The Timaru Herald TUESDAY, MARCH 19, 1907. A DEMORALISED DEMOCRACY.

Timaru Herald, Volume XC, Issue 13238, 19 March 1907, Page 4

The Timaru Herald TUESDAY, MARCH 19, 1907. A DEMORALISED DEMOCRACY.

The tendency of democratic government to rim to corruption is strikingly excinpliliod in the career of the Mayor of San Francisco and his legal partner in the - doubt • ful enterpriser which have brought' these two remarkable men to the dock on charges of municipal bribery. The practices by which they have enriched themselves at the expense of tlic'jrity.'were rendered possible by a system of government', the object of which was to centralise power in the mayor, on the theory that the chief magistrate, being elected by the citizens, would be lesponsiblo to them Bcfoio the adoption of this system in 1899, Iho miyoi had nieiely lupcnisoiy port en, tho\ cvpendiluie of the city's funds lcstmg almost entuely in the liando of pciinaueiil officials, cadi of whom was (i check upon c\ei\ felloe employee So conjlpt piac tiee was possible unless piacticiilly ovciy uicmbei of the adminislialioii conni\od at it, and the ic-ulting, .molding to tho special commis«ionei of the " J lines,' was an almii t enlne absence of conupdon and peculation That system would piob.ibly have continued until the pic-ont d.i>, only tint it was found iilthci inelastic to suit tho •veiy i.ipul expansion of Kan Ft meisco Elasticity, and with it the facility foi such "infamies .is have been pcipctiated by the pic-cnt niayoi, was piuvidcd by n chattel giantcd m 1898 by the Legislutuio hugely at the instance of u wealthy j oung natneof San Piaticihio,' 1 Mi J D I'helaii, who conecntialcd all the executive powei in the hands of the nuiyoi. Mi Pheltui was a man with the highest ideals, but he lubouiod undei the "disadwintngo of haMiig little pi cctic il knowledge of men and aflans His ■•chuno. foi initkiii|r tho elcctnc head of thu city the. uUnuuto lepositoij of all yould, in the 1 inguage of the "Times" coucspondonl, ' be au v ideal, one wcie- it possible to get an angel from Heaven to ail in tho mayoi's ch.in, and it w*oiks very well when a citi/en, for instance, of Mi Phelan's lumesty and ability is elected head of the municipality " Such, m fact, was }he first experience S.in Fianci co enjoyed when the new system was put into operation Mr Phelan hmifcelf became the fust mayoi undei the leghne which lie had been pi imaiily .responsible foi'mdocluemg, and he gave the city an excellent adinmisti.tfion BnUhe speedily incuuad the animosity i of the luboui unions by attending police piotection to noli unionist teuiisteis duimg a «cnous stuke of te.imstcis, ,ihd lib was obliged to fiom the public life of the city, leaving it to tho merov of the 'dict.ilmship which 1 ho had c-tabbhbed, but the effects: of /chich he hid not foicsoen ISut tha possibilities of the system initiated by Mr Pholan weie not tJow to uupicssj themselves upon the Nelf«made lawyer, Abiahahi Ruof, who, stands charged conjointly with the< most distinguished figure in tlncf interest ing tnal The piesent'&uyoi, Itygonc l'i Schimt/, who at the dune of his fust nomui.it ion for flic mayoially. was leadoi of an oukcNliH, and incident of / the Musicians' Union, wan the hoihineb of the Laboui Paitj which politically annihilated Mx Phelan Ruef hud been atffrouatcd w ilh Selnnil/ in <i professional capacity, -and joined foi cos with hitn in his fltst mayoral campaign in 1901; when he sbciusid, the dull by a. nluiow nuijoiity. - j'fjie iitul thing Schmidt did after taking ifffdb wus to write the celebrated "I^cltei s of Mai que*' to Ruef, in which he stated that thiough out his leini of ofhee, he would be guided by lluef's -advice and judgilienl The lettei was iijclustjiously cueulatcd, and us it praoticallj" united, all peisons who do Mied f.ivouis fiom the adinimstialioii, to ingiatiate theinwh en with'' Ruef, it made » Ruef the "boss" of .San FuuicUco. How he has used his power is gradually-bemg disclosed m the Com so of the 'proceedings against the gifted pin but the trliole story is sumnled up b the {ftateUient p! the " limes" contwbutoi that the *uit- ■* enviable leenref of having piodticod tho most conupt admini tiation 'Hint a, city has eyei known bolongs indubitably to fcan Fiancifco "His long teiiuie of office has enubled Schuiil/ io get nd of till (he old officials with objectionable notions of honesty, and to lqilace thorn with complacent cieatuios of his own, most of whom ' cannot wnte a sentence cif Ctniccl Engljoli and someroJE whom cannot, even "leafl oi wute 13ut they ha\e all distinguished themsehes in vaiying degreb for their' ability to evolve cunning foi levying blackmail on v.irlbits actions of the inhabitant* of 'Hio city, or foi fatten.ing on/ the ploceeds" of moo and cilnie. Tlie \ciy oliarge on which the major and his associate now stand indietcd miscs out of exloihon practised upmj the of illegal and njimoml though this fonn of "gia£l. v In use the tethnitiil leini, pioduces infigmtic.mt lmiinclal 10compiled with opolatlOll>» , ' conducted m at least a clc.mei moral atmosphere. v li will bo see whothoi the piosccution -»vill enable deniociacy h> deal itself 1 nig of t 4 K,y^^| i )»^«.l , UDiidn4l > I goveinmcnt ha», , I tif mm.