G£N
M.L.
GENEALOGY COI_L.ECTIOfcl
San Francisco
A HISTORY
OF THE PACIFIC COAST
METROPOLIS
By JOHN P. YOUNG
VOLUME II
THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY
Chronicle Building, San Francisco
Pontiac Building, Chicago
L
1259355
VOLUME II
THE SPECULATIVE PERIOD
1871-1883
CHAPTER XLVII
LABOR AND OTHER TROUBLES DURING THE SEVENTIES
TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD BRINGS DISAPPOINTMENT GROWTH OF THE ANTI MO-
NOPOLY SENTIMENT DEMANDS OF THE FARMERS THE "DOLLY VARDEN" PARTY
BRYCE INVESTIGATES CALIFORNIA CONDITIONS FRAUDULENT LAND GRANTS THE
PROGRESSIVE PLATFORM OF 1912 FORESHADOWED IN 1877 REVIVAL OF THE CHI-
NESE QUESTION THE FIRST APPEARANCE OF DENIS KEARNEY IN POLITICS IRRIGA-
TION AND SMALL LAND HOLDINGS DIVERSIFICATION OF PRODUCTION POLITICAL
ACTIVITIES OF WORKINGMEN.
HE decade 1870 did not open auspiciously for San Fran-
cisco or the State of California. In an address delivered
to the State Agricultural society in the opening year the
speaker, A. A. Sargent, took for his theme the slow growth
of the state. He dwelt at length on the difficulty of ob-
taining farming lands cheaply, and denounced the evils
of monopoly, and suggested the necessity of remedial leg-
islation. Among other things he spoke of the disappointment experienced by the
people who had expected that the completion of the transcontinental railroad would
give a great impetus to business. Instead of this hope being realized merchants,
manufacturers and others, he declared, had been brought into sharp competition
with the East and were suffering in the process of readjustment.
He did not fail to touch upon the existing social condition which, he said, was
the outcome of the "flush times" of the state. Habits of extravagance, he told his
hearers, had been bred which must be abandoned, because they would prove an
obstacle to development if they were continued; and he spoke of the anomalous
state of the labor market, intimating that it must adapt itself to the imminent
change which closer relations with the East would necessarily bring about. On
this latter point he touched lightly, leaving his hearers to infer that the adjust-
ment would not prove difficult if the Spanish land grants could be broken up, and
the state settled with small farmers.
Sargent voiced one form of dissatisfaction. Governor Newton Booth in a mes-
sage to the legislature of 1872 gave expression to another. He too objected to
monopoly, but he found fault chiefly with the monopolistic tendencies of the cor-
porations, the principal offenders being the men who had constructed the Central
Pacific railroad. He recommended the immediate repeal of the five per cent sub-
sidy act, which permitted the state and its political subdivisions to extend aid to
railroads, and strongly urged that freights and fares be regulated "in view of the
tendency of railroads to consolidate and become monopolies." He was particularly
477
Extrava-
Depreeated
Railroad
Regulation
Demanded
478
SAN FRANCISCO
Monopoly
Governor
Elected
severe in his animadversions upon the device by which the Central Pacific managers
were enabled to make contracts with themselves, and said that "the organizations
of corporations within corporations is a refinement of subtlety and fraud which
should be prevented by law."
In these recommendations and reflections he was adhering closely to the plat-
form of the republican convention which nominated him, and in which a demand
was made for an amendment to the constitution preventing the enactment of subsidy
laws, and demanding the immediate repeal of the five per cent subsidy act, which
had been passed by the preceding legislature. In the election of September 6,
1871, which resulted in Booth's selection, he received 62,500 votes to 57,500 for
Haight, his democratic opponent. The latter, as well as the former, had adopted
the anti monopoly slogan ; but while the discussions of the campaign revolved about
this particular question, voters were merely called upon to decide which candidate
would prove the sincerest anti monopolist. An idea of the depth of popular feeling
on the subject may be gained from a comparison of the figures of the national
election held a year later, when Grant received 8,000 less votes than Booth polled
in 1871, and in which nearly 25,000 fewer votes were cast for president than for
governor.
In 1873 the anti railroad feeling had developed to such an extent that it en-
grossed the entire attention of voters. The Patrons of Husbandry began an agita-
tion, the effects of which were subsequently witnessed in national legislation, for
an adjustment of railroad freight rates on a basis which would exclude the prin-
ciple of meeting sea competition. Their demand was for a railroad tariff which
would prevent a proportionately greater charge for hauling a short than a long
distance. In 1873 the Patrons of Husbandry threw their strength to the wing of
the republican party, which was antagonizing the railroad, and in the election of-
September 3 of that year the combination proved strong enough to win a majority
in the legislature, the result being the election of Governor Newton Booth to the
United States senate as an avowed antagonist of the Central Pacific railroad and
its schemes to extend its power.
The alliance between the "Dolly Vardens," as the anti monopoly republicans
were called, and the Patrons of Husbandry did not endure long. The platform of
the agriculturalists had more planks than that of opposition to railroad exactions,
and some of them were not acceptable, and as a result the "Dolly Vardens" went
to pieces, and the legislators elected by that party resumed their former partisan
relations. As a matter of fact the grangers were too advanced in their views and
advocated a programme more in harmony with the sentiment of 1912 than of 1873.
They urged that grain sacks should be made and sold by the state in order to
destroy an existing ring by selling at cost, thus regulating the prices at which bags
should be sold ; they asked for the creation of a cooperative bank, and a cooperative
system of selling agricultural supplies, and they demanded that facilities should
be provided for the free storage of grain so that the farmer might be able to hold
his product until the market price proved satisfactory.
Although the political alliance of grangers and republicans was short lived
it is interesting to note that the demands of the Patrons of Husbandry a few years
later were practically conceded by the party in power. A law was passed which
provided for the manufacture in the state prison of grain bags. An expensive
plant was established at San Quentin, and the product was sold at cost to the farm-
SAN FRANCISCO
479
ers. While the result may not have been all that was hoped for, there is no doubt
that the prison-made product of grain bags after the Eighties prevented the extor-
tionate practices of a limited number of importers who had for many years manip-
ulated the San Francisco market to the disadvantage of the farmer. There is no
means of determining, however, whether the operations of the state were a profit-
able or losing venture, for the system of accounting of the prison was not devised
to furnish such information. The demand for the free storage of grain was also
conformed to in a modified fashion by the erection of grain sheds on the San Fran-
cisco sea wall by the State Harbor Commission. This system was not designed to
warehouse grain for extended periods, but would have undoubtedly developed along
those lines had California continued producing cereals on a scale which would
have made exportation necessary. The cooperative bank project did not material-
ize as a public institution, but a concern originally under the auspices of the
grangers was started which flourished for a while in San Francisco and then met
the fate which usually attends bad financial management.
In the election of 1875 the "Dolly Vardens" were wholly obliterated. Bidwell,
their candidate for governor, received only 29,752 votes, while Irwin, who was put
up by the democrats, polled 61,500. The election of the latter, however, by no
means indicated an abatement of the hostility to the railroad. The corporation had
taken advantage of a temporary distraction, and by clever manipulation had suc-
ceeded in resuming its interrupted control of public affairs. The speculative ex-
citement which followed the discovery of the rich ore body in the Comstock, known
as the big bonanza, had produced a business flurry which resembled prosperity,
and as usual under such circumstances, there was a cessation of agitation. There
was also an adroit and successful attempt to concentrate attention on public of-
fenders which for the time being diverted assaults from the corporation. In his
first message on December 9, 1875, Irwin spoke of "the worse than state prison
felons, the unconvicted embezzlers of public moneys and the violators of public
trust." It was just about this time that the slogan framed for the democratic
party by Samuel J. Tilden, "turn the rascals out" became popular, and the wave
struck California with such force that the people, for a while at least, were con-
vinced that malfeasance in office was at the bottom of all their troubles, and that
the proper remedy to apply would be a change of officials.
In a message to the legislature Governor Irwin asserted "that the immunity or
at least the apparent immunity with which public officers have appropriated to
their own use the public funds by an almost open violation of the trusts committed
to them has apparently impressed on the lower grade and even average public mind
the conviction that to rob the government is legitimate, and that not to do so when
one has an opportunity argues a lack of business talent," and there is no doubt
that he was in earnest when he added that "society is therefore bound in self pro-
tection, in self preservation to crush out this sentiment utterly," and that he really
wished to find a remedy when he asked: "How can this be done? I answer, only
by pursuing and hunting down with tireless energy and punishing with remorse-
less vigor the guilty violator of a public trust." But the fact remains the tireless
energy and the remorseless vigor of punishment he spoke of were not exercised,
and that the failure in this regard furnished Kearney and the so-called "sand lot-
ters" one of their most formidable weapons in the active agitation which began a
couple of years later.
Dolly
Varden
Party
480
SAN FRANCISCO
Bryce g
Investiga-
tion of
California
Conditions
The Bogus
Santillan
Grant
Men are wiser after the event, and therefore we need not be surprised that James
Bryce, when he came to California to make a study of conditions, did not make
the blunder of attributing the upheaval which resulted in the adoption of the con-
stitution of 1879 to the discontent of the laboring classes of San Francisco or the
machinations of agitators who took advantage of race prejudice to promote their
own ends. It is true that he was misled into placing more emphasis on a manifes-
tation than the cause which prompted it, but he put his finger on the sore spot when
in speaking of large land holdings he said: "Some of these speculators by hold-
ing their lands for a rise made it difficult for immigrants to acquire small freeholds,
and in some cases checked the growth of farms. Others let their lands on short
leases to farmers, who thus came into a comparatively precarious, and often neces-
sitous condition ; others established enormous farms in which the soil is cultivated by
hired laborers, many of whom are discharged after the harvest — a phenomenon
rare in the United States, which everybody knows is a country of moderately sized
farms, owned by persons who do most of their labor by their own and their chil-
dren's hands. Thus the land system of California presents features both peculiar
and dangerous, a contrast between great properties, often appearing to conflict with
the general weal, and the sometimes pressed hard farmer, together with a mass of
unskilled labor thrown without work into the towns at certain seasons of the year."
This condition of affairs was perfectly known to Californians for many years
anterior to the Kearney sand lot troubles, and there was in their case an added
knowledge of which no account is taken in the quotation, which had been a source
of irritation for years, and for which a remedy had been vainly sought. The
fraudulent character of the titles of many of the large holdings was understood by
the people, who also knew that among the chief beneficiaries of the betrayals of
public trust which Governor Irwin excoriated were the owners of great Spanish
and Mexican grants, who corruptly influenced assessors to undervalue their hold-
ings in order that they might the easier perpetuate their power. From 1851, when
the commission was created by congress to inquire into the validity of the grants
until the end of its hearings there was a general belief that most of the land grants
were fraudulent, and it was not dissipated wholly when its report was made show-
ing that out of a total of 813 claims, calling in the aggregate for 12,000,000 acres
or 20,000 square miles, 514 were confirmed. And when subsequently ninety of the
rejected claims were finally confirmed by the United States courts, the belief was
not weakened, although the decisions were acquiesced in and even welcomed be-
cause they put an end to uncertainty.
To find the origins of this dissatisfaction it is necessary to go back to the early
Fifties, when what was called the "Preemptioners' League" was formed in Alameda
county by men who were referred to as squatters, but who included in their organ-
ization many who afterward were known as substantial citizens. They planted
themselves on the proposition that the grants were fraudulent and were quite ready
to resist all claims to the ownership of large tracts of land, no matter what the
title. It is not surprising that they were imbued with distrust when they found
such claims as the Santillan, which set up ownership to all the land of the City and
county of San Francisco south of California street. This grant, which was al-
leged to have been made to Prudencio Santillan in 1846 by the Mexican governor,
Pio Pico, was confirmed by the land commission March 1, 1855, but appealed to
SAN FRANCISCO
481
the United States supreme court, which threw it out in 1860, pronouncing it an
unmitigated fraud.
The agitation of the land question in San Francisco in the beginning of the
Seventies was not connected with or influenced in any manner by claims touching
directly the interests of its citizens. All the vexed title questions were settled in
the City before that date and they had left little aftermath of bad feeling. But
the condition in the country was different. In the City the land had been cut up
and had passed into many hands ; and in the country at the opening of the decade most
of the large Spanish and Mexican grants were still intact, and those into whose pos-
session they had come seemed determined to hold onto them by "hook or crook."
It was this attitude, and the means taken to maintain it which started the anti
monopoly crusade; and when it was entered upon by the workingmen in the City
they were merely championing the cause of the small land holder, in whom they
recognized their natural ally.
It has already been noted that there were numerous meetings of the unem-
ployed in 1870 and that in July of that year the Knights of St. Crispin advocated
the nomination of a political ticket, meeting, however, with opposition from the
Mechanics States Council and Eight Hour League. In March, 1871, a branch
of the National Labor Union was formed in California and in January of the suc-
ceeding year a convention was held by which a platform was adopted which not
only foreshadowed the demands contained in that of the workingmen's party in
1877-78, but also bears a striking resemblance to that of the advanced Progressives
of 1912. Among its most pronounced features we find these pronouncements and
demands :
The equalization of the wages of labor with the income of capital.
The establishment of equitable rates of interest for the use of money.
The maintenance of an eight hour day system of labor.
The establishment of a labor bureau at Washington for the better protection
of the industries of the country.
The government holds the public land in trust for the use and benefit of the
people, and it should be distributed to actual settlers only in limited quantities
not exceeding 160 acres, at the cost of survey and distribution.
All unimproved land should be taxed the same as though settled and improved.
There should be universal compulsory citizen suffrage and secular education.
Government should assume control of all chartered and subsidized corporations,
and regulate their charges on the principles of equity and exact justice, and enforce
such regulations as will best secure the interests and safety of people.
The election of president and vice president and senators by direct vote of the
people.
If there is any plank in this remarkable platform formulated forty years ago
which the Progressives of 1912 have failed to adopt it should be pointed out.
Nevertheless, in 1872, the framers were regarded as visionaries and when in 1878
the workingmen's party of California reembodied them in a pronouncement they
were denounced as socialistic and incendiary. The history of a city does not per-
mit indulgence in extended economic discussion, but it is desirable in this connec-
tion to point out that the enunciated principles of the men who afterward devel-
oped into sand lotters in 1872 differed in no essential particular from those of the
advanced reformers of today and that the entire movement which began in the
Platform
of 1912
Progressives
Anticipated
Working-
men's Plat-
form of 1871
Socialists
Then; Pr<
gressives
482
SAN FRANCISCO
Effect of
Temporary
Prosperity
Chinese
Question
Revived
year 1871 and culminated in the constitution of 1879, has been grossly misrepre-
sented and misunderstood.
That it was a popular and not a workingman's movement will be more clearly
comprehended by the reader when additional facts are presented. It will be seen
when the recital is completed that it was in no sense a trades union demonstration.
A careful investigator of the activities of these organizations tells us that "one
hears but little of the regular trades unions between 1870 and 1880." The sound-
ness of this observation is well attested. The convention which formulated the
platform quoted above through its executive committee announced in June, 1872,
that "in all future elections the labor party of California would place nominees
before the people for each elective office, and even prescribed the manner of mak-
ing selections, but nothing of the sort was done until 1878, when the unions adopted
the plan in nominating their candidates for the constitutional convention.
Doubtless had the conditions which produced the convention remained un-
changed the trades union solidarity of the sixty decade might have been restored,
but the speculative era interrupted and for a time obscured the hostility to Chinese
immigration which had asserted itself in a pronounced manner during the Sixties,
and earlier. That it was merely dormant was shown by the promptness with
which the Chinese question was revived and became a dominant one as soon as the
shoe of hard times began to pinch. While the big bonanza excitement was having
its run, and all classes of the community from top to bottom were infected with
the fever of mining speculation, the evil results of permitting the state to be filled
with a class of immigrants that might be utilized to develop its resources along
certain lines agreeable to large land holders were lost sight of, and during the
brief period of meretricious "flushness" views were at times advanced which sug-
gested to the careless observer that there was a real division of opinion in Califor-
nia respecting the desirability of introducing this class of labor into the country.
It is necessary to remind the reader that this manifestation was misleading in
order to remove the false impression that the hostility which later developed itself
was due to the activities of the labor unions of San Francisco or to the unreason-
ing prejudices of the working classes of the City. As was shown in earlier chap-
ters the antagonism to Chinese immigration was not based on race prejudice. It
is true that in the mines there were frequent clashes, and the Chinese were occa-
sionally subjected to assaults, but these were manifestations of the "know nothing-
ism" of the period, the creed of which was hostility to all foreigners, and was not
inspired by racial differences. The action of the municipal council in 1850 in
officially extending to the "China Boys" an invitation to take part in the funeral
ceremonies of President Taylor, and similar courtesies, give evidence that there
was no serious friction; and that the subject when it came up for discussion, as it
frequently did, was treated in a large way, proves that the step subsequently
taken by the people of California was not in response to riotous demands of the
working people of San Francisco, but to the development of a settled conviction
that the interests of the state and the American nation would be subserved by
excluding a class of aliens whose assimilation would be impossible.
It is wise in studying the anti Chinese movement in San Francisco to keep in
mind the unsettled conditions respecting immigration that prevailed throughout the
Union. If due consideration is given to the force of the Know Nothing propaganda,
and the intolerance begotten by the manifest destiny idea, which seethed in the
IIABIII a Iflifl
"MEN. OF MARK."
I. Sir III
i
■;•
.S.N.
co, ex-Governor, Cal.
I.J. .H. I.'M. Horn Pirlro. Hmpn-orof 1
■ M. lion. Simon ""amiTon, statwraHn
j r..i. Milton *. Luiliain. linker.
oil Hon. .lolm 1'. ,I«M Senator, Ni-v
1*7. Hon. Sanrent, Senator, CaL
I t«. Judge Delos Lake.
"*■""»"
( |.- A.'.Ii'.in.-
Kiiluistin, "
SAN FRANCISCO
483
brains of Californians during the Fifties, we will easily divest ourselves of the
belief that opposition to Chinese immigration was merely a device of politicians.
The most fantastic notions prevailed at that period. Not only was the doctrine
of "America for Americans" being preached, but, as already shown, the desire for
absorbing the rest of the world into our body politic was freely broached. In the
"Annals of San Francisco" we find the writer seriously discussing the desirability
of a white race settling the disturbances in China by playing off against each other
the warring factions in that country, and broadly intimating that the United States
might easily imitate the example of the British. "Indian sepoys," he said, "fought
the battles of England against their own countrymen, Chinese may do the same
for Americans."
Fantastic utterances of this sort may be fairly cited to show the wide range
taken by California thought in considering American relations with China at a
time when, to most citizens of the Union living on the Atlantic sea board, the name
of that country was only a geographical designation, and whose knowledge of the
Chinese was largely confined to the information gained from a study of the queer
characters on tea chests. Californians, however, knew the Chinese. They had
observed them at close range, and were by no means disposed to rate them as an
inferior people. It is significant that the first governor of California under Amer-
ican rule did not discuss the Chinese adversely, but when he retired from office he
expressed it as his "unprejudiced opinion" that they "were more than a match for
the white man in the struggle for existence." In view of the fact that Burnett has
the distinction of having resigned his office because he was tired of politics, and
that the opinion quoted was delivered after he had retired to private life in 1851,
it may be cited as evidence that the situation was clearly comprehended long before
the advent of Kearney and that Californians were under no illusion respecting
Chinese capacity.
Governor Bigler, who followed Burnett in a message to the legislature on April
23, 1852, declared that the Chinese differed from all other immigrants in one im-
portant particular. They had come to the country through no other motive than
cupidity. "None of them had come as an oppressed people ; none of them had
sought our shores as an asylum or to enjoy the blessings of free government."
And the same legislature to which this message was addressed, in dealing with the
question, put its stamp of disapproval upon a phase of Chinese immigration which
menaced the state. In March, 1852, a bill was introduced in the senate by Tingley,
the object of which was to permit the enforcement in the courts of the State of
contracts and obligations made in China to perform labor in California. A sim-
ilar bill was introduced into the assembly. The senate bill when called up was
indefinitely postponed by a vote of eighteen to two.
The rejection of the measure is noteworthy because the principle established in
1852 by a California legislature was accepted by the federal government, which
nearly a quarter of a century later passed a law to prevent the importation of
laborers by contract. Incidentally, it should be mentioned that the object of the
attempt to secure legislation which would sanction the importation of Chinese
laborers under contracts to work was disclosed in a debate in the legislature of
1855, when a member asked: "Is it not better with modern skill in engineering to
put tools into these 50,000 pairs of willing hands, and in place of trickling ditches
have torrents rushing along to make the miners glad and people rich?" The de-
Tbe Oriental
Well rnder-
Attempt to
Sanction
Coolie Impor-
tations
Kearney's
Slogan
Not Worse
484
SAN FRANCISCO
A Non-
partisan
Agitation
Desire for
a Servile
Class of
bate which called out this expression arose over a proposition to remove the Chinese
miners from Shasta county, a fact which should be borne in mind by those who
labor under the mistaken impression that Kearney's declaration that "the Chinese
must go," made in 1877, had in it any element of novelty.
The truth of the matter is that the agitation against Chinese immigration was
continuous from the time of the occupation down to the date when it began to at-
tract Eastern attention. That it was non partisan and non political is proved by
the fact that all parties were united as to its undesirability, and that all classes
were agreed that restrictions should be placed upon the introduction of Chinese
laborers was shown a little later when the people of the state voted almost unani-
mously in favor of exclusion. When the legislature of 1875-76 created a commis-
sion to investigate the subject of Chinese immigration it was not prompted by the
desire to gather information for the people of the state; the object was to secure
and present in official form facts which would appeal to the rest of the nation.
There was no considerable number in California at that time who disapproved of
agitation. That was made apparent in a message sent to the legislature by Irwin
in 1875-6, in which he declared that the laboring people ought to agitate "as long
as they have a just cause for complaint." No one objected to such advice at that
time; it was only when the matter was brought to a head by the growth of the
evils for which Chinese immigration was responsible that any censure was visited
on advocates of exclusion.
That the evils which brought about the sand lot agitation were largely caused
by the desire which found expression in the legislature in 1852, when the wholesale
importation of Chinese laborers was advocated, cannot be doubted. It was the
persistence of the hope that cheap Chinese laborers could be brought into the
country which strengthened the determination of the large land owners to hold
onto their vast estates, and to that disposition more than anything else may be
attributed the retardment of the agricultural industry of the state, the diversifica-
tion of which has since contributed so greatly to the prosperity of California and
the growth of its metropolis and principal seaport. Although the earlier misap-
prehensions concerning the nature of the soil of California had been succeeded by
an appreciation which sometimes assumed the form of an exaggerated optimism,
the disposition still existed to regard the state as something apart, and so condi-
tioned that some form of cheap labor would be required for its development. It
was still assumed that the treeless plains could only be rendered useful by devot-
ing them to grazing. People no longer believed that the absence of trees indicated
sterility, but they were more or less convinced that they could be farmed advan-
tageously only by operating on a large scale. Irrigation was sometimes considered,
but not very seriously. Where the experiment had been tried it had usually proved
successful but it was not generally resorted to in any part of the state. The wool
industry in 1873 was still important, and much pride was taken in the statistics of
production which had expanded from an insignificant output of 5,500 pounds in
1850 to over 24,000,000 pounds in the later year. The attitude toward wheat
growing was nearly the same. There was a confident belief that it would indef-
initely continue to be California's most profitable crop, and this opinion prevailed
until after the first half of the decade 1880, when the average annual production
was 30,000,000 bushels, largely harvested on big farms.
SAN FRANCISCO
The first serious attempt to deal with irrigation legislatively was in 1875-76,
when an act was introduced for the creation of what was known as the West Side
irrigation district. This scheme, which failed of acceptance at the time, contem-
plated a canal for transportation as well as for irrigation, and the latter was de-
signed to assist the grain grower in a region of scant precipitation. The canal was
to be led along the western edge of the San Joaquin valley from Tulare to tide
water in Contra Costa county. It was pronounced impracticable in its original
shape and awakened no more interest than the project of Wozencraft, who pro-
cured the passage of an act by the legislature in 1859 which had for its object the
diversion of the waters of the Colorado from their regular channel into the great
depression between that river and the Coast Range Mountains. Wozencraft's the-
ory was that the filling of the basin would produce climatic changes similar to those
effected by the construction of Lake Maeotus in Egypt, and that the waters could
be effectively used for irrigation purposes. The matter was never tested because
congress refused to cede the lands asked for within three years of the date of the
passage of the act, and the scheme was never revived.
Irrigation received its first genuine impetus when the prospect of breaking up
the big ranches began to take on a more definite shape than that of mere hope.
This did not occur until the dissatisfaction of the struggling small farmer attracted
the attention and enlisted the sympathy of the city workers, who deserve the
credit of being among the earliest to perceive that the growth of the state was
largely dependent upon the subdivision of the great ranches and their passing into
the possession of small owners. In the convention which formulated the plank
which declared that "all unimproved land should be taxed the same as though
settled and improved," the danger of permitting a tenant system to be developed
received ample attention, as did also the menace contained in the possibility of
large land owners being permitted to work their estates with cheap Oriental labor.
The necessity of making the state attractive to immigrants, and the good results
which would ensue from the creation of a population mainly made up of small
farmers were likewise emphasized and the rational view which subsequently pre-
vailed was clearly set forth.
It does not appear that the deliberations of the convention attracted attention
at the time, but a year later there was much discussion along the same lines, al-
though it was usually dissociated from the labor question. In 1872 it began to be
recognized that the cultivation of raisins might become an important industry,
and there was a generally entertained opinion that their production would be pro-
moted by cutting up the big tracts into small farms. The editors of the city
papers taking this as a text pointed out that a large number of small farmers would
be immeasurably more beneficial to San Francisco than a few great estates, even
if the latter should be developed to their full capacity by hired help. It was
urged that the independent agriculturalist who owned and tilled his own land
usually raised a family, while under the other system the conditions would be
certain to produce a nomadic population made up of "blanket men," who would
have to ramble about the country in search of a job in the seasons when work offered
itself and who would seek refuge in the City at other times and become a burden
on the community.
It cannot be said of this period that the merchants of San Francisco, or the
people of the City generally were alive to the possibilities of diversified industry.
Early
Irrigation
legislation
Desire for
Small Land
Holdings
City Opposi-
tion to Land
Monopoly
SAN FRANCISCO
California
Production
Not
Encouraged
The
Spirit of
the Times
Ideas of development were still in the nebulous stage and there was a marked dis-
position to drift with the tide. Perhaps there was less interest relatively in the
subject of immigration during the early Seventies than was manifested throughout the
Fifties, when some at least seemed to clearly perceive that the future of the port
depended upon the growth of a large agricultural population, whose wants its
merchants would supply and for whose products they would find profitable markets.
As late as 1874, when the project was mooted of making a showing at the centen-
nial exposition, which was to be held in Philadelphia two years later, it was not
received with any degree of enthusiasm, and the legislature declined to take any
part in the enterprise on the ground that the state could not hope to derive any
benefit from making an exhibit at a fair held on the Atlantic seaboard.
The canning industry, which had attained sufficient importance to have its out-
put statistically stated in the later Sixties, was credited with a production of 132,-
000 cases in 1870, but the pack was consumed almost wholly within the state.
Some of the fruit put up in San Francisco was shipped to Nevada and Oregon,
but very few persons entertained the idea of finding markets at a distance for this
particular product. This need not be regarded as a surprising statement for the
shelves of the grocery stores of San Francisco down to a much later period dis-
played a larger assortment of fruit canned in the Eastern states than of domestic,
and throughout the Pacific coast states and territories peaches put up in Baltimore
shared popularity with the products of California orchards.
It may be said of the people of San Francisco in the early Seventies that they
had not yet found themselves. This does not mean that there were not some dis-
cerning minds able to penetrate the future, for there were plenty who were ready
to prophesy that California was destined to be a great horticultural and viticul-
tural state, and that its people would some day derive great profit from the pursuit
of industries then in their infancy. But the great majority did not act up to this
belief and were encouraged to be incredulous by critics who were ready to point
out that the products of the young state were inferior to those of older communi-
ties. In 1871 the vineyards of the state produced about four and a half million
gallons of wine, but inferior foreign wines were imported, and it was the fashion
to assume that they were better than the native product, and it was the custom
to think and say that while California might produce a fairly good raisin it could
hardly expect to rival the excellence of "three crown Malagas."
The spirit of the times was not pessimistic, nor can these exhibitions be fairly
regarded as evidence of distrust. The City was still under the domination of the
idea that mining and cereal farming would remain its chief dependence, and the
merchants believed that communities can become rich by buying more than they
sell. The value of a domestic manufacturing industry was not entirely lost sight
of by enterprising men. Indeed undue efforts were made to stimulate it in disregard
of the economic law that a large nearby consuming population is essential to the
development of the factory in an era of sharp competition, and that without an
artificial barrier to importation it is hopeless to attempt to successfully produce
under a high wage system. One of the most melancholy episodes of this period
is the vain effort of W. C. Ralston to promote manufacturing in San Francisco.
He was the victim of the delusion that nearby raw materials and remoteness from
other centers of manufacturing would offset the disadvantages of a limited market
and a higher wage scale and paid a heavy penalty for his mistake.
CHAPTER XLVIII
SAN FRANCISCO SURRENDERS TO THE SPIRIT OF SPECULATION
GROWTH OP COMMERCE OF THE PORT UNHEALTHY URBAN EXPANSION SAN FRAN-
CISCO WITHOUT A RIVAL CALIFORNIA PRODUCTS UNAPPRECIATED GREAT CHANGES
IN PRODUCTION OIL PRODUCTION POSSIBILITIES SCOUTED BY CAPITAL DISCOVERY
OF THE BIG BONANZA FAKE MINING PROPERTIES CORRUPT MANAGEMENT OF
MINES EVERYBODY CRAZED BY SPECULATION EXCITING SCENES IN THE EX-
CHANGES AND ON THE STREETS VILE TRICKS OF MANIPULATORS TREMENDOUS
FLUCTUATIONS IN STOCKS IRRATIONAL ACTIONS OF SPECULATORS THE MANY
FLEECED BY THE FEW OUTPUT OF THE PRODUCTIVE MINES THE ACCUMULATIONS
OF A COMMUNITY ABSORBED BY SHARPERS THE "MUD HENS" AND "PAUPER ALLEY"
THE COMSTOCK LODE FLOOD, O'BRIEN, MACKAY AND FAIR MANIPULATION OF
BIG BONANZA STOCKS STRUGGLES FOR CONTROL THE BROKERS SHEARING OF THE
LAMBS AND THE RESULT.
HE condition described in the preceding chapter would hardly
be inferred from a study of the commercial statistics of the
port of San Francisco, which showed steady gains in im-
ports and exports. The latter, which had only aggregated
$3,649,277 in 1860, increased to $13,385,991 in 1870 and
in 1875 they had expanded to $23,444,025. The figures
of the last mentioned year would be materially added to
if the products of the state, which were finding their way eastward by rail, were
included, as there was a considerable development of the domestic trade after the
opening of the transcontinental railroad in 1869. The imports of foreign goods,
however, kept pace with exports to other lands, rising from $7,376,016 in 1860
to $15,982,549 in 1870, and reaching $24,677,243 in 1875. There are no available
statistics to show the quantities and values of goods brought to San Francisco by
rail but there is reason for believing that the facilities of land transportation were
largely employed by merchants who very early began to lose sight of the fact that
the prosperity of a seaport depends very largely on the use its inhabitants make
of their shipping advantages.
As already noted the mines began to show a diminishing output in the Sixties,
the yield declining from $44,095,163 in 1860 to $17,123,867 in 1870 and averag-
ing about $16,500,000 during the following five years. The lessening rewards of
placer mining undoubtedly turned many from that occupation, and as the oppor-
tunities for employment in the country, owing to the system of farming, which
was conducted with a minimum of help, a great many of the released miners found
their way to the City. This was no unusual phenomenon during the period when
487
Decline of
Placer
Mining
488
SAN FRANCISCO
Army of
Unemployed
Unhealthy
Urban
Expansion
Too Much
Thought
About
Distribution
the gold yield was more than double that of the early Seventies, for it was the
custom of the miners to resort to San Francisco during the season when work
could not be prosecuted, but under those circumstances the number who sought
work was small. In fact the visitors from the standpoint of the business man
were regarded as a desirable floating population, as they usually expended the
earnings of the summer in securing comforts and enjoyments of a sort from which
they were debarred while prosecuting their search for the precious metal. The
idlers from the mines in the Seventies sought the City with a much different purpose.
The decline of placer mining was not followed by a rapid development of
quartz mining, which might have attracted and absorbed the disengaged gold
hunters who would probably have taken to that occupation had the opportunity
presented itself. A comparatively few when the chances of the placers shrunk
took up the work of prospecting, but the major part of those released made their
way to the City and helped to swell the army of unemployed, which was exhibiting
signs of uneasiness. A large part of the growth of population which the census
of 1870 showed was undoubtedly due to accessions from this cause, and not to
excessive immigration from Eastern states. The population of the state increased
during the Sixties from 379,994 to 560,427, a gain of 180,433, of which San Fran-
cisco is credited with 92,671, or more than half, a rate of growth which is shown
to be abnormal when compared with the figures of the succeeding census, which
showed a gain for the whole state of 304,267, San Francisco's share of which was
only 84,486 or a little less than a third.
There was no good reason for this extraordinary urban expansion during the
Sixties. It was out of all proportion to the development of industries of the sort
calculated to afford employment to large numbers of people. There was some
growth of manufacturing during the decade. Woolen mills were established, and
the metal trades expanded to some extent, and there was a considerable growth of
small concerns, but there was no real factory development of the sort witnessed
in the towns on the Atlantic seaboard, where the operations of manufacturers were
greatly extended while the Civil war was in progress, and where, under the influ-
ence of the Morrill protective tariff, Americans were rapidly taking possession of
the domestic market.
While there was much talk in San Francisco about manufacturing in the latter
half of the Sixties and during the early Seventies, and some unusual steps were
taken to promote industry of that character, as in the case of Ralston who, in his
capacity of manager of the affairs of the Bank of California, used the money of
that institution to stimulate the domestic production of furniture and carriages
and to forward other enterprise, a course for which he was afterward criticized
and even denounced, the business men of the City continued to think of the port
chiefly as a distributing center. Those who gave thought to the subject were dis-
posed to take New York and Liverpool for their models, and their energies were
chiefly devoted to the problems of distribution rather than of production, an atti-
tude not at all conducive to creative enterprise, and a dangerous one in a city which
under the modern system of development, acts as a magnet to draw population
which must be provided with opportunities for employment if trouble is to be
averted, and the process of growth is not to suffer interruption.
San Francisco during the Sixties and Seventies was the distributing point for
the vast area known as California, and for the entire Pacific coast. The figures
SAN FRANCISCO
of the custom house show that practically all the exporting of domestic products,
and the importation of foreign goods for the vast region known as the coast, was
done by the merchants of San Francisco. There is absolutely no mention of any
exports in 1860 through any other California port than San Francisco, and all the
imports passed through the Golden Gate. Ten years later the condition remained
unchanged. In 1875, when the exports from all customs districts in the state
aggregated $23,444,025, the amount credited to San Francisco was $23,266,395,
and in 1880, when the state's exports totalled $31,910,436, the share of the me-
tropolis in the trade was $31,845,712. The story told by the tables of exports is
repeated in that of imports, although care must be taken in making comparisons
between different periods to not confuse the statistics which represent goods in
transit, with those which show the volume and value of goods received for distribu-
tion on the coast. The import totals were greatly swollen after 1875 by the in-
clusion in them of large quantities of raw silk. In 1870 imports of this commod-
ity only aggregated $318,041; this amount had slowly increased to $603,264 by
1875 and in the opening year of the new decade it had swollen to $10,037,009.
Practically all of this raw material passed through the port to the East, only a
very small quantity being retained here to be consumed in an attempt to create a
silk manufacturing industry which, after a precarious existence of some years,
gave up the ghost.
Prior to 1870 the entire volume of imports represented Pacific coast consump-
tion, and the San Francisco merchants enjoyed the profits of its distribution. The
habit of direct importation had become well fixed, and the City was perhaps less
dependent upon the activities of the importers of New York than any other in the
country. It was the boast of San Franciscans at a time when domestic productions
were held in less esteem than at present, that the people of the City were able to
get the real foreign article while those of Eastern cities were apt to have American
imitations imposed upon them by unscrupulous dealers. In view of later develop-
ments the propensity to extol the superiority of foreign productions seems foolish,
but during the period under review this was the prevalent attitude and it was per-
sistently encouraged by the class who imagined that the future of San Francisco
was bound up in its facilities for distribution.
Doubtless this was the natural point of view in the early Seventies. Exports
of breadstuffs, which amounted to only $1,178,676 in 1860, had increased to
$10,090,179 in 1870, and when the latter decade was half completed $15,813,941
of such commodities had passed through the Golden Gate destined to European
ports. Visions of feeding the inhabitants of the old world dazzled men, and it
cannot be said that they were unsubstantial for, seven years later, in 1882, there
was actually shipped through the port of San Francisco $40,138,557 worth of
breadstuffs. When these dreams were being dreamed the great resource which has
since become one of the mainstays of the state was hardly considered. In 1860
we find in the customs statistics a record of $120 worth of fruit and nuts exported;
in 1870 the value of such shipments was only $44,156, and that amount probably
came near to the total of our surplus in the year named, for the shipments by rail,
if there were any, were too insignificant to be taken note of, and indeed very little
was known about California fruit outside of its boundaries until four or five years
later.
San
Francisco
Without s
Rival
Prosperity
and Wheat
Growing
490
SAN FRANCISCO
Great
Changes
in Pro-
duction
Cautions
San
Francisco
Capitalists
Evil of
Excessive
Speculation
There had been tremendous changes in the character and volume of the products
of California during the twenty years following 1850, but they were not of a
nature to suggest the vast transformation that was to take place after that date.
The student of statistics observing the fact that the exports of tallow had dropped
to $6,585 in 1870 and to $1,879 in 1875, would have inferred the disappearance
of the herds that once roamed the great ranches of the state, but he must have been
endowed with more than ordinary prevision to have foreseen that the time would
speedily arrive when California would be an importer of breadstuffs and an ex-
porter of tens of thousands of car loads of fresh and canned fruits ; and that an
almost unconsidered mineral product would outrank in importance as a source of
wealth the output of the placer and gold mines of the state.
It is doubtful whether the baser metals or petroleum engaged much of the
attention of San Francisco in the early Seventies. "Coal oil" was sought for in
a perfunctory manner after the dissemination of the news of the discovery in
Pennsylvania but without practical result. It would have been extraordinary if
the peculiarities of the region where the California discoveries of importance made
in later years had escaped notice. As a matter of fact they did not. Men ac-
quainted with the formations in the Titusville region were sure that the search for
oil in California would be rewarded, but they could not enlist the interest of cap-
italists. In 1876 the "Ventura Signal" published an article complaining of the
indifference shown by the latter, but was rebuked by a San Francisco paper, which
scouted its contemporary's assertion that oil found in the vicinity of San Buena-
ventura could "be reduced and placed in the market as a first class burning fluid."
"If," remarked the San Francisco editor, "the 'Signal' desires to gain the ear of
capitalists and induce them to look at the subject seriously with a view to investing
it must go into it more in detail."
This "you must show me" attitude of San Francisco capitalists was character-
istic of the period and applied to almost every sort of enterprise excepting the
search for the precious metals. The men who had made their money in mines or
by speculating in mining stocks were ready to embark in undertakings of the most
dubious sort if the lure was gold, and they were not reluctant to invest in real
estate and were even ready to put up buildings, but they were disinclined to take
up occupations about which they knew nothing. They lacked the confidence which
inspired men in the older communities to back the proficient, and not without some
cause, for experience had demonstrated quite early that the conditions which made
the investment of capital in manufacturing and other industries quite safe in the
East were not present in the new state.
That the discovery of the great ore body in the Comstock contributed to this
attitude of indifference towards other enterprises than mining is not surprising.
For a period it turned the minds of San Franciscans from the contemplation of
other modes of acquiring wealth than by speculating in stocks or making a lucky
strike in a mine. From 1872 until the decade was well spent the community was
kept in a whirl of excitement. Occasionally the flames of speculation flared up
more brightly than at other times, but during the entire period they burned with
a consuming heat which destroyed the commercial vitality of the people. This was
the greatest evil produced by the discovery of the big bonanza. The unscrupulous
manipulation of the stock market, and the robberies practiced by unprincipled
men who unhesitatingly took the last dollar of their victims, were criminal offenses
••'Ilu' K7ti>i. tui.-s.v. r Uik-n.
•' lirifcllej & Ru
'• Y..-n u.rrk .»
:..> n.l.
38. .1 .■ -..I. M I
.\l._-- i. .M ,t.i..-ll
: ■• \. Lewis.
^OX-S r'KI.KHKITIKS.I
I : ■ .■ ■ • Bdwih Booth, s. p: Sept. 14,
SAN FRANCISCO
491
whose consequences were disastrous to the individuals whose cupidity caused their
misfortune, but the most serious result was that which flowed from the arrestment
of progress, due to the diversion of capital from productive enterprises and turn-
ing it into the pockets of men who were neither desirous nor capable of making a
proper use of their acquisitions.
The so-called "big bonanza" was discovered during the period of speculation
which began with the uncovering of rich ore deposits in the Crown Point and Bel-
cher mines on the Comstock and the Raymond and Ely mine at Pioche, Nevada,
in 1872. The excitement produced by these discoveries immeasurably surpassed
that winch attended the speculative era that began in 1863, when Gould and Curry,
Savage, Ophir and Hale and Norcross, all on the Comstock lode, were the stocks
chiefly dealt in by the brokers and which a gullible public stood ready to buy de-
spite the fact that watering was unblushingly practiced and that absolutely no
dependence could be placed on reports of those in control of the mines, who were
more interested in manipulating them so as to absorb the earnings of the people
by levying assessments than they were in extracting their ores. There was no
doubt about the great richness of some of these mines. Between 1860 and 1876
those in control of Gould and Curry took out $15,178,118, and during the same
period there was extracted from Savage $15,703,279, yet these two companies
paid dividends amounting to only $8,286,000, while over $23,595,000 was con-
sumed in operating or was grabbed by the manipulators.
The experience of the Sixties did not serve as a warning to the people of San
Francisco and the rest of the state. That they disregarded it was not due to ignor-
ance of the villainies practiced by the manipulators, for the community clearly
understood that it was being fleeced, and that in nine instances out of ten the
money risked by those who bought on margin was at the mercy of sharpers who
were playing a game with marked cards. With most of those who dealt in stocks
the process was a gamble pure and simple. There was much affectation of con-
sideration of the possibility or probability of ore bodies being uncovered, but no
one was deceived by it ; least of all the victims of the villainy who were well in-
formed concerning the propensity of the manipulators, even when rich ores were
found to so manage matters that few excepting themselves derived any benefits
from the discoveries.
Side by side with the speculation involved in buying and selling on margin
there was a practice equally pernicious which caught the credulous in great numbers.
Mining companies were created by wholesale whose stocks were greedily absorbed
by silly people who permitted themselves to be deceived by lies concerning develop-
ments which were circulated to induce the dupes to pay assessments. Men went
on year after year paying the demands made upon them by unscrupulous rascals
who consumed the money they received in paying themselves extravagant salaries
and in maintaining costly offices. The amount thus abstracted by these cunning
operators was enormous, while the returns to the investors were comparatively
insignificant.
It would be impossible to describe all the methods resorted to by the manipu-
lators to absorb for their own use the wealth extracted from the mines with the
money paid in by stockholders for their operation. In a message to the legislature
in 1872, Governor Newton Booth made reference to a notorious practice which is
punished with imprisonment when the offender is a workingman, or a mere servant,
Discovery
of tbe
Big Bonanza
Victimized by
Sharpers
Corrupt
Acts of
Manipulators
492
SAN FRANCISCO
Cormorants
and
Vultures
of Society
but was passed over in the case of the leading spirits controlling the large mines
which should have paid handsome dividends to the stockholders if their proceeds
had been honestly distributed. He said: "It is not uncommon to find one class
of stockholders enriching themselves from a company which impoverishes another.
So common is this, especially with mining companies, that it has become proverbial
and grown into a distinct and disgraceful code of morals, one of whose tenets is
that to own a majority of stock or a controlling interest is to own it all. No stock-
holder in a corporation," urged the governor, "should be allowed to hold any interest
in a corporation which is distinct from and may become antagonistic to the interest
of the company as a whole." In this criticism Booth indicted the practice by which
mine operators in control managed to divert into their own pockets all the gold
extracted by paying extortionate prices to subsidiary companies for performing
services which should have been performed by the companies for the benefit of the
body of stockholders. This disreputable trick was copied from the managers of
the Central Pacific, but the avarice of the men who obtained control of the Comstock
mines was so great that at times their operations made those of the railroad men
seem mere petty larceny affairs by comparison. Mention has been made of the
enormous amount extracted from Savage and Gould and Curry, and the insignifi-
cant sum paid to stockholders. A large part of the money robbed from the latter
was obtained by the practice denounced by Booth.
If thus early a governor was called upon to denounce this refined system of
robbery there was certainly some excuse for the impassioned sand lot oratory in
which the mining manipulators were denounced as "the cormorants and vultures
of society." The excesses of the speculative era of the Sixties were small by com-
parison with those which became glaringly apparent after 1872, and continued
until the community was nearly squeezed dry. Saturnalia is a much overworked
word, but it is one that best describes the activities of the years of unblushing
recklessness during which San Francisco was exploited by the mine manipulators.
The astonishing alacrity with which the people embraced the opportunity to get
rid of their earnings by cutting loose from all economic traditions is too suggestive
of a sort of madness to be classed as a mere experience. Nothing short of a term
which implies a complete abandonment of ordinary restraints and disregard of
the future can convey an adequate impression of the condition which existed in
San Francisco between 1872 and 1877.
There have been speculative disturbances in New York which have surpassed
the magnitude of the operations in San Francisco following the discovery of the
big bonanza, but there never was one in which a whole community involved itself
so generally as the people of the Pacific coast city did between the years men-
tioned. The best testimony on this point is that of a broker who subsequently
in reviewing the conditions produced was actually able to find some words in
defense of the iniquities of the period. He tells us that the infection pervaded all
ranks of society. Asking the question "From whence come our orders?" he answered
it by saying: "Imprimis from San Francisco and literally from the kitchen to the
pulpit; from every shade in life, and every nationality represented in San Fran-
cisco. Chinamen were large gamblers in mining stocks, and wherever the tele-
graph wires extended large orders would roll in."
During the height of the excitement the streets in the neighborhood of the
mining stock exchanges were so crowded that they became almost impassable.
SAN FRANCISCO
493
Police were required to clear the tracks when a slow moving horse car passed
through Montgomery street, although that thoroughfare was a half block distant
from the scene of operations. So dense were the throngs that brokers had to be
assisted by officers to reach their places of business, and the board rooms. And
so keen were the people to engage in the gamble that it became necessary to hold
informal sessions during which the heaviest business of the day would be transacted.
The term credulous when applied to the participants only describes the prac-
tices and not the beliefs of those who took part in these exciting scenes. One of
the marvels of the situation was the cynical attitude of the participants. It was no
uncommon thing to hear men who had invested their money in stocks speak of
the prevalent roguery of those who manipulated them. Volumes could be filled
with stories, some of them apocryphal but all illustrative, describing rascalities which
resulted in the impoverishment of the victims. A curious feature of these relations
was the utter absence of indignation attending the recital which even when tragic
would be considered humorous. One current story seemed to impress all classes
as particularly funny. It was to the effect that one of the bonanza quartette had
imparted in confidence to a minister that a certain stock was going to move upward.
Although he was enjoined to keep the information secret nearly every member
of his congregation received a tip, and they all bought largely. Exactly the re-
verse happened; the stock went down and the dupes lost heavily. The minister
when he reproached the mining manipulator was met with expressions of regret,
accompanied by an offer to reimburse him for his losses, but of course the specu-
lative members of his congregation, in the parlance of the street, had to "take
their medicine."
The story as related may have been untrue, but those who told it, and their
hearers, believed it, or at least were convinced that there was no trick too base
or deception too vile from which the big men who controlled the mines would
shrink in order to get money. It might be imagined that a community possessed
of such beliefs would arise and drive its despoilers from their midst, but queerly
enough resentment was modified by the illogical opinion that in some inscrutable
fashion the men who were robbing them were conferring a benefit upon the City.
The process of reasoning was something like this: "A healthy stock market, one
founded upon a discovery of rich ore has always proved a great advantage to San
Francisco. With a rise in value, a small owner of stock purchased at low figures
becomes comparatively wealthy. Experience shows that, as a rule, a man struggling
with debt on his shoulders, should he be one of the fortunate owners of stock in a
mine where rich ore has been found will sell at about the time when his profits
will pay all his debts, and debts of say $10,000 paid in this way may pass through
the hands of a hundred other people, each one paying some long neglected obligation.
This in a way means prosperity to the community; money placed in circulation in
this way always does an immense amount of good, taking the stagnation out of a
previously dull period."
It would be a waste of words to point out the fallacies of this argument made
by a well informed broker, but there is not the slightest doubt that a very large
proportion of the people of San Francisco really believed that it was the speculation
which produced the brief period of prosperity that followed the discovery of the
California and Consolidated Virginia mines, and not the wealth which they added
to the community. It might have been urged that the sales of stocks of even those
Betting: as a
Source of
Prosperity
494
SAN FRANCISCO
Irrational
Conduct of
Speculators
companies which never returned any dividends to their investors contributed to the
prosperity of the City by stimulating the search which resulted in finding paying
mines, but it is incredible that any one should have imagined that the betting trans-
actions known as dealings in futures could have profited any one but the brokers,
and the winners, except upon the theory that the latter were easily separated from
their gains.
And indeed this was true. Almost as disastrous in its effects as the losses of
dupes was the example of extravagance which successful operators set the com-
munity. "Easy come, easy go" was their motto. In the whirl of excitement which
marked the close of the year 1874, both Con. Virginia and California made
the extraordinary advance of $500 in price per share in less than thirty days.
The fluctuations during the four months beginning with November, 1874, and
ending February 25, 1875, of the three leading stocks were no less remarkable
than the phenomenal rise above mentioned. California which sold at $90 on No-
vember 17, 1874, advanced to $160 on December 3d, was sold at $300 on Decem-
ber 17th, at $100 on the 23d and at $480 on the 30th. On January 7th it reached
$790, the top price. A week later it was down to $590 and on February 18th it
was $50. Con. Virginia had a nearly similar experience, rising from $160 on
November 17, 1874, touching $710, its highest point, on January 7, 1875, and
descending to $415 on February 4th, from which it mounted to $440 on February
25th. Ophir which started at $90 November 17th, touched $315 January 7, 1875,
and dropped to $77 on February 25th.
These tremendous fluctuations were caused by the interests battling for control,
and those who entered the contest were under no illusions respecting the cause of
the phenomenal advances, nor were they wholly unprepared for the subsequent
recessions. The volume of transactions was large and the number participating
was great. Those not in the ring were without any information whatever and were
simply staking their money on the turn of a card, for in the moments which at-
tended the fights for control the people who gambled did not have the sorry excuse
which they consoled themselves with at other times that they were acting on a
"tip" which they believed to be reliable. One of the most extraordinary features
of the mining stock craze in San Francisco was the utterly irrational conduct of the
majority of those who speculated. Those who have any acquaintance with the
movement of the Eastern stock market, the principal dealings of which are in rail-
roads and industrials, know that the whole line moves up and down in sympathy
at times. There is nothing surprising in this unison for the same cause which
affects one stock may extend to all similar stocks, and communicate itself to all
securities dependent upon business prosperity and adversity. That the value of
mining stocks should have displayed the same sympathetic variations seems pre-
posterous and proves conclusively that the mass of San Francisco speculators, in
the parlance of the street, were "suckers."
The manipulators were perfectly aware of this fact and were quite willing to
pay for the privilege of angling in the muddy stream for the silly fish. The sales
of stocks on the boards had fallen off greatly during the opening year of the
Seventies, the total of 1S70 reported by one exchange aggregating only $51,186,000.
In the ensuing year this amount jumped up to $127,888,000, and great eagerness
was displayed to secure the listing of new companies. The brokers were prompt
to take advantage of this pressure and advanced the listing price from $200 to
SAN FRANCISCO
495
$600 in April, 1872, and later on raised it to $1,000. Before the fires of the excite-
ment were extinguished by the calamitous failures of 1876, the listing price was
$2,000, and many utterly worthless mines received the stamp of approval of the
exchange because their owners or those in control were willing to pay that figure
for the privilege of having their stocks quoted.
In 1876 there were 226 companies listed on one board. No one has attempted
to ascertain how many of this number represented absolutely valueless properties.
That most of the properties were not paying dividends seemed to make no differ-
ence to the infatuated gamblers, who were perfectly aware that many of them
were not expected to do anything of the sort. Some pretense of making inquiry
into the professions of the listed companies was kept up, but it was only a sham,
for most of the stocks dealt in were proved by the event to be those of companies
whose existence depended upon the ability of the men managing them to extract
assessments from dupes ready to pay out their money in the hope that a rising
market would increase the price of their stocks, or that a lucky strike would give
them a real value and make them rich.
It was the utterly unwarranted sympathetic movement referred to which caused
so much mischief among the small fry investors. If through genuine merit one com-
pany's stock made a jump upward, or if through manipulation the price of a divi-
dend paying stock was advanced, the whole line was "boosted." No reason was
applied. The discovery of a rich ore body in a mine in one district sufficed to con-
vince the speculator that the chances of a like discovery in another mine were
increased and he acted accordingly. No one can tell how much honestly and labori-
ously earned money passed into the pockets of clever manipulators while the
delirium lasted, but the sum must have been immense. That much of the specu-
lation merely resulted in the transference of money from the pockets of one set
of gamblers, who may have been respectable citizens, into those of another set
equally respectable is undoubtedly true; but if a balance sheet could be made it
would show that by far the greatest amount of the resulting transactions, whether
of production, or of the movement of the stock market, was absorbed by com-
paratively few cunning men.
It was estimated that before Con. Virginia and California ceased to
be profitably worked they had produced $133,471,000. Gould and Curry, the
first mine on the Comstock in which a large body of ore was uncovered, between
the date of the discovery of its richness in 1862 and 1905 was credited with a
production of $15,525,000. Savage produced $20,552,000; Hale and Norcross
$11,486,000; Challar Potosi $13,985,000; Imperial and adjoining claims $28,039,000;
Kentuck $4,905,000; Yellow Jacket $18,043,000; Crown Point $33,081,000 and
Belcher $34,415,000. How much of this vast sum exceeding $338,000,000 was paid
out in dividends, or how the latter were distributed it would be impossible to tell.
The figures of production were derived from the records of the defunct stock ex-
changes, but they are not explicit concerning the disposition of the earnings of
the mines. That the distribution was not equitable was notorious. That no pos-
sible device which would turn the product of the mines into the pockets of manipu-
lators was neglected is known. And that no effort was made to put an end to the
shameless robbery of the people until they were practically cleaned out is a matter
of history. Nevertheless, to recur to a former statement, an opinion undoubtedly
prevailed in what may be termed influential circles that a brisk stock market, no
Many
Companies
Listed
SAN FRANCISCO
An Era
of Foolish
Extravagance
The Mud
Hens and
Pauper Alley
matter what its accompaniments, spelt prosperity for San Francisco. That this idea
should have gained so firm a hold on the class mentioned is due to the fact that
the prosperity of the few led to extraordinary extravagances which had the effect
of promoting business of all kinds.
The most of the vast sums represented by the productions of the mines, the ma-
jority of which were situated in Nevada, flowed to San Francisco where they were
invested or expended by those who were fortunate enough to secure them. Had
the distribution been even more inequitable than it really was the result must have
been to stimulate business, if only temporarily. But the trouble did not stop
with the unfair methods adopted by manipulators to absorb the major part of the
profits of mineral production; the greed of the principal beneficiaries was such
that they did not shirk from putting up jobs which had the effect of diverting the
accumulations of the community, which under normal conditions would have been
devoted to the promotion of legitimate enterprises, into nonproductive undertakings,
or into the pockets of the parasites who consume what is produced and saved by
the industrious and frugal.
There is no end of anecdotes concerning the profuse display of the beneficiaries
of the speculative excitement. We are told of a broker who had three hundred and
sixty-five pairs of pantaloons, one for every day in the year, and the papers are
filled with allusions which indicate that the motto "easy come, easy go" was lived
up to by those who were profiting through the foolishness of the people. They also
tell the story in their advertising and news columns of an excessive love of amuse-
ment, which took the form of liberal patronage of music and the drama. At no
time in the history of the City had the artist been more prosperous than he was
during the Seventies, and in that decade was witnessed the remarkable passion for
architectural adornment which did so much to convert San Francisco into a place
of pinnacles and steeples which, however absurd when considered in detail, gave
the town its admittedly picturesque appearance.
It is true too, that while the period of lavish expenditure lasted little was
heard of the wrecks produced by the system. "Pauper alley" came into prominence
after the bubble had burst, and the wretched "mud hens" who infested it were not
conspicuous in the days when the "gent" with three hundred and sixty-five pairs
of "pants" flourished. Paupers had been made in plenty in the early Seventies,
but it was not until the collapse of the Sierra Nevada deal in 1877 that the alley
became a place of resort for a lot of infatuated creatures who had lost what they
had, and still hoped that some worthless bits of paper to which they clung would
become valuable. Pauper alley was that part of Leidersdorff street south of Cali-
fornia. It was a narrow thoroughfare with sidewalks three or four feet wide, and
was abundantly supplied with saloons and cigar stands, there being five of the
former and four of the latter in the distance of a short block. There were also
two pool rooms, two restaurants and a candy stand. There was an entrance to
the Pacific Stock Board from the alley, some brokers' offices and a bucket shop.
It was always crowded in the flush days, and when those of tribulation came it
was haunted by broken down men and bedraggled women, who spent their time
telling about the fortunes that had slipped through their fingers, and dreaming
dreams of fortunes still to be made. In time it became one of the sore spots which
visitors were shown, but it was swept out of existence in the disaster of 1906 and
is now only a memory.
SAN FRANCISCO
497
The celebrated Comstock mines from which the vast riches mentioned were ex-
tracted were in Nevada, but the boundaries of the lode were rather indefinite, and
were the subject of jest. Shuck in his "History of the Stock Exchange" relates
that an inquisitive person who wished to arrive at the facts questioned a miner
and that the following dialogue resulted:
"What is the true location out here on the side of Mount Davidson?
"Well, stranger, it is about this way. There hain't but one lode along here.
Them locations east and west of this great lode is only to sell to tenderfeet.
"Well, if that is the case, what are the boundaries of this great lode?
"Well, stranger, the boundaries of this great lode is as follows: The footwall
is the diorite of Mount Davidson, and the hangingwall is Salt Lake City. All
quartz within them boundaries is the Comstock lode."
The joke lies in the application. The number of San Franciscans who had
any better information than was embraced in this comprehensive definition of the
boundary was limited. And their knowledge of the geography of the mines real
or imaginary in which they invested their money was no more meager than that
which they possessed of the workings of the properties, or whether they had any
existence at all. It is related of a San Francisco woman who visited Monte Carlo
and sat at one of the tables where she was a pretty constant winner, but had to
be told when she had made a winning, that she answered the testy remark of an
Englishman who sat by her side, that he could not see why any one who didn't
understand the game should play, by saying "Oh, that's all right. I used to make
plenty of money in mining stocks and I never knew anything about them." She
was more frank than the average participant in the dangerous game but not more
ignorant. The most of them could talk glibly enough about the number of feet
in this, that or the other mine, and had mastered the intricacies of the various
subdivisions of the leading stocks. They knew to an inch the dimensions of the
leading claims, and were familiar with the history of the processes by which a
few men obtained control of great ore bodies. If the mystified stranger from the
East asked for information they could tell him all about the methods of William
Sharon and W. C. Ralston, and of their rivals James C. Flood, William S. O'Brien,
John W. Mackay and James G. Fair. They had the story of the rise of these
magnates by heart, and they did not allow it to lose any of its piquancy in the
telling. But there was little malice in their relations at that time. That came
later. If there were animadversions upon the fact that Flood and O'Brien kept a
drinking saloon on Washington street, and that they waited on their own cus-
tomers, they were usually qualified with admiration that men could rise to such
lofty heights from so low an estate.
These critics dwelt on the shrewd dealings of the two saloonkeepers and the
profits made by them through investments in Comstocks, and upon their sagacity
in associating with them in their operations Mackay and Fair, two practical miners
who were working on the lode. After the formation of this partnership the un-
proved ground near the north end of the Comstock lode known as Consolidated
Virginia was purchased by the quartette. The claim was 1,310 feet in length and
was divided in 1875 into two mines, California with 600 feet and Consolidated Vir-
ginia 710 feet. The two mines were represented by 10,700 shares which were
bought at $4 to $9 a share, the property being acquired by the four for a sum less
The
Comstock
Lode
Made by the
Uninformed
Flood,
O'Brien,
Mackay and
Fair
498
SAN FRANCISCO
Not a
Chance
Discovery
Dangerous
Dividend
Paying Stocks
Tricks of
the Market
Riggers
than $100,000, and considerably less than $100 a lineal foot. "Con." Virginia —
the contraction of Consolidated, was always employed in speaking of the mine —
had been worked for many years but had never returned a dollar of dividends, but
for reasons known to the new firm its members had unbounded faith in its future.
That it was not a blind chance was shown by the mode of working. Instead
of sinking on the old shaft the firm made arrangements to run a tunnel from the
Gould and Curry shaft which had attained a depth of 1,800 feet and was 800 feet
from Con. Virginia ground. This drift was begun at a depth of 1,200 feet below
the surface, and it was while making it that the body of ore known as the "big
bonanza" was discovered. The discovery resulted in the immediate enhancement
of the value of the property. So great was the richness of the deposit that its
owners were enabled to convert the original 10,700 shares into two issues of
108,000 shares each, each share thus representing the infinitesimal proportion of
1-14 of an inch of the claim.
During the first six months of 1875 the output of the ore was valued at a
million and a half a month and the shares were sold, as already related, as high
as $710 per share, the price quoted January 7, 1875,. which represented an aggre-
gate value of $153,360,000 for the 216,000 shares issued. But this fabulous valuation
was enormously increased later. The original capital stock of California was enlarged
on February 4, 1875, to 540,000 shares, and on March 14, 1876, a similar course
was taken with Con. Virginia. California after the increase was sold as high as
$90 per share, representing a valuation of $486,000,000, and Con. Virginia sold
as high as $86, the two mines being thus speculatively rated at nearly a billion
dollars.
Although the term speculatively rated is used in describing the valuation
placed on these properties the fact that after the subdivision the price of California
ranged about $60 during the year 1875, and that it mounted to $87 in January,
1876, to $90 on February 24th, and that it kept near that figure until March 23d,
when it was $88 indicates the degree of confidence felt in the richness of the mine,
and the same comment applies to Con. Virginia, which was quoted for some time
at near the price made immediately after the increase of the number of shares.
These stocks represented dividend paying properties, but their value was not
determined by the appreciation of investors who rarely bought with the idea of
holding them. The dividend factor was never lost sight of by those who bought,
but the buyer was conscious of the fact that he was at the mercy of unscrupulous
men and was always ready to sell at a profit, and to hunt cover when signs of an
impending storm appeared.
Some of the spectacular rises in value produced by efforts to obtain control
have been referred to, but they do not illustrate the uncertainty of the market and
the trickiness of manipulators near so effectively as the statement that between
November 4 and December 2, 1875, California was depressed from $54 to $21
a share, and that Ophir which sold at $65 October 6, 1875, was down to $39 on
November 4th. In the slang of the street the manipulators "caught the suckers
coming and going." The moths fluttering near trffe flame were constantly having
their wings singed, and not infrequently their existence wiped out, but the game
went on merrily. The rich mines paid dividends, but the men who controlled
them were able to arrange matters so that what they paid out found its way back
CLAY STREET CABLE ROAD CAR, ON THE DAY OF ITS TRIAL TRIP, AUGUST
The inventor, A. S. Halladie, and his wife are seated on the front seat. The line started at the
corner of Kearny and Clay Streets and ended on Leavenworth
SAN FRANCISCO
into their coffers, albeit by a circuitous route which was eagerly traveled by a
community crazed by dreams of sudden wealth.
The extent of the infatuation can be measured by the confidence of the brokers
who up to the very eve of the collapse were planning to extend their operations.
On the 1st of June, 1875, the San Francisco Stock and Exchange Board increased
its membership to 100 by adding 20 new names, a list of which has an historical
value. They were William Sharon, James C. Flood, Robert F. Morrow, James
D. Fry, William S. O'Brien, Alexander Austin, George M. Pinney, Richard C.
Hooker, Charles N. Felton, H. H. Scott, John P. Jones, L. T. Haggin, H. Hart,
Samuel B. Wakefield, Charles S. Neal, George T. Mayre, Jr., Marcus P. Hall,
Eugene E. Dewey, Joseph Quay, and Martin Herman. These new seats were sold
for $25,000 a piece. A year later there were transfers ranging from $25,000 to
$40,000 Robert C. Page paying the latter sum. Even after the bottom had
dropped out the fact was scarcely recognized by those eager to profit at the ex-
pense of the credulous, a transfer at $10,000 being made during 1879 when it
was foolishly imagined by some that there was to be a revival of what had become
mockingly called "the mining stock industry."
What was characterized as "a stupid and deplorable incident" resulted in the
creation of a rival board in 1875, which was known as the Pacific Stock Exchange.
E. J. Baldwin, whose good fortune had earned for him the nickname of "Lucky,"
at that time one of the largest operators on the San Francisco Stock and Exchange
Board, having forgotten his ticket was refused admission by the doorkeeper. He
left in a towering rage swearing that he would start a rival board and he kept his
threat. There were plenty eager to break in who were ready to join him in the
new enterprise, and on the 19th of May, 1875, the Pacific Stock Exchange was
organized. It maintained an existence during the vicissitudes of the years succeed-
ing the failure of the Bank of California, and was finally absorbed by the older
concern on September 8, 1904, when the latter was in a condition nearly moribund.
Baldwin was one of the conspicuous figures in the frequent combats for control
but was never in the foremost rank, although he was a large operator. In 1874
he contended with Sharon for the mastery of Ophir, but the latter, who had bought
James Keene's interest in the mine outgeneraled Baldwin after a contest in the
course of which stock that sold at $65 was gradually driven up to $150. During
this deal the street was greatly bewildered by the tactics of the Sharon interest,
the brokers for which appeared to be buying and selling Ophir with singular im-
partiality. Although the method resulted in occasional instances of compulsory
repurchase of stocks which had been sold to deceive, it proved successful and
Baldwin failed in his efforts to obtain control. Many of the struggles for control
occurred over claims, the possession of which would prove advantageous to those
dominating Con. Virginia. A contest of this sort arose over Central No. 1, and
Central No. 2, two small claims extending northward from Con. Virginia to the
Ophir line. A strike of rich ore had been made in Central No. 1 and Flood and
O'Brien determined to get possession of it in order to strengthen their position,
and there was a considerable flurry in consequence. Occasionally in contests of this
sort the broker availed himself of the knowledge gained by his dealings. It is re-
lated of a broker employed by Flood that he bought for his own account 500 shares
of a stock which was driven up from $35 to $72, and that instead of taking his
winning, which would have exceeded $10,000, he decided to hold his purchase. He
Brokers
Extend Their
Operations
Mining: Stock
Exchange
500
SAN FRANCISCO
Integrity
t Brokers
iJirge
rds of
Brokers
Duped by
False
Reports
subsequently realized a large fortune from the dividends, and the rise in value
of his shares, and retired to New York in 1876 with something like $5,000,000.
The professional integrity of brokers was rarely called into question. The
methods employed appeared to give opportunities for shirking obligations but
they were rarely abused. Shuck states that "a new member in making a sale or
purchase on the street would state the name of his broker in the board. His
word would be taken and the transaction compared with the absent broker, and
such was the honor and integrity of all concerned, that I cannot recollect a
single transaction that was afterward repudiated, although wide differences would
occur in the value of the stocks when the board met." Considering the turpitude
of the manipulators of the market, this may seem like an undeserved eulogy, but
it is amply borne out by the records, which furnish abundant testimony that the
people who had dealings with the brokers placed implicit confidence in them, and
that they retained it to the last.
There was no reason why the broker should stray from the path of rectitude.
His rewards were large and he incurred no risks, except those involved in sur-
rendering to the temptations which his real or fancied knowledge of situations sub-
jected him. That his information was not always of the best is attested by numer-
ous anecdotes. It was reported that Coll Deane bought from James R. Keene
1,000 shares of Con. Virginia at $800 "buyer 90." It never reached that figure,
but the belief was entertained by the brokers that the stock would go to $3,000.
Another incident is related in which Flood figured. When Con. Virginia was
selling at about $100 the holder of 1,000 shares told the bonanza king that he
was tired of the stock and that he would like to get rid of it. Flood promptly
offered him $100 which he accepted with equal promptitude, thus permitting the
purchaser to remark subsequently that the Nevada block was built out of the profits
of the transaction.
It is not surprising that there were some who got tired. Playing in a game in
which a shrinkage of the value of a stock amounted to forty per cent in a single
day was not a very restful occupation. California on one occasion broke suddenly
from $500 and sold as low as $300. Violent changes of this character were pro-
duced by the circulation of reports, whose origin could not always be traced, but
were usually supposed to emanate from the inside. In this case the break was
due to a story that a "horse" had been struck. There may have been a body of
barren ore, as represented, but its presence did not destroy the confidence of the
operators, nor induce them to sacrifice their shares. The sufferers were the credu-
lous people who were equally ready to accept the manufactured reports of disaster
as they were those of finds of Midas like riches. The same kind of men who were
panic stricken by a report which caused a drop of $200 a share bought with eager-
ness when a fresh rumor was circulated that the barren rock had been passed and
only rich ore was again in sight.
Sometimes, however, the rigging of the market was overdone. The breaks and
recoveries were repeated so frequently that the belief would take hold of the people
that "the bottom had dropped out." But these periods of distrust were not of
long duration. During the frenzy the normal condition was a lamb-like confidence
■4 OCQO r e
SAN FRANCISCO 501
which was not disturbed by the sight of the shearer whose glittering shears fas-
cinated rather than repelled. The sheep submitted to be regularly shorn until
there was no more wool on the old ones, and while the fresh crop of lambs was
growing up things happened from which even silly lambkins could learn a lesson
and profit by what they had learned.
CHAPTER XLIX
THE BURSTING OF THE STOCK SPECULATION BUBBLE
EFFECTS OF CALIFORNIA'S ISOLATION A SHORT LIVED BOOM THE EASTERN PANIC
OF 1873 FAILURE OF THE BANK OF CALIFORNIA CAREER OF WILLIAM C. RAL-
STON RISE OF RALSTON FROM THE RANKS CAUSE OF THE FAILURE OF THE BANK
OF CALIFORNIA WILLIAM SHARON RALSTON's ENTERPRISE AN EXHIBITION OF
FICKLENESS AND INGRATITUDE THE DEATH OF RALSTON VICTIM OF A BAD SYS-
TEM OF BANKING THE BANK CROWD AND FLOOD AND O'BRIEN REHABILITATION
OF BANK OF CALIFORNIA FLOOD AND O'BRIEN START THE NEVADA BANK THE
DESIRE TO GET RICH QUICKLY THE GREAT DIAMOND SWINDLE THE BITERS BIT
SPECULATION IMPEDED INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT MANUFACTURES IN 1876
LABOR'S SERIOUS MISTAKE CROP FAILURE UNEMPLOYED FLOCK TO THE CITY
BEGINNING OF SERIOUS LABOR TROUBLES CONDITIONS ON EVE OF THE SAND LOT
DISTURBANCES.
MERICAN interdependence has resulted in making the
United States the greatest commercial nation on the globe.
The fact is sometimes disguised by the publication of
statistics of external trade in a manner which obscures
the vastness of domestic transactions, but when the latter
are duly emphasized, as they usually are by rational men,
the American preponderance is made manifest. This
superiority and the resulting integrations has its advantages, but it is also subject
to drawbacks. The whole world is now united by commercial bonds of varying
strength, but those which bind the states of the Union together have no weak-
nesses. They have united the country so firmly commercially that an injury to
one part is immediately felt by all the other parts, and business disasters or pros-
perity have ceased to be sectional.
This was not always the ease. The isolation of California before the comple-
tion of the transcontinental railroad, and the peculiar industrial conditions pro-
duced by the extraction of enormous quantities of gold, in a manner insulated the
state and prevented it being seriously affected by the commercial adversities of
the rest of the Union. This exemption did not immediately disappear when rail-
road communication was established. During the early Seventies there was excep-
tional prosperity in the Eastern states, but, as has been shown, San Francisco for
the first two years of the decade was afflicted with meetings of unemployed ; and
those who had the interests of the City at heart were greatly disturbed over the
outlook for the future which did not seem at all hopeful, owing to the unfortunately
503
Inter-
dependence
Effects of
California's
Isolation
504
SAN FRANCISCO
The Eastern
Panic of
1873
one sided distribution of the land, which was recognized as a great obstacle to the
development of the agricultural resources of the state.
The bonanza discoveries, as already related, effected a change which disguised
the true situation. While the riches extracted from the Nevada mines were being
poured into the laps of San Franciscans the problems which had disturbed them
before 1872 were forgotten. Business of all sorts nourished because those who
made money in mines and who won in stock deals expended it freely. It was a
boom period. The sales of real estate increased threefold in as many years, and
building operations were extensive, giving abundant employment to workers. The
merchants prospered because the money so easily obtained was freely spent upon
articles of luxury, the sales of which brought big profits to the vendors.
