Amador ledger. (Jackson, Amador County, Calif.) 1875-19??, 1907-06-28
1.-THE CLAN .SPRECKELS."

OoFoIai VI Our Well-meanlnR but
misinformed contemporaries assume
to place the SpreokeIs family in the
role of public benefactors. If history
counts tor anything the Spreckels
family, collectively and individually,
never did any thing pro bono publico.
The annals of the family discount
the superstition that Rudolph Spreck-
els has any other aim in view at this
time than the absorption of the
franchises of the San Francisco street
railways.
Hark back twenty years. The Have
meyer sugar trust acquired a sugar
refinery in San Francisco-the Ameri-
can which Claus Spreckels, father of
Rudolph. contemptuously called a
laundry" Spreckels met this in
vasion of his preserves west of the
Missouri River by counter-invasion
of the Havernayer territory. He
built splendid refinery at PhiIade-
phia, all pro bono publico. few
months later the sugar trust had that
refinery; Claus Spreckles, if report be
true, was several million dollars
richer; and the territory west of the
Missouri River was safely "Spreckles"
in sugar sense.
A few years later. Spreckels and
his sons built a railroad, the San
francisco q San Joaquin Valley.
Scores of merchants in San Francisco
subscribed for stock. At that time
the San joaquin valley was suffering
from high freight rates and every
form of monopolistic railroad domino
ton. Mr. SpreckeIs was the savior
of the people, Rights of way, depot
sites. stock subscriptions, everything
else, we're easy. The Santa Fe system
now includes the San Francisco Il San
joaquin Valley road from San Fran
cisco to Bakersfield. There is no re-
cord that the Spreckels family lost
anything in the transaction.
Then the SpreckeIs family became
/ interested IN the San Francisco gas
situation. The Municipal Gas Com
pany was organized, pro bono pubIico,
of course. Again there is no record
that the Spreckels family lost in this
transaction.
The history of the Oceanic Steam
ship Company supplies another evil
dence that the Claus Spreckels does
not cultivate Observation-Disclosures in its
alleged public and patriotic move
ments. The sugary name of Spreck-
els attracted large sums of money,
outside of the Spreckels treasury, for
the purchase of Oceanic stock The
steamship company gave i'll return
some beautifully engraved certificates.
Those certificates at one possessed q
certain value in markets of the world.
By some process the stock gradually
deprecated in value. Assessments
were called. The business of the
steamship company continued to de-
cline and the steamers discontinued
the Australian run. A prevalent
opinion is that the depreciation OF
stock and decline of business was one
of those carefully planned strategIes
by which the. man with the longest
purse eventually must win.
We are reminded that Mr.. Claus
Spreckels In former days when sugar
planting and sugar making we're his
particular hobbies claimed that his
son, Rudolph, in conspiracy with an
other son, August, held the old man
up for half million dollars. Fol
this Claus SpreckeIs denounced his
sons and refused to pardon them un.
til old age and sudden burst OF
patriotism induced him to Join
Rudolph in their plans to establish a
rival street railway system in San
Francisco by scheme of cooperation
with the labor unions and the district
attorneys office to discredit the
United Railroads and possibly to con-
fiscate its franchises.
1t is recalled too, that when Ru-
doIph Spreckels viewed with jealous
eyes the large amounts of money that
we're fattening Thomas II. William 8
bank account form the race track at
Emeryville, he became prominent in
the organization of rival track.
Once more let it be remem bered
that Mr. Rudolph Spreckels, who is
one of the heaviest realty owners in
San Francisco and, as Mr. Heney tells
I US, pays S., 500 month taxes on his
realty, was among the first to take
advantage of the earthquake and fire
of April, 1906, by rising his rents
enormously, and thereby greatly in
creasing the cost of living for the
wage Garner whose champion he now
pretends to be.
We are reminded also that Mr. Ru-
dolph Spreckels was the sole person
in San Francisco to raise voice in
dissatisfaction at the settlement by
arbitration of the last street car strike
previous to the one which has now
been pulverized by Mr. Calhoun's firm
attitude. 1t apparently did not suit
Mr. Spreckels's book for the Garments
Union and the United Railroads to be
at peace.
1t is a safe gamble that whenever
the Spreckels family: individually
and collectively, works pro bono