits, but the Senate refused to reconsider the vote by which it had passed the unconstitutional bill.”Keane also pressed an amendment to the codes to prevent stenographers and bookkeepers testifying against their employers. During the discussion in the Senate Committee on the Change of Venue bill, Keane offered an amendment to make this measure take effect immediately.[141]On the way across San Francisco Bay to take the train at Oakland, in the words of newspaper reports of the incident, members of Mayor Schmitz’s personal following who accompanied him, “were frankly delighted with the prospect of the indicted Mayor returning from the national capital covered with glory, and acclaimed the savior of the country from a war with Japan.”Ruef regarded the incident cynically. “As soon as Schmitz got aboard that train,” said Ruef on the day of the Mayor’s departure, “the nation was saved.”[142]Ruef and Schmitz were indicted November 15, 1906. The date of Ruef’s plea of “Not guilty” was February 18, 1907.[143]Hiram W. Johnson is a native of California, having been born at Sacramento. He was educated at the Sacramento public schools and the University of California. At twenty-one he had been admitted to practice at the California bar. He was active for years against the corrupt political conditions in California before he came into prominence as one of the prosecutors at the graft trials. In 1910 he was selected to lead the movement against the political machine which dominated the State. As primary candidate for Republican nomination for Governor, he visited practically every community in California, making one pledge to be carried out in the event of his election, “to kick the Southern Pacific out of political control of the State.” He was nominated and elected. His election resulted in political revolution in California. (See “Story of the California Legislature of 1911” and “Story of the California Legislature of 1913.”) He was one of the founders of the Progressive party at Chicago in 1912, and was that year candidate for Vice-President with Roosevelt on the National Progressive ticket. In 1914 he was re-elected Governor of California with overwhelming vote. Johnson is the first Governor since 1853 to secure re-election in California.[144]See Heney’s affidavit in The People vs. Ruef, No. 823.[145]“Again we protest,” said Johnson when the final break came, “in behalf of the District Attorney of this city and county, and in the name of the people of California. We do not believe in this; we will not participate in it; and we take our leave of this court. We will not participate in any proceeding which does not, according to our ideas, comport with the dignity of justice, the dignity of this court, or our own dignity.”[146]On March 25, 1907, Ruef’s appeal in the habeas corpus matter was dismissed by the Supreme Court of the United States. Of this move, Frank J. Murphy, one of Ruef’s attorneys, is quoted in a published interview: “We have instructed our representative in Washington to withdraw the writ of error filed by us. This decision was reached on account of the decision of the State Supreme Court to the effect that the participation of an incompetent juror does not affect the validity of an indictment.”This action left the Prosecution free to proceed with Ruef’s trial without any possibility of the proceedings being questioned later.[147]Judge Dunne ruled that Ruef, being a fugitive from justice, and his trial one for felony, at which the defendant must be present at every stage of the proceedings, there was no trial before the court. Shortridge was in the position of counsel without a client. During the examination of Coroner Walsh, after his failure to find Ruef, Shortridge insisted upon interrupting the examination. Judge Dunne after repeated warnings, found Shortridge guilty of contempt of court, and sentenced him to serve twenty-four hours in jail. The Chronicle of March 9, 1907, contains the following account of the incident:“Have you not said,” Walsh was asked by Heney, “that you hoped he (Ruef) would be acquitted and that you would do all you could for him? Are you not in sympathy with him?”Again the Coroner quibbled and Judge Dunne ordered: “Answer the question. Do you sympathize with him or not?”Still the witness hesitated, and again the Judge asked with vigor: “Are you in sympathy with him?”“If he is innocent I am in sympathy with him, if he is guilty I am not.”“I suppose you wish it to appear that you are not in sympathy with him so that you may take charge of the jury,” suggested Heney.Samuel M. Shortridge, one of Ruef’s lawyers, here said that he objected on behalf of his client to the line of examination.Heney proceeded without paying any attention to Shortridge’s interruption. Shortridge again entered an objection, and Judge Dunne ordered him to take his seat.“But I wish to be heard on behalf of my client,” persisted Shortridge.“Take your seat, Mr. Shortridge, or I will order the Sheriff to cause you to do so or remove you from the court room,” declared Judge Dunne.“Am I to understand that I am not to be heard in this court?” demanded Shortridge with play of great indignation.“Mr. Shortridge, your conduct is boisterous and offensive and tends to interfere with the orderly conduct of the court. I declare you guilty of contempt and sentence you to be confined in the County Jail for twenty-four hours. Mr. Sheriff, take him into custody.”[148]The two principal points on which the defense based their applications for writs of habeas corpus and of prohibition were:(1) That Juror Wise, having sat on a petty jury within a year, was disqualified to act as a Grand Juror, and hence the indictments were fatally defective.(2) That the matter was before the Supreme Court of the United States on a writ of error.[149]Heney, in his affidavit in contention that an Elisor should be appointed to bring Ruef into court, indicated the conditions which were handicapping the prosecution.[150]Biggy afterwards became Chief of Police of San Francisco.[151]Ruef was with one of his henchmen, Myrtile Cerf, when arrested. Long after, when he had plead guilty to one of the extortion charges, Ruef stated in an interview published in the San Francisco Call, May 16, 1907, that it had been his purpose “to wait until the Legislature had acted on the Change of Venue Bill,” which was considered in a previous chapter, and which at the time of Ruef’s flight was being engineered through the Senate by George Keane in his capacity as Senator. Ruef, in his interview, stated further: “We had expected that this bill would go through. Naturally we were surprised when we learned that Campbell, the Mayor’s (Schmitz’s) attorney, was at Sacramento lobbying against the bill. What his object was I do not know. He even went to George Keane, who had charge of the bill, and tried to switch him to the other side.”During the period of Ruef’s disappearance, his attorneys had insisted that they were unaware of his whereabouts. Myrtile Cerf, his companion in flight, refused to say before the Grand Jury with whom he had telephonic communication while at the roadhouse, on the ground that such testimony might incriminate him.[152]Ruef’s arrest threw the administration into the greatest confusion. Supervisor Wilson testified at the trial of The People vs. Ruef, No. 1437, Part 3, Vol. 7, p. 3175, that at 2 o’clock of the morning following Ruef’s capture, he went down to Henry Ach’s apartment to ascertain if the rumor that Ruef had been found were true.[153]Of the procedure which made possible Ruef’s long technical fight to escape trial, the San Francisco Chronicle on November 10, 1906, said:“The disgraceful condition of our criminal laws permits guilty men to put off their doom almost without limit. Where money makes unscrupulous talent available that course is invariably taken by those caught in the toils of justice. There are many objects to be gained by these delays. Witnesses may die or be spirited away. Most important of all the public becomes wearied and finally forgets or loses its zest for the enforcement of the law. When that stage is reached the ‘pull’ comes into play. By the connivance of the District Attorney, and especially of the Judge, continuance after continuance can be granted until proof becomes impossible and the case is dismissed. The adoption of such a course by any accused person of bad reputation is moral evidence of guilt which is conclusive with the public. We have had in this city many disgraceful criminal trials. We have had many obvious miscarriages of justice. There have been wealthy men whom everybody feels should be in the penitentiary who have hardly ceased for a day to flaunt their faces in decent society. We have never had a case in which the obstruction to the cause of justice began so early as Ruef began it, or was conducted with such brazen effrontery. It is not within our recollection that any accused person of whose guilt there was reasonable doubt had adopted such a course. Its adoption is the recognized sign of guilt.“But while our laws affecting court practice are very bad, they do afford the means of ultimately bringing criminals to trial and convicting them if the evidence is sufficient and the jury unbiased and uncorrupted. It only requires that the public maintains its interest and thereby sustains its officials in their efforts to secure justice. In this case the advantage is with the public. There is no possibility of a ‘pull’ with the District Attorney. His assistant, Mr. Heney, is himself a master of the criminal law and in notable cases elsewhere has triumphed over similar efforts for delay made in behalf of criminals of far higher social and political standing than Ruef. In fact Ruef has no standing of any kind in the community in any way different from that possessed by other political bosses supposed to be corrupt. The indignation of this community is a righteous indignation and it will never abate until under the due processes of law the truth in respect to Ruef and his roustabouts is dragged out in open court.”[154]At the trial of The People vs. Ruef, No. 1437, Supervisor Andrew M. Wilson testified to a conversation which he had had with Ruef at Ruef’s office early in September, 1906. He was asked to state what he had said to Ruef on that occasion. Wilson replied:“A. I told him Mr. Choynski was across the street; I pulled the blind aside at his office, and showed him Mr. Choynski talking to Jesse Marks; that he had stated to Marks the exact amount on the trolley proposition.“Mr. Sullivan: Q. Who had stated to Marks the exact amount on the trolley proposition? A. Mr. Choynski, and that I had advised him a few weeks before that not to continue that fight for the attorneyship of the Liquor Dealers.“Q. Advised who? A. Mr. Ruef; and that Mr. Choynski was telling him what he had said to McGushin at one of the meetings regarding the $4,000 on the trolley.“Q. That who had said what he had told Mr. McGushin? A. Yes, sir.“Q. That who had said it? A. That Mr. Choynski had said that McGushin looked paralyzed when he mentioned the exact amount, but denied it; and I says to Mr. Ruef, ‘He has the correct amount on the trolley,’ and he stated that there must be a leak somewhere in the Board; and I told him I thought—--“Q. (Interrupting). Who stated that there must be a leak somewhere in the Board? A. Mr. Ruef; and I stated that I thought it came through Morris Levy, and that possibly he got his information through Supervisor Kelly, as they were very friendly.“Mr. Ach: Q. Who said that, you or Ruef?“Mr. Sullivan: Q. Who said that? A. I stated that to Mr. Ruef, that I thought the source of the leak was through Supervisor Kelly telling Morris Levy, and Morris Levy telling Choynski.”—See Transcript, page 2643.[155]Supervisor James L. Gallagher testified at the trial of The People vs. Ruef, No. 1437, of a note which had been delivered to him by Mr. Abbott, attorney for the United Railroads, from Tirey L. Ford, head of the United Railroads law department, to be delivered to Ruef. The substance of the note, Gallagher testified, was that “The Grand Jury is taking up the investigation of the charges concerning the United Railroads permit; not much headway has been made; it is intended to endeavor to trap some of the Supervisors.”Gallagher, unable to find Ruef, went back to Ford, according to Gallagher’s testimony, and asked if the note were so important that Ruef should be hunted up. Ford had directed him to open the envelope and read the note. Gallagher did this, made a shorthand memorandum of it, and read the message to Ruef later. See transcript, The People vs. Ruef, Part 3, Vol. 2, pp. 976 to 983.[156]An interesting incident of this transaction grew out of word being carried to Roy, that Ruef had told Lonergan that Roy was a stool pigeon for Burns. Roy went to Ruef’s office with a show of great indignation, demanding to know what Ruef meant by such a charge. Ruef apologized and denied.[157]Boxton is thus described by Ruef, in his account of the graft cases: “Dr. Boxton was a dentist; he held the position of dean and professor of dentistry in an established medical and dental college. He was a popular man about town; had been one of the grand officers of the Native Sons’ organization; an officer of the First California Regiment in the Philippines, and had been several times elected Supervisor by large and popular votes.”[158]The reason for springing the trap on Lonergan the second time was that the plan of Burns’s had miscarried on the first trap. Burns had put a man in partnership with Lonergan, who was to induce Lonergan to cash a draft for $200, shortly after Lonergan had received the $500 in marked currency.When Lonergan was asked to cash the draft, he said all right, but that he would have to go home and get the money. He went home and brought back gold. About this time the Chronicle published a story to the effect that several Supervisors had been trapped.[159]The acrostic was made by skipping two lines to the third, the first word of which began with “F,” then skipping two lines to the sixth, skipping two lines to the ninth, and finally skipping two lines to the twelfth; the first letter of the first word of each of these lines spelt the word “Fake.”