The San Francisco call., 1908-03-15
Continued From Page "a. Column

On the night OF May 1, 1907. Ruef
begged me to take him to see Heney.
telephoned Heney. who said that he
was in bed and did not care to be dis
turbed: he also said that he was get
ting very tired of the Ruef matter and
did not want TO have any talk with
him. I was persistent, however. Heney
finally told me that / could bring Ruef
TO his house which I did No one went
with Ruef and myself except Biggy on
that occasion Ruef advanced the same
argument that he had to myself, point
ing out reasons why he should not be
asked TO plead guilty. These reasons
were that il would destroy him as a
witness thereafter. He was unable.
however. TO convince Heney. I have
read Heney's affidavit on .. Sc TO line
%, p. So. both inclusive, and it is true
in substance as / remember it,
On May >. 1907. Ruef and DR.. Kaplan
urged me to arrange for meeting
with Heney and Langdon. which ] did
at Eeney's house. have read Heney's
affidavit. line 8. p. -. to line 9, p. Io0.
both inclusive and line 2 p lo1 to
line Is. p. l02. inclusive. in reference
70 the aforesaid meeting and state the
s5me is true in substance as remem-
Der it
DR. Kaplan was present at this meet
ing. and these two meetings just men
TONED are the only ones that took
place at Heney's house
In this connection / would also state
that az one of my visits to Ruef after
the first conference at Heney's office.
at which Henry Ach. DR. Kaplan and
DR. Niete were present. Ruef persisted
in urging me to tell him what leniency
him in case No. 305 If he did
plead guilty 1 told him that 1
understood that question had been
left by him entirely in the hands of
the rabbis Ruef. however. insisted
upon knowing what if anything. had
been said about il By the district at
torney and his assistants. ] then told
Ruef | was satisfied he had already
been told what had occurred al Mr.
Heney's Office and that | thoroughly
understood that his purpose was to
force me 70 discuss the matter with
him and tell him the details of what
took place at Mr.. Heney's Office
then stated that / was not authorized
to make any promises of any kind in
the matter. but that l was absolutely
satisfied that if he testified honestly,
truthfuily and fairly In all matters and
delivered what he claimed he could de-
liver that when the matter was all
through he would be treated the same
as the supervisors. and that ! would
do everything in my>power to have
him so treated. ! told Mr.. Ruef a num-
Der of times thereafter and l also fire.
quentiy urged the district attorney and
his assistant TO give Ruef complete
immunity in case he would make a
full disclosure of all the graft with
which he had been connected in San
Fran and would testify honestly
and fairly whenever called upon and
would take an interest in assisting the
-scrfr ~ha &C
he had done the city so far as he was
able On the foregoing occasions 1
also asked Ruef whether he could be
corroboraIed and as TO the persons he
would involve. His reply was as fol-
lows. "Oh, yes. there viii : be no
trouble about that 1 can corroborate
fully everything I tell with your as
sistance. You need have no fear as
10 that
PROMISES A SENSATION
Several days before Ruef finally
made his confession and while DIR.
Kaplan and myself Were leaving the
5dence that xRuef told him IL was
probable he 4Ruef would entrust a
document to DIR Kaplan. The doctor
further stated that he did not desire to
Keep this document. but that he was
going TO giveit to me for safe keeping
as he had absolute faith in my integ7
rity and knew that II would be weif
taken care of.
For some days prior to making his
confession Ruef said Now If ] con-
clude TO make a confession / will tell
you of a case that will cause a tre-
mendous sensation and viii really be
the most sensational disclosure you
have yet had" repeated this TO Mr..
Langdon and Mr. Heney and we were
- a nd
when i next saw Ruef 1 urged him TO
tell me whom it would involve. and he
said il would involve Schmitz.
On the morning of May 8, 1907. at
about IL o'clock / called at number
2s4e Fillmore street and was informed
that DR.. Kaplan was then In confer
ence with Ruef I went to the door
front and was told TO remain there for
short time. In little while DR..
lZsplan came out and took me into the
next room and said in substance as
follows
Now, Mr. Burns, I am sorry for
you You have a very great responsi-
bility in this matter and so have /. Up
10 but few minutes ago / was afraid
that this whole matter was going TO
fall TO the ground and all our trouble
would have gone for naught- as this
morning when / came to Mr.. Ruef he
had made up his mind to tell me that
he would not make a confession. and
that he was advised by his father and
sister not to confess. but have finally
persuaded him and he has just now
given me his word that he will accept
the offer of the prosecution and make
his confession and enter his plea of
guilty"
RELATIVES AGAINST STEP
| We then entered the room where
Ruef was and 1 congratulated him
4 upon the conclusion* he had reached
His father and sister were both with
him at the time and both stated 10 me
/ in the presence of DR.. Kaplan that
they disapproved of Ruefs agreement
/ to make confession and that they
! had strongly urged him against it. and
that he was taking this step against
| their will. / assured them that ]
thought it was the proper step for him
to make and that If he did his full
duty in the matter and did honestly
| and fearlessly carry cut his agree
ment fully that / thought everything
would be all right
DIR. KapIan withdrew. as did also
the father and sister of Ruef. When
| all withdrew from the room I then