In 1878, on September 18th, the most extraordinary panic ever witnessed in
the United States began. The first three-quarters of the year had been prosperous,
but on the date mentioned Jay Cooke & Co., failed, and a financial storm followed
which almost destroyed the banking system of the country. The panic endured an
entire month, and did not spend itself until it had swept away the savings of the
toiler, and the capital of those engaged in industrial pursuits. The depression that
followed lasted until 1877, when more troubles were added by the extensive rail-
road strikes of that year, and there were no signs of recovery until 1878. During
the most exciting period of this financial storm San Francisco serenely pursued
her way, scarcely affected by the disasters of the East. There is no evidence
that the failure of the Bank of California and the subsequent depression in the
City after that event were in any wise connected with the misfortunes of the
people on the other side of the Rocky Mountains. They were purely local in their
origin and were easily traced. No investigator of the subject has hesitated to
assign the cause, but in framing the indictments against those responsible for the
disaster the specifications have often been drawn up in such a fashion that the
real culprits have escaped criticism.
The Bank of California closed its doors on the 26th of August, 1875. Almost
up to the moment of failure the institution had been regarded as a Gibraltar of
finance. It is said that there were persons who were aware of the condition of the
bank on the morning of the 26th. That there were rumors of disaster is certain,
but they did not shake the general confidence. A broker named Jones who had a
deposit of $75,000, and Glazier & Co. with $400,000 to their credit despised the
rumors, but Ed. F. Hall & Co., a large firm less confident, during the day with-
drew $250,000. A broker, Maurice Schmitt, who had presented checks amounting to
$14,000 and was told to wait awhile when he communicated the fact to his banker
was advised not to speak of the matter as the Bank of California was as sound
as any in the City. But distrust spreads with lightning rapidity. At two o'clock
there was a small crowd at the teller's window, but not a number sufficient to
attract attention; at 2:15 P. M. it had swollen to proportions indicating a run; at 2:30
the string extended to the curb of the sidewalk on California street; at 2:40
P. M., Ralston was seen walking from his office to the teller's desk, whom he
directed to cease paying out any more money, and the porter was directed to close
the iron doors. San Francisco's greatest financial institution had failed.
William C. Ralston, the manager of the Bank of California, was a remark-
able man, and one of extraordinary ability. Before the failure there was no" one
in San Francisco whose popularity even remotely approached his, and it was
SAN FRANCISCO
505
based on actions which always claim the esteem of a community. His enterprise
was boundless and, apart from his operations in the speculative whirl, was always
directed towards the promotion of industry. He was enthusiastically of the opinion
that San Francisco could be made a great manufacturing center, and to help achieve
that end he promoted and took a direct interest in the creation of several im-
portant establishments. Among the manufacturing enterprises in which he was
directly concerned were the Mission Woolen Mills, the Kimball Carriage Factory,
the West Coast Furniture Company, the San Francisco Sugar Refinery and many
others. His activities were by no means confined to manufacturing or to San
Francisco. He was foremost among the contributors to the construction of the
fine dry dock at Hunter's Point, and actively promoted the work of reclamation
on Sherman island. He divined the future of irrigation, and took a substantial
interest in the building of the San Joaquin irrigating canal. The desire to see
San Francisco a great city was a mania with him, and at a time when the dry rot
of the inaction produced by the too stringently economical Consolidation Act had
hold of the City, he sought by individual initiative to bring about civic improve-
ments which the people in their collective capacity shrunk from making. To this
latter tendency he owed much of the harsh criticism which followed his death.
There was nothing that would contribute to the advancement of the City neg-
lected by him. The Grand hotel, the pride of San Francisco in the opening years
of the Seventies was largely built with capital provided by him, and it was he who
projected and partly completed the Palace hotel, which for several years after
its opening enjoyed the distinction of being spoken of as the largest and best
appointed hotel in the world. In like fashion, and with the same object in view,
that of making the City attractive, he was instrumental in causing the California
theater, which surpassed any previous constructions of the kind in the City, to
be constructed. The opening of New Montgomery street was due to his energy,
and the far reaching scheme of securing a vast watershed which would develop a
sufficient quantity of water to supply the needs of a great city is attributed to
him by men who derided his acumen and persuaded the people to adopt a course
which has ever since proved a shirt of Nessus to the community.
Ralston was born in Ohio in 1825, and began his career as a clerk on a Missis-
sippi river steamboat. He started for California in 1850, but his journey was
interrupted at Panama where he obtained a position as agent for Garrison &
Morgan, from which he was promoted to the agency in San Francisco in 1853.
While thus engaged the firm started a banking house and took him into partner-
ship. He displayed remarkable business talent, and his tact and ability enabled
the concern formed when Garrison & Morgan retired to weather the numerous
financial storms of the early days. In 1858 he was in partnership with Donahoe,
but the operations of the firm were too circumscribed to satisfy his ambition, and
in 1864 he joined with Darius O. Mills and several other capitalists in founding
the Bank of California, whose cashier he became, D. O. Mills being its first presi-
dent, retiring in 1872 when the presidency was given to Ralston.
After the failure of the Bank of California in 1875, the management of Ralston
was reflected upon by critics who sought to put on his shoulders the entire onus
of the disaster. It was charged that the aid extended to many of the local enter-
prises, the most of which proved unremunerative, were made without the knowl-
edge of the other directors of the bank, but the history of the institution dis-
Projector of
the Palace
Hotel
Cause of the
506
SAN FRANCISCO
Career of
William
Sharon
Ingratitude
Fickleness
credits the criticism, and indeed shows that unprofitable as these enterprises were,
the losses which they occasioned to Ralston and the bank could have been borne
had there not occurred a tremendous shrinkage of stocks owned by, or upon
which large sums had been loaned by the institution, undoubtedly with the full
knowledge of the directory.
The most prominent name connected with that of Ralston was that of William
Sharon. He was a San Francisco broker whose abilities had attracted the atten-
tion of capitalists connected with the Bank of California, and was sent by them
to Nevada where he conducted a banking business which was chiefly confined to
advancing money on stocks. Incidentally he acted as confidential agent of "the
bank crowd." In addition to the pursuit of banking of a sort which it would be
difficult to induce the present generation to regard as legitimate, Sharon engaged
in promoting the construction of ore crushing mills which he was finally enabled
to control by foreclosure or through other methods. Sharon and Ralston had early
established close relations, and their connection undoubtedly furnished the oppor-
tunities which the former availed himself of to make himself enormously rich.
Sharon was commonly supposed to have the support of the Bank of California,
and he soon became the most important man in Nevada. A corporation was - formed
known as the United Mill and Mining Company of which Sharon became president
and manager, and it took over nearly all of the mills on the Comstock lode and
secured a practical monopoly of the ore crushing, by which means the profits of
mining were almost entirely absorbed. The monopoly thus acquired was strength-
ened by obtaining possession of the principal water supply, and of the railroad
which hauled the necessary timbers used in the mines.
During the period of prosperity Ralston essayed the role of Lorenzo the Mag-
nificent. He caused to be built in the Canada del Raimundo in San Mateo county
a spacious and beautiful country residence which he called Belmont, and in which
he entertained on a lavish scale. While the sun of prosperity shone on the banker
there was nothing but praise and admiration of his hospitality, the magnificence
of which was extolled as reflecting credit on San Francisco and California. But
when the clouds of adversity closed about him and he was no longer here to defend
himself, the practices which had made the bosoms of San Franciscans swell with
pride were denounced as extravagances, and venomous critics intimated that the
display was all a part of a scheme to bamboozle and confuse the people by its
glitter.
When the doors of the Bank of California closed on the 26th of August,
1875, there were few who thought that they would be reopened and the institution
rehabilitated, and when Ralston's career culminated the next day by drowning
this conviction became general. On the day following the closing Ralston was
deposed from his position of president and manager. Immediately after the meet-
ing at which this action was taken he proceeded to Black Point where he was ac-
customed to taking swimming baths. He swam out some distance and was seen
struggling in the water. A boat put off to his assistance, but when taken aboard,
although vigorous efforts were made it was impossible to resuscitate him. Many of
the circumstances pointed to suicide but a large part of the community refused to
believe that he had taken his own life because they felt assured, despite the shock
given to confidence by the failure of the bank, that his abilities would be equal to
the task of restoring the institution, and that he would have had the courage to
SAN FRANCISCO
507
make the attempt when his associates called upon him to do so, as they would
inevitably had he not been drowned.
The examination of the condition of the bank after the death of Ralston dis-
closed that its capital had been greatly impaired. Enemies of Ralston charged
that he had misappropriated four or five millions of its funds. This may have been
true, but not in the sense implied, for it is obvious that his associates must have
been familiar with most of his undertakings, and that they approved of them.
That there was laxity of management was admitted by friendly critics, but it
was claimed by them that there was no turpitude. The fact is Ralston was the
victim of a faulty system of banking and an unbounded ambition. There were no
restraints on the methods of bankers, and no examinations. Practices which would
now be denounced as grossly irregular, and result in the closing down of an insti-
tution, were then freely engaged in by the most irreproachable bankers without
inviting adverse comment.
The inevitable consequence of this looseness was the creation of a sense of
power which made managers lose sight of their trust and caused them to regard
the institutions with which they were connected as instruments for the attainment
of their own ends. No one can escape this conclusion who will study the actions
of those responsible for the conduct of the Bank of California on the day of its
failure. They were engaged in a life and death struggle with men who were
disputing their supremacy in the financial world and the result proved disastrous
to them. Flood and O'Brien had become the great leaders in the stock market,
and were ambitious to enter the field of finance. Sharon and his associates were
determined to destroy them if possible. On the day of the failure of the Bank
of California at the 11 o'clock session Sharon sent in a selling order which by
comparison dwarfed any ever before given on the board. It was of such magni-
tude and was executed with such swiftness that the broker scarcely looked at his
book as a stock was called. He simply sold as long as there was a bid offered
without making a record of his transactions. As the order developed itself buyers
became shy and wary, and when the battle was over Flood and O'Brien were still
masters of their position. The stocks of the mines they controlled had been badly
hammered, but they had won out. California which had been sold at $59.50 @
$56 on August 25th, on the 26th was quoted at $56.50 and after the board sales on
the street were made at $48; Con. Virginia was $290 @ $263 on the 25th, on
the 26th $267.50 @ $250, and after the board $240; Ophir during the combat
went from $54 to $55 @ $43 and the street bid was $36.
The only reasonable inference that can be drawn from the events of the day
of the failure is that what was known as the bank crowd acted in unison, and
that the harmony existing between them would not have been disturbed if the
combat had turned out differently. The victory of Flood and O'Brien, so far as
it concerned their banking aspirations was a barren one. That they hoped to
utterly crush the Bank of California crowd and build a new bank on the ruins of
that institution was generally believed, but the laws of California, lax as they
were on the score of regulation, were efficacious enough to prevent the consumma-
tion of the scheme of vengeance. It was at first contemplated by those who had
taken over the control of the Bank of California after Ralston's deposition to
declare the institution insolvent, but the liability of stockholders law compelled
another course, and rehabilitation was decided upon which was chiefly accom-
Crowd" and
Flood and
O'Brien
Sharon
Rehabilitates
Bank of
California
508
SAN FRANCISCO
The Nevada
Bank
Started
The Desire
The Great
Diamond
Mine
Swindle
plished through the efforts of William Sharon, who also undertook the comple-
tion of the Palace hotel then in course of construction.
Although the Bank of California was not destroyed, the ambition of Flood and
O'Brien to figure in the financial world was realized. On the 4th of October,
1875, they opened a new bank, which they called the Nevada, and on the following
day the rehabilitated Bank of California opened its doors. It is not without sig-
nificance that the Stock Board, which had suspended operations when the Bank of
California failed, opened and resumed business the same day that the Bank of
California assumed its old time place which it succeeded in doing by paying dollar
for dollar of its liabilities within six weeks of its reopening. The new Nevada
bank took its place and became a factor in San Francisco finances, but it never
realized the hope of its founders. It was a sound institution with abundance of
capital, but it never became a real power, and when distrust of the mining stock
game took possession of the community its influence waned and disappeared entirely.
The events which led to the destruction of confidence and its effects have been
variously described, but the evidence is not convincing that the speculative ten-
dencies of San Franciscans were wholly responsible for their troubles, or that
they were cured by awful examples or repeated deceptions. They were occasion-
ally staggered by disclosures, but they did not cease playing the role of dupe until
the vitality of the community had become sapped to such an extent that a dry sea-
son, by cutting down the productions of the state, had so lessened its consuming
powers that business of all kinds was adversely affected. When the hour of ad-
versity came the resources that should have been a mainstay were not developed,
and the earnings of the people and nearly all the wealth extracted from the mines
had passed into the hands of a few men whose vast fortunes mocked the condition
of the reckless who had plunged themselves into poverty in their efforts to get
rich quick.
To get rich quick was the general desire, and the besetting sin of the commu-
nity was its cheerful surrender of ordinary perception while thus obsessed. It was
not alone the poor and the ignorant who yielded to the temptation, and substituted
credulousness for common sense. Sometimes even the biters were bit. In 1872
when the mining stock speculation was at its height a pair of smooth rascals
mapped out a scheme which was worked up in such detail, and so ingeniously, that
the most suspicious of those who were permitted the privilege of victimizing them-
selves fell into the trap as easily as if they were mere lambs. Philip Arnold and
John Slack received the credit of originating the swindle, but it is more than prob-
able that Asbury Harpending, whose name was made familiar to the reader in
another connection, was the genius by whom it was evolved and elaborated.
Arnold and Slack made their appearance in San Francisco in the year men-
tioned in the guise of honest miners. They brought with them a bag of stones
which they had run across in their prospecting rambles. They were not quite sure
that they were what they appeared to be, but they suspected that they were dia-
monds. Merely by chance they strayed into Harpending's office and left the bag
in his care cautioning him against speaking about the find until they could satisfy
themselves of its value. Harpending incautiously, of course, made reference to
the deposit in his care, and incidentally expressed the belief that the suspicions
of Arnold and Slack were well founded and that the stones were real diamonds.
His methods were so adroit that a number of capitalists had their attention en-
SAN FRANCISCO
509
listed. Pending a thorough investigation of the stones which these sage men
insisted must be pronounced genuine by experts, enough concerning the wonderful
find leaked out to start several parties searching Arizona and Nevada for the new
diamond fields.
Meanwhile, after some objections on the part of the owners of the stones, they
were sent to New York where they were examined by Tiffany & Co., and pro-
nounced genuine by that firm, and the lot valued at about $150,000. When this
report was received the persons whom Harpending had continued to interest pro-
posed to send an expert named Janin to the field. At first Arnold and Slack de-
murred, but were finally persuaded that the expert would deal fairly. Janin was
authorized in the event of his investigations proving satisfactory to obtain an op-
tion from the owners.
When these arrangements were concluded Janin with one or two others pro-
ceeded to the locality where Arnold and Slack had found the stones. The spot
where the gems were discovered by them was pointed out, and the expert at once
noted other places in the neighborhood resembling it which were searched and
more diamonds were discovered. Janin's report and the exhibition of a fresh lot
of gems settled the matter. A big company was to be formed which Harpending
insisted should be organized in New York in order to give its operations a wider
scope, but the San Francisco capitalists were too eager to retain control to permit
anything of the sort, and succeeded in nearly monopolizing the affair, only a few
New Yorkers being allowed to share in the "good thing."
Meantime the news of the diamond discovery had spread throughout the world.
Naturally it attracted the attention of Clarence King, of the United States geolog-
ical survey, who had been over the region in which the find was said to have been
made without discovering any signs of a diamond formation. He at once revisited
the locality, and in searching around he found some of the stones in crevices, where
they had been carelessly dropped by the "salters," and under such circumstances
that he instantly detected the imposition. About the same time some of the stones
sent to London by Harpending were identified as African diamonds, and it was
soon ascertained that a short time before the alleged discovery by Arnold and
Slack a large purchase of gems in the rough had been made in that city, which
were carried to America by the purchasers. King's report, and the revelation of
the London diamond dealers, put an end to the scheme, which was arrested before
it had reached the popular stage, and consequently the common people were not
caught in the skillfully laid trap. The "honest miners" who had made the discov-
ery managed to keep away from California, and the courts of this state were not
called upon to deal with them. Later the aggrieved San Francisco capitalists
brought suit against Arnold and Slack in the courts of New Jersey for the sum of
$350,000, but nothing ever came of the proceedings. How much the swindlers
gained by the transaction no one ever learned, for the victims insisted upon pre-
serving a dignified reticence concerning the subject and bore their losses philo-
sophically.
A perfectly sequential narrative might demand in this place the continuance
of the story of the mining stock craze down to its culmination in 1879, when a big
deal revived interest in speculation, which had been seriously interrupted by the
collapse which followed the Bank of California. But it is desirable to. anticipate
the account of the concluding act in the speculative tragedy by a resume of busi-
Su indie
Exposed by
Speculation
Industrial
Development
510
SAN FRANCISCO
ness conditions in San Francisco after the almost total failure of crops in the
seasonal year 1876-7, and to take a general survey of the development of the
state's resources in order to make perfectly clear the causes which brought about
the so-called sand lot uprising a year later, and to show its connection with the
retardment of industrial development which was largely brought about by the
City's absorption in speculative pursuits.
It is difficult to state with precision when the manufacturing industries of San
Francisco promoted by Ralston ceased paying, if they ever did return dividends
to those interested in them. On the surface they appeared to prosper. The em-
ployes were paid regularly, and the number was considerable enough to be a fac-
tor in the work of circulating some of the riches derived from the Nevada mines.
If it is true that Ralston put into these industries a large part of the money de-
rived from his operations in the mines, he merely diverted the stream which was
flowing into the coffers of a few cunning manipulators into the pockets of work-
ingmen and through them into the tills of the merchants and others who provide
the necessaries, conveniences and amusements for urban residents. But, however
the results were produced, when the assessor of San Francisco in 1876 made his
report of the condition of the manufacturing industry of the City, he dwelt on
some of its features with pride, and the presentation was one apparently warrant-
ing the feeling, for on its face it indicated that experience was triumphantly dis-
proving the pessimistic assumption that factories could not be profitably operated
in a high wage country subject to competition with manufacturers who were pro-
ducing in places where the level of remuneration was much lower.
It showed that San Francisco had seventeen concerns engaged in the metal
industry, employing 1,705 men, who produced to the value of $4,700,000. This,
so far as the number employed was concerned, was the leading factory occupation
in 1876, but the output of the sugar refineries, which gave work to 280 men, was
$5,155,000. The output of the furniture factories was $2,135,700, and 760 men
were employed, and 930 were engaged in the specialized industry of making bed-
steads, the value of the product being $1,197,200, while 20 found it profitable to
devote themselves exclusively to the manufacture of bed springs, the output of
which was $130,000 in 1876. There were glass works and glass cutting establish-
ments. Jewelry was produced to the value of $1,240,000 and silver plate to the
amount of $260,000, these two occupations giving employment to 525 persons.
Seven hundred men were employed in woolen mills, which turned out 120,000
pairs of blankets, 15,000 dozens of underwear, 8,000 dozens of hosiery, 450,000
yards of cloth and tweeds and 500 yards of flannels valued at $1,800,000, over
2,500,000 pounds of California raw wool being consumed in their production. Tan-
neries gave employment to 325 men, producing leather valued at $1,345,000. Har-
ness factories worked 300 and produced $330,000 worth of their specialty. The
domestic consumption of shirts was largely met by a product of $650,000, turned
out by 640 workers, and 147 were engaged in making hats and caps, the annual
output of which was $413,000. Slippers to the value of $310,000 were produced
by 370, and a half a million dollars worth of cordage and rope helped to swell the
list of products. The coffee and spice mills gave employment to 124 and the
flouring mills to 128 workers. Over a half a million barrels of flour were produced
and the product of the coffee and spice mills was worth $1,327,170. In addition
to these we find enumerated among the manufacturing industries that of amalgamat-
SAN FRANCISCO
511
ing pans, axle grease, barrels, carriage springs, distilleries, furs, gloves, glue,
hose and belting, ink and mucilage, ice, linseed oil, shoe lasts, soap, telegraph in-
struments, tools, type, vinegar, windmills, wood and willow ware and wire rope.
The informed will note in this list the presence of numerous branches of in-
dustry no longer pursued in San Francisco, and of several whose proportions have
shrunk greatly since 1876. The causes which brought about this change have been
treated as enigmatical, but they appear plain to unbiassed economists who have
studied them. They were not closely analysed at first and they are still the sub-
ject of dispute, but, indirectly at least, there is a general recognition of the fact
that Eastern manufacturers, whose extensive market permits them to specialize,
can produce more cheaply than competitors whose outputs are limited by the com-
paratively small populations surrounding them.
It was the general failure to perceive this fact that led to many blunders, not
the least serious of which has been the persistent determination on the part of the
worker to create by artificial methods a condition which cannot be maintained
while there is free commercial intercourse between all parts of the Union. It has
been demonstrated that nations by effective customs laws may succeed in raising
the standard of living of workers within their borders, and enable them to enjoy
higher wages than in other countries, but it is unthinkable that such a result could
be achieved if they permitted the producers of other countries free access to their
markets. In that event the rewards of peoples of nearly like capabilities would
be sure to find a common level. Some would go down in the scale, others would
ascend, but the level would certainly be attained. California began to have that
problem forced upon her when the railroads and other transportation companies
in their eagerness to secure traffic, broke down the barriers of distance which had
for a time afforded the workers an incidental protection. Her people were not
quick to detect her vulnerability, and the worker refused to recognize the disad-
vantage which sometimes stared him in the face, but which was often disguised by
changes in the development of the state's resources.
As already shown the comparatively swift decline of placer mining was in a
measure compensated by the spectacular increase in wheat and wool production
at a time when the cereal and the raw material were commanding remunerative
prices. Exports of breadstuffs were valued at $15,813,941 in 1875 and in 1880
they had increased to $23,762,557. Between July 1, 1876, and June 30, 1877, there
were received in San Francisco 514,298 barrels of flour and 10,803,776 centals of
wheat, the most of which was exported. In the same season in which this large
surplus of wheat was raised 53,110,742 pounds of wool were produced. The sums
derived from these two great staples were the chief dependence of the people out-
side of the yield of the mines and when the latter was subjected to a violent shrink-
age, as it was in 1877, concurrently with a crop failure and a diminished wool
clip due to the drouth, there were hard times.
The seasonal year 1876-77 was exceedingly dry and the wheat crop was a
failure, and as a consequence exports were greatly curtailed, dropping from 12,-
087,759 to 5,295,911 centals. The wool clip decreased from 53,110,742 to 40,862,-
061 pounds. The records of the railroad show a corresponding diminution in the
output of other staples. In the face of expanding facilities the East bound ship-
ments, which aggregated 107,756,910 pounds in 1876, dropped to 92,820,900 pounds
in 1878. The isthmian traffic records ceased to be very dependable after 1875.
Labor's
Serious
Mistake
Good Prices
for Wheat
and Wool
Crop Failure
Result
512
SAN FRANCISCO
Unemployed
Flock to
the City
Formidable
Number of
Unemployed
Sand Lot
Orators
Echo the
Press
Constitution
Not a
Sand Lot
Instrument
The Pacific Mail Steamship Company after that year no longer exerted itself to
secure business, but there is evidence that it was sharing the evil effects of the
general depression, which was caused by the failure of the state's agricultural
resources.
A diminished mineral yield in California and Nevada, a greatly curtailed out-
put of the cereals, dwindling flocks of sheep and herds of cattle, started a city-
ward movement which aggravated a situation already acute. The population of
San Francisco, reported in the census of 1870 at 149,473, had probably increased
to 225,000 by 1877, and the number of workers it included was largely in excess
of the ability of the industries of the City to furnish employment. With the de-
cline of the mining stock craze an era of retrenchment began, and mercantile es-
tablishments which had employed help on a generous scale, paying liberal salaries,
contracted their forces and threw on their own resources many who had been work-
ing in clerical capacities.
The army of unemployed thus reinforced became formidable. There was un-
doubted distress and efforts were made to relieve it, but the numbers demanding
relief made the problem difficult to deal with. The pangs of poverty are usually
conducive to discontent, but in this case dissatisfaction was accentuated by the
feeling that conditions which might have been remedied were responsible for the
desperate position in which men willing to work, but unable to find anything to do,
were placed by neglect and the rapacity of individuals. When such a situation
arises every abuse is recalled, and the circumstances over which men have no con-
trol are not considered. The shortage of the crops was not dwelt upon, but the
disposition to favor large land holders was remembered; the fatuity of a people
who permitted themselves to be fleeced by cunning manipulators was never re-
ferred to, but the greed of the market riggers was emphasized ; if the men who
built the transcontinental railroad had conferred any benefit by opening the state
to settlement, the fact was overlooked, and only the sins of the providers of the
improved transportation facilities were remembered.
But the undiscriminating mob was not alone in thus viewing the situation.
Every bitter word uttered on the sand lot was merely an echo of the criticisms of
the daily press, whose columns teemed with suggestions of jobbery and open ac-
cusations, which indicated a wretched state of affairs, and an appalling disregard
of public opinion by politicians. It was a period of intense suspicion, in which
every enterprise of a municipal character was viewed with distrust and not without
reason. Bossism was rampant, and its ramifications were national. There never
was a time when jobbers were so audacious, or when schemers were more predatory
than when Kearney and his hearers roared their disapproval on the sand lots, and
it may be asserted without calling forth a contradiction from those who really
knew, that the charges preferred against venal officialism from that rostrum were
better founded than those of the twentieth century Progressives, many of whom
in the late Seventies were profoundly convinced that the sand letters were rank
socialists, although they then spoke of the so-called reforms as "destructive agrari-
anism."
Unless the condition described is clearly comprehended the significance of
the sand lot uprising, and the adoption of the constitution of 1879, will always be
misunderstood. The instrument named has been referred to by grave historians
as a product of the sand lot, and so it was in a way, but not in the way assumed.
SAN FRANCISCO 513
As will be seen later on it was not shaped in the convention by the delegates of
the workingman's party, but was constructed by the ablest lawyers in the State
of California, many of them in the employ of the detested railroad corporation,
but apparently uninfluenced by any other motive than the desire to frame an or-
ganic law which would effect all the reforms demanded by the people. That the
most of the objects they sought to achieve are now extolled as progressive reforms
when taken up in other states, completely refutes the impression generally derived
from the earlier accounts, and discredits the judgment of those who imagined and
freely predicted that the result of the reforms it sought to introduce would be to
drive capital from the state and hinder its progress.
In his "History of California," Hittell, whose judgment was clouded by a
strong personal bias, in his narration of the events leading up to and following the
adoption of the new constitution, says: "No other state has had a more difficult
part to play in its advance, particularly of late years — handicapped as it has been
by a larger number of tramps, vagrants and disorderly classes in general, in pro-
portion to population, than any other state, and trammeled and hampered by the
conditions and anomalies impressed upon the constitution and laws of the transi-
tory and malignant influence of the sand lot." In view of this indictment, which
undoubtedly expressed the opinion of a large class at the time he wrote, it is worth
while to examine his charges minutely and to judge by the light of results whether
he put his finger on the real sore spot. It concerns the San Franciscan more par-
ticularly to get at the exact truth, for the instrument arraigned by him, while it
received its popular majority outside of the City, was really an outcome of an
agitation within its borders. Whether the constitution proved the barrier to prog-
ress he intimates it did, the reader will be able to judge from what follows.
CHAPTER L
CONDITIONS ON EVE OF ADOPTION OF THE CONSTITUTION OF 1879
CAUSES THAT LED TO "SAND LOT" DISTURBANCES EVIL OF SPECIAL LEGISLATION COR-
RUPTION AND WASTE THE NEW CITY HALL CITY TREASURY LOOTED STREETS
AND SIDEWALKS IN A DILAPIDATED STATE KEARNEY'S DENUNCIATION OF OFFICIALS
THE NEWSPAPERS AND THE SAND LOTTERS BOSSISM IN THE SEVENTIES BOGUS
NON PARTISANISM THE FEDERAL RING THE SPECTACULAR CAREER OF GEORGE M.
PINNEY PINNEY BECOMES A BROKER AND A MILLIONAIRE BECOMES INVOLVED AND
FLEES THE COUNTRY HIS RETURN RESULTS IN OVERTHROW OF REPUBLICAN PARTY
THE DESTRUCTION OF SEVERAL BANKS BANK COMMISSION ACT OF 1878 ESTAB-
LISHMENT OF CLEARING HOUSE THE UNITED STATES MINT AND SUB-TREASURY
AVERSION FOR PAPER MONEY INTRODUCTION OF SAFE DEPOSIT VAULTS.
HE earlier history of San Francisco politics is so inextricably
connected with that of the state it is impossible to disso-
ciate the former from the latter. There was no event that
occurred prior to 1879 in the City which was not in some
manner linked up with the state's affairs, and no munici-
pal enterprise of any sort could be carried through unless
it was first sanctioned by the legislature. The evil conse-
quences of this system were clearly recognized, and had been pointed out in a
workingman's convention which met in 1871, and in 1876 Mayor Bryant, in his
inaugural message, referred to them in these terms. Speaking of certain irregu-
larities which marked the previous administration he said: "It has been the cus-
tom for heads of departments in the city government, and sometimes even their
subordinates to ignore the board of supervisors and make direct application to the
legislature in furtherance of schemes not designed for the public good so much
as to increase their own profit, power and patronage."
This but feebly represents the condition of affairs produced by the special
legislative system which made the state legislature the arbiter of the destinies of
the City. It practically gave official sanction to lobbying by permitting and almost
making it necessary for municipal servants to visit Sacramento during the sessions
of the legislature in order to press the needs of the City, and to back up the de-
mands of the delegation for recognition. The opportunities this practice presented
to venal servants were eagerly seized, and it was not uncommon during the Seven-
ties to see San Francisco municipal officials haunting the lobbies of the capitol
engaged in the all around work of the professional lobbyist, their business being
but thinly veiled by the pretense that their presence was required in Sacramento
to secure action on some city measure.
515
516
SAN FRANCISCO
New City
Hall
Commission
Cost of
City Hall
Under-
The
Architect's
Plans
Changed
If the vice of special legislation had ended with this disreputable practice the
evil might have been borne with some patience, but the activities of the legislative
delegations, and the manipulation of the city officials merely inaugurated the
trouble to which San Francisco was subjected by being deprived of the manage-
ment of her own affairs, and by having imposed upon her a rigid system of opera-
tion which, while designed to prevent rascality and promote economy, produced
the opposite result. The construction of the city hall affords an instance of the
injurious workings of this inflexible method. It was marked by blunders and
extravagances from the day of the creation of the commission down to the time of
the great fire, when it was destroyed before it was completed.
A report was made to the legislature of 1873-74 that the city hall begun in
1870 had already cost unconscionable sums and was destined to cost more. It
exposed many instances of gross carelessness and something worse; but the charges
made no impression at the time. Finally in sheer desperation boards of super-
visors were compelled to come to the relief of the suffering taxpayers and protect
them from depredation by refusing to appropriate the necessary money to prose-
cute the work. The original plan of piecemeal construction which legislative ac-
tion had imposed was doubtless demanded by the people of the City, who during
the closing years of the Sixties and the opening of the Seventies had acquired an
abnormal dread of bonded indebtedness. They had become so firmly imbued with
the idea that the only safe municipal policy was that of "pay as you go," they
were unable to perceive the ineffectiveness and ruinous consequences of the install-
ment plan and chose to have their money wasted rather than stolen.
The site of the new city hall was that of an abandoned cemetery, from which
the bodies were removed to clear the way for the new structure which the projectors
designed making the handsomest and most imposing municipal building in the
United States. The plans of an architect named Laver, who had achieved some
reputation as the designer of the capital at Albany, New York, which at the time
was popularly supposed to represent the highest American achievement in monu-
mental construction, were selected, and it was estimated that the new hall would
cost about a million and a half and that it could be completed in five or six years.
There were plenty to dissent from these alluring figures and promises, and pre-
dictions were freely made that the expenditures would greatly surpass the esti-
mates and that it would take years to make it ready for occupancy, but their criti-
cism produced no effect.
Laver's original plans were not entirely harmonious; they exhibited a liberal
admixture of the orders, but he was not responsible for some of the incongruities
which the building exhibited when approaching completion. He had originally
designed a lofty clock tower and a mansard roof, and had this plan been carried
out in its integrity there would have been a near approach, so far as the general
effect was concerned, to the French renaissance; but the commission, influenced by
varying motives (sometimes they were those of expediency dictated by the demand
for economy, and at other times the product of mere whimsicalness begotten by
lack of knowledge of architectural requirements), changed the steeple to a dome
and cut out the mansard, thus giving the main structure a squatty appearance, not
at all pleasing, and depriving it of the power to impress by its mass, which it
would have possessed had the resort to the flat roof not given it the effect of a
number of detached buildings.
SAN FRANCISCO
517
The first blunder made by the commission was perpetrated under the pressure
of the demand for economy, and resulted in the sale of that part of the cemetery front-
ing on Market street. The effect was to put the new hall on a back street. The
work of building had not proceeded far before the mistake was discovered and
denounced, and in 1875 we find Acting Mayor Hewston, in an address to the board
of supervisors, criticizing the absurdity and urging that the lots on Market street
be reacquired by purchase. His recommendation was instantly pounced upon and
accusations of attempted jobbery were freely made. Nothing came of his sugges-
tion and it was never seriously put forward again, and the work of building pro-
ceeded slowly, only such money as could be obtained by the imposition of a direct
tax being used for that purpose. In 1876 the mayor in his report called attention
to the fact that the hall of records was still in course of construction, and that the
original plan of providing its dome with a cast iron roof had been abandoned, and
that sheet iron was to be substituted in its stead.
Object lessons of the kind described were eagerly seized upon, and the dis-
affected who met on the sand lot adjoining the hall were constantly being reminded
of the waste and blundering involved in the construction of the Municipal building.
They also were reminded of the delinquencies of public servants, who had abused
the public trust by stealing the people's money. There had been several serious
defalcations during the decade, one of them almost on the eve of the uprising. The
other occurred in 1874. In that year John A. Stanley, county judge of San Fran-
cisco, charged the grand jury to investigate the failure of Mayor Otis and Treas-
urer Charles Hubert to count the money in the treasury as required by law. The
accusation was the signal for a separation into camps. The friends of the mayor
and treasurer held a big meeting and denounced Stanley. A few days later there
was another gathering, more representative in character, which sustained Stanley
and demanded the return to the treasury of about $1,500,000, which had been ille-
gally deposited in a private bank by the tax collector, but it was a case of locking
the door after the steed had escaped. Three hundred thousand dollars had van-
ished. It was never restored and no one was punished.
These were but the spectacular phases of municipal mismanagement. A far
more serious cause for discontent was the growth of expenditures. The newspaper
critics pointed out that the City had managed to get along in 1869 with a budget
of $2,459,210, and that in 1876 it had increased to $4,452,940, and they persisted
in asking where the money had gone to and where the extravagance would end.
The intemperance of utterance on the rostrum in front of the city hall when this
subject was under discussion did not exceed that of the editors of conservative
journals, the only distinguishing difference being in the choice of words. The
moral drawn was the same in the sanctum as on the sand lot, where the orators
emphasized their criticisms by shaking menacing fists at the municipal pile.
There was some excuse for strong criticism in the public journals and on the
stump. Much money was being spent, but there was little or nothing in the way of
improvement to show for the expenditure. The indignant acting mayor, who was
chosen by the board of supervisors to fill the unexpired term of Otis, who had died,
declared that the plank streets and sidewalks of the City were detestable, "not
only in the inconvenience of the travel over them, and their want of durability,
but in a sanitary point of view." "They were receptacles of filth," he said, and
Blunders of
the City Hall
Commission
The City
Treasury
Looted
Dilapidated
Streets and
Sidewalks
518
SAN FRANCISCO
Kearney
and
Municipal
Affairs
he added "my observation has led me to believe that many valuable lives have
been sacrificed to their condition." Prior to 1871 the City had accepted the streets
from houseline to houseline, but after that date it only took care of the roadway.
While this appeared to be in the line of municipal economy there was so little at-
tention paid to sidewalks by the owners of property that they were often in a
dilapidated state, and sometimes a menace to pedestrians. Attention was called
by the mayor in 1875 to the fact that there were numerous excavations under the
sidewalks of Kearny street, bridged over with timbers which had rotted, endanger-
ing the lives of citizens.
The criticism of these bad results like chickens came home to roost. They were
remembered when the unemployed formulated their protests on the sand lot, and
were charged to the incapacity and venality of the men elected to local offices. It
has been said that Kearney's diatribes were all directed against the Chinese, but
that was due to a mistake growing out of his habit of concluding his speeches with
the set phrase "The Chinese Must Go !" He not infrequently introduced this
slogan into the body of addresses devoted mainly to municipal subjects. Kearney
was the owner of some property, and proudly announced that he was a taxpayer.
He was reasonably familiar with the conduct of municipal affairs and became very
bitter when discussing such public improvements as the Montgomery avenue ex-
tension, which he characterized as a swindle, and the bondholders as cormorants.
He took the same view of the Dupont street widening act, which he pronounced as
a job. In condemning the Montgomery avenue scheme he was merely voicing the
opposition of those who predicted that it would not accomplish its object — a proph-
esy that was realized — but he made a mistake in following the same leadership in
the matter of the widening of Dupont street in 1876, which proved to be a valuable
improvement.
Kearney was accustomed to using picturesque but inelegant terms when speak-
ing about public offenders and officials. The latter he lumped together as "blood
sucking politicians," and he had much to say about bossism. The exploits of Wil-
liam Marcy Tweed, the great municipal corrupter of New York, were much talked
of about this time. After the exposure of his villainies by the "Times" of that
city, and his flight and subsequent capture in Spain, and his return to the United
States in 1876, his misdeeds were the subject of universal comment. Everywhere
he was singled out as a horrible example, and the wretched mismanagement of the
corporation of New York was paraded as something unique, but Kearney insisted
that he was merely a type and charged that San Francisco had its bosses, whose
rascalities were less flagrant than those of Tweed only because their opportunities
were smaller, and he had the disagreeable habit of publicly naming persons who
should be placed in the boss category.
It is necessary to state in this connection that Kearney's indictments were not
always framed exclusively on his own information and belief. He had early ac-
quired the habit of visiting newspaper offices, and before he aspired to the leader-
ship of the workingmen had actively interested himself in promoting the purposes
of men against whom he later arrayed himself. Sometimes he penetrated to the
inner sanctums, but mostly he was content to foregather with the reporters, who
welcomed him because he often brought items of news, and for the amusement they
derived from his peppery discourses, which he was prone to indulge in whenever
SAN FRANCISCO
519
he could obtain listeners. He undoubtedly used the influence gained by this inter-
course to push himself to the front and later, when he was able to secure audiences,
he utilized the information he had acquired without discriminating between suspi-
cions and facts.
The word "graft" had not attained its present vogue in the Seventies, but the
practice was fully as rampant then as it ever has been since. Indeed it is doubt-
ful whether during recent years there has been anything even remotely approach-
ing the machinery for despoiling the people as that created in California in the
early years of the seventy decade, when the political bosses acted under the inspira-
tion of men who directly or indirectly controlled the disbursements of the federal
government on the Pacific coast. The earlier election frauds which were in part
responsible for the Vigilante uprising in 1856, were unblushingly repeated by these
worthies with some slight variation of method. There were no longer any false
bottomed ballot boxes, but there were other modes of falsifying the popular verdict
which proved equally efficacious.
These, however, were not practiced for the purpose of controlling the City
government which toward the middle of the decade had become a non partisan
affair, despite the fact that attempts were made to preserve party lines. The new
ballot law, which grew out of the shameful effort of federal officials to compel the
workingmen at Mare island navy yard to vote the narrow strip of bristol board
called the "tapeworm ticket," had resulted in bringing the bosses together. There
was so much "scratching" that party nominations became a negligible factor, and
those who devoted themselves to political manipulation found it more expedient
to put up men who would serve their purposes. Nominally they were democrats
or republicans, but so far as municipal affairs were concerned they were for them-
selves. This apparent abstention from municipal interference on the part of the
local bosses facilitated legislative control, and resulted in greatly strengthening
the power of the railroad. The political managers of the corporation were chiefly
concerned in perpetuating their hold on the legislature, thus insuring the return of
a satisfactory United States senator, and incidentally, by the use of the election
machinery created for the purpose of maintaining power at Sacramento, keeping
the delegation in the lower house of congress in line. Out of this condition of
affairs, and the concurrent looseness of federal management in Washington which
lent itself to a system of plundering that has since become impracticable, there
arose one of the greatest scandals in the history of San Francisco and which in its
consequences was more far reaching than the Vigilante uprising.
This political corruption was intimately connected with the sand lot uprising,
but has been passed over by historians, most of whom have wholly omitted mention
of it from the list of causes that helped to produce the discontent which brought
about the framing and adoption of the constitution of 1879. In the beginning of
the Seventies, William B. Carr, or Billy Carr as he was familiarly known later,
had developed into a local boss of some consequence. His power was originally
gained by acting as a lobbyist at Sacramento for the Central Pacific, his chief busi-
ness at the capital being to keep the legislative delegation from San Francisco in
line for the railroad. One of the instruments employed by him to achieve results
was federal patronage, which was dispensed impartially in the interest of the cor-
poration, and of those it had selected for political favor.
Federal King
520
SAN FRANCISCO
Conduct of
Federal
Officials
At that time every federal office in San Francisco was filled with men who
divided their allegiance between the government, and the interests or persons who
gave them their positions. They openly identified themselves with political move-
ments, a practice not forbidden at the time, and practically took charge of them.
The mint, the custom house, the post office and every federal office was filled with
politicians who were more than mere figureheads. The situation was not unique
in San Francisco; it was paralleled in other large cities, but the remarkable wave
of speculation in the early Seventies produced a condition which caused some pecu-
liarities of management of the federal offices in San Francisco which were not
witnessed elsewhere.
In the early part of the decade one Oscar H. La Grange was made superin-
tendent of the United States mint. He was an appointee of General Grant and
his selection was probably due to his service as a soldier in the Civil war. He was
a capable but a very facile man, and easily accommodated himself to the idea that
his position was to be used for the benefit of the party of which he was a member,
and incidentally to promote the political fortunes of individuals who were in the
saddle at the time. His chief clerk was George M. Pinney, a man of more than
ordinary ability, whose talents, however, were oftener exercised in the promotion
of his own fortunes and of the band of politicians who had put him in place, than
in performing the duties of his office. It was subsequently disclosed that he was
so useful politically that even the limited attention he gave to his clerical duties
in the mint detracted from his value. Consequently another job was made for
him, which had few or no irksome routine attachments, and left him free to devote
himself to his own and the interests of his friends. He was made the clerk of
United States Naval Pay Inspector Rufus C. Spalding. The acceptance of this
position entailed the enlistment of Pinney in the navy. The emoluments were
small, but that was a matter of small consequence to Pinney as the sequel will
show. Indeed, it is asserted, that he turned over his salary to someone else, which
is not impossible but not very probable as he really did all the work, and practically
took all responsibility from the shoulders of the pay inspector who, when the ex-
posure was made, admitted that he hardly knew what was going on in the office
over which he had nominal charge.
While Pinney was acting as navy pay inspector's clerk he bought a broker's
seat in the Mining Stock Exchange. He was not as continuously on the floor as
other members who were solely engaged in executing orders, but he made excellent
use of the facilities of the board, and it is believed that during 1872-3 he was ahead
in the speculative game to the extent of a million or more. His luck, as in many
other cases, tempted him further. If his accounts of his transactions are true he
had early associated himself with Carr in mining ventures in Idaho and other
places, some of which proved unprofitable and finally wiped out his fortune and
more, for when he became embarrassed he resorted to practices which made it
seem prudent for him to temporarily absent himself from California.
On the 1st of September, 1875, Pinney disappeared from his wonted haunts
and it soon transpired that he had fled the country. His flight created a mild sen-
sation, more social than political or financial in its character. It soon leaked out
that he had sailed on a British ship named the "Baron Ballantyne," and that he
was accompanied by a notorious woman. As Pinney was a married man, and had
LICK MONUMENT TO PIONEEBS OF CALIFORNIA, IN MARSHALL SQVABE
SAN FRANCISCO
521
established social connections, the interest in his flight centered upon the desertion,
diverting attention from other facts of more general concern, which were revealed
later in a highly sensational fashion. About a year after his sudden departure
interest in the matter was revived by his abandoned wife obtaining a divorce. This
gave occasion for a few days' talk, in which but scant attention was paid to his
financial relations. The statement that he was in debt, and had defrauded numer-
ous friends and others was widely disseminated, and there were hints that certain
banks had been incautious in their dealings with the spectacular clerk and poli-
tician, but these rumors died away and were soon forgotten.
If Pinney had been content to remain away from California the course of events
might have shaped themselves differently, but he was not. After leaving the City
on the "Baron Ballantyne" he got tired of the woman who had accompanied him,
and according to his own story he made an amicable arrangement with the captain
of the ship, by which the latter acquired possession of the "lady," and for a fur-
ther consideration of $2,000 he put his vessel out of her course and landed the
fugitive at the port of Pernambuco in Brazil. From thence Pinney took another
ship, rounded Cape Horn and went to Valparaiso. He also made a voyage to the
Society islands. In his subsequent relations of his wanderings Pinney was not
accustomed to stating his reasons for making these voyages, but he allowed it to
be inferred that a suddenly developed taste for sea air was responsible for his
uneasiness.
It was generally supposed at the time of his flight that Pinney had carried a
large sum of money with him, but he afterward declared that he had only $12,000,
which amount was received for the sale of his seat on the stock board, which was
negotiated for him by Carr. On the other hand it was stated by persons who had
heard of his mode of life in Valparaiso that he was gambling heavily and spending
money with a free hand in that city. Be that as it may, Pinney at last reached
the end of his tether. Although he was discreetly silent regarding details, it is
known that he had vainly sought to persuade Carr and others with whom he had
operated to supply him with additional funds, but they flouted his requests and
disregarded his threats, imagining that he would not dare to return to the United
States. But they were mistaken. One fine day Pinney turned up in Washington
and went straight to the navy department, where he surrendered himself as a de-
serter. Rather inconsistently he later stated that he had been constantly tormented
with the fear that he would be arrested but his subsequent course indicates that he
was under no such apprehension. He had no reason for anticipating that Carr
and his political associates would venture to attack him with such a weapon. They
might have set machinery in motion which would have resulted in his capture, but
they could not prevent his speaking if he were court martialed, and above all
things they desired to have things kept quiet.
Pinney was of a different mind. Having practically made his peace with the
navy department officials, who regarded him as a white elephant, and concluded to
left him shift for himself, the fugitive clerk betook himself to the office of the "New
York Sun" and there unbosomed himself of a story which was published simul-
taneously in New York and in the "Chronicle" of San Francisco on the 7th of
May, 1877. At that time the "Sun" was making a vigorous assault on Naval Sec-
retary Robeson, and the statements of Pinney substantiated its accusations against
inderings
Pinney
Pinney
Surrenders as
n Deserter
522
SAN FRANCISCO
Naval
Abuses In
the Seventies
Navy
Pay
Certificates
that official which had been made the basis of an investigation by a committee of
the house of representatives. The story of Pinney, therefore, proved as sensational
in New York and Washington as it did in San Francisco, although it only devel-
oped serious consequences in the latter city, where the revelations of the absconding
clerk shook the political and financial world from center to circumference. The
major part of Pinney 's story, as told in Washington, was devoted to an explanation
of the doings of the navy pay office which, he declared, had been manipulated in
the interest of a gang of contractors and politicians. His disclosures implicated
Senator A. A. Sargent and Congressman Horace F. Page, whom, he declared, were
leagued with men named Montagnie, Hanscom and Jordan, all of whom had inti-
mate relations with United States Secretary of the Navy Robeson, who had afforded
these contractors unusual facilities for making money. Sargent and Page, in
return for the assistance rendered these contractors, were permitted to manipulate
the federal offices to advance their political interests. Billy Carr, the local boss,
was the active manager of affairs in San Francisco, and in the state, and kept
the fences of the politicians mended while they were absent from California.
At this particular time the attitude of the democratic house of representatives
towards naval construction was extremely hostile. It was charged that the navy
department, under the control of Robeson, was corruptly administered and appro-
priations for new vessels were refused. The policy met the approval of the coun-
try, the people generally being opposed to the expenditure of large sums of money
for the maintenance of a big army and navy. But congress, while denying money
for the construction of new vessels, made appropriations for the purpose of keep-
ing in repair those on the list which were deemed available for use, or could be made
so by overhauling them. The result was that, under the guise of making repairs,
practically new ships were built, and the opportunities for squandering money
were multiplied. It was under the operation of this system, and through the in-
fluence of Robeson, that the contractors named were put in the way of profitable
jobs and were given practical control of the furnishing of naval supplies on the
coast; and it was to make things easy for them that Pinney was placed in the
navy pay inspector's office in this City. As already related Pinney had purchased
a seat on the stock board and was speculating heavily in 1873 and with some suc-
cess. He was not the sort of man to resist temptation and when the opportunity
presented itself to enlarge his operations by making use of the facilities which
were created to promote the pecuniary interests of the contracting group he promptly
seized it, and apparently extended the fraudulent practices.
According to Pinney's story, afterward confirmed in court, and by subsequent
developments, a species of negotiable paper, authorized and sanctioned by Secre-
tary Robeson, was issued for the benefit of the contractors Montagnie, Hanscom
and Jordan. This paper was known as navy pay certificates. They purported to
bind the government to pay the three men mentioned for work done or material
furnished whenever the funds therefore should be available. These certificates
were deposited in various banks as collateral for loans made to the contractors and
to other parties. Among the latter Pinney figured largely. To what extent is
unknown, and whether his borrowings were always on his own account is equally
uncertain. But that he availed himself freely of his privilege there is no doubt.
When Pinney's disclosures were published in the "Chronicle" on the morning
of May 7, 1877, Senator A. A. Sargent and George C. Gorham were in the City.
SAN FRANCISCO
523
Page had returned to the coast from Washington, but had at once repaired to his
home in El Dorado county. Carr lived in San Francisco. Gorham was secretary
of the United States senate and his relations with Sargent were close. He was
referred to in the article as one of the group constituting what the "Chronicle"
called the "Federal Ring." He had been prominently identified with the repub-
lican party in California and owed his position as secretary of the senate through
the influence thus gained. La Grange, the superintendent of the mint, was also
included in the group, and Carr was credited with the active manipulation of the
local machinery. The accused men were greatly enraged at the publication, and
at once took steps to have the "Chronicle" punished. Efforts were made to procure
indictments for criminal libel in several counties simultaneously, but they proved
unsuccessful everywhere, excepting in Page's home county where two trials were
subsequently had, both of which resulted in disagreements of the juries. The "Chron-
icle," however, appealed its case to the people of the state, and at the election in
the ensuing November a legislature overwhelmingly democratic in complexion was
chosen, a result wholly due to the exposures made by the paper, which thoroughly
investigated all the ramifications of the frauds alleged against the so-called ring.
In addition to the criminal libel case tried at Placerville several civil suits were
brought against the "Chronicle" none of which, however, were pressed. Among
these was one filed at the instance of Page, based on the charge made by Pinney
that he had loaned the congressman several thousand dollars, which was used in
buying votes in his district at $3 per head. Although this statement was made
solely on the authority of Pinney the "Chronicle" had no doubts about its accuracy.
When challenged by the suit to prove the allegation the paper had no difficulty
gathering information which proved conclusively that votes had been bought in
San Leandro, Pleasanton and other parts of Alameda county by wholesale and at
the figure named. Among the facts developed by the "Chronicle" was that of the
organized and successful effort of Haggin, Tevis and Carr to secure large tracts
of land under the Desert Land Act. Simultaneously with these exposures the
"Chronicle" also undertook to put an end to the timber land frauds which were
being perpetrated on an extensive scale. Although abundant proof of the irregu-
larities was furnished it had no effect at Washington, the public land office at that
time being completely under the control of a corrupt gang, whose operations were
carried on as boldly as those of the whisky ring, whose frauds were practiced on a
colossal scale at the expense of the people.
Although the interests at Washington were powerful enough to stave off in-
quiries into the land frauds, the showing made by the "Chronicle" profoundly im-
pressed the people of California, and served to greatly accentuate the already for-
midable opposition to land monopoly that had theretofore been largely based on
indisposition of the owners of large Spanish and Mexican grants to part with their
holdings, and to the growing perception of the fact that the managers of the Cen-
tral Pacific had flagrantly evaded the provisions of the Land Grant Act, which re-
quired the railroad to sell the lands received from the government at not more than
double the minimum price at which public lands were sold, by creating another cor-
poration, of which they were the sole members and selling the lands granted by
congress to themselves. As Sargent, Page and the others accused by Pinney were
Votes
Bought at
$3 Apiece
524
SAN FRANCISCO
Ruined by
Mismanaged
Savings
zealous servants of the railroad the corporation did all in its power to embarrass
the paper which had made the exposure.
The obvious purpose of Pinney in making the exposure was to force the men
with whom he had formerly worked to repair the wrongs which he charged them
with inflicting upon him by their desertion. He measurably succeeded in this pur-
pose. In the first trial at Placerville he was the "Chronicle's" principal witness,
and the evidence he gave, although it was only part of the truth, was of such a
character that it must have resulted in an acquittal in any other place than Page's
home town. But at the second trial Pinney suffered a complete lapse of memory,
and was unable to recall many of the details freely related by him when first put
on the stand. His changed attitude was rewarded by a renewal of the old time
intimacy with the men he had pilloried in his confession. Several civil suits brought
against him were either withdrawn or not pressed, and presently he took on the
appearance of a prosperous man about town, living at the best hotel and dressing
in excellent taste. He followed no particular occupation, but was reputed to be
dabbling in stocks.
The banks on which he had imposed the worthless navy pay certificates were
not equally flourishing. The Savings and Loan Society and the Masonic bank,
which held his notes to the amount of over a half a million had brought suit against
him, probably in the hope that he would substantiate the assertion that he had
made in the Washington narrative that Billy Carr and others were interested in
the undertakings for which the money was borrowed, and the worthless certificates
given as collateral, but they were unsuccessful in bringing about such a result.
Pinney had shot his bolt and had accomplished his purpose. The two institutions
were powerless, for the paper accepted by them as security was not forged. The
certificates when analysed were seen to be mere promises that in certain contin-
gencies the navy pay office would pay certain moneys to persons entitled to draw
them if the contingencies occurred. In a certain sense they were not even irregular,
for the method, according to the statements of Spalding, was not disapproved by the
department in Washington, and Pinney put the matter still more strongly by as-
serting that it actually had the sanction of the secretary of the navy.
Whatever doubt may exist concerning the character of the navy pay certificates
there is none about the result of accepting them as collateral. The two banks
mentioned were driven to the wall. In 1878, when the commission created by the
legislature of 1877-78, as a result of the scandalous laxity of bank management,
began its investigations of the condition of the banks at San Francisco, they
were the first to be closed. A singular reticence concerning the nature of the
troubles that brought about the establishment of the much needed bank commission
has been manifested by writers who have dealt with this phase of the subject. It
has been made to appear that the failure of the Bank of California was responsible
for all the financial difficulties of the three succeeding years, but it is impossible
to connect that event directly with the closing of the Masonic Savings bank and
the Savings and Loan Society. As already stated the rehabilitated Bank of Cali-
fornia met all its obligations a few weeks after it resumed business. Excessive
speculation was the cause of the failure of the greater institution, gross misman-
agement and utter disregard of the principles of sound banking explain the mis-
fortunes of the savings banks.
SAN FRANCISCO
525
This mismanagement was openly commented upon after the revelations of Pin-
ney, but the storm of criticism only began to rage in real earnest when the com-
missioners found it necessary to close in quick succession eight banks. The first
of these was the Masonic Savings and Loan, which owed its depositors $1,150,900;
it was followed by the Farmers and Merchants, with deposit liabilities of $373,675 ;
then the French Savings and Loan Society, with deposits of $5,503,100 closed.
The Odd Fellows Savings bank experienced a heavy run in the fall of 1878 and
tried to save itself by reorganization, but after a protracted struggle it went to
the wall on the 5th of February, 1879, owing depositors $2,117,100. In one case,
that of the Pioneer Loan and Savings bank, known as Duncan's, which closed its
doors in 1877, even the sorry excuse of mismanagement could not be urged. The
manager was a scoundrel pure and simple, who baited his hook with high interest
rates to depositors, and caught the credulous with ease. His record was part of
the criminal annals of the City, and hardly deserves to be included in a recital of
financial transactions.
Prior to 1876 there had been absolutely no supervision by the state of the
financial institutions within its borders. In the year mentioned a feeble effort
was made in that direction in an act which compelled banks to make reports of a
uniform character, but the disclosures of these publications were of little value,
as the opportunity to check their accuracy was lacking. The legislature of 1877-
78 sought to remedy this defect by the creation of a commission of three members
at a salary of $3,000 each, and traveling expenses to the amount of $1,500 per
annum. One clerk at $1,800 was provided, $900 was allowed for rent and $200
for fuel, stationery, etc. One of the anomalies of the period was the antagonism
aroused by the proposal to create this modest establishment. Had the banks op-
posed the formation of the commission, considering all the circumstances, their
opposition would not have been strange, for they had much to conceal; but it came
from an entirely different source. It was the "sand lot" that voiced the loudest
objection and it was based chiefly on the assumption that the object of the legis-
lation was to make places for politicians, and that the commission would be con-
verted into an instrument to screen the banks instead of exposing them.
The act was passed despite opposition on the 30th of March, 1878, and the
first commissioners appointed were Evan J. Coleman, Robert Watt and James P.
Murphy. If there was any sincerity in the expressed belief that the new board
would accomplish nothing it was disappointed by the result, for within two years
after its creation it compelled eight different institutions to close their doors, and
made some cautious approaches towards the introduction of a system which de-
manded that the savings banks should exercise something like care in the accept-
ance of securities for loans. Their efforts were facilitated by the distrust created
by the exposure of the recklessness of management, which resulted in a reduction
of savings banks' deposits amounting to $24,000,000, and a contraction of the re-
sources of the commercial banks amounting to $6,000,000, although the deposits
in the latter had increased $4,000,000 — a serious impairment of the banking power
in the short period mentioned.
A compilation made by Wright discloses that up to the end of 1878 dividends
had been paid by the savings banks of San Francisco aggregating $40,981,479.
There were then in existence the following banks receiving deposits and paying in-
terest upon them: Hibernia Savings and Loan, the Savings and Loan Society,
Bank
Commission
Act of 1878
Operations
of Savings
Banks
SAN FRANCISCO
Establiehment
of Clearing
Records of
Clearing
House
French Mutual and Provident, San Francisco Savings Union, Odd Fellows Savings
bank, German Savings and Loan Society, Masonic Savings bank, Security Savings
bank, Humboldt Savings and Loan, Farmers and Merchants Savings and Califor-
nia Savings and Loan. They are enumerated here in the order of their importance
as determined by their dividends, the Hibernia heading the list, with a showing of
$11,890,806 to the date named, while the. California Savings and Loan appeared
at the foot with $127,317 to its credit.
The San Francisco Clearing House was established in March, 1876, and in-
cluded in its first list of members the following banks: Bank of California, Bank
of British Columbia, Bank of British North America, Bank of San Francisco, B.
F. Davidson & Co., Belloc & Co., Donahue, Kelly & Co., First National Gold Bank
of San Francisco, Hicox & Spear, London and San Francisco bank, Merchants
Exchange bank, Sather & Co., Swiss American bank, Anglo California bank and
Wells, Fargo & Co. In 1877 the Nevada bank, Lazard Freres, Pacific bank, Na-
tional Gold bank and Trust Company and Tallant & Co., were added, and in
1883 Crocker, Woolworth & Co., making a total of twenty-one members at the end
of the period 1871-83.
These banks were of varied organization. They consisted of private, incor-
porated, state and national banks, those in the first named category predominating
and the national system being least favored. The clearings of the first full year
after the organization of the clearing house aggregated $519,948,803. In the en-
suing year, 1878, they increased to $715,329,319, but the expansion was largely if
not wholly due to the addition of five new members. After 1878 the clearings
begin to tell the story of the business activities of the City with more or less exact-
itude to the careful statistician who takes into consideration other sources of evi-
dence, such as the prevalence of speculation on an unusual scale. Allowing for
such aberrations the clearing house records show a remarkable decline after 1878,
which was marked by but one mining stock deal of consequence. In 1879 they
aggregated $553,953,955; in 1880 they had fallen off still further to $486,725,953.
After that date there was an improvement, the amount cleared in 1882 being $629,-
114,119.
If the spirit of the times was responsible for the incautiousness displayed by
some of the banks in the Seventies it cannot be said that their management was
entirely devoid of conservatism. It is related that the first bank in San Francisco
occupied quarters over a stable on the corner of Kearny and Washington streets,
and that the Hibernia Savings and Loan Society, now one of the strongest savings
banks in the country, began its career in leased quarters. There was no disposition
shown to abandon this frugal course until the expanding business of the City, and
its growth of population imposed the necessity of providing better quarters. The
Bank of California moved into the handsome structure it occupied up to the time
of the fire of 1906 in 1866, and the other institutions sought to advertise their pros-
perity by external appearances, not always with the same success architecturally
as that institution, although one of them enjoyed the proud distinction for a long
time of having introduced the first iron front into San Francisco. In 1878 it was
estimated that only 2% of the resources of the banks were invested in premises,
buildings and furniture. In that year the largest value reported as devoted to
that purpose by any bank was $250,000. Some idea of the change in this regard
SAN FRANCISCO
527
will be inferred from the statement that in 1910 bank premises in San Francisco
were valued at $22,656,000, an amount representing 4% of their resources.
An event of financial interest occurred in 1874. In that year the Mint build-
ing on Fifth street between Market and Mission, begun in 1867, was completed
and occupied. Up to 1874 a building on Commercial, about sixty feet west of
Montgomery street, had been serving the purposes of the government. The prop-
erty had been acquired in 1853, and the sum of $335,000 was expended in its pur-
chase and in revamping and adding to an old building which, although called the
U. S. Assay Office, was not recognized by the government, and in providing coinage
machinery. The lot was only 60x60 feet, and the transaction occasioned consider-
able scandal at the time, it being asserted that the property and plant were not
worth at the outside more than $75,000. It was illy adapted to the use to which
it was put, and there was persistent criticism, which, however, did not accomplish
anything until 1867, when the government bought the Fifth street property, and
later began the structure which was completed in 1874 and was for many years
regarded as one of the chief architectural ornaments of the City. It is built of
sandstone with a classical facade on Fifth street, and is surrounded by streets
on all sides. Its equipment was of a superior character, and its opening, and the
subsequent importance attached to it by the government proved a source of satis-
faction to the state and the entire coast, implying as it did a recognition of the
fact that, although situated three thousand miles or more from the seat of govern-
ment, the people living on the Pacific slope were citizens of the Union.
After the abandonment of the Commercial street property by the mint in 1874
the old buildings were torn down and a new, but very unpretentious structure was
erected on the site for the officers of the subtreasury and other federal officials.
By 1877, however, the business of the subtreasury had expanded to such an extent
that the whole building was taken possession of by the subtreasurer and his force,
and the other government officials had to find quarters elsewhere. One of the in-
teresting features connected with this important office, whose transactions mount
into the millions, and in which many millions of government money are stored under
the care of a subtreasurer, is the short roll of men who held the latter office up to
1883. The list embraces the names of Jacob R. Snyder, David W. Cheeseman,
Charles N. Felton, William Sherman and Nathan W. Spaulding.
The banking annals of this period indicate that the tendency toward combination
was not developed at that time. The disposition was entirely in the direction of
creating new institutions and the result of multiplication was to weaken, whereas
judicious mergers might have strengthened the banking power of the City. The
California Trust Company, organized in 1867, and incorporated in 1868, and re-
organized in 1872 as a national gold bank, was a victim to the diffusive tendency.
In the troubles of 1875 it was obliged to close its doors, but was able to resume
in 1876. In 1880 it went into voluntary liquidation, paying its depositors in full.
In 1871 congress passed an act authorizing an issue of $45,000,000 gold notes
redeemable on demand. A Boston company had applied for the privilege of or-
ganizing a bank which would use these notes but it never put its project into execu
tion, and no national gold bank was ever put into operation outside of California.
The first bank of this sort organized was the First National Gold Bank of San
Francisco, which went into business in January, 1871, and received its notes for
circulation in the following March. The yellow notes emitted by this and other
The
United States
Mint
The
United States
Sub-Treasury
Paper
Money
Unpopular
528
SAN FRANCISCO
Unsuccessful
Experiment
of Farmers
Safe Deposit
Vaults
Introduced
gold banks became measurably familiar in San Francisco during the Seventies, but
greenbacks did not circulate. The disinclination for paper money, however, was
no greater during that decade than it is at present. Although there are now nu-
merous national banks in San Francisco whose circulation runs up into the mil-
lions, the notes emitted by them under the authority of the government are almost
wholly used outside of the state, the tender of paper money in ordinary business
transactions being very unusual.
A freak experiment in banking was made in 1874, when the Grangers' bank
was incorporated. It was the outcome of a movement of the farmers against the
middleman. There was great dissatisfaction on the part of the wheat grower over
the manipulation of ocean shipping charters, and the existence was charged of a
ring which neglected no opportunity to put up rates for carrying grain to Europe.
The purpose of starting the bank was to finance a scheme of securing ships under
favorable conditions and loading them with cargoes to be sold on the way to
Europe, or on arrival in port. The theory of the farmers that they were made the
victims of charter speculators seemed to have been borne out by the facts, but
the experiment of the Grangers' bank proved a failure, and while it maintained
a precarious existence for many years, it was finally obliged to go into liquidation
in November, 1895.
In 1875 the safe deposit system was introduced in San Francisco by the Cali-
fornia Safe Deposit Company in the basement of a building erected on the corner
of California and Montgomery streets. Prior to that time the practice of allow-
ing depositors to place tin boxes in the vaults of banks had prevailed, and the
innovation was hailed as a great convenience. The subsequent failure of the bank
which maintained the vaults, and the flight of its manager, gave a great shock to
renters, who at first feared that the confidence they had reposed in the safety of
the contents of their boxes had been violated, but examination disclosed that the
apprehension was groundless. Curiously enough, however, the agitators of the sand
lot, with whom the corruption of bank officials was a favorite theme, persisted to
the last in asserting that Duncan had robbed the vaults before his flight.
CHAPTER LI
THE SAND LOT TROUBLES AND THE NEW CONSTITUTION
STATE RIPE FOR REVOLT THE LONG AGITATION FOR A NEW CONSTITUTION THE LEG-
ISLATURE OF 1877-78 A LONG LIST OF GOOD MEASURES TO ITS CREDIT "PIECE"
CLUBS NUMEROUS REFORMS EFFECTED THE MAIL DOCK RIOT AND THE PICK HAN-
DLE BRIGADE THE FIRST POLITICAL MEETINGS ON THE SAND LOT THE WORKING-
MAN'S PARTY DENIS KEARNEY AS A LEADER KEARNEY'S ATTAINMENTS HISTO-
RIAN BRYCE'S BLUNDER THE MANIFESTO OF THE WORKINGMAN's PARTY FIRST
\V. P. C. TRIUMPH SIMILARITY OF WORKINGMEN's PLATFORM TO THAT OF 1912
PROGRESSIVES CROCKER'S SPITE FENCE KEARNEY SHOWS THE WHITE FEATHER ■
"WORK OR BREAD" A GAG LAW PASSED AN INADEQUATE POLICE FORCE THE
FIGHT FOR THE NEW CONSTITUTION AND ITS ADOPTION THE NEW ORGANIC LAW
NOT A SAND LOT PRODUCT REFORMS EFFECTED PROMINENT PART PLAYED BY
"CHRONICLE" IN SECURING ADOPTION OF THE CONSTITUTION.
HE conditions described in the preceding chapter make clear ihe
the fact that the state was ripe for revolt against the ex- f tate Kife
r & for Revolt
isting order of things, but it would be wrong to infer from
what has been related that the adoption of the constitution
of 1879 would have been impossible had there been no sand
lot agitation. That impression has been conveyed by writ-
ers who were opposed to the many radical innovations of
the new organic instrument, and who sought to destroy its effect by charging that
it was the product of a lot of violent agitators and lawbreakers. That the disaf-
fected elements headed by Kearney supported the instrument when it was sub-
mitted for adoption, and that their votes contributed to its acceptance by the elec-
torate of California is true, but it is well to keep in mind the fact that it required
the majority rolled up in the interior of the state in favor of the constitution to
offset the majority cast against it in the City, where the Kearneyites were strongest.
That a new constitution would have been adopted sooner or later is evident, Agitation
and it is highly probable that the desired result would have been achieved much
more readily if Kearney and his followers had not furnished opportunities for
misrepresentation which put the advocates of the new organic law formed by the
convention chosen in 1878, on the defensive. The movement for a new constitution
was not the outcome of the agitation of 1877. It may be said to have begun as
early as 1852, when the subject was introduced in the legislature and a proposition
to revise was defeated because it was charged and believed that the main object
of the proponents was to bring about state division. It was again revived in San
Francisco in 1856, when dissatisfaction with the judges inspired Samuel P. Webb,
529
Constitution
530
SAN FRANCISCO
Numerous
Proposals
to Revise
Convention
Ordered by
Popular Vote
an ex-mayor, to urge the Vigilance Committee to bring pressure to bear on the
governor to call an extra session of the legislature for the purpose of considering
the proposal to revise. The committee refused to act on the suggestion on the
ground that the Vigilante constitution prohibited interference in political matters.
In view of the fact that the Vigilantes, not as an organization, but nevertheless
with a solidarity that proved highly effective, supported the new people's party, it
may be assumed that it was the conservatism and not the limitations of the Vigi-
lance Committee that caused opposition to this innovation which foreshadowed
the "recall" proposition that became popular half a century later.
In the same year Governor Johnson, in a message to the legislature, referred
to the subject of revision and declared that the only opposition to making the at-
tempt came from those who feared that a constitution if framed would not be sub-
mitted to the people. He pointed out that this apprehension was groundless, as
the amendment to the constitution proposed by the legislature of 1855, which re-
quired such submission, had been ratified by a vote of the people in 1856. In
1861 Governor Downey called attention to a third failure to secure revision and
intimated that he was satisfied with the result as the reforms demanded were such
as could easily be secured by a simple amendment. The matter came up again in
the legislature of 1873-74, and there was much talk about the law's delays and the
dilatory tactics of the courts of San Francisco. Land monopoly and the stupen-
dous frauds practiced by the grabbers of the public domain were discussed, and
woman suffrage was made the subject of a report and a recommendation that the
question be taken up in the coming constitutional convention, which was believed to
be imminent.
These successive efforts to bring about action proved fruitless, but in the legis-
lature of 1875-76 reports were made in each house denouncing the evils of land
monopoly, and calling attention to the flagrant abuses of the timber and desert land
acts passed by congress. Specific charges of grabbing land on a wholesale scale
were made, and it was urged that the result of the illegal appropriation of the
public domain would be to greatly accentuate the troubles already experienced by
the state because of the existence of the large Spanish and Mexican grants, whose
owners refused to divide them, thus deterring settlement by perpetuating a land
monopoly. The outcome of the discussion was the passage of an act recommending
the calling of a convention "to revise and change the state constitution," which
provided in accordance with the law that the question should be submitted to a
popular vote at the next general election.
This act was approved April 3, 1876, and the proposition to hold a convention
was voted upon September 5, 1877, and the people decided in. favor of revision,
73,460 favoring the holding of a convention and 44,200 against, out of a total of
146,199 voting. The failure of the 28,521 to express their desires was later crit-
icized as indicating that the majority of the people were not eager for revision,
but there was no comment of that sort at the time, the vote being accepted as
decisive. The mandate of the people was accepted by the legislature of 1877-78,
and an act calling the convention was passed during the closing days of the ses-
sion and approved April 1, 1878.
The legislature of 1877-78, which passed the act calling the convention, was
spoken of as being under the influence of the sand lot, but there is absolutely no
SAN FRANCISCO
531
foundation for this assumption. It was overwhelmingly democratic in its com-
position and elected a United States senator representing that party named Far-
ley, who was unquestionably under railroad domination. But while the anti monop-
oly sentiment was in the ascendant, as was evinced by the determined effort to
amend the law of eminent domain, so that the railroad might have its aggressive
tendencies restrained, and also by the earnest attempts to pass a railroad commis-
sion bill which would pave the way to the regulation of freights and fares, the
legislature was in no sense a radical body and had no sympathy with violent meth-
ods, a fact attested by its readiness to consider a law, inspired by fear of the
turbulent methods of the unemployed in San Francisco, which, had it been passed
and enforced, would have abridged freedom of speech.
Curiously enough this legislature which, like the constitutional convention, has
been stigmatized as under the influence of the sand lot, has to its credit a greater
number of reform measures and acts directly affecting San Francisco than any
preceding California legislative body. It was the last legislature privileged to
deal with special matters, consequently many of its enactments have had a per-
manency which otherwise would not have attached to them. Among the number
was the one-twelfth act, introduced by Frank McCoppin, a former mayor of San
Francisco, and chairman of the city delegation in the senate. It provided that the
revenues for the year should be divided into twelve parts, and that the expenditures
of the different funds should be made on this basis, the object being to avoid the
creation of deficits. The principle of this act was subsequently embodied in a
charter and worked admirably. There were attempts to disregard the curb, and
the law was violated in the interests of contractors; but it proved a stone wall
against their predatory attacks, which, however, was breached later by a vote of
the people which amended the constitution so as to compel the City to pay claims
which arose through flagrant violations of law, thus presenting an instance of direct
legislation striking down a safeguard devised under the representative system, and
sanctioning loose methods and venality by a popular vote.
