The San Francisco call., 1908-12-10

mitted his guilt? Dare you acquit
him?"
Johnson tore to shreds the bugaboo
behind the claim of the defense that
the testimony of the supervisors stood
uncorroborated, showing the positive
confederation of every essential ele-
ment of the case. 1t was ridiculous.
he declared. for the defense to make
no claim of innocence. to refute no
testimony presented, to tacitly admit
RUefs guilt, and yet to ask for a YER
dict OF not guilty. He called atten ton
to the insincere argument of the de-
fense that no money passed in the
trolley transaction, followed a moment
later by denunciation of Gallagher as
a man "reveling in his sordid wealth"
mo money passed, yet Gallagher is
pointed out as a bribe taker. How do
they reconcile those claims?" he de-
manded. How do they controvert
Ruef's own confession? That's the
fool question that is submitted to you
in the ultimate analysis. Is the guilty
man guilty or not2
THE great central fact remains that
this bribe money was paid-your money
and my money" he continued, "and
this man ordered the payment of that
money by a turn of the hand. And
turning of our government
Attorneys Get Money
And that dirty money he is using
now TO pay these men-his attorneys
hereto keep him out OF prison. BY
that single turn of his hand he got for
himself more money than you or 1 in
our legitimate business or profession
could earn in lifetime"
Toh 10 Oh
for him TO argue the case, but that a
single reason forced him TO do so.
That reason, he explained, was so that
no man could later seek excuse for a
failure to do his duty, arguing that
he misunderstood the evidence.
NO man Will be able TO walk sham
in this case" he cried, because there
going 10 be no mistake hereafter.
There's going to be no shifting of the
responsibility in this case"
The wall of the defense that Ruef
had been a man tortured, that he was
the innocent. maligned victim of perse-
cution. was answered by Johnson with
I a quotation:
The devil was sick: the devil a saint
would be;
The devil was well; the devil saint
was he
Johnson led UP to his denunciation OF
I
existing in San Francisco after the
great fire. He pictured the stricken
city and its people. receiving aid from
the bounty of nation. and then he
turned TO compare this picture with one
I of Ruef taking bribe money for the
sale of his city and his own people. He
said:
You remember. gentlemen. that just
after that great cataclysm of April Is
1905, from all over this land of ours
came an offer of help. of succor. of love
and OF cheer From the rockbound
/ groves Of Florida, wherever a few
people congregated, wherever a hamlet
reared its houses, there the little fin
gers of the baby Joined with the horny
hand of toll in sending out to a strick-
/ en-. homeless and a destitute city the
| tokens OF the brotherhood Of man and
/ the love of humankind. 1t was then
my friends. that those torn and frayed
one dollar bills came side by side with
the gold certificates OF the well to do
/ 1t was then, when all over this land
/ all hearts were made to realize the
fatherhood of God and the brotherhood
Of man. the time when we shook hands
on the street with our enemies and
1 tried to build up our homeless and des-
/ titute town, that there came to us the
bill and the pocket worn piece of the
man who possessed naught else: the
tel that yielded its bills. frayed and
worn.
Into Hands of Grafters
They all came TO the United States
mint in this city for the stricken OF
/ this city-these torn and frayed bills
of cheer and messages of help. these
little offerings. Just think of it, They
/ thence to the hands of Abraham Ruef
and these messages from all over this
country OF ours were the very means
of our betrayal and the very. money
] md fno nt1f
At that time, when all of US were
| down in the dirt and in disorder
\ crawling through our streets, begging
for aid, standing in the bread line
fighting, indeed, for life. it was at that
time that Abe Ruef and the United
/ you. Talk of sympathy for this man.
Ny God History contains no instance
so base, so wicked. so mallgn, so av-
aricious. so corrupt, so horrible as this
In all the years you may read of nc
such thing as this. You may talk OF
Of his subjects died; you may speak
OF the horrors of Caligula; you may
talk about the tortures of Venice: vol
may speak of this or that wrong of the
rnlers' But here was a man of the
peopIe: here was man who had beer
honored by the people; standing right
after this fire and taking bills thai
were frayed and worn and tatteree
and had the tears of the senders upor
i then1--taking them bribe for be-
traying his people and his city and
selling out its birthright.
sympathy" for Ruef
Talk to me of sympathy for mar
/ like that Why if you don't convici
this man, may God in his infinite
mercy, or worse. call upon you the con
/ sequences of your act, H. Wnen n'
pleads himself guilty. as he has in this
case. you dare to violate your oaths
and say he is not guilty. may tl1t
good God deal with you. because. By
heavens. the people can not,
Characterizing' Ruef's $4,000 fee fol