"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
Later on, after Ruef had been sent to the penitentiary, an article on
the San Francisco Graft Prosecution appeared in one of Mr. Hearst's
magazines.[272] The article was printed under the signature of Mr.
Edward H. Hamilton, one of the ablest of Mr. Hearst's employees. Mr.
Hamilton gave the credit for the work of the graft prosecution to Mr.
Hearst and The Examiner. The men whose steadfastness of purposes and
high integrity had made even approach to the prosecution of influential
offenders possible, upon whom Mr. Hearst's Examiner had poured ridicule
and abuse, were more or less favorably mentioned in the article, but Mr.
Hearst was given the bulk of the credit for what the prosecution had
accomplished. In California, where The Examiner's treatment of the
prosecution was well known, Mr. Hamilton's article was received with
some amusement and not a little resentment.[273]
Although, with few exceptions, the policy of the San Francisco press was
adverse to the prosecution, the principal interior papers gave Langdon
and his associates loyal support. But eventually a chain of papers
covering the greater part of the interior of northern and central
California was enlisted on the side of the defense. The papers were
started or purchased by a newspaper publishing company known as the
Calkins Syndicate.
The Calkins people had for several years been identified with a number
of unimportant papers, printed in the interior. Suddenly, from
publishing obscure weeklies and dailies, the Calkins Syndicate became
one of the most important, if not the most important, publishing concern
in California. A modern printing plant, one of the finest on the Pacific
Coast, was installed at San Francisco. The establishment took over much
of the printing of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company, including the
printing of the railroad corporation's monthly, The Sunset Magazine. The
Sacramento Union, the most important California morning newspaper
printed north of San Francisco, and the Fresno Herald, an afternoon
daily, were purchased outright. A bid was made for the San Francisco
Post,[274] but terms could not be made. The Calkins people accordingly
started the San Francisco Globe, an afternoon daily newspaper. Less
important papers were established at various points. In an incredibly
short period, the Calkins Syndicate had a chain of newspapers covering
the greater part of northern and central California.
The distinctive feature of these publications was their opposition to
the San Francisco graft prosecution. But the abuse of the Calkins
newspapers was not so cleverly presented as in the Examiner, nor so
adroitly handled as in the Chronicle. So violent were the Calkins
papers' attacks, in fact, that they injured rather than assisted the
defendants' cause. This was generally recognized. The Calkins Syndicate,
after losing whatever effectiveness it may have had, eventually went
into bankruptcy.[275]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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