The legislature of 1877-78 also passed a bill reducing street-car fares to five
cents, and making them uniform throughout the City. Up to this time the charge
for a single fare was ten cents, but four tickets could be obtained for twenty-five
cents. A law was also passed to regulate the quality and price of gas to consum-
ers, fixing the maximum rate at $3 a thousand cubic feet. Henry George, the
author of "Progress and Poverty" was the first inspector appointed under the
provisions of this act. A measure, also inspired by the demand for regulation, and
which was subsequently known as the free gas and water act, was likewise adopted.
Its authors fondly imagined that they had devised a method which would insure
the people of San Francisco against the rapacity of corporations, and that the
privilege which the measure accorded of allowing anyone to use the streets to
lay gas or water mains, would assure cheap gas and water to the community. The
expected competition never materialized, for the established gas company absorbed
all would-be competitors who entered the field. There were several which did so,
chiefly for the purpose of selling out. No attempt was made to introduce a rival
water system. The chief result of the reform measure was to practically turn
over the streets to irresponsible persons who were continually excavating and de-
stroying pavements as fast as they were laid, to the great annoyance of the com-
munity.
Much
Legislation for
San Francisco
532
SAN FRANCISCO
Other
Reforms
Effected
The
Pick Handle
Brigade
Another great reform measure, which failed of its purpose, was the so-called
"piece club" bill, introduced in the assembly by John F. Swift, an independent
member from San Francisco, subsequently appointed minister to Japan and later
defeated in an attempt to be elected governor. Swift was a republican and a
man of exceptional ability and force and was a student of politics. The act re-
ferred to was designed to put an end to the practice which existed in San Francisco
at the time of groups of men assuming that they controlled votes, forming them-
selves into clubs and offering for a consideration to give their influence to candi-
dates. The name "piece club" was derived from the slang use of the word "piece"
for money. The measure never proved efficacious, and finally lost all virtue when,
in accordance with the changing mood of the people, legal sanction was prac-
tically given to the process of disintegrating parties by putting a premium on the
small group system.
It was this legislature that passed the act under which the system of public
libraries in California was inaugurated, and under which nearly every city and
town in the state has provided itself with free reading facilities. The author was
a San Franciscan named Rogers, whose chief aim was to secure for San Francisco
a privilege which would permit it to imitate the example of Boston, but he broad-
ened the scope of the act so as to permit all parts of the state to take advantage
of its provisions, with the result above mentioned. Another bit of legislation
which effected a partial reform of the defective banking laws of California was
the creation of the bank commission referred to at some length in the preced-
ing chapter, and which placed the operations of financial corporations under the
supervision of the state and was the first decisive step in the direction of much
needed publicity. The excesses of the stock market also came in for attention and
an act was passed imposing a tax of ten cents on every certificate of stock issued
or transferred, the object being to make dealings in futures unpopular. The law
did not prove effective, but the craze for dealing in margins came to an end a
short time after by the complete subsidence of the mania for dealing in mining
stocks.
It will be seen from the above resume of the efforts to secure a revision of the
organic law of California that it was not a sand lot movement, but that it was
state wide, and that all of the features which were later denounced as radical
innovations had been demanded by large sections of the people before the name of
Denis Kearney had been made familiar to the public by the newspaper accounts
of his denunciations of capital and the Chinese. It is a fact not entirely over-
looked, but the significance of which has escaped attention, that Kearney's partici-
pation in the only riot which occurred during the troubled days before the adoption
of the constitution was on the side of law and order. The affair referred to oc-
curred on the 25th of July, 1877, and its occurrences were grossly exaggerated. A
couple of days previous some hoodlums had made attacks on several Chinese laun-
dries and set fire to one, on the corner of Turk and Leavenworth streets. On the
following day a committee of safety was organized under the auspices of William
T. Coleman. It was decided by the leaders that this citizen's committee should bear
no other arms than pick handles, and this fact was seized upon to give it the name
it bore. Denis Kearney was a member of this "pick handle brigade," and acted
with it on the night of July 25th when an attack was made on the Pacific Mail
SAN FRANCISCO
533
dock by a mob with intent to burn it, which however, was frustrated without much
difficulty by the police and the citizen's committee, some of the latter being pro-
vided with rifles for the occasion. On the same night a lumber yard was fired, or
accidentally burned. In the attempt to disperse the crowd which gathered, and which
was chiefly composed of idle spectators attracted by the flames, several shots were
fired. It was reported that a number of persons were killed, but the police records
merely state that "several men were shot and otherwise wounded on this occasion."
Two days later a man named James Smith was arrested on the charge of having
fired the lumber yard and was held in $20,000 bail, but the crime was never proved
against him.
That this disturbance was merely a sporadic ebullition, and not the result of a
plan, or even of deliberate instigation, was shown by the action of the committee
of safety which was disbanded on July 30th. Had there been any apprehension
of further disturbance the citizen's committee would not have dissolved so speedily.
The attempt to make it appear that the affair was a sand lot manifestation proved
successful later when the facts concerning the disturbance and its origin were
forgotten. Truth demands the statement that the trouble arose out of the presence
in the City of an unusually large number of unemployed men who assembled in
crowds to discuss the news of the railroad strike in the East, and its accompany-
ing acts of violence, and the manifestations were only a faint reflection of the dis-
order witnessed in several Eastern cities about the same time, which in some cases
called for the intervention of the military.
The first sand lot meeting at which Kearney was present took place early in
the following September. There had been gatherings of a miscellaneous character,
near the place where the stand stood which was subsequently used by the agitators,
during several months preceding the advent of Kearney, but they were of such
a character that the newspapers took no pains to report them. They were usually
addressed by speakers who had panaceas for alleviating human woes, and sometimes
their audiences numbered several hundreds. On the night of September 7th,
Denis Kearney had made a speech in Dashaway Hall on Post street in the course
of which he announced that he would speak on the sand lot in front of the city hall
on the ensuing Sunday.
This announcement was printed in the papers, and the crowd, as a result, was
large; and as Kearney indulged in intemperate language the meeting was reported.
There was nothing extraordinary in this latter circumstance, but there would have
been ground for adverse comment had it been ignored as meetings of a similar
character held in halls before and after that date received attention. There was
a meeting of the unemployed in Union hall, a large structure on Mission street,
on the night of September 21st, which was addressed by Philip A. Roach, a promi-
nent democrat, and one of the proprietors of the "Examiner," in which he denounced
the actions of the "pick handle brigade" in unmeasured terms. At the same meet-
ing Kearney spoke, and although he had acted with the committee of safety on
the night of July 25th, he was unsparing in his criticism of the motives of those
who had organized the brigade and proclaimed that their purpose was to make
serfs of the workingmen.
After the first meeting in September on the sand lot the socialists, temperance
orators, phrenologists, fakers and visionaries of all kinds, who had formerly occu-
Citizens'
Committee
Promptly
Dissolved
First
Sand Lot
Meetings
534
SAN FRANCISCO
Kearney's
literary
Attainments
pied the neighborhood on Sunday afternoons were completely dislodged and the
embryo workingmen's party of California took possession. The proposition to
form a workingmen's party which had been urged in the early Seventies had been
renewed after the disturbance in July, but although suggestions to that effect were
made in August, no practical steps were taken to accomplish that purpose in ad-
vance of the election of 1877. The legislators chosen in that year were democrats
or republicans, with the exception of a solitary independent sent to the assembly
from a San Francisco district. It has been stated that the legislature of 1877-78
was dominated by the sand lot, but to maintain that assumption it is necessary to
assume that the democratic majority was insincere in making its pledges, for every
demand of the sand lot had been anticipated by the platform of that party, and it
was to the promises thus made that it owed its success at the polls.
It is difficult to judge the motives of men, and it is not essential that the his-
torian should essay the task. Very often those who figure prominently as leaders
are merely the creatures of circumstances, and the actions attributed to deep de-
sign on their part, are forced upon them by the march of events. Denis Kearney was
a leader of that sort. He was absolutely destitute of originality, but he was quick
to seize upon a suggestion. It has already been stated that he was a frequent vis-
itor to newspaper offices before he began to figure prominently as a champion of
the workingmen. In the course of these visits he became acquainted with a re-
porter of the "Chronicle" named Chester Hull, a versatile writer endowed with
a strong sense of humor, which often took the form of practical joking. Kearney
early disclosed his ambitions to Hull, and the latter undoubtedly advised, and
certainly gave Kearney the idea that in order to win success he must avoid scat-
tering. . Hull's colleagues in the city room of the "Chronicle" declared that
there was only one subject on which he seemed to feel deeply, and that was the
danger to the people of the Pacific coast, and the white race generally, from the
encroachments of cheap Oriental labor, and that he furnished Kearney with the
slogan "The Chinese Must Go" and impressed upon him that continued iteration
of the phrase would attract attention and win recognition.
Whether the phrase was inspired by Hull, or was of his own devising, Kearney
constantly employed it, and invariably ended his harangues with the emphatic
declaration. It was undoubtedly the strongest weapon in his oratorical armory,
but there were others which he used with equal facility. The educational attain-
ments of Kearney have been frequently dwelt upon by writers who have reached
the conclusion that he was not a scholar, and that he had only a smattering of in-
formation. The facts are not entirely out of harmony with this assumption. Kear-
ney was born in Ireland, and was a young man when he emigrated to this country.
The only learning he had when he arrived in San Francisco in 1868 was of a very
rudimentary character, but he was an assiduous reader and was much addicted to
history, from which he drew some remarkable inferences. He was also interested
in the speculations of Darwin, and at one time was disposed to sympathize with
the individualistic views of Spencer. If he could express his views in writing he
refrained from doing so when visiting the newspaper offices, contenting himself
with verbally conveying the information he brought.
He was a voluble speaker, however, and was never at a loss for words in a
discussion, or when on the stump, but was not very choice in their use. He was
SAN FRANCISCO
535
accustomed to using such epithets as "blood sucker," "bloated monopolists," "bloody
cormorants," "thieving land grabbers," etc., but there is a reasonable presumption
that they were not genuine explosives, but were worked up for sand lot consump-
tion, for when he employed them privately they were apt to have an intonation
which suggested the winks of the Roman augurs. He was quick at repartee and
thoroughly understood his audiences. He indulged in tricks of "oratory" which
few men would have ventured upon in addressing a body of men who took things
seriously. Irony was one of his favorite weapons, and in using it he approached
perilously near incitement to riot. One of his favorite devices was to veil a threat
in doggerel verse. On one occasion he concluded a vigorous description of the
voracity of the bloated monopolists and bondholders with:
There was a bloody swallow
Who lived up a bloody spout;
And when the bloody rain came,
It washed the bloody fellow out.
He had a stock of quotations which he drew upon regularly without much regard
to literal accuracy, but they were usually appropriately employed. He was an
assiduous reader of the newspapers and his Sunday harangues on the sand lot
often were a resume of the contents of their columns during the week. He derived
most of his information from the "Chronicle" whose exposure of the Navy Pay Office
frauds and the abuses of the timber and desert land acts were just the sort of
pabulum he required to satisfy the appetites of his followers, who had an in-
grained belief that the rascalities of officeholders were at the bottom of all their
troubles. Bryce in his "American Commonwealth" asserted that "the activity of
the "Chronicle" counted for much, for it was ably written, went everywhere and
continued to give a point and force to Kearney's harangues which made them more
effective in print then even his voice had made them to the listening crowds." This
was a gratuitous assumption, and one which Bryce would not have made if he had
investigated the subject he wrote about. He frankly admits that when it was
suggested that the only way in which he could learn the details of the sand lot
troubles would be to go through the files of the newspapers between 1877 and
1880, that he refused to do so as such a search would involve too much trouble.
Had he taken this trouble he would have discovered that there was no founda-
tion for his implication that the "Chronicle" reports of Kearney's speeches were
much of a factor in keeping up interest. On the contrary he would at once have
perceived that Kearney was making effective use for his own purposes of the ex-
posures made by that journal, and that he was merely a vulgar echo of its charges
of venality and corruption which were made with precision and directness by the
newspaper, and implicated some of the men from whom Bryce gained the material
for his chapter on the sand lot troubles, which, however, in spite of its inaccuracies,
reveals the true causes of the upheaval. There was nothing, however, said by the
"Chronicle" that begins to approach the blackness of the picture painted by Bryce,
who said: "Both in the country and in the City there was disgust with politics
and politicians. The legislature was composed almost wholly of office seekers
from the City or petty country lawyers, needy and narrow minded men. Those
who had virtue enough not to be 'got at' by the great corporations had not intel-
An Assiduous
Reader of
Newspapers
The
Newspaper
and Historical
Accounts of
Events
536
SAN FRANCISCO
Historian
Bryce's
Blander
Bryce's
Comments
Cause
Irritation
Organization
of the
Workingmen's
Party
ligence enough to resist their devices. It was a common saying in the state that
each successive legislature was worse than its predecessor. The meeting of the
representatives of the people was seen with anxiety, their departure with relief.
. . . The judges were not corrupt, but most of them, as was natural, con-
sidering the scanty salaries assigned to them, were inferior men, not fit to cope
with counsel who practiced before them. Partly owing to the weakness of juries,
partly owing to the intricacies of the law and the defects of the recently adopted
code, criminal justice was halting and uncertain and malefactors often went un-
punished. It became a proverb that you might safely commit a murder if you
took the advice of the best lawyers."
Mr. Bryce's blunder did not consist in an underestimation of the gravity of
the situation ; where he erred was in permitting the men who were responsible for
the condition he described to make him believe that they were good citizens, and
that the "sand lotters" who were denouncing the real malefactors, and the news-
papers who were pointing out the offenders, were to blame. He was apparently
imbued with the idea that the men who imparted to him the distorted views which
he reproduced as his own, were wholly disinterested, and he lacked the acumen
to perceive that they were under the dominating influence of the corporations in-
dicted by him as corruptors of public morals. In short, Mr. Bryce expressed the
opinion pretty generally entertained at the time he wrote that innovations, the
result of upheavals from the bottom, were dangerous to the existing society. If
he had to rewrite the chapter which is here criticized, and would do so in the light
of his professed admiration for Roosevelt, he would in honesty be compelled to
admit that in all essential particulars the avowed programme of Denis Kearney,
and the reforms advocated by the ex-president are alike.
The comments here made are not a digression; they are necessary in order to
bring out a fact which Bryce himself states, that the people of California were
irritated by his treatment of the sand lot episode. In a footnote to a later edition
of his "American Commonwealth" he says: "When I visited San Francisco in
1881 and again in 1883 people were unwilling to talk about the Kearney agitation
feeling, it seemed to me, rather ashamed of it, and annoyed that so much should have
been made of it (more they declared than it deserved) in the Eastern states." It
will be necessary further on to explain the cause of this irritation which Mr. Bryce
does not make clear. It was not due, as his readers may readily assume, to the
natural desire of a community to stand well in the eyes of the world, but to the
inability of the people who reproached him to perceive that the turpitude he had
depicted, and their own inattention to civic matters, were responsible for the sand
lot uprising.
To recur to the so called sand lot troubles, and in order to dissociate them en-
tirely from the ebullition of midsummer with which they had no connection what-
ever, it should be mentioned that it was not until October 5, 1877, or more than
two months after the demonstration, against the Chinese laundries that the work-
ing men's party of California was organized with Denis Kearney as president,
John G. Day as vice president, and H. L. Knight as secretary. This movement,
however, was not a forerunner of the cohesiveness which was later displayed, for
there were rival factions and not infrequently two sets of orators were declaiming
at the same time on the sand lots against monopoly and the venality of officials.
SAN FRANCISCO
537
But the following of Kearney was by far the largest and in a comparatively brief
period he succeeded in silencing the rivalry of his opponents. About the middle of
the month the Kearney ring issued a manifesto which was published in the morn-
ing papers in which the phrase "The Chinese Must Go" occurred, and coupled with
it was the assertion that the workingmen would bring about that result by force if
necessary. Apart from this declaration the statements in the manifesto read very
like a vulgarized edition of Bryce's arraignment. "Congress," said the manifesto,
"has often been manipulated by thieves, speculators and land grabbers, bloated
bondholders, railroad magnates and shoddy aristocrats — a golden lobby dictating
its proceedings. Our own legislature is little better. The rich rule them by bribes.
The rich rule the country by fraud and cunning; and we say that fraud and cunning
shall not rule us."
This manifesto was written by Knight, but the major part of it was dictated
by Kearney, whose part in it can be recognized by the allusions to Patrick Henry,
whose peroration in his speech in the Virginia House of Burgesses on the Stamp
Act, "As for me, give me liberty or give me death" was constantly in the agitator's
mouth, as were also the expressions "bloated bondholders" and "shoddy aristo-
crats," which he turned off as glibly as Roosevelt did his pet expression "male-
factors of great wealth." Hull declared that Kearney once said to him that he did
not quote Patrick Henry so much on account of the sentiments expressed by the
revolutionary orator, as because the name Patrick made an impression on his
hearers, or as he was pleased to call them "them chaws."
The fulminations of Kearney, and his attempts to call into existence a work-
ingmen's party, might have met the same fate as the effort made in the beginning
of the decade, under the auspices of the Knights of St. Crispin, if it had not been
for the death of one of the state senators from Alameda county on January 6, 1878.
This necessitated the calling of a special election at which a candidate put forward
by the workingmen's party, named John Bones, was seated by a large majority.
At another by-election held in Santa Clara county to fill a vacancy in the senate
and one in the assembly the workingmen also proved successful and in March they
elected their candidate for mayor, and several of the city officials of Sacramento.
There is reason for believing that had the untimely deaths not occurred, the move-
ment might have expended itself in bloviation, but the leaders were intoxicated by
the successes achieved at the polls and they went ahead with their plans regardless
of the fact that the legislature of 1877-78 was effecting many reforms, and entirely
ignoring the possibilities which the adoption of a new organic law held out in the
way of abating the evils and corruption which they made the groundwork of their
complaints. But it should be added as the session of the legislature wore on it
gave abundant cause for suspicion that it would fail to redeem its promises. There
were indications that the act which provided for the election of delegates to a
convention to revise the constitution would be side tracked, and as a matter of fact
its passage and approval were delayed until within a few days of adjournment.
There had been a flagrant exhibition of attempted railroad domination when
the bill creating a commission was up for action in the assembly. On several days
ex-Governor Stanford sat in the rear of the assembly chamber and directed the
course of corporation members who were hard pushed by the anti monopolists. It
was a remarkable display of indifference to public opinion, but no more startling
Manifesto
of the
W. P. C.
The
Workingmen's
Party's
First
Triumph
538
SAN FRANCISCO
Demands of
Ijaborites
Resemble
Spite Fence
than C. P. Huntington was making daily in the capitol at Washington where with
equal boldness he marshalled the supporters of the corporation in the senate and
house of representatives.
There was no lack of material for assaults when the workingmen's convention
met in San Francisco on January 21, 1878. There was no election pending but a
platform was adopted stating the aims of the new party and making promises.
A resume of its declarations and demands discloses a similarity to that adopted in
1871, and in most features resembling that of the advanced "progressives" of
1911. It started out with an expression of opposition to coolie labor and the intro-
duction of coolies into the country. This is about the only particular in which it
differs from the pronunciamentos of the twentieth century reformers as will be seen
at a glance by reading an epitome of the remaining planks. These demanded that
government land be held for actual settlement and cultivation; that individuals
holding more than one square mile were to be restricted to that quantity, and that
it should be devoted to cultivation and pasturage; that all lands of equal value
and productive nature be subject to equal taxation; that import duties on raw
materials not produced in the United States be abolished; that a system of finance
be adopted consistent with the agricultural, manufacturing and mercantile indus-
tries and requirements of the country uncontrolled by rings, brokers and bankers;
that the pardoning power be taken away from presidents and governors and be
vested in commissioners ; that malfeasance in office be punished with imprison-
ment for life without recourse, and no pardon for delinquents; the contract system
in the state prisons and reformatories to be abolished and goods manufactured
there to be sold at not less than current market rates for the product of free labor;
all labor on public works to be done by day labor; eight hours to be a sufficient
day's work and to be made so by law; all public officers to receive fixed salaries
and no fees; president and vice president and United States senators to be elected
by direct vote of the people; the common school system to be cherished and sup-
ported ; a system of compulsory education to be provided ; a special fund maintained
to secure attendance of such poor children as would otherwise be unable to attend
school; education to be entirely secular in public schools and lectures at stated
intervals to uphold the dignity of labor and mechanical vocations as paramount
to all other walks of life.
A careful reading of this declaration will disclose that it is infinitely less radical
than the demands put forward by the advocates of governmental conservation of
forest lands and water rights and the antagonists of what are called trusts. With
the single exception of the declaration against coolie labor it will be noted that the
platform deals with national and general issues and apparently avoids those that
are local. Although antagonism against the railroad was running high at the time,
denunciation of the corporation and demands for its regulation were absent from
the document. This was all the more surprising as Kearney's sand lot diatribes
were filled with vitriolic allusions to the iniquities of the Central Pacific and the
greed of its managers. The omission did not escape criticism. It was commented
on at the time, and later it was openly charged that Kearney and his associates
had deliberately excluded all reference to the railroads for a consideration.
The reputation of the railroad for "fixing" things was so general that an omis-
sion of the kind referred to would have attracted attention even if it had not been
N'ob Hill
Meeting
SAN FRANCISCO 539
inconsistent with the professions and conduct of some of the agitators. Less than
three months previous to the drafting of the platform Kearney had been arrested
for making a threatening demonstration against one of the railroad magnates. On
the night of October 29, 1877, he had led a mob of two or three thousand of his
followers to Nob hill and there held a mass meeting, the principal purpose of
which was to menace Charles Crocker, who had gained an unenviable notoriety
by the erection of a spite fence around the property of a man named Yung. Crocker
was the owner of the block of land on California street bounded by Mason and Jones
and Sacramento, with the exception of a single lot 25 feet in width owned by Yung
to whom he offered a sum far exceeding the value of the holding, which Yung re-
fused to accept. Yung was greedy and determined to extort all he could, and
Crocker declined to submit to the extortion. But he did not let it rest at that.
He erected a high fence which towered above Yung's little house and shut out all
light and air excepting from the street in front. Crocker's exhibition of arrogance
was severely criticized, but no attempt to interfere with the maintenance of the
nuisance was ever made by the authorities, and the spite fence became a sort of
show place, visitors to Nob hill having their attention directed to it by guides
whose explanations were not always complimentary to Crocker.
On the October night referred to Kearney made the high fence, and the "wrongs" Kea
of Yung the theme of his speech. Yung had begged for mercy, and was willing
to sell at any price when he found himself shut in, but discovered that he was
dealing with an obdurate man who had become rather proud of his ability to pun-
ish any one who dared to oppose his wishes. Kearney made a fiery address in which
he described the grabbing propensities of the railroad magnates and denounced
them as thieves. A formal demand was made that they should discharge the Chi-
nese in their employ and they were threatened with dire consequences if they
failed to comply. Crocker was also given a month's notice to take down the spite
fence, and was warned that if he did not do so the workingmen would tear it down
for him on the 29th of' November. Subsequently Kearney was charged with mis-
demeanor on two complaints, one based upon his Nob hill speech and the other upon
the language used by him in an address made in Irish American hall. On the
night of November 3d, while addressing an open air meeting near the corner of
Kearney and Washington streets he was arrested and taken to the city prison. It
was feared that an attempt to rescue would be made, and Day, Knight, C. C.
O'Donnell and Charles Pickett, the other active leaders, were locked up on a charge
of inciting to riot. The incarcerated men united in a round robin addressed to the
mayor in which they declared that their speeches had been misrepresented by the
press, and that they had no intention of disturbing the peace, and that they "were
willing to submit to any measure to .allay the excitement." The communication
was disregarded, but subsequently when they were tried in the criminal court it
was held that while the facts might indicate grave offenses they did not constitute
criminal riot, and they were released.
It was stated at the time that Kearney displayed rank cowardice, and he was Kearney
taunted by some of his followers who accused him of showing the white feather. Shows the
.,...__ ° White Feat
A week alter his release Kearney led a procession of sand lotters through the
streets, the marching men carrying banners demanding work. A big meeting fol-
lowed which was noted for the tameness of its addresses and an absence of refer-
540
SAN FRANCISCO
Work or
Bread
Demanded
Gag Law
Promptly
Repealed
ence to the railroad managers or to the Yung fence. As the meeting was held
on November 29th, the day fixed for the tearing down of the Crocker fence, the
failure to mention the subject was variously commented on, some attributing it
to cowardice, and others to an amicable arrangement with the managers of the
Central Pacific, by which they were to be spared further annoyance.
Nothing more forcibly illustrates the state of unrest pervading the community
than the events following Thanksgiving Day. Employment conditions continued
to grow worse. Men streamed into the City from the country, and the army of the
idle was also increased by the necessity imposed upon merchants and others of
reducing their forces. The distress was appalling, and the charitable associations
were absolutely unable to cope with the situation. On January 3, 1878, Kearney
returned to the City from a stumping tour in the interior, where he was coldly
received by the farmers, and led a band of men to the city hall, where as their
spokesman he demanded that the mayor give them work or bread, or a place in
the county jail. The mayor upon whom the demand was made told the crowd,
which had in the course of its march increased to about 1,500, that he had no au-
thority to comply with their demand that work be provided as there was no money
to pay for their services. The crowd then adjourned to the sand lot where inflam-
matory speeches were made which moved the grand jury to action, and on the 5th
of January indictments were presented against several of the speakers. On the
22d of January, Kearney and Wellock were tried, but the result was the same
as in the former cases, the law being held inadequate.
It is not at all likely that the decisions would have been any different had the
"recall" been in operation at the time, but the legislature being in session it listened
to the appeal of a frightened community and hastily passed an act which was
approved by the governor on the 19th of January, three days before the abortive
trial of Kearney and Wellock. It was an amendment to the penal code pro-
viding that if any one in the presence or hearing of twenty-five or more persons
should utter any language with intent either to incite a riot at the present or in
the future, or any acts of criminal violence against persons or property, or who shall
suggest or advise or encourage any acts of criminal violence against any person
or persons or property, or shall advise or encourage forcible resistance to the laws
of the State of California shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and be punished by
imprisonment not exceeding two years, or fine not exceeding $5,000 or by both. An
act was also passed increasing the police force, and $5,000 was appropriated to pay
the expenses of the National Guard during the recent troubles, and $20,000 addi-
tional was placed at the disposal of the governor.
This absurd act, which was promptly christened the "Gag Law," did not long
disgrace the statute books, but it was there a sufficient length of time to dispose of
the absurd charge that the legislature of 1877-78 was under the domination of
Kearney and his followers. The general attitude of the legislators of this session
was fully as distasteful to the corporations and vested interests as the menacing
talk of the sand lotters, but there was no bond of sympathy between the demo-
cratic majority in the legislature and the agitators. To the contrary they dreaded
the advent of a workingman's party far more perhaps than the corporations whose
managers had learned by experience that it is not difficult to manipulate practical
politicians, while the democratic leaders feared that the activity of the sand lot
leaders would result disastrously to their organization.
SAN FRANCISCO
541
An incident occurred a short time after the trial of Kearney and Wellock
which clearly establishes that the troubles during the winter of 1877-78 were
wholly owing to lack of decision on the part of the authorities, and the inefficiency
of the police, due to the meagerness of the force which had not been increased in
nearly twelve years, although the population had almost doubled during the inter-
val. On the 3d of April, 1876, the legislature had passed an act creating a new
criminal court in San Francisco, a section of which created a police commission
consisting of the mayor, police judge, chief of police, judge of the city criminal
court and a county judge, who were to serve without compensation. But this im-
posing array of commissioners was not provided with an increased force. No
change was made in the number of police which remained the same as in 1836
when the Consolidation Act fixed it at 150.
On March 16, 1878, a large meeting was held in Piatt's hall for the purpose
of voicing opposition to a proposal to condemn the Spring Valley Water Works.
The meeting was called at the instance of men who had antagonized Ralston's
plans, and it was supposed by those who engineered it that the usual cut and dried
proceedings would take place, and that strong resolutions denouncing the project
would be passed without difficulty. Kearney created a diversion by bringing a lot
of his followers to the hall, and they took possession of the meeting electing him
president. Just what the outcome would have been had he presided to the end it
would be impossible to tell, but he was not permitted to do so. Unfortunately for
Kearney he made the mistake of attempting to deny freedom of speech to a man
named Edward Nunan, declaring that no politician should speak at a meeting
over which he presided. In the course of the wrangle which followed this arbi-
trary declaration by the sand lot leader, John Hayes, the man after whom Hayes
street and valley were named, mounted the platform saying, "If you do preside over
this meeting you don't run it," at the same time giving Kearney a shove which
knocked him off the stage and into the audience. On this occasion, as at other times,
Kearney exhibited the discretion which serves better than valor. Later he caused
Hayes to be arrested on a charge of battery, but the police judge who heard the
case with nice discrimination decided that the shove was not for the purpose of
committing an assault, but merely to assert the rights of the meeting.
Had the action of the legislature regarding the strengthening of the police been
anticipated by a few years there would have been a different story to tell. In
April, 1878, an act was passed increasing the police force to 400; but what proved
of more consequence, the composition of the commission was completely changed.
Instead of the cumbersome body created by the act of 1876, which imposed addi-
tional duties upon officials elected to perform other functions, there was substituted
a commission which was to consist of three representative citizens of the City to be
chosen by the judges of the Fourth, Twelfth and Fifteenth Judicial Districts.
The first appointees under this system were Robert Tobin of the Hibernia bank,
ex-Mayor William Alvord, of the Bank of California and Major Richard Hammond.
It would be a mistake to accept the common assumption that the enlargement of the
police force and the creation of an intelligent commission brought about the tran-
quillity which marked the summer of 1878, despite the constant efforts of Kearney
to keep alive the agitation, but the obvious purpose to restrain the too demonstra-
tive agitators undoubtedly had a quieting effect, and the election of delegates to
Police Force
Increased and
a New
Commission
Created
542
SAN FRANCISCO
Futile
Attempt to
Form a
Attempt
to Dislodge
Kennies
Delegates
Elected to
Constitutional
Convention
Men Who
Framed the
Constitution
the constitutional convention held on June 19th was unattended by any excitement
within the ranks of the political parties, including the newly formed workingmen's
organization.
The leaders of the democratic and republican parties, although the framing of
a constitution did not seem to call for partisan action, were so greatly concerned
over the rapid headway being made by the workingmen's organization that they
attempted to bring about a coalition. Advances were made by the republicans
but were rejected by the democrats who proposed that all party issues should
be discarded, and that a convention should be held at Sacramento in May to nomi-
nate delegates at large in the congressional districts, and that the best men in their
localities be nominated in the counties. This proposition was not acceptable to the
republicans and it was finally determined that the plan of the Vigilance Committee
of entrusting nominations to committees of prominent citizens should be followed,
and in accordance with this resolve eight nonpartisan delegates were named in
each of the four congressional districts.
The term nonpartisan was distinctly a misnomer, for the result was to array
the people of the state into two distinct parties, on a well defined issue which- was
narrower than it appeared to be on the surface, for while the talk revolved about
the selection of good men to frame a suitable organic law, the real struggle on
both sides was for political supremacy. The workingmen encouraged by their suc-
cesses early in the year believed they were strong enough to obtain control, and
the two old parties were apprehensive that they might and so were the corpora-
tions. Prospects of political success created dissensions within the ranks of the
workingmen which threatened a rupture. An attempt was made on the 6th of May
to oust Kearney from the presidency. The workingmen's state committee charged
him with corruption and using the party to further his personal ends. This in-
ternal dissension was undoubtedly promoted by outsiders to create a diversion, and
it resulted in the workingmen holding two conventions which met on May 16th.
Kearney was supported by all the ward clubs of the workingmen, and his antago-
nist, Frank Rooney, who was openly charged with being paid by the railroad to
bring about a split, and who headed the rival movement, had scarcely a corporal's
guard as a following.
The election which took place on June 19, 1878, resulted in the choice of 78
nonpartisans, including all the delegates at large, 32 in number; 51 workingmen,
31 of whom were from San Francisco; 11 republicans, 10 democrats and 2 inde-
pendents. In view of the fact that the constitutional convention of 1879 has re-
peatedly been called a sand lot body, and the organic law framed as submitted
by it a sand lot instrument, these figures are interesting. They conclusively dis-
prove the charge, showing as they do that less than one-third of the convention
was made up of workingmen's delegates. The composition of the membership
also refutes the assumption. It consisted of 58 lawyers, 39 farmers, 17 mechanics
and 3 journalists, the remainder being of varied occupations.
But far more important than these figures is the significant fact that the domi-
nating body in the convention was a minority of able men, chiefly delegates at large,
whose leadership was accepted, and under whose guidance the instrument was
framed. It is usual to denounce lawyers as mischief makers when acting in a legis-
lative capacity, and no one was fonder of reviling the profession than Denis Kear-
SAN FRANCISCO
543
ney, but it is an undoubted fact that every article in the Constitution of 1879 which
he' extolled as a reform was due to the constructive ability of corporation lawyers,
who, disregarding their affiliations, apparently labored with only one object in
view, that of framing an organic law which would embody all the reforms demanded
and do away with the abuses which the earlier constitution had fostered.
It is noteworthy that during the deliberations of the convention which met at
Sacramento September 28, 1878, and continued its sittings through 157 days, ad-
journing Monday, March 3, 1879, that there was little comment and no serious
criticism of the work of the delegates. This attitude of reserve was due to early
perception of the fact that the convention as a whole was determined to do its best,
and that it was not dominated by cliques. That the workingmen did not control
was made clear by the election of Joseph P. Hoge, a prominent corporation law-
yer, as president, and the rejection of Marcus D. Borruck, an avowed friend of
the railroad, and on its pay roll, who although he received the endorsement of
the caucus of nonpartisans, republicans and democrats for the secretaryship, was
beaten in the convention by a decisive vote. The subordinate offices, which were
eagerly sought for their friends by the workingmen delegates, all went to the
coalition. Thus it happened that while individual delegates chosen by the work-
ingmen attracted attention and caused some amusement by their crudities, at no
time was there any fear that they would obtain control. And least of all did their
attempt to embody opposition to Chinese immigration in the instrument excite ad-
verse comment, for, as the sequel showed, the people of California were nearly a
unit in favor of exclusion. The Chinese article was thoroughly discussed and as-
sented to by men high in the esteem of the nonpartisans, and no one thought it an
absurdity, nor did it prove to be so for despite the assumption of its being in con-
flict with the federal constitution it has been given practical effect. There were
some proposals made which historians have characterized as crudities that would
hardly be recognized by that designation at present. There was for instance a
proposition that election ballots should be numbered, and that the names of persons
voting be checked on the registration list. An effort was also made to give the
ballot to women, but it was voted down, commanding only 55 affirmative votes,
while 67 voted against. Another measure providing for the appointment of all
judicial officers, who were to hold their positions during good behavior was also
voted down.
These and some other propositions have met with more favor since, but in order
to comprehend the nature of the problem presented to the voter at the election
which took place on May 7, 1879, and to enable the reader to decide whether the
new instrument deserved the opprobrium heaped upon it, an epitome of its main pro-
visions will prove more useful than a list of the proposals that failed of acceptance.
Chief among the innovations, and the one about which much of the argument that
followed submission revolved, was that relating to taxation. The article dealing
with this subject defines "moneys, credits, bonds, stocks, dues, franchises and all
matters and things, real, personal and mixed, capable of private ownership as
property subject to taxation, exempting growing crops and property used exclusively
for public schools or belonging to the state, county or municipality, providing for
a reduction from credits of debts due to bona fide residents; making mortgages
and contracts by which debts were secured, for the purposes of taxation interests
Play a
Subordinate
Part
Taxation
Provision
of the New
544
SAN FRANCISCO
State
Board of
Equalization
Created
Court
Defeats
Will of
in the property affected thereby, and prescribing that all land cultivated or un-
cultivated of the same quality and similarly situated, should be assessed at the same
value.
This article was more heatedly debated in the campaign preceding the election
than any other provision. It was urged by the opponents of adoption that it would
result in double taxation. This was denied by its advocates, who pointed out that
under no circumstances could that occur, as it provided for a reduction from credits
of debts due to bona fide residents, and in the case of mortgages, that the amount
of the mortgage should be deducted from the assessed value of the property, which
would simply result in a change in the person called upon to pay the tax, the
mortgagor instead of the property holder paying. The farmers were appealed to
and warned that they would only increase their burdens, as the money lenders
would be sure to charge a higher rate of interest, and they were told that the new
system of taxation would put back the development of the state ten years.
A State Board of Equalization was created, to be elected at the general elec-
tions, and which was to consist of four members, representing districts. The crea-
tion of this commission was designed to put an end to the flagrant inequalities
brought about by corrupting assessors. The section creating it provided in the
plainest possible terms that the state and county boards of equalization should
exercise the power to raise or lower assessments, and in the case of the state
board it recited that "under such rules of notice as the state board may prescribe
as to the action of the state board" it should have the power "to increase or lower
the entire assessment roll, or any assessment contained therein, so as to equalize
the assessment of the property contained in said assessment roll, and make the
assessment conform to the true value in money of the property contained in said
roll." This provision was extolled by the advocates of adoption who pointed out
that its effect must be to put an end to the corruption practiced by corporations
and large land owners, and that the inevitable result would be the breaking up of
land monopoly. Subsequently the supreme court of the state held that the consti-
tution did not mean what it said, and that the State Board of Equalization had
power only to raise or lower the entire roll of a county.
This extraordinary decision produced consequences which the court appeared
to have overlooked. When the Board of Equalization exercised its authority to
raise the entire roll of counties in cases where the assessors had made flagrant
undervaluations the result was to make the holders of mortgages pay more than
the face of their securities, and the owners of money were subjected to a like dis-
crimination. Thus it became necessary to submit another amendment to correct
the court-created defects, but the reform fever had passed away and the correction
went no further than to exempt mortgages and money from the operation of rais-
ing or lowering the entire roll of a county. The board still retained considerable
power which it exercised to some purpose in later years, and the salutary effect
of the taxation provision relating to the equal taxation of farming lands similarly
situated was distinctly due to the knowledge that serious undervaluation would be
punished by raising the valuation of the property of the innocent as well as the
guilty.
The provision creating a railroad commission and clothing it with extraordinary
powers, and imposing upon it important duties, was the most obnoxious feature of
SAN FRANCISCO
545
the instrument to the corporation which ruled the political destinies of the state.
In his "History of California" Hittell distinctly asserts that the Railroad Com-
mission was created by a combination between the workingmen and the grangers,
which was the case, but in subsequent parts of his work he intimates that it was
the product of a scheme deliberately contrived to defeat the will of the people.
This view found expression in other quarters, but it is manifestly absurd. The truth
of the matter is that the drastic remedies for railroad abuses which were provided
were ahead of the times. Powers conferred upon the commission which in 1879
were denounced as too extensive, and features then feared because they were be-
lieved to be too radical are now commonly accepted. Had the people of California
been true to their own interests and elected honest and vigorous commissioners they
might have escaped twenty- four years of railroad domination which is justly
chargeable with the creation of most of the popular discontent in California, and
is directly responsible for most of the political vagaries into which the people have
plunged during recent years.
An examination of the article creating the Railroad Commission discloses that
it anticipated all the recent demands for reform. It provided for publicity of the
most far reaching character and gave the commissioners the power to regulate
freights and fares and practically demanded that they should resort to a physical
valuation of railroad properties in order to make a proper adjustment. That these
powers were never exercised was wholly due to the indifference and neglect of the
people to elect commissioners who woidd honestly represent them, and to choose
legislators who would provide the necessary funds to enforce the laws. The first
efforts of the corporation after the adoption of the constitution in 1879 were di-
rected to placing its creatures on the Railroad Commission, and the State Board
of Equalization, and the sovereign people cheerfully voted for the candidates put
forward by them. It is a remarkable commentary on the fallibility of popular
institutions that the very element responsible for this miscarriage became the chief
complainants against the iniquities of a political system whose defective workings
are directly traceable to the laches of the class to which they belong.
The hostility of the railroad to the new organic law was shared by corporations
generally, their chief grievance being the insertion of a provision making directors
or trustees jointly and severally liable to creditors and stockholders for all moneys
embezzled or misappropriated during their term of office. This reform which has
since been adopted by many other states of the Union was bitterly antagonized
in the convention by the same element that had arrayed itself against the Rail-
road Commission clause, and would not have found its way into the instrument
if it had not been forced in by the united action of the granger and workingmen
delegates.
It would be impossible if it were desirable to describe all the reforms attempted
by the framers of the Constitution of 1879 in a history of a political subdivision
of the state, but it has seemed essential to a better understanding of the troubles
of this particular period to make it clear that the instrument was not the outcome
of a transitory ebullition, or the product of a hysterical demand for reform. This
seems all the more necessary because San Francisco agitators and the City itself
have been held responsible for the instrument, which singularly enough would have
been rejected had its adoption depended upon the votes of its citizens. The Consti-
Demands of
Reformers
Premature
Corporation
Hostile to
New
Instrument
Supporters
of the
Constitution
546
SAN FRANCISCO
Death
Blow to
Special
Legislation
Defects
of the
Instrument
tution of 1879 undoubtedly was the product of an agitation, the focal point of
which was the City, and would not have been framed or adopted had it not been
championed there, and for that reason it becomes part of the history of San
Francisco, and the duty of the historian to determine whether the people who
urged it were demagogues, knaves or merely citizens seeking to effect needed
reforms.
Among the reforms effected which more particularly concerned the City was
that which struck down the vicious practice of special legislation and gave San
Franciscans the right to manage their own affairs. This was accomplished by a
provision which enabled urban communities within the state to make and enforce
within their limits all such local, police, sanitary and other regulations not in con-
flict with general laws. The new instrument set up a principle of vital importance
to the City, and the whole of California. In the first constitution adopted no ref-
erence was made to water rights, but the new instrument declared that all water
appropriated or to be appropriated for sale, rental or distribution was a public
use and subject to regulation and control by the state in a manner to be pre-
scribed by law; and rates for water used for domestic purposes were to be annually
fixed by boards of supervisors or other governing bodies. Here we have an exhibition
of prevision which presents a marked contrast to the demagogic and bureaucratic
conservation movement of the East, which was not inaugurated until practically
nothing was left in that part of the country to conserve. Under the Constitution
of 1879 the power has existed to effectively regulate and conserve the waters of
the state, and it rests with its people to exercise the authority so wisely conferred.
Another wise provision directly affecting San Francisco, but applying to the
whole state, was that which prohibits the loaning of the credit of any city or county
or other political subdivision, in aid of any person, association or corporation; also
the making of any gift of public money or thing of any value to any individual
or to any municipal or other corporation, except institutions under the exclusive
management and control of the state, and such aid as might be granted by the legis-
lature for the support of orphans. The state was also forbidden to subscribe for
stock or to become a stockholder in any corporation whatsoever. These prohibi-
tions were suggested by the experience of various political subdivisions of the
state and of the state itself in dealing with the railroad. The mania for forcing
development by a resort to subsidies had temporarily subsided, but the delegates
in the constitutional convention were far seeing enough to make a probable re-
crudescence impossible.
The instrument whose principal features are here outlined was by no means
perfect. It had the defect of most modern constitutions, that of embodying what
should be statutory in an organic law, thus opening the way to assaults by judicial
construction. It had other faults also, but they were not so virulently assailed as
those parts which the modern progressive by imitating has placed the seal of his
approval upon, and pronounced the work of statesmen. Much of the adverse criti-
cism of the Constitution of 1879 was perfectly honest. There were plenty who be-
lieved that it contained the seeds of destruction. To many it seemed the last
word in agrarianism, and to others it appeared to be "communistic," a portentous
word in those days so near to the atrocities of the Paris Commune. Those
who had these fearsome apprehensions may be excused for their mistakes, but there
SAN FRANCISCO - 547
is no apology that can atone for the deliberate misrepresentation which followed
the adoption of the constitution and was continued down to a period when the mis-
statements carried their own refutation.
If the instrument was misunderstood it was not because it failed to receive a
thorough discussion. It is doubtful whether a document of the kind was ever
more earnestly studied. Its features were examined in every possible light, and
as usual under such circumstances much heat was imparted to argument. As re-
quired by law the text of the instrument was advertised for a number of days in
the public press, thus making it easily available to all who could read. Its merits
and demerits were descanted upon in the papers, and on the stump. Halls were
hired and numerous public meetings were held which were addressed by prominent
speakers. The opponents of the measure, assisted by the corporations formed a
bureau for the preparation and dissemination of adverse literature, and it was
stated that funds to the amount of $700,000 were at its command. Through the
efforts of this bureau nearly every newspaper in the state was induced to antagonize
the instrument which they denounced as a sand lot product, and which they predicted
would in the event of its adoption drive capital from the state and ruin all its
industries. The "Chronicle" alone of the San Francisco papers advised its adop-
tion. A few interior journals of small circulation also ranged themselves on the
side of the new organic law, but the boast was made by the bureau that there were
twenty papers against the new constitution to one favoring it^ and it was assumed
that this tremendous preponderance of newspapers opposed would result in the
defeat of the instrument. But the "Chronicle" went everywhere and was daily
filled with editorials and articles discussing every article and section, leaving no
argument advanced against the new constitution unanswered. Attempts were made
to intimidate the proprietors by a resort to Vigilante methods. An organized effort
was made to induce advertisers to withdraw their patronage, but it failed because
the paper made it tolerably clear that it would hold the conspirators responsible
for resorting to underhand methods.
Finally after an exciting canvass of over two months the people pronounced
their verdict. To say that the result stupefied the antagonists of the instrument
but feebly expresses their astonishment. Up to the last moment boasts were made Const
that it would be rejected by a large majority. The election took place on May
7, 1879, and owing to the fact that the constitution was voted on as a whole the
ballot was short and quickly counted. In a couple of hours the result in the City
was known. Out of a vote of a few over 38,000 there was a majority of 1,600
against. The dissemination of this fact filled the opponents with enthusiasm, and
was the cause of some premature rejoicing. Before ten o'clock at night the re-
turns received from the interior were of such a character that the "Chronicle"
felt warranted in making an elaborate pyrotechnical display which announced to
the waiting City that the constitution had been adopted. It is significant of
the confidence of the paper in the result that the fireworks which celebrated the
victory were bought on the previous day in anticipation of the outcome, and that
men were stationed on the roof of the publication office, which was then on the
corner of Bush and Kearny streets, soon after dusk, to await the signal to set off
the bombs and rockets and the red fire which celebrated the triumph of its cam-
paign.
the Adopt i'
of the
548
SAN FRANCISCO
Constitution
Adopted by
Big majority
When the returns were all in it was found that the new constitution had been
carried by a majority of 10,825 in a total vote of 145,093. The estimated number
of qualified electors was 161,000. There has been no election in the state since
that has succeeded in bringing out as large a percentage of citizens entitled to vote
as that of May 7, 1879, which resulted in the adoption of the constitution falsely
attributed to the sand lot and its influences.
CHAPTER LII
CONDITIONS AFTER THE ADOPTION OF THE NEW CONSTITUTION
PREDICTIONS OF DISASTER THE LAST BIG STOCK DEAL DEALING IN FUTURES PRO-
HIBITED NEW ORGANIC LAW IMPROPERLY DEALT WITH WORKINGMEN CUT LOOSE
FROM ALL ALLIES KALLOCH ELECTED MAYOR OF SAN FRANCISCO THE MURDER
OF CHARLES DE YOUNG THE ATTEMPT TO IMPEACH KALLOCH JUDGES OVERAWED
BY A "POPULAR" DEMONSTRATION KALLOCH's ADMINISTRATION HELD UP. AS AN
AWFUL EXAMPLE JUDGE MADE LAW RAILROAD TAXES SHIRKED RAILROAD PRO-
POSES GROSS INCOME TAX OF S 1 /^ p ER CENT REPEATED FAILURES TO ADOPT A CHAR-
TER BRYCE REVISES SOME PREVIOUSLY EXPRESSED VIEWS HENRY GEORGE'S SAN
FRANCISCO CAREER PREDICTIONS THAT CAME TO NAUGHT SAN FRANCISCO'S BOSSES
CHRIS BUCKLEY PREPARING FOR LEADERSHIP THE BOSS REPAIRS THE FORTUNES
OF THE SHATTERED DEMOCRATIC PARTY.
OR a time after the adoption of the constitution it seemed
as if an influential part of the community had determined
to bring about the realization of their prediction that the
new instrument would cause capital to abandon the City
and state. The depths of pessimism were sounded, and
the constant iteration of the belief that the restrictions
imposed would work injuriously would have produced
that effect if it were not for the fact that business was already at so low an ebb
that a wave of disappointment which came near producing despondency could not
make it much worse. The numerous bank failures of the year preceding adoption,
the practical cessation of mining stock speculation, the reduction of the price of
grain and the general disinclination of the forehanded to spend as freely as for-
merly all had their effect in creating a state of mind which easily lent credence to
the charge that the new constitution was at the bottom of all the troubles of San
Francisco, and to the reiterated statement that men with money would refuse to
come to California, and that those who had any would desert it for other fields
where war was not being made on capital.
The last mining stock deal of consequence in San Francisco occurred in 1879.
The people had not completely learned their lesson, and once again permitted
themselves to be made victims of the clever manipulators who by the aid of mere
rumor were able to entice the hard earned dollar from the pockets of thrifty
men and women. A story was started that excellent indications were found in a
mine known as the Sierra Nevada. When the rumor was first circulated the stock
was selling at about five or six dollars a share. Under the steady pressure of the
manipulators, assisted by the credulity of their dupes it rose steadily until it had
549
Pessimism
and
Predictions
of Disaster
The
Last Big
Mining Stock
Deal
550
SAN FRANCISCO
Dealing
in Futures
Prohibited
New Organic
Law Not
Supported
passed the $200 mark. Long before that point was reached it was pretty gen-
erally understood that there was absolutely no foundation for the hopeful reports,
and that the affair was a gamble pure and simple. But that did not deter the
fatuous from entering the game, and pitting their wits against the men who were
dealing marked cards. The usual result ensued. The bottom suddenly dropped
out of the market. The manipulators made a large clean up, and a lot of foolish
people mourned their losses.
But it was the last depredation of the sort committed in San Francisco. The
Sierra Nevada deal practically closed the mining stock speculation era. The consti-
tution adopted on May 7th is sometimes credited with accomplishing that result,
but it is not improbable that this final experience made a sufficiently enduring im-
pression on the people to save them from the eggregious folly of permitting them-
selves to be regularly shorn by a band of unconscionable men who devoted all their
faculties to putting up schemes of robbery. It is more satisfactory to believe that
the wisdom begotten by experience brought about the result than to accept the
theory of the historian of the San Francisco Stock Exchange, who assumes that it
was the provision in the new organic law which put the broker in the disagreeable
position of having to make good the losses of his client if the latter chose to resort
to law. He tells us the law was iniquitous, but that it was enforced for more than
twenty-five years. It simply recited that all contracts for the sale of shares of the
capital stock of any corporation or association on margin, or to be delivered at a
future day, shall be void, and any money paid on such contracts may be recovered
by the party paying it by suit in any court of competent jurisdiction. This pro-
vision was changed by an amendment to the constitution adopted in 1908, which
practically restored the privilege of dealing in margins.
Immediately following the adoption of the constitution there was considerable
ferment in political circles. The pessimism of the sympathizers with the idea that
the new instrument was going to destroy prosperity did not extend to those who
knew anything about legislation and the judiciary. They did not accept the view
that the best mode of making an unwise or oppressive law odious was to strictly
enforce it and cause a demand for its repeal. They proceeded upon entirely dif-
ferent lines and plainly made it appear that the obnoxious provisions could be nul-
lified by failing to provide the necessary machinery for their enforcement. This
at once suggested to the advocates of the instrument whose votes had secured its
adoption that it would be necessary to elect a governor and legislature who would
cooperate to give the new constitution effect. With this object in view the forma-
tion of a new constitution party was resolved upon. This at once produced a di-
vision in the ranks of the friends of the new organic law. Kearney and his follow-
ers assuming that it was the workingmen's party that had won the victory, would
not listen to a coalition which would result in the subordination of their organization
and insisted on naming a candidate. The result was a division which easily secured
victory for the republicans, whose candidate, George C. Perkins, was elected gov-
ernor by a considerable plurality. Against him were pitted Hugh J. Glenn, nomi-
nated by the new constitution party and W. F. White, the father of Stephen A.
White, who was subsequently elected United States senator.
The democrats were not in the contest as a party. By far the greatest part of
their organization had been absorbed by the Workingmen; but Glenn and most
SAN FRANCISCO
551
of the other nominees on the new constitution ticket were Bourbons of the most
pronounced type. Glenn was the owner of the largest cultivated ranch in Cali-
fornia, and apparently did not regard the constitution as a menace to landholders
for he had warmly advocated and worked for its adoption. He was a man of in-
tegrity and not a politician, and was somewhat old fashioned in his ways. He car-
ried a cane with a curved end and was in the habit of hooking it to his arm.
Kearney seized on this peculiarity and mimicked it on the sand lot, at the same time
sneering at the title "honorable" bestowed upon him and called him an "H. B.,"
which he translated into "Honorable Bilk." The nickname was promptly taken up
and the new constitution party's adherents were called "H. B.'s" by republicans
and workingmen alike. In the campaign of ridicule which followed the followers
of Perkins and Kearney were allied in the effort to defeat Glenn. The working-
men almost forgot that there had been a constitution adopted, and that the deter-
mination to nullify it had been openly expressed by the followers of Perkins and
devoted themselves wholly to the work of defeating Glenn. The result was fore-
seen. In the election which closed the. campaign, Perkins received 67,966, Glenn
47,665 and White 44,482 votes.
During the campaign preceding this election the orderly conduct of affairs
in San Francisco was disturbed by an incident growing out of the successful ef-
fort of the workingmen to control the municipal government. In June the work-
ingmen after nominating their state ticket proceeded to nominate candidates for
municipal affairs. The only candidate for mayor was Isaac S. Kalloch, a minister
who had advanced ideas respecting religion which he disseminated from the pulpit
of Metropolitan hall, a building devoted as much to secular as to religious pur-
poses. The fact that Kalloch was likely to be nominated was generally known,
and as he had an unenviable record at the East he was warned that it might be
produced against him. He disregarded the warning and the "Chronicle," without
comment, reproduced an article published in a Boston paper describing the pro-
ceedings of the ecclesiastical body which had unfrocked him, and deprived him
of his ministry in that city. Kalloch did not attempt to deny the truth of the publi-
cation, but announced that he would get even with the proprietor of the "Chronicle"
in a speech which he intended to make from the balcony of the Metropolitan temple.
He carried out his threat by making an assault on the mother of Charles de Young,
which the latter resented on the following morning by attempting to kill the tra-
ducer, but was unsuccessful, only slightly wounding him. This occurred on the
morning of August 26, 1879. Kalloch was subsequently elected mayor by a con-
siderable majority.
Hittell in his history intimates that the success of Kalloch was due to the
excitement produced by the shooting, and the sympathy which it procured for the
preacher, but there is no foundation for this assumption. The political condition
in San Francisco at that time resembled that of a few years later when Schmitz was
elected. The community generally, not merely the working-men, were convinced
that affairs were in a bad state, and the people were in a frame of mind to bring
about a change, and it would probably have been effected even if the workingmen's
candidate had been an entirely unimpeachable man. But that is merely specula-
tion and might be passed over, but his further statement that "the newspaper con-
tinued to assail him," and his suggestion that the continued assaults incited the
Kalloch
Elected
The
Murder of
Charles
de Young
552
SAN FRANCISCO
Enemies
of the
Editor
Workinginan's
Mayor
Republican
Supervisors
son of Mayor Kalloch to kill Charles de Young is a mistake, and needs correction.
The "Chronicle" did not continue its assaults on Kalloch. After the affair of
August 26th, and the election of Kalloch it adopted the attitude of allowing the
new mayor to proceed in his own way to convince the community that its warnings
were not idly given. It was not because of continued assaults by the paper that
its editor was murdered by the son of Kalloch, but from apprehension of what
might be disclosed at the trial which would have taken place a few days later.
Charles de Young had been charged with committing an assault with a deadly
weapon, and as there was every probability that it would be made to appear that
the act which provoked the assault was called forth by misrepresentations in the
"Chronicle," he had gone East and procured the legal evidence necessary to estab-
lish that the "Chronicle" had not misrepresented Kalloch in any manner whatever,
and that his reputation was such that it became the duty of a public journal to ex-
pose him. Kalloch's son learned of the investigations being made not only in Boston,
but also in Kansas, and on the evening of April 23, 1880, he entered the publication
office of the paper and shot down its proprietor without warning.
The proprietor of the "Chronicle" had many bitter enemies and among the
most malignant were his newspaper rivals. They gratified their animosity by
rearousing the resentment which the "Chronicle's" antagonism to the railroad and
corporation aggression had inspired. The paper was hated at the time by repub-
licans who held it responsible for its defeat in the election of 1877-78, which fol-
lowed the exposure of the irregularities of the federal officials in this state through
Pinney's revelations ; it was detested by the mining stock market manipulators
because of its incessant exposures of the frauds practiced by them, and had capped
the climax of its offenses by winning the fight for the adoption of the new consti-
tution; it had also incurred the enmity of Kearney and his followers because it
refused to assist in the schemes of the leader to gain control of the offices. This
list of offenses is sufficiently long to explain a temporary unpopularity, but the
record does not support the attempt to slur the reputation of the paper ; nor does
it excuse the failure of Hittell and Bryce to plainly state whether the arraignment
of Kalloch was true or false, and if true whether it was or was not the duty of a
newspaper to make known the fact that the man seeking to become the chief mag-
istrate of the City was a person unfit to hold that high position.
When Kalloch was elected in 1879 there were three party organizations in the
field. Democrats, republicans and workingmen had put up candidates. As was
the case when Schmitz was first elected the workingmen succeeded only in elect-
ing the head of their ticket. The material proposed by them for supervisors was
so obviously unfit for office that nothing short of an upheaval such as that which
occurred when Schmitz was chosen a third time could have carried them into power.
They were not like the delectable gang selected by Ruef for supervisoral honors,
the members of which were so hungry for spoils that the boss declared they were
ready "to eat the paint off of a house." They were chiefly a lot of impracticables,
destitute of reputation and absolutely non representative citizens. Although the
Australian ballot had not yet been adopted the existing system of voting insured
a fair vote and guaranteed secrecy. "Scratching" tickets had almost become an
art, and there was not sufficient enthusiasm, even in the ranks of the workingmen's
party, to procure even a remote approach to straight voting. As a result the
SAN FRANCISCO
553
workingmen's candidates, and those of the democracy for supervisoral honors were
beaten and the republicans elected the entire board, and also the administrative
officers with the exception of the mayor.
There was trouble from the moment of Kalloch's accession to office. The mayor
and the board of supervisors were constantly at loggerheads. There was a contin-
uous agitation, for which the mercantile element in the community held Kalloch
responsible because of his violent public harangues, which at length became so
virulent that the board of supervisors took official notice of them. At a meeting
held April 28, 1880, the judiciary committee presented a report recommending
that steps be taken to remove the mayor from office. The report charged that Kal-
loch had advised the discontented elements to parade the streets, and that he had
threatened individuals with mob violence, and that under the pretense of counsel-
ing the vicious and turbulent against mob violence he had insidiously suggested
that they hold themselves in readiness for bloodshed and the overthrow of lawful
authority. The report concluded with these words: "We have abundant reason
to express our regret and the public indignation at his conduct in filling the posi-
tion to which we believe an unfortunate occurrence elevated him, and in which
position his example and influence have been and are more heinous, prejudicial and
injurious to this community than those of the brutal, degraded persons who have
been arrested and convicted for the unlawful acts which he aided and abetted."
The document which was filled with scathing denunciation from beginning to
end was read while Kalloch was presiding over the board, and he put the resolu-
tion calling for his impeachment, which was unanimously adopted, without com-
ment. An act of 1874., which provided that an official might be proceeded against
by summary process, was resorted to three days after the submission of the report.
Meanwhile a big mass meeting was held which was captured by the sand lot and
its original purpose of supporting the supervisors was converted into an endorse-
ment of the mayor who was styled in a resolution "the most upright, honorable
and just official that has ever presided over the municipality of San Francisco,"
and at the same time the supervisors were denounced as partisan and corrupt.
Two or three days later the complaint was filed in the superior court, and on May
27, 1880, five of the twelve judges of the City assembled to try the case. The
charges were (1) Incendiary language. (2) Corrupt procurement of places in
city offices. (3) Accepting free passes on railroads. The evidence was not heard,
four of the five judges concurring in the dismissal of the charge on the ground
"that the language of the statute is to be confined to the neglect of official duties."
Judge Latimer dissented on the ground that the provision of the constitution re-
lating to free passes was self operative and worked forfeiture of office.
Kalloch escaped because the judges were overawed. The result foreshadowed
the possibilities of the recall system. Few men stand firm against a large body
of voters whether they express their opinions in mass meetings or at the ballot
box. Men disposed to trim do not concern themselves very greatly regarding the
opinions of the whole community. They know that the judgment of the entire
electorate can never, or very rarely be obtained. But they do know and dread the
power possessed and exercised by zealots obsessed by a single idea. The judges
who found loopholes for Kearney and Kalloch to escape through knew that the
great majority of San Franciscans were much incensed at the mayor and feared
Proceedings
Against
Kalloch
Specifications
of the
Impeachment
554
SAN FRANCISCO
Kalloch Ad-
ministration
a Bogy
Preserving
Existing
Institutions
that he would precipitate riots, but they also knew that as soon as their fear should
pass away many of them would resume their old habits of indifference and allow
the compact minority to settle matters at the polls.
For a long period after the administration of Kalloch the memory of the troubles
he created survived and served as a political bogy. It was sufficiently strong to
play its part in defeating the adoption of two charters prepared by freeholders
and submitted to the people in accordance with the provisions of the new consti-
tution. In each case the freeholders, responding to the growing sentiment in
favor of concentration of power in the hands of the chief magistrate, anticipated
the short ballot movement by providing for an enlarged number of appointive of-
fices, but with results fatal to their work. The question whether efficiency would
be increased or decreased by a change of system was scarcely discussed. The
opponents of the proposed charter simply asked: "But suppose we get another
Kalloch?" That sufficed and curiously enough this objection was as often urged by
those who had brought about the election of the political preacher, as by the ele-
ment which sought to remove him from office.
It did not take long for the people to adapt themselves to the workings of the
new constitution. Even those who had prophesied all manner of evil from its
adoption very soon began to find virtues where formerly they had discovered noth-
ing but defects. Only those who felt that they must maintain their reputations
as prophets still continued to talk about the instrument "driving out capital," and
pointing to the alleged hegira of rich men, which consisted of the departure of
few mining speculators, like Keene, for New York, where their talents could be
exerted in a broader field. The bitterness of defeat had not entirely disappeared,
but the disposition to pluck the flower of success from the nettle of discomfiture had
caused it to cease rankling. There were few disposed to accept the sober advice
of the retiring Governor Irwin, who urged that no method was so effective to secure
the repeal of an unwise or oppressive law as its strict enforcement. The legislature
of 1880 proceeded on no such assumption. It soon came to be regarded as a very
conservative body, and has been extolled as such by writers who could find no
words strong enough to denounce the excesses of the sand lot. One of these informs
us that the main purpose in each house "was to stay the tide of encroachment and
preserve existing institutions so far as could be done under existing circumstances."
In this work the legislature was ably seconded by the courts, which commenced
to read new meanings into the constitution, before the echoes of the campaign
which resulted in its adoption had died away. In his message of January 3, 1881,
Governor Perkins announced to the legislature "that the power of the State Board
of Equalization had been neutralized by a decision of the supreme court" of the
state, and he suggested that a new constitutional amendment was necessary to
cure the wounds inflicted by the judiciary. He referred to what was known as
the Wells Fargo decision, the effect of which was to deprive the State Board of
Equalization of the power to raise or lower the assessments of individuals, and
confining it to the raising or lowering of the entire roll of a county or counties.
The need for the amendment which he suggested was occasioned by the fact that
in the exercise of its power to raise or lower the entire roll of a county the board
punished the innocent property holder with the guilty, increasing the assessment
of the person who had originally been assessed to the full value of his holdings,
SAN FRANCISCO
555
as much as it did that of the shirker who, by connivance with the assessor sought
to escape his share of the burden of taxation. But it was not to correct this judge-
made law that the amendment was proposed. Its object was to do away with the
anomaly of taxing gold coin and mortgages at more than their actual value, a re-
sult of the Wells Fargo ruling which advertised, if not the stupidity or venality
of the court, at least made it plain that it was ready to defy the will of the people,
who sought in creating the State Board of Equalization to invest it with the power
which was deliberately taken from it by the decision.
The taxation question was never allowed to rest in San Francisco, but it ab-
sorbed more attention than usual immediately after the adoption of the constitu-
tion. The active discussion of the injurious effects of evasion by the corporations
and large landholders, while the new organic law was under fire, had directed
attention to many evils, and the newspapers of the City were acutely alive to the
fact that the system was working against the development of the state and injuring
its chief commercial center. The agitation against the railroad's successful shirk-
ing became very pronounced and resulted in a practical move by John P. Dunn,
who had been auditor of the City of San Francisco and was subsequently elected
state controller. That official stimulated the attorney general to action, and in
1881 he caused the institution of a hundred cases against the railroad in thirty-three
different counties. They were brought to recover over a million dollars of delin-
quent taxes. A tedious litigation ensued which was finally removed to the United
States courts, in which the state lost, but a writ of error was sued out and the
case carried to the United States supreme court. Before a decision was reached
by that body a compromise was effected which involved the attorney general in a
scandal, as it was generally assumed that the $800,000 paid by the corporation
under the arrangement would not have been paid had not the railroad received an
intimation from Washington that the case was sure to be decided in favor of the
state.
About this time the legislature formulated an amendment to the constitution
which proposed to substitute for the then method of assessing and taxing railroads
a gross income tax. Creed Haymond, who had previously figured as a legislator,
and an antagonist of the railroad, had become chief counselor of the Central
Pacific. He was a lawyer of ability and had served the state as code commissioner.
Very soon after the assumption of his duty as adviser of the managers of the
railroad Haymond announced that the policy of the corporation would be changed,
and that an era of good feeling was to be brought about by acting in harmony
with the people. As a condition precedent to the accomplishment of that result,
Haymond argued that it would be necessary to remove the friction produced by
the existing taxation system, and he proposed to bring about the desirable change
by substituting a gross income tax for all other taxes imposed on railroads by the
state. An amendment to that effect was submitted to the people which was vig-
orously discussed and rejected at the polls. The objections urged to the amend-
ment were the inflexibility of the provision fixing the rate at sy 2 per cent, and
the current belief that 2l/o per cent would not produce as much as the railroads
should pay; but the true cause of the failure to secure approval was the suspicion
that the corporation would find some way to defraud the people if the amendment
should be adopted.
Railroad
Taxation
Shirking
Scandal
Railroad
Proposes
Gross
Income
Tax
556
SAN FRANCISCO
Failure
to Adopt
• Charter
Cause of
Rejection
of Charters
Although the provision of the constitution which more directly than any other
concerned the people of San Francisco was that which would enable it to emanci-
pate itself from the much objected to interference of the interior with the admin-
istration of local affairs, the people, when the privilege was accorded them of estab-
lishing a municipal government to their own liking, were in no hurry to secure the
much desired boon. Nothing had been attempted in that direction when the legis-
lature met in 1880, and as there was no movement looking to the selection of free-
holders to frame a charter, a senator from San Francisco sought to furnish the
City with a ready-made organic law by reenacting the Consolidation Act of 1856,
with all of its amendments. It would have been a hodge podge affair, but it was
advocated by the conservative element on the ground that most of its provisions
had been construed by the courts, and that the people knew just what it contained.
There was little ground for the latter assumption, for it was as puzzling as the
celebrated Schleswig-Holstein question, for its intricacies were only understood
by the clerk of the board of supervisors and one or two lawyers who made a special
study of its amendments. Nevertheless the conservative instinct which had gained
in strength from the time of the adoption of the act in 1856 would have made it
acceptable, for a time at least. But, although it passed the legislature, and was
approved by the governor, it was promptly declared unconstitutional by the supreme
court.
Although it was claimed by the conservative element in the City that the Con-
solidation Act with all its defects was still an admirable system of municipal law,
an attempt was made in 1880 to obtain a new charter by following the provisions of
Sections 6, 7 and 8 of Article XI of the Constitution of 1879. It was submitted
to the people on September 8, 1880, but was rejected by an overwhelming majority,
19,143 voting against and only 4,144 in favor of the new instrument. In 1882
another board of freeholders, presided over by John S. Hagar, the author of the
provision in the constitution which permitted cities of more than 100,000 inhabit-
ants to frame their own organic laws. The deliberations of the freeholders were
numerous, and their work was vigorously criticized, but less than half of the
electorate entitled to vote went to the polls and the charter was defeated by a
narrow margin, 9,336 voting for and 9,368 against the new instrument. As 39,102
votes had been cast at the general election preceding it was assumed that the people
did not take much interest in the matter, and the subject was not revived again
until 1886 and it was not until 1898 that an instrument was framed which met
with the acceptance of the people.
The cause of the failure of the first two charters submitted under the provisions
of the Constitution of 1879 was intensified conservatism. The reaction after the
adoption of the constitution, the experience with Kalloch and general distrust of
change disposed the people to cling to that which they had, preferring it with its
recognized defects to something which might bring unsuspected evils. The charter
submitted in 1880 provided for an enlargement of the powers of the mayor. It
was argued that such a provision would add to the responsibility and dignity of
the mayoralty, and would result in "a great improvement in the selection of
mayors, insuring the very best and most favorable men for that office," but the
fear of another Kalloch outweighed every other consideration, even that of the
limitation of the tax rate, which would have made it impossible for the supervisors
SAN FRANCISCO
557
to levy a tax of more than $1.17 on the hundred, which would have provided $1
for the ordinary expenses of the municipality, the 17 cents extra being added to
meet the interest and sinking fund demand, and to provide a park improvement
fund. This limitation was opposed by the element which later became the stanch-
est supporter of the dollar limit, because its lack of flexibility might impede the
improvement of the City.
The charter voted for in 1883 had for its chief opponents the office holders,
who would be deprived of their jobs by its operation. Something in the nature of
a conspiracy developed to prevent its submission to the people. The election com-
mission, under the pretense that there were no funds to meet the expenses of hold-
ing a special election, refused to call one, but a taxpayer, ex-Supervisor Gibbs,
applied to the supreme court for a writ of mandamus to compel the commission to
call the election, which was granted. The strongest point made in advocating this
instrument was that it afforded protection to the defenseless taxpayer against the
raids of the predatory office holders, to whom was applied the significant appella-
tion of "tax eaters." The interest of the people in the matter, however, appeared to
be very slight, only 18,764 turning out to vote. As 41,292 ballots were cast at the
general election in 1880, the presumption is that less than one-third of the citizens
entitled to vote availed themselves of the privilege.
This abstention from voting may suggest to the student of civics that the peo-
ple were contented with the results achieved by the government, under which they
were operating, but the evidence is entirely against the accuracy of such an assump-
tion. Dissatisfaction was rife, and the complaints of inefficient municipal manage-
ment were loud. All of the practices which later caused such a commotion in the
City when the Schmitz-Ruef administration was in power were freely charged
against the supervisors of that period. One of the provisions of the rejected
charter of 1880 was designed to accomplish the salutary result of placing a check
on the indiscriminate and fraudulent granting of franchises. It reserved to the
common council created by the instrument the power "to alter, amend or repeal
any ordinance for the grant of a franchise, right or privilege at any time after the
passage of such an ordinance." The object of the framers of the charter was to
prevent a repetition of the scandalous grabbing of franchises which occurred in
1879, the chief beneficiaries of which were the systems of street-car lines now in
existence. These grants were made by the board of supervisors elected when Kal-
loch was elevated to office, and because they antagonized him they were generally
accounted as respectable.
The liberality of the supervisors in the matter of franchises, however, was not
nearly so great a cause of discontent as the failure of the successive municipal
governments to make a showing of improvements for the large and constantly in-
creasing sums demanded from the taxpayer. Indeed, it may be fairly asserted
that the major part of the community at the time attached no value to a street-car
franchise, and simply regarded its conference as a means to secure much needed
extensions of traveling facilities. Although uncomplimentary comment upon the
alacrity displayed by the supervisors in granting everything that was asked for
was frequently heard, much of which suggested turpitude on the part of officials,
it was usually of the cynical nature inspired by observation of the general laxity
attaching to municipal activities. There was very little apprehension expressed
Opposition
of Office
Holders
Franchises
Freely
Granted
Cynical
Attitude
of the
Community
558
SAN FRANCISCO
Improvements
that the moral fiber of the community was being broken down by practices which
in private life would be designated by such ugly words as rascality and thieving.
