CHAPTER XXI.

THE SAN FRANCISCO ELECTION OF 1907.

Scarcely had the prosecution overcome the delaying tactics of the defense, and forced graft cases to trial, than District Attorney Langdon had to defend title to his office at the polls.

Langdon had taken office in January, 1906. His term was to expire in January, 1908. The municipal election, at which Mr. Langdon's successor was to be elected, was to be held in November.

At that time was to be elected besides the District Attorney, the Mayor, Supervisors and practically all the other municipal officials.

The old convention system of naming candidates for office still prevailed in San Francisco. However, California had even then entered upon the struggle of throwing off the yoke of machine domination through the convention system of naming candidates. The delegates to the several conventions had, under primary law provisions, to be elected at the polls.

San Francisco was divided upon one issue--that of the Graft Prosecution. The opposition which years of adverse publicity was to develop, did not then confront those who were standing for vigorous prosecution of the corrupters of the municipality. But under the hammering of an adverse press, and the claquer's systematic belittling, the graft defense had made gains sufficient to give it at least a fighting chance at the polls.

On the side of the defense, too, was the solid support of the powerful Southern Pacific Company, and of the various public service corporations, as well as the purchasable press. On the side of the prosecution stood the people of San Francisco, not yet worn out, nor misled, nor yet alienated from the policy of vigorous prosecution of the corrupters of the municipality. The people recognized that effective continuance of the prosecution required that Mr. Langdon be re-elected.

That the action of the prosecution in making Taylor Mayor, might be endorsed at the polls--thus receiving the stamp of public approval--Mr. Taylor's election became quite as important as that of Mr. Langdon. The same was true of those of the Taylor-appointed Supervisors who became candidates for election. But the contest waged about the election of Taylor and Langdon.

Such was the issue which confronted San Francisco at the 1907 election.

There was but one issue. There were, however, three prominent political parties, Union Labor, Republican and Democratic. None of the three could be called the prosecution party, nor for that matter, the defense party; nor had any faction of any of the parties the temerity to declare against the prosecution of those trapped in corruption, however vigorously opposed to the prosecution this or that faction might be. But each of the three parties did divide on the question of the election of Langdon and Taylor.

Broadly speaking, the supporters of the prosecution in all parties demanded that Taylor and Langdon be nominated. The opponents of the prosecution, while declaring loudly for the prosecution of all offenders against the law, labored for their defeat. On this issue, not always clearly defined, the intraparty factions met at the primary polls. The prosecution, therefore, had three independent political fights on its hands.

Langdon had been elected by the Union Labor party. Taylor was a Democrat. But in the confusion of the times the principal primary fight was within the Republican party.

The Republican opposition to those roughly described as "pro-prosecution," found expression in the remnants of the old-time machine--generally called Herrin--element. At its head were many of the experienced machine leaders. The Republican pro-prosecution forces were at first without definite leadership. But in this emergency most effective leadership developed.

Daniel A. Ryan, a young "Irish-American," came to the fore as captain of the reform forces within the Republican party.

Ryan is of the highest type of his race, as developed under the advantageous conditions to which the immigrant and his descendants have, in these United States, been admitted. Well educated, forceful, a brilliant speaker, effective as an organizer, a lover of the political game, Ryan was soon the recognized leader of the new movement.

He was trusted implicitly. The selection of candidates for convention places was left largely in his hands. Under Mr. Ryan's leadership the fight for effective continuation of the Graft Prosecution was carried on within the Republican party.

The division in the Union Labor party was scarcely less pronounced. The party, roughly speaking, divided with P. H. McCarthy heading the anti-prosecution side, and men of the type of Walter Macarthur, one of the founders of the party, leading the forces supporting Langdon and his associates.

But here again there was most confusing division. Thomas F. Eagan, chairman of the Union Labor Party County Committee, for example, was quoted within a week of the primaries, as announcing: "Schmitz is an ideal candidate (for Mayor). If available, he would be nominated by the delegates that will be elected on the regular Union Labor ticket." Nevertheless, Mr. Eagan was unalterably opposed to Mr. McCarthy heading the ticket.

The Democratic division was less pronounced than in either the Republican or Union Labor party. The side favoring Taylor, without much reference to Langdon, went to the primary polls under the regular Democratic leadership, with Thomas W. Hickey, chairman of the Democratic County Central Committee, at its head. Prominent in the opposition was Lewis F. Byington, who had preceded Mr. Langdon as District Attorney. Mr. Byington was brother-in-law of General Tirey L. Ford, even then under trial for bribery, and one of General Ford's attorneys.

