SAN FRANCISCO FRAUDS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 130, 25 February 1908, Page 4

SAN FRANCISCO FRAUDS.

THE TABLES TURNED. : ItELEASE OTrSCriMITZ AND BUEF. The; cliangij''iff tlitsiWunicipal-governmejit of Sany .Francisco January: jwhich swept' tho r'einnants of' the Schmfe; administration,, was liidrked by 'tho declaration of '[the jn'otyl sheriff that all criminals ;looked' aliko to him.As a -.consequence •of .;tliis;publjcly. : announced : -policy (says tlio Francisco"correspondent; of the Christ--H churph.v"Press") ex-Mayor Schmitz, Abo Ruef, the fallen "boss,"; and Louis Glass, the millionaire clubman,-as;!well as ot-bor moii of . former, High" standing in the community, conyictbd of Qfinib, jspent/tho : night of the eighth of January, as well as" tho following nights, iil;'narrQw>.colisun :, ,tho' i iGqunt-y : :G301,, hemmed in by steel Vai-s,-with>B'fyll kriowlcdgo of;tho .fact that tho : sheriff of tKb.days of Ruef and Schihitzniad reliiiquislied.'his power.'No more Iwill,''the. favoured few, bo. -treated as guests, and fed on tlio fat of thb land. Tlio friends of" Ruef< tried- hard- -to save him from cell, but.Judgo Dunno was mexorablo in his .decision, '..to*. placo '.thb men in tho 1 sheriff's 'ke,epiiig]?and. tho'latter kept his ante-election pledge. ■' . A LEGAL BOMB. : ■ Though trere--was wailing among thb few -who remained' faithful ->to> those who ; had betrayed their/public,-trust,' .yet,within two.days their sorxoTOvaa tuniecl',to: ]oy. '<■ The Appel-lator,Court-of California, composed 'of .'threo judges', 'twooorf r ivliom' are "distantly related to. tho meiv under .indictment, reversed tho. judg-'; merit'of the trial court in convicting Eugene E; -Schmitz of'.extortion, ' and : directed .that .tho. defendant's .demurrer of tho ; indictment bb 'sustained,and tho : ex-Mayor discharged. ..In. r a',£).oporword;decisibn,'tho Appellate.Court, dealt ,with all;' tho technicalities of tlio' law, told' hoiv 1 ' motions, .were erroneous;: that 1 tho ,challongoj .to sworn jurors , was wrong, that thb ' Judge erred'" in "admitting hearsay evidence,'; that ~thp violated 'Court Tulb; that' expressions ..from! tho Boncli wero highly prejudicial, that the indictment : of Schmitz "failed -to ■ givo-facts correctly, that the ' defendant's''.'.threats. wero not \ extortion, 'aiid a-niazo ;of other-reasons likely; to on-' tangle tlio lawyer and bewilder tho layman.

A LICENSE.TO COIIRTJPTION. ; .: VTlie 'm'eatiof the decision!; of thV Appellate ; that.-any. arid':'every corrupt .official .is'givcn license 4p'.extort' money,- favour,, jr influence from 1 . tlib citizen, as.loiig' : as lie : em-, iploys.:,no. unlawful means in so doing (wliat-. ■over that may'mean)..:To some it may appear - that a public - official has no right' to Ifc K -p§ff6r^CoW'tl^: .thd ; .right;'vto appear.: before tlio Pblice .Commissioners and: object .to..the .issuance' of, n'"

liquor license to a person who is keeping a place .' oft'the la,w:- --.'He-'. has: the' ■right, tpjjdo;. so,y«j6ntinnes,V. tho, decision/,';;N6ia .%Vf':^srpt : *o»;olved:-fi;om the; the, gp'mbined judicial miiidii "Ho; would nbP'iib morally';'justified< in obtaining .-money _ to. induce -him not to "carry,'oiit his threat, but if. he did receive money tinder such circumstances ho would not come within tho-provisions: ,of , ! , IIUEF'S CONFESSION. ■. •• -Nothing- -'could' '1)0 ■■ clearer than ihoVcaso , of- ,tho the, Stato of-; California a'gainst;''iihe'i,qx T Maypf-. '/Jt was shown' that he entered into a conspiracy to extort money ;from tho J'Vench res£a,urant-keepers by. fear, —the fear of losing their" liquor, licenses. ;.Not only did the. evidcnco > convinco the public yh'e'. jury to bring in v unanimous verdict 'of -guilty, but Abe Rucf, on; tho witness-stand;' testified that : lie -had paid a largo sum of money to Schmitz as tho latter's share of tho plunder. The Appellate Court says that this testimony after confessing _his own 1 delinquencies, and that therefore/life word stands for naught unless ' Corroborated: r , license is held riot to' bo ordinary' proporty, ' 'but a: mere and :"tho Jicenso is but the eviaehco'that, tho permission has been given by the-proper authorities."-:; i ,

A PREMIUM ON EXTORTION. .-1 Troin.overy sideaComo;.words of- indignation at-ltho remarkable''decision that- puts a- premium' 011- extortion .and .-.blackmail:'.' It :'is seemingly. lawful ?and' ; legitimate to threaten with destruction any. business.that refuses to pay .over -money; on .domand. Throughout tho English-speaking -world tho decision of tho Appellate Court, has; excited astonishing comThe London '-'Times" describes it as .'one,of tho most vicious aWultSion:American progress perpetrated in >a century./ Tho'Now Work "World" rebukes tho decision as "an

insult' to decent public opinion." ,- Tho, New: •York'.'-?Tre?s"i"-derotes; a column ■to anequally vigorous .editorial; which begins:— "Another oarthquakp, might not liavo shocked San Francisco. much 'more, than the decision of .tho-District jC'ourtvof Appeal in the case of Mayor Ischinitz'.,'ah(l Abo ltuef." Almost all,'tho, metropolitan newspapers , have: some .comment ;to 'mako. o'n; tho matter, and each denounces "tho decision and-deplores its effect. San. Francisco. i 3 declared 1 unhappy in its efforts'at reform 'to /have a Court which legalises tho <- peculiarlyropulsive offence of oxtortion.

FURTIIEE APPEAL

;.Whilo' a' favourable';.decision has been rendered by the Court of Appeals, yet tho case may be carried to the Supremo Court of the Stato of California for review. This can be doiie. The indictments against tho men directly interested in the. decision are many and varied "iii charaetorV Evon- should tho extortion- charges bo dismissed,,, yet there remain the street railroad, prize-fight, and other methods of, "boodling" peculiar to tho. lato aggregation of officials to be tried. The -graft , proscciltbrs claim .that the i'Appellato Cpurt wijl/'simply' spur theiii' on ,uo :groater 'efforts, infld that the crimes com;mitted, will; surely land tlio men accused iii ip^j.son.