The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1898-09-19
THE HUNDRED BOSSES.

NNCE the people OF Athens, finding the rule
| ] of the Pisistratid family intolerable, rose in
~ revolt, drove out the kings and established
their government in the hands OF council OF thirty
members That council became known to history as
the Thirty Tyrants and its exactions, expressions
and public plunderings were far than any
mitted by the royal despots.
Once the people OF Rome, after expelling the Tar
quin kings intrusted their government to council
Of ten This council, known the Decemvrs, stands
recorded as OF the most Infamous governing
powers in the annals of nations.
Once the people of Israel gave their government
into the hands OF council OF Judges, and Holy
Writ records of them that they were "the sons OF
Belial and served not the Lord"
Once the people of France overthrow their mon
archy and chose to rule them a convention
known constituent assembly, and the deeds of
that assembly constitute the blacklist and baodiest
page of tyranny and terror known to modern times.
History repeats itself. On a small scale and in
petty degrees the Democrats OF San Francisco ex-
periencing the that befall any people or body
OF men who put into power an irresponsible council
sufficiently in its membership for each man
to shift the blame for bad actions upon another but
still small to be clique rather than true rep
resentation of the body has been called upon to
govern
The council of one hundred bosses of the San
Francisco Democracy has been in power but short
time, and yet it has gone far along the path pursued
by the Thirty Tyrants, the Decemvirs the Sons of
Beal and the makers of the Reign of Terror. 1t has
assumed to itself all the powers of an arbitrary and
wholly irresponsible assembly. Appointed for the
sole purpose of arbitrating the disputes between the
contending factions in the party in this city, it at
once set itself up the permanent head of the party
1t named the delegates to the State convention
from this city, and by pledging them beforehand
named the candidate for Governor and other mem
bers of the State ticket. Now it transforms itself
into county convention, and on Monday night will
nominate all candidates for county and municipal
Offices and for the legislative districts.
Never before in the history of American politics
has such violent usurpation of the rights of the
members Of party been even so much as attempted
The annals of Tammany Hall furnish no parallel to
it. What has been done in this city by Higgins
Buckley Mannix, Brady, Crinmins and Kelly is as
nothing in comparison with the bodness and shame
less audacity of the scheme Other bosses have
worked their parties the raw but the hundred sons
of Belial have skinned Democracy
In defense of their action the members of the coun
Gil make the plea of hypocrites, 1--WE are doing it
for the public good the plea of the Pharisees 1--WE
are more honest than other men; the plea of con-
fdence operators "You trust us, for we are
pious." Behind these pleas made ostentatiously to
the public there threats and menaces to indi-
viduas of the party, eve will ruin you if You op-
pose u.s.
If the Democrats Of San Francisco submit to this
dctation and support ticket even a single can
didate nominated by this sef-constituted convention
they will have virtually abdicated the functions of
American citizenship. They will have ceased to be
members of sefgoverning party and become the
4 L.
boss and more greedy than the henchmen that the
boss EMPLOYS.