In the confusion of these many-sided contests, the defense had its best opportunity for success. But the result, so far as the Democratic and Republican parties were concerned, was overwhelmingly successful for the prosecution.[320]

Of the delegates to the Republican convention the Ryan (pro-prosecution) forces elected 142, the "Herrin" (anti-prosecution) forces 7 only. Of the 164 delegates to the Democratic convention, 161 were elected by the regular (pro-prosecution) element, and 3 by the Byington (anti-prosecution) side. The popular vote within these parties was scarcely less pronounced.[321] On the other hand, within the Union Labor party the anti-prosecution forces were overwhelmingly successful, the McCarthy faction electing 185 delegates and the forces led by Walter Macarthur and his associates 13 only.

Under the alignment, it was expected that the Republicans and Democrats would unite without hesitation upon Taylor and Langdon, leaving the cause of the indicted corporation managers to find expression in the Union Labor party platform and candidates.[322]

But scarcely had the primary returns been made public than the San Francisco Call, generally regarded as staunchly on the side of the prosecution, brought confusion upon the pro-prosecution element, by suggesting the candidacy of Mr. Ryan for Mayor and belittling the candidacy of Mayor Taylor.

"Ryan," said The Call through its political representative, Mr. George Van Smith, "has not sought and is not seeking the Republican nomination for Mayor. He may have it forced upon him and find himself the recipient of similar endorsement of his powers as a boss-buster, from the Democratic organization."

The Call, in the same issue, hinted that the Democrats might not nominate Taylor. Without a Democratic nomination, Taylor could not expect nomination at the hands of the Republicans.

"That the Democrats will nominate Mayor Taylor," said The Call, "is more than doubtful. Mayor Taylor was drafted into the city's service. He has not given any indication of a desire to serve the city as the head of its government after the time when a popularly selected successor could be qualified. If the Democrats do not nominate Dr. Taylor, the Republicans would scarcely be expected to do so. The fact that the men who will make up an almost exclusive majority of the Republican convention seem to be committed to the idea of nominating Ryan appears to preclude the nomination of Taylor by either party."

The source of The Call's information is not apparent. Up to the time of the publication of its article, August 15, there was no sentiment in San Francisco for the election of Mr. Ryan to the Mayoralty. On the contrary, the understanding was that Mr. Ryan had entered the contest from motives of good citizenship only, and that he was in no sense a seeker of office for himself.[323] Such had been the understanding during the primary campaign; such was the sense of the community after the primary vote had been cast.

All recognized, however, that Mr. Ryan was in a position of great power. He had been trusted implicitly. The selection of anti-Herrin candidates for delegates had been left largely in his hands. Few thought, however, that he had selected delegates for the purpose of giving himself the Republican nomination for the Mayoralty. Then, again, aside from the confusion his candidacy would work in the ranks of the anti-Herrin, pro-prosecution element, Mr. Ryan, while a pleasing young man and clever politician, it was generally recognized had few qualities usually looked for in the Mayor of a community of half a million people.

To add to the confusion, The Examiner, which was now in active opposition to the prosecution, came out strongly against Mr. Ryan's candidacy, denouncing it as "a grotesque piece of effrontery." "For the primary leader," said The Examiner, "to appropriate the office to himself, is like the agent of a charity fund determining that he is the most worthy object of the charity, and putting[324] the money in his own pocket."

But Ryan's candidacy was not to be defeated by adverse criticism. Mr. Ryan had been largely instrumental in selecting the Republican delegates who were to name the candidates. Besides, he had the clever support, in its local columns at least, of the San Francisco Call. He had about him a number of enthusiastic young men who were ambitiously active in urging his candidacy.

"Every time the Taylor boomers gain a man they lose one," announced Perry Newberry, Secretary of Mr. Ryan's organization, and Ryan's right-hand man. "As far as the Republicans are concerned Daniel A. Ryan is as good as named. It will be Ryan, not Taylor, who will sweep the city."

With the advocacy of Ryan's candidacy, came quiet, systematic opposition to the nomination of Langdon.

With Mr. Ryan and his associates in control of the convention that was to nominate, it began to look as though the victory which the pro-prosecution Republicans, under Mr. Ryan's leadership, had won at the primaries, was barren indeed.