[160]With the testimony of all the Supervisors, including Gallagher, the prosecution subsequently found great difficulty in convicting Ruef. In the Parkside case, all the Supervisors testified in regard to two promises made to them, and all the officials of the Parkside Company testified to negotiations with Ruef and to the payment of money to him. In addition thereto, William J. Dingee, who was an entirely disinterested party, testified to a conversation with Ruef, which was highly incriminating in its character, and which amounted to an admission on the part of Ruef that he was receiving money in the Parkside matter.With all this evidence before it, the jury stood six for acquittal and six for conviction.[161]Wilson testified at the trial of The People vs. Ruef, No. 1437, of the anxiety of the Supervisors during this period. Although Wilson had resigned from the board to accept the office of State Railroad Commissioner to which he had been elected, he went to a conference of the Supervisors to decide what should be done. The following is from Wilson’s testimony:“Q. You were not then a Supervisor, were you? A. No, sir.“Q. Who told you to go there? A. I was helping Mr. Gallagher.“Q. Helping Gallagher do what? Don’t you know? A. Sit on the lid, that is what we called it.“Q. Helping Gallagher sit on the lid? A. Yes, sir.“Q. What does ‘sitting on the lid’ mean? That is a bit of the vernacular that I am not acquainted with.“Mr. Dwyer: That is vernacular authorized by the President-elect of the United States, I suppose it is good English?“Mr. Ach: Well, he is a big man; I suppose he might sit on something that might be a lid. The Court: Finish your answer.“Mr. Ach: Q. What do you mean? A. Trying to keep the facts of the condition of the Board of Supervisors from becoming public.“Q. What do you mean by that? A. The condition of the Board, the graft matters.”[162]At the trial of The People vs. Patrick Calhoun, No. 1436, Spreckels testified to his own attitude on the question of immunity. He said: “I would be willing to grant immunity to any man who would bring to bar a man of great wealth who would debauch a city government, and who would use his wealth to corrupt individuals and tempt men of no means to commit a crime in order that he might make more money.”—See transcript of testimony, page 3326.[163]At the trial of The People vs. Ruef, No. 1437, Gallagher testified that Spreckels told him in substance as follows:“Mr. Spreckels then stated that he was not actuated by vindictiveness in the matter, that he did not wish to make any more trouble or cause any more distress than was necessary in carrying out what he had undertaken, and that his purpose was to endeavor to stop the unlawful transactions,—dealings of corporations and large interests in this city with public officials; that his reason, that his view of the matter was that in order to accomplish that, that it would be necessary, or that he did not desire unnecessarily to injure anyone, and that the members of the Board of Supervisors and those who were engaged with them in the matter, outside of those who represented the corporations and big interests, were not as important from his standpoint as those who had, as those in control of those interests, because the members of the—the public officials and political bosses would come and go, but that the corporations and big interests remained; that they were, as he thought, the source of the trouble, and therefore, he did not consider it important, or so important, to punish the officials as to reach those that were in his judgment primarily responsible for the conditions, that he felt that the District Attorney would grant immunity to the members of the Board of Supervisors if they would tell the whole truth of their transactions with the corporations and other persons, large interests, that had had any dealings with them of an unlawful character. I think I then said to him I would consider the matter and would talk with the members of the Board of Supervisors about it.”[164]Gallagher at the trial of The People vs. Ruef, No. 1437, made the following statement of what he said to the Supervisors:“My best recollection of the statement is that I said to them that some of the members of the Board of Supervisors had been trapped in accepting money on some matters before the Board, and that they had made statements to the prosecution, as I understood, or were about to do so, and that I had seen Mr. Spreckels and talked with him concerning the other members of the Board of Supervisors, and that Mr. Spreckels had stated to me that the purpose was not to prosecute the members of the Board of Supervisors provided they would make statements, full and true statements, of their relations in the transactions with the quasi-public corporations and large interests in the city that they may have had unlawful dealings with; that Mr. Spreckels had stated that the public officials were coming and going, and that the political bosses were coming and going; his object was to reach the source of the condition that he was trying to eradicate; that the corporations and these other interests remained all the time, and that he felt that they were the ones that should be the object of his efforts at eradicating that condition in the city. Mr. Spreckels stated that he was not actuated by vindictiveness in the matter; in other words, Mr. Ach, as nearly as I could, I repeated the statements of Mr. Spreckels to me.”See Transcript on Appeal, page 1471.[165]“I told them,” said Wilson in his testimony in the case of The People vs. Ruef, No. 1437, “that I had always taken orders from Mr. Ruef, that I looked upon him as the political captain of the ship, that I had followed out his orders; that I did not feel that I should sacrifice myself, or ask Mr. Gallagher to sacrifice himself through the condition that had been brought about; that I thought it would be unreasonable for any Supervisor to ask Mr. Gallagher to sacrifice himself, that some of the others might walk the streets and feel that they were honest men; that I did not feel he should be sacrificed alone in the matter.”[166]The public service corporation officials were encouraged by Spreckels and Heney to give information which would lead to the indictment and conviction of Ruef and Schmitz, and thus clean up the city. Instead of giving such information, they pretended that the rumors in regard to bribery were all baseless.At the Pacific Union Club, where they generally lunched, Spreckels and Heney were the recipients of many kind words of encouragement and of congratulation, up to the time that Ruef plead guilty in the French-restaurant case. Immediately thereafter the atmosphere commenced to change. The indictment of some of the prominent members of the club was not pleasing. During the first trial of Glass, he and his attorneys constantly lunched at the Pacific Union Club, and many men, prominent in finance, would stop and chat ostentatiously with Glass and his lawyers, and would then ignore Spreckels and Heney, who would be sitting at a near-by table.An attempt to keep Rudolph Spreckels out of membership in the Bohemian Club was almost successful about this time, while Drum was elected a director of the Pacific Union Club while still under indictment, and Thomas Williams, of the New California Jockey Club, one of the bondsmen for Schmitz, was elected President.[167]To the places thus vacated, Mayor Schmitz appointed O. A. Tveitmoe and J. J. O’Neil. Tveitmoe and O’Neil assumed their duties as Supervisors after the bribery transactions were completed. They did not become involved in the graft exposures, but served to the end of the terms for which they had been appointed.[168]The eighteenth Supervisor, who made no confession, was Duffey. Duffey, according to Gallagher’s confession, participated with the others in the graft distributions. In the hurry of the final arrangements for the confessions, however, Gallagher gained the impression that confession was not to be required of Duffey. Rather than give appearance of lack of good faith, the prosecution decided to abide by the impression which Gallagher claimed he had formed.[169]This was the amount that Ruef turned over to the Supervisors. It represented a comparatively small part of what he received from the Public Service corporations. From the United Railroads alone, because of the granting of the trolley permit, he received $200,000. In addition he was drawing a regular fee of $1,000 a month from the United Railroads.The Supervisors were not always satisfied with the amount Gallagher gave them. There were times when they entertained the idea that Ruef had sent more than Gallagher gave. They accordingly delegated Supervisor Wilson to ascertain from Ruef whether all the money intended for them was reaching them. Ruef refused to discuss the matter with Wilson. Wilson, at the trial of The People vs. Ruef, No. 1437, testified:“I told him (Ruef) that the Supervisors had asked me to call and see him; that they wanted other information to confirm Mr. Gallagher’s reports to the Board on these money matters. He said that he did not care to discuss that with anyone other than Mr. Gallagher; that it took up time and that whatever Mr. Gallagher did on the Board was with his full knowledge and consent; that the matters were being handled satisfactorily by Mr. Gallagher, and when anything arose, any other condition confronted him, he would look elsewhere for a leader, but he did not want to go in at that time and discuss those matters with anyone.”[170]About the time the 85-cent gas rate was fixed, one of the Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s stations was burned. Ruef stated to Gallagher that the fire would be used as one of the reasons for fixing the 85-cent rate: that it would probably appeal to the public as an excuse for fixing the rate at 85 cents when the platform of the party had mentioned 75 cents. See Transcript, The People vs. Ruef, No. 1437, page 784.[171]When McGushin refused to follow directions and give the Pacific Gas and Electric Company an 85-cent gas rate, Gallagher went to Ruef about it. At the trial of The People vs. Ruef, No. 1437, Gallagher testified: “I told him (Ruef) that McGushin was rather demurring at receiving the money, at taking the money, and that I had told Mr. McGushin that he had better go down and talk with Mr. Ruef. He (Ruef) said, ‘All right, if he comes around I will talk with him.’”[172]The Supervisors who accepted money from Halsey, acting for the Pacific States Telephone and Telegraph Company, to prevent a franchise being awarded an opposition company were: Boxton, Walsh, Wilson, Coleman, Nicholas, Furey, Mamlock, Phillips, Lonergan, Sanderson and Coffey. The amount paid in each instance was $5,000. Halsey promised several of the bribed members from $2,500 to $5,000 in addition to be paid them, if they remained faithful, after their terms had expired. The money, the several members testified, had been paid to them by Halsey in an unfurnished room in the Mills Building which had been temporarily engaged for Mr. Halsey’s use by Frank C. Drum, a director of the Pacific States Telephone and Telegraph Company. Examples of the methods employed to corrupt the laboringmen Supervisors who suddenly found themselves placed in a position of trust and responsibility will be found in the appendix.[173]This is the amount given by Ruef in his “confession.” He states that he received $25,000 when he agreed that the Home Telephone Company should have the franchise; and $100,000 when the franchise was granted. According to his statement he gave $65,000 to Gallagher for the Supervisors; $30,000 he gave Schmitz; $30,000 he kept himself. Gallagher testified on several occasions that he received but $62,000 from Ruef. The details of Ruef’s confessions are not dependable. On Ruef’s own statement of the basis of division of this particular bribe money among the Supervisors, Gallagher received only $62,000 of Home Telephone money from him.[174]Ruef was himself to blame for the complication, for he had given certain of the Supervisors to understand that the purpose of the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company was to prevail, and that the Home Telephone Company would not be granted its franchise. The Supervisors in taking the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company’s money, not unreasonably supposed they were taking from the favored of the administration. Supervisor Wilson in his confession said: “The first conversation I had with Mr. Ruef, affecting money matters, was on the Pacific States Telephone matters. I told him that I had been out to dinner with Mr. Halsey, and I understood that everything was going to be satisfactory with their company. He (Ruef) said that it would terminate that way.”Acting upon this hint, Wilson accepted $5,000 from Halsey. Later he told Ruef of having got the money. Ruef told him that he should not have taken it. Wilson has testified that he offered to return it. “No,” he claims Ruef replied, “don’t do that just now. Wait and see. I will let you know later. You might get into a trap by giving it back; you had better wait.”Ruef claims, however, that he advised Wilson to return the money.[175]For description of this “dividing of the ways” scene, see testimony of Supervisor Wilson, Transcript on Appeal, The People vs. Ruef, page 2843.[176]Gallagher in his confession said of the decision of the Supervisors to stand by Ruef and Schmitz: “Mr. Wilson talked to a number of those boys (Supervisors who had taken money from the Pacific States’s agent), he being one of those who had taken this money, and he told me that notwithstanding the fact that they had taken this money that he didn’t feel that he wanted to stand out from the leadership of Mr. Ruef and wanted to act with him and myself in the matter and said that he would talk to the other boys about it, and see how they felt about the proposition of voting for the Home Telephone franchise anyhow.”