The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1910-01-22

Nearly a year ago mayor laylol
of San Francisco appointed a special
commission to investigate the graft
cases, the graft prosecution and mum
icipal corruption. The commission
made an exhaustive inquiry and has
turned in a report that fills a large
volume. The following is a conden-
sation prepared by the commission
and gives a remarkable picture of
official corruption and general citizen
indifference to it:
The life of municipal wickedness in
San Francisco is long one, probably
beginning with the birth of the town
and having had various somnolent
periods. The fight against evil condi-
lions has also been long one. Coming
down to comparatively recent days, on
September 20, 1891, grand jury COM
posed of some of San Francisco's best
citizens made a report on the then
existing status That report, embodied
in the full statement, is we'll worthy OF
consideration as showing the existence
at that time of the same greedy seek
ers of special privilege to despoil the
public the same gang of hungry poll
ticians and the same corrupt admins
trative officers, that were subsequently
found by the oliver grand jury in 1907.
There was the same argument over
the relative crimes of bribe-giving and
bribe-taking. The Supreme Court oil
the State of California however, de-
cided that on technicality, this Wallace
grand jury was improperly drawn and
it therefore died with no result except
the report aforesaid.
The form of government prior to this
time was lax in provisions that would
locate responsibility, an evil which was
given consideration by the Grand
Jury, and, in response, Mayor Phelan
appointed a committee of one hundred
citizens to discuss and to draft a new
charter. 1t is noteworthy that Repub-
lican and Democratic machines united
ly fought for men who, as freeholders,
should report a charter that were
known to be opposed to the charter as
approved by this committee The char
ter, however, carried, subsequent to
which Mayor Phelan and a clean board
of supervisors were elected.
NO SCANDALS IN PHELAN'S
REGIME
During the administration of Mayor
Phelan and these supervisors, and I'M
der the boards appointed by the Mayor
eminent. But trouble, nevertheless,
was brewing. 1t came in the form OF
an industrial conflict The labor unions
were springing rapidly into being, as
were the combinations of capital. Both
sorts of combination being compare
lively novel in San Francisco, could
not understand each other and it is
fair to say that they did not under
stand themselves.
A Transfers strike came on and
with it class war. The employers re-
scented any idea of collective gargain-
ing by the men and refused to meet
the agents of the union. Violence
was used on behalf of the teamsters
in endeavoring to prevent the loss OF
their cause and their jobs to men
brought in from the country, which
drove into the employers camp many
who would otherwise have remained
neutral. Thus the town was divided
beyond immediate reconciliation.
RUFF COACHED SCHMITz.
1t was at this time that Eugene
Schmitz, a union musician, under the
able political coaching of Abraham
Ruef, was elected Mayor in 1901. 1t
was an obvious misfortune to elect to
the office of Mayor of all the people, a
man who, whatever his ability or char
acter, would consider himself and be
considered as a class Mayor.
Schmitz made short work of the APP
pointive boards of former Mayor Phe>
land, but inasmuch as a majority of
the creditable Supervisors who had
previously served, were reelected, the
city, during his first two administra-