Among the Democrats, the opposition to Langdon and Taylor was even more discouraging. Langdon had been candidate for Governor two years before on the Independence League ticket. Theodore A. Bell had had the Democratic and Union Labor nominations. Bell had been defeated by a plurality. Bell ascribed his defeat to Langdon. The so-called Bell Democrats accordingly made this an excuse for objecting to Langdon.[325] As to Taylor, with the ability of the forces at work to defeat the prosecution considered, opinion gained daily that the failure of the Republican convention to nominate Taylor, would be followed by a refusal of the Democrats to give him nomination.

Thus with the supporters of the prosecution overwhelmingly successful at the Republican and Democratic primaries, there was grave danger that their purposes would be set aside by political manipulation.

But at this crisis a new element was injected into the situation.

Citizens who stood for enforcement of the law hastily formed a non-partisan organization to uphold the hands of the prosecution.[326] They called their organization the Good Government League. Taking for their motto "CITIZENSHIP ABOVE PARTISANSHIP," they boldly announced their support of Langdon for District Attorney, and of Taylor for Mayor.

The attitude of San Francisco toward the Graft Prosecution was shown by the reception given the new organization. Citizens by the thousands sent in their application for membership. Funds for the purposes of the campaign were forwarded by men in all walks of life.

The Democratic leaders were the first to appreciate the significance of the reception given the new movement. What was practically a combination between the two forces resulted. This insured the nomination of Langdon and Taylor by the Democrats. It also assured the nomination of Langdon by the Republicans, for after the stand taken by the Good Government League, for either Republican or Democratic party to have rejected Langdon would have been an exhibition of "poor politics." But Ryan still controlled the Republican convention. The Republican convention nominated Mr. Ryan for Mayor.

Mr. Ryan's nomination was not accomplished without protest. The citizens who attended the convention as spectators were overwhelmingly for Taylor. Taylor received 53 out of the 148 convention votes, 95 being cast for Mr. Ryan. The minority charged that in the nomination of Mr. Ryan, the Republicans of San Francisco had been betrayed, and that they would not be bound by the nomination nor support the nominee.[327]

The Union Labor party, following out its policy of opposition to the prosecution, nominated P. H. McCarthy[328] for Mayor, and Frank McGowan for District Attorney.

The planks of the several parties dealing with the prosecution were characteristic of the conventions from which they issued.

The Union Labor plank definitely pledged its candidate for District Attorney to prosecution of the Supervisors who had confessed to bribe-taking although it had been clearly pointed out that such prosecution would bar effective prosecution of those responsible for the bribe-giving.[329]

The Republican plank left the reader in doubt as to whether or not the delinquent Supervisors were to be prosecuted. The Democratic plank alone pledged unqualified support to the prosecution "in any effort it may make to convict any guilty person."[330]

The new alignment which followed the clearing of the atmosphere by the nomination of candidates, and the adoption of platforms, involved some astonishing changes.

The Examiner, which, on September 19, preceding the nominations, had described Mr. Ryan's candidacy as "a grotesque piece of effrontery," and compared him to the custodian of a trust fund who puts the money in his own pocket, announced its support of Mr. Ryan for Mayor. On October 20, a month and a day after publication of the custodian-of-a-trust-fund editorial article, The Examiner "unhesitatingly recommended to all the voters of San Francisco," Mr. Ryan, "as the man best qualified to be the next Mayor of the city."

On the other hand, The Call, which was the first to suggest Mr. Ryan's candidacy, describing him a heroic young "boss buster," to whom the Democrats could logically turn for a mayoralty candidate, after his nomination, described him as "a cheap politician itching for office,"[331] whose candidacy was the one element which threw a doubt upon the election of Mayor Taylor. Following the conventions, The Call supported Taylor as against the field.

The Chronicle tactfully refrained from taking sides until after the nominations were announced.[332] Then The Chronicle gave support to Taylor. If the shifting policy of the newspapers had raised a doubt as to where the people of San Francisco stood on the issue, that doubt was dispelled by the opening meeting of the Taylor-Langdon campaign. The largest auditorium in San Francisco was packed to the doors,[333] with citizens whose one purpose, expressed by approving cheers every time the subject was mentioned, was support of the prosecution which had broken up the Schmitz-Ruef organization, and which bade fair to bring to book the corrupters of the municipal government.

The meeting was thoroughly representative. Labor touched elbows with capital. Among the speakers were representative Labor Union leaders, who had definitely broken with the Union Labor party.