[177]In his confession, Gallagher stated that under this arrangement he paid $3,500 each to Coffey, Coleman, Furey, Lonergan, Mamlock, Nicholas, Phillips and Wilson; $6,000 each to Davis, Duffey, Harrigan and Kelley, reserving $10,000 for himself. Those who received no part of the Home Telephone Company money were Boxton, Sanderson, Walsh, McGushin and Rea. Of the five, Boxton and Sanderson received $5,000 each from Halsey of the Pacific Company, and Walsh, according to his recollection, $3,500. McGushin and Rea received none of the bribe money paid by the two telephone companies.[178]Gallagher testified before the Grand Jury, that the additional compensation had been given Wilson because he was more useful than any other member, besides himself, in keeping the Supervisors in line and in passing information regarding prospective bribe money.[179]Gallagher testified before the Grand Jury that he had paid Rea nothing, because he had no confidence in Rea’s judgment and self-control. “I told Mr. Ruef,” Gallagher testified, “I did not care to, that I wouldn’t take the responsibility of dealing with Mr. Rea. I believe he was talking and had talked about matters dealing with me and did not care to have any dealings with him. He (Ruef) said, ‘Very well, I’ll attend to him,’ or ‘I will see to that myself,’ or some such expression as that.”[180]The original plan was to have this road on Twentieth Avenue. But to grade Twentieth Avenue would take time, and cost upwards of $100,000. On the other hand, Nineteenth Avenue had been graded, macadamized, and accepted as a boulevard. The Parkside people asked a change in the purchased franchise, to give them the boulevard. But the Charter prohibited grants of franchises over declared boulevards. Ruef concluded this provision could be overcome by ordinance. He feared criticism, but finally yielded to the Parkside people’s request. Then went word to the Supervisors of increase in compensation in this particular transaction.[181]Gallagher’s testimony before the Grand Jury regarding the promised bribes in the Parkside franchise undertaking was as follows:“Q. Now, then, the Parkside trolley, was there an understanding in regard to money being paid on that? A. The Parkside realty company’s franchise for street railway on Twentieth Avenue, that is what you refer to—on Nineteenth Avenue, that is correct; it was originally intended for Twentieth, afterward changed to Nineteenth; that is right there was nothing paid to any member of the Board upon that that I know of. There were some rumors about it and Mr. Ruef spoke to me about it and said there ought to be a payment of $750 to each member on it and afterward said that if the thing was changed from Twentieth Avenue to the Nineteenth Avenue, that there ought to be $1,000 each paid.“Q. About when did he say it ought or he would be able to pay them? A. He said that he expected to, yes, sir. He did not say he was ready to do so, on the contrary, has always denied that he had the money to pay it with.“Q. He never said he had the money before on the other matters? A. No.“Q. He would just say there will be this much coming? A. Yes, sir.“Q. And the same way in regard to this also? A. Yes, sir.“Q. $1,000? A. Yes, sir.“Q. And you passed it out in the same way? A. Yes, sir.“Q. And it was put through with that understanding? A. Yes, sir.“Q. The only definite, was it, it hasn’t come? A. Not yet.“Q. Do you know why the money hasn’t been given to you yet by Ruef? A. No, sir.“Q. Has he given you any reason? A. Mr. Ruef said that the amount has not been paid to him.“Q. You heard complaints from the members that they had been so long about coming through? A. Yes, indeed.“Q. Did you make complaint to Ruef about it? A. Yes, sir.“Q. What did he say? A. He made that excuse consequently that he didn’t have it.“Q. Never said that he did not expect it? A. Did not.”[182]The anxiety on the part of the confessing Supervisors to tell the truth was pathetic. When McGushin began his story he was asked: “Of course this statement you make is free and voluntary.” “Yes,” replied McGushin, simply, “Mr. Gallagher himself told me to tell the truth.”[183]“I want to learn from your own lips,” he told Wilson, “if what I have already heard is true regarding your making a statement to the prosecution.”“I have been thoroughly informed,” said Ruef in an interview given out later, “of everything that the members of the Board of Supervisors are reported to have told the Grand Jury, and I have no comment to make upon their alleged confessions at this time. Later, however, I will issue a statement which will furnish more sensations in connection with municipal graft than anything that has been made public.”[184]Gallagher left the conference first. Wilson testified at the graft trials that after Gallagher had gone Ruef stated that “had he been in Gallagher’s place he wouldn’t have made those statements to the prosecution.”“You can never tell what one will do until he is placed in Mr. Gallagher’s position,” replied Wilson, “we discussed the matter fully for two or three days before he took that step.”[185]The nearest Ruef has come to a statement of his connection with the public service corporations is contained in his story, “The Road I Traveled,” which appeared In the San Francisco Bulletin. The account is inaccurate and incomplete. Nothing, for example, is told by Mr. Ruef, of the proposed Bay Cities Water Company deal, which at one time he claimed to be the most important of all he had in view.[186]The Supervisors were all examined before the Grand Jury on the same day. Heney in an affidavit, filed in the case of The People vs. Calhoun et al., No. 823, states that “one of the reasons which actuated me to examine all of said Supervisors on the same day was that the newspapers had discovered that they had made confessions on the preceding Saturday, and I wanted to make sure that no one of them was tampered with by anyone who might be interested in changing his testimony before I succeeded in getting his testimony recorded by a stenographer in the Grand Jury room.”[187]The following persons sat on the Boards of Directors of the several corporations involved in the graft disclosures, either during 1906 when the briberies were committed, or during 1907 when the exposures came:Pacific Gas and Electric Company—N. W. Halsey, E. J. de Sabla, John Martin, Frank G. Drum, Wm. H. Crocker, N. D. Rideout, Frank B. Anderson, John A. Britton, Henry E. Bothin, Louis F. Monteagle, Jos. S. Tobin, G. H. McEnerney, Cyrus Pierce, Carl Taylor, F. W. M. McCutcheon.Pacific States Telephone and Telegraph Company—Henry T. Scott, Louis Glass, F. W. Eaton, Timothy Hopkins, Homer S. King, F. G. Drum, E. S. Pillsbury, Percy T. Morgan, all of San Francisco; J. C. Ainsworth, P. Bacon, J. H. Thatcher, C. H. Chambreau, E. H. McCracken, C. B. McLeod, C. E. Hickman, J. P. McNichols, R. W. Schmeer, all of Portland.Parkside Company—W. H. Crocker, Wellington Gregg, Jr., C. E. Green, J. J. Mahony, W. H. Cope, A. F. Morrison, Hugh Keenan, Wm. Matson, J. M. O’Brien, Douglas S. Watson. J. E. Green.United Railroads—Patrick Calhoun, G. F. Chapman, Geo. H. Davis, Tirey L. Ford, Benj. S. Guiness, I. W. Hellman, Chas. Holbrook, A. C. Kains, J. Henry Meyer, Thornwell Mullally, Jos. S. Tobin.The names of the board of directors of the Home Telephone Company, during the period of the bribery transactions, has not, so far as the writer knows, been made public. A. C. Kains resigned from the directorate of the United Railroads, and Jos. S. Tobin from the directorates of the United Railroads and the Pacific Gas and Electric Company, about the time of the disclosures.[188]The inconsistency of the “attorney fee plea” is well illustrated in the United Railroads transaction. Ruef received $200,000 from the United Railroads because of the trolley permit. General Tirey L. Ford, head of the United Railroads law department, to which he devoted all his time, was credited with receiving a salary of $10,000 a year. Thus Ruef’s single “fee” was as much as the United Railroads would have paid its head lawyer in twenty years, almost a lifetime of professional service. And Ruef, it must be remembered, in addition was getting $1,000 a month from the United Railroads—more than the chief of that corporation’s legal department was receiving.
[140]Ruef had, as early as 1904, secured a hold on the State Legislature, by putting up andelectinga Union Labor party legislative ticket. “I told the legislators,” said Ruef in a statement published after he had entered San Quentin prison, “to vote on all labor questions and legislation directly involving labor interests always for the labor side. I told them on all other questions to follow the Herrin program. Herrin was appreciative. He expressed his sense of obligation.”—Abraham Ruef’s “The Road I Traveled,” published in San Francisco Bulletin, July 6, 1912.Keane, at the trial of The People vs. Ruef, No. 1437, admitted that he had supported “The Assembly bill providing for changes of place of trial in certain cases,” at the special request of Ruef. See transcript on appeal, part 3, book 1, pages 442-3. Keane was also active in the advocacy of other measures changing the law governing criminal cases. One of these practically forbade public comment on a criminal trial from the impaneling of the Grand Jury until the rendering of the verdict. Commenting upon this anti-publicity bill, E. H. Hamilton, in a dispatch from Sacramento to the San Francisco Examiner, published in that paper March 5, 1907, said: “This bill had been sneaked through the Senate the other night when no one was paying any attention, but Senator Boynton moved to reconsider the vote by which the bill was passed, and brought up the matter to-day, asking that the bill be given a free discussion before it was acted upon. He showed that it was directly in opposition to the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State, because it was aimed directly at the freedom of the press and intended to prevent newspapers from publishing accounts of criminal trials.“Senator Sanford of Mendocino said that it was an attempt to muzzle the press and to prevent people from ascertaining what was going on in criminal lawsuits, but the Senate refused to reconsider the vote by which it had passed the unconstitutional bill.”Keane also pressed an amendment to the codes to prevent stenographers and bookkeepers testifying against their employers. During the discussion in the Senate Committee on the Change of Venue bill, Keane offered an amendment to make this measure take effect immediately.
Ruef had, as early as 1904, secured a hold on the State Legislature, by putting up andelectinga Union Labor party legislative ticket. “I told the legislators,” said Ruef in a statement published after he had entered San Quentin prison, “to vote on all labor questions and legislation directly involving labor interests always for the labor side. I told them on all other questions to follow the Herrin program. Herrin was appreciative. He expressed his sense of obligation.”—Abraham Ruef’s “The Road I Traveled,” published in San Francisco Bulletin, July 6, 1912.
Keane, at the trial of The People vs. Ruef, No. 1437, admitted that he had supported “The Assembly bill providing for changes of place of trial in certain cases,” at the special request of Ruef. See transcript on appeal, part 3, book 1, pages 442-3. Keane was also active in the advocacy of other measures changing the law governing criminal cases. One of these practically forbade public comment on a criminal trial from the impaneling of the Grand Jury until the rendering of the verdict. Commenting upon this anti-publicity bill, E. H. Hamilton, in a dispatch from Sacramento to the San Francisco Examiner, published in that paper March 5, 1907, said: “This bill had been sneaked through the Senate the other night when no one was paying any attention, but Senator Boynton moved to reconsider the vote by which the bill was passed, and brought up the matter to-day, asking that the bill be given a free discussion before it was acted upon. He showed that it was directly in opposition to the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State, because it was aimed directly at the freedom of the press and intended to prevent newspapers from publishing accounts of criminal trials.
“Senator Sanford of Mendocino said that it was an attempt to muzzle the press and to prevent people from ascertaining what was going on in criminal lawsuits, but the Senate refused to reconsider the vote by which it had passed the unconstitutional bill.”
Keane also pressed an amendment to the codes to prevent stenographers and bookkeepers testifying against their employers. During the discussion in the Senate Committee on the Change of Venue bill, Keane offered an amendment to make this measure take effect immediately.
[141]On the way across San Francisco Bay to take the train at Oakland, in the words of newspaper reports of the incident, members of Mayor Schmitz’s personal following who accompanied him, “were frankly delighted with the prospect of the indicted Mayor returning from the national capital covered with glory, and acclaimed the savior of the country from a war with Japan.”Ruef regarded the incident cynically. “As soon as Schmitz got aboard that train,” said Ruef on the day of the Mayor’s departure, “the nation was saved.”
On the way across San Francisco Bay to take the train at Oakland, in the words of newspaper reports of the incident, members of Mayor Schmitz’s personal following who accompanied him, “were frankly delighted with the prospect of the indicted Mayor returning from the national capital covered with glory, and acclaimed the savior of the country from a war with Japan.”
Ruef regarded the incident cynically. “As soon as Schmitz got aboard that train,” said Ruef on the day of the Mayor’s departure, “the nation was saved.”
[142]Ruef and Schmitz were indicted November 15, 1906. The date of Ruef’s plea of “Not guilty” was February 18, 1907.
Ruef and Schmitz were indicted November 15, 1906. The date of Ruef’s plea of “Not guilty” was February 18, 1907.
