New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-06-03

brioe 10 permit the reestahlishment OF
an overhead trolley system bride
which another jury declared Pat Cal
noun, president of the United Rail
roads, never gave him. But corrup-
ton IN the city was too intrenched to
be completely overcome.
When San Francisco began to tire Of
the bitter graft fight, the traction
crowd, fresh from not very trium-
plant vindication Of its practices, de-
clded to protect its future and absorb
the District Attorneys Office. The in
cumbent was a weakened sort of per-
son who just said eyes" to most Of the
demands of the graft prosecutors and
let II 60 at that. When he wanted TO
quit, Frank Heney, who had recovered
from the attempt 10 kill him while he
was conducting the Ruef trial, WAS
nominated by the forces Of decency.
Rise of Football Hero
Charlie Fickeft was a big. lumber
ing, good natured sort Of a lawyer
without much practice. He had been a
football hero at Stanford University
and had always expressed the utmost
admiration for those who were fighting
the crooks. Suddenly, to the astonish-
ment of those who knew anything about
him, he appeared as the opposition can
didate for District Attorney. The news
paper which the United Railroads had
bought for political uses famed into
approving headlines. II is said that
the United Railroads spent 100000 on
his campaign. But what elected him
was the votes of disgruntled union la
Dor men, sore at Heney because he had
overturned the solid government they
had established under Ruef and
Schmitz.
In the state at large the graft prose
cution succeeded tremendously. The old
Southern Pacific machine, which for
forty years had ruled and MIXED Cali
fornia, was turned out with whcop.
Hiram Johnson, who had taken up the
graft prosecution when Heney was shot
down. refused, during his campaign for
the governorship, even to ride on the
s. p. cars, made his tour in an auto
mobile. and was elected. He made
good on his promises, kicked out the
gang Of railroad grafters. and cleaned
an the state For a while California
political history seemed nothing but
benoficent glow of western sunshine
until "the Mooney case" came up.
Meanwhile the situation in San Fran
cisco, with a neutral Mayor at the
helm, remained apparently suspended,
but with potentialities as variously as
sociated as the dramatls persona In
"The House That Jack Built Then the
bomb exploded during the preparedness
parade. Fickert fastened the crime
upon Mooney. And now you have all
the materials out Of which passionate
class hatreds are fabricated.
Saddled with paint Eaters"
On one side. there was Mooney, la
Dor agitator, more or less closely as
ISOLATED with the labor group which
sponsored Olaf A. Tvietmoe, the Nc
Namaras and the other conspirators IN
the structural iron workers plot to
blow up the Los Angeles Times Build
ING. The unions then had run wild and
had saddled the city for three sue
cessive administrations with a monde
script collection of ''paint-eaters,' who
had committed about every crime IN
the catalogue.
On the other side was Fickert, re-
carded by union,sts as the United Rail
roads hired man and the product OF
capitalistic rule He was now the Dis
trict Attorney TO try Thomas Mooney,
who had attempted to organize the en-
ploves of the United Railroads, a
chronic open shop corporation, and had
been in trouble with the Pacific Gas and
Electric Company, a political ally Of the
United Railroads. From labor's point OF
view Mooney didn't seem to have the
ghost Of chance.
But there is still another House That
Jack Built" string of circumstances
which crystallized large body of opln-
ion. San Francisco was probably the
most pacifstic of American cities, pos
sibly because it is so thoroughly or
gained by union labor, and possibly
not. At any rate, labor officially and
ostentatiously held off from the pre-
paredness parade. Consequently, when
a labor leader, even little leader, was
seized for the outrage the innate pa
triotism of the city welled up in a
twisted rage which demanded convic-
ton first and trial afterward.
II would be easy to connect the
Mooney case" with the conditions which
brought about the Vigilance Commit
tees Of the Roaring Fifties. Just as
the Rosenthal murder in New York
hanks back TO the system fostered under
the regime Of old Boss Tweed and Jay
Gould, so "the Mooney case" has It's
beginning in the rough early history OF
a city that never really Settled down"