Los Angeles herald., 1907-12-27
rs TT TOO LATEP


q EvERAL weeks have elapsed since
IN Attorney General Webb said to
~ newspaper interviewere, when
pressed for a declaration as to his in
tentions in the. matter Of proceeding
against the Southern Pacific railroad
for the crimes to which 1t had frankly
confessed before Interstate Commerce
Commissioner FRANKLIN X. Lane, that
he had taken the subject under advise
ment. that he would ~look into IT," and
after he had discovered what the law
permitted him to do. he would an
nounce his- determination.
Attorney General Webb is not a good
public servant He is slothful. How
long could he hold job as legal ad-
wiser to private corporation-take the
Southern Pacific company for instance
If he took six or eight weeks to read
paragraph in the constitution of the
state of California? How many clients
would he have left If, as private
practitioner, he Kept putting them off
from day to day, from week to week,
from month to. month, as he has been
, QOluB WIFI Ills GWO SAAC1iS-bAO
people of California?
Though a cog in the political ma
chine which is notorious for it's bluff
ing and bulldozkng, Attorney General
Webb does not even put UP a good
bluff in this matter of looking into" the
case of the confessed criminal. the
Southern Pacific company.
A lawyer of ordinary human sensibil-
tiles would be profoundly Inundated
to find himself in a position where he
was forced to admit that he could not
comprehend the meaning of such a
plain provision of an organic law as
that to be found in sections 2f and 20
of article II or the constitution Of Cal
ifornia. But Attorney General Webb
appears to be utterly devoid of any
such delicacy of feeling. For which
he is to be pitied.
Many, many years ago powerful
ruler, who had given little thought to
the welfare Of his minions. who re-
garded no law except his own sweet
will, had his attention directed to q
bit of handwriting which mysteriously
appeared upon wall before him dur
ing the close of a long debauch. To
him the mystic characters meant Moth
ing until they had been interpreted by
one skilled in the ideographs Of the day.
When their meaning had been made
clear to his dense mind, befogged by
his sublime sense of his own import
ance, it was too late for him to profit
by the message of warning.
There is "mene" and "tekeI' upon
the walls of the servant of the people
of California, the chief steward of the
states legal department. The message
has been interpreted. And, alas! the
hour when this servant might have
proflted by the warning has passed.
The sacred duty which Attorney Cen
eraI Webb might have performed with
ease has fallen as a privilege, by the
course in which events have shaped
themselves, upon others. The glory
that might have been his will go to
others. To him is chargeable the
shame that might have been avoided.
For by his inactivity, his ridiculous
confession of ignorance of the intent
of legal verbiage whose simplicity is
unexcelled in organic or statutory
laws, he has let slip from his grasp
most magnificent opportunity to prove
his manhood, his capabilities as an at
torney at law, his love for a most
sacred American institution.
California is full of Webbs. We con-
fess it with blush of shame.