"It is inconceivable to me," said Walter Macarthur, one of the organizers of the Union Labor party, in a ringing address, "that any honest thinking labor man would stand for the proposition that those men who have debauched the officials of our city should go scot free while the victims of their cupidity be sent behind the prison bars alone. I believe that labor will join with all honest people in declaring that if the corrupt bribe-taker is punished the man who is at the head of this corruption must be punished also. That is the issue of this campaign and I believe that election day will prove the virtue of my faith."

That the contest for the District Attorney's office overshadowed in importance the mayoralty fight was fully recognized. The Union Labor party, which had nominated and elected Langdon in 1905, had repudiated him, and named Frank McGowan as Langdon's only serious opponent. The Republicans and Democrats, who had under a fusion arrangement in 1905 opposed Langdon's election; united, in 1907, to fight for his continuance in office. The public service corporations, especially those whose officials were under indictment, generally opposed Mr. Langdon's election, and supported the candidacy of his Union Labor party opponent.

This was particularly astonishing in the case of the United Railroads, whose president, Mr. Patrick Calhoun, was even then posing as a "labor union buster," while the United Railroads was very effectively grinding to pieces the San Francisco Carmen's Union.[334]

Nevertheless, there was certain consistency in the political course taken by the United Railroads. Whatever the differences President Calhoun, in his role as a "union buster," may have had with the labor union, there was much in common between him and the San Francisco Union Labor party as headed by Mr. McCarthy.[335] President Calhoun and his company opposed the prosecution vigorously. Mr. McCarthy and his party went quite as far in this opposition. President Calhoun was most emphatic in his denunciation of those who had made the graft prosecution possible. Mr. McCarthy was scarcely less emphatic in his denunciation. Indeed, Mr. McCarthy opened his campaign with an attack upon the graft prosecution. Inasmuch as the one issue before the people was the continuance of the graft prosecution along the lines that had proved so distasteful to Mr. Calhoun and those in the same predicament as himself, the support of the Union Labor party candidate for District Attorney by a union-labor-busting corporation was not entirely inconsistent.

And yet, Mr. McGowan, the Union Labor party candidate, definitely pledged himself to continue the prosecution, but he promised that the prosecution which he would carry on should not "disturb business," that Heney[336] should no longer be retained as special prosecutor, that the Supervisors who had confessed to bribe-giving should be prosecuted[337] as well as those who had given bribes.

This last was one of the chief arguments advanced in support of Mr. McGowan's candidacy. On the ground that a mistake had been made, if a wrong had not been done, when the Supervisors were granted immunity,[338] it was urged that Mr. Langdon should not be continued in the District Attorney's office.

The election returns[339] were conclusive of San Francisco's attitude on the several issues raised. Taylor was elected Mayor, with a clear majority of 415 over all his competitors. Langdon's majority over all competitors, including the Socialist candidate, was 13,510, his plurality over McGowan being 14,808. And with the election of Taylor and Langdon[340] were elected all the Good Government League candidates for Supervisors.

The Graft Prosecution had successfully passed another crisis. It had, too, received overwhelming endorsement of The People at the polls.

FOOTNOTES:

[320] The outcome of the Republican primaries was looked upon as a victory for good government. Said the Call, in discussing the returns: "Two things stand out prominently in the returns of the primary elections yesterday. One is that the Republicans of San Francisco have had enough of Herrin. The other is that they have not had enough of the graft prosecution. The victory for decency and for the independence of the party from the thralldom in which Herrin has so long held it for the use and benefit of the Southern Pacific was complete, with a vote large enough to make it plain to Herrin and to the interests exposed and to be exposed in the debauchery of public servants that they must look elsewhere than to the Republicans of San Francisco for the old corrupt conditions. The Call takes to itself credit for some share in the accomplishment of this good work. It was this paper that spoiled Herrin's infamous apportionment scheme by which he planned to fill the burned district with his dummies and thus control the municipal convention. It was this paper that began and carried on to the last moment a vigorous campaign in behalf of the decent element of the Republican party, whose leadership was in the capable and clean hands of Daniel A. Ryan. The Call has no candidates. It wants only honest, capable independent men. It made this winning fight because it wanted a clean government for San Francisco and because it wanted the graft prosecution carried out to the end."

