"GRAFT" IN 'FRISCO.

Timaru Herald, Volume XC, Issue 13315, 18 June 1907, Page 6

"GRAFT" IN 'FRISCO.

, TIIE CONVICTION OF SCHMIDT. Press Association-By Telegraph-Copyright NEW YORK, June 16. Eugene Schmidt, ex-Mayor- of San Francisco, has been convicted of extorting money from restaurant-keepers.. He is liable to a sentence of five years' imprisonment. At present he: is detained in gaol, the Judge refusing bail. Notice of appeal has been given, and proceeding may consume a year. THE FRAUDS DESCRIBED. The New York correspondent of the "Age" recently supplied details of the charges against Schmidt, the Mayor of San Francisco; Reuf, the "Boss,"- whose tool Schmidt is .alleged to liave been ; and the members? of the Board of Supervisors of San Francisco and business men implicated in the system of "graft" or corruption. One of the most notable scandals has b«n that connected with the United Railways Company. The correspondent says: The United Railroads, who operate nearly all the street- railways of the city, in changing part of their system from cable to electric, wanted badly to be given permission to place the electric wires overhead. A strong public sentiment was in fa.vour of compelling the company to place the wires in underground slots, the more modern, safe and sightly method; but much more expensive than the other. Despite the public sentiment, the supervisor-: granted the company a franchise allowing it to install overhead wire". The confessions of the supervisors show that the company paid to Ruef for his good tnrn the sum 0f£97,000. Out of that tidy fortune the I.K» s "cut up" between the venal supervisors <>n*y £18.20?. Fourteen of them tcee!vel £B3O etsh. two ie-eived £2COO etch, and one of I Item. specially privilege 1 , for some reason or other. £3OOO. , Another story, and one with somewhat amusmc: feat ores, has to do with the bribery by telephonic companies. The. PacificStates Telephone Company has a monopoly of this business n San Francisco. Some t wo years or more ago a rival concern — the Home Telephone Company — an automatic device, applied for the privilege of installing its system. It now appears that the llome Telephone Company through Reuf, paid to the supervisors £u2.4jo for a fianchl'e How much R.-11: kept is not known, but the ir;inelii-e tsaid to be worth at least £<400.000. 'lhirteen of the- supervisors divided this £12.400." At the same time fourteen of tnem accepted £loou eaeu from the Pacific States Company, promising in letum to refuse the franchise to the rival Home Telephone Company. It thus appears that of the fourteen supervisors who were bribed to refuse the franchise, nine also accepted bribes to grant it. In a- popular slang phrase, the supervisors were giving the bribers the " double cross." The Gas and Electric Company's bribe was comparatively nioUrst. This concern divided £2400 amongst- the supei vi.-ors as a reward for tlu- action of the board iii fixing the gas rate at So cents per thousand fett, instead of, as the public was demanding, 75 cents. 'lhe "tight- .trust" paid Ruef £4OOO, of which a little less than half went to th- supervisors, and thereafter only members of the " trust " could riCcive permits to conduct fights. B( sides the sixty-five indictments against Reuf, tea have been returned against T. V. Halsey. who is said to have done the bribing for the Pacific States Telephone Company, lie has been arrested in Manila. Other indictnt nts are certain to follow. Bail on each i harge has b.en tixed at- £2C'CO, or a total : urn in the case of Ruef of £oo.ooo. , At- tin- present moment Ruef is in strbt, custody in circumstances that throw a Hood of light on political conditions in San Fianciseo. During the progress of Lis trial for extortion he disappeared. li;e judge ordeied the sheriff to find and arre-t him. Tlie sheriff reported that he did rorknow where Ru>f was. 1 hen tit!' jurtjre appointed the coroner an elisor to find th--defaulter, hut he also failed to unearth the missing criminal. Both the sheriff and the (i -roner. it. is important to state, are ci.anires of Ruef. who owe their position to h :n. 'i het was why they "could not. find itiro." But another elisor was appointed, one Senator Biggy. a man of moie independent mould. Biggy at one* ran the accused man to earth in a low hotel some •itile.-r> outside of San Francisco, when- iie had b.en hiding several days, appau-ntly n waiting an opportunity to dash out of tincountry. Detective Burns had known the whereabouts of Ruef from the first, and informed the sheriff and coroner of ihe fails, but still they "could not find Rti. f." Vow Ruef ix sriil in the custody of Bijijry. ft is not regarded as saf- to allow ; i- ■ lieritf to have charge of him. as would be the ordinary course, because of tint ofli- • ' tl's sub-el vi-net- to rht: bo.- . }?>• :|.«-!:i!c Biggy sleeps in the same loom with Ruef j

every night, while six guards surround the house watching doors and windows. It t«ems improbable that the tricky boss ""till enjoy-liberty, for many years to come. 'Anything at all may happen in .San Francisco, the most topsy-turvy city in the world. But it .scarcely seems probable that the citizens will continue in power the Union Labour Party, the political organisation that has ruled the city for six years, and under which all the villainies of Ruef, Schmidt, and their henchmen have been possible. The labouring people of ""iSan Francisco are not dishonest, but they are very foolish and gullible. They are led by a, clever and most unscrupulous lot of selfseekers. It is scarcely conceivable that their rule caix continue. But one never knows. Tanmianv still flourishes in New York. "