There was ample reason for the statement frequently made during the cam-
paign of 1883 that the air of decay that pervaded the City was mortifying to the
self-respecting citizen and offensive to the eye of the visitor. The expenditures
for municipal purposes had increased from $2,459,210 in the closing year of the
sixty decade to $4,452,940 in 1876. This great increase excited very little com-
ment during the "flush" days when speculation in mining stocks gave a meretricious
but fleeting prosperity to the community, but when the craze had passed away, and
business men and property holders found it difficult to make ends meet, the pres-
sure of taxation which some of the daily journals charged operated "as a confis-
cation of rents in many parts of the City" and bore with severity on the owner of a
little property who happened to be out of a job, questions began to be asked, the
burden of which invariably was: What becomes of the money? What do the
people get for it? Though asked with emphasis they remained unanswered a long
time.
Before passing to another illuminating phase of the political history of San
Francisco, that of the advent of Christopher A. Buckley, and the bossism which
disgraced the City in the Eighties the acceptance of the new constitution, and the
changing point of view of some of its severest critics needs to be described so that
the subject in its relation to San Francisco may be disposed of finally. Bryce
in his account of the turbulent proceedings of 1877-78-79 and 80 says: "When I
was in San Francisco in 1881 people talked of Kearney as a spent rocket. Some
did not know whether he was still in the City." That is true, and it would have
made little difference to them if he had been, for the community had got over its
fright and was disposed to look at things more dispassionately. Most of those
intelligent enough to weigh the effects of what had been accomplished were quite
ready to agree with Bryce that the "new constitution is anything but agrarian or
communistic, for it intrenches vested rights, especially in land, more thoroughly
than before. . . . It is anything but a workingman's constitution; it levies a
poll tax without exemption and disfranchises a considerable portion of the floating
vote." And he summed up the situation thus: "After all, say the lawyers and
bankers, we are going on as before, property will take care of itself in this coun-
try, things are not really worse so far as our business is concerned."
This stated the case plainly. It indicates that the ones who made the outcry
were more scared than hurt, but Bryce added a comment some years later, the
underlying idea of which, had it seized him earlier, must have induced him to pitch
some of his criticism in a different key and place the chief blame where it really
belonged — on the shoulders of the class who were too busy with their personal
affairs to give any time to civic duties. He says: "Neither are things better.
. Though the new constitution has not altered the economic condition of
the workingman and farmer, it might have been thought that the crisis
would cause good citizens to take a more active interest in politics, make them see
the necessity of getting better men into the offices and the legislature, and indeed
of purifying public life altogether. But I could not discover that these conse-
quences have followed. ... It may be that another shock is in store for the
Golden State more violent than the last, although equally within legal limits, for
SAN FRANCISCO
559
of mere mob law and anarchy there seems no danger. . . . The president of
the Vigilance Committee of 1856 told me that all that he had seen happen in San
Francisco since the days when it was a tiny Spanish mission station, made him con-
fident that everything would come out straight. Probably he is right. American
experience shows that optimists generally are."
Of course Bryce, who leaned upon Henry George's statement that the farmer
and workingman had gained nothing from the new constitution, was mistaken. The
farmer did gain that which he sought, for the State Board of Equalization, although
its powers were curtailed by judicial decisions, did use the remnant that was left
to them to compel assessors to deal fairly with all classes in placing their valua-
tions upon the land; and this course more than anything else made the owners of
large estates realize that more profit would come to them from dividing them up
and selling than could be derived from holding them intact. That, and the agita-
tion of the Chinese question, which culminated in the Exclusion Act, completely
changed conditions in the interior of the state and started it on its career of agri-
cultural development which, with the growth of population, and the subdivision
of the land into small holdings took on more and more of an intensive character,
and has placed the state in the front rank of the horticultural producing regions
of the earth.
Henry George, whose remarkable book, "Progress and Poverty," is part of the
history of San Francisco, the municipality having afforded him the leisure to write
it by providing him with a sinecure in the shape of a gas inspectorship, was com-
pletely led astray by his theory of taxation. He failed to recognize the true cause
of the trouble, and assumed that the tendency to monopolize the land must increase
in California, and indeed generally unless all the burden was placed on that class
of property. He was also out of sympathy with the movement against Oriental
immigration, being firmly convinced that absolute free trade and the single tax
would work every reform desired. It is now pretty generally conceded that, while
one of his principal contentions was sound, that respecting the difficulty of fairly
assessing other classes of property than land, that he was entirely in error in
assuming that the process of increasing holdings would continue, and that nothing
short of an indirect method of confiscation, through the medium of placing all the
burden of carrying on the government on the landholder, would result in dividing
up the great Spanish and Mexican grants into small farms.
No movement in California is more remarkable than that which followed close
on the heels of this erroneous prediction. The period we are describing had scarcely
closed when abundant signs of the disposition of the holders of large estates to
divide and sell began to manifest themselves. The provision of the constitution
requiring land of like quality, and similarly situated, to be equally valued they
saw would put an end to the old trick of assessing fertile unimproved land at
fifty cents an acre, while that of the small farmer, who had put a few improvements
on his little tract, was valued at ten, twenty and sometimes fifty-fold that amount
for purposes of taxation. The recognition of the fact that the importation of
coolies would no longer be tolerated also helped to bring about a change of view.
Unless Orientals were permitted to enter in sufficient numbers to create a labor
condition which would have all the advantages and none of the drawbacks, so far
as the employer was concerned, of the African slave system of the South, which
George's San
Francisco
George's
rnreaUzed
Predictions.
560
SAN FRANCISCO
A Reform
Movement
that Failed
was terminated by the Civil war, the owners of large grants realized that their
holdings would not become very valuable while held intact.
It is true, as both George and Bryce assert, that the Constitution of 1879 was
not an agrarian instrument, and in no sense communistic, and to that extent the
recantation of the latter may be regarded as part but not full reparation. In order
to completely repair the injury it should be recognized that the people of San
Francisco and of the state at no time were in sympathy with any proposition to
destroy vested rights. A careful reading of the most extreme pronunciamentos of
the workingmen and grangers entirely negative the assumption that they urged
or desired the destruction of the existing system. Indeed it would be preposterous
to assume that the grangers, who were the allies of the workingmen in the con-
stitutional convention, would deliberately seek to divest themselves and their con-
stituents, who were nearly all land owners, of their property.
The truth of the matter is that the upheaval in San Francisco was chiefly in-
spired by the determination of a part of the community to bring about a reform
in the management of civic affairs. It cannot be repeated too often that the effort
made in San Francisco and California in the late Seventies foreshadowed the awak-
ening of the rest of the country, which was deferred until the twentieth century
was well advanced. Whether the latter will have the same outcome as that wit-
nessed in California remains to be seen. For, while the new constitution by its
introduction of a more equitable system of taxation did much to increase the mate-
rial prosperity of the state, and helped to greatly increase its population, it is
undeniable that no lasting reforms of consequence were brought about in the man-
agement of the municipal affairs of the metropolis. That the ebullition did not
produce permanent results is due to a recrudescence of the spirit of incivicism that
produced the troubles of 1856, the equally serious ones of 1877-80 and the dis-
graceful exhibition of official turpitude which was witnessed when Ruef's man
Schmitz was elevated to office. That affairs were in a sad condition at those par-
ticular periods is true, but it was really very little worse than during those moments
when the "spot light" was not on San Francisco.
It is essential to a true understanding of the condition which was created by
the revulsion that followed the adoption of the constitution of 1879 to bring into
plain relief the fact that the moral sensibilities of the people of California were
weakened by the undeserving criticism to which the effort to reform was subjected
by the publicists of the whole world, who insisted that it was a movement for the
destruction of property rights, and the overturning of the existing social order.
For a time, as Bryce tells us, the people of California and particularly of San Fran-
cisco were ashamed of themselves. They shrunk from the opprobrium heaped upon
them, and no crime seemed greater in their eyes than a departure from the normal.
The demand was for peace and quiet. Peace at any price, even that which they were
called upon to pay when they resubmitted themselves to the domination of the
railroad, for one of the queer outcomes of the Kearney upheaval was the swinging
of the political pendulum to the other side, and the practical alignment under the
banner of the corporation of men who had a little earlier been its bitterest opponents.
But this result, bad as it was, did not remotely approach in its injurious effects
the evil worked by the fear of innovation, and the creation of the sentiment that
it is better to stand some things than to be continually fussing about them. And
U P i li
lEi^l
H9HS' ' 1
Hi
I
SAN FRANCISCO
561
this bred the indifference to which Bryce pointed, and which was aptly illustrated
by the fact that in so important a matter as the adoption of a new charter for the
City in 1883, not more than one-third of the qualified voters went to the polls. It
is not extraordinary in the presence of such apathy that the bosses should have
undertaken the work which the citizens neglected; nor is it strange that political
"heelers" should have taken advantage of the power which the indifference of the
community had enabled them to usurp to line their own purses while permitting
others to profit improperly at the expense of the taxpayer.
San Francisco, like the other cities of the country, always had its bosses. They
were probably no worse than those of other places much less talked about, but
they sometimes possessed qualities which distinguished them from the general run
of grafters. It is doubtful, however, whether any boss the City has produced, no
matter how spectacular his career, could have taught those who manipulated the
municipal affairs of New York and Philadelphia any new form of robbery of the
taxpayer, not even Chris. Buckley, whose bare-faced villainies went on unchecked
for years chiefly because the people had become tired of "fussing." For some
years after the adoption of the Consolidation Act, the occupation of the political
boss had become unprofitable because of the continuance of the very undemocratic
plan of depriving the people of the right to select their own officials, which had
been inaugurated by the Vigilantes. The candidates of the people's party were
nominated in a back room by a committee of trusted citizens and were voted for
cheerfully, and without a thought on the part of the voter that he had been de-
prived of an important privilege. He was merely looking for results, and not
thinking of theories of government. When the citizen found that the men chosen
by the committee acting in secret had reduced expenditures he was satisfied. That
was the good government test applied by the average voter of the period between
1856 and 1870, and somehow or other it was less productive of thieving bosses
than the democratic plan.
But the Consolidation Act contained the germ of a trouble which soon developed
into an abuse. It was a rigid document constantly demanding legislative action
to make it meet the growing requirements of the City, and this created a real or
fancied necessity on the part of city officials of going to Sacramento to secure spe-
cial legislation. This practice, as already stated, was animadverted upon by Mayor
Bryant, in a message to the board of supervisors in 1876, with considerable sever-
ity, but his criticism was not accompanied by details. As a matter of fact the
condition was much worse than he represented. It was not an unusual thing for a
city official during the session of the legislature to spend the major part of his time
about the capitol, and while in Sacramento he was not always occupied with efforts
to secure legislation for his particular office. Not infrequently his principal work
was pushing the interests of the railroad which, during the early Seventies, was
demanding a great deal from the people.
It was through this loop hole that Sam Rainey, who subsequently developed
into a boss, became a full fledged lobbyist. The abundant leisure he enjoyed, and
the fact that he was on the City's payroll made him a useful and not over-expensive
servant of the corporation. When he began his career as a "practical" politician
the ward system of electing supervisors was in vogue, and the boss developed was
in. consequence a man of smaller caliber than the later product who had to consider
Political
Bosses of
San
Francisco
Consolidation
Act Promotes
Lobbying
The Day
of the
Small Boss
562
SAN FRANCISCO
, W. Stow's
Political
Career
the problem of controlling the entire City. Rainey was a man adapted to a small
part and never stood very high in the esteem of the railroad managers. He held
a position in the fire department and could be depended upon to deliver a certain
number of votes at an election, and had superior qualifications as a manipulator
of primaries, because he had at his command a number of men who were made to
feel that their positions were dependent on his favor. His chief duty as a lobbyist
was to keep the contingent in the legislature subject to corporation blandishments
toeing the mark. This task was not always an easy one, for at times the feeling
against the railroad ran so high that the venal group would be cowed into submission.
The real boss of San Francisco at this period and for many years afterward,
was the railroad, and its principal agent was W. W. Stow, the chief adviser of the
Central Pacific in political matters. There was no ambiguity about the position
of Stow, and it is indicative of the spirit of the times that he was. rather proud of
his calling, and that the community did not look upon and execrate him as they
did his successor. It was possible in the early Eighties for a chaplain of the leg-
islature to write eulogistically of Stow and speak of him as a man of probity of
character. This biographer declared that "the railroad complains that it is com-
pelled to employ agencies that will secure it against hostile and oppressive legisla-
tion, and procure remedial legislation when needed. Mr. Stow," he said, "is charged
with the duty indicated." And he added: "It is admitted universally that Mr.
Stow wields a tremendous power in general politics, and in matters committed
to him as the political adviser of the Central Pacific Company."
Stow, by virtue of his position of political manager of the Southern Pacific,
became the boss of San Francisco, although he did not exercise his functions in the
same fashion as Buckley, and some of the lesser political manipulators, whose job-
bing had for its object direct personal gain. Stow was a salaried official of the
corporation, and his status as a lawyer gave his operations an air of respectability
which was lacking in that of the others. The latter were in reality his agents and
worked under his orders, and that accounts for the fact that party ties in San
Francisco bound the minor bosses of the City very loosely, for while they were
nominally democrats or republicans, they were always railroad men, and could
be trusted to work together to carry out any project which would inure to the
benefit of the corporation, or advance the personal fortunes of its managers. Stow
was undoubtedly an efficient manipulator, and to his efforts more than those of any
other man was due the cohesiveness of the corporations by which municipal reform
was blocked. Stow was also credited with the prevision which resulted in the men
connected with the Central Pacific securing the franchises which enabled the Mar-
ket Street Railway Company to create a system which penetrated all parts of the
City, but justice demands that the fact be recognized that when the privileges were
accorded the community considered that it would be the beneficiary rather than
the men upon whom they were conferred.
The great scandals growing out of the relations of Spring valley and the
community did not occur until after the Constitution of 1879 conferred upon the
board of supervisors the power of establishing rates. But prior to that time there
were numerous efforts made to sell the water system to the City, in several of which
the railroad participated by indirection. The political alliance between the two
corporations, however, did not attract much attention until, to use the language of
SAN FRANCISCO
563
Stow's biographer, "they were compelled to employ agencies to secure them-
selves against hostile and oppressive legislation." These agencies were the little
bosses until the ward system was superseded by the election of supervisors at large.
Rainey has been mentioned as one of these, and about the same time Owen Brady
and Jack Mannix were prominent in the manipulation of the democratic machine.
Kelly and Crimmins, a pair of saloonkeepers, were more or less conspicuous' in the
underground work carried on in the interest of the republican party, but they did
not count for much as the star of the local democracy was rising, and the promises
of the success of that party were holding out inducements to the cunningest and
most corrupt politician the West ever produced to assume its headship.
Brady and Mannix were men of small caliber. The former was a hackman,
with a stand at the old Lick house, and the latter kept a saloon on Market street.
Brady was an adroit manipulator on a small scale. He was not very popular as
the trifling degree of power he possessed upset him and caused him to become
very arrogant, and especially so to those who when aspirants for office sought his
assistance. Mannix was a rough and ready fellow, not indisposed to maintain
his supremacy by force of arms and held his following largely by the admiration
they felt for his fistic prowess. Neither of the pair profited greatly by their
political exertions, though they were for a time recognized as being in absolute
control of that part of the City known as "the Front," which did not ask for
skilful leaders. Although called bosses they were in fact merely a pair of men
each able to deliver "a bunch of. votes" and were dealt with as such by the repre-
sentative of the railroad, which was the real boss at the time.
When Buckley appeared on the scene Brady and Mannix had to succumb to
his cleverness. This man, one of the most extraordinary politicians ever produced
in this or any other city, was born in Ireland and emigrated to America while still
a boy. He first resided in New York, but after a few years of metropolitan expe-
rience he made his way to Vallejo and opened a saloon which was frequented by
the sailors of the ships lying at the navy yard. At that time Buckley professed
to be a republican and was secretary of the Republican County Committee of
Solano. In his youth Buckley was a dissipated man and his health was under-
mined by his excesses. One of the results of his early indiscretions was an affliction
of the eyes which destroyed his sight. He was not totally blind, but he could not
see to read or write, nor did he dare to entrust himself on the street, or attempt to
cross one without a guide. He could distinguish forms, and was even able to tell
whether a person was dark or fair. When he consulted oculists and was told by
them that the cause of his affliction was due to indulgence in liquor he at once
ceased drinking and became temperate in other respects.
In 1880 Buckley came to San Francisco and entered into partnership with a
man named Fallon, who ran a saloon on Bush street which soon became a resort
for ward heelers and "sports about town." It is doubtful whether Buckley delib-
erately entered upon his career. The probabilities favor the belief that he "found
himself" in the course of prosecuting an ambition which he entertained of securing
a monopoly of the gambling privilege in San Francisco. Before he concluded to
make San Francisco the field of his operations he had visited the City and famil-
iarized himself with the situation, and believed that with the aid of the police it
would be possible to drive out of business, and from the City, all the so-called
The Blind
Boss, Chris
Buckley
Buckley's
Early
Ambitions
564
SAN FRANCISCO
Broderick
and Buckley
Compared
Shattered
Fortunes of
Repaired
"tin horn" gamblers, and conduct what he called "a respectable establishment."
He failed in this object, but in the course of his investigations he made the acquaint-
ance of Fallon and effected the arrangement above referred to, and as part pro-
prietor of the saloon soon established relations with its frequenters and gained a
knowledge of the seamy side of municipal life which his peculiar talents permitted
him to- coin into money.
The story of Buckley's depredations belongs to the next period. It was not
until 1882 that he became a considerable factor in municipal politics. He was well
known to the newspaper men who sought the Bush street saloon for political
information, and his name occasionally crept into the columns of the daily papers
without, however, creating any considerable impression. Rainey, Brady and Man-
nix were much more spoken about at that time as manipulators of democratic
local politics, and Bill Higgins was considered the shrewdest republican soldier
of fortune. Kelly and Crimmins were occasionally heard of, but they were not
"dignified" by the title boss. When thought of at all it was as ward "heelers"
with the ability to concentrate a part of the "push" on a particular object and
were rated accordingly in corrupt political circles.
The only boss produced by San Francisco whose accomplishments are at all
comparable with those of Buckley was Broderick. The two men were vastly dis-
similar in character, but resembled each other in their ability to organize and con-
trol men by devious methods. Broderick's devotion to the Union cause has blinded
many to his faults, and their evil consequences, and he has had panegyrists who
have spoken of his personal integrity, but no one will ever be found to lift his voice
to proclaim any good quality possessed by the Blind Boss of San Francisco who
for nearly a decade ruled the political destinies of the City, controlled conventions
and the legislature and actually aspired to national honors, an ambition he might
have realized if a sudden awakening had not exposed his putridity to the people
and compelled him to flee the country.
It has been assumed that the conditions which made the reign of Boss Buckley
possible were the outcome of the disorganization of the democratic party, due to the
sand lot upheaval. It cannot be overlooked that it was through his exertions that
the democratic organization was restored to power in the City. There is no inten-
tion to convey the impression that the democratic party was in any sense responsible
for Buckley. Unless its misfortunes can be charged with the crime of presenting
to him the opportunity which he promptly seized the party must be held blameless.
It was so thoroughly shattered by the Kearney explosion that there was scarcely
a corporal's guard left to protect it from aggression. In 1882 there were so few
avowed democrats in San Francisco that the trick of capturing the organization
was an easy one. Buckley and Rainey saw their chance and seized it. They worked
together for a while but in a comparatively brief period Rainey became, not an
entirely negligible quantity, but only of secondary consequence, his value being
determined by the number of men he could round up for the primaries or an elec-
tion. He was no longer consulted by the railroad, which did all its business through
the Blind Boss while he remained docile and Rainey, like the others mentioned,
took their orders from him.
CHAPTER LIII
PUBLIC AND PRIVATE EFFORTS TO IMPROVE THE CITY
DEMAND FOR REFORM COMMUNICATION OPENED WITH ALL PARTS OF THE STATE
STREETS AND SIDEWALKS IN BAD CONDITION A GROWING SENTIMENT IN FAVOR OF
GOOD PAVEMENTS KEARNY STREET WIDENED DUPONT STREET CHANGED TO GRANT
AVENUE OBJECTION TO EXTENDING FIRE LIMITS SUTRo's INVESTMENTS IN REAL
ESTATE JAMES LICK AND HIS BEQUESTS CITY HALL CONSTRUCTED ON THE IN-
STALLMENT PLAN GETTING RID OF THE SAND DUNES THE PALACE HOTEL OPENED
BALDWIN HOTEL CONGESTION IN DOWN TOWN DISTRICTS POPULATION SPREAD-
ING WESTWARD "SOUTH OF THE SLOT" DRIFTING AWAY FROM THE MISSION DIS-
TRICT CHANGES EFFECTED BY IMPROVED TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES INVENTION
OF THE CABLE TRACTION SYSTEM THE FIRST CABLE ROAD COAXING INVESTORS TO
BUILD STREET RAILWAYS STREET CAR FARES REDUCED TO FIVE CENTS GREAT DE-
MAND FOR STREET CAR FRANCHISES WHOLESALE GRANT OF FRANCHISES NOB HILL
MANSIONS ACTIVITY OF REAL ESTATE DEALERS RECLAMATION OF GOLDEN GATE
PARK MULTIPLICATION OF URBAN CONVENIENCES FIRST ELECTRIC LIGHT TELE-
PHONE INTRODUCED WATER SUPPLY RAILWAY AND SEA TRANSPORTATION.
HEN things are running awry in England their publicists
sometimes console themselves, and try to reassure the peo-
ple by saying that the country will muddle through some-
how. The expression muddle conveys the impression that
those who utter it are satisfied to see governmental and
other affairs conducted in an unsystematic fashion, but
there is no ground for any such assumption. It really
amounts to a declaration of belief that no matter what contingencies may arise the
English people will prove resourceful enough to cope with them successfully. It
is not an admission of weakness, or incapacity, but a recognition of the fact that
the prescience of man is not sufficiently developed to foresee all that may occur,
or when he can foresee that circumstances will not always permit taking steps to
avert the undesirable happening. In short "muddling" may be translated into a
much pleasanter phrase, one which when applied to a man stamps him as one who
can be depended upon to deal with an emergency, whether foreseen or unexpected,
in a manner calculated to avert disaster, even if it does not convert the evil into a
benefit.
William T. Coleman must have had some such thought as this in mind when he
told Mr. Bryce that no matter what happened to Americans they could be depended
upon in the final resort to preserve their institutions and respect property rights.
When he spoke in 1881 he was in a position to review the happenings of the Seven-
565
566
SAN FRANCISCO
Hundred
Tears
Communica-
tion with All
Parts of the
ties and was able to perceive that, despite the turmoil of the decade, the specula-
tive mania, the financial shortcomings and the depression of business which resulted
in much unemployment, and the industrial changes wrought by the completion of
the transcontinental railroad, San Francisco continued to move forward, not always
steadily, but sufficiently so to permit the impression to be gained when looking
backward that there was no serious interruption to progress.
Indeed if the historian chose to cut out the political turmoil, and the other dis-
quieting features of life in a growing city, and confined himself to a recital of the
changes produced, and the advances made during the period between 1871 and
1883, he might, by merely telling the truths of accomplishment, make it appear
that the twelve or thirteen years under review were prosperous and not altogether
unhappy, even though they were marred by discontent and untoward political oc-
currences. A hundred years hence in looking backward the sand lot episode will
be lost sight of, and the only fact connected with it that will be recalled will be its
apparent relation to the production of a state constitution, which was regarded by
the world at the time of its adoption as an instrument full of menace to existing
institutions, but which a few years afterward came to be regarded as but a tame
expression of a desire for reforms which proved ineffective in many particulars
because it failed to receive the moral support of the whole country.
A hundred years hence the historian will be more interested in noting that the
apparently turbulent era was one in which attempts at civic improvement were
made after a period of apathy and complete indifference that lasted over fourteen
years, and during which the good citizen of San Francisco was chiefly concerned
about keeping down the tax rate, and rarely gave a thought to the desirableness
of making the City a pleasant place of abode. When he turns from the political
field he will find plenty to note, for between 1871 and 1883 there were many sig-
nificant developments, world wide in their character, in which San Francisco shared.
Among these were the introduction of electricity as an illuminant, and of the tele-
phone as a means of intercourse. The records show that the metropolis of the
Pacific coast was prompt to avail itself of the benefits which these great inventions
conferred. They also make clear that San Francisco was foremost in the movement
to extend urban transportation facilities, and that long before 1883 it was on the
high road that led to the reversal of the pent up policy of the Consolidation Act which,
although it could politically circumscribe the area of the City, could not prevent
its overflowing and creating a great urban community, the interests of whose citi-
zens are so interlocked that names affect them but slightly.
During this period it may be said that communication was effectually estab-
lished between San Francisco and all parts of the state, making regions that were
formerly remote easily accessible, and putting all parts of California in touch with
each other. There were also improvements of equal importance in sea transporta-
tion, which tended to enhance the value of the port as a distributor of domestic and
foreign products. It was during the Seventies also that San Francisco thought
concentrated itself on the project of joining the two great oceans by a canal, turn-
ing aside from its little concerns to contemplate the broader possibilities affecting
its future. And if the historian is very inquisitive he will discover that the seventy
decade in San Francisco ushered in a taste for more luxurious living that displayed
itself in the erection of private residences which advertised the affluence of their
owners if they did not invariably confer distinction upon the architects who de-
SAN FRANCISCO
567
signed them. And synchronizing with this architectural manifestation he will note
an increased pretentiousness in the hotels and business structures which indicated
confidence in the final outcome, no matter what the builders may have thought while
under the domination of the fear that capital would desert the City.
It is related that in 1 849 Montgomery street between Clay and Jackson was
made passable by constructing a sidewalk some seventy-five yards in length by
using in part bags of Chilean flour, which were pressed down nearly out of sight
in the soft mud, a long row of cooking stoves and a double row of boxes filled with
plug tobacco, all of which were cheaper, because a drug in the market, than lumber
at $500 or $600 a thousand feet. Barrels of provisions and useless gold washing
machines served for crossings instead of stepping stones. It was not long before
material less costly, and better adapted for street paving and sidewalk purposes
offered itself, but the evidence we have indicates that they were not eagerly availed
of by the busy citizens of the new town, who for quite a period were more intent
on making money for themselves than upon the improvement of the City. Finally
with the cheapening of lumber a semblance of streets was created. Plank roads
and plank sidewalks were laid in all those parts of the growing town frequented
by the people, and the satisfaction with which their introduction and use is com-
mented upon by the writer of the "Annals of San Francisco" indicates that they
were regarded as giving the City a decidedly up to date appearance, which they
may indeed have done, for those were the days when the exploits of the fast trotting
horse were celebrated by telling what he could do on such a roadway. "Two forty
on the planked road" was as much used a bit of slang on the Atlantic seaboard in
the Fifties and Sixties as on the Pacific coast.
The cheapening of lumber, however, had its drawbacks as well as its advantages.
It caused the people of San Francisco to adhere to its use for street and sidewalk
purposes long after it should have been abandoned for more sightly, sanitary and
durable material. In a report made by the superintendent of streets in 1876 he
stated that grading, macadamizing, paving, planking, sidewalks, etc., represented
an expenditure of $1,087,026 during the preceding fiscal year, but no stranger
viewing the dilapidated wooden sidewalks, which were still doing duty in what was
even at that time the "down town" district would have supposed that much money
had been spent on San Francisco thoroughfares, and he certainly would not have
agreed that those which were passable were cared for by the City. It was, how-
ever, beginning to dawn on some of the citizens, who were not too greatly enamored
of low taxes, that cobble stones were unsightly, and that streets laid with them
could not be kept clean, but when they were abandoned finally it was not for such
reasons, but because "the cobble stone paving, owing to the instability of the founda-
tion ... is rendered costly in consequence of frequent repairs." It was there-
fore deemed advisable to use the granite block because it was more durable. "It
has proved," said the street superintendent, "the best pavement yet laid in the City
for heavy travel, and while the expense of laying is slightly in excess of cobble,
it is beyond a doubt the best and most satisfactory material that has as yet been
adopted."
For many years the belief was persisted in that imperfectly squared blocks of
basaltic rock, laid in the sand, without a foundation of any sort really made a desir-
able and satisfactory pavement. It did not matter that roadways thus constructed
sometimes presented as billowy an appearance as the agitated waters of the bay;
Planked
Roads and
Planked
Sidewalks
Cobble-
Street
Good
Pavements
Demanded
568
SAN FRANCISCO
Taxpayers
Dread
Improvements
they were cheap and durable. The wooden sidewalks which endured on many of
the principal streets all through this period were likewise adhered to, not so much,
however, because they were cheap, as because there was no public sentiment which
demanded anything better. That there was not complete indifference is true ; there
were some who, throughout the Seventies, were continually demanding improve-
ments, but they made little impression in the face of official declarations of the
sort put forth by Health Officer Meares on July 1, 1876, in his annual report:
"When we consider," he said, "that our City is but little over a quarter of a century
old, and that it already has a population of nearly 275,000 and rapidly increasing,
instead of being surprised at the condition of our streets, and imperfect character
of our sewerage, we are only astonished at the wonderful amount of work that has
been accomplished in so short a time. Indeed, what has been accomplished is the
result of an enterprise, energy and intelligence unsurpassed, if equalled by that
of any city of modern times."
Reading between the lines we discover the existence of a sentiment favoring im-
provement which must have been pretty strong to induce the health officer to take
up the cudgels for the street department and come to the aid of the apprehensive
taxpayer, who had come to fear the word improvement, because it stood for in-
creased taxation in his mind without being coupled with any anticipated benefit.
But while this sentiment prevailed and influenced the community generally to such
an extent that it could not be induced to enter upon any scheme in its collective
capacity, there was no lack of individual exertion and several very important im-
provements were made during the decade 1870, notably the Dupont street widen-
ing and the Montgomery street extension. This latter undertaking was attended
with some scandal, and did not prove to be as great a benefit as expected. An act
was passed in 1872 which authorized a board of works, consisting of the mayor,
tax collector and the city and county surveyor, which was created by one of its
sections to carry through the opening. The desire for the improvement was not
unanimously entertained by the property holders affected, and suit was brought, in
which it was finally held by the supreme court that the proceedings were irregular,
and that the board of works had exceeded its authority because they had not secured
a majority of the frontage of the property as required in the act of 1872. The
frontage of the district was described at 424,096 feet, one-half of which would
have been 212,048 feet. It was assumed by the board that the owners of 212,965
feet 7l/*> inches had signed the petition, but this showing included the signatures
of certain persons to whom the property signed for was not assessed. The court
held that the law required the signatures of those assessed and whose names were
on the assessment roll, and that the signatures of executors and administrators and
of agents must be excluded, because "in any transaction in which executors and
administrators pretend to act as such they cannot create any liability on the estate
. . . unless the authority for doing so is produced. As there were some 6.050%
feet represented by signatures of the kind disapproved of, the court in 1879 held
that the proceedings of the board were invalid.
The Dupont street widening scheme was inaugurated in 1872 and successfully
carried out, but it was one of those half way measures which cause regrets in after
years that the projectors were not bolder men. Dupont street, or as it is now
known in its widened part, Grant avenue, , was one of the early narrow thorough-
fares, the width of which scarcelv entitled it to be regarded as more than an alley.
CALVARY BAPTIST CHURCH TRINITY EPISCOPAL CHURCH
RUINS' OF GRACE EPISCOPAL CATHEDRAL FIRST UNITARIAN CHURCH
SAN FRANCISCO
569
The success which attended the widening of Kearny street suggested that the prop-
erty owners of Dupont street might be similarly benefited. Hence an assessment
district was created, which, however, provided only for the widening of that part
of the street south of Bush, it being assumed that the gradients north of the latter
street would prove an obstacle to the extension of business towards North Beach.
As in the case of Montgomery avenue extension there was dissatisfaction on the
part of some of the owners assessed for benefits, and a good deal of complaint by
some whose property had been taken to add to the width of the street.
It was not until some years after the widening that the name of the widened
portion of the street was changed to Grant avenue. This latter step was taken
not out of disrespect to the naval hero, but because the laxity of the police had per-
mitted the name of the street to become a by-word and reproach, the upper end
of it being almost wholly occupied by dissolute women, who lived in wretchedly
constructed houses, for which they paid exorbitant rents. It was many years be-
fore the stigma was completely removed, and it was not until after the fire of 1906
that Grant avenue took rank as an important retail center. The Montgomery
avenue extension has thus far failed to accomplish the purpose of those who pro-
jected and put it through, but it is not impossible that the development of the
North Beach section through the instrumentality of the 1915 exposition may realize
the dream of thirty-five years ago, and make it an important cross-town business
thoroughfare. In 1912 it was still surrendered to the small neighborhood business
of the Latin quarter, composed largely of Italians who began their settlement on
Telegraph hill and around its western base about the time when the improvement
began.
Throughout the Seventies there was more or less attention given to the question
of sewerage, although the development was largely due to private initiative and was
not carefully systematized. In 1876 a report was made bj' Wm. P. Humphreys,
the city engineer, in which he stated that up to July 1, 1875, there had been con-
structed nearly seventy-five miles of public sewers at a cost of $2,684,691. There
were three kinds of sewers, the preference being given to those of brick, which
cost $2,252,253, but there was also a number constructed of redwood, upon which
$378,395 had been expended and $54,043 worth of cement pipes. Prior to 1858
there was no record of any public sewer, and their construction was not officially
noted until after that date. It was many years before the necessity of symmetriza-
tion was realized, and when the agitation for something approaching a system
began many defects were disclosed in the work which had been performed under
imperfect laws and lax supervision.
Notwithstanding the repeated lessons received by San Francisco in the Fifties
attempts to reduce the danger from conflagration by extending the fire limits were
always resisted, usually on the pretense that the requirement that buildings be
constructed of less inflammable material than wood would inflict a hardship on the
small property owner. Oftener than otherwise the opposition came from men who
desired to increase the revenues from rentals by building with cheap materials.
This desire was responsible for the fiction which was diligently promoted, that
redwood had fire resisting qualities, or that at least it was so slow in burning that
it gave something like a practical assurance against danger. Repeated experiences
and high insurance rates did not dispel this illusion, and in every attempt to extend
the fire limits it usually cropped out, and caused embarrassment to those who sought
Dupont
Street
Changed to
Grant
The
City's
570 SAN FRANCISCO
to enlarge the area within which owners would be compelled to build substantial
structures. The fire limits in 1874, when they were amended, were very contracted,
in the northern part of the City, being bounded on the west by Stockton street, along
which they extended only as far south as Clay, where the line was deflected to
Dupont and along the easterly side of that street to Bush and then back to Stock-
ton along the southerly line of Bush. An examination of this irregular boundary
discloses the fact that the rights of the public were subordinated to individual influ-
ences, but there is not the slightest doubt that the people did not seriously demand
the protection which the establishment of reasonable fire limits is supposed to afford.
Sutro's A conspicuous feature of the growth of San Francisco during the Seventies was
investments j-jj e disposition of men who had made money in mining, and other enterprises in
Estate California and the adjoining state of Nevada, to invest in city real estate. When
Sutro lost control of the tunnel which he had projected and put through he returned
to San Francisco, where he had resided during the earlier part of his career, and
bought a large quantity of land, chiefly in outlying districts of the City, which have
since been surrounded by quarters devoted to residential purposes. Among other
properties, he .purchased the bare hills of the San Miguel ranch and named his
acquisition Mount Parnassus. On these hills he planted Australian eucalyptus
trees, which grew rapidly and soon formed a dense forest. He also bought the
heights overlooking the ocean opposite the seal rocks and created the gardens which
bear his name. The acquisitive instinct was much stronger in him than the con-
structive, and he left few monuments of a structural character to perpetuate his
memory. A hotel opposite the seal rocks which he built was destro}^ed by fire, and
the small residence erected on Sutro Heights constitute his principal contributions
to the improvement of the large territory which he acquired. During his lifetime
he collected a large library, which he intended to house in a fine building and con-
fer it upon the City. He never carried out his purpose and his estate after his
death was dispersed among his heirs.
James A man of different temperament, who did much to promote the development
Lick of San Francisco, died in the City on the 1st of October, 1876. He has already been
mentioned as the owner of the hotel which bore his name, and in the construction
of which he assisted. James Lick was a pioneer of the days preceding the discov-
ery of gold, having arrived in California in 1847. He had an abiding confidence
in the future of the town and began investing in real estate in the time of the al-
caldes and bought at extremely low figures. He was also a purchaser of country
lands, and profited greatly by their advance in value. Although the . owner of the
best hotel of the period in San Francisco he lived in a mean house, denying himself
comforts, and earned the reputation of being a miser. He was an unmarried man
but had a natural son whom he afterward adopted. It was generally understood
that the mother of the boy was the daughter of a miller in Fredericksburg, Pennsyl-
vania, who had refused her hand to Lick on the ground that he was too poor. A
romantic story, with more truth in it than the average romance usually contains,
is told of a quarrel and bitter words that followed the denial, in the course of which
Lick told the miller that one day he would have a finer mill than the one he was
leaving. He kept his word and built a mill on Guadalupe creek in Santa Clara
county, the interior fittings of which were of mahogany. Near by he put up a fine
house which he never occupied, and on the grounds erected a fine conservatory
which was purchased from him later and removed to Golden Gate park.
SAN FRANCISCO
571
Lick was eighty years of age when he died, but some years before his death he
took steps to prevent any complications in the disposition of his estate, which was
valued at more than $3,000,000. In 1874 he created a board of trustees who were
to carry out several purposes which he indicated to them. Prior to this creation
he had endowed the Society of California Pioneers, of which he was a member,
with valuable property, at the same time conveying to the Academy of Sciences
the lot on which the office building on Market street still owned by that body now
stands. The trustees first selected by him became dissatisfied with his arbitrary
requirements and following a dispute they resigned in a body. On September 21,
1875, he named a new board, consisting of Richard S. Floyd, Faxon D. Atherton,
John Nightingale, Bernard D. Murphy and his son, John H. Lick, whom he had
legally adopted. To these he deeded his property in trust to carry out several of
his expressed desires. The first of these was the creation of an observatory which
was to be provided with the largest telescope in the world, $700,000 being named
for that purpose. The second was the establishment of a school of mechanical arts
at a cost of $540,000. An Old Ladies' home and a free bath house were each to
have $150,000, and several hundred thousand dollars were to be set aside for orphan
asylums. He also directed that a statue to Francis Scott Key, the author of the
"Star Spangled Banner," be erected in Golden Gate park and a monument to the
California pioneers in front of the new city hall, then in course of erection.
During the remaining days of his life Lick did not get on harmoniously with
his second board of trustees and demanded their resignation. They promptly com-
plied with the exception of Floyd, who formed a member of a third board, consist-
ing of Edwin B. Mastick, William Sherman, George Schoenwald and Charles M.
Plum. The son, who had received the sum of $150,000 as compensation for the
renunciation of his claims, after the death of his father brought a suit which the
trustees compromised. It required nineteen years to execute all the designs out-
lined by Lick, and at times there was criticism of the slowness with which the work
proceeded, but on the whole his intentions were faithfully carried out, and the City
and state contain numerous monuments which will perpetuate his memory long
after his oddities have been forgotten.
The plan of entrusting the construction of the new city hall to a commission did
not prove satisfactory, and the legislature in 1874 conferred upon the board of
supervisors the power to complete the unfinished contracts let by that body, and
authorized the expenditure of a sum not exceeding $25,000 for the preservation
and protection of the building. In 1875 nothing had been accomplished on the
main structure, but the work on the hall of records was well advanced. Doubts
had already arisen concerning the plans, and the opinion was freely expressed that
serious changes would have to be made in them in order to secure a building adapted
to the City's needs. There was also a wave of pessimism regarding the ability to
carry through an undertaking which it was beginning to be perceived would involve
a much greater expenditure than was originally contemplated. But when Mayor
Bryant entered upon the duties of his office in 1876 conditions had changed, and
he remarked in a message to the board of supervisors that "there ought to be no
difficulty in securing out of the large amount of taxes collected, sufficient funds to
carry on the gradual completion of the building, and the erection of other public
buildings needed."
Lick's
Gifts to
the People
Trust
Properly
Carried
Out
City Hall
Construction
Proceeds
Slowly
572
SAN FRANCISCO
The "New
City Hall
Kuin"
Cessation
of Civic
Progress
International
Fame of the
Palace
From this time until its completion the plan of piecemeal construction was
followed, the supervisors setting aside annually a sum derived from direct taxation
to prosecute the work. This programme was interrupted several times, and there
were periods during which no progress was made, work being wholly suspended
for want of funds. The result was to greatly enhance the cost, and, as already
stated, to materially change the original design. The delays were the cause of
considerable irritation, and productive of many scandals growing out of the suspi-
cion that the piecemeal method adopted enhanced the cost of the work executed
and increased the opportunities for jobbery. But the sentiment in favor of the pay-
as-you-go plan which later crystallized into the dollar limit on taxation prevailed,
and the outcome was a very costly edifice, entirely unsatisfactory in its arrange-
ments and the completion of which was delayed for so many years that the building
was sometimes jocularly alluded to as the new city hall ruin.
Although Mayor Bryant, in 1876 spoke of the abundance of money available from
taxation for other building enterprises, there was none of any consequence under-
taken. A needed fire house or two and some cheap frame structures for schools
were built, but there was no creditable display of civic energy. The work of re-
claiming the sand dunes, which were gradually assuming the appearance of a parkj
was proceeding with some regularity, and a little bit more attention than formerly
was being paid to the upkeep of the squares in the City, but even this exhibition of
public spirit began to flag when the depression set in after 1876, and during the
period when the workingmen's mayor and the republican board of supervisors
were at outs there was almost a complete cessation of civic progress or caretaking.
The lack of energy displayed by the people in their collective capacity, how-
ever, was offset by the enterprise of private citizens, whose efforts during the period
were directed towards providing better business structures, finer hotels and more
comfortable and elegant homes. The Palace hotel, projected by Ralston, the con-
struction of which was begun in 1871, was opened on the 2d of October, 1875, under
the management of Warren Leland. At the time of its completion it enjoyed the
reputation of being the largest and finest hotel in the United States. It contained
a thousand rooms and accommodated 2,500 guests at a time, its capacity being
tested in 1883, when three in excess of that number were entertained on the same day
within its hospitable precincts. The size and solidity of the building may be in-
ferred from the statistics of the material consumed in its construction. There were
31,000,000 brick, 32,000 barrels of cement, 10,000,000 feet of lumber, 28 miles of
water and 20 of gas piping used by the builders, who sought to impart to the vast
structure strength sufficient to resist earthquakes and fire resisting qualities by
thick walls and the liberal use of iron.
The most attractive feature of the hotel, which had a fame wider than national,
was its great court, surrounded by galleries. It was designed on a scale which per-
mitted vehicles to enter and deposit their passengers inside the hostelry, and was
so large that the glass roof with which it was covered permitted the entrance of
sufficient light to make the court as bright as the day outside. It never failed to make
a strong impression on the stranger guest, and became a great resort for the poli-
ticians of the City and others who cared for the interchange of thought. The inte-
rior of the hotel, which had 90,000 feet of floor space, was destroyed in the fire
of 1906, but its walls were unaffected by the shake. When the work of rehabilita-
tion was undertaken it cost the owners of the property nearly $90,000 to take down
SAN FRANCISCO
573
the walls, which they decided to remove in order to permit the construction of a
building more in accordance with modern ideas of comfort. There was no question
about their strength. The building could have been restored on its original lines,
and might have endured for centuries if so reconstructed, but the rooms were too
large and the ceilings too lofty to suit present day taste, so the vast structure with
its hundreds of bay windows, which made it the most conspicuous edifice on Market
street, disappeared to make way for a thoroughly up-to-date building.
The Baldwin hotel was another notable structure erected toward the end of the
seventy decade. It occupied the site of the present Flood building on the corner
of Market and Powell streets, its frontage extending along the latter thoroughfare
to Ellis street. While not so large as the Palace, it was an imposing building
and gave character to Market street, the popularity of which received a marked
westward impulse with its completion. Like its rival on the other side of the
street, and nearer to the Ferry, the Baldwin was provided with innumerable bay
windows and was crowned with a dome-like structure at the corner of Market and
Powell. Although it came within the rather lax requirements of the fire limit or-
dinance it was in no sense a fireproof structure, the vast quantity of wood used in
the construction of the bay windows making it very vulnerable. It possessed the
added drawback of a theater, which occupied the northeastern portion of the build-
ing, being entered from Market street through a narrow lobby, the remainder of
the frontage on that thoroughfare being occupied by stores, with rooms of the hotel
overhead. The theater was opened in March, 1876, and the hotel in the ensuing
February. The Baldwin was destroyed several years before the conflagration of
1906 by a fire which originated in the scene lofts of the theater.
In the interval between the last of the early conflagrations, and the middle of
the Seventies, there was not much that could be called notable in the way of business
construction. The success of the Bonanza firm called into existence the Nevada
block, a pretentious building on the corner of Pine and Montgomery streets, which
was erected in 1875-76. It was without architectural distinction, and did not escape
the prevailing bay window mania. In 1881 James Phelan erected on the gore
formed by the intersection of O'Farrell and Market streets a brick edifice of five
stories. Its great frontage on Market street, and the solidity of its construction,
made it a conspicuous feature of that thoroughfare, which had by that time asserted
its supremacy over the streets running north and south, although Kearny and
Montgomery streets still held their places as retail centers. Montgomery street was
gradually declining in popularity owing to the encroachment of business offices,
while Kearny continued to grow in favor, and in the early Eighties was the thor-
oughfare most affected by shoppers, but it began to share its popularity with the
north side of Market when the stores in the Phelan block were opened.
In the report of the street superintendent, who had charge of the thoroughfares
of the City in 1876, the necessity for more crossings on Market street was dwelt
upon. He declared that "the immense pedestrian travel" across that thoroughfare
made it positively necessary to provide such conveniences. At that time a very
large proportion of the population of San Francisco lived in the district south of
Market street. The small streets running parallel with the main thoroughfare
were filled with the residences of mechanics and artisans, many of whom owned their
own homes. The numbered streets running north and south were well filled with
buildings, mostly of frame, many of them with stores underneath and used as lodg-
The
Baldwin
Hotel anoS
Theater
Business
Buildings
South of
Market
Street
574
SAN FRANCISCO
Population
Spreading:
Westward
Streets
Thronged
at Night
ing houses overhead. The movement toward the western addition had not become
very pronounced, as may be inferred from the fact that when the first cable road
was built it was not deemed advisable to carry it further westward than Jones
street. A year later, however, in 1874, it was extended to Leavenworth street.
Until the cable roads afforded facilities for penetrating westward, the tendency
towards congestion in the district south of Market, between Second and Tenth
streets, was very marked and produced results which made themselves apparent in
the thronged condition of the City's principal street, especially on the blocks be-
tween Montgomery and Fifth. In 1880 when the population of the City was only
233,959, the number of pedestrians who crowded the sidewalks appeared to be as
great as twenty years later, when the expansive movement had acquired force and
the people were dispersing themselves over a wide area formerly occupied by sand
dunes, which were rapidly disappearing before the advancing home seekers, who
were building in localities which a few years earlier were regarded as inaccessible
and wholly unsuited for residential purposes.
The street crowds at night were a particularly noticeable feature. The climatic
conditions being such as to tempt people out doors after sun down, the evening
saunter developed into a habit, and the south side of Market and the west side
of Kearny became a fashionable promenade. The wide sidewalks were crowded from
curb to house line with a leisurely moving throng, and rapid progress could only be
made by taking to the street or passing over to the less popular side, which would
be nearly deserted. This parade was repeated on Saturday afternoons after the
matinee performances in the theaters, which were mostly situated on Bush street,
the Baldwin having penetrated farthest west. The north side of Market street
and the west side of Kearny continued to enjoy the favor of promenaders long
after large department stores, erected on the south side of the principal thorough-
fare, began to offer attractions in the way of brilliantly illuminated show windows,
which rivalled those of the more popular side.
This tendency was so marked that it created an impression that the north side
of Market street would always enjoy supremacy, and it had a decided effect on the
prices of real estate. In the period we are now dealing with the region "south of
the slot," a slang phrase suggested by the cable road on Market street, had not
put forth any claims to recognition as a business center. Mission street was still
a thoroughfare lined with private residences, some of which had seen better days,
but none of which were remarkable either for size or beauty in the down town dis-
trict. The owners of property, however, were not inclined to underrate its value,
but with the prescience which such possession begets peered far into the future
and predicted changes which were later wrought. But the public generally insisted
upon thinking of "south of the slot" as a section destined to permanently hold the
unenviable distinction which attaches to congested quarters in large cities.
Beyond this region was one held in higher esteem and which was even thought
by its admirers to possess advantages over other sections sufficient to make it the
fashionable residence district of the City. Years after the prestige of the eminence
between Third street and the bay had departed it was still thought that the charms
of the Mission "warm belt" would outweigh any attraction offered by other parts
of San Francisco, and that it would take the place successively occupied by South
park and Rincon hill. Several commodious and some pretentious houses were
built on spacious grounds, surrounded by the trees, shrubbery and flowers which
SAN FRANCISCO
575
respond so readily to the effort of the cultivator in that part of the City, and for
many years it was the established belief that certain localities in the Mission would
always be selected by people of wealth as an ideal place for homes ; but a changing
taste, due to a growing appreciation of marine scenery, and the introduction of the
cable traction street car system turned the tide in another direction, and left the
once fashionable locality to develop itself along other lines.
No city in the world has been more affected by an improvement in transporta-
tion facilities than San Francisco. All the large urban communities in the United
States have been greatly benefited by the extension of street railways, and some
may have profited more, but none has been so completely revolutionized as the
metropolis of the Pacific coast. The topography of San Francisco was such that
the Americans who established themselves on the shores of the little harbor of Yerba
Buena marked out a line of growth for the future city which would have confined
it to the flat lands lying along the bay, and to the gently undulating tract between
the reclaimed part east of Montgomery street and the Mission. The abrupt rise
commencing at Kearny street, it was supposed, would prove an obstacle to expan-
sion westward, and the slow growth of the City in that direction justified this
belief; for while there were some who ventured to make their homes on the hill
which was afterward called "Nob," and in the valley and region beyond, they were
few by comparison with those who elected to follow the line of least resistance
which trended southward.
It was not until the cable scheme of traction was a demonstrated success that
people began to find the marine views attractive, and to see merit in the region
stretching westward towards the ocean. In the early part of the seventy decade
A. S. Hallidie, a manufacturer of wire rope in San Francisco, conceived the possi-
bility of pulling cars up the steep hills west of Kearny street, and devoted himself
to the perfection of a plan to accomplish that object. The idea was not wholly
new, for cars had been made to ascend and descend by gravity in English coal
mines, but the application of the method to passenger transportation was entirely
novel, and the devices for taking hold and letting go the cable and bringing the
car to a stop were devised by Hallidie, who is accorded the honor of being the
inventor of the system, which promised to come into general use in cities, and
would have done so had electricity not superseded it as a motive power. In San
Francisco the steep hills still make the use of the cable necessary in some parts of
the City, and the probability of it being wholly displaced is remote.
The first cable road built in San Francisco was not an ambitious affair. Its
starting point was at Clay and Kearny streets and it negotiated six short blocks,
the terminal being at Jones street. It was sufficiently long, however, to demonstrate
the feasibility of surmounting the hills by that mode of traction, and to give an
impulse to the settlement of a hitherto neglected part of the City. The first trip
over the new Clay street road was made on June 28, 1873, and the line was opened
for general traffic in September, 1873. Shortly afterward it was extended to
Leavenworth street, which remained the terminal point of the line until population
caught up with and flowed past and into a section then regarded as far removed
from the center of business.
The success of the new system in overcoming the steep grades of Clay street,
not only settled the problem of bringing the hilly region lying west of the busy
down town section within easy reaching distance, it also suggested the feasibility of
Changes
Due to
Improved
Trans-
portation
Invention
of the
Cable System
The
First
Cable Road
576 SAN FRANCISCO
employing the cable for the purpose of drawing the cars operated in the level dis-
tricts, thus doing away with horses. The improved method of traction was adopted
for roads on Sutter, California and Geary streets before the close of the decade,
and by the Presidio and Ferries line. The Market street system (which was first
operated as a dummy line and later with horses) turned to the cable in 1883, the
Valencia, Haight and McAllister street cars being drawn by wire ropes after that
date. At that time the Valencia street branch of the Market street line terminated
at 28th street and the Haight and McAllister street lines at Stanyan street.
Terminals Although the cable had proved its merit, and was being adopted in other cities,
of street j t jjj not succee( j i n displacing all the horse-drawn cars in San Francisco. The
original tram line, the North Beach and Mission, and the omnibus system, adhered
to the old-fashioned mode of propulsion until electricity began to be employed as a
motive power. For various reasons no attempt was made by those companies to
dispense with horses, even after the cable was voted a complete success, and regarded
as the final thing in street railway locomotion. For many years the cable of the
Sutter street line extended no further in the direction of the Ferry than to the inter-
section of Sansome and Market, and that of the California street line ended at
Kearny street, where a Y was employed to reverse the cars. The Geary street
line had its terminus at the intersection of Kearny and Market, where it maintained
a turntable in front of what is now the Chronicle building, but which when the
new system was first opened in 1880 was a saloon and a noted rendezvous of poli-
ticians.
Types of The adoption of the cable resulted in a resort to varied types of cars. The
Cars Used evolution of these is interesting, as it exhibited a disposition to break away from
adherence to a style of vehicle which departed only very slightly from the stage
coach or omnibus which it supplanted. The early roads were provided with cars
of the sort used in Eastern cities, with small windows and very low tops, and were
drawn by two horses. There were also some one-horse cars operated from motives
of economy, the passengers upon which were expected to deposit their fares in a
box which was under the supervision of the driver who, when his searching glance
failed to discover the dime or ticket, reminded the negligent rider of his omission
by vigorously ringing a bell. The desire for innovation, or the assumption that it
would provide a greater seating capacity, led to the adoption by the Presidio and
Ferries road of a car circular in shape, a queer looking affair, which was abandoned
when the cable was substituted for horse power.
Riders The real or fancied necessity of using a dummy to draw the car, and the strong
predilection of San Franciscans for open air, suggested the placing of seats on the
side and in front after the manner of an Irish jaunting car, the space in the center
being occupied by the gripman and the machinery for taking hold and letting go the
cable and to manipulate the brakes. The great popularity of these outside seats
determined the type used on several of the cable roads, which became a combina-
tion of open and closed car; but the Sutter street line retained its dummies, which
were of the same construction as the one first operated on Clay street, until the
wire rope was discontinued as did also the Presidio and Ferries line. The Market
street system reconstructed its old cars, building an addition to them which was
used by the gripman and which was provided with side seats, the passengers on
which could be reached by the conductor. The California street line later adopted
a car which was termed a double ender, as it permitted the gripman to operate the
Like Open
Cars
SAN FRANCISCO
577
car from either end. It was provided with open air seats in front and rear and
contained an inclosed space in the center. The Market street system and the
Geary street line also embraced in their equipment cars that were wholly open, but
the boisterous breezes at certain seasons of the year made them undesirable and
they fell into disuse, not, however, until an attempt was made which was fairly
successful, to secure a coach which could speedily be converted into an open or
closed car at will.
Although urban transportation facilities occupied a large share of public atten-
tion during the Seventies it did not take the form it assumed at a later day, when
the various systems had become well developed. There is no evidence whatever that
the public at that time regarded the conferring of a franchise on anybody seeking
one as the granting of a valuable privilege. Precisely the opposite state of mind
existed, and those who proposed to build new lines, which would open outlying
districts, were hailed as public benefactors ; and if they had needed such assistance
they could easily have procured the backing of the entire community. This attitude
was by no means due to ignorance of the possibilities which the future had in store
for those who would invest their money in such enterprises. The curious, by turning
to the files of the newspapers of the period, will discover editorials in which the
writers, sometimes coaxingly, pointed out the rich returns which the venturesome
might expect. The profitable experience of investors in Eastern cities was much
dwelt upon, and the probability that it would be repeated in San Francisco was
alluringly presented.
There was but one thought entertained generally in connection with street car
extension, and that revolved wholly about the consideration that the City would be
vastly benefited by making all parts of it easily accessible. And it is a singular fact
illustrative of the attitude of San Francisco toward the subject of street car service,
that the bill introduced by Frank McCoppin in the state senate in the session of
1877-78, fixing the street car fare at five cents, was not in response to any extraor-
dinary pressure either for reduction or uniformity, but was due to the conviction
of the author that cheap urban transportation was desirable, and would promote
the development of the City. There was so little opposition on the part of the
corporations to the passage of the act that some over-suspicious persons feared that
the strange display of acquiescence was owing to the presence of a "bug" which
would make its appearance later.
This being the situation, it is not surprising that in 1 879, when a sudden demand
for franchises manifested itself, there was little or no concern displayed by the
public, although a warning note was sounded here and there, and attempts tx> divine
the cause of the activity were made by editors who were in the habit of explaining
the reasons that moved municipal servants to action. It was suggested that the
provisions of the constitution adopted earlier in the year might result in the fram-
ing of a city charter which would be less liberal in the matter of conferring fran-
chises than the existing Consolidation Act. It is more than probable, however, that
the movement was due to an awakening on the part of those who had given atten-
tion to the subject to the possibilities of a privilege which was not estimated by the
community generally as a very great one, becoming extremely valuable in the future.
Whatever the moving cause in the year named, there were franchises granted to
numerous companies, all of which were simultaneously seized with the desire to
extend their lines. The most of these were to run fifty years and the demands for
Coaxing
Interests to
Build
Railways
Street
Car Fares
Reduced to
5 Cents
Extension
of Street
Car Lines
578
SAN FRANCISCO
some of them were framed in a manner highly suggestive of a desire to occupy as
many streets as possible with the view of excluding future competitors. It was in
1879 that the corkscrew privilege was extended to the Central railroad to build
from the intersection of Market with East street, along East to Jackson, along
Jackson to Sansome, thence to Bush, up Bush to Kearny and one block on that
street to Post and along Post to Stockton and on Stockton to Geary and out the
latter street to Taylor, along which it ran to Market street, crossing that thorough-
fare into Sixth, which it traversed as far as Brannan street, along which the tracks
were laid as far as the Brannan street bridge. This same company was also per-
mitted to extend a line from the intersection of Taylor and Turk, along Turk, Fill-
more and Post to Lone Mountain cemetery, and from the intersection of Turk and
Fillmore along Turk to First avenue to D street and thence along D to Sixth avenue.
It was also granted the privilege of constructing from Taylor along Turk to Market
and down the latter to Dupont and across to Post. It also reached out for a line
from the intersection of Sansome with Bush and along the latter street to Market
and along Market to the city front. Still another line, commencing at the inter-
section of Sansome and Pine, and along Pine to Market and two more, one from
Sansome and Washington, thence along Washington to East, and the other from the
intersection of Geary and Powell streets, along Powell to Market.
It is possible that the supervisors, in extending the privilege to operate over
the sinuous route described, thought they were conferring a benefit upon the com-
munity, for the line mapped out by the Central seemed to have been dictated by
the idea of extending its car service to all the developed business and residential
portions of the City, but it is in the highest degree improbable that the projectors
of the road believed that a zigzagging route, such as they had provided, would
become popular or retain its popularity as the inhabited area of the City extended.
Even in the days when the horse-drawn vehicles had accustomed the average citizen
to patience, it was deemed too circuitous for practical purposes, and was used only
by those to whom time was no object. But the crookedness of the line proved a
valuable asset in the end, and when the work of consolidating began the foresight
of the projectors in preempting all the down town streets was well rewarded.
Although no other franchise granted at this time disregarded the public inter-
est as flagrantly as the Central, the supervisors were extremely liberal in dealing
with the Market street system. A description of all the privileges asked for and
granted to this corporation would be as uninteresting as the catalogue of the ships
of the allies of Agamemnon before Troy. But it is worth noting that it was the
Market Street Company which set the ball rolling in 1879. There was a breathing
space of some months after the California Street Company, which had obtained its
franchise in June, 1876, and on February 17, 1879, had its duration extended to
50 years, at the same time that a franchise was asked for a road, to be operated by
steam dummies westward from Central avenue. On September 20th the Market
street people began to get busy and put in a big batch of demands, all of which
were granted. In the November following the North Beach and Mission came to
the front and secured many privileges, some of which it never availed itself of as,
for instance, to operate its lines by cable. On the same day, November 14th, the
Sutter Street Company obtained a batch of 50-year franchises, and two weeks later
the City Railroad Company came to the fore with several requests, as did also the
Omnibus Company. On the 29th of November the Clay Street Hill Company was
SAN FRANCISCO
579
permitted to extend its operations as far west as Van Ness avenue, and the project
of constructing a road from the intersection of Haight and Stanyan streets to the
beach near the Cliff house was launched, not, however, without calling out protests
against cutting off a corner of Golden Gate park.
One of the anomalies of this scramble for franchises was the failure of some of
those seeking privileges to realize the possibility of their growing in value with the
increase of the City in population and wealth. When A. R. Baldwin, Andrew S.
Hallidie, James Moffitt, Nathaniel J. Brittain and Arthur M. Bowman on December
30, 1879, sought the privilege of building and operating a road to the presidio from
the intersection of Montgomery avenue and Union street, they thought that a period
of twenty-five years was sufficiently long for their purpose. They were sagacious
business men, presumably gifted with an average degree of foresight, but they were
evidently convinced that the granting of a franchise was a mere matter of form,
and that its extension could be procured whenever asked for by those interested.
Their course was in marked contrast to that of the California street and some of the
other roads which seized the opportunity to lengthen their franchises, some with
the view of harmonizing the duration of the privileges they had previously obtained,
and others for the purpose of prolonging the life of their grants as long as possible.
Facts of the sort described, and the perfectly acquiescent attitude of the com-
munity would seem to indicate the utter absence of turpitude in the city officials,
but it is nevertheless true that more or less suspicion was aroused by the readiness
of the supervisors to bestow any favor that might be asked of them; and it was
broadly intimated that their complaisance was not wholly due to public spirit. Still
the criticism was by no means harsh, even the public press opposed to the party in
power accepting their action as a matter of course. Indeed it may be said that from
this time forward, no matter what the character of the men elected to office may
have been, the assumption was more or less general that supervisors were not in
office, to use the slang of the day, "for their health."
There had been too much laxity of public sentiment in previous years to warrant
the assumption that the mania for speculation which manifested itself during the
three or four years following the discovery of the big bonanza was responsible for
the lowering of the moral tone which marked the close of the decade. There was
a period of comparative immunity from municipal scandal after 1856, but that was
due to the fact that the people were content to vegetate and refused to make any
public improvements whatever. As soon as the fever for development took hold of
the community there was a different story to tell. The sternness of opinion pro-
duced by the Vigilante experience relaxed, and the best of citizens became absorbed
in projects for the expansion of the City, and were not inclined to narrowly scru-
tinize the methods by which the desired result was to be achieved. This state of
mind explains the complacency with which the giving away of franchises was
viewed. Attention was concentrated on visible effects and future results were in-
ferred, and their benefits anticipated and sometimes discounted.
In 1874 Leland Stanford began the erection of his mansion on the corner of
Powell and California streets. Although constructed of wood it was imposing in
appearance, owing to its proportions and its commanding situation, and when it was
occupied in 1875 the people of the City spoke of it as palatial. This description
was also applied to the mansions erected by Crocker and Hopkins, the partners of
Stanford, who selected that neighborhood as a place of residence, as did also David
Men Who
Overlooked
Possibilities
Criticism
of
Supervisors
Relaxation
of Vigilance
Mansions
Erected on
Nob Hill
580
SAN FRANCISCO
New
Localities
Opened
to Settlement
Real Estate
Colton, a man high in the councils of the railroad magnates, and usually regarded
as one of them. This circumstance caused the locality to be popularly designated
Nob hill, the word "Nob" being drawn from the English reservoir of slang, a
fact worth emphasizing, as there has been a disposition since the fire for the unin-
formed to speak of it as "Knob" hill. The effect of this selection was very marked.
It at once decided that the movement of the fashionable world would be westward.
There was not an immediate abandonment of the localities formerly affected by
the well-to-do, but the least observant were able to perceive that the stamp of fash-
ionable approval and improved transportation facilities would cause the filling up
of the western addition. In some way this movement responded to the instinctive
desire for compactness, which manifests itself in all cities, and which perhaps is due
as much to the gregarious tendencies of man as to the realization of the advantages
of contiguity for business and purely social purposes.
While the major part of the community was merely pleased to see the results
which followed the inauguration of the Clay street road in 1873, the few long
headed ones, foreseeing that there would be profit in opening up other localities,
and binding them to the business center, were prolific in schemes to that end. It
was natural that the Central Pacific coterie should be prominent in such a move-
ment, for the prime reason for building a transcontinental railroad was the convic-
tion that it would open the country to settlement and thus enhance the value of
land which was lying useless.
Thus it happened that owners and speculators in real estate proved a great fac-
tor in the promotion of railroad extension, and as is usual under such circumstances,
while appearing to be catering to a demand for expansion, they were in reality
creating the demand to which they responded. This is made clear by the presence
of the names of prominent real estate operators in many of the grants of franchises
in the closing year of the seventy decade and in the opening years of the eighties.
They are found associated in many cases with those of men known to be closely
connected with the railroad, and sometimes with those of the magnates themselves.
It is not possible that in thus allying themselves with the latter that they regarded
their action as an evasion of the spirit of the law, which required corporations to
confine themselves strictly to the purpose for which they were created; if they did
they acted openly and the community as a rule regarded them as enterprising citizens.
The part played by the active speculator in real estate in a growing city is not
always clearly recognized by the community, which sometimes views his operations
with distrust. This is especially true of a city whose development has been rapid
by comparison with that of cities on the Atlantic seaboard, where the enhancement
of the value of real estate seems to be dependent on the immediate rather than the
remote demand for business and residential purposes. The history of real estate
movements in San Francisco reflects the speculative tendencies of the people and
to some extent the course of business. From the very beginning an astonishing de-
gree of confidence was shown in the future. It has been remarked by a competent
observer that "the record of sales since 1867 show that Market street values never
dropped except in the case of a few sales after the fire of 1906." The significance
of this statement becomes apparent when accompanied by the information that there
have been periods of stagnation, during which the high water mark of a particu-
larly active real estate movement would remain stationary for many years. The
hand on the dial never moved backward. A Market street owner may have been
UNION SQUARE IN
SAN FRANCISCO
581
unable to get an advance on his purchase price but he was never compelled to sell
at a sacrifice. He could rarely be persuaded to sell for less than the record figure.
In 1867 the volume of real estate transactions in San Francisco amounted to
$17,000,000. Two years later it jumped to $30,000,000. Successful operators in
the mines and other investors came into the market and bought freely. It was the
fashion for the lucky speculator, who was not wholly given over to the gambling
mania, to put aside a part of his winnings for a nest-egg, or as a resource in case
of disaster ; and he usually regarded a bit of land as a safe investment, and particu-
larly desirable because it could not be realized upon too swiftly in moments of
excitement. The miner who struck it rich was also disposed to "salt his pile" by
putting it into a form of property which the cautious always extolled as the most
dependable. Hence when, as in the years of the first Comstock excitement, men
were suddenly becoming rich, there was a rapid expansion of the volume of sales,
a larger proportion of which than usual represented permanent investments.
While there was no disposition on the part of owners of land in San Francisco,
even in periods of depression, to make sacrifices, the effects of bad business very
promptly exhibited themselves in the dullness of the real estate market. The spurt
of 1867-69, as already related, was followed by something like a complete collapse
of trade, and a spirit of uneasiness created by the presence in the City of an un-
usual number of unemployed. Under the influence of this depressing condition
sales of real estate declined greatly, dropping from $30,000,000 in 1869 to $12,-
000,000 in 1873. Two years later, owing to the bonanza discovery on the Comstock,
they mounted to $36,000,000, the fortunate speculators and the lucky miners fol-
lowing the example set for them four or five years earlier. But the pendulum
swung from one side to the other in those days with great rapidity, and with the
passing of the speculative excitement, induced by the rich mineral discoveries, there
was a cessation of interest in real estate which caused sales to shrink to $10,000,000
in 1879, and during several years following they hovered in the neighborhood of
that amount.
When the ordinance which provided for the creation of Golden Gate park was
accepted the area reaching from Stanyan street to the sea, within the limits north
and south of the reservation, was a waste of sand dunes. No more dreary outlook
existed anywhere than these rolling hills presented, and it required a powerful
imagination to conceive of them being transformed into grassy and tree covered
slopes. Familiarity with the propensity of the sand to keep in motion was not cal-
culated to cause those who had to deal with the problem of reclamation to minimize
the difficulties which would beset their work, but there was an abiding faith that a
park could be made and before the decade 1870 had run its course even the doubters
were convinced that the impossible was not being attempted. The progress of re-
demption was slow at first, the sums appropriated for the purpose being small.
During the five years preceding 1875 there was expended less than half a million
dollars, a part of which was derived from the sale of lands, and as late as 1882
there was set aside for maintenance and additions as small a sum as $77,718, and in
the next year this amount was cut down to $38,006. Despite these meager allow-
ances there was constant improvement. Roads were made; trees and shrubbery
were planted ; steps were taken to arrest the drifting sands, grasses which had served
that purpose in foreign countries being imported and in the early Eighties it had
already become the custom to point with pride to what had been accomplished, and
Investors
in Real
Estate
Affects
Real
Estate
Reclamation
582
SAN FRANCISCO
to explain to the stranger that the growing green area which he saw when being
taken to the Cliff house, which was still the show place of the City, was as unprom-
ising in appearance as the rolling hills of sand which still surrounded the artificial
Francisco
Reclaimed
from the
Disappearance
of Old-Time
Resorts
Increase
of Urban
Comforts
The creation of Golden Gate park was one of the many progress marks in the
growth of San Francisco, a little more striking than previous accomplishments in
the way of reclamation, for the most of San Francisco was at one time a sand waste.
Much has been said about the filling in of the water front by the pioneers, and
their enterprise in providing for the needs of a growing commerce by bringing
shipping and shipper as close together as possible cannot easily be overstated, but
the transformation of the area over which the City later spread itself into acceptable
sites for building was no less marvelous. The San Franciscan of 1912 who did
not see the City earlier than 1883 can scarcely realize the changes made by the
persevering industry of its earlier citizens. It is difficult for him to picture Market
street as a place covered with sand dunes that deflected the line of travel, and he
can hardly bring himself to think of the locality now bounded by Third and Folsom,
and First and Market streets, as a vale in the sand hills in which lupin, yerba buena,
yerba santa, wild lilac and other flowers flourished, and which, perhaps because of
the forbidding appearance of the nearby sands, was called "Happy Valley."
Years before the close of the Seventies Happy Valley had disappeared from the
map, and the "Willows," a once popular resort at Valencia and Eighteenth streets,
and Hayes' park had ceased to draw visitors, being completely superseded by the
superior attractions of Woodward's Gardens, a large part of the popularity of which
was due to flowers and a bit of lawn it maintained, a distinction it had to share later
with Golden Gate park, which finally so surpassed it in attractiveness, that it too
passed with the other things known to the Pioneers. These were the changes which
stood out most prominently, for the complete metamorphosis was accomplished so
gradually that even the "old timer" found it difficult to remember when the appear-
ance of this, that or the other locality was transformed by the removal of sand
dunes, and the filling up of hollow places, or when streets were graded, which were
later built upon, thus concealing the rugged and unpromising character of the
original sites.
The topographical changes effected during the period were no more remarkable
than those which contributed to the comfort of the inhabitants, such as the exten-
sion of illuminating facilities. The introduction of gas occurred within a few years
after the discovery of gold and its use developed slowly, but that was also the case
in the older communities of the East. In 1854 there were 237 consumers and this
number had grown to 9,400 in 1870 to whom 180,000,000 cubic feet of the illu-
minant were sold. In 1880 the consumption had more than doubled, reaching 489,-
000,000 cubic feet, and the consumers numbering 14,300. By this time the streets
in the business section were tolerably well supplied with lamps, but the supervisors
did not respond with promptitude to the demands of the increasing numbers who
were pushing out into new districts, a fact not unconnected with the high price
charged for gas, which was $4.50 per thousand cubic feet in 1870, having been
reduced from $6 under the pressure of competition, which, however, was ended by
the absorption of the City Gas Company, organized in that year, by the old company.
The decade 1870-80 was noted for its activity in gas production rivalry. In
1862 a franchise had been granted to the Citizens Gas Company, but it did not
SAN FRANCISCO
583
begin to furnish gas until January, 1866. It was absorbed in 1868 by the San
Francisco Gas Company, the same fate being experienced by the City Gas Company,
formed in 1870. In 1871 the Metropolitan Gas Company came into existence and
furnished gas at $3.50 a thousand, but it passed into the hands of the old company
a few months afterward and the people were at once called upon to pay $4 a thou-
sand. Owing to real and threatened competition the rate fluctuated between $4.50
and $1.50 per thousand cubic feet during the years 1871-73, and on December 31,
1874, it was $3.75, which price was charged until November, 1878, when the mu-
nicipality for the first time exercised the power conferred upon it by the legislature
of 1877-78 and fixed the rate at $3. A further reduction was made in 1880 to
$2.75 and in 1882 the price was put down to $2.00. Between 1882-1885 there
was fresh competition, during which the rate was forced down to 90 cents. The
experience of the consumers during the Seventies was responsible for the passage
of the act which gave to any corporation desiring to exercise the privilege the
right to occupy the streets with gas pipes. It was thought by the author of the
measure, and all the ardent reformers of that period, that the problem of obtain-
ing cheap gas was solved by this step ; but subsequent experience demonstrated that
it merely helped men with the predatory instinct to profit at the expense of the old
company, which had developed sufficient strength to buy out fresh competitors as
fast as they appeared on the scene.
