The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-05-16

the afternoon. The visitors were given banquet tonight at Sherry's by 100 Japa- nese residents of the city. reception followed, which was attended by several hundred prominent New Workers A for mai visit was paid Mayor Mcclellan by Baron Kurold soon after his arrival To- morrow the party will visit West Point.
 Baron Kuroh was given an enthusi- astic reception as he stepped from the train in Jersey City this afternoon.
 Baron Kurolsi seemed relieved when he boarded the ferryboat. but an attack came from another quarter when a score of photographers pressed about him. The Baron turned and spoke to Consul Gen. Koike in Japanese, which was translated thus.
 ''The photographers are harder to face than the Russians"
 After Q short engagement with the snapshot men the Baron was ficelked by a detachment of reporters, who asked him what he thought of the country. The question was translated to Baron Kuroki who replied:
 T am very much pleased with your country and the receptions l have re- ceived. hope my visit will do much to cement this strong friendship which know already exists between the United States and Japan I admire your people, for they are an active and energetic, like my own people,"
 --~~0~-~~-~~~~ municipal affairs, but he denied with all the emphasis a man in his unhappy position can command that he is guilty of the crime of extortion charged against him. He declared that his sole motive in accusing himself in open court was fn cnt flnC 1ftrAr 1F kl....-
 est and dearest to him. his aged father and mother, his maiden sister and a niece
 T have made no confession know much. Some things l shall tell, some things l shall not tell Whenever an in nocent man has been forced into corrup- tion against his will. that man I shall protect. Whenever a man, be he high or low has entered into corruption with his eyes open, that man I shall expose "I will not say at the present moment that Mayor Schmitz is guilty of the charges that have been brought against him or that he is innocent. I will say this: I wanted to break away from Schmitz before his reelection a year ago i last November, and said to him: I am sick of the whole thing and I want to get out. 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. In answer the Mayor begged me to stay with him and put up the argument that these fellows must be allowed to share or we could never hold the machine together. There was all too much truth in that.
 Schmltz Advised Corruption.
 T stayed with Schmits and I stayed with the machine, that I with great labor and pains had built up and as- SemhIp1 I fOIInd thap hat I had talr step away from the high and clean ideals with which I honestly assure you originally entered the political field. found in short that to hold this machine together I had to permit and connive at corruption. In the state of affairs exist ing it was necessary. But myself never asked dollar of any man, and never took dishonest dollar from the public; the things that I did were the things that hurt no one. Before the poodle board of supervisors was elected I warned them against crookedness in offica Immediate ly after their election I got them together and I said to them: Now, you-if any one of you takes a dollar. I'll prosecute you myself And I meant 1t. was in earn est But found that I could not carry out my threat and keep the machine from going to pieces. Schmitz was right about that. And so much of this corruption was needless. I mean frorl the givers' end of the deal Take, for instance, the trolley franchise. Everybody wanted the street railways electrified There would have been no opposition of tbe application had it been merely laid before the board It would have been grantel. But the press of San Francisco had taught the public of San Francisco to believe every office holder was croop; that the whole city was rotten from skin to core; that | no privilege could be obtained unless it 1 was paid for"