[321] The primary vote was the largest up to that time cast in San Francisco. It was as follows:

Anti-Herrin (Ryan) Republican 8,116 Herrin Republicans 3,207 Irregular Republicans 1,549 Regular Democratic 2,438 Byington, Democratic 1,081 McCarthy, Union Labor 3,655 Macarthur, Union Labor 2,197

[322] On the eve of the primary election, P. H. McCarthy, leader of the anti-Prosecution faction of the Union Labor party, issued a warning to union men In which he said: "Too much caution cannot be exercised by you, nor too much diligence displayed in order to protect your rights at the polls today. One of the most cunning, deceptive and vicious attacks ever made on organized labor in this city is now being launched in order that your wages may be cut and your working hours increased to suit the millionaires in this city. To do so, those millionaires have drawn to their side by what force we are unable to say, certain labor men (Walter Macarthur and his associates) with a view to shuffling, confusing and thoroughly misleading the labor union voters and their sympathizers in this city."

[323] Many Ryan Republican district tickets contained the following printed statement:

"The candidates on this ticket are pledged to use all their influence in the convention to secure the nomination of a ticket of capable men and hope that they will be indorsed by the conventions of all parties. They do not care who these men may be, but will vote for no man who can be suspected of peddling offices or jobs in return for support. They do not desire nor expect for themselves or for their friends any offices or jobs. No candidate on this ticket has ever sought or held a political office or job. The candidates on this ticket have all accepted the pledge of the Regular Republican League. Daniel A. Ryan, chairman; Perry H. Newberry, secretary."

[324] The Examiner, in its issue of September 19, 1907, in discussing Mr. Ryan's proposed candidacy said: "It is generally understood that Mr. Dan Ryan proposes to nominate himself as the Republican candidate for Mayor of San Francisco. That he has the power to do this thing is one of the curiosities of our political system.

"The theory is that the delegates to a convention represent that part of the public which marches under the political banner of a political party. But Mr. Ryan evidently considers that the delegates to the Republican convention were chosen to advance his personal political ambitions.

"The people do not mean that the accidental leaders of a primary fight should put the offices in their own pockets.

"They elect delegates as agents to select candidates from among the people. The delegates are the bearers of a trust and neither they nor the man who happens to captain them in the scramble between factions has a right to appropriate the nominations.

"The trust is not fulfilled if the primary leader assumes that because the people elected his primary ticket they want him in office. They don't want him, for they don't want primary politicians in the Mayor's chair.

"The theory of any convention is that it is assembled to choose the best man in the party for its candidate. The spectacle of Mr. Dan Ryan holding a caucus with himself, and deciding that he is better qualified to be Mayor of San Francisco than any other man in the Republican party, is a grotesque piece of effrontery.

"All sorts of men rise to the top in primary fights, but most of them have a sufficient sense of modesty, if not of the fitness of things, to abstain from making themselves the recipients of what the delegates have to give.

"For the primary leader to appropriate the office to himself Is like the agent of a charity fund determining that he is the most worthy object of the charity and putting the money in his own pocket."

[325] It was anything to defeat Langdon, even though a pro-prosecution attorney be employed against him. Hiram W. Johnson, for example, was suggested as his opponent. But Johnson let it be understood, and with characteristic positiveness, that under no considerations would he be a candidate against Langdon.

[326] The members of the Good Government League Executive Committee were: E. L. Baldwin, J. E. Cutten, George Renner, Gen. Samuel W. Backus, George R. Fletcher, Sigmund Bauer, B. H. Gurnette, Frank W. Marvin, Frank W. Gale, L. C. McAfee, George Uhl, Rev. Chas. N. Lathrop, Isidor Jacobs, Rudolph Spreckels, Edgar A. Mathews.

[327] The minority which voted for Taylor, in a memorial to the convention, charged "that the majority of the delegates to this convention have betrayed the confidence reposed in them by their constituents" and gave notice that it would not be bound by the nomination of the convention for Mayor and would not support the nominee, but would do all in its power to further the election of Dr. Edward R. Taylor.

[328] The Union Labor party convention also had its sensations. Thomas F. Eagan, for example, and his followers bolted the convention because of McCarthy's nomination. The Carmen's Union refused to accept the Union Labor party ticket because Langdon had not been nominated for District Attorney.

[329] Heney, on the eve of election, in reply to McGowan's argument that the bribe-takers should be prosecuted, effectively answered this contention. Heney's communication read: "To Frank McGowan, Esq. Sir: You are reported by the newspapers as having stated that you will prosecute the boodling Supervisors and that you will also prosecute Patrick Calhoun and the other rich bribers, and that you will grant immunity to no one. I invite you to answer specifically the following questions either in the newspapers or the next time you make a public speech:

"1. If you prosecute Supervisor Lonergan (or any other Supervisor) for accepting a bribe to influence his vote in the matter of the trolley franchise, what witness, or witnesses, will you call to prove that he accepted the bribe?