[143]Hiram W. Johnson is a native of California, having been born at Sacramento. He was educated at the Sacramento public schools and the University of California. At twenty-one he had been admitted to practice at the California bar. He was active for years against the corrupt political conditions in California before he came into prominence as one of the prosecutors at the graft trials. In 1910 he was selected to lead the movement against the political machine which dominated the State. As primary candidate for Republican nomination for Governor, he visited practically every community in California, making one pledge to be carried out in the event of his election, “to kick the Southern Pacific out of political control of the State.” He was nominated and elected. His election resulted in political revolution in California. (See “Story of the California Legislature of 1911” and “Story of the California Legislature of 1913.”) He was one of the founders of the Progressive party at Chicago in 1912, and was that year candidate for Vice-President with Roosevelt on the National Progressive ticket. In 1914 he was re-elected Governor of California with overwhelming vote. Johnson is the first Governor since 1853 to secure re-election in California.
Hiram W. Johnson is a native of California, having been born at Sacramento. He was educated at the Sacramento public schools and the University of California. At twenty-one he had been admitted to practice at the California bar. He was active for years against the corrupt political conditions in California before he came into prominence as one of the prosecutors at the graft trials. In 1910 he was selected to lead the movement against the political machine which dominated the State. As primary candidate for Republican nomination for Governor, he visited practically every community in California, making one pledge to be carried out in the event of his election, “to kick the Southern Pacific out of political control of the State.” He was nominated and elected. His election resulted in political revolution in California. (See “Story of the California Legislature of 1911” and “Story of the California Legislature of 1913.”) He was one of the founders of the Progressive party at Chicago in 1912, and was that year candidate for Vice-President with Roosevelt on the National Progressive ticket. In 1914 he was re-elected Governor of California with overwhelming vote. Johnson is the first Governor since 1853 to secure re-election in California.
[144]See Heney’s affidavit in The People vs. Ruef, No. 823.
See Heney’s affidavit in The People vs. Ruef, No. 823.
[145]“Again we protest,” said Johnson when the final break came, “in behalf of the District Attorney of this city and county, and in the name of the people of California. We do not believe in this; we will not participate in it; and we take our leave of this court. We will not participate in any proceeding which does not, according to our ideas, comport with the dignity of justice, the dignity of this court, or our own dignity.”
“Again we protest,” said Johnson when the final break came, “in behalf of the District Attorney of this city and county, and in the name of the people of California. We do not believe in this; we will not participate in it; and we take our leave of this court. We will not participate in any proceeding which does not, according to our ideas, comport with the dignity of justice, the dignity of this court, or our own dignity.”
[146]On March 25, 1907, Ruef’s appeal in the habeas corpus matter was dismissed by the Supreme Court of the United States. Of this move, Frank J. Murphy, one of Ruef’s attorneys, is quoted in a published interview: “We have instructed our representative in Washington to withdraw the writ of error filed by us. This decision was reached on account of the decision of the State Supreme Court to the effect that the participation of an incompetent juror does not affect the validity of an indictment.”This action left the Prosecution free to proceed with Ruef’s trial without any possibility of the proceedings being questioned later.
On March 25, 1907, Ruef’s appeal in the habeas corpus matter was dismissed by the Supreme Court of the United States. Of this move, Frank J. Murphy, one of Ruef’s attorneys, is quoted in a published interview: “We have instructed our representative in Washington to withdraw the writ of error filed by us. This decision was reached on account of the decision of the State Supreme Court to the effect that the participation of an incompetent juror does not affect the validity of an indictment.”
This action left the Prosecution free to proceed with Ruef’s trial without any possibility of the proceedings being questioned later.
[147]Judge Dunne ruled that Ruef, being a fugitive from justice, and his trial one for felony, at which the defendant must be present at every stage of the proceedings, there was no trial before the court. Shortridge was in the position of counsel without a client. During the examination of Coroner Walsh, after his failure to find Ruef, Shortridge insisted upon interrupting the examination. Judge Dunne after repeated warnings, found Shortridge guilty of contempt of court, and sentenced him to serve twenty-four hours in jail. The Chronicle of March 9, 1907, contains the following account of the incident:“Have you not said,” Walsh was asked by Heney, “that you hoped he (Ruef) would be acquitted and that you would do all you could for him? Are you not in sympathy with him?”Again the Coroner quibbled and Judge Dunne ordered: “Answer the question. Do you sympathize with him or not?”Still the witness hesitated, and again the Judge asked with vigor: “Are you in sympathy with him?”“If he is innocent I am in sympathy with him, if he is guilty I am not.”“I suppose you wish it to appear that you are not in sympathy with him so that you may take charge of the jury,” suggested Heney.Samuel M. Shortridge, one of Ruef’s lawyers, here said that he objected on behalf of his client to the line of examination.Heney proceeded without paying any attention to Shortridge’s interruption. Shortridge again entered an objection, and Judge Dunne ordered him to take his seat.“But I wish to be heard on behalf of my client,” persisted Shortridge.“Take your seat, Mr. Shortridge, or I will order the Sheriff to cause you to do so or remove you from the court room,” declared Judge Dunne.“Am I to understand that I am not to be heard in this court?” demanded Shortridge with play of great indignation.“Mr. Shortridge, your conduct is boisterous and offensive and tends to interfere with the orderly conduct of the court. I declare you guilty of contempt and sentence you to be confined in the County Jail for twenty-four hours. Mr. Sheriff, take him into custody.”
Judge Dunne ruled that Ruef, being a fugitive from justice, and his trial one for felony, at which the defendant must be present at every stage of the proceedings, there was no trial before the court. Shortridge was in the position of counsel without a client. During the examination of Coroner Walsh, after his failure to find Ruef, Shortridge insisted upon interrupting the examination. Judge Dunne after repeated warnings, found Shortridge guilty of contempt of court, and sentenced him to serve twenty-four hours in jail. The Chronicle of March 9, 1907, contains the following account of the incident:
“Have you not said,” Walsh was asked by Heney, “that you hoped he (Ruef) would be acquitted and that you would do all you could for him? Are you not in sympathy with him?”
Again the Coroner quibbled and Judge Dunne ordered: “Answer the question. Do you sympathize with him or not?”
Still the witness hesitated, and again the Judge asked with vigor: “Are you in sympathy with him?”
“If he is innocent I am in sympathy with him, if he is guilty I am not.”
“I suppose you wish it to appear that you are not in sympathy with him so that you may take charge of the jury,” suggested Heney.
Samuel M. Shortridge, one of Ruef’s lawyers, here said that he objected on behalf of his client to the line of examination.
Heney proceeded without paying any attention to Shortridge’s interruption. Shortridge again entered an objection, and Judge Dunne ordered him to take his seat.
“But I wish to be heard on behalf of my client,” persisted Shortridge.
“Take your seat, Mr. Shortridge, or I will order the Sheriff to cause you to do so or remove you from the court room,” declared Judge Dunne.
“Am I to understand that I am not to be heard in this court?” demanded Shortridge with play of great indignation.
“Mr. Shortridge, your conduct is boisterous and offensive and tends to interfere with the orderly conduct of the court. I declare you guilty of contempt and sentence you to be confined in the County Jail for twenty-four hours. Mr. Sheriff, take him into custody.”
[148]The two principal points on which the defense based their applications for writs of habeas corpus and of prohibition were:(1) That Juror Wise, having sat on a petty jury within a year, was disqualified to act as a Grand Juror, and hence the indictments were fatally defective.(2) That the matter was before the Supreme Court of the United States on a writ of error.
The two principal points on which the defense based their applications for writs of habeas corpus and of prohibition were:
(1) That Juror Wise, having sat on a petty jury within a year, was disqualified to act as a Grand Juror, and hence the indictments were fatally defective.
(2) That the matter was before the Supreme Court of the United States on a writ of error.
[149]Heney, in his affidavit in contention that an Elisor should be appointed to bring Ruef into court, indicated the conditions which were handicapping the prosecution.
Heney, in his affidavit in contention that an Elisor should be appointed to bring Ruef into court, indicated the conditions which were handicapping the prosecution.
[150]Biggy afterwards became Chief of Police of San Francisco.
Biggy afterwards became Chief of Police of San Francisco.
[151]Ruef was with one of his henchmen, Myrtile Cerf, when arrested. Long after, when he had plead guilty to one of the extortion charges, Ruef stated in an interview published in the San Francisco Call, May 16, 1907, that it had been his purpose “to wait until the Legislature had acted on the Change of Venue Bill,” which was considered in a previous chapter, and which at the time of Ruef’s flight was being engineered through the Senate by George Keane in his capacity as Senator. Ruef, in his interview, stated further: “We had expected that this bill would go through. Naturally we were surprised when we learned that Campbell, the Mayor’s (Schmitz’s) attorney, was at Sacramento lobbying against the bill. What his object was I do not know. He even went to George Keane, who had charge of the bill, and tried to switch him to the other side.”During the period of Ruef’s disappearance, his attorneys had insisted that they were unaware of his whereabouts. Myrtile Cerf, his companion in flight, refused to say before the Grand Jury with whom he had telephonic communication while at the roadhouse, on the ground that such testimony might incriminate him.
Ruef was with one of his henchmen, Myrtile Cerf, when arrested. Long after, when he had plead guilty to one of the extortion charges, Ruef stated in an interview published in the San Francisco Call, May 16, 1907, that it had been his purpose “to wait until the Legislature had acted on the Change of Venue Bill,” which was considered in a previous chapter, and which at the time of Ruef’s flight was being engineered through the Senate by George Keane in his capacity as Senator. Ruef, in his interview, stated further: “We had expected that this bill would go through. Naturally we were surprised when we learned that Campbell, the Mayor’s (Schmitz’s) attorney, was at Sacramento lobbying against the bill. What his object was I do not know. He even went to George Keane, who had charge of the bill, and tried to switch him to the other side.”
During the period of Ruef’s disappearance, his attorneys had insisted that they were unaware of his whereabouts. Myrtile Cerf, his companion in flight, refused to say before the Grand Jury with whom he had telephonic communication while at the roadhouse, on the ground that such testimony might incriminate him.
[152]Ruef’s arrest threw the administration into the greatest confusion. Supervisor Wilson testified at the trial of The People vs. Ruef, No. 1437, Part 3, Vol. 7, p. 3175, that at 2 o’clock of the morning following Ruef’s capture, he went down to Henry Ach’s apartment to ascertain if the rumor that Ruef had been found were true.
Ruef’s arrest threw the administration into the greatest confusion. Supervisor Wilson testified at the trial of The People vs. Ruef, No. 1437, Part 3, Vol. 7, p. 3175, that at 2 o’clock of the morning following Ruef’s capture, he went down to Henry Ach’s apartment to ascertain if the rumor that Ruef had been found were true.
[153]Of the procedure which made possible Ruef’s long technical fight to escape trial, the San Francisco Chronicle on November 10, 1906, said:“The disgraceful condition of our criminal laws permits guilty men to put off their doom almost without limit. Where money makes unscrupulous talent available that course is invariably taken by those caught in the toils of justice. There are many objects to be gained by these delays. Witnesses may die or be spirited away. Most important of all the public becomes wearied and finally forgets or loses its zest for the enforcement of the law. When that stage is reached the ‘pull’ comes into play. By the connivance of the District Attorney, and especially of the Judge, continuance after continuance can be granted until proof becomes impossible and the case is dismissed. The adoption of such a course by any accused person of bad reputation is moral evidence of guilt which is conclusive with the public. We have had in this city many disgraceful criminal trials. We have had many obvious miscarriages of justice. There have been wealthy men whom everybody feels should be in the penitentiary who have hardly ceased for a day to flaunt their faces in decent society. We have never had a case in which the obstruction to the cause of justice began so early as Ruef began it, or was conducted with such brazen effrontery. It is not within our recollection that any accused person of whose guilt there was reasonable doubt had adopted such a course. Its adoption is the recognized sign of guilt.“But while our laws affecting court practice are very bad, they do afford the means of ultimately bringing criminals to trial and convicting them if the evidence is sufficient and the jury unbiased and uncorrupted. It only requires that the public maintains its interest and thereby sustains its officials in their efforts to secure justice. In this case the advantage is with the public. There is no possibility of a ‘pull’ with the District Attorney. His assistant, Mr. Heney, is himself a master of the criminal law and in notable cases elsewhere has triumphed over similar efforts for delay made in behalf of criminals of far higher social and political standing than Ruef. In fact Ruef has no standing of any kind in the community in any way different from that possessed by other political bosses supposed to be corrupt. The indignation of this community is a righteous indignation and it will never abate until under the due processes of law the truth in respect to Ruef and his roustabouts is dragged out in open court.”
