The San Francisco call., 1909-09-05
Francis Heney he appeared last evening his the
north and snapshot his meeting with District Attorney Langdon

they would demand that he be sent
where he belonged-to the penitentiary.
/ One year afterward Langdon ap-
! pointed me an assistant district attor-
ney, and we were doing our best to
send Abe Ruef to the penitentiary,
where he belongs. You can bet, friends,
if l thought the work 1 undertook then
was only to send men to the peniten-
tiary, i never should have undertaken
il. II was something greater. We be-
lieved from the conditions that had
been exposed in Philadelphia, st. Louis
and Minneapolis that there existed in
our great cities such corruption as
would lead to the destruction of our re-
public. We believed we could do a
service to the country by exposing con-
ditions here and causes lying behind
them that would lead to reform. We
knew not the men, but the issues. We
had no friends to protect or foes to
punish We proposed to expose the
truth to San Francisco and the United
States in order to secure better gov
ernment hereafter.
RECALLS STUMBLING BLOCKS
You all know that it took five or
six months of our work to secure evil
dence of the crimes here. You all know
our effort. You all know how all the
newspapers. not excepting the corrupt
Chronicle, were fighting TO expose these
corrupt conditions. You had no fault
to find with them then. On the con
trary, every man, woman and child
wanted the work to go on. We went
ahead and found we were up against a
stone wall. We found things as Abe
Ruef put Ii correctly afterward He
said: The supervisors won't tell: /
won't tell; and the public service cor
pora tions will deny it. These men
Heney and Langdon-can't get the evi-
dence; they must fail
Well, 1t was stated correctly. Now
men don't hire halls like the Novelt'
theater, put money in bags and count
1t out before the public. We find that
these men don't take witnesses with
them when they give bribes. On the
contrary, they are very much like the
colored man who was brought up in
court for stealing chickens When the
Judge asked him whether he had any
witnesses he said:
We'll. to tell the truth, judge
don't make no practice of takin' wit
nesses wiv me when l steal chickens
I'VE find these men didn't take wit
nesses with them, either, when they
passed the money. So we had to decide
to slet all the boodlers go and the ras-
calls remain safe or to have some one
talk who could tell what the facts were.
We couldn't catch great public service
corporation with paltry sum in trap.
1T is the duty of every American cit
izen to expose crime when he knows
the facts II any man has been held up
by public officials he is coward and
un- American If he fails to come to the
district attorneys office and tell the
facts. But none came.
ADVISED TO RELENT
"On the contrary we were advised by
certain gentlemen and their friends
that no money had ever been paid for
any public franchises. We didn't be-
lieve it. Finally we secured the evi-
dence. And yet you hear many people
say. Why not prosecute the super
visorsg Some other people ask, Why
not prosecute both the supervisors and
the bribe givers?
We'll, where would we get our wit
nesses? And yet they ask, Why not
prosecute BOTH? 1t seems to me I've
read editorials in the Chronicle to that
effect and also in some of the week
lies. The Argonaut is quite good rea-
soner. But when a man says that he is
insincere. When he says prosecute
both he means you should let both 60
San Francisco is facing another cri-
sis In her history. In November there
will be another election. The eyes of
the civilized world, at least of all the
English speaking world, are on San
Francisco to see whether or not she
viii redeem herself. It's wholly i'm
material whether Francis j. Henev
shall be elected SO far as he Is per-
sonally concerned. This cry that
showing San Francisco's corruption
TO the world is San Francisco's shame"
is preposterous. 1t is not her shame
but her glory But If San Francisco
says she is tired and is willing to stop
now and hasn't the courage to go on