"The System," As Uncovered by the San Francisco Graft ProsecutionHichborn, Franklin
History
"The System," As Uncovered by the San Francisco Graft Prosecution
Hichborn, Franklin
Political corruption -- California -- San Francisco; San Francisco (Calif.) -- Politics and government
In the scramble for advantage, the self-control and self-forgetting
attitude of the members of the Prosecution, instead of exciting
admiration, was condemned. The Examiner, referring to Langdon's
associates, for example, announced: "Their failure to agree on anyone
has led to some alarm for fear their divergent political ambitions are
making each of them endeavor to secure a place for his personal puppet."
Had the Prosecution named the Examiner's "personal puppet," this
particular source of criticism would undoubtedly have been silenced and
the Examiner's vilification and abuse of the Prosecution during the
years that followed averted. What is true of the Examiner in this regard
is true of the other institutions and interests which, in this crisis of
the city's history, were clamoring for "recognition."[253] District
Attorney Langdon's plan, on the whole, was not received in the spirit in
which it was offered.
The Building Trades Council, under the influence of P. H. McCarthy and
O. A. Tveitmoe, promptly rejected the District Attorney's proposal and
refused to name delegates.[254] This action influenced the Labor
Council, which, on the ground that in the absence of delegates from the
Building Trades Council the Labor Council representatives might be
outvoted, refused to participate.
Of the five commercial bodies, the Real Estate Board alone promptly
accepted the District Attorney's invitation. The board named its three
delegates and so notified the District Attorney.
The Merchants' Exchange demanded that the number of delegates be
increased from thirty to forty-five by the addition of fifteen
professional men, and proposed that the convention name a new Board of
Supervisors as well as Mayor.[255]
The Board of Trade refused to co-operate unless the delegates be
increased in number by the addition of "professional men and others."
The Chamber of Commerce and the Merchants' Association finally accepted,
but stipulated that a two-thirds vote of the thirty delegates should be
required for a choice.
The failure of the several organizations to join in the selection of a
Mayor, made it necessary for Langdon himself to proceed with the
reorganization. All that Langdon and his associates required was that
the new executive should be independent of political control and free of
the influence of those public-service corporations that had been trapped
in bribe-giving. It was also the aim of the Prosecutor to name as Mayor
one whose standing was such that none could be so unfair as to charge
him with being in the slightest degree under the influence of the
Prosecution.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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