Of the procedure which made possible Ruef’s long technical fight to escape trial, the San Francisco Chronicle on November 10, 1906, said:
“The disgraceful condition of our criminal laws permits guilty men to put off their doom almost without limit. Where money makes unscrupulous talent available that course is invariably taken by those caught in the toils of justice. There are many objects to be gained by these delays. Witnesses may die or be spirited away. Most important of all the public becomes wearied and finally forgets or loses its zest for the enforcement of the law. When that stage is reached the ‘pull’ comes into play. By the connivance of the District Attorney, and especially of the Judge, continuance after continuance can be granted until proof becomes impossible and the case is dismissed. The adoption of such a course by any accused person of bad reputation is moral evidence of guilt which is conclusive with the public. We have had in this city many disgraceful criminal trials. We have had many obvious miscarriages of justice. There have been wealthy men whom everybody feels should be in the penitentiary who have hardly ceased for a day to flaunt their faces in decent society. We have never had a case in which the obstruction to the cause of justice began so early as Ruef began it, or was conducted with such brazen effrontery. It is not within our recollection that any accused person of whose guilt there was reasonable doubt had adopted such a course. Its adoption is the recognized sign of guilt.
“But while our laws affecting court practice are very bad, they do afford the means of ultimately bringing criminals to trial and convicting them if the evidence is sufficient and the jury unbiased and uncorrupted. It only requires that the public maintains its interest and thereby sustains its officials in their efforts to secure justice. In this case the advantage is with the public. There is no possibility of a ‘pull’ with the District Attorney. His assistant, Mr. Heney, is himself a master of the criminal law and in notable cases elsewhere has triumphed over similar efforts for delay made in behalf of criminals of far higher social and political standing than Ruef. In fact Ruef has no standing of any kind in the community in any way different from that possessed by other political bosses supposed to be corrupt. The indignation of this community is a righteous indignation and it will never abate until under the due processes of law the truth in respect to Ruef and his roustabouts is dragged out in open court.”
[154]At the trial of The People vs. Ruef, No. 1437, Supervisor Andrew M. Wilson testified to a conversation which he had had with Ruef at Ruef’s office early in September, 1906. He was asked to state what he had said to Ruef on that occasion. Wilson replied:“A. I told him Mr. Choynski was across the street; I pulled the blind aside at his office, and showed him Mr. Choynski talking to Jesse Marks; that he had stated to Marks the exact amount on the trolley proposition.“Mr. Sullivan: Q. Who had stated to Marks the exact amount on the trolley proposition? A. Mr. Choynski, and that I had advised him a few weeks before that not to continue that fight for the attorneyship of the Liquor Dealers.“Q. Advised who? A. Mr. Ruef; and that Mr. Choynski was telling him what he had said to McGushin at one of the meetings regarding the $4,000 on the trolley.“Q. That who had said what he had told Mr. McGushin? A. Yes, sir.“Q. That who had said it? A. That Mr. Choynski had said that McGushin looked paralyzed when he mentioned the exact amount, but denied it; and I says to Mr. Ruef, ‘He has the correct amount on the trolley,’ and he stated that there must be a leak somewhere in the Board; and I told him I thought—--“Q. (Interrupting). Who stated that there must be a leak somewhere in the Board? A. Mr. Ruef; and I stated that I thought it came through Morris Levy, and that possibly he got his information through Supervisor Kelly, as they were very friendly.“Mr. Ach: Q. Who said that, you or Ruef?“Mr. Sullivan: Q. Who said that? A. I stated that to Mr. Ruef, that I thought the source of the leak was through Supervisor Kelly telling Morris Levy, and Morris Levy telling Choynski.”—See Transcript, page 2643.
At the trial of The People vs. Ruef, No. 1437, Supervisor Andrew M. Wilson testified to a conversation which he had had with Ruef at Ruef’s office early in September, 1906. He was asked to state what he had said to Ruef on that occasion. Wilson replied:
“A. I told him Mr. Choynski was across the street; I pulled the blind aside at his office, and showed him Mr. Choynski talking to Jesse Marks; that he had stated to Marks the exact amount on the trolley proposition.
“Mr. Sullivan: Q. Who had stated to Marks the exact amount on the trolley proposition? A. Mr. Choynski, and that I had advised him a few weeks before that not to continue that fight for the attorneyship of the Liquor Dealers.
“Q. Advised who? A. Mr. Ruef; and that Mr. Choynski was telling him what he had said to McGushin at one of the meetings regarding the $4,000 on the trolley.
“Q. That who had said what he had told Mr. McGushin? A. Yes, sir.
“Q. That who had said it? A. That Mr. Choynski had said that McGushin looked paralyzed when he mentioned the exact amount, but denied it; and I says to Mr. Ruef, ‘He has the correct amount on the trolley,’ and he stated that there must be a leak somewhere in the Board; and I told him I thought—--
“Q. (Interrupting). Who stated that there must be a leak somewhere in the Board? A. Mr. Ruef; and I stated that I thought it came through Morris Levy, and that possibly he got his information through Supervisor Kelly, as they were very friendly.
“Mr. Ach: Q. Who said that, you or Ruef?
“Mr. Sullivan: Q. Who said that? A. I stated that to Mr. Ruef, that I thought the source of the leak was through Supervisor Kelly telling Morris Levy, and Morris Levy telling Choynski.”—See Transcript, page 2643.
[155]Supervisor James L. Gallagher testified at the trial of The People vs. Ruef, No. 1437, of a note which had been delivered to him by Mr. Abbott, attorney for the United Railroads, from Tirey L. Ford, head of the United Railroads law department, to be delivered to Ruef. The substance of the note, Gallagher testified, was that “The Grand Jury is taking up the investigation of the charges concerning the United Railroads permit; not much headway has been made; it is intended to endeavor to trap some of the Supervisors.”Gallagher, unable to find Ruef, went back to Ford, according to Gallagher’s testimony, and asked if the note were so important that Ruef should be hunted up. Ford had directed him to open the envelope and read the note. Gallagher did this, made a shorthand memorandum of it, and read the message to Ruef later. See transcript, The People vs. Ruef, Part 3, Vol. 2, pp. 976 to 983.
Supervisor James L. Gallagher testified at the trial of The People vs. Ruef, No. 1437, of a note which had been delivered to him by Mr. Abbott, attorney for the United Railroads, from Tirey L. Ford, head of the United Railroads law department, to be delivered to Ruef. The substance of the note, Gallagher testified, was that “The Grand Jury is taking up the investigation of the charges concerning the United Railroads permit; not much headway has been made; it is intended to endeavor to trap some of the Supervisors.”
Gallagher, unable to find Ruef, went back to Ford, according to Gallagher’s testimony, and asked if the note were so important that Ruef should be hunted up. Ford had directed him to open the envelope and read the note. Gallagher did this, made a shorthand memorandum of it, and read the message to Ruef later. See transcript, The People vs. Ruef, Part 3, Vol. 2, pp. 976 to 983.
[156]An interesting incident of this transaction grew out of word being carried to Roy, that Ruef had told Lonergan that Roy was a stool pigeon for Burns. Roy went to Ruef’s office with a show of great indignation, demanding to know what Ruef meant by such a charge. Ruef apologized and denied.
An interesting incident of this transaction grew out of word being carried to Roy, that Ruef had told Lonergan that Roy was a stool pigeon for Burns. Roy went to Ruef’s office with a show of great indignation, demanding to know what Ruef meant by such a charge. Ruef apologized and denied.
[157]Boxton is thus described by Ruef, in his account of the graft cases: “Dr. Boxton was a dentist; he held the position of dean and professor of dentistry in an established medical and dental college. He was a popular man about town; had been one of the grand officers of the Native Sons’ organization; an officer of the First California Regiment in the Philippines, and had been several times elected Supervisor by large and popular votes.”
Boxton is thus described by Ruef, in his account of the graft cases: “Dr. Boxton was a dentist; he held the position of dean and professor of dentistry in an established medical and dental college. He was a popular man about town; had been one of the grand officers of the Native Sons’ organization; an officer of the First California Regiment in the Philippines, and had been several times elected Supervisor by large and popular votes.”
[158]The reason for springing the trap on Lonergan the second time was that the plan of Burns’s had miscarried on the first trap. Burns had put a man in partnership with Lonergan, who was to induce Lonergan to cash a draft for $200, shortly after Lonergan had received the $500 in marked currency.When Lonergan was asked to cash the draft, he said all right, but that he would have to go home and get the money. He went home and brought back gold. About this time the Chronicle published a story to the effect that several Supervisors had been trapped.
The reason for springing the trap on Lonergan the second time was that the plan of Burns’s had miscarried on the first trap. Burns had put a man in partnership with Lonergan, who was to induce Lonergan to cash a draft for $200, shortly after Lonergan had received the $500 in marked currency.
When Lonergan was asked to cash the draft, he said all right, but that he would have to go home and get the money. He went home and brought back gold. About this time the Chronicle published a story to the effect that several Supervisors had been trapped.
[159]The acrostic was made by skipping two lines to the third, the first word of which began with “F,” then skipping two lines to the sixth, skipping two lines to the ninth, and finally skipping two lines to the twelfth; the first letter of the first word of each of these lines spelt the word “Fake.”
The acrostic was made by skipping two lines to the third, the first word of which began with “F,” then skipping two lines to the sixth, skipping two lines to the ninth, and finally skipping two lines to the twelfth; the first letter of the first word of each of these lines spelt the word “Fake.”
[160]With the testimony of all the Supervisors, including Gallagher, the prosecution subsequently found great difficulty in convicting Ruef. In the Parkside case, all the Supervisors testified in regard to two promises made to them, and all the officials of the Parkside Company testified to negotiations with Ruef and to the payment of money to him. In addition thereto, William J. Dingee, who was an entirely disinterested party, testified to a conversation with Ruef, which was highly incriminating in its character, and which amounted to an admission on the part of Ruef that he was receiving money in the Parkside matter.With all this evidence before it, the jury stood six for acquittal and six for conviction.
With the testimony of all the Supervisors, including Gallagher, the prosecution subsequently found great difficulty in convicting Ruef. In the Parkside case, all the Supervisors testified in regard to two promises made to them, and all the officials of the Parkside Company testified to negotiations with Ruef and to the payment of money to him. In addition thereto, William J. Dingee, who was an entirely disinterested party, testified to a conversation with Ruef, which was highly incriminating in its character, and which amounted to an admission on the part of Ruef that he was receiving money in the Parkside matter.
With all this evidence before it, the jury stood six for acquittal and six for conviction.
[161]Wilson testified at the trial of The People vs. Ruef, No. 1437, of the anxiety of the Supervisors during this period. Although Wilson had resigned from the board to accept the office of State Railroad Commissioner to which he had been elected, he went to a conference of the Supervisors to decide what should be done. The following is from Wilson’s testimony:“Q. You were not then a Supervisor, were you? A. No, sir.“Q. Who told you to go there? A. I was helping Mr. Gallagher.“Q. Helping Gallagher do what? Don’t you know? A. Sit on the lid, that is what we called it.“Q. Helping Gallagher sit on the lid? A. Yes, sir.“Q. What does ‘sitting on the lid’ mean? That is a bit of the vernacular that I am not acquainted with.“Mr. Dwyer: That is vernacular authorized by the President-elect of the United States, I suppose it is good English?“Mr. Ach: Well, he is a big man; I suppose he might sit on something that might be a lid. The Court: Finish your answer.“Mr. Ach: Q. What do you mean? A. Trying to keep the facts of the condition of the Board of Supervisors from becoming public.“Q. What do you mean by that? A. The condition of the Board, the graft matters.”
