Los Angeles herald., 1909-05-22
A SPLENDID CITIZEN
nHR onposItlon that the deeent )


ment of San Francisco citizen
ship. in the efforts which it has
been making for a municipal house
cleaning, has met with from the bad
element of her citizens, which has de-
veloped a strength and determination
to stand in the way of law enforce
ment that is most unfortunate for
any city, may incline the good eiti-
zens of Los Angeles to a comparison
of the mass of our citizenship with
that Of San Francisco not at all fav-
orable to the latter.
1t must be admitted, however, that
in one of her citizens San Francisco
possesses an asset which the good citi-
zenship of Los Angeles can well afford
to envy her. We refer, of course, to
Mr.. Rudolph Spreckels.
The testimony adduced within the
last few days at the Calhoun trial
shows that this splendid citizen has
contributed to the destruction of graft
in his home city out of his own funds
the sum of $13S, AIS. When we consider
that this money was spent, not only
for the purpose of driving out of office
in San Francisco the most corrupt gang
Of city officials, boodlers and bride
takers that ever disgraced a munich
pality, but also for the purpose of de-
stroying Abe Ruef and his Southern
Pacific political machine, who were
primarily and solely responsible for the
official existence of these grafters, it is
hard to find adequate terms of admira-
ton in which to express ones appre-
citation of Mr.. Spreckels' sterling cit
zenship.
We in Los Angeles, thanks to the
character of the citizenship of our
city, are used to the idea of men con-
tributing out of their abundance to
the service of the city. And as an in
stance of this, we may cite an organi-
cation which within the past few
months has been perfected in the city
for the purpose of raising consid-
cradle fund to be expended in promot-
ing the good and preventing the bad
in our municipal government. But
even Los Angeles has not so far been
able to show q citizen who out of his
own pocket at such a tremendous cost,
has financed a cleaning-up movement
such as Mr.. Spreckels was chiefly re-
sponsible for and has supported in his
city.
Fortunately for Los Angeles, corrup- |
ton has never become so entrenched
in our city as to call for such an ex-
penditure. The general class Of ourI
citizenship is so high as to make such
a condition as existed in San Fran
cisco for years before Mr.. Spreckels !
promoted the recent movement for good
government in that city impossible.
The evil conditions which were rap
idly developing under the late Har-
per administration would very soon
have led our city into a slough Of
corruption as deep and dark as any
that San Francisco has passed through.
But the average of citizenship in this
city is so high that before the evil
conditions existing in the city admins
tration had operated for many months
that citizenship, by invoking that
greatest of all instruments for the pro-
motion of good government-the recall
cast out of office the offending Off
cials and replaced them with city
administration composed of honest, eff
hcient men who are rapidly relieving
the city of the evils which the late
corrupt administration brought upon
it and are placing the city government
upon that sort Of clean, honest, etfi-
cient business basis which is the ideal |
of all good citizens
Had it not been for Mr.. Spreckels' |
unstinted use of the fortune of which
he is the possessor, there is no telling
how long the Abe Ruef machine, backed
by the power of the Southern Pacific
company, would have continued the
frightful conditions which they had
produced in San Francisco.
Naturally by what he has done, Mr.. |
Spreckels has earned the ill-will, and |
politician, of every journalistic organ
of corrupt politics, and of the corrupt
Southern Pacific political machine in |
the state of California. But Mr.. |
Spreckels must know that he can rest
well content under the disapproval and
abuse of this element, and he must
know, and should be given to under
stand, that the actions which have
brought this disapproval and abuse
upon him have also won him the re-
spect, admiration and support of every
honest man, good citizen, and honest
and fearless public Journal not only I
in the state of California, but through |
out the nation whose most precious
possessions are the kind of citizens that
Mr.. Spreckels has shown himself to he. |
COSTLY CANAPTFS