The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-09-24

l find that the rich people of SAM
Francisco are all saying that Heney
and Spreck els are bad men because
they are injuring San Francisco ana
preventing it's rehabilitation by at
lacking prominent citizens and pro-
ducing lack of confidence in business
circles. / have talked with a num-
Der of leading business men, and
find the same thing running through
all their statements. 1t means a
new ethics. They have formulated a
new BODY of moral law; almost, in
deed, a new religion. The funda-
mental doctrine seems to be that this
country exists to do business M, to
make money in, to get rich in; any
thing that interferes with this essen
tial purpose is wrong, including the
Ten commandments. All these men
now take it for granted that the busi-
ness men. who were under investiga-
ton really did commit bribery, but
our rich people think this bribery
ought not to be punished, because
such punishment unsettles business
and the progress of the re-establiSh-
ment of things in San Francisco. A
1urther reason, or rather d reason at
ness men were obliged, under the
abnormal conditions existing in San
Francisco during the Schmitz- Ruef
administration, to take care of their
properties and protect their STOCKHOLM
ers. They did, it is said, what the
situation demanded, the only thing, in
deed. which the situation permitted
1t was time of stress and necessity;
men had to live in accordance with
the conditions of the world they were
in. If they did not. their property
would be ruined. Men cite as an ex-
ample the running of the Spring
Valley Water Company because its di
rectors in recent years have been un-
willing 10 bribe and have depended on
fair argument. There is no doubt
that the Spring Valley Water Company
has been practically ruined by the re-
strictive legislation of the board of
supervisors. There is no doubt about
it that in recent years they have not
been in the habit of bribing. And
now our typical San Francisco moral
ist uses this a burning example; he
says that Mr.. Calhoun protected his
property by doing the thing that the
occasion demanded A third basis
of excuse. if you may call it 50. is
found III the common notion that Mr..
Ruef waj an attorney and was given
hy these corporation representatives
fee to accom- plish an end in any way
he might see fit They had conf
dence in him as a person of tried ad-
ministrative gift, able to accomplish
results. and they gave him the money
10 accomplish those results without in
quiring into the various steps which
he would take. One of these steps.
to be sure, was the distribution Of
money to the supervisors They say,
also, that paying him a retainer was
not diffe rent from the established
usage Of corporations IN putting men
on their salary roll who are likely to
be called upon to give service at any
I me to the company, when really the
corporations motive in putting these
men on the salary roll is to avoid
trouble under threat-in other words
blackmail At the present time most
Of the leaders of wealth and society in
San Francisco are vehementIy opposed
70 Mr.. Heney and Mr.. Spreck els. They
say thcy are as bad as men can be
They think every one of any decency
should ignore them socially. I havei
been talked to very vigorously on the
matter by several persons of distinc-
non and wealth. 1t is an amazing
condition. I am not sure whether
tols ethical code and standard to
winch l refer has ever been formu-
GEO before; at any rate, not so
e. txdhKly. However, it seems to me as
- II were very much the same thing
49, the protest L hear from Wall Street