"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
"Mayor Taylor's choice of men for the new Board of Supervisors
will fortunately not meet universal approval. It will satisfy
all honest men who regard public office as a public trust and
not as a private snap, but it will not satisfy those who are
accustomed either to actually corrupt public servants or to use
a secret pull to obtain private and undue advantage. It will
not satisfy the criminal element who thrive by the wide-open
town, and who abhor a Board of Supervisors who will back up an
honest and capable Mayor.
"The board which the Mayor has selected may be safely accepted
as the leaders of the people. All interests are recognized
except that of the boodlers. The city has many knotty problems
to solve. Somebody must work them out. Probably no two capable
and honest men would resolve the various doubts which will
arise in precisely the same way, and yet out of all the
possible ways in each case some particular way must be chosen.
And it will be the duty of the Mayor and Supervisors, in the
light of much more information than the majority of us can
obtain, to select that way. And when it has been determined all
patriotic citizens must get behind them."
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE REAL FIGHT BEGINS.
Nine months after Heney assumed his duties as Assistant District
Attorney, Mayor Taylor named the successors of the Ruef-Schmitz Board of
Supervisors.
In those nine months much had been accomplished. Ruef had plead guilty
to extortion and had made partial confession of his relations with the
public-service corporations. The Schmitz-Ruef Supervisors had made full
and free confession, and had been removed from office. Mayor Schmitz had
been convicted of extortion, ousted from office, and pending his appeal
to the upper courts was confined in the county jail. The back of the
Schmitz-Ruef political organization was broken, and its forces
scattered.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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