The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-05-16
RUFF IN TEARS PLEADS GUILTY Frisco's King of Grafters Creates a PitituI Scene
 in Court. SENTENCE IN TWO WEEKS His Action Comes as a Com plete Surprise to
 Prosecution. WILL SQUEAL ON SOME He Wanted to Break from Schmitz Before Latter's
 Reelection.
WILL SQUEAL ON SOME

San Francisco, May 15,- Abraham Ruef, acknowledged adviser of Mayor schmttz, and once the recognized dic- tator of municipal affairs in San Fran cisco, pleaded guilty to-day to the charge of extortlon in Judge Dunnes department of the superior court, Sen tence will be pronounced on him two weeks hence.
 After a private conference with his four attorneys in Judge Dunne's prl- vate chambers this afternoon, and aft CT they had withdrawn from his case because of his resolve to change his plea and avoid trial, Ruef to the utter astcnishment of the prosecution, arose in court and announced in dramatic address that after long and earnest con- sideration he had determined to with draw his plea of not guilty and to en- te, plea of guilty. He asked that the jury be dismissed and the trial aban- d0ned.
 Ruef read his statement from a man. uscript which he had prepared in the presence of his attorneys before Judge Dunnes chambers opened. He showed by his voice, by his expression, by his gestureless attitude and by the tears that again and again flowed down his cheeks the great emotion and utter hu- initiation that he suffered. The pathOs of the scene communicated itself to the crowd that thronged the court room. Tears sprang to the eyes of veteran reporters who have been Ruef's lifelong acquaintances and whose pa- pers have conducted against him and his associates, @ long and bitter cam paign for the purification of municipal affairs Ruef was several times all but overcome by emotion. When he reached tha last words of his address: T de- sire to withdraw my plea of not guilty and enter the contrary pIea,' his voice sank to a whisper But so tense was the silence that it reached to the farthest corners of the room.
 Though Ruef has formally declared himself guilty of the charge on which he was about to be tried, he neverthe- less proclaims his innocence. He con- fesses that he is guilty of having con- nived at corruption in municipal af- fairs, but he denies, with all the en- phasis man in his unhappy position can command, that he is not guilty of the crime of extortion charged against him. He declares that his sole motive in accusing himself in open court was to save the lives of those who are nearest and dearest to him, his aged fa- ther and mother, his maiden sister and a niece.
 In the course of a long conversation this aftetrnoon with representative of the Associated Press, in the house at No 2849 Fillmore street, which for the last month or more has been his prison, Ruef said:
 T say 1 do not know what my sen tence will be. If 1t be five years in prison, l can meet that when it comes. l believe that with my personality, leaving out of consideration the feel ings of those who love me and have stood by me, I could stand five years in San Quentin almost as comfortably as in a hotel in q summer resort. But, if the step I took this morning meant five years or IA years or 1400 years, the fear of that would not have de- tered me.
 q have made no confession. I know much. Some things 1 shall tell; some things I shall not tell Whenever an innocent man has been forced into corruption against his will, that man I shall protect. Whenever man, be he high or low, has entered into corrup- tion with his eyes open, that man shall expose.
 q will not say at the present mo- ment that Mayor schmitz is guilty of the charges that have been brought against him or that he is innocent. will say this I wanted to break away from Schmitz before his reelection a year ago last November, and said to him: I am sick of the whole thing and want to get out. 1 can't stand for all these labor union buns you have gathered around you and will appoint. They would eat the paint off a house.
 Tn answer the mayor begged me to stay with him and put up the argu- ment that these fellows must be allow ed their share or We could never hold the machine together. There was all too much truth in that.
 T stayed with schmitz and I stay ed with the machine that I at great labor and pains had built and assembl- ed, l found then that I had taken a step away from the high and clean ideals with which l originally entered the political field,