But by far the most interesting development in the illuminating field was the
appearance of the electric light. The first public exhibition of this new illuminant
was made upon the roof of Saint Ignatius college, on the 4th of July, 1876, by
the Reverend Joseph M. Neri. Three French arc lights were displayed on the
north end of the building, which stood on the site now occupied by the Emporium
department store on the south side of Market street. Old French machines used
during the siege of Paris in 1871 were employed to generate the current, and also
one Brush machine made by Father Neri, who lectured on the new light, and pre-
dicted that it would revolutionize the lighting of the world. There was an exhibi-
tion made by the Brush Electric Company at the Mechanics Institute Fair in 1879,
and in the same year the California Electric Light Company was incorporated, its
first plant being erected on a lot on Fourth street in rear of what is now the Pacific
building on Market street. Prior to the exhibit by the Brush Company two arc
lights, the electricity for which was generated by a Gramme machine, brought from
Paris by Charles de Young in 1878, were installed in the editorial rooms of the
"Chronicle." The editor was greatly impressed by an exhibit he saw in the exposi-
tion of that year, and was induced by the inventor, Jablikoff, whose carbon candles
were first used, to introduce the new light to America. Owing to the irregularities
of the engine, and other imperfections, the light produced was very unsatisfactory,
but the "Chronicle" was insistent in proclaiming that electricity would be the light
of the future. It is interesting to note that when electricity was first put to prac-
tical use in San Francisco the cost to the consumer for an arc light, then the only
electric lamp used, was $10 a lamp per week, with the current cut off at midnight.
An innovation touching the life of the people almost as closely as the introduc-
tion of electricity as an illuminant was the telephone. Although the original patents
of Bell were filed as early as 1876, a demonstration of the wonderful discovery
being made at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in that year, the instrument
did not pass into instant use and was not introduced into San Francisco until 1880.
First
Electric Light
in the City
Introduction
of the
Telephone
584
SAN FRANCISCO
The
Calaveras
Cow Pastures
In that year George S. Ladd organized the first company within Pacific coast ter-
ritory, to which he gave the name of Pacific Bell Telephone Company, becoming
its president, which office he filled until his death, in 1889. The Pacific Coast Com-
pany received from the National Bell Telephone Company (predecessor of the Bell
Telephone Company) of Boston an exclusive and perpetual license for the terri-
tory comprising the states of California, Nevada and Washington, and a portion oi
Utah and the territory of Arizona. The company formed by Ladd was also ac-
corded certain privileges by the municipality. The first list of subscribers pub-
lished by the company contained 170 names. The astonishing popularity and al-
most universal use of the instrument at present make it seem incredible that it
should have been regarded with anything but enthusiastic favor, but it is true that
the first people who became acquainted with the new device were in doubt whether
it would prove a boon, and there were some even who were afraid to use it. The
secretary of the company relates with considerable glee that he had to be persuaded
by Mr. Ladd to take hold of the receiver of the first experimental "phone" installed
in San Francisco.
Incidental reference has been made to the refusal of the people during the period
immediately preceding the failure of the Bank of California to purchase the Spring
Valley Water Company's system, which was controlled by Wm. C. Ralston. The
subject of the acquisition of the plant was up for discussion at frequent intervals
during the 1870 decade, but the deep seated aversion to the incurrence of indebted-
ness, and the fear that the community might be overreached in buying, operated to
prevent the carrying out of any project of municipal control. In 1871 General
Alexander made some computations which indicated that a daily supply of 60,000,-
000 gallons could be developed from the peninsula water shed, but critics pointed
out that he had neglected to indicate where 21,979,000,000 gallons could be stored.
The season of 1871-72 was a wet one, and there was a measurable abatement of
interest in the water supply question, but in 1872-73 the rainfall was under the
normal and the agitation for city ownership was at once revived, and in 1874-75
extensive surveys of various sources of supply were instituted. The resulting re-
port recommended the acquisition of Calaveras creek, draining the northwest slope
of Mount Hamilton, and adjacent outliers to the north, forming the principal tribu-
tary of Colomas creek. This proposition was received with ridicule, and the pro-
posed source of supply was nicknamed the Calaveras cow pastures, but the city
officials attempted to negotiate with the owners of the desired property. They
proceeded so slowly, however, that Spring Valley anticipated any action on the
part of the municipality by purchasing the derided watershed.
The company made this purchase in May, 1875, and there were comparatively
few at the time who took umbrage at what was later regarded as an attempt to
prevent competition. In 1876 a bill was introduced in the state senate by Rogers
of San Francisco, which was denounced by the "Bulletin" as the consummation of
a plan devised by Ralston to sell Spring Valley to the City without the consent of
the people. It had opposed the acquisition of a supply by the City, at an earlier
date, and declared that the people were in no hurry to have the bill passed, as they
had some resources for cheap water that were not yet exhausted. Incidentally it
recurred to a statement previously made that Ralston had devised a scheme to buy
out Spring Valley for $7,000,000 and sell it to the City for $15,000,000. Whatever
may have been planned no results followed. Spring Valley continued to operate its
SAN FRANCISCO
585
plant and it was broadly intimated by a part of the press that it deliberately invited
the opposition which prevented acquisition by the City. One paper in commenting
on the situation, remarked in April, 1877, that the gossips on the street were whis-
pering that Spring Valley was master of the situation, and that the commission cre-
ated by the Rogers act would play into the hands of the monopoly by recommending
a scheme which would be sure to be rejected, thus prolonging the company's lease
of power.
If there had been no further opposition to the acquisition of Spring Valley at
this time, the project would probably have suffered from neglect, for the winter
of 1875-76 was one of abundant moisture, and it had become the habit of San Fran-
ciscans to regard with complacency the water situation when the reservoirs were
full. But the ensuing season was exceedingly dry, the rainfall being the smallest
recorded in many years. The subject of a municipal supply was at once revived,
and another investigation of possible sources was made by Colonel George H. Men-
dell, U. S. A. This developed a number of possibilities which were thus enumerated
in the report:
1. Existing supplies and undeveloped sources claimed by Spring Valley.
2. Clear Lake.
3. Lake Tahoe.
4. El Dorado Water and Deep Gravel Mining Company's water properties and
rights on south fork of American river.
5. Blue Lakes (Moquelumne river).
6. McGregor Water and Mining Company. Rubicon river (south fork of
middle fork of American river).
7. San Joaquin and San Francisco Water Works.
8. Feather River Water Company.
9. Lake Merced.
Although the presentation of this formidable list of sources of supply suggests
that the City was earnestly seeking to emancipate itself from the domination of the
Spring Valley Company the discussion of the period does not show that such was
the case, for it revolved wholly about the question whether the established water
company's property should be acquired. All the arguments, were directed against
the purchase of Spring Valley, little or no attention being paid to the possibility
of developing an independent supply. Spring Valley made an offer in 1877 to sell
at $13,500,000, which the City met with a proposal to pay $11,000,000 for its
properties on the peninsula, which the water company refused to entertain, where-
upon there was talk of acquiring the Blue lakes and conducting their waters to the
City. It is doubtful, however, whether a project of any sort involving the necessity
of incurring a heavy bonded indebtedness would have met with public favor. In-
deed the disposition to procrastinate was manifest throughout, the enemies of Spring
Valley being apparently as well satisfied to let matters drag along as those to whom
was imputed the dark design of complicating the situation by proposing conditions
which it was asserted with great vehemence the people could not be induced to accept.
In the following winter the rainfall was again bounteous and as usual the water
question ceased to be an absorbing one; besides the people were engrossed with the
more menacing trouble of its discontented unemployed and a little later by the neces-
sity of considering the new constitution in process of formulation and which they were
presently called to vote upon. That instrument when it began to assume shape
Investigation
of Possible
Water
Supplies
Spring
Valley
Offers to
Bounteous
586
SAN FRANCISCO
Regulation
of Water
Bates
Increased
Consumption
of Water
Awakening
of Southern
California
inspired the hope that it would solve the water problem by placing the power of
rate regulation in the hands of the people. Although in the heat of antagonism the
opponents of Spring Valley were in the habit of charging that the waters supplied
by the company were unfit for human consumption, and horrible monsters of vari-
ous sorts were exhibited in glass and labeled as products of the water company, the
people were perfectly satisfied with the quality of the beverage supplied to them,
and were only concerned that it should be furnished cheaply. Consequently the
possibility held out by the new instrument was accepted without suspicion that rate
regulation might prove a frail thing to lean upon, and perhaps bring greater evils
in its train than those from which the community at times had made ineffective
efforts to escape.
How much was expected from the rate regulating power may be inferred from
the fact that not long after the supervisors began to exercise the function the theory
was advanced that the City had a right to tap the mains at its pleasure, and take
water free of charge for the flushing of sewers, the irrigation of parks and other
municipal purposes. The water company resisted, and carried the matter into the
courts, which sustained its contention that the City was not entitled to free water
for any purpose whatever. Under the earlier practice the City had escaped paying
for a great deal of the water it used, but the later definition of the rights of the
water company given by the courts compelled the City to pay for what it used the
same as other consumers. This decision resulted in the creation of the pumping
system in Golden Gate park in 1885, which developed a sufficient supply for all
park purposes and greatly promoted the progress of the reclamation work in the
people's pleasure ground, while reducing the cost of maintenance, which was con-
tinually increasing owing to extension of lawns and the addition of beds of flowers.
As in the case of the consumption of gas the growth of the City caused a rapid
increase in the demand for water. In 1865, according to the figures of the engineer
of Spring Valley, San Francisco with a population estimated at 110,000, used
2,360,000 gallons of water. In 1870 the consumption had increased to 6,040,000
gallons, the population being 150,000; ten years later a population of 233,000
required 17,050,000 gallons. If the records of the company are at all dependable
in this particular the consumption between 1880 and 1885 did not increase at all,
the estimates of population and consumption for the two years being the same.
There were causes operating which may have diminished the demand made upon
the company, but there was no ground for the assumption that population had re-
mained stationary during the five years. Indeed the population estimate for the
earlier year was 33,000 more than that shown by the census, and the 265,000 esti-
mate of the later year was probably as faulty as that of 1880.
The extension of urban transportation facilities during the period was not more
marked than the improved modes of communication with other parts of the state
which occurred during the Seventies. By far the most important event of the period
was the opening of the line between San Francisco and Los Angeles by the South-
ern Pacific Company, which occurred in September, 1876. Prior to that date a line
of steamers plying between San Francisco and San Diego, touching at San Pedro,
and a daily coach which traversed a road running along the coast, provided the
only means of transit for passengers and freight, the latter being wholly carried
by water. The new railroad ran through the San Joaquin valley, crossing the
Tehachapi range. Travel between the two cities was so light at the date of its
SAN FRANCISCO
587
opening that one daily train afforded all the facilities required. At that time Los
Angeles was still in the dolce far nienti stage of its existence, and scarcely had any
aspirations, but its neighbor, San Diego, was filled with ambitious views for the
future. Later came the awakening of the City of Angels, and the subsequent devel-
opment of its horticultural and other resources. The progress of the South and
that of the intervening country in the great valley and along the coast between the
two cities has called into existence other railroad lines, over which scores of pas-
senger and freight trains are dispatched daily, caring for a traffic whose volume
could scarcely have been conceived at the time of the opening of the original line.
At the opening of the decade 1870-80 there were 925 miles of railroad in Cali-
fornia. During the following ten years 1,270 miles were added, and in 1883 the
mileage had increased to 3,806, nearly all of which, with the exception of some
few lines under private ownership, and which were in no sense rivals, were under
the control of the men who had built the Southern Pacific. In describing the po-
litical conditions created by the monopolization of the traffic system of the state
only passing reference was made to the building operations of the Central and
Southern Pacific which tended to aggravate the situation created by the disap-
pointment which followed the opening of the first transcontinental line. The earlier
hostility to the corporation was very largely influenced by the greed displayed
by the managers in appropriating every possible method of making money which
grew out of the construction and other operations to themselves. The creation of
construction and land handling companies composed of insiders was greatly re-
sented and the methods adopted were denounced as bare faced robbery. It was
urged that the selling of the lands granted to the Central Pacific en bloc was an
evasion of the law which contemplated that they should be sold to actual settlers
at a price not to exceed the double minimum of the government, and there was a
demand for an investigation by congress which however, went unheeded.
The resentment created by these practices was greatly increased when the
people awakened to a full realization of the purpose of the Southern Pacific pro-
jectors, who were practically the same men as those in control of the Central
Pacific. At first the movement to build to the Colorado river was hailed with
satisfaction. It was regarded as a step in the direction of opening a vast area
which despite its uninviting appearance, owing to the absence of trees, was known
to be fertile, only needing the application of water to bring it to a high state
of productivity. Great stress was also laid upon the value to the City of increased
means of communication with the southern part of the state and the possibility
of developing a large commerce with that section. But these considerations were
not strong enough to offset the growing indignation when the impression became
general that the prime object of building the Southern Pacific eastward was to
shut out all rivalry by barring out all possible transcontinental competitors.
The real purpose of the Southern Pacific Company was not perceived until
after the passage of an act by congress authorizing the incorporation of the Atlantic
and Pacific Railroad Company which designed building from Springfield, Missouri,
through New Mexico and Arizona to the Colorado river, and from thence to a
point on the Pacific which was not designated in the act. This line was to receive
no aid in the form of money or bonds, but a land grant as liberal in its terms as
that made to the Union and Central Pacific roads was provided for by congress.
This road was to have been completed on or before July 4, 1878, and was usually
Extension of
Railroad
Facilities
Shutting Out
Rivalry
Huntington's
Washington
Lobby
588
SAN FRANCISCO
Heading Off
the 32d and
35th Parallel
Lines
Southern
Pacific of
Kentucky
Formed
spoken of as the thirty-fifth parallel line, because its route was to keep as near as
practicable to that degree of latitude in constructing westward to the Colorado river.
At that time the Central and Southern Pacific maintained a strong lobby at Wash-
ington which was under the immediate direction of Collis P. Huntington, who car-
ried on his operations with what appeared to be an utter disregard of public
opinion, which, however, was not keenly sensitive at the time, and only actively
interested itself in the far western railroad problem when the subject was stirred
up to serve political purposes, as it was when the Little Rock disclosures were made
to besmirch the reputation of James G. Blaine and strike at his presidential aspi-
rations.
Huntington had no difficulty in inducing the contingent he controlled in congress,
which embraced the major part of the state's delegation, to introduce a bill which
gave the Southern Pacific the right to build eastward to a point where it would
connect with the Atlantic and Pacific, and had attached to it the same land grant
terms as those accorded to the thirty-fifth parallel line. This put the California
railroad manipulators in a position to prevent the Atlantic and Pacific gaining en-
trance to the state, but the attempt to monopolize was menaced from another
quarter. In 1871 congress had passed an act organizing the Texas and Pacific
Company, which was to start from Marshall, Texas, and have its Pacific coast
terminus in San Diego, traversing a route which would keep as close to the thirty-
second parallel as practicable. The Texas and Pacific, like the Atlantic and
Pacific, was to receive a grant of public lands for every mile of road constructed,
but in addition it was authorized to issue construction and land bonds. Colonel
Thomas A. Scott of the Pennsylvania railroad, became identified with the Texas
and Pacific railroad and visited San Diego in 1871 and entered into an arrange-
ment with that city which would give his transcontinental road control of a large
part of the water front of San Diego bay. There is little doubt but that he
would have been able to carry through the enterprise had it not been for the
crisis of 1873, which made it impossible for a man, even as strong as Scott was
financially, to borrow on a scale commensurate with the requirements of the under-
taking.
Meanwhile the Southern Pacific, despite the monetary stringency continued to
push its line southward towards Los Angeles and eastward, reaching the Colorado
river at Yuma in the early part of 1877. Up to this time the pretense of a separate
organization was kept up, but a few years later the men who controlled both the
Central and Southern Pacific companies resorted to Kentucky, where a corporation
was formed which, under the name of the Southern Pacific of Kentucky, operated
both roads. Colonel Scott's efforts had been completely blocked by the energy and
machinations of C. P. Huntington, as were those of the backers of the Atlantic and
Pacific enterprise who suffered equally with Scott from the disastrous effects of the
financial crisis of 1873 and the succeeding years of depression. Long before the
Kentucky corporation had been created the people of California had become thor-
oughly awakened to the purpose of what they called "the Railroad" to completely
monopolize the traffic of California, and to control all the land approaches to the
state, and the knowledge of this intention greatly intensified the antagonism which
manifested itself in the upheaval of the "Dolly Vardens," and as much as any other
cause contributed to the adoption of the Constitution of 1879. Great results were
expected from the carrying into effect of the provisions of that instrument, but
Political
Upheaval
SAN FRANCISCO 589
although it conferred the power to control, by finesse and corrupt practices the
corporation succeeded in escaping even a semblance of regulation, and it was
claimed by the enemies of the constitution that the article which created the Rail-
road Commission and invested it with extraordinary powers was a cunning device
of the railroad to escape legislative interference. The origins of the railroad article
and the arguments and steps which led up to its incorporation in the constitution
absolutely disprove this assertion, and the history of the methods adopted by the
railroad to nullify its provisions prove that the failure to regulate was wholly due
to the apathetic tendencies of the people of California, who after gaining an ad-
vantage permitted themselves to be deprived of it by the cunning of politicians.
The division into two parties of the bulk of the advocates of the Constitution
of 1879 caused the Legislature which had imposed upon it the duty of giving many
of its provisions effect by statute to fall into the hands of tools and friends of the
corporation, and they deliberately deprived the newly created commission of the
power to accomplish anything by reducing the appropriation for its maintenance
to an insignificant sum. This in itself must have proved effective, even if the rail-
road had not supplemented the services of its legislative creatures by corrupting
a majority of the commission who were the obedient servants of the corporation.
There was one member of the trio first elected who constantly antagonized his
colleagues, and with the assistance of that part of the press favorable to the new
constitution kept the public fully advised respecting the means adopted to nullify
that part of the instrument which provided for the regulation of railroads. The
effects of the agitation exhibited themselves in an overturning of the state govern-
ment, and the election of the minority commissioner, General Stoneman as governor,
but the upheaval did not benefit the people. The railroad, which recognized no party
or interest other than that of the corporation, was as successful in manipulating
the offices which directly dealt with its affairs and continued to control the Railroad
Commission and the State Board of Equalization by the simple device of making
the people vote for the men of its choice instead of selecting their own servants.
In 1882 a suit was brought against Leland Stanford, Charles Crocker and widow
C. P. Huntington by the widow of D. D. Colton, an early associate of the railroad A g a °" 8 t
magnates. Although Mrs. Colton lived in San Francisco the case was tried in Railroad
Sonoma county by Judge Temple. Its disclosures caused a great sensation, not
only in San Francisco, but throughout the country. Letters from Huntington to
Colton were placed in evidence which clearly pointed to the corruption of legis-
latures and judges, and were full of revelations concerning the devious methods
pursued by the men sued in carrying out their purposes. Colton's interests had
been so bound up with those of the men who were practically his partners that it
was difficult to disentangle them when the attempt was made to settle up his estate.
He owned shares of the Central Pacific and Southern Pacific, and had interests in
the subsidiary corporations controlled by the railroad magnates, among them the
Western Development Company, the lone Coal and Iron Company, the California
Steam Navigation Company, the Occidental and Oriental Steamship Company.
Colton died in 1878 and his widow sought to settle up his estate and secured the
services of a prominent attorney who failed to bring about an agreement. She
then resorted to Lloyd Tevis who, while professedly acting in her interest, effected
a settlement by reducing her claim which amounted to $1,000,000 to $200,000
of which he was to receive $50,000 for his arduous services. Subsequently Mrs.
590
SAN FRANCISCO
The
Colton-
Huntington
Letters
of the Port
and Changes
in Shipping
Iron Vessels
Supersede
Wooden Craft
Colton repudiated the Tevis agreement on the ground that it had been made
under "the influence of fear and misrepresentation, threats and fears of violence
and in ignorance of her legal rights." The court decided against her, holding that
in Tevis and Samuel Wilson, her attorney, she had excellent advisers.
The trial which began in 1882 extended over three years, and at its conclusion
the community was convinced that the widow had been overreached, and that the
men her husband had been associated with were as unscrupulous in their private
as they were in their public dealings. Concerning the latter there remained little
doubt. The flood of light thrown on the railroad's doings confirmed the suspicions
and observations of the people. Huntington in his correspondence had in the
most cynical fashion described the means he had adopted to debauch United States
senators and representatives, and the publication of the letters besmirched many
prominent names. The means adopted to kill off competition, as in the case of the
purchase of the vessels of the California Steam Navigation Company, and the
bargain by which their owners agreed to refrain from future rivalry in order that
the Southern Pacific might have the people of Arizona completely at their mercy ;
the workings of the subsidiary companies which grafted at the expense of the
main corporation; the plain allusions to the steps taken to secure control of the
legislature and the references which compromised judges constituted an indictment
which should have aroused the country, but its only effect was to provide a fund
of amusement for the readers who revelled in Huntington's exhibitions of wit, the
keen thrusts at his associates, especially Stanford, whose extravagances he de-
nounced as childish exhibitions, and his miner's slang gave a vogue to such expres-
sions as "caved down the bank" which they retained for a considerable period.
But they did not greatly help the reform movement, the tide of which had receded
some years before Judge Temple's decision was rendered.
The importance of the port of San Francisco continued to increase during the
Seventies. The tonnage steam and sail which aggregated 1,171,000 tons in 1869,
and 1,233,900 in 1872, rose to 2,027,000 tons in 1883, but there were many changes
in transportation methods and in the products shipped during the period. The most
marked feature was the rapid substitution of steam for sail power. In 1869 the
foreign steam entrances totaled 205,000 tons. This tonnage increased to 306,300
in 1883. During the same period the domestic transportation from sail to steam
was still more striking, rising from 119,200 tons to 436,800 in 1882. The increase
in efficiency brought about by the substitution of steam for sail is but feebly ex-
pressed by these figures. The improved facilities for handling cargoes and the
greater rapidity of transit did much to strengthen the conviction firmly entertained
from the time of the occupation that the unrivaled harbor of San Francisco would
cause the City on its shores to become one of the great marts of the world, and it
showed no signs of weakening during the gloomiest hours of political agitation,
although it must be conceded that the steps taken by the Harbor Commission to
utilize the advantages which its magnificent position gave the port, at no time
between 1871 and 1883 were of the sort calculated to cause serious apprehension
or even annoyance to the railroad monopoly.
Among the innovations in sea transportation in the early Seventies was the
substitution of iron and steel propelled vessels for the wooden side wheel craft
which filled the pioneer with admiration. In 1874 the Pacific Mail steamship sent
out from the East the "Acapulco," "Colima" and "Granada," of 1,759, 3,836 and
THE CROCKER AND COLTON MANSIONS ON NOB HILL
Destroyed April 18, 1906
■■iMrauji
JUNCTION OF KEARNY, MARKET AND GEARY STREETS, ABOUT 1885
SAN FRANCISCO
591
2,572 tons burthen respectively. These were followed at intervals during 1874
by the "City of New York," "City of Para," "City of Panama," "City of Rio de
Janeiro," "City of San Francisco," and the "City of Sydney." These vessels
ranged from 2,000 to 2,500 tons and were intended for the Australian and China
trade. The "City of Peking" and "City of Tokio" of 5,080 tons each were also used
in the China trade, and their addition to the Pacific fleet of the Pacific Mail Com-
pany attracted a great deal of attention as they were the largest iron steamships
built in the United States up to that time. The company maintained a regular
semi-monthly service between 1872 and 1874 and was operated without opposition,
but in the latter year the monopoly enjoyed from 1867 to that date was broken in
upon by a rival line running three steamers the "Vasco de Gama," "Vancouver"
and "Lord of the Isles."
In the ensuing year Leland Stanford, Charles Crocker, David S. Colton, Lloyd
Tevis and Mark Hopkins appeared as the directory of a new line of steamers com-
posed of British bottoms. It was called the Occidental and Oriental, but was
generally spoken of as the Central Pacific railroad's line. The new corporation
owned no steamers, but chartered three belonging to the White Star line, named the
"Belgic," "Gaelic" and "Oceanic." From the very inception of the enterprise the
object of those engaged in it became apparent. It was simply launched for the
purpose of obtaining control of the Pacific Mail, an object which it finally accom-
plished. The first steamer of the assumedly opposition line, the "Oceanic," arrived
from Hong Kong June 25, 1875, and the vessels above mentioned were maintained
in the China trade for several years although it was soon recognized that there was
perfect harmony between the two companies.
An event in maritime circles was the arrival of the "Altoona" from China in
1874, the first tramp steamer to enter the port of San Francisco. She brought a
cargo and was "loaded back." During this year thirty steamers from Hong Kong
entered the harbor and in the year following the largest tonnage of any year be-
tween 1869 and 1886 was recorded, there being 46 arrivals from Oriental ports
with a tonnage of 136,000. Seventeen tramps were included, and this irregular
class of vessels from that time forward became a familiar sight in the bay and
at our wharves. Prior to 1871 there were several steamers plying between San
Francisco and Honolulu making connection with an Australian line at the latter
port. In 1871 a line was created which gave more or less regular service between
the City and the islands, but it was withdrawn in 1873. The Pacific Mail attempted
to provide facilities by putting on the "Costa Rica," but she was wrecked after
making five round trips, and there were no regular sailings until 1878, when the
company instituted a monthly service which was supplemented by calls made by
the steamers plying between San Francisco and Sydney, which also made monthly
trips. In 1882 Claus Spreckles, who was largely concerned in sugar planting in
the islands secured the steamer "Suez" of 2,125 tons, and she made six round
trips in that and the succeeding year. The "Alameda" and "Mariposa" were built
in Philadelphia and were of 1 ,939 tons burthen each. They began their service
October 15, 1883, the "Alameda" sailing on that date.
The Australians from an early period displayed a strong desire to establish
commercial relations with the United States through the port of San Francisco.
Prior to the opening of the transcontinental railroad they had run steamers to
Panama, but the quicker service obtainable by connecting with the railroad at San
A Rival
Oriental
Steamship
Advent
of the
Tramp
Steamer
Commercial
Relations with
Australia
592
SAN FRANCISCO
Francisco made it desirable to transmit the mails between the colonies and England
from this port overland to New York. To accomplish this object an American
company was formed in 1 870 which operated two steamers, but it only continued in
existence a couple of years. In the meantime a British line started to operate be-
tween Auckland and San Francisco via Honolulu, but this enterprise collapsed
within the year, and the only communication between the United States and the
antipodes, until the Oceanic Company was created in 1885, was that maintained
by the Pacific Mail Company. The latter corporation after the active interference
with its Chinese trade by the Central Pacific people ceased to make travel on their
isthmian line attractive. It is improbable that a successful rivalry with the trans-
continental railroad could have been maintained owing to the enormous saving of
time by the land route, except by offering inducements in the shape of a material
reduction in the rates of fare, and improvements in accommodations, but neither
was resorted to by the company which was completely dominated by the railroad
interest. The new propellers acquired by the Pacific Mail Company during the
Seventies were less commodious than the displaced side wheel steamers, and the
service was no longer as good as it had been during the palmy days of travel by
way of Panama, and before the middle of the eighty decade the line had few attrac-
tions for through passengers.
The waning popularity of the Pacific Mail Company did not affect the pioneer
mind in the same fashion as the disappearance of the stage coach of early days.
The facilities afforded by the steamship company were immeasurably superior to
those which the overland stage line offered, and were availed of by a much larger
number than that which traveled by the perilous Indian infested route, but the
sea trip made less impression than the stories of the hazards, discomforts and
queer experiences encountered in crossing the vast expanse between California and
the Missouri river, which was popularly regarded even in the far West as being
mainly a desert region. The newspapers for years after the opening of the trans-
continental road were filled with reminiscences of the days of coaching, and the
characteristics and exploits of the stage driver were dwelt upon with that insistent
note which proclaims the assurance of the writer that he is describing a popular
character if not a hero, but tales of the sea trip were rarely told. Experience on
ship board and the trials of the immigrant undergone in the effort to reach the
new El Dorado were the themes of many writers, and formed the material for tales
of experiences of the pioneers that were always interesting and often very tragic,
but the pleasures of the enforced idleness, and the glories and magnificence of the
old wooden side wheel steamers found few to sing their praises.
But while the romance and picturesqueness of the isthmian and Nicaraguan
routes made comparatively little impression on the literature of the period, and for
that reason may be assumed to have failed to fire the imagination of those who
traveled over them, what the travelers saw created an enduring opinion which
contributed greatly to the promotion of the sentiment in favor of realizing the dream
of Balboa — that of uniting the two great oceans by a canal. The interest in this
undertaking exhibited by the earlier settlers, and more populous Eastern section of
the Union was sporadic in character, but its practicality and possibilities were never
absent from the minds of Californians, and especially San Franciscans, who, while
they may have differed respecting the merits of the Nicaragua or the Panama plans,
were profoundly convinced that the scheme of joining the Atlantic and Pacific was
SAN FRANCISCO
593
feasible, and were ready to lend enthusiastic encouragement to any project that
promised to realize their sanguine expectations.
It is not extraordinary therefore that when de Lesseps visited San Francisco
after the organization of his Universal Interoceanic Canal Company in 1878, and
the obtainment of a concession from the Colombian government to cut a canal through
the Isthmus of Darien, that he should have been welcomed with open arms. Even
the believers in the practicability of the plan of uniting the two oceans by means
of a canal over the much longer route through Nicaragua, which they had interested
themselves in from the days when the first concessions were granted to the Acces-
sory Transit Company and its successor the American and Atlantic and Pacific
Ship Canal Company, joined in the demonstration. They had regarded as most
feasible the project authorized to the latter company, and felt assured that if the
rivals of Cornelius Vanderbilt, assisted by the filibuster Walker had not inter-
fered with his plans, that sooner or later he would have constructed the canal
which he bargained to dig when he obtained the transportation privileges from the
Nicaraguan government. But when de Lesseps, who had successfully cut through
Suez, arrived on the scene, and apparently was in a position to accomplish the great
feat of cutting through Darien, San Franciscans not only welcomed him but gave
him all the support they could command. It was not much in a monetary way, for
when de Lesseps visited the City it was still in the throes of an unparalleled de-
pression; but the press and the public men spoke words of encouragement to the
enterprise and continued their friendly attitude towards the French project until
mismanagement and apparent incapacity to carry through the undertaking chilled
the sentiment.
This spirit and attitude were the outcome of the firmly intrenched belief that
the future greatness of San Francisco was linked up with the expansion of its sea
commerce. And thus while it happened that the energies of a few men were con-
centrated on the development of land intercourse, and whose efforts were accom-
panied by signal success, no matter what their motives may have been, the business
community fixed its hopes on water carriage. When the fight against railroad mo-
nopoly was being most fiercely waged, and the people seemed by their course to
concede that everything depended on the ability of the commonwealth to restrain
the aggressions of the great corporation and to do justice to those who had made
it possible to build up the great system which was being used to oppress them, there
was no relaxation of the confidence felt that an intelligent use of the ocean would
finally solve the problem in favor of the City. Thus it happened that during a
period otherwise depressed, continued efforts were made to increase the facilities
of the port by the extension of the sea wall and the addition of wharves and piers.
The steps taken as subsequent experience showed were not always intelligent, nor
were they unaccompanied by scandal due to bad political management, but they
were always in the direction of getting something better, and to that extent re-
sponded to the desire of those who urged that the ocean could always be depended
upon to prevent San Francisco coming under the domination of the much feared
railroad monopoly.
De Lessep's
Visit to Sao
Francisco
CHAPTER LIV
SOCIAL CONDITIONS AND THE UNREST DURING THE SEVENTIES
THE CHINESE QUESTION FEDERAL COURTS AND CHINESE THE CHINESE EXCLUSION
ACT VOTE ON CHINESE EXCLUSION IN 1879 CHINESE SERVANTS SAN FRANCISCO
HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS THE WINE DRINKING HABIT THE FREE LUNCH SAN
FRANCISCANS NOT GIVEN TO DISPLAY VULGAR OSTENTATION NOT COMMON RICH
MEN WITH SMALL ESTABLISHMENTS SOCIAL CHANGES DECLINING INFLUENCE OF
THE PIONEER CENTENNARY OF FOUNDING OF THE MISSION SUNDAY OBSERVANCE
THE TREATING HABIT MERCANTILE LIBRARY LOTTERY SALMI MORSE'S PASSION
PLAY THE AUTHORS CARNIVAL A LAW ABIDING PEOPLE RECEPTION OF GENERAL
GRANT CELEBRATIONS AND PAGEANTS AMUSEMENT VOGUE OF OPERA BOUFFE
CHANGE IN TASTE OF THEATERGOERS SPORTS RACING ENCOURAGED EVIDENT
WANE OF NEGRO MINSTRELSY FIRST PRODUCTION OF "PINAFORE" IN AMERICA
PROBABLE ORIGIN OF MOVING PICTURE IDEA PRIZE FIGHTING BASEBALL WALKING
CONTESTS CHILDREN'S SPORTS NEARBY RESORTS GROWTH OF SUBURBS.
HE social life of a people cannot be described by a broad
generalization. Bryce in his "American Commonwealth"
attempted to picture that of San Francisco during the dec-
ade or so prior to his visit in 1881, and has conveyed an
impression that was something less than flattering, although
his animadversions were interspersed with a fair share of
commendation. He told his readers that "living far away
from the steadying influence of the Eastern states the Californians have developed,
and are proud of having done so, a sort of Pacific type, which though differing
but slightly from the usual Western type, has less of the English element than
one discovers in the American living on the Atlantic side of the Rocky Mountains,"
a statement which he immediately follows with: "Add to this that California is the
last place to the west before you come to Japan. That scum which the westward
moving wave of emigration carries on its crest is here stopped because it can go no
farther. It accumulates in San Francisco and forms a dangerous constituent in the
population of that great and growing City — a population more mixed than one finds
anywhere else in America, for Frenchmen, Italians, Portuguese, Greeks and the
children of Australian convicts abound there side by side with Germans, negroes
and Irish."
This summing up has the defect of a half truth. It is true that San Francisco
was a cosmopolitan city at the time he wrote, and it is perhaps indisputable that
the westward movement carried to the City some of the scum and offscourings of
595
Bryce's
Picture of
Society in
the Eighties
San Francis
Not
Disorderly
596
SAN FRANCISCO
English
Associates
1 Francisco
Not
Intolerant
the East, and the other parts of the world ; but the assumption it conveys that the
product was a disorderly community is absolutely without foundation. Ambassador
Bryce is a distinguished writer and bears a high reputation as an investigator, but
in this instance he omitted the precaution of ascertaining the facts, and accepted
the statements of men who were in the position of trying to conceal the part they
had played in an affair the details of which show that they were panic stricken
without cause. San Francisco was not a disorderly city, even at the time when
the vagaries of the sand lotters were being most dwelt upon by the Eastern press.
When a few laundries were being attacked in the City in midsummer 1878, the
mobs in Chicago were fighting with the militia and regular soldiery, and there
was more violence and bloodshed in the course of a few days than was witnessed
in San Francisco during a quarter of a century. The proof of the assertion that
San Francisco was not inhabited by a disorderly population at that time is fur-
nished by the fact that within a few days after the affair which called the pro-
visional police known as the "pick handle brigade" into existence the organization
disbanded and gave itself no further concern, which it would have done had its
leaders believed that the population was inclined to be turbulent or law defying.
The offensive inclusion of the various nationalities named by Bryce with "the
children of Australian convicts," was a gratuitous insult for which he was probably
not responsible, because the statement bears the earmarks of an easily recognized
source of information, that of the bureau which disbursed the funds provided by
the corporation to defeat the "sand lot" constitution. If at that time, or any other
time there was a sufficient number of children of Australian convicts in San Fran-
cisco to attract attention and cause comment, the fact was utterly unknown to the
statistician or the people generally. As for the Frenchmen, the Italians, Portuguese
and Greeks, they were as law abiding as any other part of the community, not ex-
cluding that which claimed to be the most respectable. As a matter of fact the
nationalities named took a smaller part in the agitation than some not named, and
had Mr. Bryce investigated he would have learned that the men most prominently
identified with Denis Kearney were English socialists who for several years prior
to 1 877-78 had been preaching the gospel of dissatisfaction to San Franciscans.
The attempt to make it appear that there was something distinctive in the popu-
lation of San Francisco that acounted for the troubles of 1877-78 must necessarily
prove abortive because after the occurrences of 1851 and 1856 there was nothing
to distinguish the actions of the inhabitants of the Pacific coast metropolis from those
of other American and European cities which contain nearly homogeneous peoples.
After the summary correction of the troubles of the early Fifties there were fewer
riots and exhibitions of mob violence in San Francisco than in any other section of
the Union. In the most staid communities of the East the lives of negroes were
frequently menaced, and on occasions riots occurred in which they were severely
handled. There never was even a remote approach in San Francisco to the intol-
erance exhibited in the anti Catholic riots in Philadelphia and some other cities
during the so called "Know Nothing" excitement, and the City never disgraced
itself by squabbling over the merits of rival actors. The persecution of the Chinese,
so far as San Francisco was concerned, was a figment of the imagination, and the
sum total of the indignities heaped upon the race would appear small by comparison
with those to which Africans were subjected in all the big cities of the Atlantic
SAN FRANCISCO
597
seaboard, not to speak of those sections of the South where fear of black domina-
tion has become ingrained.
While the Chinese were regarded as an undesirable element an innate feeling
that fair play demanded that those who had been permitted to enter the country
should be properly treated prevailed, and even in the one much quoted instance
when a mob destroyed Chinese wash houses no violence was committed on their
persons. The immigrants from China, while not welcomed enthusiastically, were
practically unmolested. The young hoodlum ocasionally tumbled a launderer's basket
of clean linen in the mud, but, as a rule, the Chinese walked the street without
inviting notice except from the stranger in the City who discovered in them objects
of interest. Their merchants did business on the same terms as their white com-
petitors, and, although there has always been a Chinese quarter since the early
Fifties, it was no uncommon thing to find enterprising merchants from China
planting themselves in the midst of white rivals and on the best streets in the
City.
But despite these facts, which senatorial and other investigations disclosed,
there is no doubt that the presence of the alien race in disproportionately large
numbers created an outside impression as injurious as that which the foreigner de-
rived from visiting the slums of New York. The spirit of toleration was largely
responsible for the tumble down and unsavory appearance of "Chinatown" of which
much account was made against San Francisco by visitors who refused to take into
consideration the fact that federal laws, and the unwarranted interference of out-
siders had tied the hands of the community, and prevented proper regulation. The
overcrowding habit was not forced on the Chinese ; their gregarious instincts and
ingrained economy promoted herding, but the City was powerless to prevent the
practice, for when it attempted to enforce cubic air ordinances it was met with the
charge of discrimination, and even its efforts to bring about sanitary reforms en-
countered that obstacle. The precaution adopted in all penal institutions to guard
against prisoners becoming infested with vermin by causing their heads to be shaved
was waived in the case of Chinese because the United States supreme court, through
one of its justices had held that the queue had sacred or other associations, and to
deprive him of it would be an act of cruelty.
The world has since seen the Chinese divest themselves of their queues because
they were a badge of servitude, a fact which the justice was perfectly acquainted
with, and which was well understood by San Franciscans whose determination to
prevent the invasion of their state by a people regarded by them as impossible of
assimilation, a determination which finally prevailed and the consummation of
which was hastened by the agitation of 1877-78. Although Kearney's war cry "The
Chinese Must Go" did not prevail, because the people, for the reason before stated,
did not desire to drive out those who were here and practically on invitation, it did
crystallize the sentiment against their coming. The objection had been strongly
urged before Kearney shouted his slogan on the sand lot. There had been inquiries
and reports prior to 1877, and the legislature of 1877-78 appointed a senatorial
committee of investigation consisting of E. J. Lewis, M. J. Donovan, Frank Mc-
Coppin, George H. Rogers, William M. Pierson and George E. Evans, which held
repeated sittings in San Francisco during the summer of 1878 and developed such
evidence, that its dissemination subsequently turned the tide of sentiment in the
East against Chinese immigration. Its recommendations did not produce imme-
I he
Chinese
Fairly
Federal
Courts
Prevent
Regulation
598
SAN FRANCISCO
Changed
Regarding
Immigration
Home Life
and Chinese
Servants
diate fruit, for a compromise measure suggested, which would have permitted the
introduction of laborers in small numbers which passed both houses was vetoed by
President Hayes.
The misrepresentations concerning the state of sentiment in California influ-
enced Hayes to this course. In vetoing the "fifteen passenger bill," the compromise
measure referred to, he imagined that there was no general apprehension of evil
consequences resulting from the presence of an unassimilable element, but all ex-
cuses of this sort were swept away by the action of the people in the election of
September 3, 1879, when the electorate of California, with a secret ballot, out of a
total vote of 161,405, cast 154,638 against Chinese immigration, and only 833 in
favor of their admission. Subsequently a measure passed congress which effectually
put an end to the agitation against the Chinese. Although the legislation adopted
has not wholly excluded the undesirable element, and has occasionally given rise to
scandals growing out of attempted evasions of the law with the connivance of those
entrusted with its administration, on the whole it has worked effectively.
In 1881 Governor Perkins sent a message to the legislature in which he stated
that immigration into the state during the preceding five years had almost ceased,
and recommended that publications should be made under authority of the state
of its resources, prices and locations of lands available for settlement, the object
being to attract a desirable population. This recommendation presented a marked
contrast to the attitude assumed in 1876 when the legislature was dominated by
men who were convinced that California could not be benefited by representation at
the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. Although the exclusion legislation de-
sired had not been secured at the time when Perkins made his recommendation,
the men to whom he made it saw the handwriting on the wall, and if there were any
who still believed that the best interests of California demanded the introduction
of an abundant supply of cheap Oriental labor they had ceased to have any influ-
ence. It was now recognized that the development of California, and the future of
San Francisco, depended upon making the state a home for a homogeneous people
who would build up its fortunes by developing its manifold resources.
These were experiences which the discovery of gold and California's position
facing the Orient imposed upon her people, and they greatly affected social condi-
tions, but not always in the manner which adverse criticism suggested. It is pos-
sible, however, to trace a connection between the slow growth of home life in San
Francisco, and the servant difficulty which became acute at an early day because
of the presetice of Chinese. While the latter were good servants, and far more
acceptable than whites, to many if not most employers, their presence in the kitchen,
and their employment in other household occupations, tended to degrade those
pursuits in the eyes of those who might otherwise have resorted to them for a live-
lihood. The loose talk about Chinese cheap labor has in a measure disguised the fact
that Orientals never gave their services too cheaply to their white employers. At
no time, even during the period prior to the comparatively effective operation of the
exclusion law, were the rewards of Chinese servants low. The demand for capable
help was always abreast of the supply, because the domestic class of workers could
not be recruited from the source available to the Eastern people. Although wages
were high, being easily more than double or even triple the rates paid on the other
side of the Rocky Mountains, good servants were difficult to obtain, hence the resort
to lodging's and restaurants, hotels and boarding houses.
SAN FRANCISCO
599
Much was said in praise of the hotels of San Francisco by travelers and other
visitors during the Seventies, owing to the enterprise displayed in the erection of
the Palace, which called particular attention to them. They enjoyed a reputation
not surpassed by those of any other city in the country, but occasionally they were
adversely criticized. During this period the "American plan" was general in the
larger hostelries, and it had the defect common to all hotels of the United States
of presenting an abundance of viands badly cooked and illy served. An actress
visiting San Francisco in 1878 writing her experiences several years later re-
marked: "I alighted at the Palace hotel, at that time the richest and most com-
fortable one in California. . . . The service was bad, and just those menus
(much praised) insupportable to the spoilt palate of a European. The cuisine of
America is awful. I shudder when I think of it." As the critic was a princess, as
well as an actress, her verdict is entitled to respectful consideration as representing
the best opinion attainable on a subject which occupied the superior mind more
fully a quarter of a century ago than it does at present.
While this slighting estimate based on the highest standards cannot be lightly
set aside, it may be asserted that the Palace, the Cosmopolitan and the Occidental at
that particular time compared more than favorably, so far as ministrations to the
inner man were concerned, with the very best in the East. The variety and pro-
fusion of the viands served on their tables testified to the abundance of the resources
of the neighboring country, and those who partook of them, when they were not
too completely dominated by the idea that perfection in cooking depends on having
things prepared in the way one is told they should be by the gastronomic authorities
there was satisfaction. Visitors were often inspired to visit the markets which
supplied these tables so bountifully. The disciples of Brillat Savarin, however,
when they dropped into San Francisco were not compelled to live on the American
plan, which by the way, was regarded by many as not much worse than the European
table d'hote. It was possible for them to resort to restaurants where the cooking
was unexceptional, and the prices reasonable, and in which the patrons were accus-
tomed to balancing the merits of a dish, and to asking for a particular vintage with
which to wash it down. Indeed no less an authority than George Augustus Sala,
who spent a few days in the City in the early Eighties, told the readers of his
letters published in a London paper, that the people of San Francisco knew better
what was good to eat than any other Americans, and that its people got more enjoy-
ment out of the table than most others he had met on this side of the water.
But the crowning glory of San Francisco was not its big hotels and its "first
class restaurants." It really rested on its "three for twos." By this expression
the San Franciscan designated those restaurants in which three dishes were served
for a quarter of a dollar, or for "two bits," and on a still cheaper class where a
tolerably filling meal could be obtained for even less than twenty-five cents. The
latter, however, were not nearly so much in evidence as the "three for twos" which,
owing to their popularity were prosperous concerns and able to pay high rents,
which permitted them to establish themselves on prominent streets and display their
attractions through plate glass windows. There were restaurants of this sort that
served five or six thousand meals daily. The service was not distinguished by the
leisurely movements of the waiters, but responded to the hurry-up demands of the
guests. But the viands put before the patron were abundant and wholesome if
they were not served on eggshell china. The meats were especially good, and the
Hotel
Cooking
Criticized
"Three
for Two"
Restaurants
600
SAN FRANCISCO
Hotel and
Restaurant
Appointments
Wine
Generally
Served at
Restaurants
The
Wine-
Drinking
Habit
portion of beef or mutton was large enough to satisfy a vigorous appetite. There
were no "kick shaws," and the cooking came in the category of plain; but there was
a variety to choose from. The diner at these restaurants usually ordered soup, a
portion of meat and a dessert. The meat was always accompanied with potatoes
which were included in the portion. Or the soup might be cut out and a vegetable
ordered in its place, or the combination of three dishes could be formed in any
manner desired by selecting from the long list of soups, meats, vegetables and
desserts, which were priced at 10 cents a dish. Bread and butter were supplied with
the three dishes without extra charge; coffee, tea, chocolate, beer or wine appeared
on the list at the uniform price of ten cents and were often substituted for the
soup or the dessert.
The appointments of these restaurants while not expressing luxury were not
repelling. The napery was clean, the tables always being covered with white cloth
at the beginning of the meal; the glass glittered even if it was heavy and not ele-
gantly shaped, and the dishes were substantial white granite able to stand hard
knocks. It may be said in passing that the refinements of the public table did not
make themselves noticeable at an early period in San Francisco. Marchand's and
the Poodle Dog served their epicurean patrons on dishes no better than those found
in the United States or Popular, two "three for two" restaurants well known during
the Seventies, and the big hotels did not disdain taking precautions against the
destructiveness of waiters and dishwashers.
Another class of restaurants occupying an intermediate place between the two
bit establishment and the more expensive French places served a good dinner, ac-
companied with a pint of wine, for fifty cents. The cooking in these places was
usually French, although specialties suggestive of Italy figured in many of them.
One of the striking peculiarities of these restaurants was the invariability of the
bill of fare. Their successors still exist in the City, and patrons who visited them
thirty or more years ago may to-day order dishes, which were specialties in the early
Eighties, without glancing at the menu, in the full assurance that they will be
forthcoming. It should be added that at all these restaurants wine was served.
At the "three for two" places the portion was a good sized glass of white or red
wine, at the fifty cent and the dollar establishments a pint accompanied the meal.
During the Seventies considerable quantities of French claret in the wood were
imported and sold at the restaurants, but they were almost wholly displaced before
the eighty decade had grown old by California products, the superiority of which
over the ordinary wines of France was conceded by a people who from habitual use
had learned to distinguish between a good and bad beverage.
The almost universal use of wine by the frequenters of restaurants never failed
to make an impression on the visitor to San Francisco who came from parts where
the custom of drinking at meals had not obtained. Undoubtedly it contributed to
an opinion which was generally entertained by Americans that the people of the
Pacific coast metropolis were free livers. But the practice warranted no such as-
sumption. It was no more suggestive of indulgence in the luxuries of the table
than the drinking of coffee. The chances are that not one in twenty who partook
of wine with their meals ever drank any other sort of liquor, and perhaps not one
in fifty ever knew the sensation of getting drunk. To the unaccustomed stranger
public drinking suggested dissipation, but an injurious opinion of this kind was no
more warranted than that which was probably conveyed to Sandy's relations in
SAN FRANCISCO
601
Dumfrashire, or some other place in Scotland, when he wrote home that he had
not been more than a day in London before "bang went a sax pence." Estimates
of morals and manners are largely a matter of environment, and it is necessary to
get well acquainted with a people in order to determine the effects of their idio-
syncrasies, or to decide whether their way is better or worse than the one to which
you have been accustomed.
It sometimes happens, however, that a community may earn an undeserved repu-
tation by indulgence in pride over possessions or accomplishments which are not
regarded as especially admirable by those who lack them. San Francisco was
afflicted with this drawback in the Seventies, for many of its citizens at that time
were under the impression that a distinction was conferred upon their City by
certain bar rooms which were asserted to surpass in elegance those of any other
city in the country. One of these was described as having "chaste oil paintings,
water colors and fine engravings in rich frames." Its furniture was "real and
handsome," and the "large mirrors behind the bar reflected back the rich cut
glass and silver." As a matter of fact it was not exceptionally fine, nor were any
of the others for which that distinction was claimed, but there was one feature
about these establishments and all the others where drinks were dispensed which
for a long time really challenged attention, and that was the free lunch counter,
an institution not unknown to the rest of the country, but which in San Francsico
was developed to a degree unheard of elsewhere. Stale crackers and hardened
bologna sausage did not satisfy the habitue's of the bars of San Francisco; the list
of good things dispensed to their patrons was a long one and embraced the best
the market afforded, and not infrequently the lunch counter proved a genuine
rival of the restaurant.
The spirit that led San Franciscans to boast of their barrooms was by no
means indicative of the true character of the people. Bryce's intimation that there
were many millionaires in California who made a vulgar display of their wealth at
this particular period is not borne out by the facts. The disposition towards ex-
travagant display in public did not extend to private life. Indeed much of the
notoriety achieved by Ralston in connection with his life at Belmont was due to the
exaggerated regard of a large part of the community for the virtue of thrift. He
dispensed hospitality on a scale unusual in California at that time, but it would not
have been deemed exceptional in European countries, nor in the neighborhood of
the wealthier Eastern cities. The tally-ho in which he tooled his guests to the
beautiful country seat in San Mateo county, and the fanfare of the trumpeter were
a challenge to the frugal ideas of men, who although they had acquired com-
petencies still retained the opinion that a public conveyance for a long distance or
a "one horse shay" in town was plenty good enough for anybody.
Ralston's mode of entertainment, even though it may have been regarded as
ostentatious was no more typical of San Francisco than the dressing of a man named
Budd, who as caller of the board was a great favorite of the brokers of the City,
and a well known character in the community. It was said of Budd that he had a
suit of clothes for every day in the year. Whether an inventory would have dis-
closed that number it would be difficult to state, but that he was a conspicuous
dresser, and delighted in making a display of his clothes, every San Franciscan
could testify; but the very fact that Budd was an object of comment because of
his sartorial habits indicates that the men generally were not addicted to elaborate
Dressing and
High Living
602
SAN FRANCISCO
Vulgar
Ostentation
Uncommon
Personal
Property
of Rich Men
dressing. As in all communities given over to speculation the brokers made their
impress, and in San Francisco during the period when stocks were booming they
were extravagant livers. Many of them drove their own teams, and were often seen
on the road to the Cliff house putting their horses through their paces. There was
some "high living" in those days but there was no serious complaint about its high
cost. We are told by a eulogist of the brokers that if one of them "could get
through the month with his personal expenses for less than $1,000 a month he was
fortunate" and did not make a fuss.
All things are relative. If the brokers of the period were able to keep their
personal expenses down to the figure named, and accomplish the result of making
their fellow citizens think that they were a recklessly extravagant lot, it was due
to the fact that the mode of life of the people generally was pitched in another key
than that of vulgar ostentation. And indeed this was the case as the letters of Hunt-
ington to Colton plainly show. One of the railroad magnate's chief grievances
against his associate Stanford, was that the latter had allowed the newspapers to
get hold of the fact that he had bought some costly diamonds for his wife, and
drew out from him that remarkable zoological observation that "the higher a
monkey climbs a tree" the more likely he is to expose himself, especially if he is
painted sky blue. Indeed the earlier policy of the managers of the railroad was to
avoid ostentation. It was disclosed in a trial in 1871 that the president of the Cen-
tral Pacific, Leland Stanford, was only allowed $10,000 per annum for filling that
important office. It is true that he had numerous other sources of revenue due to
his connection with the railroad, but the amount of his official salary at that time
furnishes an excellent measure of the living scale of the more fortunate members
of the community, which is more often determined by the high salaried class than
the accumulators of great fortunes in whom the spirit of thrift has become second
nature.
The reports made to assessors by property holders are not usually regarded as
dependable as "holy writ," but they enable us to form some sort of a concept of
the mode of life of the fortunate, and those of the year 1875-76 provide a complete
refutation of the charge that the men who had made great sums in mines or by spec-
ulation loved to make ostentatious displays of their wealth. Consulting the personal
property roll of that year we find that James C. Flood, the richest of the bonanza
firm living in San Francisco, returned a total of $10,975 worth of personal prop-
erty. His establishment in the City was a very modest one containing $6,000 of
furniture; a piano worth $500; plate to the value of $500; paintings valued at the
same amount; two horses were put in at $600; a carriage at $1,000; a- Rockaway at
$275 ; three buggies at $600 and a phaeton $500, these items totalling the above •
sum. There was no other mining magnate who returned possessions even remotely
approaching in value the amount named. The railroad magnates did not report enor-
mously greater personal possessions. Leland Stanford, whose residence was spoken
of as "palatial," in 1875-76, appeared at the head of the roll with $40,150 worth
of personal property charged to him, $25,000 of which was furniture and $10,000
in hard cash. His horses and vehicles, for purposes of taxation were valued at
only $2,200. Another of San Francisco's wealthiest citizens, Lewis T. Haggin, af-
firmed that his personal property, consisted wholly of furniture and was worth
only $2,000.
SAN FRANCISCO
Of course, despite the fact that the property owner is in the habit of making
oath that his personal belongings are worth what he says they are in his statement,
there is good reason for believing that the assessment roll is more in the nature
of a work of fiction than a reliable statistical presentation. But while uncertainty
attends its figures, they furnish sufficient evidence that there was not much vulgar
■ ostentation, and that, considering the wealth at their command the rich men of this
particular period comported themselves, so far as outward appearances were con-
cerned, in a seemly fashion. The charge of extravagance with far more propriety
could be brought against the general run of the community, because its members
indulged their desires with much more freedom relatively than the men who, by
indirection at least, were charged with contributing to the discontent of the period.
The criticism which Bryce voiced would have been applicable to a later period
than that dealt with by him. When he visited San Francisco in 1881 the City was
in a transition state. Its former leaders were being overshadowed in importance
by the owners of greater wealth, and they resented the fact, apparently unconscious
that the prestige they had enjoyed was due to the. same causes which was putting
their successors at the head. In the formation of new social centers, that which
calls itself society does not inquire narrowly into the origin of wealth, it merely
recognizes the existence of the latter. In that respect it differs in no essential
particular from any other aristocracy. The bluest blood of modern times, before it
took its cerulean hue, ran very red in the veins of robbers and murderers. Long
possession of wealth and the advantages it brings in the way of culture fix the social
status of individuals. So it happened that toward the close of the Seventies, and
in the beginning of the Eighties, the disposition to brand as upstarts and parveneus
all the aspirants to social recognition began to assert itself, and when a wealthy
mining magnate had the presumption to buy a house which had once housed a
merchant prince and gave a grand ball in it he was sneered at, not alone by those
into whose set he was intruding, but by the people at large who always pass a
harsher judgment on the "climber" than on the set which he or she seeks to pene-
trate.
Before this transition began there was a gradual lessening of the influence of the
pioneer who had sometimes been looked up to because he had come to the City or
coast in 1849. The new generation, and the accessions from the East who greatly
outnumbered the earlier arrivals were prone to think that the old ways of doing
business might be improved upon, and that it was better to peer into the future
or deal with the ideas of the present than to adhere to the traditions of the past.
It cannot be said that there ever was a society in San Francisco based on the
pioneer idea, but there was a distinct tendency up to the Eighties on the part of the
successful pioneer's family to assume that the early appearance of its head on the
scene gave his offspring the right to consider themselves as belonging to "the old
families." The real old families of California, those perhaps best entitled to the
appellation, had never asserted themselves to any extent in San Francisco, as in
other parts of the state which had grown less rapidly in wealth and importance.
Perhaps the explanation may be found in the numerous notices which appeared in the
papers during the later Seventies, of the demise of this, that or another old Cali-
fornian, which were usually accompanied by the statement that Don So and So,
"though impoverished at the time of his death was a member of one of the old
Changes
Noted
Lessening
Influence of
the Pioneer
604
SAN FRANCISCO
Centenary
of Founding
of the Mission
The Name
Changing
Habit
Spanish families of California, and was at one time owner of the famous ranch
this, that or the other."
Perhaps the last strong reminder of days past and gone in which the old Cali-
fornian figured in San Francisco was that which he gave by participating in the
celebration of the centenary of the founding of the Mission Dolores. In the
parade of 1876 held to commemorate that event, one of the most interesting features
was a troop of Caballeros, many of them old Californians. They numbered three
hundred and gave exhibitions of their horsemanship on native horses. The saddles
they rode were the richly silver mounted affairs of earlier days, and the trappings
were covered with the same precious metal. Far more interesting than their ability
as riders, or the gorgeous dress they wore was a fact noted by Father Gleason in a
passing observation. "The old bitterness which for years existed between the Mex-
ican and Spaniard," he tells us was to a great extent smoothed over by the friendly
rivalry of the occasion, which brought up memories so dear to them.
As the City grew in numbers some curious practices of early days were greatly
abated and others ceased entirely. In the earliest pioneer period men were not
particular about the names they bore, but a little later, prompted by various consid-
erations there was a regular epidemic of desire for change. At first the legislature
interested itself in the matter of these "new births," but after a while the duty of
considering demands of this sort was relegated to the county courts. There were
injurious comments made on the queer predilection which may have fitted many of
the cases, but the most of the changes were prompted by practical motives. Ger-
mans and other foreigners who had brought with them to the new El Dorado names
which did not sound well when translated, or which the people in their new environ-
ment found it difficult to pronounce, sought to have them converted into prosaic
everyday titles which would not attract attention, but there were some undoubtedly
who sought to exchange a plain cognomen like Smith or Jones to something more
distinctive. There is at least one instance of this sort in which one of the former
tribe was transformed by act of the legislature into Amor de Cosmos.
In an earlier chapter reference was made to the swing of the pendulum which
resulted in the passage of a Sunday law which was never enforced. At frequent
intervals attempts were made to bring about a stricter observance of the first day
of the week, invariably without success. The only effect of these agitations was
to cause irritation, and finally, on the recommendation of Governor Stoneman in
1883, the legislature repealed the law. There was absolutely no change in conse-
quence. People continued to act as they had while the law was in force, but the
most noticeable and offensive practice, that of selling goods on Sunday, ceased, the
abandonment of the practice being entirely voluntary. Before the Eighties numbered
four San Francisco was a quiet city on Sunday. Very few stores, and they were in
the meaner quarters of the town, were kept open, and there were no more martial
strains of music heard as the picnic parties marched to the wharves. Theaters
did not close their doors, and there was no pretense of holding sacred concerts
within their walls ; but so far as the community generally was concerned it was not
disturbed, and to find occasion for offense it was necessary to seek for it, for there
were no longer any flagrant exhibitions of disregard for the sensibilities of those
who held to a rigid observance of rules that the cosmopolitan population of the
City insisted upon characterizing as puritanical.
SAN FRANCISCO
605
That there was a tendency towards strictness in the closing years of the Seven-
ties and in the beginning of the Eighties was evidenced by the attempt to induce
the legislature of 1877-78 to pass an act forbidding the practice of drinking at
bars. The movement originated in San Francisco and was urged by those who
thought that the evils connected with drink were principally, if not wholly, due to
the treating habit which prevailed to an alarming extent about this time. The
habit of entering saloons was largely promoted by the comparative neglect of
home life, and a scarcity of clubs, and was indulged in by all classes of society.
The business man entertained his customer at the numerous bars, and the customer
reciprocated. The lines of what later became the "cocktail route" were well marked
out in those days, and the number who went over it daily was large. Curiously
enough while treating was so prevalent the temperance movement was stronger in
the City than at any time before or since. There was an organization known as the
"Dashaways" carrying on an active campaign against the drink habit and the meas-
ure of its popularity may be gathered from the fact that its membership was ex-
tensive enough to permit the purchase of a fine piece of property on Post street,
and the erection upon it of a commodious hall. The subsequent history of the or-
ganization was not entirely creditable. After the failure of the anti-treat bill there
was a gradual abatement of the more demonstrative forms of the drink habit, and
with the growth of clubs and the multiplication of modes of amusement the mis-
sionary spirit subsided and the Dashaways finally diminished in numbers until the
organization wholly faded away, those remaining faithful to the last dividing among
themselves the sum derived from the sale of the property acquired during the ac-
tive career of the association, at the same time furnishing the cynical San Fran-
ciscan with a new verb — to dashaway.
Among the other practices which once had great vogue in San Francisco, and
was made much of during the Seventies, was that of New Year's calling. About
the beginning of the Eighties it commenced to lose the stamp of fashionable ap-
proval. For several years it remained a popular institution, but it ceased to be
observed by those who had once prided themselves on keeping open house and
making a display of hospitality whose most prominent feature was the dispensing
of liquid refreshments. About the same time that the New Year's calling habit
lost its fashionable character the habit of drinking champagne at bars fell into
desuetude. This was a custom begotten by the desire of the gold miner of early
days to show his liberality, and perhaps to advertise his good fortune. It was
known as opening a bottle or treating to wine, the word "wine" in the vernacular
of the period being exclusively retained for the sparkling product of the grape.
There were other changes during the Seventies indicating the approach of the
community towards the conditions existing in the older communities. In 1870 no
one thought of deprecating the proposition to lift the Mercantile library out of
the slough of despond created by a big debt, by holding a lottery. Not the slight-
est difficulty was experienced in persuading the legislature to pass an act authoriz-
ing the scheme, and on October 31, 1870, there was a drawing, at which a capital
prize of $60,000 and other sums were distributed. A grand concert marked the
occasion, but it was not designed to mask the true nature of the affair, which was
a frank appeal to the strong gambling instinct still existent, to help an institution
which, through a combination of bad management and insufficient patronage had
become financiallv embarrassed. The lottery was a social as well as a financial
The
Treating
Habit
Assailed
(alls do
Fashionable
Mercantile
Library
Lottery
SAN FRANCISCO
Passion Flay
Actors
Arrested
of the Play
success; everybody who could do so attended the drawing, the board of brokers
being present in a body. The capital prize was won by some one in New Orleans,
and the surplus was devoted to the purposes of the library, which, however, never
flourished and finally gave up the ghost, its books being merged into the collection
of the Mechanics institute. Nine years later the sentiment had changed so com-
pletely that men who were prominently identified with the promotion of the lottery
scheme were foremost in causing to be inserted into the Constitution of 1879 the
section forbidding the legislature to authorize lotteries or gift enterprises, and direct-
ing it to pass laws to prohibit the sale in California of lottery or gift enterprise
tickets.
Perhaps the swing of the pendulum from the side of laxity to that of strictness
received its most significant illustration in 1879, when a playwright named Salmi
Morse succeeded in persuading the local manager of a theater to produce a piece
which was called "The Passion Play." Its first performance was at the Grand
opera house on March 3, 1879, and the actors who took part were from the
Baldwin theater. The production was at once attacked by press and pulpit, and
the board of supervisors passed an ordinance forbidding any representations of a
religious nature on the stage. Out of deference to what seemed public opinion
the performance was suspended. Subsequently, however, there was a more tolerant
disposition displayed. Those who had seen the first representations declared that
there was nothing to offend the sensibilities of the religiously inclined, and that
the performance at Oberammergau was no more calculated to excite reverential
emotion than that of the artists who were in the cast, some of whose names after-
ward became known to the world.
This temperate criticism was regarded as indicative of a changed attitude and
it was resolved to repeat the production and the house was reopened on April 15th.
At the close of the performance James O'Neill, who personated the Savior, was
arrested and a couple of days later he, together with F. E. Brooks, W. J. Dugnan,
J. M. McConnell, William Seymour, David Belasco, A. D. Bradley, Lewis Morri-
son, J. H. Long, J. H. Wooland and E. A. Ambrose, all members of the Baldwin
theater, were called to answer charges of misdemeanor for violating the ordinance
forbidding the presenting for money any play having it in any religious incidents.
O'Neill was fined $50 and the author appealed the case, which was finally decided
adversely to the defendants, Judge Morrison of the fourth district court holding
that the board of supervisors had the right to pass such an ordinance, and adding
that the life and death of the Savior was not a proper subject for theatrical repre-
sentation.
There was much difference of opinion concerning the merits or demerits of the
performance, and it may have been due to the fact that the severest critics, and the
opposition generally came from those who had not seen the performance. Those
who did were sure that its effect on the spectator must be to arouse reverence. It
was finely staged, probably under the direction of David Belasco, who since that
time has acquired international fame. The tableaux have never been surpassed in
this City, and the acting was without the flaws which mark the performances of
amateurs. The play itself had no great literary merit, but its author, Salmi Morse,
had the dramatic sense well developed, and the art to adhere closely to the English
style of the King James version of the Bible. After the decision of Judge Morri-
son no further attempt was made to repeat the performance in San Francisco, but
SAN FRANCISCO
607
it was essayed in New York, where it was accorded a cold reception and was vio-
lently attacked, especially by the Protestant clergy. It should be noted that in
bringing proceedings against the violators of the ordinance the women in the cast
were not molested. May Wilkes and Kate Denin played the parts of the Virgin
Mary and Herodias.
The favorite mode of raising money for charitable purposes during the Seventies
continued to be that of earlier years with a modification. The benefit performance
had not lost its vogue entirely and amusement was still relied upon to coax the
dollars from the pockets of the forehanded into the coffers of the organized chari-
ties. In the summer of 1879 the active spirits of the period laid plans for a great
entertainment to be held at the Mechanics pavilion, and to be known as the Authors'
Carnival. The pavilion at that time was situated on the corner of Eighth and
Mission streets. It was a large frame structure extending nearly the length of the
block along Eighth, in the direction of Market street, and was well adapted to the
affair, the chief feature of which was a nightly pageant in which all of the repre-
sentatives of the characters made familiar by noted authors participated, costumed
to suit the part. There were booths dedicated to the leading lights of literature,
and in each the principal and sometimes all of the creations of the author were de-
picted. This was particularly true of those of Dickens, whose popularity at that time
was attested by the fact that the spectators generally were able to recognize them
without assistance. The procession made up of the varied characters with knights
and ladies, kings and beggars, beaux and saint was a glittering and interesting
spectacle as it moved through the broad aisles of the pavilion and was witnessed
during ten nights by thousands. All of the participants were amateurs and their
only reward for a great deal of hard work was the consciousness of doing a good
deed, and the privilege of being admitted to the grand ball which wound up the
affair. The total receipts for the ten days amounted to $44,819.50. In the ensuing
year the carnival was successfully repeated but with lessened enthusiasm, and
smaller pecuniary results.
These activities and charities and the amusements of the period which are yet
to be described, indicate that the people of California were becoming very like
those of the older states of the Union, yet Bryce thought he saw characteristics
which distinguished them from the normal American. Californians "had formed the
habit of buying and selling in the mining exchanges, with effects on the popular
temper both in business and politics which everyone can understand," but seem-
ingly he failed to comprehend their real temperament for he assumed that there
was bred in them a distaste for patient industry, and a recklessness and turbulence
in their inner life which did not fail to express itself in acts. It cannot be insisted
upon too strongly that this view is a mistaken one, and that the people of the
state, and particularly of San Francisco, did not lack stability of character. It is
true though, as he asserted, that the most active minds of San Francisco were too
much engrossed in business to attend to politics, but it is absolutely untrue that
"the masses were impatient, accustomed to blame everything and everybody but
themselves for the slow approach of the millennium, and that they were ready to try
instant, even if perilous, remedies for a present evil." Unless it can be said that
an agitation carried on for many years can be regarded as evidence of an impatient
disposition and a resort to legal methods to remedy grievances can properly be
characterized as a demand for the application of perilous remedies, the distinguished
Stability
Not Lacking
608
SAN FRANCISCO
Beceptic
■enen
Grant
Celebrations
Decorations
Englishman must be considered to have made a blundering diagnosis of the trouble
from which San Francisco suffered, which after all that has been said on the sub-
ject consisted mainly in the people getting twenty-five or thirty years in advance
of the modern movement which Roosevelt thinks he is leading, but which was
mapped out for him by California in its so-called "sand lot" constitution.
Otherwise Californians were a perfectly normal people, pretty much like the
people of other states of the Union. They took their amusements and religion in
the same way, perhaps accentuating their preference for the former a little more
strongly than the people of other American cities, and although San Francisco
"was a New York which had no Boston on one side of it, and no shrewd and or-
derly population on the other to keep it in order," it managed to perform that
duty for itself, and its defenders can safely challenge comparison with other cities
whether in Europe or America, in the full assurance that the record will show that
for a half a century it has managed to preserve the peace better, and has had a
more law abiding population than any other city occupying the position Bryce
assigned it when he said "California more than any other part of the Union is a
country by itself and San Francisco a capital."
San Francisco had so many distinguishing features during the Seventies and
early Eighties it was hardly necessary to invest its people with characteristics they
did not possess. There was, for instance, its propensity to enter wholesouledly
into anything in which it took an interest, a disposition oftener present in places
that do not aspire to headship than in capitals. When General Grant passed
through San Francisco, in the early part of the winter of 1879, he was accorded
a reception which he subsequently declared caused him to feel more emotion than
he had experienced during the entire course of his travels. The enthusiasm of the
welcome enhanced the delight of setting foot in his native land after a long ab-
sence, and the heartiness made him feel as though he had reached home, as indeed
he had, for San Francisco knew him before he had distinguished himself and
written his name large in history. The population of the City has grown greatly
since the day when a fleet of vessels numbering hundreds welcomed him outside
the heads, and escorted the Pacific mail steamer, on which he was the honored
passenger, to its dock, but never since have the throngs on the streets through
which the procession moved on the day of his arrival seemed denser. The whole
country for hundreds of miles around had invaded the gaily decorated city and
its main thoroughfares were overflowing with humanity. An observant police
officer who had occasion to investigate made the assertion that the outpouring was
so great that practically every house in the City was deserted by its occupants
while the ovation was in progress, but happily without evil results so far as the
safety of property was concerned.
There is a period in the life of a young and growing city in which more stress
is laid upon celebrations than after its position is assured. In that joyous time
which began early in San Francisco demonstrations were largely, if not wholly,
spontaneous, and the result, not infrequently, was more striking than that pro-
duced under the stimulus of high organization. In pioneer days there were numer-
ous impromptu processions which lingered in the memory of the people for many
years, and later there were "turn outs" involving some preparation, but which
were devoid of the attentant feature of involuntary contributions. The demand
made upon the purses of merchants and others, as a city grows in size, weakens
SAN FRANCISCO
the voluntary spirit and finally spontaneity becomes a lost virtue. In the recep-
tion tendered to Grant there was no further preparation and organization than
that necessary to shape a demonstration which was absolutely spontaneous, and
it was unnecessary to suggest decoration. This spirit was carried into all public
affairs and, as a result, when occasion seemed to suggest the propriety of giving
the City an air of festivity there was something like an approach to the exuberance
of display witnessed in Dutch towns in the time of Charles V. In 1883, when
the triennial conclave of the Knights Templars was held in this City large sums
were expended by private individuals upon decorations. Flowers were used in
great profusion, intermingled with bunting and silk, very few business houses on
the frequented thoroughfares omitting this mark of attention to the visiting strangers.
This visit was signalized by the unveiling of the statue of Garfield in Golden Gate
park, the ceremonies attending which were witnessed and the oration of the day
heard by over 60,000 people. The orator was Henry Highton and his theme was
the career of the murdered president and the dangers attendant upon license of
thought and speech.