"2. Every child in town now knows that if Lonergan received the money at all it was from Supervisor Gallagher. Will you prove the fact by Gallagher? If you call Gallagher as a witness, how do you expect to induce him to testify without granting him Immunity?

"3. When you prosecute James L. Gallagher for giving a bribe to Tom Lonergan or to any other Supervisor to influence his vote on the trolley franchise matter, by what witness or witnesses, will you prove that Gallagher paid the money to Lonergan or to any other Supervisor? Will you call Lonergan or any other Supervisor as a witness, and when you call him, how will you induce him to testify without granting him immunity?

"4. By what witness do you expect to convict Gallagher of giving a bribe, or Tom Lonergan, or any other Supervisor of accepting a bribe in the matter of fixing the gas rate, or in the Home Telephone Company franchise matter?

"5. If you prosecute Ruef for giving money to Gallagher to distribute to the Supervisors to influence their vote on the trolley franchise, by what witness, or witnesses, will you prove that Ruef gave the money to Gallagher? Will you put Gallagher on the stand to prove it, and if so, how will you induce him to testify without granting him immunity? Will you put Ford on the stand to prove that he gave the money to Ruef, and if so, how will you get him to testify without giving him immunity? Will you put Fat Calhoun on the stand to prove that he gave the money to Ford to give Ruef to give to the Supervisors, and if so, how will you induce Pat to testify without giving him immunity?

"6. You say that you will prosecute Patrick Calhoun for bribing the Supervisors to influence their votes in the matter of the trolley franchise. By what witnesses will you prove that the money was given to Gallagher or to any of the other Supervisors to influence their votes in this matter? Will you prove by Ford that he gave the money to Ruef, and if so, how will you induce Ford to testify without giving him immunity? Will you prove by Ruef that he gave the money to Gallagher to distribute to the other Supervisors, and if so, how will you prove it by Gallagher without giving him immunity? Will you prove by the other Supervisors that they received money from Gallagher, and if so, how will you induce each of them to testify without giving each of them immunity?

"7. Will you prosecute Frank G. Drum and the other officials of the gas company for bribing the Supervisors for fixing the gas rates, and if so, how will you prove that the money was paid without granting immunity to Ruef and to some or all of the Supervisors?

"8. Will you prosecute A. K. Detweiler for bribing the Supervisors in the Home Telephone franchise matter, and if so, how will you prove your case against him without granting immunity to Ruef and to some or all of the members of the Board of Supervisors?

"9. Can jurisdiction be conferred on a court by consent, and if so, how could you proceed with the Ford trial on a legal holiday?

"10. If you found it necessary to grant immunity to either the bribe-taker or the bribe-giver in the trolley franchise matter to prevent an utter failure of justice and the escape of both the bribe-takers and the bribe-givers, to which side will you recommend the granting of immunity by the court? Will you prosecute the friendless, insignificant Supervisors and grant immunity to ex-Attorney-General Tirey L. Ford and his employer, Patrick Calhoun, president of the United Railroads of San Francisco, or will you recommend that the court shall grant immunity to the friendless and insignificant Supervisors in order to convict the rich, powerful and influential Patrick Calhoun and his general counsel, Tirey L. Ford?

"Yours, etc., FRANCIS J. HENEY."

[330] The Republican convention "pledged its party and its nominees to assist and continue the vigorous prosecution of all persons guilty of crime, in whatever walk of life, high or low, in San Francisco," and "to incessant and energetic war on graft in every form, to the end that this plague may be exterminated from the body politic."

The Union Labor plank on the Graft Prosecution was as follows: "We demand the punishment of all offenders against the law, and we pledge our nominee for District Attorney to prosecute vigorously all bribers, boodlers and grafters without distinction, and particularly do we pledge him to prosecute those public officials, confessed criminals, who have been guilty of the greatest crime in the city's history, but who have been permitted to go unwhipped of justice, and to remain outside the walls of the penitentiary behind which they should now be imprisoned. We further pledge our nominee for District Attorney to abolish private prisons, wholesale 'immunity baths,' and all other institutions created for the benefit and protection of criminals."

The Democratic Graft Prosecution plank read: "We commend the work of the prosecution, which has removed from public office criminals who have dishonored and debauched our city and has secured convictions that must be forever a warning to official wrongdoers and those who participate with them in crime; and we pledge our support to the prosecution in any effort it may make to convict any guilty person."

