The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1907-05-20
RUFF DOING GOOD SERVICE.

We are not Of those inclined to shy
! bricks at Abe Ruef on account OF ms
confession Of wrongdoing in connec-
tion with the municipal administration
Of San Francisco, On the contrary, We
commend him in his present course, and
/ are inclined to believe his statement
| that he loathes the part he was playing
while he was in league with the cor
rupt gang, and that he is glad to ter
inmate his connection with them and
once more range himself on the side of
| good citizenship. 1t is reasonably evi"
! dent from his confession in open court,
that he has INDUCED in high ideals of
The duty of the citizen and in respect
to pure civic government. 1t must
have taken an immense amount of
"sand" TO get up and make the con
/ fession he did in open court. The rea-
son he gave for making that confes-
sion, also, that IL was to save torturlng
the hearts of his father, mother, and
| family, was creditable to him as a
man of humane feelings and blood
affection.
| 1t is easy to understand how man
may gradually drift into q false posi-
tion by reason of political entangle-
ments and in his anxiety to carry out
certain schemes which involve his
| friends, and involve transactions that
in their inception did not contemplate
any wrongdoing. The downward gra"
dation comes almost imperceptibly in
such cases, and Mr.. Ruef explained
how ho was almost forced along by
circumstances and personal entanglc-
ments so that he could not save him
self from the downward course. That
he is n man of heart and feeling, how
ever, is evident from his stalwart act
IN making the confession, and from the
whole hearted manner in which he is
carrying out his declaration TO sever
himself altogether from those who
were willfully vicious and crimipaI,
and to let in the light Of publicity upon
their misdeeds. He declared that for
those who were corrupt by nature and
melted to corruption. he would have
no mercy; but he would never tell any
thing to the disadvantage of those~who
were entrapped into crime innoceutly
and who were the victims OF the Grim
inal system of government which the
ring imposed upon San Francisco, and
not willfully criminal. In his revela-
tions before the grand jury it appears
that Ruef is adheriug TO this line faith
| fully, and that in his opinion Mayor
| Schmitz is not ono of those who, under
his line Of division, is entitled to pro-
lection So very distinct and impor~
| tant are the revelations made by Ruef
against Mayor Schmitz that there lis
| talk even now Of removing Schmitz
from office and putting an honest man
in his place; and in the meantime,
Schmitz has been compelled to divest
himself of every vestige of power, and
turn his Office over to five representa-
Mayor Schmltz would undoubtedly
be great triumph for civic purity in
San Francisco, and would, if brought
about by Rucf's testimony, go far 10
repair the injury which Ruef has in
dicted upon the public in the past If
his revelations result in ousting from
public office the corrupt Mayor who
appears to be head and front of the
robbing gang, and putting the robbers
in Jail, Ruef will have deserved WELL
at the last, of the community.
That Ruef has been associated with
a gang Of public criminals no one real
ICES any more forcibly than himself;
the degradation of such association is
| also keenly felt by him. and the recog-
uition of the obligations of good citi-
zenship upon him that he has mani
tested are certainly much to his credit.
Ruef has been bad man, aud an
enemy to the public; but he knows all
the villainy that has been going on,
and his testimony is invaluable to
those who are determined to break up
the corrupt ring in San Francisco and
restore the city to the hands of honest
men and put in a clean administration.
For so much Ruef is entitled to credit.
and we are inclined TO award the credit
to him in full measure, and also to say
in his behalf that though the obliga-
| tions Of good citizenship were lost to