The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-03-31
RUFF TURNS UPON HIS SPROSECUTQJg55 DenDuncss "cOnsp> .cy" Re-
 sponsib|e for His Plight
PRISONER IN PRIVATE HOME.
San Francisco's Political Boss, Under Sixty-five Indictments tor Bf,nery, Sends Forth an Eloquent
 Denunciation.

Denunciation.
 San Francisco, March 30.-For the first
 time since his capture, month ago, Ab-
 raham Ruef, the indicted political boss
 of San Francisco today turned upon his
 prosecutors and unsparingly denounced
 the conspiracy which he declared is re-
 sponsible for his present. plight. Ruef
 made the following statement to the As
 sociated Press:
 This is the first time in the history of
 jurisprudence that an elisor has been ap-
 pointed by a court for the purpose of
 keeping in custody a defendant.
 By committing me to the keeping of
 William J. Biggy. and comforting upon
 him full discretionary powers to select a
 private prison and surround me with pri-
 vate guards, and otherwise use his un-
 trammelled judgment as to my confine-
 ment, Superior Judge Dunne has sought
 to overthrow the American liberty and the
 violation of our national traditions.
 For the sake of illustration forget
 that I am the defendant, and make the
 case impersonal Here is one Abraham
 Reuf. indicted publicly by a grand jury
 and charged with a public crime. Whether
 innocent or guilty of that crime, he should
 be prosecuted by public officers, confined
 (bail being refused )in public jail, and
 the expenses incident should be paid out
 of the public funds. Is this being done?
 On the contrary, this Ruef is tie prisoner
 of a private citizen raised to peculiar
 power, without authority or precedent,
 surrounded day and night by armed guards privately employed; incarcerated first in hotel and later in in private dwelling, each selected in turn by a pri- vate jailer, and each created for this purpose with private prison; he is being prosecuted not by the regulorly elected
 and duly authorized distsictis N5rney, but by a private lawyer. sI5s'iiy appointed a deputy for the purpose, and former | secret officer who is not even a citizen of this state, both of whom were private | ly retained, and are being privately paid | out of private fund raised and guaran- teed by private citizen, to-wit: MT. Ru- dolph Spreckles.
 Infamous Oppression.
 'Is this American? Is it not rather more odious than the lettres d'cahcet that
 were instruments of that infamous op- pression which the French revolution swept away?
 consider under the powers conferred | upon him by this judge, Elisor Biggy can make a private prison wherever and of whatever he may choose Should he decide to abandon this dwelling jail just as he elected to abandon the St Frances hotel he could if he willed, thrust me | into the bare basement of a stable, or | carry me to the ehutes and pen me up | in an empty wild animal cage. He would | not for he is man of decency and con- | sideration, but nevertheless he could. I l have no complaint to make against him | personally. It is the method by which | he was created my keeper that 1 de- | nounce.
 "Whither does 1t tend? If sheriff can | be disqualified on the plea that he is friendly to a defendant, can he not by l the same logic be disqualified on the | claim that he is unfrendly to a defendant and would refuse him those rights and | privileges which the laws and customs allow? Assuredly. Then what could | prevent Mr. Patrick Calhoun from hurry | ing here from New York, causing the arrest of MT. Rudolph II Spreckles on l a charge of conspiracy, going before a l judge of his own picking and having an | elisor appointed to take custody of MT. | Spreckles on the plea that the sheriff | was unfriendy to the accused. and se- l lecting by the courts connivance an eli ] sor privately Instructed, and enforce upon NIr Spreckles whatever indgnities l or confinement and sequesteration his pri- vate prosecutors might privately approve? l Absolutely none. I say, if the action of l Judge Dunne and his private conferees | is to stand as precedent in law. And then if it should be convenient | to the political enemies and it suited | their convenience of mind, he could by l the elisor be refused the right to see and | confer with his witnesses in preparation | of his defense, and what recourse would | MT. Rudolph Spreckles have? Just what | I have-none I have affidavits sworn l the day before my arrest at the Terra de | Req. to prove all the acts of my private | prosecutors are part and parcel of pri- | vate conspiracy At the proper time l will produce them in open court" Sensational Evidence.
 1 Two sensational pieces of evidence in | the bribery-graft investigation were ad- | duced before the grand jury today. Three 1 members of the executive board of the Pacific States Telephone company, E. R. Pittsburg H. s. King and Timothy Hop kins, testified that they had no Knowledge whatever of the alleged bribing of super VlSOfS 10 vote dBdlHSt lue dWdTu or u l competitive franchise to the Home Tele- l phone company, and if any bribery was committed it was up to President Louis | Glass, whom the grand jury has already 1 indicted on nine counts, to explain. An other member of the executive board of the same organization made the same de- nial of knowledge several days ago when on the witness stand.
 The second sensation came when E. R.. l Pittsbury, who is a director of and at- | torney for the Pacific States Telephone company, testified that Abraham Ruef, in- dicted political boss, has been for more l than two years on the private pay roll of that corporation. and has been paid regu-
 Iarly s120O month This, said PilIsbury, was more than the salary paid to him 1 self. When he discovered this he testified l he objected to the company. and his own 1 remuneration was increased.
 | Louis Glass caused considerable surprise I by appearing in the witness room. He | stated that he had come of his own voli- l ton. Assistant District Attorney Heney l and Special Agent Burns contradicted this
 statement They said that Glass had
 been subpoended by mistake. He was not
 called before the grand jury, but was ex-