The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1891-12-26
A VICTIM OF INGRATITUDE.

A VICTIM OF lNGkATTTUDE.
BLIND ROSS BUCKLEY TALKS ABOUT
CALIFORNIA PoLrTICS
Made Wallace Judse anA Hearst Senator.
He says. s.a New wallace weaia Like
10 Put Hin In jail asa Hesrst's Son 10
BeIaboring Hin II His Newspaper-
souethi.g About sRstornea Stock
Broker" Ly.ch. who Tried - Down
Him, and About Bribery In Peiities.
oprtsM 1891 'y TIE sus rrt"ss"s AID Ps'At"s Asso.
LONDON Dec 25.-Christopher A. Buckley,
the famous blind politician OF San Francisco.
whose movements for some time have been q
mystery. arrived here on Wednesday night
from New York on his way to Wiesbaden. He
is supposed to have left Gan Francisco because
of a revolt In his party following. his rivals
having succeeded IN getting an indictment
against him by the Grana Jury. though II ap-
pears from the following interview that the
Supreme Court OF California checked this ambi-
ton of the unruly members By throwing the
Indictment out Of court Buckley consented to
HI interview with TEE Sun correspondent. and
gave most remarkable account Of the state of
affairs in California. He IL evidently much
more than an ordinary man. It has
always been a mystery how. though stone
blind. he has not only obtained but held abso-
Lutte sway for fifteen years over Democratic
politics in San Francisco and California. max
ing Boards Of Supervisors. Governors. and
United States Senators entirely as he chose.
but this mystery becomes clear when he be-
gins to talk. He seems to be about as cool.
shrewd and broad q man as ever passed from
saloon keeping into statesmanship. and he is
q kind OF social phenomenon the English here
are totally unable to understand.
Buckley sat in parlor Of tho Hotel Victoria
with his wife. q toll handsome brunette evil
IDENTIFY very fond OF her liege lord. When
asked about the San Francisco trouble the
blind man smiled. and said:
Its a little party fight that's all. We've
got q lot OF retormers In Frisco who are ready
to reform heaven and earth provided they get
an Office: il they are not permitted to run
things they kick. which is quite natural The
question is whether the Democratic party In
Frisco Is to be run by an ex-Chief Justice OF
the Supreme Court with an itch for office. q
reformed stock broker. and an undeveloped
young man who bangs his hair and puts up
for newspaper. or whether the party Is to be
run by me. The indifference Of the citizens is
such that politics has every show there. Pub
lie spirit is SO much weaker force than pri-
good game to play II he has got brains
enough to play It This newspaper.
which has got plenty Of money behind It,
but is not successful. makes lot OF talk about
the public interest in ordor to increase its cir
culatton. It has always been with me when It
could make anything by It but now thinks to
fool the public BY fighting me. That's the way
we do things out West" and Buckley laughed.
while couple Of Englishmsn present at the
interview also thought It very funny.
when did you leave San Franclscor'
II left Frisco on the LIST Of September TO
take trip over the Canadian Pacific and then
60 to wiesbadsn. which place did me . lot Of
good last year. went TO Montreal to
make visit Of two months. After I
left William T. Wallace. ex-Chief Justice
OF the Supreme Court. now head OF the Supe-
: rior Court In, 'eisseseAsah NJ - taD0~AD'
own hands called . Grand Jury Of his own. and
had me indicted for bribery. Il seemed That .
man named Msyne had got . street car man
chse from the Board Of Supervisors On his
books was an entry Of $50 shares to Be deliv-
cred to Buckley 4 Rsiney-Fire Commits
sioner Sam Rsiney. When they were called
for knew nothing about the matter. - I was
In Europe when the agreement IL al
legged to have been made This took
place two months after left Tho Grand
Jury had been In session four weeks
before ! came away. but said nothing to
me. The charge was not true legally or any
other way. having been In Europe at the time.
The whole thing was absurd. II this man
Wallace had been q public-spirited citizen.
backed by honest popular indignation. I should
have had nothing to say. But I put Wallace
on the Superior bench. This ex-Chief Justice
begged me to put him back into politics. which
! did. He first sent to me some years ago Q
man named D. H. Bib. who arranged an inter-
view. went to Wallace's house and was hos
ritably received by him at least o dozen
times. At his request made him
one Of the Judges OF the Superior Court He
wanted a judicial ONCE So that he could be In
order for an appointment by Cleveland to
one Of the United States courts In Frisco when
either Sawyer or Hoffman. the present Judges.
died. both being pretty old. Wallace is Q rich
man and always has had an itching for ONCE.
Last year he wanted the nomination for the
supreme bench. refused for several reasons.
One was that the party wouldn't have him:
another was that charges made against
his integrity. with sfldavits. believe.
by local paper. when he WAS once
before candidate for Office. had never
been satisfactorily answered. 30 far as
knew. He couldn't have been elected. and
no couldn't got over 100 out OF the6OO votes In
the Convention When refused he was Bit
terly angry. and swore In the presence OF the
Superior Judges at San jose that he would put
mo in jail. This he tried to do in selecting the
Grand Jury by overriding tho law as he had
explicitly laid 1t down himself when Supreme
Judge. don't think q man Of this kind.
whose first idea of reforming city 10 treach-
cry to his friends and qualification Of personal
spite. will ever reform the city TO any great
extent.
" The same thing IL true Of the newspspee.
This is q sensational paper named the ESssNi-
~. hitherto called by other papers 'Buckleys
Morning Organ This IL the property Of
young Hearst. son Of Senator Hearst. He 10 .
good enough young fellow. but feather-head-
ed. He Is handled. however. By men who are
not good enough for reformerA This young
fellow owes me every possible debt Of graft
tude made his father United States Sena-
tor. When vacancy In the Senate from Cali