The morning call., 1892-02-14
ANOTHER KIND OF GRAND

The public are familiar with the history
IF the late Grand Jury Of this county, whose
TelL-m-aut attempts to ferret ont lrgiSia-
i've and municipal corruption we're defeated
1y a majority of the members Of the ST.
creme u1t The final report Of that
I1aud Jury, 10 which it recapitulated the
!.st 0f tie evidence il lad obtained, is ia
the hands u tie public. People have now
-eCeiYei the closing report Of another Grand
Jury the one which has been in session at
Sacramento. with the leading political boss
# that county at its head as foreman. It's
-ep1Tt states:
In regard 10 The election Of a United States
senate. 10 succeed The lsts George Hearst while
So have heard many rumOrs OF improper con
1uct on tile part Of some members OF The last
Legislature 10 connection herewith. owing 10
lie absence from lie Stale OF many OF the most
important witnesses, We have been unable to n
y-sj5Caje tie matter In the thorough manner
liar lie importance OF the case demands. We
have heard much about Senatorial combine"
% the last Legislature, and have examined many
witnesses 10 our endeaVOT 10 give the matter
IlU and thorough investigation.
WhLe We have had some very positive and
damaging testimony, The pTeDonderanCe OF evil
1eaCe whether true or false, has been OF such
Utecuy contradictory character that We have
seen unable TO ind any indictments in cOnnee-
Ion Herewith. Some OF the witnesses have be-
l0Ins suddenly afflicted with loss Of memory to
uch an extent as 10 Indicate mental imbecility.
It is gratifying to observe that the Grand
Jury Of Sacramento has heard rumors Of
improper conduct on the part OF some men,
0ers Of the Legislature IN connection with
lie election Of a United States Senator to
ucceed the late George Hearst" For.
HaeH il was about it, it might have failed to
hear anything of the kind. 1t might have
proclaimed that there were no such TumOTs,
that il had never heard a word breathed
against the purity 1f the Legislature, and
that il did not believe there was a man in
the body who was not virtu0us. Why this
sQueamlshness? True, there is man of
tie name Of Bleds0e, who REPRESENTED Hum
b0ldt County in the Legislature, and is still
alive, Who declared upon cath that he was
offered, in a street OF Sacramento. $1,000 10
vote for a candidate for Senator, bat the
Grand jury probably never heard Of
BIedsCe, and stands ready to deny his ex-
istence.
The jury states that it was unable to in
yestiEate the Tumors it tad heard, owing
10 the absence from the State Of many Of
the most important witnesses" Some good
witnesses were certainly absent But
Bleds0e was present, and so was Taylor; so
we're a dozen others whose names and ad-
dresses were known to any politician in the
State. There we're enough and more than
enough Of these to prove 1.-THE improper
conduct" 70 which the jury delicately refers.
Why were they not summoned?
Tie juTy observes that it has heard much
about a Senatorial combine in the last Leg
lslature, and has examined many witnesses
10 give the matter a full Investigation: but
the evidence was so contradictory that it
was unable 10 fnd any indictments An
other Grand Jury was more fortunate. It,
also, heard contradictory evidence, but il
seems TO have had discernment enough to
dIsentangle the true from the false testi-
mony, and it reported TO the court the ex-
Istence If the combine. explained its meth
eds, stated its voting strength and specified
the sum each member realized from his
share If the sale Of the combined vote In
political circles in this city, and probably in
Sacramento likewise, the names Of every
member Of the combine are generally
known. The whole scheme has been ven
tiated and has passed into history. Yet the
Sacramento Grand Jury could not satisfy
itself that it ever existed.
Tie jury adds that 1t can only account for
the failure Of the witnesses to testify by
supposing that they were afflicted with
mental imbecility" It's failure to do its
duty is more readily explained by its own
moral inbecility." 1t could easily have
ascertained the truth if it had wanted to. 1t
had 10 such purpose The public believes
it was mpHneled 10 screen corruption, not
10 detect it. 1t was careful not TO summon
the Witnesses who knew the facts It pre-
ended to be after, and TO summon only those
who knew nothing, or were prepared to
perjure and hide the truth. It took its bucket
Of Nhiiewash and brushed rascals from
head to toe. while it insulted honest wit
nesses by doubling their evidence. 1t took
The toodleTs under its wing and proclaimed
o them that, however they might be ar
1oyed elsewherr, they cUud come TO Sac