There is much more of artificiality in the pageants of the present day; the
music heard in the processions is better, and when the effort is made as in the case
of the Portola celebration, the floats are more gorgeous and the crowds on the
streets are greater, but the uniforms of the marchers bear no comparison to those
of the citizen soldiery. The flags and banners borne by the marchers of the pres-
ent lack the color and bullion which were so greatly affected by celebrating or-
ganizations of the Seventies. The advent of the National Guard, with its uniform
of blue, and its improvement in discipline, desirable features in their way, was
at the expense of picturesqueness, the desire for which made the dragon parades
of the Chinese, and the introduction of other Oriental features, welcome at a time
when a violent verbal crusade was being waged against the entrance of Chinese
into the country. And this is one of the peculiarities of the San Franciscan tem-
perament worth noting. While the strongest expressions possible were used in
denouncing the customs of the aliens, their idolatrous practices were not interfered
with, except by the busy missionaries, who sought to convert them. There is no
record of any attempt to molest the Chinese in the worship of their gods, nor
were their funerals, in which pagan superstitions were obtruded on the people
on the busiest streets, ever publicly disapproved of by the authorities or objected
to by the community, although they might have been on the ground that the peace
of the City was violently fractured by the clashing of cymbals and other noisy
devices resorted to by the friends of the deceased to scare away the devils.
Indeed the people of San Francisco were exceptionally tolerant in the matter
of street usages during this period. The main thoroughfares were by no means
sightly overhead, or in good condition under foot. Market street was paved with
squares of basalt, which were laid in the sand, and in places, owing to the sub-
terranean work, the pavement presented a billowy appearance. In the process of
what was called street cleaning the dirt was pressed into the gaping interstices
between the blocks, later when dry to be shaken loose and driven about by the
brisk breezes. The practice of circulating hand bills prevailed, announcements of
all kinds being distributed to pedestrians who immediately threw them away, thus
adding to the disreputable appearance of the thoroughfare which, however, was
no worse than that which a glance upward revealed. Stretched from side to side
Pageants
and Uniforms
of the Past
Street
Scenes In
the Seventies
610
SAN FRANCISCO
Wane of
Minstrelsy
of the street, at frequent intervals, were lines from which banners and business
signs depended at all seasons of the year, the display becoming particularly riotous
during political campaigns, when aspirants for office sometimes announced that
the "present" incumbent was again running. Over the uneven pavement advertis-
ing wagons, ringing noisy bells and resorting to other devices to attract attention,
jolted. Frequently footsore bandsmen marched at the head of a funeral, playing
Chopin's funeral march, a post mortem attention accorded to all the departed
members of the numerous organizations of the Latin quarter, and to some others.
Occasionally when a musician was thus honored, the size of the band, and the
volume of its performances, arrested attention, but usually the cortege would pass
unnoticed by the hurrying throng. With the cessation of intra mural burial the
funeral parade gradually grew less popular and threatens to become a mere memory.
The alternations of hard and "flush" times in San Francisco beginning with
1870 may have affected the box offices of theaters, but the records do not indicate
any diminution in the amusement loving characteristic of her people. A compari-
son of the attractions presented between 1870 and 1883 in the City and at the
East indicates that nearly every performer of note found his way to San Fran-
cisco. As the City, during the entire period, was the only place on the coast where
an actor, or a singer, could expect remunerative audiences, Los Angeles and other
flourishing cities in this and the neighboring states to the north being still in the
village stage of existence, their success and rewards are a phenomenon worth noting.
During the years mentioned there were some significant changes in the taste of
amusement seekers. Italian opera had lost a great deal of its popularity, and
minstrelsy was in the decadent stage until it enjoyed a revival through the efforts
of Billy Emerson, who maintained an "opera" house on Bush street, in the late
Seventies and early Eighties. Much of the troupe's success was due to the wit of
"Charlie" Reed, who perceived the waning inclination of audiences for the ordi-
nary features presented by minstrels, and had the sagacity to introduce a new
local burlesque every week, in which the foibles of the people were dealt with,
sometimes without gloves. These gave the performances a vogue for a while and
when they ceased to please minstrelsy was no longer an institution in San Fran-
cisco. The Standard theater on Bush street, run by Emerson, was the last house
in the City in which minstrel performances were regularly given in the old days.
The failure of Italian opera to hold the affections of San Franciscans during
the early part of this period was due more perhaps to the general decline in which
it had temporarily fallen than to any other cause, but there are traces of a grow-
ing desire for opera in the vernacular, and for more novelty and less devotion to
the works of the favorite composers of the earlier period. It was no longer pos-
sible to present "Norma" four or five nights in succession, and the music lovers
had a surfeit, for the time being, of "II Trovatore" and other operas which they
knew by heart. It is not strange, therefore, that they hailed with satisfaction a
change, even though the purists thought it was one for the worse. But whatever
may have been the real opinion of advocates of "good music" their criticisms did
not prevail. Grand opera for a time was neglected and opera bouffe, and a little
later English opera of a new school, usurped its place. In the early Seventies the
music of Offenbach and of some of his imitators took the City by storm. A French
company, whose prima donna had achieved a Parisian success, visited the City,
and played an engagement at the California which extended over several weeks,
SAN FRANCISCO
611
during which the "Grande Duchesse," "Genevieve de Brabant" and numerous
other operas were sung, some of which still hold the stage while others like
"Fleur de The" are no longer heard. In 1874 the company again visited the City,
introducing to the music loving public "La Fille de Madame Angot," which made
quite a furore. In 1879 Maurice Grau brought Aimee, whose San Francisco popu-
larity dated back to the beginning of the decade. The company produced "Madame
Favart," "Girofle-Girafla," "Les Brigands," "La Petit Faust," and "La Belle Hel-
ene," in addition to the early favorites. An incident connected with the visit of the
company was an attempt to signalize the conclusion of the engagement with a
"French ball," which was to be a gay affair, to be participated in by Aimee and
others. It proved a great disappointment, and was voted tame by those who at-
tended expecting to witness the abandon generally attributed to the Moulin Rouge.
Toward the close of the decade, in 1879, there was a revival of the old time
yearning for grand opera which was gratified by Mapleson, who brought out Marie
Roze, who sang in "Lucia," "Favorita," "Trovatore," "Martha," "Rigoletto,"
"Faust," the "Masked Ball" and "Mignon" at the Baldwin theater during April,
and on May 5 opened at the Grand opera house in "Aida," which attracted six
large audiences. The success of this season was in marked contrast to that of a
German company, which had produced "The Flying Dutchman" at the Grand
opera house, with a noted tenor. Wagner's music had not attained the vogue it
later obtained in the City, the inclination for the more melodious if lighter music
being still dominant. The attachment to the old favorites, however, had greatly
weakened, and even Anna Bishop, who had so long maintained a hold on the peo-
ple, and who visited San Francisco in 1873, did not seek to revive it, but con-
tented herself by singing in concert at Piatt's hall, on the corner of Montgomery
and Bush streets.
The most striking change in the popular musical taste was that which devel-
oped itself towards the close of the Seventies, closely synchronizing with the rising
popularity of Gilbert and Sullivan. The plays of the former had been made
familiar to the people by the stock company of the Baldwin theater, which had at
different times produced his "Palace of Truth," "Pygmalion and Galatea," "Sweet-
hearts" and "Engaged," the enterprising manager taking advantage of the absence
of an international copyright law to appropriate the plays. "The Sorcerer," the
libretto of which was written by Gilbert, and the music by Sullivan, had attracted
little or no attention in this country and there was no temptation to steal it, but
the English success of "Pinafore," written in 1878, tempted the agent of Alice
Oates to appropriate it very shortly after its first production in London. Oates
was then performing in San Francisco at the Bush street theater, producing in
English the operas of Offenbach, Le Cocq and other French opera bouffe compos-
ers. On January 1, 1879, she introduced to the San Francisco public Gilbert and
Sullivan's "Pinafore," said to have been its first presentation in America. It did
not make any particular impression, the audience failing to catch the point of the
satire, owing to their unfamiliarity with the doings of the British admiralty, and
it must be added, that as interpreted by Oates and her company, it did not greatly
resemble the later productions.
But the early indifference was more than compensated by the eagerness with
which the opera was received a few months later. On June 6, 1889, Emily Mel-
ville opened with an amateur company in the Standard theater, singing the part
of Grand
Opera
First
Production In
America of
Pinafore
612
SAN FRANCISCO
Change in
Dramatic
Taste
Star9
Visit San
Francisco
of Josephine, and three days later Charles E. Locke, in the Bush street theater,
across the street, offered "Pinafore," with R. D. Graham as Sir Joseph Porter,
and Anna Ainsworth as Josephine, stating on the house bill that the new opera
was "obtained in London direct from the author." Graham had been with Oates,
and had sung the part of Sir Joseph when the opera was originally presented in
San Francisco, but his later interpretation scarcely suggested his first effort. In
less than a month another company was attracting audiences to the Metropolitan
temple, and in October the San Francisco Yacht club produced "Pinafore on
the Water." The Tivoli, on the night of July 3, 1879, introduced "Pinafore" to
its patrons in conjunction with "Trial by Jury," and they were the attractions
at that place of amusement for 81 continuous nights. The Tivoli was then situ-
ated on the northwest corner of Sutter and Stockton streets in a frame building
surrounded with shrubbery, which gave some point to its claim to being a garden,
and combined the dispensing of refreshments, particularly beer, with melody. In
October Emily Melville introduced a newly formed company to a Bush street
theater audience. Although composed of local talent it was by no means ama-
teurish. It sang "Pinafore" and other English operas for several months. Nearly
all of the company, which subsequently visited Eastern cities, entered the profes-
sion, and Emily Melville long continued a favorite in this City, the East and in
Australia.
The change in the taste for the drama during this period was fully as marked
as the altered attitude of the San Franciscan toward Italian opera. There was a
marked diminution of the interest once taken in sombre plays, and the tragedian
or interpreter of Shakespeare had to come well heralded in order to secure a good
audience such as would a few years earlier have filled a house when "Richard III,"
"Hamlet," "Othello" or any of the favorite Shakespearian plays were presented.
When George Rignold in 1876 visited the City and presented "Henry V," at
Wade's opera house, he played to crowded houses, but the reputation of the actor
and the mounting of the piece were the attraction and not the name of Shakespeare.
A little later a local Shakespearian revival was attempted with great success at
the California, but it was wholly due to the novelty of the music by a local com-
poser named Kelly, a musician of merit. It was sufficiently distinctive to excite
the desire of Charlie Reed to burlesque the music and the accompanying reading
of the lines, which he did in an amusing fashion, without, however, shaking the faith
of the admirers of Kelly, who were firm in their conviction that a new musical
star had arisen. Adelaide Lee Neilson in July, 1880, by her great talent, revived
an interest in "Romeo and Juliet," but her success merely illustrates the truth of
what has already been said, that Shakespeare had ceased to be a name to conjure
with unless the representation happened to be by an actor of her merit, or of the
rank of Edwin Booth, or by the unfortunate Sheridan, a member of a local stock
company, whose genius might have won world wide fame if' its fires had not been
quenched by strong drink.
During the Seventies and the early Eighties San Francisco Was not neglected
by the stars of the first magnitude, all of whom appeared to think that a visit to
San Francisco was necessary to round out their fame. Among them may be enu-
merated Mrs. D. P. Bowers, E. A. Sothern. Eben Plympton, Robson and Crane,
Charles Fechter, Dion Boucicault, John T. Raymond, Clara Morris and Charles
Wheatleigh, whose visits began in the early Fifties and continued at intervals
SAN FRANCISCO
613
down to 1877. The death of Otille Genee in Berlin in November, 1911, recalled
the fact that she successfully maintained a German theater in this City, between
1863 and 1884, during which time she introduced many clever artists. An event
often referred to with pride was the first appearance on the stage of Madame
Modjeska, who made her debut in this City and achieved an instant success. The
event occurred August 20, 1877, and the distinguished artist in after life frequently
referred to the influence the cordial reception and the recognition she received had
in promoting her subsequent artistic career.
During the Seventies there was apparent a growing disinclination for Irish
melodrama which had once been so popular in San Francisco. Barney Williams
and his wife had disappeared from the scene, but had they appeared again with
their "Irish Boy and Yankee Girl" they would no longer have been welcome, nor,
toward the close of the decade did the "Connie Soogah" and "Arrah na Pogue"
meet with the same favor as during the Sixties and early Seventies. But while
the melodrama had ceased to interest Irish portraiture had not. When Edward
Harrigan, who had during the Sixties entertained San Francisco audiences at the
Bella Union with sketches, which he afterward rounded out into a series of plays
illustrative of tenement life in New York, returned to the City in 1878, lie was
welcomed with open arms. He jdayed several weeks at the Bush street theater,
and the popularity of his presentations was enhanced by the support he received
from Annie Yeamans, another old time favorite, whose characterizations at the
Eureka theater in 1865 had established her in the good graces of the amusement
lovers of the City.
Two influences in San Francisco during this period stand out very plainly in
the annals of amusements. The first is that exercised by the stock company formed
by Maguire, and which occupied the stage of the Baldwin for several years ; the
other was the insistent demand for music which met a response in the formation
of the first Tivoli company, for which the claim has been made that it inaugurated
in America the practice of giving opera all the year around. The Baldwin com-
pany was made up of artists, and the boastful assertion that it was one of the best
stock companies in the United States was justified by the subsequent careers of
the members, who nearly all, after its disbandment, took their places in the the-
atrical firmament as stars. In this company were included at one time James
O'Neill. Lewis Morrison, Bishop, the well known comedian, and an actor named
Jennings, whose versatility was extraordinary. The industry of the company was
marvelous, it being the custom of Maguire to present a fresh play weekly. Many
of the plays thus produced were London, Paris or Berlin successes of the moment,
there being few scruples against, and no law to prevent the appropriation of for-
eign copyrighted pieces. The result was the early introduction to San Franciscans
of many plays not seen in the United States outside of their City. Maguire, whose
career as a manager dated back to the earliest pioneer days, had many ups and
downs, but was always recognized as a resourceful caterer. Much of the success
achieved by the Baldwin Stock Company was due to David Belasco, whose remark-
able abilities were clearly recognized and appreciated by the amusement loving
people of San Francisco long before the world pronounced its eulogies.
The Tivoli garden, which began to assert itself as a musical resort in 1879,
published a Christmas souvenir in 1880, in which it reviewed some of its successes.
Commencing September 25, 1879. it produced "The Wreck of the Pinafore;" "The
Theater Stock
Company
614
SAN FRANCISCO
Doctor of Alcantara;" "The Sorcerer/' which ran 28 nights; "Madame Angot's
Daughter/' 26 nights; "Girofle-Girafla," 28 nights; "The Little Duke," 24 nights;
the "Grande Duchesse," 21 nights. Altogether during 1880 it repeated "Trial
by Jury" and "Pinafore" 84 nights. The artists who assumed the roles in these
operas were not great, but they became favorites not easily displaced. Among
them were Hattie Moore, Harry Gates and H. de Lorme, who managed to retain
their hold on the public after the Tivoli had entered the regular amusement field
by opening an opera house on the north side of Eddy street near the junction of
Market and Powell, which was probably the first house in the United States in
which opera was presented every night of the year. It should be added that from
the beginning the work of the Tivoli orchestra was excellent, a fact which more
than any other contributed to the early success of the garden, which finally devel-
oped into a regular opera house which remained one of the best known places of
amusement until its later home on the corner of Eddy and Turk streets was de-
stroyed in the great conflagration.
During this period while there was an abatement of the propensity to resort
to the theaters for assistance for charitable purposes, the benefit habit still con-
tinued, although the calls on the profession were less frequent than in the early
days. On the occasion of the Chicago fire in 1871 there was a prompt movement to
raise money for the sufferers. In October all the theaters gave benefit performances
at which considerable sums were raised. The Metropolitan, California, Bella Union,
Alhambra and the Oxford, a music hall, all responded to the appeal, as did the
school department and pupils, whose contributions amounted to $1,500. The
musicians also gave a performance at Piatt's hall, the proceeds of which added to
those resulting from the theatrical benefits and the individual contributions made
a handsome sum which helped the Chicago unfortunates to weather a hard winter.
At the close of this period it was still the practice in amusement circles to
count San Francisco as one of the best "show towns" in America, and the fact that
it required the expenditure of a very considerable sum to transport an organization
across the continent, and that when the coast was reached the City was the only
place where a remunerative engagement could be played, amply testifies to the
accuracy of the observation, for, as already shown, venturesome managers did not
hesitate to bring large companies throughout the Seventies and the early Eighties,
and usually they were well rewarded for their enterprise. At the beginning of
the decade 1880 there were perhaps fewer theaters than ten or twenty years ear-
lier, but they were in a better class of buildings and the amusement business was
on a higher plane than formerly. At this time there were about a dozen places of
entertainment where performances or concerts were regularly given, the largest
of which was the Grand opera house, built during the period when mining specu-
lation ran high. It was situated on the north side of Mission near Third. It had
a spacious stage and seated a large audience. Its foyer and lobbies permitted
circulation between acts, and they were freely resorted to during seasons of grand
opera. It was illuminated by gas, and had a central crystal chandelier not sur-
passed in size or magnificence by any other in the country. In addition to the
Grand opera house, the California, Baldwin, Bush street and Standard theaters
were flourishing at this time, not to mention the Bella Union, the Adelphi, Mer-
cantile Library and Piatt's hall, the Metropolitan temple and a number of minor
halls, whose stages were rarely unoccupied.
SAN FRANCISCO
615
That a people as devoted to amusement as San Franciscans were during the
Seventies and early Eighties, should also have been lovers of outdoor sports is not
surprising. The all around athletic spirit had not reached its present high stage
of development, but racing and contests for supremacy of all kinds, whether on
the track, or in the field, were in great favor, and attracted large crowds. In those
days the attitude of the public towards the race course was vastly different from
that assumed within the past few years. The legislature of 1873-74 instead of
devoting itself to the restriction of the pleasures of the turf, was inclined to pro-
mote them, and did not see anything wrong in backing one's judgment of a horse.
At that session an act was passed closing a number of streets opposite Golden
Gate park which led into Fulton street, for the purpose of creating a race track.
Prominently identified with this venture were Leland Stanford and others con-
nected with the railroad. The establishment of the track in this situation was
largely influenced by the plans of those connected with the street car system. At
the time of its creation, to most people in San Francisco it seemed a location which
would not soon be reached by the advancing tide of home seekers, but those who
invested their money in the enterprise foresaw that they would get it back in the
near future when the demand for lots would make it profitable to cut up the tract.
When the Bay district track was first established public sentiment against
racing, as implied by the action of the legislature, was not aggressive. There
were some who maintained that betting was demoralizing and should not be per-
mitted, but the argument that the contests resulted in improving the breed of
horses appealed strongly to the practical, and besides, strange as it may seem,
at that time the professional gambler was not nearly so much in evidence on the
race track as at a later period. Although the people loved to see a race betting
on the races had not developed into a mania, and the fleecing of the unwary was
not much practiced. The betting instinct was probably as strong, but the game
had not been systematized so that the race track operator could gather in the
nickel of the newsboy with the same facility that he does larger sums. Men who
bet for "the sport of the thing," in early days if called upon to answer for the
practice were always ready to urge that they were encouraging a great industry,
one that would bring profit and fame to California.
That was before the advent of the automobile, when no one foresaw that the
horse would succumb to a rival. The belief in the value of such contests was sup-
ported by visible evidences of what seemed to be a result of racing. The stock farm
established at Palo Alto by Governor Stanford, in a way, did more to spread the
fame of California and its climate than all the books published by "boosting"
committees to boom the resources of the state. The horses raised on this farm,
and on the Santa Ana ranch of E. J. Baldwin in Los Angeles, were seen in every
state of the Union, and proclaimed the fact that an animal reared out of doors
and at large during the winter is apt to have qualities not found in those trained
under less clement skies. The success attained at these ranches was the magnet
that drew the stables from all parts of the United States to winter in California.
The presence of so much "equine talent," and the recognized benefits of raising
fine stock effectually silenced criticism of the racing practice. At that time fine
stock was an engrossing subject in California and occupied the minds of others
than the frequenters of the race track. To this fact may be traced the invention
of the universally popular and highly educational moving picture. It was a San
Racing
Receives
Legislative
Encourage-
The
Public and
Horse Racing
Origin of
Moving
Pictures
616
SAN FRANCISCO
Pugilism
Experiences
a Revival
Professional
Baseball
and Other
Francisco photographer named Muybridge who first attempted to determine with
the aid of the camera how a race horse appeared in motion. Leland Stanford
provided the funds which enabled Muybridge to make his interesting experiments,
which were subsequently illustrated in a handsome volume, the pictures and com-
ments in which effectually revolutionized preconceived notions, and pointed the
way to the successful introduction of the motion picture shows which play so
large a part in the life of today.
Prize fighting which, during the Fifties and Sixties, was accounted among the
manly arts, and was patronized by princes, was overdone during those decades in
California. The great heroes of the first decade after the occupation were the
heavy weight sluggers, all of them sooner or later finding their way to the Golden
State to give exhibitions or to wage their battles. John C. Heenan (the Benicia
Boy), Yankee Sullivan, Tommy Chandler and others had boxed in San Francisco,
and had their admirers, who found no difficulty in overlooking such eccentricities
as those exhibited by Yankee Sullivan, who added to his shoulder hitting accom-
plishments that of ballot box stuffing, and who also had the reputation of having
elected a man to the supervisorship who was not even a candidate. For this and
other offenses he was taken in hand by the Vigilantes of 1856, and became so
alarmed over the prospect of having his neck stretched that he tried to commit
suicide by severing the arteries of his arm with a table knife. This worship of
the pugs abated considerably after the hanging of Casey, the object of Yankee
Sullivan's affections, and finally, in the middle of the Seventies, legal prohibitions
of boxing put an end to exhibitions, but it was no unusual occurrence for a match
to be arranged for a prize fight to be pulled off in the adjoining county of San
Mateo or over the bay. By the beginning of the Eighties the taste for the prize
ring, which had been kept under control for several years, showed signs of reviv-
ing. A visit made by John L. Sullivan in 1883 was responsible for something like
a furore in sporting circles, and for several years after public exhibitions were
quite common. There was little effort made by those who managed these affairs to
conceal their real character. Fights to a finish were unblushingly arranged for.
and were witnessed in public halls by the most influential men in the community.
The game of baseball had many votaries and, as in the East, it assumed a pro-
fessional form during the period. In 1876 a club of Californians, known as the
Centennials, and consisting of ten members, visited the East, and played with the
prominent organizations without, however, greatly distinguishing itself. Later Cali-
fornia clubs began to give a better account of themselves and their ranks were
sometimes drawn up->n to strengthen Eastern teams. Andrew J. Piercy, whose
experience on the diamond dated back to 1861, in 1881 joined the Nationals of
Chicago, and figures in the records as the first Californian who crossed the Rockies
to play in the National League. As a drawing entertainment baseball did not
succeed very greatly during the seventy decade, but in 1881 it began to become
popular and later the interest in it developed to such an extent that sporting an-
nalists speak of it as a "boom." Tennis and golf had not attained to any degree
of popularity. There were a few tennis courts in the state, but the playing was
amateurish and attracted little attention. Yachting, always a favorite sport with
San Franciscans, retained its hold, and the fleets of the rival clubs were constantly
being added to, as well as their resources for the entertainment of members. But
public events were of comparatively rare occurrence, the yachtmen, as a rule, pre-
ferring the pleasure of sailing for sailing's sake to exhibitions of speed.
SAN FRANCISCO
617
In April, 1879, Charles E. Locke, who was running the Bush street theater
at that time, engaged a man who had successfully conducted a pedestrian endurance
contest in New York to come to this City to manage a match. The Mechanics'
pavilion was secured, and on June 5 several walkers began a six-day match. The
novelty drew thousands to witness the uninteresting sight of a number of men
wearily traveling over the oblong path, and making a record, and the enterprising
man who projected the entertainment "coined money." This first exhibition was
followed by several others, but the furore soon died out. While it lasted several
San Franciscans developed the walking habit sufficiently to be in demand in other
cities to which the craze had extended, among them Gus Guerrero, Bobby Vint,
Frank Hart and Peter Mclntyre. During these contests the trainers of the con-
testants pushed the latter to such an extent at times that police interference was
threatened. It was no unusual occurrence during the closing days of a contest to
see a man walking or staggering along half asleep. The amusement, while quite
tame otherwise, gratified the morbid desire to see others suffer and also ministered
to the gambling propensity; but there is no evidence that it increased the ability
of the spectators to endure, or that it promoted the pedestrian habit, although it is
true that for a period all the small boys in town were doing endurance stunts, for
the time abandoning their roller skates.
No story of the doings of a community which overlooked the performances of
the small boy would be complete ; and the same may be said of the doings of his
sister. The rising generation in San Francisco was not very different from that
in the older states of the Union. The boys and girls of the City play the same
games as those of other cities, but they enjoy an advantage over those of re-
gions where unpropitious weather interferes with outdoor sports in being able
to play in the open at all seasons of the year. Although many children in San
Francisco grow up without acquiring an intimate acquaintance with snow they are
not unfamiliar with the delights of coasting. The topography of the City lends
itself admirably to that diversion and they may be seen at all times of the year
engaged in the occupation, their coasters being on wheels and not on runners as
in more inclement countries. About the end of the period 1871-83 the use of
cement for sidewalk construction opened a new outlet for the energies of the
youngsters, permitting them to transfer their activities on the roller skate to the
open air, and the practice of outdoor skating became general. The proximity of
the ocean, and the cheap street-car fare makes the beach on the ocean side of
Golden Gate park a popular resort, and while sea bathing is not indulged in to
any extent by old or young, large numbers of children avail themselves of the
opportunity to wade in the surf and disport themselves on the sands at all seasons
of the year.
In the earlier years, before Golden Gate park was thought of, the Cliff house
was the objective of all visitors to the City. From its porch a large colony of
seals, which inhabited the rocks, could be seen dragging themselves up their pre-
cipitous sides or swimming about undisturbed by the occasional vessel entering the
Golden Gate, near which the rookery was situated. The traveler had to see the
seals and all who came saw them. The San Franciscan visited the Cliff for quite
a different purpose. A visit to it was usually a punctuating mark in an afternoon
drive, refreshments solid and liquid being a specialty. The house itself at the
time and the nearby stables, where the "teams" were put up, presented a bustling
Six-Day
Walking
Contests
The Cliff
House and
Ocean Beach
618
SAN FRANCISCO
appearance on Sundays and holidays, and on other days there were always signs
of life, but it was not a popular resort until made accessible by the street cars,
which carried a passenger for a single fare from any part of the City to the
beach, which thereafter took on many of the characteristics of a sea side watering
place, although outdoor bathing has never been included in the list of diversions
offered. The annual plunge of the members of the Olympic club on New Year's
day is merely indulged in to demonstrate that midwinter weather in San Fran-
cisco permits bathing, but truth demands the admission that the inclination for
sea baths at other seasons of the year has never been highly developed, although
the love of salt water exhibits itself in the patronage bestowed upon the nearby
Sutro baths, which are under cover.
During the Seventies and well into the Eighties the picnic grounds on the
Alameda, Marin and Contra Costa side of the bay were much more favored than
Golden Gate park and the beach. The tide of ferry travel indicates this as much
as it does the growth of Oakland and the other trans bay towns. The ferry lines
maintained by the railroad in 1872 carried 2,415,141 passengers both ways, and
in 1883 the number had increased to 6,493,841. During the Seventies the favorite
Sunday outing was a visit to one of the many picturesque spots in the counties
named. They were quickly reached and the fare was small, and there was a cur-
rent belief that the change of climate proved beneficial to the voyager. That the
change was experienced is undeniable, for there are seasons of the year when the
mere crossing of the bay secures a difference of temperature amounting to several
degrees. The climatic peculiarities of the City and the ease with which a different
brand of weather may be obtained has resulted in San Franciscans regulating their
summer outings with a view to securing warmth. If they wish to keep cool they
stay home.
It would be a mistake to assume that Oakland at this particular time only served
the purpose of a suburban retreat for San Franciscans. It had already offered such
attractions to many doing business and working in the City that they preferred
to make their homes there, and as early as 1871 there were plenty who looked
forward to the time when Oakland would become industrially and commercially
important. In that year an interesting pamphlet was published by the "boosters"
of that town, in which it was asserted "that Oakland must eventually become the
base of the greatest part of the commerce concentrating at the Bay of San Fran-
cisco." The writer, however, took the precaution to assure his readers that he was
"not predicting the downfall of San Francisco." "On the contrary," he said, "we
believe San Francisco will prosper and increase. We are looking forward to the
time when the commerce concentrating on the Bay of San Francisco will be five
fold greater than it is at present." The prediction, so far as it concerns expan-
sion of volume of commerce on the bay has not yet been realized, but the growth
of Oakland during the seventy decade shows that the booster was gifted with fore-
sight, for the value of its property advanced from $4,563,767 in 1870 to $28,348,-
778 in 1879-80, a more than five fold increase during the period. The other towns
about the bay made progress, but their advances were not so marked during this
period as later, when the growing wealth of the City permitted its inhabitants to
indulge in the luxury of a town and country house. This has had the effect of
promoting the growth of suburban population centers on the peninsula and in the
neighboring counties, and also of calling into existence numerous resorts within
reaching distance of the City, whose prosperity reflects that of the metropolis.
CHAPTER LV
VARIED ACTIVITIES OF THE PEOPLE OF A GROWING CITY
san francisco police force improved a gang of bandits exterminated two
notorious criminal cases the delays of the law a twice despoiled bank
fight for the protection of sailors —the barbary coast the bar and
attempts at reform of criminal procedure— colonel e. d. baker and other
noted lawyers of san francisco justice field of the supreme court
California's first chief justice — the railroad and the legal profession — -
corporation lawyers in the constitutional convention journalistic in-
fluence during the period george k. fitch and the "bulletin" the "san
francisco chronicle" the "argonaut" and its founder beginnings of
the sunday magazine in daily papers well known writers art in the
seventies and early eighties libraries california's free library system
—henry George's land theories and his great book — john f. swift's politi-
cal NOVEL JOAQUIN MILLER ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON'S LIFE IN SAN FRANCISCO
— Bancroft's pacific coast histories — mont eagle university — Stanford's
foundation educational public and private schools.
HE critics of San Franciscan conditions during the Seventies
would be able to find little in the police records to justify
their assertion that it was a particularly turbulent city,
or that the criminal element was unusually active during
the period. Statistics of crime are not always dependable,
but such as exist show that San Francisco was no worse
than any other seaport city of its size at any time between
1871 and 1883, not even excepting the two or three years during the time it was
supposed to be at the mercy of sand lot mobs. The number of arrests per capita
indicate something like the average urban showing of departure from the straight
and narrow path, with fewer of those exceptional crimes, which attract general
attention, than at any time during many years previous. Indeed the country pro-
vided more in the way of sensational criminal events during the twelve years than
the City.
By far the most exciting occurrence related in the criminal annals of the Sev-
enties was the capture near Los Angeles county in May, 1874, of the bandit Vas-
quez, who had terrorized the state for several years, and in the course of his
career had murdered several persons. A reward of $8,000 had been offered for
Vasquez if caught alive, or $6,000 for his body, by special authorization of the
legislature. He was captured by a ruse. One of the posses in search of the bandit
learned that he was concealed in the house of a man named Greek George. Pre-
voi. n— i o
619
Police
Records
Crime
Capture
Bandit
Vasqnez
620
SAN FRANCISCO
list of the
Organized
Bandits
vious experience suggested that his captors would have to adopt some method of
approaching his place of concealment which would not excite suspicion, and the
device of concealing themselves in the body of a wood wagon was adopted. By
this means Greek George's place was reached without alarming the inmates until
the posse had surrounded the house, when a woman gave the alarm. Vasquez
jumped from a window, but found his retreat cut off by armed men. He fought
for his life but was brought down by several shots. He was so severely wounded
that it was thought he would die, but he recovered and was taken to Tres Pinos
in San Benito county and was there tried for a murder committed by him and
found guilty and was hanged on March 19, 1875. While waiting his trial one of
the band named Chavez wrote a letter to the authorities in which he threatened to
kill everyone who had anything to do with the conviction of Vasquez, but the latter
exhorted his follower to change his course of life, warning him that he would come
to grief if he failed to do so. Chavez attempted to adopt the convicted bandit's
advice and made his way to Arizona where he was subsequently recognized by a
couple of men who, in pursuit of the reward offered for the robber, killed him
while he was resisting capture.
The capture of Vasquez was notable as disposing of the last band of organized
highway robbers infesting the state. Vasquez was less ferocious than Murietta,
and the depredations of his band were not near so serious as those committed
by the earlier outlaw, but the more settled condition of the interior, and the growing
interdependence of the people, and the increased travel resulting from it. caused
his operations to be viewed with more alarm than those of his predecessor. His
boldness created a feeling of uneasiness resembling that produced in Italy by the
organized bandits of that country, and it was feared that- the band he formed in
1873, unless dispersed would make the state as unsafe for the traveler as those
regions in which robbers were in the habit of seizing travelers and holding them for
ransom. Vasquez in addition to being a bold robber and a ruthless murderer had
the reputation of being a gay Lothario and had several affairs with women. It was
generally believed that his capture in Los Angeles county was due to information
supplied by a woman whom he had deserted.
The two most noted criminal cases of this period were those of Wheeler the
strangler, and the murder of a man named Skerrit. George Wheeler on October
20, 1880, delivered himself to the police stating that he had strangled his sister-
in-law at 23 Kearney street. The name of his victim was Delia Tillson. She
had been living with her sister who had married Wheeler several years earlier
in Massachusetts. Wheeler had become infatuated with Delia, and had been in-
timate with her and she had borne him a child. Later Wheeler went to Cisco in
Nevada, and there Delia met a man named George Peckham, with whom she sus-
tained relations. Wheeler discovering this forced Delia to accompany him to
San Francisco. His deserted wife with the help of Peckham located him in San
Francisco about a month earlier than the strangling, and the three, Wheeler and
the two sisters, lived in the same house together. On the night of the murder
Wheeler had occasion to go out on business, and when he returned he found Delia
with hat and gloves on, apparently having also been out. When Wheeler ques-
tioned her she told him she had been with Peckham and that she intended to
marry him. According to Wheeler, Delia sat on his knee when she made this con-
fession, and he became so enraged that he choked her to death. Delia was a
SAN FRANCISCO
621
comely looking young woman, and was about twenty-one years of age when 'mur-
dered. Wheeler at first thought of attempting to conceal his crime, and placed
the body of his victim in a trunk where it was found by the police after he had
informed them concerning the murder. Despite the fact that he had confessed,
Wheeler made a right for his life and was tried four times. He was finally con-
victed and hanged January 23, 1884, more than three years after he had com-
mitted the crime.
In August, 1883, Nicholas Skerritt, a dry goods dealer doing business on Bush
street near Montgomery, and the owner of a number of houses in the City, made
the acquaintance of a man who gave the name of of La Rue, and who represented
himself as from Colorado. Skerritt had some trouble collecting his rents and La
Rue threw out the suggestion that he was in a position to take care of the property,
and if it were made worth his while he might be induced to invest. The acquaint-
anceship and negotiations began on the 5th of August, and Skerritt spoke about
them to a Mrs. Dixon, with whom he was intimate, and to others, thus laying the
foundations for an audacious scheme for the despoilment of his victim. On Sun-
day evening August 12th, Skerritt had an interview with La Rue at the house of
Mrs. Dixon, where the former boarded. On Monday Skerritt disappeared and
was not seen again. On the Wednesday following Skerritt's disappearance the
husband of Mrs. Dixon, and a couple of other persons, and the bank with which
he did business received dispatches from Sacramento, signed N. Skerritt, which
stated that he had made a clean sweep of all his property and that he had gone
to Colorado to complete the transaction. The dispatch also stated that he had
one-half of the amount to be paid in hand, and added, "La Rue will take charge.
Favor him. He is solid and reliable."
The day the dispatch was received La Rue made his appearance at the Dixon's
and took away part of Skerritt's effects. Dixon was inclined to suspect that there
was something wrong and concluded to bring the matter to the attention of the
police. A detective was assigned to the case who soon ascertained that deeds had
been filed which transferred nearly all of Skerritt's property to La Rue. The
detective, whose name was Hogan recalled the fact that in 1878 a man named
Wright Le Roy had been sent to prison for forgeries committed in Alameda. The
similarity of the name and peculiarities connected with the Alameda forgeries
suggested that the perpetrator might be the same person and the detective worked
on that theory. It was learned that Le Roy, who was a lawyer, had been liberated
from prison on the 27th of May, 1883. The identity of La Rue and Le Roy as one
and the same person was soon established, but although the police were satisfied
that there had been foul play it was several days before the body of Skerritt was
found in the toilet of one of his own houses, to which he had been lured by his
murderer. When Le Roy was arrested a bunch of keys was found on his person
all of which were accounted for but one which apparently belonged to a Yale
lock. Duplicates of this were made and furnished to the police, who after a long
search discovered that the key fitted the front door of No. 620 Market street, a
house in which Le Roy had a room. In this room were found some of the personal
effects of Skerritt, and among other things a dozen large cans of chloride of lime
with which the murderer intended to consume the body of his victim. Le Roy
was tried for his crime and convicted and hanged January 18, 1885.
A Remark-
able Bit of
Detective
Work
622
SAN FRANCISCO
A Bank
Despoiled
In 1874 a doctor named J. Milton Bowers arrived in San Francisco from the
East and established himself in San Francisco. His subsequent and previous
career connected him with a series of remarkable crimes which, however, were not
disclosed until nearly a decade later when they resulted in long drawn out trials
which drew forth much adverse comment on the law's delays and the defects in
criminal procedure, and started an agitation for reform. This movement is re-
ferred to because modern or recent reformers have assumed that the defects com-
plained of are a comparatively recent development. The case of Wheeler the
strangler, who was able to secure the postponement of retribution, although he had
confessed an atrocious crime, for over three years has just been cited, but it was
by no means isolated. At this particular time, and all through the Seventies,
the course of justice was slow except in those cases in which the criminal showed
no disposition to fight for his life or liberty. The assumption was common that
it was only the rich malefactor who profited by the technicalities of the law, but it
was signally refuted by the facts. Lawyers were found ready to defend criminals
whose crimes attracted public attention for the sake of the notoriety, and the adver-
tisement which a successful defense gave them. In the game of wits played by
the lawyers of San Francisco against the law makers and the courts the former
oftener than otherwise proved successful. The modern censor who assumes that
a particular ease of villainy unwhipt of justice marks a new departure does the
times in which he lives an injustice.
History may not repeat itself, but the infirmities of men do produce extraor-
dinary parallels which might easily be passed off for repetitions. The wrecking of
the Safe Deposit Company by Brown and Bartnett after the depression of 1907
furnishes an extraordinary instance of criminal coincidence, because the institu-
tion whose depositors they robbed had been victimized by the man who founded
the bank of which the Safe Deposit Company was the successor. J. C. Dun-
can, the president of the bank on the corner of California and Montgomery streets
in the basement of which were established the first safe deposit vaults in San Fran-
cisco, disappeared on October 8, 1877. Examination disclosed the fact that the
institution was insolvent, owing its depositors $1,213,000. Warrants for the arrest
of the would be absconder were issued, charging him with embezzlement. He was
caught, after making two unsuccessful attempts to escape by sea, in a dressmaker's
rooms concealed in the framework of a bureau, from which all the interior fittings
had been removed. Duncan received four trials which disclosed mismanagement,
misappropriation and misrepresentation, but in each instance the jury disagreed
and he was finally discharged.
Occasionally a lawyer of distinction would array himself on the side of justice
and win popular applause. A notable instance of this kind was the action of
W. H. L. Barnes in the "Crusader" case in 1874, in which he secured the conviction
of a couple of officers who had brutally treated sailors. The case attracted world
wide attention and King Oscar of Sweden bestowed knighthood upon Barnes for
the part he took in bringing the men to justice. The action against the "Cru-
sader's" officers was due to a movement started by Henry George, while editor of
the "Evening Post," a year earlier. On September 27, 1873, the ship "Sunrise"
entered the port, and the captain reported the loss of three sailors on the voyage.
Investigation by a reporter of the paper disclosed that the captain and second
mate were guilty of the most atrocious cruelty, and that their favorite method of
wl
SAN FRANCISCO
623
securing prompt action from the crew was by knocking the sailors down with iron
belaying pins. Some of the evidence pointed to the lost sailors having been mur-
dered. The stories related by the "Post" forced the federal grand jury to action,
and that body found numerous indictments. George induced Barnes to assist in
the prosecution, and the captain was convicted and sentenced to four years im-
prisonment, while the first and second mates were subjected to fines and the owners
were compelled to pay damages to the abused crew, which however, amounted to
only $50 a piece, excepting in one case where the sum was made $300. The trial
in the federal court consumed nearly a month, and was followed with the greatest
interest, but the sensation speedily subsided.
It is claimed that the "Sunrise" trials started the movement which finally made
the life of a sailor on shipboard more bearable than it was during the period when
officers dealt with their crews as they saw fit, undeterred by fear of having to
account for their actions. For several years after the "Sunrise" affair the doings
of sailors ashore and afloat occupied public attention. Practices which had gone
on unchecked for years were exposed by the newspapers and legislation demanded.
The offense of shanghaing was frequently committed on the water front, and oc-
casionally the person unwillingly coerced into the performance of a seaman's duties
would prove to be of sufficient importance to cause a commotion and inquiry. Most
of these victims of summary engagements, however, were men who failed to com-;
plain of the indignity to which they had been subjected and their disappearance
was scarcely noted. When an exposure was made its effect was to cause the careful
to shun the water front, the usual field of operations of the crimps, and no reform
of consequence was effected until several years later, when the Seaman's Union,
cooperating with officials in the enforcement of the United States shipping laws
succeeded in measurably abating the practice, and another equally vicious which
was carried on by unscrupulous conductors of sailors' boarding houses who had no
hesitation about delivering over careless seamen, who had involved themselves in
debt to captains who were willing to make up a crew without inquiring under
what conditions they were obtained.
Queerly enough the practices of the sailor boarding house keeper were as
strongly denounced by the British shipping interest, as by the friends of seamen
operating in San Francisco. It was charged that the sailors of ships arriving in
the port were induced by the boarding house keepers to desert, which was doubt-
less true, although it would seem that the great discrepancy between the wages
paid to seamen shipping from American ports and those paid to sailors who had
signed in England would prove sufficient temptation to British seamen to desert
without other incitement. It was no unusual occurrence for vessels arriving in
San Francisco harbor in the days when it was filled with fleets of grain carriers,
whose crews had signed for absurdly low wages compared with those ruling in
this country to lose a number of their seamen. As soon as the latter learned of
the possibilities of better remuneration they absconded. And it often happened
that a ship master, compelled to lie in the harbor awaiting a cargo, found it cheaper
to promote desertion by making it uncomfortable for the crew, rather than main-
tain them on board in idleness on pay, even though the latter was small. Hence
the necessity of finding new crews when cargoes were obtained, and these were
often provided in the irregular manner mentioned, with the full connivance of
owners.
Effect of
the "Sunrise"
Trials
The
Shanghaing
624
SAN FRANCISCO
Sailors and
the Barbary
Coast
Reformatory
Efforts
that Failed
The occasional disorderliness of sailors is responsible for the impression that
sea ports are more addicted to vice and crime than other cities, but an examination
of the criminal records of San Francisco do not disclose any evidence which sup-
ports the assumption that the seafaring element contributes largely to the prison
population, or that it provides much work except for the inferior courts. Sailors
cause crime, but they are oftener the victims than offenders. It cannot even be
said that the resorts which they frequent when ashore are created for their benefit,
or that they are called into existence to enable criminals to prey upon the unwary
tar who is "out for a time." The locality known as the Barbary coast earned its bad
reputation long before it received the name which suggests the seafaring class. As
early as 1851 the "Annals" of San Francisco relate that the quarter affected by
the criminal classes "lay around Clarke's Point, in Broadway, Pacific street and the
immediate vicinity," and that even at that time "the police hardly dared venture
into the neighborhood. When they attempted to apprehend some criminal there
they went in force." The location described is no longer a haunt for many crim-
inals, as the most of that class find it easier to secrete themselves in less public
places; but a proportion of the element is established there and preys upon Jack,
whose worst offense usually is making "rough house" in the course of which he
generally becomes the sufferer. Jack's patronage contributed to the support of the
groggeries and brothels in which the Barbary coast abounded in early days as
now, but it forms but a small part of the whole, and he cannot fairly be held re-
sponsible for a blot which has existed for more than sixty years, and has been
tolerated largely because it is believed something of the sort is indispensable to a
seaport.
It is human to attempt to fix the responsibility for crime by holding some par-
ticular cause or set of causes accountable for its prevalence. A community rarely
takes the blame on itself even though the evidence is overwhelming that it is due
to its carelessness and disregard of the necessity of exercising perpetual vigilance
to check or overcome the criminal propensity. When San Francisco in 1851 was
agitated because of the "failure to enforce the laws its people had the remedy in
their own hands, but they failed to apply it, and continued inactive until the Vig-
ilance Committee of 1856 swept technicalities aside and secured rough justice by
a resort to extra legal methods. In 1851 the editor of the "Daily Herald" was fined
for contempt by a judge named Levi Parsons, because he denounced the failure
of the courts to check crime. The offending newspaper man was William Walker,
who afterward engaged in a filibustering expedition against Mexico and later in
Nicaragua. He refused to pay the fine imposed and was committed to jail by Par-
sons. There was a popular outburst and a big indignation meeting and Walker
was released by the superior court. Later the legislature tried to impeach Par-
sons but found the evidence insufficient. Analysis of the sentiment which caused
the popular outburst discloses that it was not nearly so much due to recognition
of the fact that the courts were corrupt and inefficient as it was to resentment at
what was regarded as interference with freedom of speech.
That no good result could be expected from an exhibition of indignation which
was not directed at crime itself apparently was not perceived by the indignant
people who had come to regard an infringement of personal liberty as a graver
matter than the correction of manifest evils. The ebullition was a flash in the
pan. It was not followed by persistent effort and no reform was effected or even
SAN FRANCISCO
625
attempted. The discussion degenerated into absurdities equalling those of the
early theologians over the meaning of a word. The bar, which might have settled
the matter, divided, but the major part was for the sacredness of precedent, and
bitterly resentful against what it regarded as attempted interference with the
orderly procedure of the courts and the supremacy of the law. It refused to recog-
nize that adherence to forms was impeding the enforcement of the law and render-
ing the purpose for which laws are enacted impossible of accomplishment.
This attitude was not due to inferior capacity, or to the presence at the bar of
San Francisco of an exceptional number of corrupt or indifferent lawyers. De-
spite the amusing stories told about the lack of qualifications cf some of the earliest
judges, and others concerning the eccentricities of practitioners, the reputation of the
bar has stood high, and its personnel has compared favorably since the days of the
alcaldes with that of any other city in the Union. Its defects were those of the
profession throughout the United States. It was too devoted to the form and had
too little regard for the substance of the law, and the object for which laws are
made. Procedure had become a fetich, and the fear that departure from it would
impair the fabric, and perhaps undermine the foundations of society caused San
Francisco lawyers to underrate the gravity of a pressing evil. By seeking to
avert one trouble they precipitated another. The advocates of law and order who
in 1856 resisted the rising indignation against forms were not actuated by corrupt
motives, but their course was responsible for the uprising in which all law was
swept aside, but which, fortunately for the community, did not in the sweeping
destroy order. Indeed, parodoxical as it may seem, it was defiance of the laws
supposed to be made for the preservation of order which secured for the distressed
San Franciscans the boon of order, and that fact has always been pleaded in jus-
tification of the Vigilante uprising of 1856.
These observations apply equally to a later as to the earlier date, and they are
still applicable. The community in its collective capacity is responsible for the
failure of the laws. Its negligence in the years preceding 1856 and its indifference
at times since then explain why confessed murderers are able to occupy the at-
tention of the courts for years, and escape punishment at last, and why public
and other thieves go unwhipt of justice. But as leaders and moulders of thought
members of the bar through their failure to devote themselves to the work of
reformation may fairly be charged with a greater degree of remissness than those
who only follow impulse which oftener than otherwise is misdirected and for that
reason comes to naught. From the beginning San Francisco has had able and bril-
liant lawyers, and many of them have enjoyed the confidence of the community
through periods longer than is assigned to a generation. They cannot be attributed
to the 1849-1861 or the 1861-1871 eras, nor that which witnessed the complete
revision of the constitution which was the organic law when they commenced their
careers. Their services in many cases extended through all three periods. The
scope of this history does not permit extended biographical notice, but it is essen-
tial to the establishment of the fact that the bar of San Francisco never lacked
the talent to accomplish that which reformers have vainly endeavored to bring
about, to show that from 1849 to the present day able and earnest men have prac-
ticed in our courts who have neglected the higher duty imposed upon them as
officers of the court, to labor for the general welfare, and have instead devoted
The San
Francisco
Bar
The Bar
Neglects
Its Duty
SAN FRANCISCO
Able
Lawyers of
Early Days
I Lawyer
of Varied
Activities
themselves to the furtherance of individual interests rather than those of the
community.
Perhaps the most brilliant, if not the ablest member of the San Francisco bar
was Colonel E. D. Baker, whose oratory and death on the battlefield made him
a national figure. Baker arrived in San Francisco in 1852. His scholarly attain-
ments exhibited in a course of lectures in which he showed great erudition won for
him a wider recognition than is usually gained by the lawyer until he has had
years of practice. His inclination ran to politics and in 1859 when he was defeated
in a contest for a seat in the house of representatives he went to Oregon and within
a year that state sent him to the United States senate, in which body he sat at the
outbreak of the Civil war. He left the forum for the battlefield, and was killed
at Ball's Bluff, one of the first engagements of the rebellion, while leading his
regiment. He was an eloquent speaker and had the power only possessed by the
real orator to move an audience. His orations are masterpieces in their way, full
of poetry and fire, and are as readable to-day, as they were on the occasions of
their delivery. His body was brought to the City and interred in Lone Mountain
cemetery, the funeral being made the occasion of a great demonstration.
Less brilliant, but a man of solid attainments was Hall McAllister, who
practiced continuously from 1849 down to a recent date, his position at the bar
always being among the very foremost. He was an acute analyst, a student
and a man of great courtesy which he extended even to the witness in the box.
He was not remarkable as a speaker, but had a convincing method with a jury
growing out of his thorough knowledge of the subjects he undertook to discuss.
Joseph P. Hoge, another of the early lawyers who continued in practice through
the Seventies, and was president of the Constitutional Convention of 1879, com-
menced his career as an editor, served in congress from an Ohio district and was
a strong advocate of "fifty-four forty" when the Oregon boundary question was up
in that body. Hoge, like Baker, had a strong inclination for politics, but after
his arrival in California in 1853 he devoted himself closely to his profession and
was entrusted with many important cases. He ranked high as a corporation lawyer,
and his services were eagerly sought in difficult cases. His partner, Samuel M.
Wilson, made a specialty of mining law, an important branch of practice for many
years. The firm was reputed to enjoy the confidence of more millionaire clients
during the Seventies than any other in the City. Wilson had the dual quality of
being as convincing before a jury as in the closet. He worked up his cases thor-
oughly and relied upon clearness of presentation rather than oratory to win.
John B. Felton, who arrived in San Francisco in the spring of 1854, was a
man of varied activities, and his name appears in many connections in the annals
of the City. He had many important cases and was reported to be in the enjoy-
ment of very large fees. Felton was an extensive reader, but not a close student,
depending on his nimble intellect rather than on thorough knowledge to win his
cases. He was the attorney of Limantour, who attempted to grab the greater
part of San Francisco by means of a fraudulent land grant. Felton was politically
ambitious, and entered the campaign for the United States senatorship against
Newton Booth, but failed to achieve success. Less brilliant than the man who won
the prize certain energetic qualities possessed by Felton would have made him a
more desirable representative in the upper house of congress, but his affiliation with
great corporations made him unavailable. Felton pursued his practice well into
SAN FRANCISCO
627
the Eighties, dying in 1889. Lorenzo Sawyer who came to the City a year earlier,
was elected city attorney in 1854. He early showed an inclination for the bench,
but did not attain his desire until after experiencing defeat at the polls. He was
elected to the supreme court of the state and some of the decisions written by
him are pronounced models of patient investigation. In 1869 he was appointed
judge of the United States circuit court, in which capacity he frequently displayed
the qualities which had won distinction for him on the state supreme bench.
Among the lawyers of early days was Peter H. Burnett, the first governor
of the state, and who enjoyed in addition to that distinction the extraordinary one
of resigning the office. Burnett was not the nominee of a regular convention. He
was put forward by Colonel Stevenson and was declared the nominee for governor
of the democratic party, was elected December, 1849, and resigned January,
1851. After his resignation he took up the practice of the law in San Francisco,
but only long enough to raise sufficient money to extinguish certain obligations he
had incurred in Missouri. Burnett was a man of positive convictions and in the
Vigilante days arrayed himself on the side of the Law and Order party and spoke
fearlessly against the committee. He was appointed supreme judge by Governor
Johnson in 1857. In 1863 he assisted in founding the Pacific bank and after that
date ceased to practice. Niles Searles, a contemporary of Burnett, had an inter-
esting life, but can hardly be classed as a San Francisco lawyer, although in
the latter part of his career he had some important city cases. He was appointed
chief justice by Governor Bartlett in 1889. Searles' first case in California was
gained while he was a waiter in a restaurant. A singular incident in his career
was the abandonment of his profession during several years following 1864, when
he went to New York and carried on the patrimonial farm. Searles was one of
the early "Know Nothings," and the fact militated against his political ambitions
in after life.
John T. Doyle, who was probably in continuous practice longer than any of
the more prominent of the lawyers who came to the state in pioneer days arrived
in the City in 1851. In 1850 he had been superintendent of the company which
purposed digging a canal through Nicaragua, and thus gained an insight into trans-
portation matters which resulted in his selection by Governor Irwin in 1876 to be
one of the Railroad Commission of which Stoneman, afterward governor, was a
member. Doyle was by all odds the most practical man on the commission, his
associates Stoneman and Smith being content to let him do the work. Doyle was
an indefatigable investigator and had the virtue of persistence in a marked de-
gree. The report of the commission of 1876, submitted to the legislature of 1877-
78 was chiefly written by him. It was extremely voluminous, and the railroad de-
rided it as a farago of nonsense, but many of the principles advocated by Doyle
have since been accepted. Later, in his legal capacity, Doyle made a vigorous
fight for the foreign stockholders of the Central Pacific. His facility with the pen
made him a formidable antagonist, and he was as cordially detested by the rail-
road managers as any man in California. Doyle was also chiefly instrumental in
securing for the Catholic diocese of San Francisco a large sum from the Mexican
Mission "pious fund," after a long litigation in the course of which he became so
thoroughly acquainted with the early history of California that he was recognized
as an authority.
Lawyers Who
Abandoned
the Profession
Antagonist
of Railroad
Monopoly
SAN FRANCISCO
A Lawyer
Who Beached
the Supreme
Bench
Alexander Campbell, a pioneer lawyer whose career in San Francisco com-
menced in 1849, and who continued to practice in the City until a few years ago,
when he retired to Los Angeles, where he died recently at the ripe age of 91, was
among the lawyers who ranged themselves on the side of the Law and Order party.
He was a man of integrity, like many others who opposed the extra legal methods
adopted by the Vigilance Committee, and had no sympathy with the rogues and
the politicians who were causing the trouble which resulted in the upheaval. He
had a clear mind and depended on plain statement rather than rhetoric in ad-
dressing a jury. He was thoroughly versed in the English common law, and had
made a study of the libel laws of Great Britain and the United States, and his
services were sought on that account.
The only California lawyer who attained to a seat on the supreme bench of
the United States in the early days was Stephen J. Field, whose career as a lawyer
and as a justice of the supreme court of the United States are closely interwoven
with the history of the state. Field was a brother of David Dudley and Cyrus
West Field. He found his way to California in December, 1849, and was elected
alcalde of Marysville three days after his arrival in that then bustling mining
camp. His political predilections carried him into the assembly of which body
he was a member in 1850, and in which he took a leading part in the framing of
the codes. The passage of the Practice Act is attributed to him, and it is related
that it was never read except by title and that its six hundred sections were adopted
under suspension of the rules and that the completed work was signed by the
governor on the assumption and assurance of Field that it was all right. The
story of Field's career is more illustrative of the condition of the bar of California
than that of the City. During the period between his arrival in California and
the date of his appointment by Lincoln in 1863 to the supreme court, the most of
his time was spent in the interior, but subsequently he came to be more representa-
tive of San Francisco and its peculiar interests. In early life he figured in nu-
merous political quarrels. On one occasion he challenged B. F. Moore of Tuo-
lumne, David Broderick being his second. Moore averted an encounter by declar-
ing that as a candidate for congressional honors he could not take part in a duel.
It was arranged that Field should arise in his seat, be recognized by Broderick,
who was president pro tern of the senate, and denounce Moore as a liar and
coward. As usual there were factions who went to the senate chamber armed,
but the expected fracas did not occur, because Moore deemed it discreet to read a
retraction. As a member of the United States supreme court Field was often
heard from, his industry leading him to write voluminous reports. In his exalted
position at Washington he was not highly regarded by the people of California
who persisted in styling him a friend of the railroad. His strong corporation
leanings were manifested in many of his decisions and his ability, while never
questioned, was always exercised on their side as against the people.
Henry E. Highton a lawyer, who arrived in San Francisco the year the
Consolidation Act was framed, like several other San Francisco practitioners had
some newspaper experience. He was neither a profound nor a successful lawyer,
but had facility of expression which he acquired before his admission to the bar in
1860. He was one of the very few lawyers who thought it worth their while to
raise their voices against the evils of special legislation, and assailed the Con-
solidation Act on the ground that it gave too much power to the legislature. High-
SAN FRANCISCO
629
ton laid great stress on specialization, and took extraordinary pains to especially
fit himself for the conduct of cases in which a knowledge of accounting was requisite,
but his proficiency never secured for him the recognition he sought, and he finally
deserted San Francisco for Hawaii after spending forty of the best years of his
life in this City.
Oscar L. and James McM. Shatter came to the coast on invitation of the once
prominent firm of Hallett, Peachy and Billings. Oscar was elected to the Su-
preme court in January, 1864, but resigned before completing his term. James
was by far the ablest of the brothers and was one of the strongest antagonists of
the innovations proposed by the constitutional convention of 1878, of which body
he was a member. He gave more study to the subject of taxation than most of
his colleagues, and was regarded as an authority concerning those phases touching
land.
James A. Waymire began his career as a soldier and was in the service of the
United States as a lieutenant of cavalry. He did not take kindly to military duties
and resigned and adopted stenography as a profession, but his natural aptitude for
law caused him to make a study of it, and he was admitted to the bar by the su-
preme court of Oregon in 1870. His ability was not speedily recognized, and he
had to resume stenography, and in 1872 he was appointed reporter to the supreme
court of the State of California. In 1874 he moved to San Francisco and devoted
himself to building up a practice. As a stenographer Waymire had been identified
with newspapers, and had acquired facility of expression and an incisive style.
During the contest over the adoption of the Constitution of 1879 Waymire was a
stanch advocate of the instrument and contributed many articles in its favor to
the columns of the "Chronicle." He was appointed a superior judge by Governor
Perkins in 1881, and while on the bench wrote many decisions which attracted
attention. Through his relations with clients he became interested in the promotion
of irrigation, financially as well as legally, and devoted some of the later years
of his life to the work of establishing the credit of district irrigation bonds. He
had the misfortune to become heavily involved through his faith in that class of
securities, and despite his great industry and undoubted talent he died a poor
man.
S. C. Hastings, whose name has been perpetuated in the law school founded
by him, was the first chief justice of the State of California, being chosen to fill
that position by the legislature in December, 1849. After leaving the bench he
became attorney general of the state. He subsequently amassed a considerable for-
tune, $100,000 of which he devoted to the creation of the law school now affiliated
with the State University. His relations were largely with San Francisco, although
he did not practice or do business in the City, and the first board of directors of
the school he established were, with one exception, members of the bar of the
metropolis. The list comprised the names of Joseph P. Hoge, W. W. Cope, De-
los Lake, Samuel M. Wilson, O. P. Evans, Thomas P. Bishop, John R. Sharpstein
and Thomas I. Bergin. They chose Hastings as their dean, although his contribu-
tions to the science of law hardly entitled him to that consideration. He was a
much abler business man than a lawyer, and while on the bench was noted for
the extreme brevity of his decisions.
One of the most talented and at the same time most eccentric of the early
lawyers of California was Rufus A. Lockwood, who took service with Horace
Two Brothe
In the
Profession
A lawyer
Who Worked
His Way Up
California's
First Chief
Justice
SAN FRANCISCO
A Noted
Southern
Attorney
A Group
of Able
Members of
the Bar
Hawes, another man cast in the same mould as himself, as clerk, contracting to
work for six months at $10 a day to be paid daily. He subsequently allied him-
self with Tilford and Randolph, two of the best known lawyers of argonautic days.
Lockwood while engaged with the latter suddenly abandoned his professional work
and took a job as longshoreman on the water front. On another occasion he made
his way to Australia and went into retirement as a sheep herder. Despite his
unquestioned ability he was a man of unbalanced mind, and was looked upon as a
crank by his associates who had little sympathy with his peculiar views respect-
ing the organization of society, which caused him to anticipate some of the modern
prophets by preaching its early destruction. His integrity was as great as his ec-
centricity, and he was one of the few lawyers of his period who could not be
induced to take a case, no matter how tempting the fee, if he did not believe in
the justice of the claim. Lockwood was an inveterate gambler and not infrequently
parted with his last cent at the gaming table.
Edmund Randolph was one of the numerous contingent of Southerners who
came to California close upon the discovery of gold, and won a reputation as a
great cross-examiner by his searching methods which were as often designed to
entangle the witness as to ascertain the truth. He figured in the first constitu-
tional convention, and is credited with part of the constructive work of that instru-
ment. Like many of the earlier lawyers, Randolph was a student and fond of his-
torical research, but did no original work. He was an extensive reader and his
mind assimilated and arranged the matter of his reading in an orderly fashion.
He was an excellent conversationalist, and enjoyed the rare distinction of being
permitted to do much of the talking without exciting resentment. It is told of him
that on one occasion when a guest at a formal dinner at which several were to
speak that he occupied all the time devoted to talking, and that the sidetracked
speakers were the most urgent that he should proceed with his discourse which
was an entirely impromptu presentation of the causes responsible for the intro-
duction of several features of the federal constitution, and had no relation to the
topic assigned to him for the evening.
John S. Hagar was an able lawyer with a decided predilection for politics and
an inclination for the bench. He came to California in 1849, commenced practice
in 1850 and was elected to the state senate in 1852. Later he was elected United
States senator, and while the election was in progress absolutely refused to be
present in Sacramento. Hagar was a close student of municipal governmental af-
fairs, and in the convention of 1878, of which he was a member, occupied himself
in shaping the section which permitted cities to frame their own charters. He
subsequently presided over the Board of Freeholders which framed the first charter
under the Constitution of 1879, but which was rejected by the people. Among other
positions held by him was that of collector of the port of San Francisco. The
qualities of Hagar's mind are difficult to describe. His associates gave him credit
for great acumen, but declared that he lacked the ability to make others perceive
that which he saw so clearly himself. Although a successful man in the matter
of attaining to dignities Hagar never achieved any particular distinction as an
advocate.
Joseph F. Winans; James A. McDougall, U. S. senator in 1861; Milton S.
Latham, who enjoyed the double distinction of the governorship, which he held
for five davs and a term in the United States senate; Charles H. S. Williams;
SAN FRANCISCO
631
Wm. Walker, whose talents were mainly devoted to intrigue; John Currey, elected
to the supreme court, an able man who retired from practice in 1878 on account
of impaired eyesight; E. W. McKinstry, Eugene Casserly, Sanderson, justice of
the supreme court; Wallace, Ogden Hoffman, all helped to fill a large space in the
public eye during the Fifties, Sixties, Seventies and even into the Eighties, many
of them holding their own down to a recent date with their younger rivals and ac-
commodating themselves to the changing order of things, which after all was only
in externals as this narrative will disclose to the attentive reader.
It is doubtful whether the San Francisco bar during this period made a national
impression as great as that of some smaller cities of the East, a fact easily accounted
for by the remoteness of the City from the seat of government and to an undue
development of rivalry and factionalism. The latter frequently operated to pre-
vent the selection of able men for important office, as did also the comparative
unimportance politically of a small state. The activities of the railroad had a
disastrous effect upon the political fortunes of many members of the legal fra-
ternity. The corporation's influence was exerted in various ways detrimental to
the state. Its smiles and frowns were alike injurious. It kept many able men
from making attempts to obtain political distinction because they feared its an-
tagonism, and caused the disablement of others equally capable through its pa-
tronage. Connection with the railroad was not always profitable. Its friendship
was often as blighting to the recipient politically as its rewards to them were
financially great.
Something like the foregoing personal description of the bar of San Francisco
is necessary to remove the injurious impression created by the unwarranted as-
sumption that the Constitution of 1879 was the product of the sand lot. As a
matter of fact it was produced by the ablest men in the state, and the major part
by far of the competent men in that body were from San Francisco. It should
be said, and it reflects credit on the profession, that notwithstanding the fact that
many of the delegates were corporation lawyers, they did not betray the trust re-
posed in them by the people. The debates of the convention from beginning to
end show a desire on the part of some who were erroneously assumed to be making
the constitution unworkable to produce an instrument which would embody the re-
forms demanded by the people, and the fact that they succeeded in doing so, and
gave to the state a document, the underlying principles of which are now being
accepted by the nation, and perhaps it may be said the whole world, reflects luster
on their single mindedness. Had the City in its subsequent efforts to secure good
municipal government been as ably assisted by the trained judgment of the best
part of San Francisco's bar the metropolis might have escaped many of the tribu-
lations it since has been compelled to undergo.
The influence of the press has never been underrated by the American people
although the manner of its exertion has never been clearly understood. As in the
case of the bar it must not be judged by its exceptional performances, or the
success or failure of its direct efforts. Superficial observers occasionally seize upon
the fact that a newspaper has been beaten in a political fight and draw the inference
from it that its sayings or teachings have had no effect on the community. There
never was a more erroneous view. During the period 1871-83 the San Francisco
"Bulletin" wielded a great influence although the men it advocated for office were
often defeated. Under the editorship of George K. Fitch that journal constantly
The Railroad
and the
Lawyers
Corporation
Lawyers in
the Conven-
tion
Influence of
the "Evening
632
SAN FRANCISCO
at the
Close of
Seventies
The San
Francisco
"Chronicle"
preached economy in municipal management, and succeeded so thoroughly in satu-
rating the public mind with the belief that the great desideratum in city govern-
ment was to keep down taxes that absolutely no consideration was given to any of
those objects which are now foremost in the minds of civic reformers of the pres-
ent day. There never was a question regarding the intensity of Fitch's belief in
the desirability of avoiding all expenditure for municipal purposes the necessity
of which could not be clearly demonstrated. He refused to recognize the possibility
of indirect benefit and presented cogent arguments against launching into schemes
for betterment which involved the incurrence of municipal indebtedness. He was
a vigorous thinker and writer, and had the assistance of able editors who preached
his economic gospel incessantly, until San Francisco believed in it so thoroughly
that for many years no good citizen, or bad one for that matter, thought of advo-
cating a bond proposal for any purpose whatever.
The "Call," during the Seventies, was owned jointly by Loring Pickering and
George K. Fitch. It was a better newspaper than the "Bulletin," the policies of
which it reflected feebly, but its management was not enterprising. The "Alta
California" still existed but refused to keep up with the modern journalistic move-
ment which was beginning to assert itself at the time, but permitted its editorial
columns to be occasionally invaded by a vigorous writer. It ceased to be a real
newspaper about the close of the period, and was only valuable for political pur-
poses. It subsequently fell into the hands of James G. Fair, who retained it many
years in the hope of realizing upon a bad investment, but his money did not suffice
to keep it alive, and it finally perished, and with it an Associated Press franchise
which was regarded as valuable, but could only be made so by the exercise of
newspaper judgment, and a liberal expenditure of money. The "Examiner" was
still a democratic organ leading a placid existence, undisturbed by the rivalry of its
contemporaries and satisfied to win the applause of a small circle of readers who
read its elucidation of the principles of their party undistracted by the presentation
of news sensational or otherwise. The "Chronicle" was growing steadily in favor
under the editorial direction of Charles de Young who was, in the parlance of the
profession "a born newspaper man" and considered the exposure of corruption
one of the leading functions of a public journal. In pursuing this course he made
many enemies who unscrupulously attacked his character and impugned his motives
but a reproduction of the most of these assaults, with the names of his assailants,
would be accepted by the modern Progressive as an endorsement.
Bryce in his "American Commonwealth" in describing the sand lot episode
remarks that "the activity of the 'Chronicle' counted for much, for it was ably
written and went everywhere." The compliment applied to an earlier period as
well as to 1878, for it had been the policy of its editor to secure forceful writers,
and although their work usually appeared in its columns unsigned the personality
of many of them became familiar to the public. In the earlier days of its exist-
ence the editorials of the "Chronicle" were compensated for on a space basis and
outside contributions were received from informed persons whose connection with
the paper was not generally known, but as it grew older while retaining the same
mode of compensation it maintained regularly two and sometimes three writing
editors. Among the most vigorous of these were Frank Pixley and Samuel Sea-
bough. James F. Bausman, less forceful in expression than Seabough, was em-
SAN FRANXISCO
633
ployed at the same time as the latter, and his literary efforts were easily recognized
by his marked predilection for quotation.
Two German dailies and French and Italian publications catered for the foreign
population. The Latin peoples were not exacting in their demands, but the read-
ers of the "Demokrat" asked for and were presented with the important news,
and a well written editorial column. In the evening field the "Bulletin" during
this period maintained uncontested precedence. Its rival, the "Evening Post,"
established by Henry George in 1871, under his management developed a tendency
to sensationalism, but he lost control of the paper in 1874, and thereafter it had
many nominal owners who conducted its fortunes for a while and then retired.
Several of these unsuccessful essays were made by newspapermen of ability who,
however, proved failures as publishers of an expensive evening journal. The
journalistic mortality was very light during the period, excepting in the weekly
field in which fatalities were constantly occurring. The only notable demise of a
daily was that of the short lived San Francisco "Mail" which was started in the
early part of 1876 by D. D. Dalziel, the husband of the soubrette Dickey Lingard.
Dalziel was a stranger in the City but managed to secure the confidence of Mark
L. McDonald, who had political ambitions. When the latter was disappointed in
his efforts to obtain the United States senatorship in 1877 he withdrew his financial
support from the "Mail" and it speedily collapsed. During its brief career the
"Mail" had in its employ a good writing force, among them Frank Pixley. David
Nesfield, Arthur McEwen, Thomas Flynn and others, but it was never strong on
the news side.
Weekty journalism had a notable addition during this period in the "Argonaut"
established in 1877 by Frank M. Pixley, who had associated with him Fred M.
Somers and Jerome C. Hart. The "Argonaut" owed its vogue chiefly to the viru-
lent attacks of Pixley upon Jews and Catholics, whom he assailed unceasingly. On
its literary side it was well edited, and had departments which were widely copied
from by Eastern journals. This was especially true after Hart assumed control.
Somers, who was its first managing editor, had been a reporter on the "Chronicle"
and was nearly killed by an assemblyman named Wilcox, who was called the
"Mariposa Blacksmith," for telling some plain truths respecting the latter's cor-
poration affiliations in a letter to the "Chronicle." The weekly journals of this
and the preceding period, with the exception of the "Argonaut," devoted themselves
largely to local comment and gossip, subordinating other features to those di-
rectly interesting to the San Francisco public. Their columns outside the space
devoted to this main purpose was filled chiefly with contributions from workers on
the daily press, a list of them disclosing the names of the brightest writers in the
City.
Toward the close of the Seventies the daily papers in their Sunday editions
began to encroach on the field of the weeklies. The "Bulletin" had for many years
published a supplemental sheet of two pages on Saturday evenings, chiefly devoted
to selected matter, with an occasional original contribution in the shape of a short
story, or a bit of verse. The selections were excellent, and greatly appreciated by
readers of discrimination. The "Call," "Alta" and "Chronicle" up to the close of
1876 adhered to the old plan of presenting news, printing letters or volunteer sketches
when they came to hand or when offered by the staff and not waiting for Sun-
day. In the early part of 1877 Charles de Young was aiming at the Sunday magazine
Daily and
Weekly
Publications
The
"Argonaut"
Sunday
Magazines
of the
Dailies
634
SAN FRANCISCO
Writers of
the Early
Eighties
Legislature
Seeks to
Encourage
idea, but experienced considerable difficulty in securing the necessary contribu-
tions. An examination of a Sunday paper dated April 22, 1877, exhibits this plainly,
the features on the first page being eked out with local news stories. There was
a letter from Charles Warren Stoddard from Greece, one of a series he had been
specially engaged to write from Europe; a London letter from a regular con-
tributor who signed herself "Eve's Granddaughter;" a New York letter, which
like the London contribution, was devoted to news and was a weekly feature. In
addition there was an article captioned "Painter and Pallette," signed J. P. Y.,
which purported to describe the personal peculiarities, especially the foibles of
the local artists, the list of them being quite a, long one. The remainder of the
page was filled with local news. On the second page, two columns were devoted
to news and gossip about theaters and actors and alongside of this to correct its
levity was a column headed "For the Farmers," in which the merits of fertilizers
and other matters of interest to agriculturists were impartially treated. On the
sixth page there was a short story, literary notes, a column "For the Ladies," and
two columns of book reviews. On the seventh page there was some selected reprint,
a half column of religious news and close to it a column and a half of sporting
news, principally relating to the doings of the outside world in that field of activity,
and on the eighth and last page there was a slashing article on the mining stock
market accompanied by a cartoon, the only illustration in the paper.
