The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1909-06-15

would stoop to any tascality to achieve
results which he wished to bring about
O'GARA'S ADDRESS
In beginning his address O'Gara said
Gentlemen of the jury, 1 am glad
TO be able at last to look you in the
faces without running any risk there
for Of being charged with official mis-
conduct, and 1 congratulate you that
our labors are drawing to an end. I
thought that the Ruef trial was en-
titled TO the record for the length of
time occupied, but this case has far
exceeded it. 1t is now over five months
since we first began the impeachment
of the jury in this case and il is over
two months since the taking of testi-
mony was begun.
Although, gentlemen, this has been
very tedious and laborious matter for
you. there should still be much which
you should find about it to compensate
you. Out Of all the men who were ex-
amined here for this jury, you gentle
men have been found the only ones
willing to give your service to the
state; out of all the men examined you
have been the only ones found qualified
to sit here and see justice done. 1t
must be, in some measure, a compen-
sation TO feel that you have been thus
elected. But more than that, the par
ties here have endeavored to find men
of standing in the community and men
of truth and honesty, and when you
have been accepted here you have re-
ceived a testimonial as to your honesty
and integrity in the sight of your fell
lows. And in years TO come, as you
look back on the time you have la
bored in this case you will not con-
slider the time spent with regret, but
as you act faithfully here you will
look back upon 1t with pride as time
given TO a duty well done"
O'Gara spoke Of the home as the
sanctuary of personal and civic virtue
and decency, and called upon the Jurors
to throw about themselves. If possible,
the atmosphere of their homes in their
consideration of their ultimate duty.
He continued: - sSWy
who would allow a wrong to find
it's way into his home? Who would
allow his child to learn evil? Who
would teach his child bribery? There
in the home is the sanctuary, and there
is that about the home which sanctifies
its occupants.
HOMES SHOULD GUIDE
And so it is the spirit of your homes
would have guide you in the fulfill
ment of your duty here. / would not
have that evil genius which presides
at the Oak and Broderick streets car
barns guide you; / would not have that
evil genius which presided in Abe
Ruefs once guide you / would not
have that evil genius which presided at
Mowry's hall guide you. The charge
here is to be tried by men who love
their homes, who are honest, who are
patriotic.
The charge in this case is bribery.
You will remember that in the old days
morality plays were produced in which
the virtues and the vices were por-
trayed and were given personal en-
bodiment What do you suppose would
be Bribery's appearance If Bribery took
on body and appeared here before us?
Though the form and the face might
be fair and unblemished you would
recognize that the heart of this figure
was filled with evil.
Gentlemen, there is nothing manly,
courageous or chivalrous in the crime
which this record has exposed to your
view. What does 1t all amount to-?
Simply that Patrick Calhoun wanted a
franchise; that 1t meant money in his
pocket to secure such a franchise; that
the earthquake and fire gave him the
opportunity to get what he wanted, and
that he promptly made his arrange
ments with Abraham Ruef. Ruef, in
turn, made his arrangements with his
tools. the members of the board of su-
pervisors, and ii was accomplished, and
Patrick Calhoun went back to his east
ern home with his franchise in his
pocket, and the supervisors got their
money. There was nothing In that
transaction except something in the
nature of treason, something of theft
And no matter how these mems lives
shall turn in the future, no matter how
much they shall be surrounded with
wealth, and no matter that they may
win the encomiums of their fellowrnen
the soil and stain of that crime will
remain with them as long as ever they
liver
CASE IN THE ABSTRACT
The speaker turned to an abstract
statement of the actual case which
the jury would have left them to de-
eide He divided It into two broad
questions: Was a bride offered 10
Supervisor Fred p Nicholas?" and
was the defendant legally account
able and responsible for the offer?"
He stated the legal elements of the
crime of bribery and the general re-
quirements of testimony necessary to
prove such charge, declaring that the