Arizona republican., 1907-12-14
PHOENIX ARIZ.. DEC. IA. 1907.
THE PROPOSAL TO BRlBE
 ABE RUFF.

ABE hl ff-
 The announcement that the prose cution in the san Francisco bribery graft prosecution is considering the granting of full immunity to Abe Ruei in exchange for the connecting link in the evidence against the United Railroads officials. will go farther than anything else to confirm the spreading suspicion that the Spreckels reforma- ton of San Francisco was not impelled by wholly disinterested motives. Such a move as is said to be contemplated we do not think would produce the re- suits desired by MT. Heney and his as- sociates. but would tend to discredit the prosecution whose work is far from complete
 In the whirlpool of corruption which engulfed San Francisco. the United Railroads officials. if they shall be shown to have had any part, had a very minor part There appears. if there was offense, it was wholly tech nical, an offense against the law and so. constructively against society, but the fruits of that offense were beneficial to the community; they were what ev- erybody desired; what the street car company ought to have had and what would not have been denied 1t by an honest board of supervisors. There was merely a surrender of an antiquated street car system for a modern sys- tenn, an exchange more profitable to the city than it was to the company.
 Yet there were other corporations. The Home Telephone Company and the Parkside Company. accused of crimes not only against the law. but against the community. one charged with hay ing sought by bribery to deprive an in tended rival of a franchise while the officials of the other are under indict- ment for trying to secure a new and valuable franchise by bribery. But these alleged crimes, the first a par ticularly hateful one, have been pass ed by. valuable time within which wit nesses may disappear and the public opinion may grow apathetic IS being United Railroads officials, who enjoy the sympathy of the business commit nifty and who by the way, are the bus mess enemies of MT. Spreckels. It is rather more than suspected now that a business rivalry was the handspring of the entire prosecution; that but for that this open and notorious corrup- tion which had existed throughout at least the second Schmitz regime, would have been uninterrupted by MT Spreckels.
 But il was essential that the cam paign should be begun against the municipal government. only by the testimony of the bribed could the brib- CTS be reached. The supervisors were converted into yellow dogs" and Ruef the high priest of corruption. the real government himself, was convicted and granted partial immunity for his evidence resulting in the conviction of Schmitz. Thus was the ground cleared for the assault upon the United Rail- roads
 The chief counsel for the company has been acquitted for the reason that no connection could be established be- tween him and the yellow dogs" Ruef, the go-between alone could es- tablish that connection. but he declined to do so. except upon the condition that he be granted full immunity. It is quite the same. as if he had de- manded large sum of money for his testimony.
 But the prosecution is inclined to surrender to Ruef: to give him the bribe which he demands for such evil dence against President Calhoun as Mir. Spreckels and the prosecution need. The convicted felon whose crimes were notorious long before his conviction. IS to be taken out of the iiAHuS "i the court to be made a pliant tool Of the prosecution.
 We think that Mir Heney will make a bad bargain if this outrageous deal IS consummated. bad for justice and worthless for Mir. Spreckels. Srch tes- timony as Ruefs and procured by pur- chase. would certainly be regarded bv a fair-minded jury as worse than no connecting link-less binding than broken link.