From this time forward the Sunday magazine showed signs of amplification,
and in time became a feature of the morning papers, widening the field for local
contributors who began to increase in numbers, finding an expanding market for
their literary wares in the weeklies and the two local magazines. A list of the
writers of this period discloses the names of some that will be recognized outside
of San Francisco and of many who perhaps deserved fame without achieving it
except locally. Among the most noted may be mentioned Kate Douglas Wiggin,
Flora Haines Loughead, Edward W. Townsend ("Chimmie Fadden"), Prentice Mul-
ford, Charles Warren Stoddard, John P. Young, Minnie Buchanan Unger, Thomas
J. Vivian, Charles and Millicent W. Shinn, Ralph Sidney Smith, Annie Lake Town-
send, Albert Sutliffe, John Bonner and his daughter Geraldine, Yda Addis, Marie
Theresa Austin, George Hamlin Fitch, Robert Duncan Milne, Belle Strong, H. D.
Bigelow, Kate Bishop, H. J. Dam, Clay M. Greene, George H. Jessop, W. H.
L. Barnes, W. C. Morrow, Fred M. Somers, Jerome Hart, Oscar Weill, George
Chismore, Kate Kellogg and others.
In September, 1878, an article appeared in the London "Times," in which the
assertion was made that "San Francisco does not care for art and learning; it has
not been educated to see beauty in an intaglio. A brilliant is the measure of its
taste and we cannot affect to be surprised." The criticism was as undeserved as
are most of the sweeping summaries of the vices and virtues of peoples. There
were many in San Francisco in the Seventies who thought more of the "almighty
dollar" than of art or literature, but there were also plenty who were not Philis-
tines. The growth of the taste for literature and art usually keeps pace with
accumulation. Sometimes it precedes, but very rarely. Appreciation and expres-
sions of devotion accomplish little unless conditions exist which tempt talent and
genius. It is difficult to stimulate the latter, but the attempt is sometimes made.
In the session of the legislature of 1871-72 a bill with that object was introduced
in the assembly by Obed Harvey of Sacramento, which contemplated the encourage-
SAN FRANCISCO 635
ment of California artists of ability. Fortunately the hard headed committee
called upon to deal with it reported against its passage on the ground that there
was no money available for such a purpose. Although there is some support for
the London "Times" comment on San Francisco's lack of art culture, the critical
faculty was not wholly undeveloped in those days. Mark Twain refuted the as-
sumption in an effort made by him to describe the peculiar charm of a painting of
"Samson and Delilah" which was one the attractions of a popular saloon. He
asked: "Now what is the first thing you see in looking at this picture down at the
Bank Exchange? Is it the gleaming eyes and fine face of Samson? Or the muscu-
lar Philistine gazing furtively at the lovely Delilah? Or is it the rich drapery,
or the truth to Nature in that pretty foot? No sir! The first thing that catches
the eye is the scissors on the floor at her feet. Them scissors is too modern — -
there warn't no scissors like them in them days by a d — d sight." When Mark
burlesqued the propensity toward rigorous realism he furnished undoubted
evidence that art appreciation was tolerably well developed, for he was not ac-
customed to waste his jokes or coin expressions that would be obscure to bis
readers. As a matter of fact he knew that the taste for art existed and that it
would assert itself in due time.
And so did a group of painters, larger than ever gathered in any American city Art in san
outside of New York at the time or since. There are more works of art in San D u'rtng < tne
Francisco now, or there were before the great conflagration, but there have never Seventies
been as many artists in this City since the late Seventies and early Eighties as
there were then, and the reasonable inference is that there were relatively more
patrons of art at that time. That fact, however, is easily accounted for by the
necessity of providing the newly erected mansions with paintings and sculpture.
Some of the owners were too busy to go to the mountain, hence the mountain went
to them, and found them liberal patrons. Toward the close of the decade 1870
there were many painters in San Francisco, some of whose works would do credit
to any gallery. A list of them embraces the names of Julian Rix, Thomas
Hill, Joe Harrington, Samuel Brooks, William Keith, Jules Tavernier, Virgil
Williams, Benoni Irwin, Raymond D. Yelland, William Marple, Edwin Deakin,
Senor Guiterez, S. W. Shaw, Richard J. Bush, the Tojettis, Domingues and his
sons Virgil and Edward, G. J. Denny, Benjamin Sears, Charles D. Robinson,
Norton Bush and Meyer Strauss. With these must be counted David Neal, Toby
E. Rosenthal, Reginald Birch, Joseph D. Strong and Thaddeus Welsh who hailed
from San Francisco, but were abroad at the time. The most of these devoted them-
selves to making San Franciscans, and the world generally, familiar with Cali-
fornian scenery, particularly that of the Yosemite valley and the majestic redwoods
of the Coast Range of mountains. It may be fairly said of the San Francisco of
this period that it was less under the domination of the idea, very prevalent at the
time, that a chromo lithograph was a work of art, than most parts of the cultured
East. The number of excellent bits of scenery and genre and still life to be found
on the walls of many very modest houses in San Francisco during the Seventies
is far more noteworthy, as bearing on the subject of general culture, than the fact
that the men who had made big fortunes in railroad building and mining were
filling their galleries with costly works of art obtained abroad, which were not always
selected with the best judgment. Truth demands the statement, however, that the
foreign purchases were not made at the expense of the local talent, which was
636
SAN FRANCISCO
Evidence of
Taste for
Literature
Origin of
Public
Library
System
not neglected until those possessed of the means to buy were able to say that they
had good examples of the really creditable work of the best artists. Their patron-
age, often inspired by local pride, has been amply justified by the ripened judg-
ment of later critics.
The literary taste of a community is not determined by observation of a few
isolated facts. There is doubtless some foundation for the assertion made about
this time that some of the libraries of the new rich of the period had been acquired
in very much the same fashion as the other things they required. Men who suddenly
obtain the means to procure things much talked about are very apt to buy them
without much circumlocution. There is no short cut to learning, but collections
of books can speedily be made if the motive for making them exists, and some
were doubtless formed in one, two, three order, and with more thought of the ap-
pearance they would present ranged on shelves or in cases than was given to
their contents. Still the fact that a writer could find sixty-four private collections
of books in San Francisco, and eleven private libraries worth mentioning should
amply refute the assertion that its citizens did not care for learning. It is true
that the author told her readers that there were wealthy Calif ornians who lived in
superb style, "with palatial mansions luxuriantly furnished ... in which
one may search in vain for a book," but there could not have been many such, for
she managed to find fairly ample collections in most of the more pretentious resi-
dences ranging from one to several thousand volumes.
While none of these private collections were large, she found evidence of indi-
vidual taste in most of them, and in not a few instances traces of the bibliophile
and occasionally the earmarks of the bibliomaniac. The largest assemblages were
those of Alfred Cohen, John B. Felton, Milton S. Latham, who are each credited
with 5,000 volumes. John T. Doyle, John R. Jarboe, Leland Stanford, Frank G.
Smith and Archbishop Alemany had each gathered over 3,000 volumes, and there
is an extended list of owners of from one to two thousand volumes. The interest-
ing feature of the enumeration is its revelation of the idiosyncrasies of the owners.
Men scarcely suspected by their casual acquaintances were disclosed to be the
possessors of well developed fads. There was H. H. Haight who had a passion
for Scotch literature; John B. Felton was devoted to Shakespearian and dramatic
works generally; A. A. Cohen had a taste for suppressed editions; William Doxey
at that early day began collecting Dickens; John T. Doyle ran to Mexican and
Spanish history; Ralph C. Harrison was interested in typography; L. S. B. Saw-
yer gave attention to binding and loved to show the beauties of the tree calf and
the elegant tooling on the covers of his pet works ; P. A. Thompson ran to Ameri-
cana ; Joseph W. Winans was a lover of rare editions ; W. A. Woodward of the
"Alta" picked up an old and curious book wherever he could find one; Ralph W.
Kirkham had a strong penchant for illuminated missals ; Albert J. Le Breton col-
lected Calif orniana ; J. E. McElrath had begun to collect Civil war history; A. A.
O'Neill boasted the ownership of numerous first editions in his 4,000 collection;
there were some too, who disclaimed singularity and admitted that they bought
books for what they could learn from them and not because of peculiarities of
typography, style of binding or date of publication.
The possession of books by a very considerable number of private individuals
does not conclusively refute the idea that San Francisco "did not care for learn-
ing," although it goes a considerable distance in that direction, but a movement
SAN FRANCISCO
637
which had its inception in 1877, the result of which has been to give every com-
munity in the state a good library points to a very lively and intelligent apprecia-
tion of the value of education, and a nice discernment of the mode of acquiring
knowledge. In the latter part of 1877 a meeting of citizens was held in Dashaway
hall, San Francisco, the outcome of which was the introduction of a bill in the
legislature of 1877-78 which became a law on March 18th of the latter year, which
authorized the creation of free public libraries in California. The act was intro-
duced by Senator Rogers of San Francisco and named as trustees of the public
library to be formed in the City under its provisions: Henry George, John S. Hagar,
A. S. Hallidie, A. J. Moulder, George H. Rogers, E. D. Sawyer, Irving M. Scott,
Louis Sloss, C. C. Terrill, R. J. Tobin and John H. Wise.
It cannot be said that the new institution had plain sailing from the beginning.
The community was still under the thrall of the tradition that money expended
for any other purpose than actual administration of municipal affairs was unwise.
Innovation was frowned upon, and there was some difficulty in persuading the
holders of the purse strings of the City to make the modest appropriation of
$24,000, the amount set aside for a beginning, and even this small sum had to be
secured by mandamus proceedings, a doubt being raised concerning the propriety
of establishing a library at the expense of the general taxpayer. With the money
at their command the trustees bought 6,000 books which were installed in Pacific
hall on Bush street above Kearny. In the ensuing year a more liberal appropria-
tion was made, the instantaneous popularity of the new library seeming to the
cautious supervisors to warrant that course. The sum of $48,000 was allowed
and the number of volumes was increased to 30,000. The original rules governing
the use of books were not very liberal. At first they were not permitted to be
taken from the library, but even under this restricted system the number of visitors
grew rapidly. In 1880 the act of 1878 was superseded by a new law which made
the mayor an ex officio member of the board of trustees and gave that body the
exclusive control of all Public Library matters, and they at once adopted a more
liberal policy. Books were given out for home use. The records show that during
the fiscal year ending June, 1881, 354,000 books were used in the library and in
the homes of the people, and that there were 10,500 card holders. The library
was housed in Pacific hall until 1888, when it was moved to the McAllister street
wing of the city hall which was then being constructed on the piecemeal plan.
The appropriations made at this time by the supervisors for its maintenance were
far less than allowed under the law, but they sufficed to increase the stock of books,
and to permit continuous improvements in administration. During the earlier years
of its career the Public Library had no branches; the policy of providing the
latter was not inaugurated until the year of the removal of its collection of books
to the city hall.
The other public or quasi public libraries of the City were more or less affected
by the establishment of the municipal library. The Mercantile, organized in 1852,
and incorporated in 1863, seemed to feel the rivalry most severely, but its career
previously had been so filled with vicissitudes it would be impossible to say whether
it was most hurt by the new free public library or bad management. In 1865 it
secured $20,000 through life memberships, and with the addition of a few thousands
in the fund of the association it bought a lot on Bush street, between Montgomery
and Kearny, and erected a building which was dedicated in June, 1868. This re-
638
SAN FRANCISCO
Mechanics
Institute
suited in the creation of an indebtedness of $240,000, and many expedients were
resorted to in order to get rid of the burden. A big musical festival planned by
Camilla Urso, and held in the Mechanics' pavilion netted $20,000 and in 1870 the
legislature passed an act authorizing a lottery scheme, which, with its three gift
concerts, netted $310,120. Despite the fact that the institution was freed from
debt, and that its collection of books was housed in a good building it did not
flourish. The collection, while in no sense one that would meet the requirements
of scholars engaged in research, was not a bad one, but relatively too much money
was expended on costly works. The initiation fee was nominal, only $2, but the
quarterly dues aggregated $12 annually, and they could not be successfully main-
tained against an institution which charged nothing and practically provided the
same class of literature as that demanded by the patrons of the Mercantile.
The Mechanics' institute in which the Mercantile finally became merged was
more judiciously managed, and its library, while not so pretentious as that of the
Mercantile continued to increase in volumes and value even after the free Public
Library had become a popular institution. It had its vicissitudes also, but was
never compelled to ask for outside assistance. It had its dark days when those
conducting its affairs found it difficult to make expenditures keep within income,
but from the beginning it kept adding to its collection, which at first was little
better than a lot of public documents, until it was destroyed in the conflagration
of 1906. In 1866 the institute erected a building on Post street, between Mont-
gomery and Kearny, and at the time of the fire was meditating expansion. In
1878, and during the closing years of the period 1871-83 the institute was very
prosperous and its activities quite varied. It promoted annual industrial fairs
which were very popular, and maintained the only building in the City capable of
holding a large gathering. Its pavilions, erected at different times in various parts
of the City, indicate the population trend. The first Mechanics' institute was on
Montgomery street near Post on leased ground. Later a building was put up on
Stockton street between Post and Sutter. From there the institute moved to a
large structure erected on Mission street and extending north on Eighth. Subse-
quently the institute acquired the block on Larkin street opposite the city hall,
on which it built the pavilion consumed in the fire of 1906. None of these con-
structions had any architectural merit. They were barn like affairs, unattractive
externally and internally, but they served their purpose. Toward the close of the
Seventies the library of the institute numbered about 30,000 volumes. In 1878
a report stated that the collection embraced about 20,000 in the circulating and
10,000 in the reference departments.
The Odd Fellows Library, a long established organization, had about 35,000
volumes in 1878 and its chief patrons were members of the order. Its librarians
had from a very early period devoted attention to the collection of Californiana. The
competition of the Public Library or some other cause made it difficult to keep
abreast of the other circulating libraries in the matter of current literature and the
management concluded to sell the books of the association several years before the
disaster. The San Francisco Law Library, incorporated in 1870, continued to
flourish during the period, and although its collection was, as its name implies,
designed to meet the needs of lawyers, it embraced many rare books which became
its property by bequest or gift. In 1878 it contained 18,000 volumes. Its support
was derived from membership dues, and a docket tax of $1 exacted from every liti-
SAN FRANCISCO
gant in a case brought in the City. In the same year the Academy of Sciences
had 16,000 volumes on its shelves. There were several class libraries, among them
one devoted to microscopical subjects which laid claim to completeness. The Soci-
ety of California Pioneers in addition to its primary purpose of bringing together
the argonauts and gathering historical material concerning them had accumulated
3,000 volumes, many of which were devoted to Pacific coast exploration. La Ligue
Nationale Francais, located in a building on Sutter street between Montgomery
and Kearny, had 10,763 and the Y. M. C. A. over 5,000 volumes. The compiler
of this information was careful to add that in the private collections mentioned as
being possessed by members of the legal profession no law books were included, and
presented a list of 45 private law libraries aggregating 56,430 volumes, the largest
of which was that of McAllister, which contained over 5,000 volumes.
That the appreciation of literature and art were not universal may be readily
inferred from a fugitive expression of Hittell, who conveys the impression that the
gardens created by Sutro in 1875 were admired for their "art treasures," which
were in reality poor replicas of masterpieces, interspersed with German grotesques
and effigies of animals, the whole being arranged somewhat after the fashion of a
Swiss toy zoological garden. The flowers were beautiful and well kept, but the
general effect of the gardens was destroyed and vulgarized by the cheap statuary.
The tolerance accorded to the fountains set up by Coggswell about this time, and
the effusive welcome given to the present made by an actress in 1876, which was
dedicated with great ceremony on the 4th of July of that year, and still stands in
the most conspicuous spot in the City, were frequently made the subject of unflat-
tering comment, but the period when Lotta made her gift was one in which cast
iron had great vogue in the United States and its acceptance can scarcely be said
to measure the level of San Francisco culture. It was received in the spirit which
prompted the offering, that of enthusiastic mutual liking, and is likely to remain an
enduring and interesting monument of the days when San Franciscco wore her
heart on her sleeve and laid great stress upon the virtue of friendship.
The works of the few authors who have received the stamp of universal com-
mendation are supposed to convey a more vivid impression of the scenes and people
who inspired them than those of writers who failed to achieve fame in the literary
field, but sometimes the true spirit of the times may be more readily gleaned from
the pages produced by men whose literary skill has not been recognized as entitling
them to be placed in the first rank. J. Ross Browne, who lived in the foothills
back of Oakland, ending his varied career in 1875, in some of his work drew truer
pictures of California life than Bret Harte or Mark Twain, whose characters were
oftener exaggerations than types. Browne, like numerous other Californians, took
no satisfaction in contemplating the present, and was no admirer of the past. His
descriptions were rasping but truthful. He was always peering into the future
and found little comfort in so doing. His philosophy was compressed into a saying
that "the smallest steamboat that paddles up the Hudson river is greater than the
greatest monument of antiquity," and his estimates of the great men of his period
were cast in this mould. But Californians read his books and enjoyed them.
In attempting to find the keynote of the literary expression of this period we
discover the cause of the complaint of the editor of the "Golden Era" who lamented
that California writers had taken to going abroad for their themes. It is true, as
he said, that the new aspirants for literary fame no longer cared to picture Cali-
Lotta's G
to San
Francisco
The Work of
J. Koss
Browne
640
SAN FRANCISCO
Henry
George's
"Progress
Poverty"
George's
Theme Fur-
nished by
California
Conditions
fornia types and scenery, and perhaps with good reason. The field had been worked
over as thoroughly as some of the placers described by Bret Harte, and the char-
acters that once inhabited and hunted for gold in them had disappeared or had
conformed to a new order of things. There were still gamblers of the kind made
familiar to the world by the men who gave California its early literary distinction,
but they were no longer disposed to advertise their calling by extravagance of
dress or manners. A great change had come over the people and their singularities
and angularities had ceased to be striking. It is not surprising, therefore, that
literary expression took a new form, and that its products were of the sort that
might not usually be expected in troubled times. That the critics who only give
consideration to fiction or imaginative work of other kinds should occasionally pass the
sweeping judgment that the period was comparatively barren is not strange, but
it is nevertheless true that towards its close a San Franciscan produced a book
which made a more profound impression upon mankind than any other written and
published during the nineteenth century.
It is not necessary to agree with Henry George's theories as expressed in his
"Progress and Poverty," in making this admission. Many of his assumptions have
been contradicted by results, but that does not alter the fact that his method of
presenting the world's troubles took a stronger hold on men than the more scien-
tific appeals of Karl Marx or the vagaries of the Bellamy school of economists.
George's name and his book are not talked about as much as they were formerly,
but their impress is visible in all recent economic writing. His sympathetic method
of treatment proved infectious, and it may be said of "Progress and Poverty" that
after its appearance, even a professor in a Scotch university would scarcely attempt
to discuss an economic subject in the old-fashioned way which disregarded the
necessity of arousing and retaining human interest.
The fact that George was a practical newspaper man has been stated, and
incidentally an allusion has been made to his appointment as gas inspector of San
Francisco. It is fitting to add that the position, which involved no labor and was
practically a sinecure, was conferred to enable him to pursue his literary labors.
When he was afforded the opportunity he devoted himself wholly to the work of
producing "Progress and Poverty." That his theme was suggested by land con-
ditions existing in California at the time he wrote is clearly apparent in every
page of his work. He was profoundly convinced that the monopolistic tendency
then so pronounced could only be arrested by a process resembling confiscation,
and he thought he had devised a workable mode of accomplishing that result.
George's fundamental mistake was the same as that made by Adam Smith; he over-
looked the possibility of other forms of wealth than land proving more attractive,
and he absolutely ignored the tremendous centripetal urban influence which has in
many sections of the Union caused the land to be deserted instead of being eagerly
sought after and monopolized as he expected it would be, and he greatly underrated
the capacity of man to modify the inexorable law of population pressing on the
limit of subsistence. Nevertheless his single tax theory, so far as it applies to the
taxation of land in cities, is gaining ground, and it is not unlikely that some day
in the interest of simplification it will become the practice to exempt improvements
from taxation, although it is in the highest degree improbable that the world will
ever accept his fundamental recommendation that all other forms of wealth than
land be exempted from the burden of maintaining government.
SAN FRANCISCO
641
The influence of the period also asserted itself in the writings of John F. Swift,
an able lawyer and a politically ambitious man, but too frank and plain spoken to
succeed in the field of politics. Swift was the author of a novel "Robert Great-
house," one of the earliest examples of the new school in which politics and eco-
nomics are blended with fiction. It was readable, but was principally remarkable
for the fact that some time after its appearance he sought to recall it because his
political enemies were culling opinions from it which were calculated to injure
him in his campaign for the governorship of the state, in which he was unsuccessful,
chiefly because he had ventured to have views respecting the organization known
as the American Protective Association, a revival or survival of the early Know
Nothing party. Swift was fond of literary work, and in addition to "Robert
Greathouse" wrote "Going to Jericho;" he was also a contributor to magazines
and reviews, but his activities in this direction did not divert his mind from civic
affairs, and as a legislator his reputation for constructive , work stood very high.
One of the interesting features of the literary life of this period is the fact
that a reputation in any part of the vast region known as the Pacific coast was
not confined to the immediate locality where it had been gained. San Franciscans
were apt to count a man who had made his mark in Nevada or Oregon as one of
themselves, and they were equally prone to appropriate or annex the talent of the
stranger. Charles Nordhoff, who revisited the state in 1871 and wrote "California
for Health, Pleasure and Residence," which was followed by others, was taken up
in this manner and finally made his home within the borders of the commonwealth
whose attractions he had made so familiar to the outside world. C. C. Goodman,
for many years editor of the "Salt Lake Tribune," and Rollin M. Daggett, both
accomplished and graceful writers, were as well known and appreciated in the
City as they were in Utah and Nevada. Joaquin Miller might fairly be claimed
by Oregon, although his literary connections were chiefly San Franciscan during
the period. In the later Seventies and early Eighties he was a regular contributor
to the "Chronicle." As in the case of Robert Louis Stevenson myths grew up
about Miller which create the impression that his qualities failed of recognition
in newspaper offices, and it is told that letters offered by him were thrown in the
waste basket. The story had some foundation in fact. Joaquin Miller wrote an
almost undecipherable hand, one of the sort calculated to incite mutiny in a com-
position room, and while he was contributing to the "Chronicle" two of his efforts
baffled the ability of the entire editorial force to straighten them out and they were
not published.
There was less foundation for the story long current about Robert Louis Ste-
venson's connection with the "Chronicle" in December, 1879, and the alleged fail-
ure of the city editor to appreciate him. Stevenson was in the City at that time,
but a careful examination of the books of the "Chronicle" failed to reveal his
name, nor could anyone connected with the editorial department of the paper recall
him when the statement was first made although there were several members of
the Bohemian club on the staff of the paper at the time who would have known of
the circumstance had he made application for work. The assertion was also made
that he wrote articles for the Sunday editor, but that he did not think enough of
them to rescue them from its files. A careful search disclosed no signed article,
and it is improbable that he made any anonymous contributions. Charles Warren
Stoddard was in San Francisco during the period when Stevenson was supposed
John F. Swift
as a Writer
of Fiction
Joaquin Miller
and Other
Workers
Robert Louis
Stevenson in
San Francisco
642
SAN FRANCISCO
Bancroft's
Histories and
His Methods
Bancroft's
Works Form
a Library
to have written for the "Chronicle" but in his reminiscences of the author he fails
to speak of him as seeking employment, or as being otherwise engaged while in
the City than in securing material for his novel "The Wrecker." Stoddard states
that Stevenson was in the habit of visiting him in a tumbledown place on Rincon
hill, which he says the author called "the most San Franciscaly part of San Fran-
cisco." While in San Francisco Stevenson roomed at 608 Bush street. According
to the story of his landlady he lived very abstemiously, during a time subsisting
himself on 45 cents a day, but despite all that has been written on the subject it is
an open question whether he was compelled to do so. Some of those who knew
him well, Joseph D. Strong among the number, after Stevenson had become famous
intimated that the vicissitudes he endured were of his own making, and comported
perfectly with a decided disinclination to exert himself in any manner that was
not absolutely congenial.
It has been suggested that Stevenson could not have made assiduous search for
literary employment in San Francisco without learning of that marvelous workshop
maintained by Hubert H. Bancroft, who during the Seventies, and well into the
Eighties, was producing a series of histories more comprehensive than any ever
before issued from the press of any country on the globe. The name of Bancroft
is appended to all the volumes of the vast output of reading matter and informa-
tion which is embraced in the thousands of pages grouped under the designation
Bancroft's histories, but no secret was made of the fact that the major part of
the writing was done by a corps of assistants working under his direction. Among
those who were at various times in the employ of Bancroft were Ivan Petroff,
Thomas H. Long, Enrique Cerruti, William Nemos, Henry L. Oak and others.
Mr. Bancroft practiced no deception; he planted himself on the proposition that
"to the student it is a matter of indifference" who did the writing of the histories
that bear his name. The chief thing to consider, he insisted, was whether they
were accurate or the reverse ; but the critics refused to accept his standard and
flatly declared that "as history most of the work was worthless because it was not
cast in a form that will live." Their judgment was sound. But there is no gain-
saying the fact that the numerous volumes contain a tremendous quantity of in-
formation which has been freely drawn upon by writers, many of whom, like Her-
bert Spencer, have acknowledged their obligations, and have not hesitated to speak
of the labors of Mr. Bancroft in an appreciative fashion, and to characterize the
publication of his histories as "a great undertaking."
It does not much matter what estimate was placed on the Bancroft histories
by captious critics, one fact stands out plainly and it reflects credit on San Fran-
cisco and California. No other city of thrice the size of San Francisco would have
supplied the stimulus which prompted Bancroft's undertaking, which can only be
fittingly described by the word monumental. The histories were subscribed for*
with a liberality that excited the surprise of Eastern publishers. The series which
embraced "Central America," "Mexico," "North American States and Texas,"
"Arizona and New Mexico," "California," "Nevada," "Wyoming and Colorado,"
"Utah," "Northwest Coast," "Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana," "British
Columbia," "Alaska," "Chronicles of the Builders of the Commonwealth," "Califor-
nia Pastoral," "California Inter Pocula," "Popular Tribunals," "Essays and Mis-
cellany" and "Literary Industries" and "Native Races" constituted a library in
itself. The fact that the vast collection found a place in many private homes, and
SAN FRANCISCO
in most of the libraries of the world did much" to advance knowledge concerning
regions that had thitherto been neglected, and the candid judge has been compelled
to admit, even though the general reader has often not found them entertaining,
that their contents justified the publication of the Bancroft histories. In the prep-
aration of his great work Bancroft accumulated a large collection of books and.
manuscripts which he later sold to the University of California. They constitute
one of the most important sections of the growing library of that institution, num-
bering more than 60,000 titles.
The "Overland Monthly," which had gained a national prestige through the
work and contributions of Bret Harte, never prospered greatly. Its publishers never
learned the art of making the advertising carry the reading matter. Perhaps this
was not so much due to lack of business judgment as it was to the sparseness of
population. In 1882 the "Overland" emerged from a cloud of adversity and entered
on a fresh career under the editorship of Millicent W. Shinn. There was no mate-
rial improvement in its fortunes, but for several years it attracted to its pages
contributors, many of whose names are still familiar to the reading public and not
a few of which have red marks opposite them. In the list may be found David
Starr Jordan, Dan de Quille, Mellville Upton, Charles Edwin Markham, John
Vance Cheney, Irving M. Scott, Horace Davis, Kate Douglas Wiggin, Josiah Royce,
F. K. Upham, Warren Olney, John S. Hittell, Frank Norris, John T. Doyle, Charles
G. Yale, George Davidson, Frank B. Millard, Douglas Tilden, Clarence Urmy, E.
W. Hillgard, Morris M. Estee, John P. Irish, James D. Phelan, Samuel Davis,
James O'Meara, Joseph T. Goodman, Edward S. Holden, Joseph L. Conte, D. G.
Oilman and many others less well known, whose work was fully up to the magazine
standard of a later day and infinitely superior to that of the present catchpenny
stuff which finds its way into many monthly publications. A couple of years earlier
than the revival of the "Overland" a magazine known as "The California" was
launched. Its career was brief, but the curtailment was in no sense due to literary
deficiencies. Its list of contributors embraced many of the names of those appear-
ing later in the "Overland," but the appetite for magazine literature was not then
as avid as it has since become.
If the activities described in the preceding pages do not dispose of the unwar-
ranted assumption that San Francisco was indifferent to learning, the lively inter-
est in the subject of the higher education displayed during the period must effectu-
ally do so. Such incidents as the contest of the will of Horace Hawes, who sought
to devote his estate to the creation of a university, could not have divided a city
into camps unless a large proportion of the people had a high regard for the bene-
fits of learning. Hawes died March 12, 1871, at the age of 58, leaving an estate
valued at nearly half a million, consisting of property in San Mateo county and
San Francisco. By the terms of his will he sought to establish an institution of
learning where law, medicine, agriculture, mechanics, art, commerce and fine arts
were to be taught, which he desired should be called Mont Eagle university. His
failure to make proper provision for his wife and son and daughter caused the
will to be attacked on the ground that the testator was insane at the time of its
execution. The will was set aside and Mont Eagle was not created. That Hawes
was a very eccentric man, and in his later life had become extremely egotistical
and overbearing there is no doubt, but he was not insane. His political activities,
and his penurious disposition had raised up many enemies for him who regarded
Magazines
During the
Eighties
Horace
Hawes'
Unsuccessful
Attempt to
Found a
University
644
SAN FRANCISCO
of Leland
Stanford, Jr.,
University
Public
Schools
During the
Period
Growth of
Public 8chool
System
him as an abnormality. He did not fit in with his surroundings, but his cynical
attitude was not wholly unwarranted. About his public spirit there can be no
question. That he exerted a great influence during his career no one denied, even
when the dispute over the will was most acrimonious. He was branded as insane
because he took the extreme view that it was more desirable to do something for
the general welfare than to make liberal provision for his family.
Political animosity may in a sense be held responsible for the creation of
a public opinion whose reflex action resulted in the failure of the Mont Eagle proj-
ect, and there is ground also for the assumption that the great Stanford foundation was
inspired by the resentment caused by the refusal of the legislature to confirm the
appointment of Leland Stanford as regent of the University of California. On
the retirement of Perkins from the governorship he named Stanford for the posi-
tion of regent, but the senate refused to confirm and his name was withdrawn by
request. The statement was made at the time that Stanford was greatly chagrined,
and there was much talk of his avenging the insult put upon him by creating a rival
university. That he was desirous of an appointment as regent indicates that he
took an interest in the higher education, and that he may have had in contempla-
tion a liberal endowment of the state institution, but Creed Haymond, who had
a large part in the drawing up of the Leland Stanford, Jr., enabling act, subse-
quently asserted that the project of a separate foundation had been long entertained
by Stanford, and that he desired to serve with the governing body of the State
university in order to thoroughly acquaint himself with the requirements of a great
institution devoted to the higher education.
The public school system of the City during this period furnished an interest-
ing illustration of the close relation between the general welfare and the advance-
ment of learning in this country. At the beginning of the period funds were abun-
dant, but with the collapse of the speculative boom the municipality was obliged
to practice retrenchment. In 1880 the salaries of teachers were reduced from 16 2/3
per cent to 45 per cent. Preceding this reduction there was a vigorous discussion
of the question whether it was not a serious mistake to depart from the original
simplicity of the American public school system, and the tendency to broaden the
curriculum was deprecated. The opinions expressed were not responsible for the
action of the authorities in cutting down appropriations, but were rather in the
nature of an excuse for the enforced contraction of the revenues of the school de-
partment. In September, 1875, before the necessity of reduction was felt, there
were 515 teachers who received an aggregate of $525,820 per annum, and in addi-
tion 24 who taught in the night schools, and a superintendent and deputy superin-
tendent, making the total expenditures for salaries in that year $544,070. The
highest salary paid was $4,000 to the superintendent and the lowest $600 per
annum. Ten principals received $2,400, six $2,200, thirteen $2,100. Nearly four
hundred of the 515 teachers of the day schools received less than one thousand
dollars per annum.
In 1871, the beginning of our period, there were 56 schools and 416 teachers
and the number of pupils enrolled aggregated 26,406. The average daily attend-
ance was 16,978 and the expenditures for all purposes amounted to $705,116,
making the cost per capita of the average daily attendance $41.53. The school
census indicated that there were 28,971 children of school age in the City at the
time. The estimated value of school property was $1,786,400. Owing to uncer-
SAN FRANCISCO
645
tainties respecting the valuation of personal property the relation of school expen-
ditures to the wealth of the City cannot be accurately stated, but in 1870 the
assessed value of all property in the City was given at $114,759,510. In 1883 the
assessed value of San Francisco property was $201,992,152 and the school expen-
diture was $791,175, the cost per capita based on average daily attendance being
$25.66, a reduction of $15.87 per capita compared with the earlier mentioned year.
The number of schools in the meantime had increased from 56 to 63 and the
teachers from 416 to 687. There were 40,722 pupils enrolled and the average
daily attendance was 30,827.
The variation of the figures of daily attendance in the public schools from those
of the census figures are largely accounted for by the growth of private and paro-
chial schools, particularly the latter. During the period described the educational
activities of the Catholics were very marked. In 1872 the Christian Brothers were
chartered to grant degrees. In 1874 the Sacred Heart college was opened and
not long after St. Joseph's academy for small boys. The numerous convent schools
were well attended and altogether the pupils of the various Catholic institutions
must have aggregated several thousand in 1883. The number attending the private
schools and finishing academies for young ladies was also very considerable. These
facts must be kept in mind. They are frequently lost sight of by commentators
who make the error of assuming that the difference between the number of children
of school age and the average daily attendance at the public schools exhibits a
lamentable degree of truancy.
Among the earlier troubles experienced by the school department was one which
accompanies the selection of text books. In 1877 the state superintendent of public
schools was charged by C. Augustus Klose with having been improperly influenced
by a Cincinnati firm. The superintendent who was accused of having received a
bribe brought suit against his accuser and recovered $1,000 damages. Another
source of trouble grew out of the mode of appointing teachers, and there were
several serious scandals. In 1879 it was discovered that the series of questions
prepared for the examination of applicants for positions was being sold in San
Francisco. The principal of the Eighth street, now Franklin Grammar school,
a man named Moore, was found with a set of questions in his possession which
enabled him to guarantee, through a go-between named Ewald, the passage of the
required tests by anyone patronizing him. He had obtained the questions through
a clerk in the office of state superintendent, named Carr. When the exposure was
made Moore and Clarke fled the state and escaped punishment, but the discovery
was not without good results, as it was responsible for the provision in the consti-
tution which has stood in the way of like abuses.
In discussing the social changes of this period we are brought face to face with
the fact that a new generation had come on the scene. At the beginning of our
period the number of Americans, not of Latin origin, who could claim California
as their native state, was small; but toward the middle of the decade they became
numerous enough to follow the law of mutual attraction. ■ In 1875 the observance
of the national holiday was still something more than a perfunctory performance,
and it was saved from that ignominy by the spirit of the boys of the City, who had
determined to make the Independence Day parade interesting by departing from
the conventional. The novelty they hit upon was the reproduction of the typical
dress of the miners of argonaut days. The affair proved a great success and
Private and
Parochial
Schools
Native Sons
of the Golden
West
Organized
646 SAN FRANCISCO
suggested a permanent organization of the boys for the perpetuation of memories
of pioneer times. On July 1 1th a number of the native sons met and organized.
The objects of the association -were stated to be "social intercourse, mental improve-
ment, mutual benefit and general promotion of the interests of its members." Only
males of sixteen or over "born in California or west of the Sierra" were eligible
to membership. In March, 1876, the organization was incorporated, Joseph Fish-
bourne being its first president. The original membership was less than a hundred.
In the following year, in December, a "parlor" was formed in Oakland, and after
that date the order grew rapidly. In the early stages of its growth the Native Sons'
organization escaped criticism, but later it was contended that politicians derived
benefit from their connection, and occasionally the figures of election returns seemed
to support the imputation; but it is an open question whether membership senti-
ment operates more strongly in it than in other social bodies, whose numerical
strength in the City and state has increased as rapidly. But whatever the result
it is undoubtedly true that the original purpose in forming the Native Sons was
to keep alive state pride, and that its chief attraction as an order has, from the
beginning, been the possibilities it presents for social intercourse.
A PERIOD OF GREAT PROGRESS
FOLLOWED BY DISASTER
1883-1906
CHAPTER LVI
TRANSPORTATION TROUBLES OF SAN FRANCISCO MERCHANTS
RAILROAD COMMISSIONERS CORRUPTED BY THE CORPORATION EFFORTS TO REGULATE
DEFEATED CORPORATION COMPELLED TO PAY ITS BACK TAXES THE FRESNO RATE
CASE BUYING OFF SEA COMPETITORS MERCHANTS SHOW SIGNS OF REVOLTING
FORMATION OF TRAFFIC ASSOCIATION THE TRANSCONTINENTAL ASSOCIATION
NORTH AMERICAN NAVIGATION COMPANY THE MOVEMENT TO BUILD A COMPETING
RAILROAD SUBSCRIPTIONS TO SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY RAILROAD TERMINAL FACILI-
TIES SECURED THE ROAD TURNED OVER TO THE ATCHISON, TOPEKA AND SANTA FE
THE PEOPLE BETRAYED PACIFIC COAST JOBBERS AND MANUFACTURERS* ASSOCIA-
TION GROWTH OF SOUTHERN PACIFIC SYSTEM MONETARY TROUBLES OF 1893
BUSINESS DEPRESSION IN SAN FRANCISCO.
HEN Bryce made his survey of conditions in California sev-
eral years after the so called "sand lot upheaval" he re-
marked that "the city government of San Francisco is
much what it was before the agitation, nor does the legis-
lature seem any purer or wiser. When the Railroad Com-
mission had to be elected the railroad magnates managed
so to influence the election, although it was made directly
by the people, that two of the three commissioners chosen were, or soon afterwards
came under their influence, while the third was a mere declaimer. None of them,
as I was told in 1883, possessed the practical knowledge of railway business needed
to enable them to deal in the manner contemplated by the _ constitution, with the
oppressions alleged to be practiced by the railroads. ... I asked why the
railroad magnates had not been content to rely on certain provisions of the federal
constitution against the control sought to be exerted over their undertaking. The
answer was that they had considered this course, but had concluded that it was
cheaper to buy the commission."
It is true, as Bryce here asserts, that the railroad bought up a majority of the
Railroad Commission elected by the people, and that course was adopted to save
trouble. Had the people been capable of exercising the discrimination necessary
to secure able men who would have proved true to their trust they might have
accomplished something in the way of control, but that result could only have
been achieved by a fresh agitation directed against the legislature which deliber-
ately, because controlled by the railroad, refused to make the necessary appropria-
tions to enable the commission to perform the duties imposed upon it by the consti-
tution. Mr. Bryce speaks of the third member of the commission who could not
be bought by the railroad as "a mere declaimer." In forming this estimate of
649
Railroad
Fools the
People
650
SAN FRANCISCO
Kailroad
Compelled to
Pay its Taies
Foote he fell into the trap which the railroad cunningly set for the dear people.
It was by discrediting every one who sought to correct railroad abuses that the
reform of the corporation was delayed over thirty years. By fooling the people
into the belief that railroading was an esoteric mystery the shackles were fastened
on San Francisco more firmly than they were before the agitation, and they had
to pay dearly for the childlike faith they reposed in the soundness of the judgment
of those who contended that "whatever is is right."
Had Mr. Bryce, and like critics, not put those who were contending for corpo-
ration regulation out of conceit with themselves San Francisco would have worked
out many problems, and effected many reforms which would have saved the nation
a great deal of trouble later. As these troubles were more or less intimately related
with the fortunes of San Francisco, it is necessary to describe them briefly in order
that the degree of influence they exerted over the growth of the City may be deter-
mined. The connection cannot always be clearly established, but it can easily be
shown that by benumbing the growing disposition to regulate San Francisco helped
to extend the term of the railroad monopoly for many years, and thereby contrib-
uted to the political corruption which finally aroused the people and caused them
to bring about an approach to the results aimed at by the agitators who forced
the adoption of the Constitution of 1879.
The first Railroad Commission elected consisted of George Stoneman, Joseph S.
Cone and Charles J. Beerstecher. Stoneman had held the position of commissioner
under the Irwin administration prior to the adoption of the Constitution of 1879.
Cone was a land owner in the northern part of the state and Beerstecher was
one of Kearney's lieutenants, an utterly corrupt creature who sought the office for
what there was to be made out of it. The only member of the commission who
showed any disposition to exercise the powers conferred by the Constitution of
1879 was Stoneman, whose ability was called into question by just such tactics as
those reflected in Bryce's estimate. Because he urged that abuses existed he was
characterized as "a mere declaimer," and thus the hands of his colleagues who
thwarted every proposal obnoxious to the railroad were held up by an influential
public opinion. The legislature of 1883 took up the matter, and the corporation
committee of the assembly reported as a result of an investigation that Cone, al-
though wealthy before becoming commissioner had received deeds for large tracts
of land from the railroad company while in office, that Beerstecher had been bought
outright and that Stoneman, although he had tried to do his best, had always been
thwarted by his colleagues.
The success of the railroad company in dealing with the commission emboldened
it sufficiently to defy the tax gatherer, and during a period of four years the cor-
poration refused to pay the taxes levied upon it by the State Board of Equalization.
Suits were brought against it in the federal court at San Francisco, and were pend-
ing when the state attorney general ordered their dismissal. His action aroused
indignation and Stoneman, who had been elected governor, chiefly upon his anti-
railroad record, called an extra session of the legislature which assembled March
24, 1884, the objects stated in the call being almost entirely confined to proposed
regulative measures for the railroad corporation and the collection of the revenues.
The assembly was in sympathy with the recommendations of the governor, and
framed nineteen bills, but the senate under the leadership of a San Francisco re-
publican named McClure, an able but unscrupulous opponent of the Constitution of
SAN FRANCISCO
651
1879, and wholly devoted to the interests of the railroad, contrived to defeat all
but four which were of slight consequence. In the ensuing legislature another at-
tempt was made to deal with the question of railroad taxation. An amendment
was proposed for submission to the people providing for the levy of a 2l/ 2 per
cent tax per annum on the gross income of railroads. Although it met the approval
of the legislature, it was rejected at the election of November 2, 1886. In the
meantime, after the dismissal of the suits by Attorney General Marshall, new suits
had been instituted in the federal courts in which the state proved successful,
and the corporation was compelled to pay a sum which represented the amount
with penalties added that Marshall, the attorney general, had sought to sacrifice to
the railroad when he compromised and dismissed the cases, and the unpaid taxes
of 1885-86.
The history of the Railroad Commission during the entire period 1883-1906
was practically one of nonaccomplishment. The commission which followed the
Cone, Beerstecher, Stoneman body was as flagrantly defiant of popular opinion
as its predecessor. Two of the members, Carpenter and Humphreys, arrayed them-
selves on the side of the railroad and Henry S. Foote was in opposition. In the
only case of importance before them, that of Richards & Harrison who alleged dis-
crimination and extortion, relief was denied by the majority. Foote's antagonism
was forceful, but accomplished nothing against the instructions of the railroad.
In 1887 W. H. Robinson brought a case before the commission which resulted after
a long hearing in a reduction of the passenger fares between San Francisco and
the Alameda shore points. After that date various cases were decided by the com-
missions in which the complainant was occasionally favored, but none of these
decisions were rendered so as to form a principle or establish a precedent. In
1896 a vigorous effort was made to secure a horizontal reduction of grain rates
amounting to 10 per cent, and the commission yielded to pressure, but the courts
interfered, deciding that a horizontal reduction without an investigation of each
particular case would be unconstitutional.
The most important matter in many respects which the commission was called
upon to decide was that of Edison vs. Southern Pacific and known as the Fresno
rate case, which was brought in April, 1900. The Southern Pacific, when the
San Joaquin valley railroad was built from San Francisco to Fresno, reduced its
rate of fare from $5.90 to $3.75. The Constitution of 1879 provides that when a
railroad reduces its passenger or freight rate to meet competition it may not restore
the same without the permission of the Railroad Commission. When the Southern
Pacific subsequently entered into an arrangement with the company which had
acquired possession of the San Joaquin valley railroad it promptly restored the
fare to $5.90. The commission, when the case was brought before it under pressure
of public opinion, and perhaps because the Southern Pacific was confident of the
final outcome of its contention, decided that the rate could not be restored. The
corporation promptly carried the matter into the courts and the case was finally
decided in its favor by the supreme court of the state on the ground that the
$3.75 was an excursion rate, and that the railroad constantly kept on sale the regu-
lar $5.90 ticket. The action of the court in sanctioning the disreputable trick came
in for severe censure, but it had been accustomed to adverse criticism and treated
the matter lightly.
Useless
Commissions
and Accom-
modating
Courts
652
SAN FRANCISCO
Merchants
Show Signs
of Revolt
onnd About
Methods of
Shipping:
In view of the fact that the commission was regarded with distrust by the
people, very little attention was paid to a decision rendered in the federal circuit
court in 1883 which deprived it of the right to regulate steamship as well as rail-
road rates. The court held that as the steamships of the Pacific Coast S. S. Co.,
which brought the action to test the matter, passed beyond the three-mile limit, the
commission had no jurisdiction over them. As a result of this decision numerous
alleged competitive steamship lines were started at different times and were kept
in operation until the railroad deemed it expedient to buy them off. The conse-
quence was disorganization of business and the practical impossibility of establish-
ing a line or lines which might have given an effective competitive service.
One other case of importance which came before the commission in 1901 rounds
out the story of the inglorious and often shameful doings of the commission from
which so much was expected. In 1901 the condition of the oil market was such
that relief had to be afforded producers or disastrous consequences must follow.
In April of that year what was called the Bakersfield oil case was brought before
the commission and was, after a hearing, settled by compromise, the attorneys of
the litigants signing an agreement. The railroads involved were the Southern
Pacific, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe, and the San Joaquin valley railroad.
It was afterward held by the attorney general of the state that the agreement
fixed the rate, an opinion which might have been important in the event of higher
prices for oil creating a condition which would have enabled the railroads to put
into practice the rule of "all the traffic will bear."
The merchants of San Francisco had submitted, sometimes with good and oftener
with bad grace, to the exactions of the Central and Southern Pacific for more than
twenty-one years without revolting against their masters, but in 1891 conditions
became intolerable and there were signs of rebellion. The railroad treated them with
base ingratitude, for during the agitation which resulted in the adoption of the Con-
stitution of 1879 the sympathies of the merchants had been with the corporation
and against the people, and in the various disputes touching the regulation of rates
within the state they had maintained an aloofness which more than anything else
contributed to the defiant attitude of the Railroad Commission. In 1891, however,
the arrogance of the corporation became unbearable. Not satisfied with domi-
nating and controlling land traffic the railroad determined to interfere with the
use of the sea.
For some time merchants had found that they could ship domestically produced
goods from New York to Europe and reship them from the latter country to San
Francisco and save money by the transaction. They adopted this course because
the regular clipper lines sailing out of New York were operated under an agree-
ment with the transcontinental railroads, as were also the steamers of the Pacific
Mail Steamship Company, and the rates had been put up to a figure which made
ocean competition a mere farce. The circuitous method of shipping to San Fran-
cisco via Europe, despite the necessity involved of crossing the Atlantic twice and
rounding the Horn effected a saving of $4 a ton. The railroad, however, was
disinclined to submit to the loss of patronage, and set in motion the superserviceable
Washington authorities who denominated the roundabout traffic an evasion of the
coastwise and navigation laws of the United States, and ordered the confiscation
of the cargoes. This drove the merchants who had resorted to the circuitous
route into litigation which ultimately resulted in their favor. The feeling aroused
SAN FRANCISCO
by this insolent action of the railroad was intense, and for a time it seemed to the
dispassionate observer that a crusade had begun which would result in curbing the
pretensions of the corporation by making use of the facilities which the finest har-
bor on the Pacific coast, and the open sea afforded, to effectively regulate freights.
The first result was the establishment of a line of steamers by the Johnson
Locke Mercantile Company known as the Atlantic and Pacific, which began ope-
rating in the summer of 1891. It soon, however, became evident to the merchants
that the advantage gained by employing ocean facilities were nullified by the exces-
sive rates charged by the railroad to carry produce to and from the harbor. The
through rate might be lowered, and as a matter of fact was, but the chronicler of the
interesting episode remarked "San Francisco still stagnated. The number of
stores and tenements to rent continually increased; realty of all sorts produced
continually less income or failed to produce any and values of property sank."
There was no exaggeration in this statement, and in contemplating the situation
the community, under the inspiration of the merchants, fell into line, and supported
a movement, which, had it been carried out as originally designed must have afforded
the desired relief. It will be seen in the sequel, however, that the primary pur-
pose was entirely lost sight of, and that a popular uprising was used to rivet the
shackles of railroad domination more firmly on the people of San Francisco.
Naturally as the movement gained force appeals were made to the Railroad
Commission for relief, but that body, true to the traditions it had created, showed
itself incapable, even if it had been desirous of assisting the merchants in their
efforts. It was found that the commissioners lacked the data to formulate a tariff,
and that none of its members had any familiarity with the business of rate making.
A condition precedent to making a successful fight was an intelligent showing of
the situation and this could only be made by creating an extra official body with
a competent manager, acquainted with the intricacies of rate schedules and the
needs of the community. To attain these ends it was resolved to form a traffic
association. A meeting of merchants was held in the offices of A. J. Lusk & Co.,
over which Isador Jacobs presided, and invitations were sent out for a more rep-
resentative gathering which was called for October 19, 1891. This was largely
attended. James B. Stetson was called to the chair, and after stating the purpose
of the proposed organization a resolution was adopted in which it was declared
that the object of the new association would be to forward "the construction of
canals, competitive systems of railroads, steamship lines, and for any other pur-
pose that might tend to develop the interests of the state, and to seek new fields
for our merchants to distribute their goods, products and manufactures." The
matter of canals especially interested the gathering, which by resolution caused
the creation of a permanent committee, of which John T. Doyle was appointed
chairman, to encourage the construction of a waterway across Nicaragua.
A few days later, on October 24, the executive committee appointed at the
general meeting elected its officers. James B. Stetson was chosen president and
Thomas J. Haynes, secretary. The committee was composed as follows: F. L.
Castle, J. C. Siegfried, F. W. Van Sicklen, Robert Watt, B. F. Dunham, Isaac
Upham, Isador Jacobs, Eugene B. Beck, A. W. Porter, William Haas, J. H. Wise,
A. J. Marcus, A. S. Hallidie, Barry Baldwin, J. B. Stetson, S. N. Griffith, C. T.
Settle, J. A. Hodges and W. H. Wood. Joseph S. Leeds, a railroad man of large
A Good
Flan that
Failed
Traffic
Association
Formed
Traffic
Manager
Appointed
654
SAN FRANCISCO
North
American
Navigation
experience was engaged as traffic manager and entered upon his duties December
1, 1891. Although the movement was designed to afford relief from oppressive
rates to the large district tributary to San Francisco, very little sympathy was
extended by the interior which showed no signs of a desire to cooperate. This was
all the more singular as the arguments of the executive committee and subsequently
of Mr. Leeds were chiefly directed against the evil results flowing from the rail-
road's policy of repressing domestic production in order to promote its through
Perhaps the fact that the association appeared to lay more stress on the de-
sirability of bringing down through rates may have had something to do with the
apathetic attitude of the interior. The first active step taken in carrying out the
Traffic Association's programme was to encourage a competing clipper line. The
effect of its establishment was to render the Pacific Mail traffic unprofitable, and
this caused the withdrawal of the subsidy extended by the Transcontinental As-
sociation to that corporation. The Transcontinental Association at that time em-
braced the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe, the Atlantic and Pacific, the Burling-
ton and Missouri, Canadian Pacific, Chicago and Rock Island, Colorado Midland,
Denver and Rio Grande, Great Northern, Missouri Pacific, Northern Pacific,
Oregon and California, Rio Grande Western, Southern California, Southern Pa-
cific (its Atlantic and Pacific systems), St. Louis and San Francisco, Texas and
Pacific and the Union Pacific system. All these railroads were banded together
for the common purpose, so far as the transcontinental organization was concerned,
of nullifying the advantages of sea competition which object was successfully ac-
complished until the Traffic Association by pledging the support of its membership
to the competing clipper line brought about a change.
In his first report made in 1892 Leeds, after felicitating the members on what
had been accomplished, added: "The State of California needs to have cheap com-
munication within itself. The annual produce of the state should have an easy
market. Transportation between local points should be the minimum. The harbors
of the state should be maintained open and free to commerce; unnecessary re-
strictions and tolls on trade should be abolished." He also added a recommendation
that the Railroad Commission be abolished, as it was a useless body. Although stress
was laid on the necessity of cheap communication within the state no active steps
were taken in 1892 to achieve that result, the energies of the association being
solely directed to the lessening of through rates. In that year the association
voted to send Leeds and Frank S. Johnson to negotiate with the Panama Railroad
Company for terms to move freight across the isthmus, and the outcome was the
establishment of a line of steamers known as the North American Navigation
Company, which, however, was not very long lived, owing to the fatal facility
with which the railroad was able to detach its patronage by offering special rates
to weak kneed members of the association.
The monetary stringency of 1893 made itself felt on the coast, and particularly
in San Francisco where business was almost at a standstill. As is usual in times
of depression, discontent manifested itself and a crusade was started against the
railroad which equalled in bitterness that which was followed by the adoption of
the Constitution of 1879. An agitation was started for the removal of the Railroad
Commission which proved unsuccessful. The patronage of the North American
UNITED STATES MINT
Takes
Hand in
SAN FRANCISCO 655
Navigation Company dropped off so greatly that its condition became precarious
and it was found necessary to aid it with subscriptions; it was impossible, however,
to secure any financial assistance for a proposed railroad which was to engage in
competition with the Southern Pacific for local business. A mooted enterprise which
was to connect San Francisco and Salt Lake was lost sight of during the stagna-
tion. The Traffic Association, however, continued its activities. The project of
an interior line which should be a real competitor of the Southern Pacific, to be
operated with especial reference to the needs of cheap communication with the
Great valley, was kept alive. The citizens of Stockton, Fresno, Merced, Berenda,
Madera, Modesto, Tulare, Bakersfield and other points in the San Joaquin valley
were conferred with by a committee, and the advantages of an independent line
pointed out, and some interest was excited. Through the instrumentality of Wil-
liam R. Wheeler, the Merchants Freighting Association was formed, and the
apprehension that competing steamers might be put on the routes between the
Southern California ports and San Francisco resulted in the extension of more
favorable rates by the existing companies.
Although Leeds in his first report to the executive committee had said: "It The Santa Fe
has been found that the principal feature of the trouble has its basis or foundation
in the local rates in this state," and supplemented this declaration with information
which fully warranted his conclusion that "the high local tariffs to and from the
interior had the effect of holding the traffic of the whole state upon an unreasonably
high basis, and to a large extent curtailed the trade of the business centers of the
coast," and was emphatic in the expression of the opinion that "the local rates
are very much more burdensome (than through rates), because they serve not only
the purpose of securing an immense local revenue, but serve as a high protective
tariff against the possible introduction of a measure of sea competition to the in-
terior country of this coast," the efforts of the association during two or three
years following to provide a remedy for the situation were feeble and mainly con-
fined to talk. Although the Southern Pacific was at this time furnishing an example
of the injustice of its local rates by bringing to San Francisco from Liverpool via
New Orleans, many commodities at much less cost than was assessed against local
shippers for moving the same commodities from San Francisco to Bakersfield in
Kern county at the head of the San Joaquin river, the Traffic Association appar-
ently was less concerned to bring about a change in this latter regard than it was
to force down through rates. This attitude did not escape attention and criticism.
Public opinion was fully alive to the desirability of correcting an evil which Leeds
had so forcefully pointed out, but no move in the direction of securing an inde-
pendent line was made until the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe in pursuit of its
usual policy took advantage of a popular movement to break into the territory of
the Southern Pacific.
There is no doubt about the integrity of the motives of the mass of subscribers
to the San Joaquin valley railroad, who were later called upon to give effect to
Leeds' recommendations. Outside of a limited few they believed that their con-
tributions would be devoted to building a railroad which would be operated inde-
pendently of any transcontinental line, and with the sole object of promoting the
utilization of the water facilities of San Francisco for the benefit of the distributor
of products received by sea and for that of the producers of the great interior valley.
SAN FRANCISCO
The Valley
Bailroad
Project
It would have been impossible to secure the support of many who subscribed had
there been any suspicion that the road was to be built to turn over to a company
belonging to the Transcontinental Association. The members of the Traffic As-
sociation had been told, and the people generally were aware that between 1877
and 1903 over $14,000,000 had been paid by the Transcontinental Association to
prevent the Pacific Mail Steamship Company competing with their lines. They
knew that the Transcontinental Association was responsible for the fact that Bra-
zilian coffee was laid down at Denver via New York at $1.25 per 100 pounds, while
the rate from San Jose de Guatemala to Denver via San Francisco was $1.92l/ 2 ;
and that tea was moved at rates which were slowly but surely depriving the im-
porters of San Francisco of all chances of doing business. Possessed of this
knowledge they were disinclined, or would have been, had the idea been suggested
to them, to assist an undertaking which would strengthen the association whose
purpose it was to choke off competition by sea.
The attitude toward the revived project to build a railroad into the great valley,
to be operated as an independent line, however, met with more favor. In June,
1893, a prospectus had been issued at the instance of the Traffic Association invit-
ing citizens to subscribe to the capital stock of a line to be constructed from the
city of Stockton to the head of the San Joaquin valley in Kern county, the length
of the line being about 350 miles. It was stated that the ultimate intention was
to construct from Stockton to San Francisco, and thus make a continuous line from
San Francisco to the head of the valley having a length of 350 miles. Owing to the
monetary stringency and general depression in the latter part of 1893 it was found
impossible to raise the requisite funds. This project was taken up again in 1894
and the proposed road was named the San Francisco, Stockton and San Joaquin
railroad. The capital stock was fixed at $6,000,000, divided into 60,000 shares
of $100 each and a trust fund was formed and trustees named "to preserve the
road as a competitive carrier." The enterprise made no headway during 1894,
but was not formally abandoned by the Traffic Association. In January, 1895,
the project received an impulse from an outside source which later developments
disclosed was the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe. The connection of that com-
pany with the revised project was not understood by the community, but there
must have been a suspicion if not a certainty in the minds of the members of the
Traffic Association that the original purpose of the enterprise had undergone a
change.
A meeting was held on January 22, 1895, at which bitter speeches directed
against the Southern Pacific were made by several speakers. Thomas Magee said
that he had been told while in the San Joaquin valley that "of every three drops
of rain that fell there, two of them were owned by C. P. Huntington." The dom-
inant note of all the addresses made was intense hostility to the monopolistic cor-
poration. Claus Spreckels was a leading spirit, and on the subject of subscriptions
warned those present that unless at least three millions were subscribed for the
building of the new road the project would fall through. Subscriptions were then
received and Spreckels put down his name for $50,000. On the ensuing day Claus
Spreckels increased his subscription to half a million and John D. and Adolph
Spreckels each subscribed $100,000. In the course of a week $1,500,000 was sub-
scribed and an address was issued to the public in which it was stated that "the
SAN FEANCISCO
657
proposition is to make it a people's road, owned by the people and operated in the
interest of the people, and it is to you as part of the people that we turn for
assistance."
Following this declaration a canvass was made and Claus Spreckels offered
to double his subscription to $1,000,000 conditioned upon $6,000,000 cash being
raised. The appeal was responded to, but not as heartily as the intimation the
need of a $6,000,000 subscription implied. The Hibernia bank made an absolute
gift of $50,000 to help along the undertaking, and Mrs. D. D. Colton subscribed
$50,000. On February 20, 1895, a meeting of the subscribers was held in the
Chamber of Commerce and the name adopted for the new corporation was the San
Francisco and San Joaquin valley railway. A report was made that $2,248,000
had been subscribed and on February 25th the new road was incorporated. Incor-
poration was followed by speedy action in the matter of securing a terminal. The
legislature was then in session and was dealing with a bill which originally designed
authorizing the Harbor Commission to lease sites on water front property belong-
ing to the state for grain warehouses. An amendment was introduced in the inter-
est of the new railroad which would enable the commission to lease to any railway
company, not having terminal facilities in San Francisco, and desiring the same,
for a period of fifty years, any property belonging to the state. The bill passed
the assembly by an overwhelming majority, but the Southern Pacific contingent in
the senate made a vigorous but unsuccessful opposition and the measure became
a law.
The passage of this act was speedily followed by active building operations,
and by significant developments which, however, were overlooked in the enthusiasm
of the moment, or perhaps not comprehended. A plan was submitted to the directory
which created a trust, the powers of which were recited in a preamble as follows:
"To cause said corporation to so operate said road that the basis for freights and
fares shall be the lowest rates of charge which shall yield sufficient revenue to
the company to pay for the proper maintenance, operation and betterment of said
road. . . . And said trustees further agree that they will not knowingly vote
said stock for the benefit or in the interest of any corporation or person, or interests
hostile to the interests of, or in business competition with the San Francisco and
San Joaquin valley railroad, or in favor of any party or parties, or company or
companies owning or controlling any parallel line of road to the detriment of the
corporation hereinbefore mentioned. And said trustees further agree that the
said road shall not be leased to, nor consolidated with any company which may own,
control, manage or operate any of the roads now existing in the San Joaquin
valley, and the trustees shall not, nor shall their successors, have any power as
stockholders to assent to any such consolidation or lease, or in any way to put the
said road under the same management as that of any other railroad now existing
in the said San Joaquin valley."
On April 5, 1895, a meeting was held and this trust provision was approved,
and the following were named as trustees: A. B. Spreckels, James Cross, Daniel
Meyer, Thomas Brown, James D. Phelan, F. W. Van Sicklen, Lovell White,
Christian de Guigne and O. D. Baldwin. In the meantime a terminal had been
selected, the spot chosen being that known as China Basin. The choice was ap-
proved by the State Board of Harbor Commissioners and the directors of the road
Terminal
Faculties
Obtained
San Joaquin
Valley Rail-
road Built
China Basin
Secured by
Santa Fe
658
SAN FRANCISCO
Valley Road
Turned
Over t»
Santa Fe
accepted the site. A bill authorizing the lease was passed by the legislature and
signed by the governor on March 26, 1895, ratifying the transaction, and thus
was dexterously completed the job by which the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe
effected entrance into San Francisco and secured valuable terminal privileges from
the people. The only outspoken opposition to the leasing of China Basin came
from Mayor Sutro, who as ex officio member of the Board of Harbor Commissioners
took part in the conferring of the site. He was dissatisfied with the course taken
and expressed distrust regarding the outcome.
It would be impugning the business capacity of the men who acted as trustees
to suggest that they were overreached. The provisions of the document creating
the trust clearly indicate that what was later accomplished was contemplated by
those who drew it up. There is no doubt that the most of the subscribers, had it
been made perfectly plain to them that the San Joaquin valley railroad scheme
was resorted to merely for the purpose of effecting an entrance to San Francisco,
would have given it their hearty support. At that time it was believed that the
introduction of a rival road would destroy the power of the hated monopoly, and
this belief created a powerful sentiment in favor of any concern which promised
to prove a competitor. Nevertheless it is a fact that "the original object of building
a railroad into the great valley was entirely lost sight of by those who built the
road and then sold out to the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe. That corporation
was not shut out by the provisions of the trust it did not exist or operate in the
valley at that time ; it will probably never "consolidate with any company which
may control, manage or operate any of the roads then existing in the San Joaquin
valley," but since it obtained possession of the San Francisco and San Joaquin
valley railroad it has never maintained a competition with the Southern Pacific
of the sort the people looked for when they bought its stock which they later
cheerfully surrendered when paid par value for the same. In short the San Joaquin
valley railroad is not "a people's road, owned by the people and operated in the
interests of the people."
The historiographer of this popular enterprise announced: "It will be neces-
sary later to publish a volume leading up to the actual beginning of operations
of the first competing railroad," but this second volume never appeared for the
excellent reason that the San Joaquin valley railroad never developed into the
competing road hoped for, and certainly at no time afforded the sort of relief the
Traffic Association sought to obtain through its construction. San Francisco, until
very recently, has been deprived of the advantages which its water facilities should
confer as effectively as before 1895, and since that date it has been compelled to
struggle to maintain its position in the San Joaquin valley. Had the original
plan of the Traffic Association of 1891 been adhered to, and the San Joaquin
valley railroad been made a purely local concern, devoted solely to promoting the
development of the commerce of the port of San Francisco there might have been
a different story to tell. It was claimed that the transference to the Atchison,
Topeka and Santa Fe of the San Joaquin valley railroad was rendered necessary
because the road could not be made to pay. That may be true, but with a copy
of the original trust provisions before one it is difficult to believe that those most
active in the enterprise ever designed making it pay, or that they ever had any
other object in view than that of serving the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Rail-
way Company.
SAN FRANCISCO
Almost concurrently with the operations of the Traffic Association another or-
ganization which was formed in May, 1892, and named the Merchants' Shipping
Association was striving to bring about a proper utilization of the water facilities
of the port of San Francisco. Its efforts were attended with a considerable degree
of success, and the association continued in active operation until 1894, when
assurance was received that a clipper service between Atlantic ports and San
Francisco would be maintained. It was estimated in August, 1892, that 42,000
tons of merchandise were on their way by sea to San Francisco from New York,
and about 15,000 from Philadelphia. Twenty-four vessels were at one time en-
gaged in this trade, and it was noted that there was a growing disposition on the
part of Eastern business men to enter the Pacific coast market to obtain goods
for distribution on the Atlantic seaboard so that the vessels carrying merchandise
to the Pacific coast could secure return cargoes. It was this situation which
brought about the cut rate movement of the Pacific Mail Company that resulted in
serious loss to both clippers and steamers, and was followed by the withdrawal of
many of the former and the cessation of the subsidies which had been paid by the
Pacific Mail Company to shut off the competition of the clipper lines.
When the project of building a people's road into the great valley was under
consideration it was assumed that it could "rely with certainty each year upon traffic
in all portions of the valley where irrigation is practicable, and with almost un-
erring certainty upon a sufficiency of moisture in the foothill country of the Sierra
Nevada to produce a crop. It was further shown that the traffic of the Southern
Pacific in the valley increased five fold in five years." There was no doubt in the
minds of any one concerning the future of a people's road. Mr. Leeds in a report
pointed out at the time of the origin of the Traffic Association that only about
14 per cent of the arable land of the valley was under cultivation. The number
of acres cultivated was about 2,500,000, and there were at least 4,520,000 acres
more of arable valley land which would soon be brought into use, while there was
a large quantity of mill timber which would furnish business. Horticulture was
in its infancy but was destined to greatly expand. Although in 1892 the popula-
tion was still sparse the railroads moved 10,000 carloads of orchard and vineyard
products, 390,000 tons of wheat and large quantities of barley, hay and vegetables.
The petroleum output was also beginning to give great promise.
In the light of later events it is easily seen that Mr. Leeds was not over opti-
mistic, and indeed no attempt has ever been made to show that there was any real
apprehension that the Valley road could not be made to pay. Those who put
through the Valley railroad scheme and turned over the road to the Atchison,
Topeka and Santa Fe may be given credit for sincerity of purpose, but the fact
remains that the upheaval of 1892-95 really accomplished no valuable permament
results. The people who were active in promoting the organization which was
instrumental in the creation of the North American Navigation Company and
which started the movement for a Valley road soon found this out. For a while
they fancied their work was done but in 1899 they had to come forward again to
defend San Francisco's interests. In that year a suit was instituted by the Traffic
Bureau of the Business Men's League of St. Louis, et al, versus the Transcontinental
Railways. The object of the suit was to break down the terminal route making
system. To meet this assault the Pacific Coast Jobbers and Manufacturers Asso-
Resources
the San
Joaquin
Valley
660
SAN FRANCISCO
Pacific Coast
Jobbers and
Manufacturers
Association
Growth of
Southern
Pacific
System
Traffic
Operations
ciation was formed. It originally embraced the merchants and manufacturers of
the Pacific coast terminal cities. Wakefield Baker was the first president, and was
later succeeded by H. D. Loveland. The association intervened in the suit and bore
the brunt of the battle and won the contest which confirmed the principle of
recognizing water competition as a factor in rate making.
The activities of the Pacific Coast Jobbers and Manufacturers Association con-
tinued until the organization of the Traffic Bureau of the Merchants Exchange in
October, 1908. It succeeded during this interval in securing the abolition of the
state toll charges made by the Southern Pacific on traffic which did not cross the
wharves. The Harbor Commission imposed a toll of 5 cents per ton upon all
traffic crossing the wharves of the port, and the railroad extended the exaction
to all freight entering the City whether it entered the City by water or land. The
association succeeded in inducing the Interstate Commerce Commission to take
up the matter, and after investigation that body declared the charge illegal when
applied to interstate traffic. The decision proved the entering wedge to free all
the commerce of San Francisco from the discriminating charge, effecting a large
saving to shippers, which in 1911 was estimated at fully a million dollars. Before
the Jobbers and Manufacturers Association terminated its existence it inaugurated
the movement for the abolition of the discriminatory industrial switching charge
which was successfully prosecuted before the Interstate Commerce Commission
by the Traffic Bureau.
The answer of the men to whose energies the building of the first transcontinental
railroad was due to the complaints and denunciations of the people has always taken
the form of pointing to the development of the state which has resulted from
the promotion of facilities for communication. The corporation has rarely at-
tempted to defend its practices, but has at times dwelt upon its accomplishments.
If the fact could be obscured that these latter were practically achieved with the
money of the people it would be readily conceded that they proved themselves
great benefactors. The growth of the state since the Central Pacific began ope-
rating in 1865 is reflected in the expansion of the operations of the corporation
which later developed into the Southern Pacific. It is a marvelous showing, and
it is not surprising that those who were directly concerned in bringing it about
should sometimes become confused respecting the causes that produced the results
for which they claim so much credit. And it is not necessary in contemplating them
to suppress or underrate the part played by the managers and active spirits of the
corporation in developing the railroad system which from its humble beginnings in
California has become one of the greatest in the United States.
In 1865 when the first report was made the operative receipts of the Central
Pacific were $405,882; in 1910 they had increased to $135,022,607. The freight
carried which aggregated 57,981 tons in 1865 reached 25,962,704 tons in 1910,
and the 124 freight cars of the first named year had multiplied themselves to
44,979. Nine passenger and baggage and express cars sufficed in 1865 and 1,942
were needed in 1910, and the number of locomotives employed had risen from 12
to 1,808. In 1865 from 18 to 56 miles of track were operated; in 1910 the system
embraced 9,752 miles of railroad. No statistics are available to determine what
proportion of this vast volume of traffic was contributed by California, but in the
fiscal year 1906-07 the freight moving eastward from California aggregated 1,851,-
SAN FRANCISCO
661
058 tons and into California 1,209,223 tons, while the movement within the state
was 10,430,811 tons. A couple of years later the Southern Pacific handled 1,031,-
484 tons from San Francisco, and brought to the City 1,860,065 tons. During the
fiscal year preceding the fire the Southern Pacific carried out of the state 169,879
tons of green deciduous, 250,067 citrus and 214,667 tons of dried fruit. The cor-
poration by no means monopolizes the carrying business of the state, but it has
the lion's share, as may be inferred from the fact that its chief competitor the
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe absolutely declines to furnish statistics.
The earlier policy of the Southern Pacific was not calculated to promote the
object which the congress of the United States had in view in extending aid to
the constructors of the first transcontinental railroad. High passenger rates ope-
rated to discourage immigration into the state and population increased very slowly
compared with that of other sections of the Union. In 1880 California had 864,-
694 inhabitants, in 1890 the number had increased to 1,208,130, but during the
ensuing ten years only 276,923 were added, the population in 1900 being 1,485,-
053. An explanation of this slow growth may be found in the fact that little at-
tention was paid to colonizing before 1900, but after that date vigorous efforts
were made to induce settlement by making low rates which promoted immigration.
Between 1901 and 1910 the Southern Pacific carried 625,328 passengers at colo-
nist rates, the number being 93,547 in 1893. During the same period the Atchison,
Topeka and Santa Fe exhibited a like activity, and to the combined efforts of the
two companies can be traced the phenomenal increase of population between 1900
and 1910 which exceeded 62 per cent, and which represented nearly as great an
addition to the inhabitants of the state as there were people within its borders
twenty years earlier.
It would be easy to trace an apparent connection between the advancement and
retardment of progress in San Francisco and the operations of railroads which
serve it, especially those of the company which dominated for so many years.
Between 1883 and the great fire of 1906 San Francisco had many variations of fortune.
There was a period of prosperity after 1883 which endured for several years,
but in 1891 the people were complaining of stagnation, and as related in the ac-
count of the movement which led to the construction of the San Joaquin valley
railroad, the merchants and the community generally adopted the view that the
short sighted policy of the Southern Pacific was responsible for the troubles they
were experiencing. But it would be a mistake to lose sight of the fact that there
were other causes operating, and that San Francisco was suffering in common with
the rest of the country. In 1893 the United States was visited by one of the most
disastrous panics ever experienced in this country. The Pacific coast was no
longer isolated, and its inhabitants had to accept the evil with the good which
results from interdependence and improved communication. Earlier, under dif-
ferent conditions, San Francisco was able to escape and even to profit by the
currency troubles of other parts of the Union. In 1893, although it still maintained
its system of gold payments, it was caught in the maelstrom. Its business men
perhaps may be held accountable for the money ills of the period as the exploitation
of the Comstock mines and the consequent silver troubles may be directly traced
to their activity.
