Los Angeles herald., 1909-11-07
THE RECORD OF AN
HONEST MAYOR

tions worse than those existing In Los
Angeles at the beginning of this year
under the administration that Mayor
Alexander succeeded. We had as mayor
of the city a man who was proved to
have accepted the vilest graft that hu-
man fingers can touch-the price of
the shame of fallen women. This
mayor had appointed as one of the
! three members of our board of public
works charged with the expenditure
during the next few years of moro
than twenty millions Of dollars
of the public funds, a man who,
while chief of police of the city, had
also received this frightfuli kind of
filthy graft This man, when pro-
NOTED by the mayor, had been sue
ceeded by another chief of police who
! had also received this frightful wage
Of corruption. The conditions existing
| in the city were such as might be ex-
| pected in a city governed by such men.
Vice in its most fragrant forms pre-
vailed. Gambling dens were numerous
and were run with almost no pretense
of concealment. Even when the exist
ence of such places was pointed out
to the chief of police by The Herald
he refused to take steps to close them.
Undoubtedly these places were also
paying a consideration In the form of
graft for being permitted to exist
LIQUOR dealers who had purchased
stock in corporations in which city Of
| fcials were interested had by such
purchases also bought the right to
violate all laws, and they exercised
that right by maintaining dens of ini-
ouity where the virtue of girls in short
dresses was coined into the vile money
that made the profits of their so-called
business. These places were conducted
openly and without let or hindrance
from the city administration. The
mayor and his appointed officials gave
such attention to the financial affairs
of the city as would be expected from
such men. Their principal efforts had
been devoted to increasing the list OF
tax eaters by creating every sort OF Of
fetal position to which a salary could
he attached. Numerous unnecessary
inspectorships and other offices had
been created by the mayor and COM
placent city council.
one illustration of this is the corps
Of license collectors who are paid sal
aries of s11O a month each to do work
which could be better done by the
police officers of the city without any
extra compensation at all.
# was this sort of city, thus gov
erned. Of which Mr.. Alexander was
elected mayor as a result Of the recent
recall campaign.
Now note the changes that one hon
est man at the head of city admin
istration can make. 1t is generally
recognized fact that never in the MS
tory of the city were the laws so
thoroughly and completely enforced as
they are today. The low dive keepers
that disgraced the Harper administra-
tion have either mended their ways or
have been driven out of existence and
their licenses have been forfeited by
the police commission appointed by
Mavor Alexander. The gambling dens
are closed. Places which paid the
shameful graft. whose receipt disgraced
the mayor of the city and two of its
chiefs Of police no longer exist.
The care with which the financial
affairs of the city are looked after by
the chief executive may be shown py
citing two instances Of the saving Of
public funds through his acts. In dis
charging his duty to the city as care
ful executive he scrutinized two pur-
cbases Of sites for fire engine houses,
both of which had been passed by
unanimous vote of Sthe city council.
The result was that other sites equally
as good were secured, with a saving to
the city in these two transactions of
S14.7OO.
on the recommendation of the mayor
certain changes were made in en-
ployes of the board Of health, which
resulted in an annual saving to the city
Of $4,000.
Other similar instances of the saving
Of the money of the public might be
cited, and the list would have been
! largely extended but for the fact that
the solid five" OF the city council
saw fit to oppose the mayor in many
Of his efforts to save the public funds.
/ one notable instance of this was the
refusal of the council to carry out
the recommendation of the mayor to
abolish the four license collectors posi-
tions and impose that duty upon the
members of the police force. This rec
ommendation, if carried out, would
have resulted in a saving of $440 a
month to the city, and it would also
have resulted in the license collections
] being more effectively made.
4 1t may be worth while to note here
that one opponent Of this reform sug-
j gested by the mayor was the present
/ city auditor, Mr.. Mushet.
There never has been time in the
history Of our city when its streets
have been so well cared for, and when
the city got value received for money
extended upon the care and mainren-
anc of its public streets and places as
it does today. There never has been
a time in the history of the city when
it was as free from Objectionable
characters, when the moral tone of its
life was as high and the laws were so