The morning call., 1893-05-23
THE CITY'S FOE.
Mayor Ebert. Sits Down
on Wiley
AND SCORES THE AGITAToR.
A Warm Reply Sent to the Mayor
of Hastings Whose Aid Was Asked
for the unemployed"

Mayor Ebert was very In0lgnant yeSter-
day. In fact he was positively angry. and
did not hesitate 10 show 1t.
The cause Of his dspleaSure was the
perusal of the following letter, which he
had found in his morning mail from the
Mayor of Hastings. Nebr.:
May 16, 1898.
To His Honor tie Jfdyor Of San frdncisco-
DEAR SIR: l have received a call Tor alu pur-
ported TO be from the Headquarters OF lie san
Francisco unemployed, 2O14 DUPONT street.
signed by William W. Wiley, chairman, ana L.
L. Fry secretary. do not know whether there
Is anything in the circular OF not, but am ll-
formed they are being sent all over Tue country,
and | should be pleased 10 hear from you
whether there is anything in IL OF not. III claims
That there are from 5000 TO 10000 people per-
fectly destitute ana u starving condition In
San Francisco. Kindly advise by return mail.
as l have hesitaled TO make call Tor ala until
hear from you. Yours truly.
c. C. RITTENHoUSE, Mayor.
"Whbre is this man Willey?." asked the
eity's chief executive. at is time that
stop should be put to this sort OF, thing
From all over the country come reports OF
the harm done by those disappearing cir
culars sent out by the alleged unemployed
The fair name oil San Francisco is being
made byword and reproach by thelf
irresponsible, false aud malicious utter
ances. They have pictured thousand oil
people starving in the streets OF the city,
and have stated that the army oil unem-
ployed was legion. and have called Tor ala
OF other cities which are not nall as We'll
off as San Francisco. 1t is time that these
agitatoTs should be stopped In the injurious
work in which they are engaged.
Wiley was sent for. and made his ap-
pearance In the Mayors office a short
while later. The Mayors brow was cor
rugated while he gazed at the seii-ap-
pointed leadsr of the unemployed VINO Will
meyer take employment.
Mayor Ebert told the agltator, Ia no un-
certain tones, that lie was in1uring the city
by sending out the circulars he bad dis
tributed. II Willey'S object was to aid
the really unemployed, he was injurIng
their cause By keeping capital ana Immi-
grafton away. The Mayor told Wiley Of
his gross eXaggerations, which had no
foundation in fact and indicated to him
that he would invoke the law to have such
lying circulars suppressed.
"Have you received any money from
any of the cities to which you sent these
malicious circulars?" asked the Mayor
sternly.
NO" replied Wiley. "We nave not
received cent"
What would you have done with the
money If you had obtained any?"
Our object" returned the labor agtator.
was to obtain big fund to form an army
of sanitary police. who would act under
keep the city clean. This would give en-
ployment to hundreds ofthe unem ployed."
The Mayors answer Knocked Wiley
into a cooked hat.
mot by iugful." said Mayor Ellert,
humping his hand heavily on his highly
polished desk and fixing his angry eyes on
the agtator.
What! Do you propose to levy contri-
buttons on other cities by means Of false
and malicious accounts of imaginary dis
tress, IN order to carry on public improve
ments in San Francisco? No, you don't
DO that here while l am Mayor and presi-
dent OF the Board of Health. San Fran
cisco Is abba TO pay for her own dresses.
and don't you forget it. When she wants
any improvements she will not ask her
sister cities to pay for them"
The Mayor terminated his interview by
reached himself and had injured San Fran
cisco all over the coast and that his mis-
representations must stop.
Wiley went out INTO the rotunda Of the
hall and paced the marble pavements with
the detected strides of fallen greatness.
He was soon Joined by Lieutenant Fry
and about twenty other Unemployed. who
take to idleness with all the pride of a
professional man. Wiley and his follow
erS were engaged in holding q sand-lOt
meeting on the steps leading to the
Mayors private office. when Mayor Elleri,
WHO was DuSy lnslue tnlnElng about how
he could undo the injury done to the city
BY Wiley, heard the noisy haraneues of
the agitators. He put his head out of the
window and requested the agiators 10 hold
their meetings elsewhere, as ms did not
want to be interrupted while he was con-
Quoting the business of the city. The
agitators filed out of the rotunda into the
street.
Mayor Ebert returned to his desk and
indited the following letter to the Mayor
of Hastings:
Hon. c. c. Rittenhouse. Mayor of Hastings,
NeOr.-DEAR SIR: l am in receipt of your
communication of the 16ln inst. and while APP
preclattng your kindly expressed sentiments
and generous offer, l feel indignant that any
such appeals should emanate from any person
IN this community, being wholly uncalled for.
untrue and vicious, in that the persons make
false representations and on that basis ask for
assistance without cause and without merit.
William Wiley and others OF his ilk are pro-
feSsl0nal aeitators. Nothing could OF nd them
more than work: their forte Is 20 endeavor 10
excite sympathy from the credulous by specl-
Gus pretenses, and this Is their business. That
from time to time there are more or less unem-
ployed persons in San Francisco is true, butt
that Is true also OF all other large cities.
The charitable people and associations have
been and are amply able and willing TO assist
all deserving persons who may require aid.
In any contingency of the character referred
TO San Francisco and her citizens would be
second 10 none in responding generously to all
meritorious demands, and equally pronounced
10 exposing. disregardng and denouncipg all
schemers and agitators whose greatest punish.
ment would be to compel them 10 work.
Thanking you for The kindly feelings ex.
pressed, remain yours truly,
H. r. ELLERT.
Mayor of San Francisco