The San Francisco call., 1895-07-30
TWO PICTURES.

the municipal affairs of the City. Among
the persons whose names were brought be-
fore the public during that campaign were
the twelve men who now compose the
Board of Supervisors. By virtue OF their
prominence in their respective parties, OF
their pledges of fidelity in the public serv-
Ice, of their popularity in their several
districts, of their energy and skill IN the
conduct of the campaign, and of the
earnestness and activity of their friends
upon election day, each of these persons
was enabled to achieve success and to
secure the important official position OF a
Supervisor of the most populous city upon
the Pacific Coast.
1t required no small amount OF personal
popularity to win in that election, for II
was one in which the individual prefer
ence of the voter was given the largest range
for its expression. There were several
rival candidates in the field, and the
Australian ballot system placed all of
these upon practically the same footing on
election day. 1t was, therefore, a matter
of deserved pride and compliment to those
candidates for Supervisor who commanded
the respect of their fellow-citizens sutfi-
GENTLY to secure election.
With the beginning of the new year the
twelve members of the Board of Super
visors entered upon the discharge of their
duties as such. They were apparently
hampered by neither past traditions nor
present entanglements, but were free to act
in accordance with conscience and honor in
dealing with the affairs of the City, which
were entrusted to their hands. These
affairs, though multiplex, we're not diff
cult, nor intricate, nor was the path of
duty through them at all involved or un-
certain. There were contracts to be
awarded for public work of various kinds.
There were franchises to be disposed of for
street railways and other public uses.
There were schedules of rates and charges
of quasi-public corporations to be con-
sidered and adjusted. There were ap-
pointments to the various minor offices of
the City government to be made. While
all these public duties were important,
none of them were difficult, for the reason
that the method by which they were to be
performed was well environed by law and
clearly pointed out either in the ordi-
nances of the City or the statutes of the
State. 1t was, therefore, comparatively
easy for member of the Board of Super
visors to perform his duty to the public,
and at the same time to retain and even to
increase that popular respect and regard
which had placed him in office.
There are four members Of the present
Board of Supervisors who have succeeded
in performing their duty and retaining
their popularity. That this fortunate con-
diticn is not due to politics is evident from
the fact that these four men are not all
members of a single political party. That
it is due to their adherence to the plain
and simple pathway of honesty is evident
from the record of the Board of Super
visors during the past few months. Ii
another election were to be held tomorrow
there is little doubt that each of these four
esteemed and faithful servants would be
returned to their honored seats.
The people of San Francisco are neither
ignorant of what the duties OF member
of the Board of Supervisors are, nor dull in
the perception of when those duties have
been rightly performed. 1t was Kossuth who
uttered the eloquent truth that THE eyes
of the people may be blinded for a season,
but when once they have been opened they
can be deceived no more" During the
past six months the eyes of the people of
San Francisco have been opened as to
what is and what is not the performance
of duty by the members of the Board of
Supervisors.
There are eight members of the board
who have not succeeded in retaining that
public esteem and confidence which in
sured their election last November. With
the same duties to perform as the other
four, they have with singular unanimity
gone down in public esteem, and that even
more rapidly than their companions on the
board have assembled. They have earned a
designation which the past history of San
Francisco has made Infamous. By concert
of action they have elevated themselves to
the bad eminence of being known as the
Solid Eight and of being charged with
malfeasance in Office. With increasing
frequency they have been called upon by
their constituents to explain acts for which
there is no explanation consistent with
duty. By an unfortunate coincidence they
have found defenders only in those pub
lie organs which are the paid creatures
of certain great corporations. They have
been subjected to the reproaches of their
friends and the mockery of their enemies,
and if any one of them at any time since
his election cherished the hope of holding
his Office for second term that hope has
long since faded away. If an election were
to be held tomorrow, or at any later day,
not a single member of the Solid Eight
would have the slightest chance of
securing either nomination by his
party or a reelection by the people of the
City. It is possible that they may sue
ceed, by the strong aid of those whose in
terests they have served, in escaping the
penalties of the laws which they have COM
bined and conspised to nullify and evade.
They may even retain their dishonored
seats until their successors are elected, but
whenever the time shall come for them to
lay aside their robes of Office. they will go
down at once into an oblivion from which
not one of their number may ever expect
to emerge.
Look upon this picture and on that.
Consider the eminence of respect and
esteem occupied by the four members of
the Board of Supervisors who have
honestly and bravely done their duty
to San Francisco. Turn on the
other hand and observe the depth of