The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1894-09-04
POT.BOILING AMONG THE DEMO-
GRATIS.

The falling out between Buckley and
Pepper is likely to throw light on our
municipal methods. II has always been
supposed that of late years, in a majOrity
of cases, many members of the Board Of
Supervisors and the Street Department
were corrupt, but it has seldom been pos
sible to prove the fact. Now Pepper.
chairman of the Democratic State Central
Committee, states that he, Buckley and
Joseph P Kelly were partners in a street
sweeping contract, and that they paid
CrimminS $3.50 a month for protection
against the Republican Supervisors in
carrying out their two years. contract
Pepper says that it was an absolutely
necessary business precaution. Joseph
P. Kelly admits that he got the money
from Pepper and paid 1t over TO Crimmins.
Both ne and Pepper supposed" that the
money, or part of it, went to the Supervi-
sors, but they had no absolute knowledge
OF the fact. Per contra. Martin Kelly of
the firm of Crimmins & Kelly says that
he never received $3.50 a month, or any
other sum. from Joseph P. Kelly to pro-
tect Peppers street-sweeping contract.
He did not know what Crimmins might
have done. Phil Crimmlns also denies
positively that he received the money
from Joseph P. Kelly. He did not know
what Kelly might have done. c. w.
Tabor, who was chairman of the Street
Committee of the Supervisors at the time
the contract was in force. declared that be
knew of no money having been paid"
he knew that some members of the
board were after every cent they could
ger."
Chris Buckley, as might have been ex-
pected, was a perfect kDOw-nOthing in
matters which involved corruption. He
admitted that he was partner of Pop
per in a street-sweeping contract which
was obtained from Democratic Board of
Supervisors. He is quite sure that no
money was paid for the contract. He
knows nothing of any $3.50 per month hav-
ing been paid to Crimmins as bride or
blacKmail. he is quite sure that Pepper
never mentioned the circumstance TO him.
He has not, however. received Pepper
final accounts.
The public is now in position to form a
conjecture as to the truth. If Grimm ms
and Kelly are to be believed and Buck ey' )
want Of memory can be construed as cor
roborating them, then Pepper invented the
story of the $3.50 onth for the purpo So
of disgraclng himself and suborned
Joseph P. Kelly to support his invention
by false statement that he had been the
intermediary through whom the money
was conveyed TO Crlmmins. If. on the
other hand, the plain stories of Pepper
and Kelly are true. then Crimmins and
Kelly simply plead not guilty to cr:mi-
nal charge and Buckley wriegles out BIZ
protesting ignorance of what MS partners
did. The public will have no difficulty in
deciding which Of the alternatives carries
probability on its face.
Peppers friends claim that Buckley's
assault and the suit brought against him
through A. j. Clunie, the attorney, ars
part and parcel OF bargain made long
ago between Burns and buckley whereby
Tor adequate consideration Buckley agreed
to help the Republican party in the muaic-
ipal campaign. 1t is darkly whispered in
confidential circles that between these two
eminent bosses there has long been treaty
OF blood brotherhood based on mutual adj
miration But nothing is certain.
For the iuoLc at large the interesting
point in the present controversy is that the
official head of political party confesses
without conjunction that he paid a
monthly stipend by way of bride to a DO
liticaI boss. and that candidate for Con-
.gress confesses that he carried the money
from one party to the other That fact
develops = degree of rottenness which
can only be parallelrd by the disclosures
before the Wallace Grand Jury of two
years ago.