Los Angeles herald., 1908-10-03
WOOLWINE SEES
TRAP IN Offer
OF FREDERICKS
BRANDS DISTRICT ATTORNEY
AS INSINCERE
PROSECUTOR LAYS EVIDENCE
BEFORE GRAND JURY
Declares He "WilI Not Serve Under
WeakIing," and in Singing Re-
Duke Tells Fredericks to
Do His Duty

continued from R0Re unO1
ericks were before the jury the
mayor and Commissioners Wood
i'll and Lewis were locked in the
mayors private office discussing
the Woolwine situation. Nothing
was said publicly as to any de-
cision reached in this meeting, but
not long afterward raid was
made from police headquarters
upon houses running i'll the red
light" district and inmates were
taken to the city prison.
All these made for day of con-
siderable activity with the prose
cutting attorney as the, center Of
the whirlpool. Today promises
to. be a quiet one, as the grand
Jury will not meet until Monday.
Then there will either be another
display of fireworks or the tunult
and the shouting will die until it
can be agitated from a new quar-
ter.
The parting letter in the con-
troversy was the following from
Woolwine to Fredericks:
beg to acknowledge receipt Of your
latter handed to me today shortly pe1ore
my appearance before the granu jury.
In reply thereto 1 would suggest that
vou take my letter OF the first inst. ana
read it carefully. In that communica-
ton I informed you in detail why re-
fused to shoulder your sworn RESPONSE
bilities, and further informed you, IN
substance. that L had no confidence III
your sincerity; that considered your
offer a cowardly attempt to evade your
plain duty and to thrust the RESPONSE
bility of the grand jury investigation Oh
cIty OFFICIALS upon my shoulders.
thought that / made my position SO
plain that you would not fan 10 unoer
stand. My answer was maj, ana your
further attempt to crawl away from
vour RESPONSIBILITIES has confirmed me IN
the opinion that / expressed OF you IN
my former communication, but for rear
YOU may not comprehend l Will just sa!
one two things.
"No Confidence in Him"
In the first place will affirm again
that / have absolutely no confidence IN
the sincerity of your offer. You nave
| shown that you have neither the cour-
age nor the inclination to properly carry
on this work yourself, and certainly
under these circumstances you could not
be expected to uphold me in any agrees
sivA Investigation. This work II prop
erly carried may cover long perloo
of time and might mean a very agrees
sive conscientious, prolonged night, ana
for this and other reasons VIII 1rank-
" saw that 1 believe you to be totally
unfit for such a campaign, and IN the
light of this opinion of you would not
be willing to attempt this work on any
Oh
It must not be forgotten that all the
time 1 would be but subordinate OF
yours and subject to your removal at
any moment.
care to serve under such a weakling as
YOU have proved yourself to be, for your
indecision in the discharge OF the duties
of your office teaches the lesson that at
any time the campaign became TOO warm
for your retiring temperament l would
he forced out of the fight by removal
from office. I am younger man than
yourself, but let me give you just one
piece of advice: This is the opportunity
of your life If you were big enough and
brave enough to realize it. If you do not
recognize this fact or have regard
enough for your oath of office to pro-
coed with this investigation, you should
acknowledge 1t and retire from your
office and let some one take the place
who is not afraid and who has no
affiliations that would hamper him in
the discharge of plain duty.
Challenges His Acts
You state, among other things, Nor
did l care to assume responsibility in
a matter the merits of which were un-
known to me-" You have never asked
to be informed as to the matters under
consideration and have shown well
defined intention to evade all knowledge
thereof when you well knew that you
have the power by calling me before the
grand jury to learn everything that
know with regard to the same.
You complain that IF were to take
up your charges and find nothing in
them YOU might claim the investigation
had been lax" This statement is
puerile. No public officer who has a
conscientious regard for his duty and
does it to the fullest need fear the CEN
sure of anyone But 1t is useless to
waste words, for it seems that nothing
can serve to instill in you desire TO
do your full duty in this matter
Couch your language as you may,
veil your motives as you please, you
can rest assured that the people will
not misunderstood. for your present
conduet and your record in office speak
louder& than words.
While / will hold myself in readiness
at all times to appear before the grand
jury I do unqualifiedly and finally re-
fuse your offer to have me shoulder
vour j sworn RESPONSIBILITIES in this