[331] "There never would have been doubt anywhere about Taylor's successor," said the Call In its issue of November 5, "if it had not been for the grossly selfish and unpatriotic course of Daniel A. Ryan. The one possibility of McCarthy's election was opened to him by Ryan. Failing of other support, Ryan turned renegade to all his party professions and went into an infamous alliance with that arch enemy of Republicanism, Hearst. For four weeks he has been scrambling for votes.... Ryan has fully revealed himself as a cheap politician itching for office. He has boasted of his youth, and yet he was the first of the candidates to break down and go to bed. He has declaimed about his own honesty, until his voice is in tatters and has filled the air with promises of what he would do if elected. Never has he explained or attempted to explain the nature of those 'certain concessions' that led him to nominate himself, although he knew that in so doing he was Jeopardizing the future of his city."

[332] Said the Chronicle of Mr. Ryan's candidacy in its issue of October 3, 1907: "The Chronicle has neither apologies nor regrets for urging its readers to support the Regular Republican League movement headed by Daniel A. Ryan. We believed at the time, as others believed, that Mr. Ryan's sole desire was good government for San Francisco and that such desire was unsmirched by personal ambition. General confidence in the sincerity of Mr. Ryan and his associates led to the triumphant election of the delegates to the Republican convention named and approved by Mr. Ryan, which was accepted throughout the country as evidence that the people of San Francisco were sound at heart.

"When we urged the public to support the Ryan primary tickets, we did so, not in the interest of Mr. Ryan, but in the interest of good government. We considered Mr. Ryan in the light of a useful and public-spirited citizen, upon whom, in due time, the people would delight to confer official honors should he be willing to accept them. Those who voted the Ryan ticket at the primaries did not vote for Mr. Ryan, but for the cause which he championed. As for considering him a candidate for Mayor, nobody thought of it. It is no disparagement to a young man like Mr. Ryan to say that as yet he has no such standing in the community as justifies him in aspiring to such an honor."

In its issue of October 5 the Chronicle said: "The moral collapse of Daniel A. Ryan is deeply regretted by every lover of San Francisco. It is not a matter of the rise or fall of one man. It is a question of whether the people will ever again trust any man who appears as a leader of reform. Few men ever get such an opportunity as Mr. Ryan has thrown away. Doubtless the lesson is for the people never again to trust an unknown man. It is not too much to ask of any aspirant to leadership on an important scale that he shall have some record of honorable achievement of some kind as an earnest of what to expect of him should the confidence reposed in him place him in a position of power."

[333] The Call, in speaking of the Taylor-Langdon meeting said: "Young Mr. Ryan ought to have been at that meeting. We have nothing against Mr. Ryan except that he is not the man of the hour. We shall not even reproach him with his youth. That is not his fault and he will get over that. But he is not the man of the hour. The people have said it. Mr. Ryan embodies no principle. To the people of San Francisco he means nothing in particular at this critical time. He might have read that message in the mighty roar that went up from the meeting in welcome of Dr. Taylor. Mayor Taylor stands for something, stands for much. Mr. Ryan has only his own ambition and a certain command of language."

[334] The San Francisco Call, in its issue of November 5, charged that orders had gone out from the United Railroads to "vote for McCarthy and the Union Labor ticket--straight." In the cars of the United Railroads appeared dodgers which read: "Workingmen. Workingmen--Are you going to put a big stick into Spreckels' hands to club you over the head with?"

[335] The same is true of the Los Angeles Times, which has a national reputation as an opponent of organized labor. The Times, while at issue with Mr. McCarthy on the question of the desirability of unions, was scarcely less vehement than he in denunciation of the San Francisco graft prosecution.

[336] One of the allegations made against Heney was that he would not prosecute Patrick Calhoun, because Heney's brother-in-law was employed by Calhoun as a detective. This argument was intended to weaken Heney and the prosecution with the union element that Calhoun was endeavoring to crush.

[337] In a political advertisement which appeared in the San Francisco Call November 3, 1907, Mr. McGowan said: "If elected District Attorney I will prosecute every man accused of crime, regardless of his position in life. I will continue the present graft prosecution with more vigor, and the District Attorney's office will not be used for politics, nor to disturb business. I will be the District Attorney in law and in fact, and I will never allow any man or set of men to control the office for any purpose. I will honorably enforce the law without the aid of any millionaire's money."

