The San Francisco call., 1906-10-22
Evening.

ALAMEDA, Oct. 21.-sLet a few res
OIute, cIean-handed business men of
SAN Francisco who are not towards,
who are not quitters or grafters, get
together and make a purse of twenty,
Atty or hundred thousand dollars;
then employ the abIest attorney to be
had and set quietly to work to find
the graft and punish the grafters.
They could make chapel exercises on
Sunday afternoon in San Quentin look
like a political rally In San Francisco
inside of two years."
These are the words used by Rev.
P. c. Macfarlane, pastor of the First
Christian Church. tonight in the course
of a sermon in which he scathingly
denounced the dishonesty of officials
and apathy of citizens, and asserted
that a greater love for saloons than
for churches is responsible for present
conditions in San Francisco.
STORIES OF JOBBERY.
The clergyman spoke on What Is
the Matter with San Francisco" han
ding without gloves stories of jobbery
that have been told Of municipal Off
GERS In a city, he declared, where
1900 men attend church and 100000 the
saloons on a given Sunday-these fig
ures being obtained by the Y. NJ C. A
-he could see little hope of reform
coming from the people. He said:
find myself thinking of my theme
tonight in three ways-of the city that
was and is and is to be.
First that II was a prosperous city:
In the second place 1t might be noteo
that San Francisco was an open named
city. a great, good-natured giant. Third,
it might be observed that San Fran
cisco was a naughty city, a wicked
city-more wicked than Paris, some
How de we know? New York has had
a Parkhurst and a Lexow and Je-
rome and a Hughes and Riis and
her skeletons into the public gaze. We
know that she was as bad as every
other American city of half million
dan other cities / will not attempt to
SAN FRANCISCO CORRUPT.
Fourth, it might be noted that San
/ Francisco was a corrupt city. Mayor
4 Eugene E. Schmitz has given the city
I a corrupt administration. Everybody
knew who cared to know that the city
/ government was honey-combed with
| Boss Buckley had ruled the city to the
city's shame. / have never seen per-
SON who was both disinterested and
well informed who did not hold the
worst of Buckley's administration to
be many shades whittier than the
Schmitz administration on the day of
T, it's most childlike innocence and purity.
In the election of 1905 the issue was
! clearly drawn. On the one side was
Mavor Schmitz and a corrupt official
! dom with the evidences of maladmin-
| istration in broken pavements and
| muddy streets and open gambling and
disorderly resorts, in places of evil as
sociation aourishing in places under
police protection. At the polls the can
didate of corruption was overwhelm-
ingly elected. No other American city
ever dyed itself in shame. In other
cities the elections have been carried
for the machine by terrorizing. honest
voters and driving them from the polls
and by false returns. 1t was believed
by all that Eugene E. Schmitz was
chosen by a majority of the honest vot-
ers Of San Francisco at the election OF
1905. This may be said to rudely char
acterize the San Francisco that was
To the seeing eye San Francisco was
never so great as when, with tearless
eyes. she sat amid the ashes of her des-
olation. The city and the sins OF heI
people had been purged by FIRE Had
San Francisco sunk beneath the waves
on the night Of April 21 her end would
have been glorious one. 1t would
have been a city or iron-souled. golden
hearted men and women which the see
overwhelmed.
SUPPLIES ARE STOLEN.
But such was not fate. When The
glare of the flames had died out and
the glow of noble purpose had palee
somewhat a night of moral darkness.
, settled on the city. Supplies sent b.
! charitable hearts to starving men anc
ated by the very men sworn to distrib,
ute them. A great corporation looted
the PROSTATE city of most valuable
! franchises. Officials whom the peopl,
had chosen because they knew the,
, were corrupt betrayed their corrup
constituency. The municipality wa
looted and is being looted today.
J The people deliberately elected a cor
: rlrpt city government, men saying: -
2 corrupt Mayor. boss ridden. is goot
: enough for US"
Every sick man thinks his diseas
is the worst. and possibly our pligh
/. is not so bad as we think. but w
search in vain for a parallel in moderl
: history. of a city where such misrul
= has prevailed as now obtains in on
mother city. Murder stalks through
e her streets. Crimes that usually lurl
in alleys and skulk in cellars now wall
, the pavements, roam the parks, eros
I the threshold Of banks and stores an
{ enter doors of counting-rooms. Unde
? conditions appalling as this we nat
urally seek TO get behind the effect o
2 its cause.
JEKYLL AND HYDE MAYOR.
The government we find personifie