Wilson testified at the trial of The People vs. Ruef, No. 1437, of the anxiety of the Supervisors during this period. Although Wilson had resigned from the board to accept the office of State Railroad Commissioner to which he had been elected, he went to a conference of the Supervisors to decide what should be done. The following is from Wilson’s testimony:
“Q. You were not then a Supervisor, were you? A. No, sir.
“Q. Who told you to go there? A. I was helping Mr. Gallagher.
“Q. Helping Gallagher do what? Don’t you know? A. Sit on the lid, that is what we called it.
“Q. Helping Gallagher sit on the lid? A. Yes, sir.
“Q. What does ‘sitting on the lid’ mean? That is a bit of the vernacular that I am not acquainted with.
“Mr. Dwyer: That is vernacular authorized by the President-elect of the United States, I suppose it is good English?
“Mr. Ach: Well, he is a big man; I suppose he might sit on something that might be a lid. The Court: Finish your answer.
“Mr. Ach: Q. What do you mean? A. Trying to keep the facts of the condition of the Board of Supervisors from becoming public.
“Q. What do you mean by that? A. The condition of the Board, the graft matters.”
[162]At the trial of The People vs. Patrick Calhoun, No. 1436, Spreckels testified to his own attitude on the question of immunity. He said: “I would be willing to grant immunity to any man who would bring to bar a man of great wealth who would debauch a city government, and who would use his wealth to corrupt individuals and tempt men of no means to commit a crime in order that he might make more money.”—See transcript of testimony, page 3326.
At the trial of The People vs. Patrick Calhoun, No. 1436, Spreckels testified to his own attitude on the question of immunity. He said: “I would be willing to grant immunity to any man who would bring to bar a man of great wealth who would debauch a city government, and who would use his wealth to corrupt individuals and tempt men of no means to commit a crime in order that he might make more money.”—See transcript of testimony, page 3326.
[163]At the trial of The People vs. Ruef, No. 1437, Gallagher testified that Spreckels told him in substance as follows:“Mr. Spreckels then stated that he was not actuated by vindictiveness in the matter, that he did not wish to make any more trouble or cause any more distress than was necessary in carrying out what he had undertaken, and that his purpose was to endeavor to stop the unlawful transactions,—dealings of corporations and large interests in this city with public officials; that his reason, that his view of the matter was that in order to accomplish that, that it would be necessary, or that he did not desire unnecessarily to injure anyone, and that the members of the Board of Supervisors and those who were engaged with them in the matter, outside of those who represented the corporations and big interests, were not as important from his standpoint as those who had, as those in control of those interests, because the members of the—the public officials and political bosses would come and go, but that the corporations and big interests remained; that they were, as he thought, the source of the trouble, and therefore, he did not consider it important, or so important, to punish the officials as to reach those that were in his judgment primarily responsible for the conditions, that he felt that the District Attorney would grant immunity to the members of the Board of Supervisors if they would tell the whole truth of their transactions with the corporations and other persons, large interests, that had had any dealings with them of an unlawful character. I think I then said to him I would consider the matter and would talk with the members of the Board of Supervisors about it.”
At the trial of The People vs. Ruef, No. 1437, Gallagher testified that Spreckels told him in substance as follows:
“Mr. Spreckels then stated that he was not actuated by vindictiveness in the matter, that he did not wish to make any more trouble or cause any more distress than was necessary in carrying out what he had undertaken, and that his purpose was to endeavor to stop the unlawful transactions,—dealings of corporations and large interests in this city with public officials; that his reason, that his view of the matter was that in order to accomplish that, that it would be necessary, or that he did not desire unnecessarily to injure anyone, and that the members of the Board of Supervisors and those who were engaged with them in the matter, outside of those who represented the corporations and big interests, were not as important from his standpoint as those who had, as those in control of those interests, because the members of the—the public officials and political bosses would come and go, but that the corporations and big interests remained; that they were, as he thought, the source of the trouble, and therefore, he did not consider it important, or so important, to punish the officials as to reach those that were in his judgment primarily responsible for the conditions, that he felt that the District Attorney would grant immunity to the members of the Board of Supervisors if they would tell the whole truth of their transactions with the corporations and other persons, large interests, that had had any dealings with them of an unlawful character. I think I then said to him I would consider the matter and would talk with the members of the Board of Supervisors about it.”
[164]Gallagher at the trial of The People vs. Ruef, No. 1437, made the following statement of what he said to the Supervisors:“My best recollection of the statement is that I said to them that some of the members of the Board of Supervisors had been trapped in accepting money on some matters before the Board, and that they had made statements to the prosecution, as I understood, or were about to do so, and that I had seen Mr. Spreckels and talked with him concerning the other members of the Board of Supervisors, and that Mr. Spreckels had stated to me that the purpose was not to prosecute the members of the Board of Supervisors provided they would make statements, full and true statements, of their relations in the transactions with the quasi-public corporations and large interests in the city that they may have had unlawful dealings with; that Mr. Spreckels had stated that the public officials were coming and going, and that the political bosses were coming and going; his object was to reach the source of the condition that he was trying to eradicate; that the corporations and these other interests remained all the time, and that he felt that they were the ones that should be the object of his efforts at eradicating that condition in the city. Mr. Spreckels stated that he was not actuated by vindictiveness in the matter; in other words, Mr. Ach, as nearly as I could, I repeated the statements of Mr. Spreckels to me.”See Transcript on Appeal, page 1471.
Gallagher at the trial of The People vs. Ruef, No. 1437, made the following statement of what he said to the Supervisors:
“My best recollection of the statement is that I said to them that some of the members of the Board of Supervisors had been trapped in accepting money on some matters before the Board, and that they had made statements to the prosecution, as I understood, or were about to do so, and that I had seen Mr. Spreckels and talked with him concerning the other members of the Board of Supervisors, and that Mr. Spreckels had stated to me that the purpose was not to prosecute the members of the Board of Supervisors provided they would make statements, full and true statements, of their relations in the transactions with the quasi-public corporations and large interests in the city that they may have had unlawful dealings with; that Mr. Spreckels had stated that the public officials were coming and going, and that the political bosses were coming and going; his object was to reach the source of the condition that he was trying to eradicate; that the corporations and these other interests remained all the time, and that he felt that they were the ones that should be the object of his efforts at eradicating that condition in the city. Mr. Spreckels stated that he was not actuated by vindictiveness in the matter; in other words, Mr. Ach, as nearly as I could, I repeated the statements of Mr. Spreckels to me.”
See Transcript on Appeal, page 1471.
[165]“I told them,” said Wilson in his testimony in the case of The People vs. Ruef, No. 1437, “that I had always taken orders from Mr. Ruef, that I looked upon him as the political captain of the ship, that I had followed out his orders; that I did not feel that I should sacrifice myself, or ask Mr. Gallagher to sacrifice himself through the condition that had been brought about; that I thought it would be unreasonable for any Supervisor to ask Mr. Gallagher to sacrifice himself, that some of the others might walk the streets and feel that they were honest men; that I did not feel he should be sacrificed alone in the matter.”
“I told them,” said Wilson in his testimony in the case of The People vs. Ruef, No. 1437, “that I had always taken orders from Mr. Ruef, that I looked upon him as the political captain of the ship, that I had followed out his orders; that I did not feel that I should sacrifice myself, or ask Mr. Gallagher to sacrifice himself through the condition that had been brought about; that I thought it would be unreasonable for any Supervisor to ask Mr. Gallagher to sacrifice himself, that some of the others might walk the streets and feel that they were honest men; that I did not feel he should be sacrificed alone in the matter.”
[166]The public service corporation officials were encouraged by Spreckels and Heney to give information which would lead to the indictment and conviction of Ruef and Schmitz, and thus clean up the city. Instead of giving such information, they pretended that the rumors in regard to bribery were all baseless.At the Pacific Union Club, where they generally lunched, Spreckels and Heney were the recipients of many kind words of encouragement and of congratulation, up to the time that Ruef plead guilty in the French-restaurant case. Immediately thereafter the atmosphere commenced to change. The indictment of some of the prominent members of the club was not pleasing. During the first trial of Glass, he and his attorneys constantly lunched at the Pacific Union Club, and many men, prominent in finance, would stop and chat ostentatiously with Glass and his lawyers, and would then ignore Spreckels and Heney, who would be sitting at a near-by table.An attempt to keep Rudolph Spreckels out of membership in the Bohemian Club was almost successful about this time, while Drum was elected a director of the Pacific Union Club while still under indictment, and Thomas Williams, of the New California Jockey Club, one of the bondsmen for Schmitz, was elected President.
The public service corporation officials were encouraged by Spreckels and Heney to give information which would lead to the indictment and conviction of Ruef and Schmitz, and thus clean up the city. Instead of giving such information, they pretended that the rumors in regard to bribery were all baseless.
At the Pacific Union Club, where they generally lunched, Spreckels and Heney were the recipients of many kind words of encouragement and of congratulation, up to the time that Ruef plead guilty in the French-restaurant case. Immediately thereafter the atmosphere commenced to change. The indictment of some of the prominent members of the club was not pleasing. During the first trial of Glass, he and his attorneys constantly lunched at the Pacific Union Club, and many men, prominent in finance, would stop and chat ostentatiously with Glass and his lawyers, and would then ignore Spreckels and Heney, who would be sitting at a near-by table.
An attempt to keep Rudolph Spreckels out of membership in the Bohemian Club was almost successful about this time, while Drum was elected a director of the Pacific Union Club while still under indictment, and Thomas Williams, of the New California Jockey Club, one of the bondsmen for Schmitz, was elected President.
[167]To the places thus vacated, Mayor Schmitz appointed O. A. Tveitmoe and J. J. O’Neil. Tveitmoe and O’Neil assumed their duties as Supervisors after the bribery transactions were completed. They did not become involved in the graft exposures, but served to the end of the terms for which they had been appointed.
To the places thus vacated, Mayor Schmitz appointed O. A. Tveitmoe and J. J. O’Neil. Tveitmoe and O’Neil assumed their duties as Supervisors after the bribery transactions were completed. They did not become involved in the graft exposures, but served to the end of the terms for which they had been appointed.
[168]The eighteenth Supervisor, who made no confession, was Duffey. Duffey, according to Gallagher’s confession, participated with the others in the graft distributions. In the hurry of the final arrangements for the confessions, however, Gallagher gained the impression that confession was not to be required of Duffey. Rather than give appearance of lack of good faith, the prosecution decided to abide by the impression which Gallagher claimed he had formed.
The eighteenth Supervisor, who made no confession, was Duffey. Duffey, according to Gallagher’s confession, participated with the others in the graft distributions. In the hurry of the final arrangements for the confessions, however, Gallagher gained the impression that confession was not to be required of Duffey. Rather than give appearance of lack of good faith, the prosecution decided to abide by the impression which Gallagher claimed he had formed.
[169]This was the amount that Ruef turned over to the Supervisors. It represented a comparatively small part of what he received from the Public Service corporations. From the United Railroads alone, because of the granting of the trolley permit, he received $200,000. In addition he was drawing a regular fee of $1,000 a month from the United Railroads.The Supervisors were not always satisfied with the amount Gallagher gave them. There were times when they entertained the idea that Ruef had sent more than Gallagher gave. They accordingly delegated Supervisor Wilson to ascertain from Ruef whether all the money intended for them was reaching them. Ruef refused to discuss the matter with Wilson. Wilson, at the trial of The People vs. Ruef, No. 1437, testified:“I told him (Ruef) that the Supervisors had asked me to call and see him; that they wanted other information to confirm Mr. Gallagher’s reports to the Board on these money matters. He said that he did not care to discuss that with anyone other than Mr. Gallagher; that it took up time and that whatever Mr. Gallagher did on the Board was with his full knowledge and consent; that the matters were being handled satisfactorily by Mr. Gallagher, and when anything arose, any other condition confronted him, he would look elsewhere for a leader, but he did not want to go in at that time and discuss those matters with anyone.”
