The morning call., 1891-12-28
BUcKLEY ON PURE POLITICS.

From the lofty height of political ex-
rerienee of a dozen years Chris Buckley
ePltnmizes his political faith in the follow
ilIg sentences:
You eaa never get pure politics till you have
Size united action OF a majority of the honest
pubIie-spirited citizens. Until you get that, all
corporate Interests, in fact, VIII simply be com
p=lled TO protect themselves against adverse leg
isIat!On.
Tie apopthegm is variation Of the old
.adage, ''Be good, and you will be happy"
The trouble with both apopthegm and adage
IS hat While everybody admits their truth,
the insrmity of human nature prevents their
adoption as rules of conduct People admit
that they ought to be good, and that as pub
Dc-spirited citizens they ought to discharge
their civic duties; but as matter OF fact,
the old Adam is so strong in them that they
are often bad, and that they neglect their
civic'duty TO attend TO their private business.
Thats not popularity Of San Frauciscans,
as Buckley implies; it prevails everywhere,
in New y ork, Chicago. London, Paris, Ber-
lin and Rome. as here. 1t is only on rare
occasions that community is reused to the
pitch OF abandoning the pursuit of personal
ends for the service of the public.
But Buekley's logic is all wild when he
finds In the neglect of civic duty by citizens
at large an excuse for his plumber Of vulner-
able corporations and delenseless clerks and
other employees Of the city. His reasoning
is that OF Dick Turpin: Here is a man
with purse; the community, which ought
to guard his property, has neglected its
duty; therefore l will take the purse" Or,
as Jack Sheppard used to say: Here is
shop window open, goods exposed and no
constable near; it was the duty of the
Of tha oh, ut
therefore / will take them" Buckley says,
with perfect truth, that the political indiffer-
entism Of Californians exposes owners of
property TO be plundered by kpaves; and
lie cheerfully admits that he took advant-
age Of his opportunities, enrolled himself
among the knayes, and became the robber
chief He sees no wrong-doing in that
There is something delicious in the Gym
ical frankness with which he admits his
guilt. In California politics "a managing
man" as he calls himself, ''has good game
TO play il he has brains enough to play it,
lie positively exults in having had brains
enough to accumulate a million by bleeding
s, corporations at the rate of 500 month and
5000 extra at election time, and of leyying
toll Of SO a month on City ball clerks
I've been managing the Democratic party
in San Francisco for fifteen years." SAYS he
lie forgets to say that when he began to
manage 1t he was a partner in an obscure,
unprcfiatle GROCERY on Bush street, and
that after fifteen years management OF the
TaTty he was worth million, more or less,
was in receipt of an income of $1,000
year, had property on the tax-roll in this
and Alameda County, and was able to
travel over Europe once a year, with sec
rotary, physician, a body guard and
retinue of servants. lie evidently had, in
his own words. brains enough to play his
game. and no principle to hinder.
1t Is amusing to note how, now that he is
exposed, others who tried to rise by his
methods, but had not brains enough to
play the game" are yirtuously indignant at
his rascaiity- Here is one of them who has
been as conspicuous as Buckley himself in
matchmaking corporations and trying to buy
votes and juries; yet he now weeps over
Buckley as one who has been engaged in
many disreputable transactions and who
has reason to believe that money will do
anything from electing a United States
Senator TO buying a trial jury" Was it
Buckley then who offered Bledsoe of Hum
bGidt $1,000 for bis vote for Senator, and
Buckley who fixed" jury in one we'll
known case, and who tried to fix jury In
another, ard would have succeeded but
that, in that case, he had to deal with man
who had ''hrains enough to play the game"
which he had not9