The Washington herald., 1908-05-28
'FRISCO'S CONSCIENCE
By FREDERIC J. HASKN
By FREDERIC ]. HASKIN.

Special Correspondence The Washington Herald
San Francisco. Cal, May 15.-The ma
lority of che people of san Francisco are
good. honest folk who are still needing
The voice OF that civic conscience which
commands the city to purge Itself OF the
guilt of the stupendous corruption of the
Ruef-schmitz era Of graft But civic
sonsciences, like human consciences, are
sometimes to be lulled to sleep-some-
times 10 be befuddled by false issues. One
of the blackest crimes in the history Of
governments IS now being attempted in
The city Of San Francisco. 1t Is the effort
10 make the people forget the guilt OF
the grafters by falsely representing the
purposes Of the prosecution. The story Of
he shameful prostitution OF the power Of
ofice by Mayor Schmitz and his adminis-
lration. the story OF the wicked boss rule
of Abe Ruef. the story Of the downfall Of
The grafters from high official position
these things have been told 10 every
American who reads a newspaper
But not even san Francisco realizes to
The full extent the meaning Of the pres
ent campaign of innuendo which aims 20
restore some OF the chief criminals Of the
black era of graft TO their old position OF
respectability, and TO destroy the men
who have been lighting 20 bring the
grafters to justice by covering them with
unjust lnfamy.
Newspapers. bank presidents. respect
able" citizens. men of high social posi-
ton, and even men OF high church posi-
linn ara ooff1-n1v ouUoUnF Ia a ,.,.,ntf,,
OF abuse and ridicule which has for its
Victim Francis j. Heney and his asso-
; eiates In the prosecution OF the criminals
who debauched the city's honor At the
same time they apologize for some OF
these men whose guilt Is as well estab-
hshed as IS the fact OF the existence OF
the men.
Desperate Efforts are being made by
business men wa' believe themselves hon
est 10 create sentiment in favor Of drop
ping the prosecution Of these criminals.
because the reports Of the trials In the
newspapers will injure the reputation OF
the city with people abroad" They seem
not to remember that the outside world
expects the honest people OF san Fran
cisco TO bring the criminals 20 punish
ment They seem TO forget that IL these
grafters go scot-free other grafters are
sure TO arise and pursue their careers In
confident expectation of the protection OF
the respectable business element OF the
city.
Some OF the newspapers In San Fran,
cisco ridicule every move made by The
district attorney and his assistants They
impugn the motives Of Rudolph Spreckles
who made the graft prosecution possible
hpr srfDD
about the prosecutors by the hosts OF
thugs hired by the grafters OF the Rue
stripe. They laugh at the arguments ad
vanced by those who are seeking justice
They cartoon and lampOon Prosecutol
Heney and Detective Burns.
The first thing one OF the self-stvlet
respectable business men saws 10 TN,
stranger within the gates OF the city IS
Wei. there are two sides TO this graf
question" II ne is asked 10 name tn,
two sides, he replies "Of course. Rue
and that gang OF labor union officiaI
were pretty bad but. then. there is graf
In every city. IL Is human nature. Sai
Francisco is no worse than any othe
city. There always will be grating. w
can't help that. you know" If presses
TO be explicit and give the two sides, h
VIII say: We'll. yoJ see, this prosecu
ton by Spreckles and Heney and tina
crowd has hurt business. and this tow
has lost millions Of capital by IL. II ough
to be stopped"
If the questioner will repeat his IN
uuiry for the two sides Of the case Ia
hours he viii never hear anything NOR
explicit. He will hear that the Spreckle
family is very wicked. He will hear tina
Heney is an outsider. He will hear tha
Burns peeped through holes to get proc
Of tho guilt Of some grating officials. II
VIII hear attacks upon the prosecute
for hours He will hear apologies for III
grafters and for grating as long as h
can listen, but he Will never hear that
guilty official who takes bribe. or
corrupt business man who gives on,
ought to be punished IN accordance wit
the statutes in such cases made and prC
vided.
This campaign is not without system
A series OF dinners was given in III
homes Of some OF the social leaders
the city, at which the whole conversatio
was devoted to the campaign Of stihin
the voice Of the civic conscience. Ever
weekly paper in the city, religious an
all. with one exception, Is either attacl
ing the prosecution or remaining silent.
This campaign in the sacred name ,
business" which seeks to make Il
people forget is entirely independeI
from another campaign conducted I
other defenders OF the grafters Threa
ening letters are their weapons. tt
chief witness for the prosecution, form,
Supervisor Gallagher. was the intendC
victim Of an assassin, who endangerC
the lives Of seven other persons by dyn.
miting the house where Gallagher live
Whether this plot was laid by person
interested in the defense or not has n
been proved, but the prosecution says
will prove Il eventually.
The grafters who turned States ev
dence and were granted immunity in o
der 10 get proof of the crimes eommi
ted by those higher up" are condemnC
IN the ToUndest terms by the men WI
apologize for all the other erafters. Bo
Ruef confessed, II will be remembers
and was promised immunity II he wou
tell al be knew He refused 10 testii
IN court L. facts which he swore to in Il
grand jury room. He broke the I'm
munity contract himself. Now that he
no longer a prosecution witness. he hf
the sympathy Of the very business
men who were lately denouncInR him ,
the author Of all the evil Furthermor
the breaking Of the immunity contract
charged against the prosecution.
Mayor 6chmitz walks the street a fr,
man He was sent to the penitentiar
but. after waiting until the statute
limitations prevented another Indictmen
the Supreme Court OF California Iibe
.ated him because Of technical flaw
the indictment. In defending this d
cision, judge Of the Supreme Court.
signed newspaper article. cited n