This was the amount that Ruef turned over to the Supervisors. It represented a comparatively small part of what he received from the Public Service corporations. From the United Railroads alone, because of the granting of the trolley permit, he received $200,000. In addition he was drawing a regular fee of $1,000 a month from the United Railroads.
The Supervisors were not always satisfied with the amount Gallagher gave them. There were times when they entertained the idea that Ruef had sent more than Gallagher gave. They accordingly delegated Supervisor Wilson to ascertain from Ruef whether all the money intended for them was reaching them. Ruef refused to discuss the matter with Wilson. Wilson, at the trial of The People vs. Ruef, No. 1437, testified:
“I told him (Ruef) that the Supervisors had asked me to call and see him; that they wanted other information to confirm Mr. Gallagher’s reports to the Board on these money matters. He said that he did not care to discuss that with anyone other than Mr. Gallagher; that it took up time and that whatever Mr. Gallagher did on the Board was with his full knowledge and consent; that the matters were being handled satisfactorily by Mr. Gallagher, and when anything arose, any other condition confronted him, he would look elsewhere for a leader, but he did not want to go in at that time and discuss those matters with anyone.”
[170]About the time the 85-cent gas rate was fixed, one of the Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s stations was burned. Ruef stated to Gallagher that the fire would be used as one of the reasons for fixing the 85-cent rate: that it would probably appeal to the public as an excuse for fixing the rate at 85 cents when the platform of the party had mentioned 75 cents. See Transcript, The People vs. Ruef, No. 1437, page 784.
About the time the 85-cent gas rate was fixed, one of the Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s stations was burned. Ruef stated to Gallagher that the fire would be used as one of the reasons for fixing the 85-cent rate: that it would probably appeal to the public as an excuse for fixing the rate at 85 cents when the platform of the party had mentioned 75 cents. See Transcript, The People vs. Ruef, No. 1437, page 784.
[171]When McGushin refused to follow directions and give the Pacific Gas and Electric Company an 85-cent gas rate, Gallagher went to Ruef about it. At the trial of The People vs. Ruef, No. 1437, Gallagher testified: “I told him (Ruef) that McGushin was rather demurring at receiving the money, at taking the money, and that I had told Mr. McGushin that he had better go down and talk with Mr. Ruef. He (Ruef) said, ‘All right, if he comes around I will talk with him.’”
When McGushin refused to follow directions and give the Pacific Gas and Electric Company an 85-cent gas rate, Gallagher went to Ruef about it. At the trial of The People vs. Ruef, No. 1437, Gallagher testified: “I told him (Ruef) that McGushin was rather demurring at receiving the money, at taking the money, and that I had told Mr. McGushin that he had better go down and talk with Mr. Ruef. He (Ruef) said, ‘All right, if he comes around I will talk with him.’”
[172]The Supervisors who accepted money from Halsey, acting for the Pacific States Telephone and Telegraph Company, to prevent a franchise being awarded an opposition company were: Boxton, Walsh, Wilson, Coleman, Nicholas, Furey, Mamlock, Phillips, Lonergan, Sanderson and Coffey. The amount paid in each instance was $5,000. Halsey promised several of the bribed members from $2,500 to $5,000 in addition to be paid them, if they remained faithful, after their terms had expired. The money, the several members testified, had been paid to them by Halsey in an unfurnished room in the Mills Building which had been temporarily engaged for Mr. Halsey’s use by Frank C. Drum, a director of the Pacific States Telephone and Telegraph Company. Examples of the methods employed to corrupt the laboringmen Supervisors who suddenly found themselves placed in a position of trust and responsibility will be found in the appendix.
The Supervisors who accepted money from Halsey, acting for the Pacific States Telephone and Telegraph Company, to prevent a franchise being awarded an opposition company were: Boxton, Walsh, Wilson, Coleman, Nicholas, Furey, Mamlock, Phillips, Lonergan, Sanderson and Coffey. The amount paid in each instance was $5,000. Halsey promised several of the bribed members from $2,500 to $5,000 in addition to be paid them, if they remained faithful, after their terms had expired. The money, the several members testified, had been paid to them by Halsey in an unfurnished room in the Mills Building which had been temporarily engaged for Mr. Halsey’s use by Frank C. Drum, a director of the Pacific States Telephone and Telegraph Company. Examples of the methods employed to corrupt the laboringmen Supervisors who suddenly found themselves placed in a position of trust and responsibility will be found in the appendix.
[173]This is the amount given by Ruef in his “confession.” He states that he received $25,000 when he agreed that the Home Telephone Company should have the franchise; and $100,000 when the franchise was granted. According to his statement he gave $65,000 to Gallagher for the Supervisors; $30,000 he gave Schmitz; $30,000 he kept himself. Gallagher testified on several occasions that he received but $62,000 from Ruef. The details of Ruef’s confessions are not dependable. On Ruef’s own statement of the basis of division of this particular bribe money among the Supervisors, Gallagher received only $62,000 of Home Telephone money from him.
This is the amount given by Ruef in his “confession.” He states that he received $25,000 when he agreed that the Home Telephone Company should have the franchise; and $100,000 when the franchise was granted. According to his statement he gave $65,000 to Gallagher for the Supervisors; $30,000 he gave Schmitz; $30,000 he kept himself. Gallagher testified on several occasions that he received but $62,000 from Ruef. The details of Ruef’s confessions are not dependable. On Ruef’s own statement of the basis of division of this particular bribe money among the Supervisors, Gallagher received only $62,000 of Home Telephone money from him.
[174]Ruef was himself to blame for the complication, for he had given certain of the Supervisors to understand that the purpose of the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company was to prevail, and that the Home Telephone Company would not be granted its franchise. The Supervisors in taking the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company’s money, not unreasonably supposed they were taking from the favored of the administration. Supervisor Wilson in his confession said: “The first conversation I had with Mr. Ruef, affecting money matters, was on the Pacific States Telephone matters. I told him that I had been out to dinner with Mr. Halsey, and I understood that everything was going to be satisfactory with their company. He (Ruef) said that it would terminate that way.”Acting upon this hint, Wilson accepted $5,000 from Halsey. Later he told Ruef of having got the money. Ruef told him that he should not have taken it. Wilson has testified that he offered to return it. “No,” he claims Ruef replied, “don’t do that just now. Wait and see. I will let you know later. You might get into a trap by giving it back; you had better wait.”Ruef claims, however, that he advised Wilson to return the money.
Ruef was himself to blame for the complication, for he had given certain of the Supervisors to understand that the purpose of the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company was to prevail, and that the Home Telephone Company would not be granted its franchise. The Supervisors in taking the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company’s money, not unreasonably supposed they were taking from the favored of the administration. Supervisor Wilson in his confession said: “The first conversation I had with Mr. Ruef, affecting money matters, was on the Pacific States Telephone matters. I told him that I had been out to dinner with Mr. Halsey, and I understood that everything was going to be satisfactory with their company. He (Ruef) said that it would terminate that way.”
Acting upon this hint, Wilson accepted $5,000 from Halsey. Later he told Ruef of having got the money. Ruef told him that he should not have taken it. Wilson has testified that he offered to return it. “No,” he claims Ruef replied, “don’t do that just now. Wait and see. I will let you know later. You might get into a trap by giving it back; you had better wait.”
Ruef claims, however, that he advised Wilson to return the money.
[175]For description of this “dividing of the ways” scene, see testimony of Supervisor Wilson, Transcript on Appeal, The People vs. Ruef, page 2843.
For description of this “dividing of the ways” scene, see testimony of Supervisor Wilson, Transcript on Appeal, The People vs. Ruef, page 2843.
[176]Gallagher in his confession said of the decision of the Supervisors to stand by Ruef and Schmitz: “Mr. Wilson talked to a number of those boys (Supervisors who had taken money from the Pacific States’s agent), he being one of those who had taken this money, and he told me that notwithstanding the fact that they had taken this money that he didn’t feel that he wanted to stand out from the leadership of Mr. Ruef and wanted to act with him and myself in the matter and said that he would talk to the other boys about it, and see how they felt about the proposition of voting for the Home Telephone franchise anyhow.”
Gallagher in his confession said of the decision of the Supervisors to stand by Ruef and Schmitz: “Mr. Wilson talked to a number of those boys (Supervisors who had taken money from the Pacific States’s agent), he being one of those who had taken this money, and he told me that notwithstanding the fact that they had taken this money that he didn’t feel that he wanted to stand out from the leadership of Mr. Ruef and wanted to act with him and myself in the matter and said that he would talk to the other boys about it, and see how they felt about the proposition of voting for the Home Telephone franchise anyhow.”
[177]In his confession, Gallagher stated that under this arrangement he paid $3,500 each to Coffey, Coleman, Furey, Lonergan, Mamlock, Nicholas, Phillips and Wilson; $6,000 each to Davis, Duffey, Harrigan and Kelley, reserving $10,000 for himself. Those who received no part of the Home Telephone Company money were Boxton, Sanderson, Walsh, McGushin and Rea. Of the five, Boxton and Sanderson received $5,000 each from Halsey of the Pacific Company, and Walsh, according to his recollection, $3,500. McGushin and Rea received none of the bribe money paid by the two telephone companies.
In his confession, Gallagher stated that under this arrangement he paid $3,500 each to Coffey, Coleman, Furey, Lonergan, Mamlock, Nicholas, Phillips and Wilson; $6,000 each to Davis, Duffey, Harrigan and Kelley, reserving $10,000 for himself. Those who received no part of the Home Telephone Company money were Boxton, Sanderson, Walsh, McGushin and Rea. Of the five, Boxton and Sanderson received $5,000 each from Halsey of the Pacific Company, and Walsh, according to his recollection, $3,500. McGushin and Rea received none of the bribe money paid by the two telephone companies.
[178]Gallagher testified before the Grand Jury, that the additional compensation had been given Wilson because he was more useful than any other member, besides himself, in keeping the Supervisors in line and in passing information regarding prospective bribe money.
Gallagher testified before the Grand Jury, that the additional compensation had been given Wilson because he was more useful than any other member, besides himself, in keeping the Supervisors in line and in passing information regarding prospective bribe money.
[179]Gallagher testified before the Grand Jury that he had paid Rea nothing, because he had no confidence in Rea’s judgment and self-control. “I told Mr. Ruef,” Gallagher testified, “I did not care to, that I wouldn’t take the responsibility of dealing with Mr. Rea. I believe he was talking and had talked about matters dealing with me and did not care to have any dealings with him. He (Ruef) said, ‘Very well, I’ll attend to him,’ or ‘I will see to that myself,’ or some such expression as that.”
Gallagher testified before the Grand Jury that he had paid Rea nothing, because he had no confidence in Rea’s judgment and self-control. “I told Mr. Ruef,” Gallagher testified, “I did not care to, that I wouldn’t take the responsibility of dealing with Mr. Rea. I believe he was talking and had talked about matters dealing with me and did not care to have any dealings with him. He (Ruef) said, ‘Very well, I’ll attend to him,’ or ‘I will see to that myself,’ or some such expression as that.”
[180]The original plan was to have this road on Twentieth Avenue. But to grade Twentieth Avenue would take time, and cost upwards of $100,000. On the other hand, Nineteenth Avenue had been graded, macadamized, and accepted as a boulevard. The Parkside people asked a change in the purchased franchise, to give them the boulevard. But the Charter prohibited grants of franchises over declared boulevards. Ruef concluded this provision could be overcome by ordinance. He feared criticism, but finally yielded to the Parkside people’s request. Then went word to the Supervisors of increase in compensation in this particular transaction.
The original plan was to have this road on Twentieth Avenue. But to grade Twentieth Avenue would take time, and cost upwards of $100,000. On the other hand, Nineteenth Avenue had been graded, macadamized, and accepted as a boulevard. The Parkside people asked a change in the purchased franchise, to give them the boulevard. But the Charter prohibited grants of franchises over declared boulevards. Ruef concluded this provision could be overcome by ordinance. He feared criticism, but finally yielded to the Parkside people’s request. Then went word to the Supervisors of increase in compensation in this particular transaction.