[338] Langdon, at the opening of the Republican campaign, took up the question of the prosecution's policy in granting immunity to the Supervisors. He said:

"In this prosecution we have tried to be practical, to be effective. What would you have said if we had made a scapegoat of a petty criminal and let the giants go? What would you have said if in all this graft and corruption we had arrested and jailed two or three obscure Supervisors you had never heard of before they came to office, and will never hear of them again now that they are retired to private life, and had let escape the giants in crime?

"There have been graft exposures before in the history of American municipalities and the graft has gone on. And it was bound to go on so long as the prosecutions failed to stop the sources of evil, to gather into the fold of the penitentiary the corrupt men of business and the corrupt political leaders who have dared to use weak men for their own ends. These giants in crime are perfectly willing that the physical life of the weak men they use shall be fed into the jails of the State to appease public wrath exactly as they have been willing to use up the moral life of these men to satisfy their own greedy needs in the Board of Supervisors. Profiting by the mistakes of previous prosecutions, this office has struck straight at the very roots of public graft: at the crooked public service corporations; but which of the criminals were to be allowed to give evidence for the State and enjoy its alluring protection; the giants of crime who have always been most responsible and who have always escaped or the petty, miserable fellows who have entered upon these things through ignorance and weakness?

"Immunity had to be given in order that crime might be punished and it was given to the Supervisors that the very tap roots of political corruption might be torn from the soil in which they thrived. We did it because this prosecution has a moral as well as a legal significance. It is time to stop the cynicism of common men when they view democracy and say it is for the powerful and the rich: that the poor must go to jail for the theft of bread and the rich escape for the theft of privilege, the purchase of men's souls and the degradation of government. It is time to stop the brazen and confident effrontery of the irresponsible criminal rich, who commit crimes and rest back, thinking they can buy judges as they bought legislators and executives, and knowing they can buy legal talent to interpose every technicality in every courtroom until justice is a human travesty tangled in its own web.

"We are after the 'men higher up' because they are the severest menace to our institutions, the enduring factors that program and bribe each Board of Supervisors as they come and go. We are after the 'men higher up' so as to make criminal acquisition unprofitable in terms of human desire. We are after the 'men higher up' so that young men and women growing up in this and other communities will once more believe with ardent fervor not only that dishonesty does not pay, but that of all the goods on this earth the greatest treasure is a straightforward life."

[339] The vote for Mayor and for District Attorney was as follows:

For Mayor-- Taylor 28,766 Ryan 9,255 McCarthy 17,583 Reguin (Soc.) 1,503

For District Attorney-- Langdon 34,923 McGowan 20,115 Kirk (Soc.) 1,298

[340] In commenting upon the outcome of the election, the Examiner, in its issue of November 6, said: "And this revolt of union labor against misrepresentation in office began long ago. Before the primaries, when most of the registering was done, it was observed that the number of Republicans recorded was far in excess of the adherents of union labor. The story was told then. Disgusted with the dishonesty of the men they had placed in office, finding the local Democratic party a mere memory, they registered as Republicans because they were determined to vote against the representatives of Ruef and Schmitz who had captured their organization.

"Langdon's majority will surprise no one. His election was a matter of course, for union labor, like all other decent elements in the community, was determined to sustain the prosecution of the grafters.

"The swing of union labor to Taylor will surprise the gentlemen who have been so fond of assuming that the working people would vote as a class regardless of principle. The fact that they set aside all class feeling, all personal preference, and rolled up a big majority in favor of the man considered most likely to defeat the zebra-striped bandits who had captured their organization proves that government in America is safe in the hands of the plain people.

"It is union labor, and union labor chiefly, which has saved San Francisco from McCarthy and McGowan."

"Yesterday," said the Chronicle the morning after the election, "was a great day for San Francisco. It was the turn of the tide. It was the beginning of the ascent to nobler ideals and better days. The passions of the conflict will soon die away. With an honest government assured, capital will not shun us but seek us. And we can look back on the events of the last six years as we remember a nightmare from which we awake to find ourselves in security and peace."

"The indicted bribe-givers," said the Call, "may as well make up their minds that there is no way of escape for them except through trial and by the verdicts of the juries. The people have spoken and they have said that the clean-up must be thorough. The sweeping success of Langdon means that the prosecution of the grafters will be pressed to its fitting conclusion upon the facts and under the law. There need be no delay now. Soon all the cases should be settled and another chapter added to the history of San Francisco--a chapter in which will have been written the means, the manner and the fullness of our atonement for Schmitz-Ruef chapter just before it, the vindication of the city's good name."