[181]Gallagher’s testimony before the Grand Jury regarding the promised bribes in the Parkside franchise undertaking was as follows:“Q. Now, then, the Parkside trolley, was there an understanding in regard to money being paid on that? A. The Parkside realty company’s franchise for street railway on Twentieth Avenue, that is what you refer to—on Nineteenth Avenue, that is correct; it was originally intended for Twentieth, afterward changed to Nineteenth; that is right there was nothing paid to any member of the Board upon that that I know of. There were some rumors about it and Mr. Ruef spoke to me about it and said there ought to be a payment of $750 to each member on it and afterward said that if the thing was changed from Twentieth Avenue to the Nineteenth Avenue, that there ought to be $1,000 each paid.“Q. About when did he say it ought or he would be able to pay them? A. He said that he expected to, yes, sir. He did not say he was ready to do so, on the contrary, has always denied that he had the money to pay it with.“Q. He never said he had the money before on the other matters? A. No.“Q. He would just say there will be this much coming? A. Yes, sir.“Q. And the same way in regard to this also? A. Yes, sir.“Q. $1,000? A. Yes, sir.“Q. And you passed it out in the same way? A. Yes, sir.“Q. And it was put through with that understanding? A. Yes, sir.“Q. The only definite, was it, it hasn’t come? A. Not yet.“Q. Do you know why the money hasn’t been given to you yet by Ruef? A. No, sir.“Q. Has he given you any reason? A. Mr. Ruef said that the amount has not been paid to him.“Q. You heard complaints from the members that they had been so long about coming through? A. Yes, indeed.“Q. Did you make complaint to Ruef about it? A. Yes, sir.“Q. What did he say? A. He made that excuse consequently that he didn’t have it.“Q. Never said that he did not expect it? A. Did not.”
Gallagher’s testimony before the Grand Jury regarding the promised bribes in the Parkside franchise undertaking was as follows:
“Q. Now, then, the Parkside trolley, was there an understanding in regard to money being paid on that? A. The Parkside realty company’s franchise for street railway on Twentieth Avenue, that is what you refer to—on Nineteenth Avenue, that is correct; it was originally intended for Twentieth, afterward changed to Nineteenth; that is right there was nothing paid to any member of the Board upon that that I know of. There were some rumors about it and Mr. Ruef spoke to me about it and said there ought to be a payment of $750 to each member on it and afterward said that if the thing was changed from Twentieth Avenue to the Nineteenth Avenue, that there ought to be $1,000 each paid.
“Q. About when did he say it ought or he would be able to pay them? A. He said that he expected to, yes, sir. He did not say he was ready to do so, on the contrary, has always denied that he had the money to pay it with.
“Q. He never said he had the money before on the other matters? A. No.
“Q. He would just say there will be this much coming? A. Yes, sir.
“Q. And the same way in regard to this also? A. Yes, sir.
“Q. $1,000? A. Yes, sir.
“Q. And you passed it out in the same way? A. Yes, sir.
“Q. And it was put through with that understanding? A. Yes, sir.
“Q. The only definite, was it, it hasn’t come? A. Not yet.
“Q. Do you know why the money hasn’t been given to you yet by Ruef? A. No, sir.
“Q. Has he given you any reason? A. Mr. Ruef said that the amount has not been paid to him.
“Q. You heard complaints from the members that they had been so long about coming through? A. Yes, indeed.
“Q. Did you make complaint to Ruef about it? A. Yes, sir.
“Q. What did he say? A. He made that excuse consequently that he didn’t have it.
“Q. Never said that he did not expect it? A. Did not.”
[182]The anxiety on the part of the confessing Supervisors to tell the truth was pathetic. When McGushin began his story he was asked: “Of course this statement you make is free and voluntary.” “Yes,” replied McGushin, simply, “Mr. Gallagher himself told me to tell the truth.”
The anxiety on the part of the confessing Supervisors to tell the truth was pathetic. When McGushin began his story he was asked: “Of course this statement you make is free and voluntary.” “Yes,” replied McGushin, simply, “Mr. Gallagher himself told me to tell the truth.”
[183]“I want to learn from your own lips,” he told Wilson, “if what I have already heard is true regarding your making a statement to the prosecution.”“I have been thoroughly informed,” said Ruef in an interview given out later, “of everything that the members of the Board of Supervisors are reported to have told the Grand Jury, and I have no comment to make upon their alleged confessions at this time. Later, however, I will issue a statement which will furnish more sensations in connection with municipal graft than anything that has been made public.”
“I want to learn from your own lips,” he told Wilson, “if what I have already heard is true regarding your making a statement to the prosecution.”
“I have been thoroughly informed,” said Ruef in an interview given out later, “of everything that the members of the Board of Supervisors are reported to have told the Grand Jury, and I have no comment to make upon their alleged confessions at this time. Later, however, I will issue a statement which will furnish more sensations in connection with municipal graft than anything that has been made public.”
[184]Gallagher left the conference first. Wilson testified at the graft trials that after Gallagher had gone Ruef stated that “had he been in Gallagher’s place he wouldn’t have made those statements to the prosecution.”“You can never tell what one will do until he is placed in Mr. Gallagher’s position,” replied Wilson, “we discussed the matter fully for two or three days before he took that step.”
Gallagher left the conference first. Wilson testified at the graft trials that after Gallagher had gone Ruef stated that “had he been in Gallagher’s place he wouldn’t have made those statements to the prosecution.”
“You can never tell what one will do until he is placed in Mr. Gallagher’s position,” replied Wilson, “we discussed the matter fully for two or three days before he took that step.”
[185]The nearest Ruef has come to a statement of his connection with the public service corporations is contained in his story, “The Road I Traveled,” which appeared In the San Francisco Bulletin. The account is inaccurate and incomplete. Nothing, for example, is told by Mr. Ruef, of the proposed Bay Cities Water Company deal, which at one time he claimed to be the most important of all he had in view.
The nearest Ruef has come to a statement of his connection with the public service corporations is contained in his story, “The Road I Traveled,” which appeared In the San Francisco Bulletin. The account is inaccurate and incomplete. Nothing, for example, is told by Mr. Ruef, of the proposed Bay Cities Water Company deal, which at one time he claimed to be the most important of all he had in view.
[186]The Supervisors were all examined before the Grand Jury on the same day. Heney in an affidavit, filed in the case of The People vs. Calhoun et al., No. 823, states that “one of the reasons which actuated me to examine all of said Supervisors on the same day was that the newspapers had discovered that they had made confessions on the preceding Saturday, and I wanted to make sure that no one of them was tampered with by anyone who might be interested in changing his testimony before I succeeded in getting his testimony recorded by a stenographer in the Grand Jury room.”
The Supervisors were all examined before the Grand Jury on the same day. Heney in an affidavit, filed in the case of The People vs. Calhoun et al., No. 823, states that “one of the reasons which actuated me to examine all of said Supervisors on the same day was that the newspapers had discovered that they had made confessions on the preceding Saturday, and I wanted to make sure that no one of them was tampered with by anyone who might be interested in changing his testimony before I succeeded in getting his testimony recorded by a stenographer in the Grand Jury room.”
[187]The following persons sat on the Boards of Directors of the several corporations involved in the graft disclosures, either during 1906 when the briberies were committed, or during 1907 when the exposures came:Pacific Gas and Electric Company—N. W. Halsey, E. J. de Sabla, John Martin, Frank G. Drum, Wm. H. Crocker, N. D. Rideout, Frank B. Anderson, John A. Britton, Henry E. Bothin, Louis F. Monteagle, Jos. S. Tobin, G. H. McEnerney, Cyrus Pierce, Carl Taylor, F. W. M. McCutcheon.Pacific States Telephone and Telegraph Company—Henry T. Scott, Louis Glass, F. W. Eaton, Timothy Hopkins, Homer S. King, F. G. Drum, E. S. Pillsbury, Percy T. Morgan, all of San Francisco; J. C. Ainsworth, P. Bacon, J. H. Thatcher, C. H. Chambreau, E. H. McCracken, C. B. McLeod, C. E. Hickman, J. P. McNichols, R. W. Schmeer, all of Portland.Parkside Company—W. H. Crocker, Wellington Gregg, Jr., C. E. Green, J. J. Mahony, W. H. Cope, A. F. Morrison, Hugh Keenan, Wm. Matson, J. M. O’Brien, Douglas S. Watson. J. E. Green.United Railroads—Patrick Calhoun, G. F. Chapman, Geo. H. Davis, Tirey L. Ford, Benj. S. Guiness, I. W. Hellman, Chas. Holbrook, A. C. Kains, J. Henry Meyer, Thornwell Mullally, Jos. S. Tobin.The names of the board of directors of the Home Telephone Company, during the period of the bribery transactions, has not, so far as the writer knows, been made public. A. C. Kains resigned from the directorate of the United Railroads, and Jos. S. Tobin from the directorates of the United Railroads and the Pacific Gas and Electric Company, about the time of the disclosures.
The following persons sat on the Boards of Directors of the several corporations involved in the graft disclosures, either during 1906 when the briberies were committed, or during 1907 when the exposures came:
Pacific Gas and Electric Company—N. W. Halsey, E. J. de Sabla, John Martin, Frank G. Drum, Wm. H. Crocker, N. D. Rideout, Frank B. Anderson, John A. Britton, Henry E. Bothin, Louis F. Monteagle, Jos. S. Tobin, G. H. McEnerney, Cyrus Pierce, Carl Taylor, F. W. M. McCutcheon.
Pacific States Telephone and Telegraph Company—Henry T. Scott, Louis Glass, F. W. Eaton, Timothy Hopkins, Homer S. King, F. G. Drum, E. S. Pillsbury, Percy T. Morgan, all of San Francisco; J. C. Ainsworth, P. Bacon, J. H. Thatcher, C. H. Chambreau, E. H. McCracken, C. B. McLeod, C. E. Hickman, J. P. McNichols, R. W. Schmeer, all of Portland.
Parkside Company—W. H. Crocker, Wellington Gregg, Jr., C. E. Green, J. J. Mahony, W. H. Cope, A. F. Morrison, Hugh Keenan, Wm. Matson, J. M. O’Brien, Douglas S. Watson. J. E. Green.
United Railroads—Patrick Calhoun, G. F. Chapman, Geo. H. Davis, Tirey L. Ford, Benj. S. Guiness, I. W. Hellman, Chas. Holbrook, A. C. Kains, J. Henry Meyer, Thornwell Mullally, Jos. S. Tobin.
The names of the board of directors of the Home Telephone Company, during the period of the bribery transactions, has not, so far as the writer knows, been made public. A. C. Kains resigned from the directorate of the United Railroads, and Jos. S. Tobin from the directorates of the United Railroads and the Pacific Gas and Electric Company, about the time of the disclosures.
[188]The inconsistency of the “attorney fee plea” is well illustrated in the United Railroads transaction. Ruef received $200,000 from the United Railroads because of the trolley permit. General Tirey L. Ford, head of the United Railroads law department, to which he devoted all his time, was credited with receiving a salary of $10,000 a year. Thus Ruef’s single “fee” was as much as the United Railroads would have paid its head lawyer in twenty years, almost a lifetime of professional service. And Ruef, it must be remembered, in addition was getting $1,000 a month from the United Railroads—more than the chief of that corporation’s legal department was receiving.
The inconsistency of the “attorney fee plea” is well illustrated in the United Railroads transaction. Ruef received $200,000 from the United Railroads because of the trolley permit. General Tirey L. Ford, head of the United Railroads law department, to which he devoted all his time, was credited with receiving a salary of $10,000 a year. Thus Ruef’s single “fee” was as much as the United Railroads would have paid its head lawyer in twenty years, almost a lifetime of professional service. And Ruef, it must be remembered, in addition was getting $1,000 a month from the United Railroads—more than the chief of that corporation’s legal department was receiving.