Central
Pacific Man-
agers and
Immigration
CHAPTER LVII
MONETARY PECULIARITIES OF SAN FRANCISCO AND CALIFORNIA
THE USE OF GOLD COIN IN CALIFORNIA WHY THE STATE WAS ABLE TO MAINTAIN
SPECIE PAYMENTS AN EXCESS OF SUBSIDIARY SILVER CAUSES TROUBLE IN SAN
FRANCISCO THE VARIABLE "BIT" AND THE HOSTILITY TO THE 5-CENT NICKEL
THE TRADE DOLLAR EXPERIMENT IGNORANCE OF EFFECT OF SILVER DEMON-
ETIZATION IN SAN FRANCISCO THE TRADE DOLLAR REDEMPTION JOB FALL IN
SILVER PRICES INJURES MINING INDUSTRY CAPITAL AND RATES OF INTEREST
BANK CLEARINGS THE CRISIS OF 1893 AND THE SUBSEQUENT BUSINESS DEPRESSION
CALIFORNIA PRODUCERS SUFFER FROM FALLING PRICES SAN FRANCISCO VEGE-
TATES HAWAIIAN TRADE TEA MARKET SLIPS AWAY IMPORTANCE OF ALASKAN
TRADE CUTTING UP BIG RANCHES OPERATIONS OF MINT AND SUBTREASURY
OBSTACLES TO MANUFACTURING DEVELOPMENT AGRICULTURE IMMIGRATION.
HE adherence of California to the gold standard throughout
the Civil war, and the subsequent period during which the
national currency was at a discount, was regarded as an
exhibition of financial wisdom by most Californians, al-
though there were some who stoutly contended that its ef-
fect was to deter people with small sums at their command
from making their homes in the state, and that it abso-
lutely prevented the investment of outside capital. Curiously enough, although the
state maintained gold payments with apparent ease, the fact did not attract the
attention of the economists, who did not seem to regard as anything out of the
usual the ability of California to defy what was later declared to be an inexorable
law, namely, that the inferior money must inevitably drive out the superior. There
was an excellent opportunity during the period to study the operation of the so-
called Gresham's law, but no one thought of doing so, perhaps because no one up
to the time of the agitation over the silver question had thought of making an
observation of Sir Thomas Gresham, which had reference only to the impossibility
of keeping silver coins of full weight in circulation side by side with coins whose
weight had been impaired by clipping, apply to all sorts of currencies. At any
rate there was no serious study made then, nor after, of the effects of the Specific
Contract Act of California, although some valuable suggestions might have been
derived by students. They might have learned, for instance, that a superior cur-
rency can never be driven out of a country which is able to maintain a supply
of gold, and that it is impossible under abnormal conditions for a debtor people
to retain a sufficient quantity of the metal which by universal consent has been
664
SAN FRANCISCO
Changers
ProBt by
Ad Abase
Hostility
to Small
Coins
selected as the medium for settling balances between nations foreign to each other.
The rest of the American Union during the Civil war was compelled to use
paper money, not because an inferior currency drove out the superior, for there
was no such occurrence, but because it could not procure gold or retain it after
obtaining it; California was able to remain on a gold basis because she had an
abundance of that metal and was practically a creditor country. So when her
people resolved to adhere to specie payments they found no difficulty in doing so
despite the enormous temptation which the opportunity to use the depreciated legal
tender money of the United States presented, the resort to which at one time would
have been regarded as a patriotic act by the people of the other states of the
Union. There was absolutely no barrier to the adoption of the so-called inferior
currency except the persistent determination of the people to use gold, which found
expression in voluntary contracts sanctioned by a law which could only be made
effective by the pressure of public opinion.
While the wisdom or unwisdom of adhering to gold when the rest of the nation
was using an unconvertible paper currency was sometimes discussed, curiously
enough a collateral consequence of the refusal to use United States paper money
has almost escaped comment. In 1862 the government began the issuance of frac-
tional paper currency. San Francisco, and California generally, absolutely re-
jected the new issues and insisted upon being provided with subsidiary silver
coinage. The supply was not overabundant during several years after 1862, but
the people managed to make shift and submitted without much complaint to the
inconvenience caused by the rejection of the fractional paper currency. This con-
dition continued for several years until the government began to discover a source
of profit in minting subsidiary coins. The mint regulations and the science of
money were not well understood by congress, and an abuse was permitted to grow
from which California was the chief sufferer. Methods of getting the subsidiary
coins into circulation worked well, but there was no device by which, when the
quantity emitted became greater than could be absorbed, the excess could be with-
drawn from circulation.
As a consequence San Francisco in course of time contained more of this sort
of money than it required and it went to a discount. Subsidiary silver being a
legal tender to the amount of only $5, storekeepers soon refused to receive it in
greater sums, basing their declination on the fact that the banks refused to receive
deposits of small coins. Money changers' shops sprung up on all the prin-
cipal streets of the City, and they did a brisk business selling twenty dollars in
gold for twenty-two dollars of subsidiary money. The presumption is that the
brokers sold the depreciated silver to employers who paid it out to wage earners,
and that they made money buying and selling. The abuse continued during sev-
eral years without any attempt to remedy it being made until some years after
the election of Newton Booth to the United States senate, about the close of the
decade 1870, when an act was passed by congress which permitted the holder of
subsidiary coins to take them to the subtreasury and exchange them for legal
tender money. The cure was almost instantaneous. The money changers disap-
peared as if by magic, only a very small number surviving, who devoted them-
selves to the legitimate pursuit of exchanging domestic for foreign money.
Perhaps the toleration of this monetary abuse was attributable to the same cause
which made the "bit" an amount determinable by the nature of the transaction.
SAN FRANCISCO 665
There was no such coin as a "bit" in existence at any time, but in the early days
a foreign piece rated at 12l/o cents was known as such and passed current for a
time, but utterly disappeared when the government was able to supply domestic
money. But the term "bit" was retained and is still in use, although shorn of its
variability. In the careless period a "bit" was indifferently 10 cents, 12i/2 cents
or 15 cents. If a person in a store asked the price of an article and the salesman
told him it was a bit, and he tendered a silver quarter of a dollar he received ten
cents change. If he offered a silver ten cent piece it was received without com-
ment; but if the price was "two bits" twenty-five cents was expected. The dime
was the smallest coin used during the early Seventies, the nickel being viewed with
distrust until it was popularized by the passage of the legislature in 1878 of the
act fixing the rate of street-car fare in San Francisco at 5 cents. As for the cent
piece it has not yet attained complete recognition, although its use is growing.
During the years following 1880 many efforts were made to introduce the one-
cent piece without success. The small coin was regarded with hostility by the
classes which might reasonably be expected to derive the most benefit from its use,
and on several occasions was made the object of a boycott. No cents were coined
at the United States mint in San Francisco until November, 1908.
Owing to the scarcity of coins in the days immediately following the gold rush,
and to the neglect of the government to exercise its function of providing a circu-
lating medium numerous private coining establishments were started which proved
profitable to those who conducted them. There was no concert of action in the
production of these unauthorized coins, and apparently no serious abuse grew out
of the irregular practice which was almost unavoidable. The makers secured a
big seigniorage, but there were no complaints of debasement. In 1874, however,
at the suggestion of San Franciscans the government was induced to embark upon
a coinage scheme which had an extraordinary and disgraceful outcome. For many
years a profitable business had been done by San Francisco banks buying Mexican
dollars and shipping them to China. When the Comstock mines began yielding
on a large scale the idea was conceived that a market could be made for silver by
coining a "trade dollar," which would contain several grains more of the precious
metal than that emitted from the Mexican mints. The conservatism of the Chi-
nese defeated the project. They were accustomed to the Mexican dollar and
showed no disposition to accept the proposed substitute.
The act demonetizing silver was passed in 1873 and its influence was soon ignorance
apparent in the declining price of the white metal. In 1872 the value of a fine
ounce of silver at average quotation was $1,322; in 1873 it was $1,298; in 1874 «on
it fell to $1,278. It does not appear that the San Franciscans who interested
themselves in the trade dollar device to arrest the falling price of silver associated
the latter with the act of congress which struck the standard dollar of 412l/£ grains
from the list of legal tender coins; the depreciation was accounted for solely by
the enlarged output of the Comstock mines, and it was thought that the only mode
of maintaining the value of the metal was to secure additional purchasers. Men
as keenly alive to the interest of the silver miner as Stewart, afterward senator
from Nevada, were unaware of the effect of the act, and did not criticize it ad-
versely until years after its passage. It is quite probable that the leading finan-
ciers of San Francisco with whom Linderman, the director of the United States
Effect of
Demonetiza-
666 SAN FRANCISCO
mint consulted, were equally ignorant or indifferent to the consequences of demone-
tization. It is inconceivable that they would have remained quiet if they had un-
derstood that the deprivation of the legal tender quality of the standard dollar
would have the result, as it did later, of cutting the price of silver in half.
But whether they knowingly or unknowingly assented to the act of 1873 it is
undeniable that the trade dollar panacea was suggested by San Franciscans. Un-
der this act trade dollars of 420 grains were coined between 1874 and 1879 to the
amount of $36,000,000. The trade dollar was not a legal tender, but for a time
it freely circulated in California, and to a limited extent throughout the rest of
the country. This practice was speedily arrested, however, by the refusal of the
banks to receive them for deposit, an action which made the country familiar with
their nonlegal tender quality, and at once put an end to their circulation. In the
meantime it was discovered that the Chinese did not take kindly to the new coin,
and the mint authorities in 1879 discontinued their coinage. Many years later
the stupid transaction had a finishing touch put to it by congress directing that the
trade dillars should be redeemed at par. This was done on the assumption that
the dollars had been received in ignorance of their true character by those holding
them, and that the public faith demanded that the deceived persons should be
reimbursed. As a matter of fact the dollars which were redeemed had all passed
into the hands of a gang of speculators who had bought them up at their value
as silver bullion. Very few, if any, were in the hands of deceived receivers. The
speculators made a great sum out of the transaction which was sanctioned by con-
gress, although it had full knowledge of the fact that it was a rank job.
It was stated in the chapter devoted to the description of the mining stock
speculation during the Seventies that much of the prosperity which preceded the
collapse of the market in 1876 was due to the large amounts of treasure poured
into the lap of San Francisco from the mines of Nevada. While the output of the
Comstocks was on the great scale which marked the early years of the boom the
falling price of silver naturally had little perceptible effect. In a comparatively
brief period it is estimated that the leading mines produced nearly $300,000,000,
Con. Virginia alone being credited with $130,000,000 of that amount. While the
big bonanza and the other productive mines were turning out such immense quan-
tities of bullion the dropping price of the metal made a small impress, but when
output and price declined concurrently, as they did after 1876 the result was
disastrous and must be included in the causes which contributed to the depression
in 1877-78, and which continued during several years following.
Capital The extent of the depression has already been described. It was exhibited in
the numerous bank failures which occurred, and in the shrinkage of the deposits
in savings banks of the City which decreased from $55,871,000 in 1875 to $42,323,-
000 in 1881. At the same time there was a great diminution of the resources of
the commercial banks, which declined from $30,329,000 in 1877 to $21,000,000 a
few years later. In 1878 deposits in the commercial banks aggregated $38,000,000;
two or three years later they dropped to less than $23,000,000. In 1880 the clear-
ings of the San Francisco banks were only 68% of those of 1878. During the
struggle over the adoption of the constitution in 1879 one of the arguments most
frequently urged against the proposed instrument was its assumed effect on cap-
ital. It was declared that it would take unto itself wings and fly to more hospitable
and Interest
Rates
SAN FRANCISCO
climes. The diminished deposits and the abandonment of San Francisco by men
like Keene, who had made a profession of stock gambling, lent color to this assump-
tion, but the records indicate that sufficient was left for carrying on profitable
enterprises, for interest rates steadily diminished after 1879. At the beginning
of the seventy decade loans as large as $100,000 were made at 11% per annum,
and in 1878-9 the ruling rate was 9%. During the ensuing three years 8% to
9% was the figure. In 1882 a loan was made to a large capitalist at 9%, but since
1883 few mortgages have been recorded in San Francisco above 7%. The gen-
eral rate for many years after 1883 was 7%, the lender paying the mortgage tax.
Bank clearings in San Francisco until after 1900 did not as accurately measure
the business activities of the City as in some other communities, owing to the per-
sistence of the habit of paying bills in coin. The practice of sending out collectors
inaugurated when remittances were made by steamer still survives in San Fran-
cisco, and the day set apart for that purpose is known as "Steamer day," but
checks are more generally used than formerly. During the Seventies and Eighties
many business men refused to make checks for small amounts. An investigation
made by a reporter in the early Nineties disclosed that many firms were accus-
tomed to paying all accounts under $20 in coin. Employers rarely paid by check.
But as these habits prevailed almost down to the time of the disaster in 1906, the
clearing house figures exhibit the fluctuations in business if they fail to show its
true volume.
In 1878 the bank clearings of the City were $715,329,319; in 1880 they were
only $486,725,953. After that year improvement began to exhibit itself, but re-
cuperation was very slow. In 1883 the volume had increased to $617,921,853, but
in the ensuing year it fell back to $556,856,691, but this was only a temporary
relapse, the expansion being steady after 1884, rising to $851,066,172 in 1890
and to $892,426,712 in 1891. San Francisco was now no longer an isolated city.
It could not, as in the Sixties, detach itself from the currency troubles of the rest
of the Union. Its adherence to the gold standard, and its general conservatism
were powerless to protect it from the monetary blunders of the country to which,
perhaps, it contributed as much as any other section, for singular as it may seem,
the financial element of San Francisco, despite the obvious advantage that must
have resulted to the City from a successful adherence to the bimetallic policy, was
strongly in favor of the single gold standard. Its bankers and business men were
therefore not in a position in 1892, when there were signs of an impending storm,
to say "I told you so."
In that year there was a decided halt and signs of retrogression. The clear-
ings dropped from $892,426,712 in 1891 to $815,368,724 in 1892 and in 1893
and 1894 they descended still lower, reaching $658,526,806 in the latter year. It
will be recalled that in 1891 the advocates of a valley railroad pictured the condi-
tion of business as extremely bad in San Francisco, and as is usual in the case of
advocates of a particular remedy they attributed the trouble wholly to local causes,
ignoring others equally potent. A comparison of the alternations in the volume
of clearings in the Eastern centers of trade shows that the San Francisco depres-
sion synchronized closely with that which culminated in the great panic of 1893,
when the failures in the United States aggregated the enormous sum of $346,779,-'
889, more than three fold those of the previous vear, and exceeding those of the
Vol. II— l 3
Collections
and "Steame
Day"
Story Told
by Bank
Clearings
668
SAN FRANCISCO
California
Producers
Suffer from
Prices Affect
Wheat and
Wool
Production
year 1884 by $120,000,000. The crisis of 1893 was attributed to the government
currency. By a process of reasoning which was not clearly understood by the
people, it was made to appear that there was distrust of the government paper
money, a rather queer assumption in view of the fact that greenbacks were sold
at a premium. It was on this pretense that President Cleveland on August 7, 1893,
convened congress in extra session, but there was a much simpler explanation of the
trouble which he ignored. For years the prices of products had steadily declined,
and in the year mentioned all classes of producers had become greatly distressed.
This condition existed throughout the administration of Cleveland, the lowest price
level after 1873 being reached in 1906.
San Francisco was not affected by a scarcity of currency. It was able to main-
tain gold payments during the period of stringency, but California producers suf-
fered greatly through the fall of prices, and industry was almost paralysed in
Nevada, owing to the decline in the value of silver, which had fallen from $1,322
an ounce in 1872 to 78 cents in 1893. All the mines in that state and Utah, ex-
cept a few of extraordinary richness, had shut down, thus impairing the purchasing
power of once good customers. The exports to foreign countries, which aggre-
gated $45,767,673 in 1883, in 1893 had dropped to $33,853,345 and in 1894 they
were only $26,410,672, ten millions less than in 1879. In 1881-82 the receipts of
wheat and flour at the port of San Francisco, expressed in terms of centals of wheat,
amounted to 23,316,320, and the exports reached 24,862,095 centals during the
seasonal year. The value of the wheat shipped during the calendar year 1882 was
$31,355,442, and of flour $4,808,291. In 1891 California was still exporting grain
on a great scale, receiving $27,323,251 for her shipments of wheat in that year,
and $5,781,590 for flour. After 1892 the exports of wheat and flour began to
dwindle. In 1898 they were only $5,694,448 of the former and $3,383,755 of the
latter.
It is usually assumed that cereal farming ceased to be attractive in California
because horticulture offered greater profits. This is true, but the fact is often lost
sight of that wheat farming was not an unprofitable occupation before 1882, and
that, had it not been for the tremendous drop in prices after that date, wheat
might have continued for an indefinite period one of the leading products of the
state. In 1882, according to the government reports, the average export price of
wheat was $1.19 a bushel; in 1898 it was 98 cents, but during the interval it had
fallen as low as 58 cents, notably in 1895. As practically all the wheat raised in
California was produced in the northern part of the state, and shipped abroad
through the port of San Francisco, the great reduction in price, and the consequent
disinclination to engage in the production of that cereal materially affected the
business interests of San Francisco by curtailing the consumptive ability of the
region tributary to the City. The City was also a sufferer from the diminishing
product and the falling price of wool. In 1876 the wool crop was estimated at
56,550,970 lbs.; in 1900 the product was only 21,360,000 lbs. and five years later
it was 22,000,000 lbs. In 1875 the price of coarse wools was more than twice that
of the later year. The government statistical abstract quotes the average in the
former year at 47 cents; and in 1896 at 29 cents. In 1896 it fell as low as 19
cents. As in the case of the cereal wheat the diminished production of wool was
due as much to decreasing profits of sheep raising, as to the introduction of other
SAN FRANCISCO
methods of utilizing the soil, which might have proceeded without interfering with
the wool industry, had not falling prices made sheep raising an undesirable occu-
pation except under very favorable circumstances.
In view of these great impairments of the incomes of California producers it
is impossible to find an explanation of the depression which began to manifest
itself in 1891 in San Francisco in currency troubles of the sort loudly com-
plained of in the East. The depression was not due to a lack of money necessary
to transact exchanges or move crops; it was caused by the failure of the producer
to secure a proper reward for his exertions. When this happened he curtailea
production, and as a result suffered from diminished returns for his smaller out-
put, which he was compelled to sell at a price which meant a loss to him, or at
least insufficient remuneration for his labors. On the other hand during the period
of ascending prices, when the wheat grower, silver producer and wool raiser were
receiving remunerative prices for an increasing product, there was great prosperity
in city and country. The latter condition is plainly reflected in the expansion
during the years between 1883 and 1891. The disastrous results of the depression
which set in after the last year mentioned are seen with equal clearness in the
statistics quoted ; in the agitation for lower freight rates and better railroad facili-
ties, and in numerous other ways which will be apparent when we come to consider
the other activities of the City, not directly connected with productivity, but which
are fully as dependent upon the latter as though they were part of the industrial
machine.
Perhaps it is no more characteristic of San Francisco than of the nation at
large that her people should take things easily when conditions are prosperous;
but it has been charged that after the agitation in 1877-78, and the succeeding
depression, there was a disposition shown by San Franciscans to take things as
they came. With the recrudescence of prosperity in 1883-4 there was not that
manifestation of enterprise which may be properly looked for in a community
ambitious to grow and fill a large space on the map. As was shown in the
chapter devoted to describing the activities of the railroad, which then practically
monopolized the traffic of the state, although there was as much reason as later
to resent the corporation's treatment of its patrons, and its usurpation of political
power, public sentiment was practically dormant. The press intermittently sought
to arouse the people, but without achieving much success.
Until 1891, when the Valley railroad movement began, the merchants and the
people of San Francisco appeared to be satisfied. "Let well enough alone" was
the unexpressed motto. Those who were in business during the prosperous period
were satisfied with their profits, and were not eagerly seeking to create new sources
of income. The inactivity of the merchants was reflected in the conduct of munici-
pal affairs. There was a pronounced indisposition to take any step which might
add to the tax burden. Innovations were regarded with hostility, and compara-
tively few realized the absurdity of a community with abundant means at its com-
mand adopting the methods of the necessitous who are compelled to buy or bnild
on the installment plan. The city hall, begun in the early Seventies with a great
flourish, was still uncompleted, being built piece meal, the work at times halting
for months because supervisors failed to make necessary appropriations. The
municipal machinery was badly out of joint and a new charter was needed, but
Suffering*.
of the
Producer
670
SAN FRANCISCO
Complacent
San
Franciscans
Growth of
Hawaiian
Trade
the earlier failure to adopt an instrument discouraged effort. Men of narrow
views, but animated by the best of purposes dominated public sentiment, and San
Francisco was beginning to vegetate.
The evil effects of inaction were not recognized at the time. The City was
increasing its population and wealth, and the volume of business was constantly
expanding, and there seemed no need for concern, although a tendency was begin-
ning to manifest itself in the interior press to sharply criticize the inaction of the
metropolis, a practice which developed to disagreeable proportions a little later,
when the possibility of contrasting the rapid advances being made by Los Angeles,
which during the Eighties began to emerge from the dolce far niente stage of ex-
istence and was growing with great rapidity. The increase in population in San
Francisco between 1880 and 1890 from 233,959 to 298,997, while not as great as
that made during the previous decade, was considered a healthy showing, and the
exhibit otherwise was not bad. The City still retained its preeminence as a port
of entry. Imports, which amounted to $35,221,571 in 1880, had increased to
$48,751,323 in 1890, while exports during the same period rose from $31,845,712
to $35,962,078. As all the other ports of the state in 1890 only had an export
movement amounting to $355,877, and did not import enough to merit being noted
in the government's reports, there was no alarm felt. There was much to
support the complacent indifference to the intimations that were being made
that San Francisco had better look to her commercial laurels in these figures, and
likewise in the expanding east and west bound traffic of the railroad, which
showed an increase in the local east bound from 255,560,900 pounds in 1876 to
419,817,320 in 1888, and of west bound from 340,674,400 to 696,366,810 pounds
during the same period.
There were other causes for complacency, so far as the merchant was con-
cerned. The treaty with Hawaii, while it did not result in giving the people of
the Pacific coast cheaper sugar, was undoubtedly a great stimulus to trade between
the mainland and the islands. In 1875, the year preceding the reciprocity treaty
with Hawaii, the total production of sugar on the islands was 25,000,000 pounds;
in 1901, under the stimulus of the indirect bounty given to the Hawaiian planters,
the output was enlarged to 691,000,000 pounds, and practically all of it came to
the port of San Francisco, where part of it was refined, the remainder being
shipped to the East, chiefly by rail, the Southern Pacific making a rate which for
many years, until the Tehuantepec route was opened, made water competition im-
possible. In addition to sugar the islands produced rice, pineapples, coffee, hides
and skins and bananas which, during the reciprocity period and up to the time of
annexation, which took place in 1898, were wholly handled in the port of San
Francisco, which also enjoyed by far the greater part of the export trade to the
islands. This active commerce gave employment to considerable shipping in addi-
tion to the regular lines of steamers plying between the ports of San Francisco
and Honolulu, and greatly stimulated the sale of California products, as well as
those of other countries distributed by local merchants.
The importance of this rapidly developed trade was largely instrumental in
closing the eyes of the people of San Francisco to the one-sided operation of the
reciprocity treaty, under whose terms the planters of the islands were practically
made a present of the remitted duty, the price of sugar in San Francisco actually
SAN FRANCISCO
671
being higher during the entire period while the convention was in force than in the
states on the Atlantic seaboard, where the population consumed duty-paid sugar.
The fact that the planters were chiefly San Franciscans, or operating with San
Francisco capital reconciled the community to the indignity of seeing a raw mate-
rial pass through their port on its way to the East, and after paying a high rate
for railroad transportation, being sold in the markets of that region at an average
rate of a cent a pound less than it was sold for in San Francisco.
During the Eighties the merchants of San Francisco were still building on the
prospect that the City might prove a great distributing market for tea, but they
were gradually disillusionized. One of the complaints voiced during the anti rail-
road agitation which resulted in the building of the San Joaquin valley railroad,
was based on the disappearance of this prospective trade. The steamship lines
cooperating with the Southern Pacific arranged rates in such a fashion that the
cargoes destined for the East passed through the port of San Francisco unbroken,
and merchants in Chicago were enabled to ship tea back into territory formerly
securely held by the jobbers of the City. It was contended that this action was in
open violation of a ruling of the Interstate Commerce Commission that had been
secured by a San Francisco commercial house, which, however, there was no at-
tempt ever made to enforce. There is no doubt that the Southern Pacific, had its
policy been to build up the port of San Francisco, could have compelled such an
adjustment of rates that the City would have realized its dream of being a great
tea market; but at that time, and for a long period afterward, the managers of
the railroad were almost wholly devoted to the long haul idea, and expended the
most of their ingenuity in devising schemes which practically compelled the con-
sumer to pay all the traffic could be made to bear.
In a circular arraigning the Southern Pacific for its alleged discrimination
against San Francisco, issued about 1892, and designed to promote interest in the
Valley railroad project it was shown that imports of tea into San Francisco had
fallen from 170,696 packages in 1886 to 154,353 in 1891, and this reduction was
attributed to the cause above named. The only answer made to complaints of
unfair treatment was that Suez canal competition forced the railroad to adopt a
course which it would have liked to avoid, but San Francisco merchants were
indisposed to accept the explanation in view of the fact that tea was being moved
from Yokohama to Salt Lake City via Portland, Oregon, at 1% cents a pound,
while the rate for the same commodity from the Japanese port mentioned to Salt
Lake City via this port was 2% cents a pound. The struggle to retain the coffee
market which the merchants of San Francisco had succeeded in building up did
not attract general attention until it was made perfectly clear in the course of the
animated discussion in the early Nineties that for some inexplicable reason rates
were so adjusted that New York merchants could control the coffee market as far
west as Denver, and completely shut out the Central American product handled in
San Francisco.
One of the sources of mercantile prosperity during the years between 1883 and
1893 was the trade developed in Alaska, which was almost wholly confined to this
City during that period. The trade reports prior to the acquisition of the Phil-
ippines, dealing with the non-contiguous territory of the United States, did not
command so much attention as later, but the volume of business was by no means
Failure to
Create a
Great Tea
Market
Why the
Tea Trade
Dropped Of
Tniportaiie
of Alaskan
Trade
672
SAN FRANCISCO
inconsiderable, and occasionally people would be reminded of the importance of
Alaska by publications issued by the treasury department. One of these states
that up to 1890 the government had received $5,956,565 in payment for the seal
skins taken by the company which had bid for the privilege, and that the value
of the seal skins of various kinds and of other furs taken in Alaska aggregated
$46,466,330. The salmon pack of the territory from 1878 to 1889 was valued at
$6,439,997 and between 1865 and 1889 the number of codfish taken in Alaskan
waters was 24,585,300. The same authority computed the value of merchandise
shipped from Pacific coast ports to Alaska between 1868 and 1890 at $15,845,506.
Prior to 1896, when the rush to the Klondike began, this large business was mainly
confined to San Francisco, and was one of the causes which helped for a time
to conceal the evil effects of the changing price conditions which disturbed the
rest of the country as well as California.
Fortunately for the state and its metropolis when the cultivation of the staple
products which had once proved a profitable resource declined, its people were
able to turn their attention to other pursuits. When the output of the gold placers
began to shrink attention was paid to the production of cereals, and the diminish-
ing product of the mines was offset by the generous yield of wheat, and by large
wool crops. In turn, when cereal and sheep raising ceased to be profitable indus-
tries horticulture was resorted to on an increasing scale, and concurrently with
its development other resources were being exploited which constantly tended to
increase the revenues of the producers, and which would probably have brought
about a transition without a shock had the general arrestment of progress through-
out the Union not occurred.
At the beginning of the decade 1880 California had already adapted itself to
the change involved by a reduction in the output of gold from an annual amount
exceeding forty millions during the Fifties to about twenty millions, by greatly
extending her agricultural operations. And although there was a further decline
during the Eighties, the yield being only $11,212,913 in 1889, she was adapting
herself to the changed circumstances created by this loss of revenue from this
source, and also to the lessening profits of the Nevada trade, resulting from the
shrinkage of the operations on the Comstock, due in part to the exhaustion of the
rich deposits and the impossibility of profitably working low grade ores at the prices
to which silver had fallen during the years following demonetization.
The result of turning to other sources when wheat farming ceased to pay is
visible in the growth of horticulture. After 1887 the production of fruit became
of enough consequence to merit the collection and preservation of statistics, and
we can gather from them the rapid advances made between that date and 1893.
The total yield by no means aggregated anything like the amount of the shrinkage
in gold production, and the decline in the value of the wheat and wool crops;
but it represented many millions of production. There was being produced on
a constantly increasing scale many fruits which a few years earlier were almost
unknown, and they had become a commercial factor of importance. The output
of prunes had expanded from 7,500,000 pounds in 1887 to 52,180,000 in 1893,
and the crop was valued at a couple of millions. The yield of peaches had grown
from 8,000,000 to 16,800,000 pounds during the same period. Apricots were
grown in larger quantities as were also pears, prunes, nectarines, figs, hops, wal-
nuts, almonds, oranges, lemons, honey, beet sugar and raisins.
SAN FRANCISCO
The value of these products to the producers footed up several millions annually,
but the change involved in the production of one or two crops to the diversified plan
of farming which had taken its place had produced results which would hardly be
divined from a study of the figures showing the value of output. The transition
from cereal farming and wool growing to horticulture had effectually disposed of
the burning questions of the decade 1870, especially that of land monopoly. The
tendency which Henry George deprecated in his "Progress and Poverty," and
which he predicted would increase as the years rolled on, had wholly disappeared.
The land owners were no longer desirous of holding their estates intact; on the
contrary they were eager to cut them up and sell them. They had ceased to hope
for any change of sentiment that would permit them to operate their holdings
with cheap Oriental labor. The decisive vote of the state against Chinese immi-
gration, and the action of congress and the acquiescence of the nation in the policy
of exclusion made it clear that the development of California's resources would
have to be made by free labor.
In considering the subject of land monopoly Henry George had been guided
too largely by observation of tendencies in old world countries where the prestige
attaching to the ownership of land made it the most desirable form of wealth.
And his intense convictions regarding the efficiency of free trade to produce con-
ditions which he thought would better humanity had caused him to underrate in-
dustrial progress in other directions than agricultural production. It was impossible
therefore for him to foresee that owners would desire to exchange their land for
other forms of wealth. This is what actually happened. The increasing burden of
state taxation compelled assessors to abandon their former practice of favoring
the large owner. Although the State Board of Equalization was deprived of the
power to reach the individual shirker, or favored property owner by the Wells,
Fargo decision, the expedient of raising the roll of an entire county had its ef-
fect, and public sentiment soon compelled an approach to fairness within county
boundaries.
The value of all property within the state as found by the assessors in 1879
was only $549,220,968; in 1892 this value had increased to $1,275,816,228, of
which latter amount only $187,008,874 or 14.66 per cent of the whole was personal
property. A large part of this enhancement was due to the growth of population
which increased from 864,694 in 1880 to 1,208,130 in 1890, but it is clearly ap-
parent that the addition of inhabitants without the assistance of the changed system
of taxation would not have produced the result noted. Between 1870 and 1880
a relatively greater addition was made to the population than during the 1880 decade,
but the assessed value of all California property which was $637,232,823 in 1872
was only $549,220,968 in 1879, the year of the adoption of the constitution.
The increase in the value of property as reported by the State Board of Equali-
zation was slow in the first years after 1879. In 1882 it was only $608,642,036, of
which $134,048,419 or 21.85 per cent was personal. After that year the increase
was rapid, rising to $765,729,430 in 1883 and reaching $1,275,816,228 in 1892,
only 14.66 per cent of the total in the latter year being personal property. In
1876, as already stated, public sentiment on the subject of inviting desirable set-
tlers from other parts of the Union to make their homes in California was not
strong enough to impress the legislature that an exhibit at the Centennial Exposi-
Culting Up
the Big
Ranches
George's
Prophecy
Miscarries
674
SAN FRANCISCO
Prosperity
Breeds
Indifference
Production
Encouraged
Capita
Reluctant t
Engage ii
tion iii Philadelphia of the resources of the state would prove beneficial, but
eight years after a governor devoted part of his message to pointing out the good
that would result by disseminating information in the East concerning the capabilities
of the soil of California and the opportunities afforded the settler to make for him-
self a prosperous home within its borders.
In these changed conditions we can trace the causes which contributed to the
general prosperity after 1884, and the impetus given to business in San Francisco
during several years after that date. The multiplication of small farms, and the
diversification of agricultural pursuits, gave employment to increased numbers in
the country and in the city. New sorts of occupations were provided and industries
which had figured but slightly in former years began to grow and became important
factors in the work of wealth creating. The merchants of the City prospered and
were contented with results and took their good fortune without inquiring too
narrowly whether in their capacity of intermediaries they were doing the right
thing for the community they served. Perhaps it was too much to expect that the
oppressions of public service corporations should have been regarded by merchants
as too exacting when they appeared to be so easily borne by a prosperous people,
but the business men of the City were subsequently indicted for their neglect by
organizations of their own formation which did not hesitate to expose the fact
that they had almost unresistingly permitted the railroad to have its own way in
every particular affecting the destiny of the community it was serving.
While prosperity endured there was little stress laid upon the 'comparatively
slow growth of manufacturing in San Francisco. The merchants of the City were
far more interested in affairs in which they were more directly concerned, and were
not inclined to object to the course of the railroad whose policy it was to secure
as much traffic as possible without inquiring too closely whether it was pursuing a
"penny wise and pound foolish" course. In the literature of the Traffic Associa-
tion of 1891 reference is made to the enormously greater amount per capita drawn
from California by the railroad than from the people of other parts of the Union
more liberally dealt with by transportation companies, but the attempt to explain
the cause was not always satisfactory, for the reason that the chief movers in the
effort to bring the Southern Pacific to terms were almost solely interested in dis-
tribution. They were importers and exporters, and were therefore more concerned
about through than local rates. The importance of the latter being made reason-
able was elevated to the first place, and the development of the state was wholly
subordinated to that of bringing products into California.
It is doubtful, however, whether any serious economic benefit could have been
effected by- the pursuit of a policy of stimulating manufactures in a period when
the consuming population was too small to encourage production on a scale per-
mitting the products to be sold in profitable competition with the great factories
of the East. The fruitless attempts of Ralston and others to force results had made
men wary. A population such as that existing in California at that time, whose
capital had been acquired through the prosecution of other industries than manu-
facturing was not inclined to invest money in undertakings with which they were
unfamiliar, and which required an extraordinary quantity of demonstration of a
verbal kind to convince possible investors that they could be made profitable.
The labor question had lost a great deal of its acuteness after the Seventies,
and while during the Eighties there were many strikes, the most of them proved
iEET, LOOKING SOUTH,
FIRE
AS IT APPEARED P.EFORE THE
SAN FRANCISCO
675
unsuccessful, and in some instances employers were able to wholly displace union
men. There was a recrudescence of the anti Chinese agitation, and manifestations of
syndicalism under the auspices of the Internationals, but these were directed more
particularly against public service corporations and local industries unaffected by
outside competition. It may be stated in a general way that the labor condition
in San Francisco, so far as the activities of the unions was concerned was not such
as to deter capital from making investments, but the wage scale which even em-
ployers did not seem inclined to disturb was so high that manufacturing in compe-
tition with localities where workers were compensated on a much lower basis
offered no temptations to cautious men with experience, and none at all to those
who are inclined to put their money in industrials only when they see in them
something suggesting an approach to certainty of returns.
Nevertheless outside of the circle engaged in distribution, and those who ap-
proached the traffic problem solely from the standpoint of the distributer, there was
criticism of what was deemed the obstructive policy of the railroad, whose freight
schedules seemed to be arranged with especial reference to moving raw materials
out of the state at the lowest possible rate, and bringing into California finished
articles at rates which made profitable manufacturing impossible. It was charged
that wool in the grease was shipped to the East at an absurdly low figure as it must
have been to have permitted the scouring process to be successfully conducted at
the end of a 3,000 mile haul ; and it was also alleged that absurdly low rates were
made for raw sugar — $7.50 a ton to the Missouri river in some cases. The excuse
made by the railroad for these discriminations was the alleged necessity of pro-
viding loading for empty cars, the assumption being that the west bound traffic
greatly exceeded in volume that of the east bound, but the true explanation in both
cases was the desire of the railroad to secure a traffic which, unless the rates were
made extremely low, would have moved by sea.
Whether it would have been worth the while of the railroad to move raw cotton
and iron from the East to the Pacific seaboard at relatively low rates is still a
debatable question. It was at one time thought, and particularly during this
period, that cheap raw materials would have stimulated the growth of manufac-
tures, but the experience of the Woolen Textile Mills proved the fallacy of this
assumption. Nothing short of a protective system could have overcome the ad-
vantages enjoyed by the older sections of the Union. The Californian Woolen
Mills had cheap raw materials but they lacked cheap skilled labor and failed in
consequence. The people of San Francisco have for nearly half a century seen
vast quantities of raw silk pass through their port destined for factories in the
New England and Middle states, and although vigorous and persistent efforts
were made to start the industry they never proved successful. Some silk was spun
and a very handsome flag was woven by an enterprising man named Newman, but
the investors with him in the enterprise never made even. Under the circumstances
it is astonishing that a single cotton textile factory should have survived the vicis-
situdes of years. The fact can only be accounted for by stating that the unions
the industry as important enough to
lgap'
have not regarded, until recently,
their particular attention.
It was urged during the period we are now dealing with that the chief obstacle
to the development of a manufacturing industry in California was the lack of
Railroad
Tariffs
Discourage
Manufac-
Clieap Raw
Materials
Not Utilized
676
SAN FRANCISCO
Failure of
Economic
Theories
Puzzles
for the
Economist
coal. Undoubtedly dear fuel added to the difficulties of the situation, but as will
be seen as the narrative progresses, the situation has not been materially changed
now that California has cheap oil and abundant hydroelectric power. Indeed the
troubles of manufacturers seemed to have increased with the abundance of fuel
and power. Certain industries in San Francisco which had flourished, despite
the drawback mentioned, notably those of metal and shipbuilding, fell off in a
marked fashion concurrently with the development of the oil fields and the utiliza-
tion of the water power of the state. The closer relations of the City with the
Eastern section of the Union after the Eighties, in a measure explains the trouble.
They intensified a rivalry which it was becoming increasingly difficult to with-
stand, and concurrently the growth of other industrial centers in the state served
to bring about a condition of affairs not at all favorable to the expansion of the
manufacturing industry in San Francisco.
The over acute economist who finds himself able to explain the alternations in
the fortunes of a business community by concentrating his attention on some par-
ticular cause or causes, usually experiences no difficulty in explaining slumps in
business. He sometimes oracularly announces that a period of dullness following
upon briskness is due to over speculation, or some similar cause. Such an explana-
tion may have seemed sufficient to account for the severe collapse in the Seventies,
but it hardly fits the condition that arose after 1883. The state was developing
steadily; its lands were being entered on by industrious settlers who were utiliz-
ing their holdings and intelligently diversifying agriculture, thus accomplishing
the homely object of avoiding the putting of all the industrial eggs in one basket,
a practice which had caused the farmer and the state generally to suffer greatly
when the enormous fall in prices occurred. And the farmer was not alone engaged
in the work of diversification. Gold placer mining, as indicated by the quoted
figures of output had become a diminishing source of dependence, but quartz mines
were being opened and attention was being paid to the production of the commoner
minerals. But despite all these encouraging features, and a practical cessation of
mining stock speculation during the Eighties, California in common with the rest
of the Union experienced a great depression in 1893 in which the metropolis was
the most conspicuous if not the chief sufferer.
Some day a school of economists may arise with the ability to disentangle the
contradictions, and tell why California and San Francisco should have progressed
with gratifying rapidity during the Eighties, and when the prospects seemed
brightest suddenly receive a setback, which, if less spectacular than that suffered
fifteen years earlier was fully as severe. It is not necessary for the historian to
do more than describe what occurred ; he may point to apparent causes, but it is
not his duty to attempt to furnish a symmetrical explanation of contradictor}' cir-
cumstances, and he certainly has no right to try to bring the contradictions into
harmony by suppressing mention of facts which he regards as inconsequential.
The subject is too complex to be solved offhand, and there can be no solution of the
problem involved unless all its bearings are carefully studied.
A few years earlier when the unsoundness of several banks in San Francisco
was disclosed, a prompt explanation of the cause was offered by the critics. The
numerous failures of 1876 and the years immediately following were attributed
to bad banking methods and the utter lack of surveillance. In 1878 legislative
SAN FRANCISCO
677
action was taken which should have resulted in a decided improvement, and the
comments in the public press during the Eighties indicate that the belief prevailed
that excellent results were achieved by supervision. Several unsafe institutions
were obliged to close their doors because it was found that they had impaired their
usefulness by bad loans. Eight banks were compelled to liquidate in the first two
years after the passage of the Bank Commission Act, and with their elimination
it was supposed that the banking system stood on a solid foundation. The exac-
tions of the commission deterred the formation of new savings banks, and during
the eight years following 1879 none was established in the City. The savings
banks already in existence commanded complete confidence, their deposits increas-
ing from $42,323,000 in 1881 to $63,154,000 in 1888. The evidence of the clearing
house shows that equal confidence was felt in the commercial banks, the clearings
rising from the low point of $556,857,691 in 1884 to $892,426,712 in 1891. The
number of savings banks was not increased until 1888, when the Pacific Home
Savings bank was incorporated and a year later the Mutual Savings bank was
added to the list, and the Columbus Savings Bank and Loan Society was started
in 1893.
These exhibitions of confidence and apparent evidences of prosperity, and the
undoubted stability of the most of the financial institutions of San Francisco did
not serve to avert the widespread disaster which overtook the nation in 1893.
Some eighteen banks in the City were compelled to close their doors in that year,
many of them having assets largely in excess of liabilities. But two institutions
had their weakness disclosed. The Pacific and the People's Home Savings, the
latter an adjunct of the Pacific, its brief career having commenced only five years
earlier. The financial condition despite the temporary suspensions was not sen-
sational. The community did not take alarm, and showed no panicky signs. The
comment of the press at the time indicated a belief, of a portion of the writers at
least, that the interruption to banking business was in no respect due to local causes,
but was owing simply to sympathetic relations with Eastern money centers.
Some critics of the situation in San Francisco took the view generally enter-
tained at the East that the trouble was solely due to an inelastic currency, and
closed their eyes to the undoubted evil effects of constantly falling prices, a
l^henomenon which had been asserting itself for several years throughout the entire
country, and had made itself manifest in California in the enormous reduction and
value of its chief crop. The same critics a few years later, when prices were on the
up grade, looked back on the so called currency troubles of 1893 as a blessing in
disguise. We find one remarking "whatever the financial losses in that panic there
was some compensation in the fact that it settled the agitation that had been in
progress for fifteen years for free coinage of silver on the basis of sixteen to one.
If that measure had succeeded, the country would not have enjoyed the same meas-
ure of prosperity it has since maintained." The same commentator was called upon
to record a collapse in 1907 which in almost every particular resembled that of
1893, despite the fact that the agitation over silver had long ceased, which sug-
gests the propriety of the investigator inquiring further into the causes which pro-
duced so very nearly similar results, notwithstanding the assumed monetary stability
which was supposed to have been produced by the settlement of the question of
the standards.
Panic of
Influenced
Local Cau
Question
of the
Standards
California
678
SAX FRANCISCO
While it is not particularly clear why San Francisco and California should
have been involved in the currency troubles of the East, it is nevertheless true that
the monetary stringency in the City was very severe. Isolated cases of difficulties
occasioned by the inability to borrow illustrate the condition of affairs far more
graphically than columns of figures and statements concerning the closing of banks,
It is authentically related that during the period of tightness Mrs. Jane Lathrop
Stanford, the wife of the senator, who died in 1893, was in great straits for money
and that the sum of $12,000 which she realized on a policy of insurance issued
to her husband actually helped to keep open the doors of the university during
the most trying days of the depression. There is a letter extant in which Mrs. Stan-
ford, writing about this episode, said: "We had been for years accustomed to the
use of all the money we required, but so great was the stringency in the money
market at the time especially, we all feared that we could no longer obtain any.
Just imagine my joy and the relief it was to me to receive the money (that derived
from the insurance company), the most precious legacy that has ever come to
First Life
Insurance
Company
The insurance company referred to was the Pacific Mutual, the first life company
to be formed in the state. Its incorporators were citizens of Sacramento and em-
braced the names of men whose lines afterward greatly diverged. The company was
formed in 1868 by Leland Stanford, James Anthony, Paul Morrill, Mark Hopkins,
Henry H. Hartley, B. F. Hastings, Louis Elkus and James McClatchy. Leland
Stanford and Mark Hopkins subsequently became leading spirits in the first trans-
continental railroad enterprise and Anthony and Morrill were conductors of the
Sacramento Union, which later became so bitterly hostile to the methods of the rail-
road managers that they spared no efforts to crush and drive its proprietors out of
business, and finally succeeded in their purpose.
The insurance business in California in the early days, like banking, went
unregulated, but in 1868 an insurance department was created which succeeded
in eliminating a number of undesirable companies. This system of regulation
produced the result of inspiring confidence, and life insurance became popular.
All the large companies have been represented in the City since that date, and
while it is impossible to segregate from the returns the amount of business con-
tributed by San Francisco, it is safe to assume that up to 1893 the major part of
the business credited to the state may be regarded as San Franciscan. The figures
of the report show that premiums to the amount of $23,458,057 were collected be-
tween 1882 and 1891, and that the claims paid during the same period aggregated
$13,223,314.
One of the incidents of the stringency period which attracted much attention
at the time was the movement of $20,000,000 from the subtreasury in San Fran-
cisco to New York. The object of the transference was never explained. It was
not for the purpose of putting the gold into circulation at the East, as that section,
although doing business on a gold basis, used its paper representatives exclusively;
and at no time during the stringency and the period in which Europe made a heavy
draft on this country for gold did the stock of the yellow metal in the vaults of the
government in Washington, New York and Philadelphia become so low as to re-
quire bolstering from this side of the continent. The transfer appears to have
been more prompted by caprice than by any real cause, and the account of it is
INTERIOR COURT OF PALACE HOTEL. DESTROYED IN THE GREAT
CONFLAGRATION
SAN FRANCISCO
679
only interesting as a physical accomplishment, and as illustrative of the facili-
ties of the period for moving vast sums of money. The shipment was made in
August, 1892. The coin was put up in 500 boxes, each containing $10,000 and
was sent under the auspices of the postoffice department by registered mail in a
special train of five cars, guarded by 50 men. The cost of the transfer was $5,000.
The charge of the express company would have been at least $20,000. It is believed
in treasury circles that this was the largest amount of specie ever shipped at one
time.
For more than half a century the mint in San Francisco has performed a useful
function; those in other sections of the country so far as the coinage of full legal
tender is concerned have merely been wasting the substance of the people, as the
coins turned out by them have reposed unused in the vaults of the government, not
passing into circulation except by means of paper representatives. The coins
struck by them are only distributed when adverse trade balances have enabled
foreigners to draw on this country. In such cases the gold coins of the United
States minted in the East would find their way into foreign metal pots. Just what
proportion of the gold coined in the San Francisco mint remained in circulation
no statistician has been able to do more than guess. It has, however, only been a
small part of the total coinage of the establishment which amounted in round fig-
ures to nearly $635,000,000 in the years intervening between 1854 and 1883.
During this period the annual coinage of gold varied between $4,084,207 in 1854
and $36,209,500 in 1879. Between 1884 and 1892, both years inclusive, the mint
coined nearly $200,000,000 in gold, an average of over $22,000,000 a year. It is
probable, however, that $30,000,000 satisfied the needs of the state for gold cur-
rency throughout this period.
The unscientific and unbusinesslike methods of the mint, however, receive a
more signal illustration in the figures of the coinage of silver. As already stated,
California, while the rest of the country was using fractional paper currency,
employed subsidiary silver exclusively. The injury inflicted upon the state, par-
ticularly San Francisco, by the failure during several years to provide a flexible
system by which minor coins could flow back into the treasury when business was
slack has already been described, but the extent of the mismanagement of the
affairs of this branch of governmental activities is not realized until the figures of
silver coinage and the condition of the treasury are considered. The San Francisco
mint first coined silver in 1855, the amount struck being $164,075. Between that
year and 1883 the total coinage of silver by the San Francisco branch was only
$105,000,000. This embraces the subsidiary coins and the trade dollars. The
product of the San Francisco mint between 1883 and 1892 was only a little in
excess of $26,218,000. When it is borne in mind that a large proportion of the
standard silver dollars now piled up in the vaults at Washington were produced
from the bullion mined in the neighboring state of Nevada, and that the people of
California have been the only Americans who have kindly taken to the dollars of
41214 grains, there is ground for the charge that has frequently been made against
the mint authorities that they have not been governed by motives of economy in
their operations nor by consideration for the needs of the people.
The use of the standard dollar since the passage of the modified Bland Act
has not been general in the United States. Only in California has it been used to
Operations
of the
san Francis
Methods of
United States
Mints
680 SAN FRANCISCO
the exclusion of the minor government bills, and at one time, although the presses
of the mint in Philadelphia were pouring out streams of silver coins, it appeared
as though an effort was made to drive them out of circulation in this state. This
condition endured for some time, and was only relieved by legislation which was
enacted when the pressure of complaint became strong enough to move congress.
Since then silver and minor coin, not mutilated, when it can be clearly and readily
identified as to denomination and genuineness is redeemed at its face value at
the subtreasury. The result has been to retain in circulation a larger quantity of
the silver coined by the government than is found elsewhere in the country, the
people of San Francisco and the state generally preferring it to paper money for
hygienic and other reasons. When the amount of standard dollars becomes too
large for easy absorption they find their way into the treasury and when the re-
quirements of business demand a renewed supply they can easily be obtained,
objections During the first quarter of a century after the passage of the National Banking
Currenc* ^ ct tnere was n0 attempt made to organize a bank of that character in San Fran-
cisco, and after that for a considerable period there was only one. Later several
were formed, all of which availed themselves of the privilege of taking out circu-
lation, but the invincible objection of the people to paper money prevented its use
in the City, and the notes emitted in the names of San Francisco banks under au-
thority of the National Banking Act are far oftener met with in cities of the East
than in the place in which they originated. To some extent this paper money,
and that of the other national banks formed in the southern part of the state,
has circulated in the interior, and in Los Angeles and the southern counties, but
greenbacks or national bank notes, while always freely accepted by San Francis-
cans, have promptly found their way into banks from whence they were shipped
to places where paper money was more favorably regarded, a practice which pre-
vailed down to the time of the writing of these annals.
CHAPTER LVIII
NUMEROUS AND SERIOUS LABOR TROUBLES IN THE CITY
LABOR CONDITIONS IN 1883 CHANGED RELATIONS OF EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYED
DIMINISHING NUMBER OF CHINESE AN ANARCHISTIC ASSOCIATION THE INTER-
NATIONALS CAREER OF BURNETT G. HASKELL, SOCIALIST AND AGITATOR PROPA-
GANDA OF THE FEDERATED TRADES STRIKE OF FOUNDRY WORKERS IN 1885
STRIKE OF THE BREWERS SAILORS MAINTAIN A LONG STRIKE TRADES UNIONS
RECEIVE A SETBACK FORMATION OF AN EMPLOYERS ASSOCIATION TRADES UNIONS
AGAIN ACTIVE UNSKILLED LABOR ORGANIZED UNIONS ENGAGE IN POLITICS
ENTER ABE RUEF NUMEROUS STRIKES IN 1901 THE TEAMSTERS' STRIKE THE
ALLIANCE AND THE TEAMSTERS POSITION OF THE EMPLOYERS SCENES OF VIO-
LENCE GOVERNOR GAGE INTERVENES RUEF AND THE WORKINGMEN FORMATION
OF WORKINGMEN'S PARTY PLATFORM OF WORKINGMEN ELECTION OF SCHMITZ
CLAIM THAT HE MADE CITY PROSPEROUS SCHMITZ REELECTED TWICE RUEF's
METHODS THE BOSS SUPERSEDED BY RUEF CHRIS BUCKLEY.
"cVTYl^fty n THE preceding chapter it was stated that during the
period between 1883 and 1893, there was little in the
labor situation to which the blame for retardment of in-
dustrial progress could be attached, and that on the whole
the employer had the best of such encounters with trades
unions as occurred. This does not mean, however, that
the City was free from agitation; the statement applies
only in a comparative sense, for during the ten years referred to there were many
disturbances, the most of which were in some way related with the labor question,
even though the workingmen through their trades unions repudiated connection
with or sympathy for those who participated in them. Between 1883 and 1893
the element so conspicuous twenty years later in all parts of the United States,
and throughout the world was particularly active, but the doctrine of syndicalism
which they preached was not eagerly accepted by the unions, or the workingmen
generally, who professed to abhor violent methods as much as those against whom
they were directed.
But there was a great change in public sentiment made manifest in many ways.
Governor Booth, when the legislature of 1873-74 passed a bill entitling street car
conductors and drivers to collect a dollar an hour extra for every hour more than
twelve worked by them, vetoed it on the ground that all men are competent to make
their own contracts, and his objections were sustained in the assembly by a vote
of 39 to 32. At that time, although there had been a persistent and effective de-
681
Freedom of
Contract
Advocated
SAN FRANCISCO
Chinese
Manufacture
on Their
)wn Account
Diminishing
Number of
Chinese
Failure of
Attempts to
Boycott
Chinese
mand for an eight hour day the idea that a man's activities should be restricted
to that, or any other number of hours was repugnant to public sentiment, even the
workers, so far as can be discovered from their discussions, sharing the belief
that freedom of contract was desirable. At any rate Booth was the representative
of the progressive element of the day, and his attitude on this point cost him none
of his popularity.
Undoubtedly the influx of Chinese during the Seventies gave the laboring ele-
ment more concern than hours of labor. The burning question with the worker
was whether if this movement should continue he would be able to obtain any work
at all. That his fears were not entirely unfounded is evidenced by the expansion
of certain manufacturing industries in which at first the Oriental was employed as
a mere helper, but very soon he became ambitious to be his own boss with the result
that in certain lines Chinese concerns began rapidly to multiply. This was notably
true of boot and shoe making and the fabrication of the commoner kinds of clothing
and underwear. In these occupations the Chinese speedily became adept, display-
ing as much skill in the use of the sewing machine as its inventors, and those who
engaged in them were as oblivious of an eight hour system as if there was no clock
to mark time.
The census of 1880 showed that the number of Chinese in the state had in-
creased from 45,429 in 1870 to 71,328 in the later year. The effective agitation
of the Seventies, which resulted in the exclusion legislation, practically disposed
of the Chinese question after 1883, but there were sporadic troubles and some
scandals growing out of the nonenforcement of the laws, and an occasional attempt
to make political capital out of the alleged disinclination of the party in power
to put up the bars against all Chinese because of some successful evasions of the
Exclusion Act. When the census of 1890 was taken and it was seen that the num-
ber of Chinese in California had declined to 69.382 there was no more talk on the
subject by those formerly most concerned, and even the small minority who fan-
cied that the exclusion of Oriental labor would result in the retardment, if not the
complete arrestment, of the state's horticultural industries, when they perceived
that California was filling up with white settlers, and that the output of fruits of all
sorts was increasing rapidly, ceased to lament and write calamity articles for the
Eastern magazines.
The very latest anti Chinese demonstration in San Francisco was in the year
1882. It was engineered by a man named Frank Rooney and took the form of a
boycott of Chinese made goods. It was confined mainly to talk, the audiences
listening to the declamations against the Orientals and resolving to buy nothing
made or sold by them. A convention was called which met in 1882 and organized
what was called a League of Deliverance. It was this body which formulated a
boycott plan of campaign that was to have been made general, but which failed
absolutely because the workingmen continued to patronize the cheaper Chinese
products, and could not be induced to refrain from buying in the stores of whites
who dealt in goods manufactured or produced by Chinese. One of the anomalies
of the anti Chinese crusade of this and of the earlier period, was the fact that
workingmen were the best patrons of the Chinese. It was the worker's family that
resorted to the Chinese laundry and consumed the vegetables grown in Chinese
gardens, and bought the fruits hawked by Chinese peddlers, and the cheap gar-
COLUMBIA THEATER, BUILT AFTER THE FIRE OF 1906
■ ISf? f
W Hie! 1
MmiiH
fa-%
^■4a
lJU
l^ 1
171
Hi]
CALIFORNIA HOTEL AND THEATER. DESTROYED IN 1906
SAN FRANCISCO
ments and shoes turned out of Chinese workshops were consumed by that class of
the population.
With the passage of the exclusion law in 1882 the anti Chinese agitation prac-
tically ceased. But with the disappearance of that source of trouble another arose
which had far uglier features than any ever produced by the antagonism to the
introduction of cheap Oriental labor. Between 1879 and 1882 several assemblies
of Knights of Labor were formed in San Francisco, and in September of the latter
year a district assembly was formed which increased during the ensuing three years
until it numbered twenty-five assemblies in the City. This organization did not
appear at first to have been desirous of stirring up local strife, but contributed
from its funds to the support of Eastern assemblies engaged in labor disputes.
Later, however, a radical organization known as the California Internationalists
came on the scene, and attempted unsuccessfully to induce the Knights of Labor
to join in their movement which has been variously designated as socialistic and
anarchistic, the latter, judging from some of the actions inspired by it, being the
more correct appellation.
The origin of the International movement in California is not clothed in much
doubt. It had its inspiration from the outside, but its first membership was made
up of the extremists from the ranks of the Knights of Labor who were expelled
from that body, and of the disaffected elements existing in every large city, and
particularly those cities with populations as cosmopolitan as that of San Francisco
which was at that time, as it is at present, made up of a large percentage of for-
eigners. Between 1880 and 1890 the foreign population of California increased
from 292,874 to 366,209, and ten years later when the total number of foreigners
in California was 367,240, San Francisco's 342,782 inhabitants included 75.2 per
cent who were born in foreign lands. To this great preponderance of foreigners
may be attributed the comparatively rapid development of socialistic ideas in San
Francisco during the Eighties, but sight should not be lost of the fact that the
most active leader of the Internationals was a young Californian named Burnett
G. Haskell, born in Sierra county in 1857.
An attempt has been made to attribute to Haskell characteristics which he did
not possess. His earlier career in San Francisco stamped him as weak and irreso-
lute. On his arrival in the City he sought to become a reporter on the "Chronicle"
and was given a trial, but proved too undependable to be of value. Had he, in the
parlance of the newspaper office, "made good" it is probable that he would have
remained a mild mannered man, but his slow progress caused him to engage in
publishing on his own account, and finding the socialistic field unoccupied he entered
it and devoted his talents to exploiting the ism. He had primarily been educated for
the bar, and it was because of his nonsuccess in that field that he turned his at-
tention to journalism. The story that while he was publishing his weekly paper
he suddenly saw the light, and offered to make it the organ of labor is apocryphal.
He had some such purpose in view from the beginning, and reckoned on support
from that source to gain subscriptions. He may have been in earnest, but there
was much of the speculative element in all of his propagandism, and in some in-
stances it approached perilously near that kind of activity which the postoffice
frowns upon, and seeks to discourage people from practicing by prosecuting them
for misuse of the mails. This was particularly true of the Kaweah colony scheme
Career of
Burnett
Haskell
684
SAX FRANCISCO
Propaganda
of the
Federated
Trades
Unsuccess-
ful Strike
of Foundry
Workers
which he started, and which added one to the numerous examples of the facility
with which enthusiasts who have saved a little money can be parted from it by
smooth talkers.
In the early part of 1885 the Internationals called a convention for the purpose
of forming a central labor union. The first meeting was well attended, fully
two hundred and fifty delegates being present, but the sentiments expressed by
some of the speakers were so radical that on the ensuing night the attendance
dwindled to less than half, and it speedily developed that those who remained were
avowed socialists, and not a few of them expressed views which would not seem en-
tirely unfamiliar to the Industrial Workers of the World. The extremists who
formed the Central union held a few meetings, but they were not of the sort who
felt inclined to maintain an organization which called for the payment of dues
during periods of inaction. Later in the year, however, by resorting to the worn
out slogan of Denis Kearney, the Internationalists obtained control of a convention
called by the Knights of Labor. Frank Rooney was selected as chairman. Haskell,
however, was by all odds the most influential and active figure in the body, having
the backing of the Seamen's union. At this meeting a resolution was put through
demanding the expulsion of all Chinese in California within sixty days. It proved
the signal for the secession of the more conservative members, and the radicals
were left free to carry out their plan of forming a central body which was given
the title of Council of Trades and Labor Federation of the Pacific Coast, an organi-
zation which survived, and later had its name abbreviated to "Federated Trades
of Pacific Coast."
In the early stages of its existence the Federated Trades acted as a secret
organization, but in May, 1889, meetings of the central body were held in public.
Before 1889 the chief work of the organization, so far as was apparent was propa-
gandism. Tons of literature were disseminated by it urging the laboring classes
to stand together, but more activity was demanded and the initial membership
fell off greatly because of the failure of the organization to interest itself directly
in disputes that were constantly arising between employer and employed. There
was ground for the suspicion, which was freely expressed, that the section of ex-
tremists within the Federated Trades which was headed by Haskell was responsible
for some of the outrages committed during the strike of the Sutter Street Car
Company's employes in 1887, when dynamite was used on several occasions. In
April of that year a man named Stites was convicted by a jury of having in his
possession a dynamite bomb with the intent of destroying the property of the
corporation, and Haskell's name was freely used as that of the person responsible
for the outrages which created a great deal of apprehension at the time, although
no very serious destruction of life or property resulted.
In 1885 the foundrymen of the City organized what was called the Iron Trades
Council. Its avowed object was to keep up the rate of wages and to bring about
a reduction of the hours of labor. Its formation was probably due to the activities
of the men identified with the Federated Trades, but the apprehension that em-
ployers designed meeting changing conditions made it easy to bring the men to-
gether. An organization of employers known as the Engineers and Foundrymen's
Association was formed at the same time, and soon made known its intention to dis-
regard the minimum wage, apprentice regulations and the prohibition of piece work
SAN FRANCISCO
685
required by the California union. Statements were made showing the disparities
existing between the East and the Pacific coast, and the impossibility of maintain-
ing competition under the conditions which the Iron Trades Council sought to
impose. The employers had abundant confidence in the strength of their position,
and when the Iron Trades Council refused to yield they discharged a number of
men who declined to accept their terms, whereupon all the moulders in the as-
sociation struck. They were replaced by men from the East who were obtained
without much difficulty, but many of them after their arrival were enticed away
or intimidated into breaking their agreements with the men who had brought them
across the continent to take jobs which paid them far better than those which they
abandoned on the other side of the Rockies. About 1,200 moulders were involved
in this strike which continued during nine or ten months, but finally resulted in a
victory for the employers, because the wages they offered made it easy for them to
obtain any number of skilled foundrymen from the East.
In 1888 the brewers of the City inaugurated a strike which finally proved
successful. This difficulty was precipitated by the attempt of the employers to
establish the open shop system, and although the struggle endured nearly a year,
the community at large took but a perfunctory interest in it, although there was
much bitterness in certain quarters. The final success of the employes was due
to the boycott which was invoked. As the patrons of the saloons were chiefly work-
ingmen the weapon proved very effective. The unions also enjoyed an advantage
over the breweries because of the fact that they were beginning to be operated by
outside capital and were on that account open to the charge that they were indiffer-
ent to the condition of their workers, and only bent on taking money out of the
community. The contest lasted eleven months and at the end of that period the
employers succumbed.
In the same year that the brewers struck the sailors had a contest, in which
the shipowners won a victory, reducing wages from $35 to $20 a month. But the
employers were not able to maintain their position for any length of time, and
were obliged not long after to restore and even increase the former maximum rate
to $40 a month. The improvement of the industry, and other causes affected the
solidarity of the Employers' Association, and the union sailors obtained what they
demanded without exercising any extraordinary pressure; but when the business of
the port again slackened, as it did between 1891-93, the shipowners found it
necessary to reorganize their association and to adopt new methods of employment.
The association opened its own shipping office and maintained lists of eligible men
who were provided with grade books and given employment as opportunity pre-
sented. As the languishing trade caused the supply of sailors to exceed the de-
mand the employers were able to consult their interest by reducing wages. Men
who had previously been paid $40 a month and overtime were given $25 without
overtime. The shipowners defended their action on the ground that it was merely
a question of paying the reduced wages or going out of business entirely, and the
general decline of prices and contraction of trade established the truth of their
contention. The sailors, however, refused to accept the situation and waged a
persistent war during which acts of violence were frequently committed, such as
the "beating up" of nonunion seamen and the destruction of the property of ship-
owners. The union was greatly weakened by the contest owing to the inability
Successful
Strike of
Brewers
SAN FRANCISCO
Shrinking
of Trades
Union
Membership
of its members to pay dues. The latter fell off $10,000 in 1893 and $8,000 in 1894.
The success of the employers during the period of depression was attributed
by some to the efficiency of their organization, but later developments demonstrated
conclusively that it was the force of circumstances which brought about the relapse
of trades unionism which occurred about this time, and continued for several years.
A commentator unduly influenced by a signal instance of the failure of the seamen
to maintain high wages in a period of declining prices remarked: "The general
success of the association can best be understood by the light of the fact that
among the industries of San Francisco there remains but a single union which
imposes its rules upon the trade. That is the typographical. The reason why it
does is because employing printers never have combined to resist its demands."
This statement conveyed the erroneous impression that employing printers had
never made a stand against the typographical union. In the years spoken of there
was no organized opposition to its demands, but in 1879 the "Chronicle" failing
to induce the union to even consider a reduction of the composition scale resorted
to the employment of nonunion printers. Its owners offered to demonstrate to
their union employes that the excessively high cost of newspaper and the rate of
composition which was much greater than in any other part of the Union was
making their business unprofitable, but they were met with absolute refusal to
even consider the matter. The uncompromising employes were successfully dis-
pensed with, and three or four years later, when business generally had improved,
the proprietor voluntarily restored the old rate, and made no objection when
under the changed conditions the employes were absorbed by the union.
In August, 1891, a body designed to protect the interest of employes was
formed under the name of the Board of Manufacturers and Employers of Califor-
nia. This association at first was by no means aggressive. It openly recognized
the right of labor to organize, but insisted that employers should not be deprived
of the privilege of selecting their own employes. At the same time the announce-
ment was made that there would be no discrimination against members of unions.
There was one point, however, on which the association took a firm stand, and
that was against the employment of the boycott which was characterized as in-
jurious to the industries and reputation of the City. The boy cotters were denounced
as enemies of society and the association refused to accept as truthful the declara-
tions of the unions that they were not responsible for the excesses of the boycotters
who not infrequently in attempting to intimidate committed illegal acts. It is doubt-
ful whether these declarations made any serious impression on the trades unionists,
but the employers were convinced that they were not without effect and the course
of events confirmed them in their belief.
The sequel shows, however, that the pinch of adversity, which was touching
all classes of the community, must be credited with producing the acquiescent
spirit of the workers. During several years after 1891 jobs grew scarcer and
scarcer in San Francisco. The situation was not one in which any body of strikers
could hope for substantial support from his fellows, and as was usual under such
circumstances the unions suffered heavily from loss of membership. The condition
of affairs was so serious that the unions declined in number, and representation in
the Labor Council was greatly curtailed. In 1897 only fifteen unions with a
membership of 4,500 were represented, and the reports show that at some of the
weekly meetings not more than a dozen delegates gathered.
SAN FRANCISCO
687
This depressed condition of the unions reflected that of business generally, and
continued for some time after signs of trade improvement manifested themselves.
The recovery began shortly after the election of McKinley in 1896, but it was
not very rapid. It exhibited itself at first in building, and concurrently with the
better outlook there was effected an organization of the building trades, five of them
uniting and forming a council. This body of workers grew rapidly in strength,
for with the outbreak of the Spanish-American war there was great briskness in
construction lines, calling for a constantly increasing number of workers. At the
same time the other unions began to exhibit signs of activity. During 1899 the
number of unions increased to 25 and 10 more were added in the ensuing year.
This activity was not confined to San Francisco. The report of the state labor
bureau shows considerable development in all the centers, the membership in the
state in 1900 being given at 37,500 in 217 different unions. Of the latter there
were 90 in San Francisco, 23 in Oakland, 26 in Los Angeles, and 20 in Sacramento.
In the ensuing two years the membership doubled. There were 495 unions in the
state, 162 of which were in San Francisco, 36 in Oakland, 68 in Los Angeles and
45 in Sacramento, with a total membership of 67,500. Of this latter number 66
per cent were in San Francisco.
This great increase of membership was due to the organization of the unskilled
workers. Between 1901 and 1907 the butchers, cooks and waiters, stablemen, street
railway employes, retail clerks, laundry workers, teamsters, hod carriers and la-
borers were formed into unions. This movement was not regarded with favor by
the older organizations whose guiding spirits sought to stem the tide, but in vain.
All of their efforts to avoid precipitating disputes without deliberation were disre-
garded. A proposition that no new union should go on strike before it had been
organized and become a member of the council was rejected. During this period
it may be said that the trades union spirit which had flagged for a while had not
merely revived, it had actually greatly strengthened, and signs were visible of an
awakening interest on the part of politicians in the movement. With the recru-
descence of union activity the Employers' Association, formed several years earlier,
and which had met the situation created by the sailors, but had practically ceased
its efforts after its victories, was reorganized on a new basis. The gravity of the
situation was more generally recognized than when the association was first cre-
ated, an effect produced by the organization of the unskilled workers who came
in contact with a class of employers who had formerly no direct concern with
labor troubles, but who were now confronted with the necessity of dealing with
employes who had organized and were backed up in their efforts by a strong cen-
tral body which proclaimed its purpose of pushing the demands of all workers
until everything asked for was conceded.
The new employers' association was formed in April, 1901, and was known as
the Alliance. Its purposes were clearly understood by all classes of the commu-
nity, but there were many extravagant stories current respecting its strength and
membership. Its formation was bitterly resented by the trades unionists, who de-
nounced its members and attributed intentions to them which were probably never
conceived, and certainly were never carried out. It was declared that it was the
purpose of the Alliance to destroy organized labor utterly, and that its members
were under heavy bonds to each other to carry out that object. The association
Unskilled
Laborers
Organized
A New
Employers 1
Association
SAN FRANCISCO
answered these criticisms by asserting that its sole purpose was to place its mem-
bers on the same plane as the unions in dealing with labor disputes. But it was
made perfectly clear that it was the intention of the association in all cases in
which the unions acted on behalf of an employe to lift the burden from the individ-
ual employer and make it a matter for the entire body of employers.
It has been asserted by some writers that the action of the employers' associa-
tion precipitated the formation of the workingman's party and the advent of
labor into politics, but the assumption is contradicted by well known facts. It is
true that there was a considerable element in the ranks of the trade unionists op-
posed to engaging in politics, but it was completely submerged when the unskilled
laborers were organized. The opposition to the latter movement came from the
same source as that which regarded with disfavor the innovation of putting all
classes of workers on the same plane; but this undemocratic element in trades
unionism was speedily relegated to the rear, and with the first success achieved by
the workingmen at the polls the exclusive sentiment was almost wholly obliterated,
and the theory of the value of solidarity was accepted in its stead. As already
shown by experience there existed a capacity for political organization within the
ranks of the workers which had asserted itself at various times, and won success
at the polls. But, on the other hand, experience had demonstrated that successes
achieved at elections had merely resulted in bringing to the fore a number of eager
place hunters who, when they obtained position, disgraced those who had conferred
it upon them.
The time was now at hand, however, for cunning and political organizing abil-
ity of the old-fashioned boss sort to take advantage of the situation and profit by
the solidarity of the workingmen's organization. Before 1901 the politicians had
not treated the unions as a negligible factor, but had trusted to the ordinary meth-
ods of procuring adherence to their candidates. Jobs were promised to influential
leaders, and devotion to party principle was supposed to do the rest after the
precaution had been taken by the old line bosses to frame tickets which they deemed
suited to the needs of the community, and to advance their own interests. Abra-
ham Ruef, a lawyer, who had for many years taken an active part in municipal
politics, and who had worked as a republican, was first to perceive the opportunity
which the changing conditions offered, and he resolved to make an attempt, which
proved unsuccessful, to use the trades unions to capture the organization of the
party to which he then belonged and by that means gain control. This is a part of
the political history of San Francisco which has been almost wholly obscured by
the course which events took after Ruef's failure to carry out his original plan.
The causes which made success for him impossible along these lines need not be
described in detail ; a simple recital of the occurrences which followed will show
the connection to anyone accustomed to linking up cause and effect.
In April, 1901, the metal polishers struck for an eight -hour day, demanding
the same pay they were receiving for ten hours. The employers met this demon-
stration by compelling the small shops, which were disposed to yield, to stand
firm under penalty of having their supplies cut off if they acceded to the demand
of the union. The strike was of comparatively short duration. It was called off
in July. It attracted little attention outside of the circle directly interested. In
May of the same rear a strike was inaugurated which was forced on the observa-
SAN FRANCISCO
tion of the community. The cooks and waiters, who had formed a union, demanded
that it should be recognized by their employers and sought to enforce the demand
by the application of the boycott. The keepers of the larger restaurants formed
an association to resist the demands made upon them and were assisted by the
Alliance, which adopted the same methods as those resorted to in the case of the
metal polishers. Restaurants disposed to yield to the demands of the union were
refused supplies of meat by the wholesalers, and credit was refused to them by
grocers and others with whom they dealt. This action provoked a strike of the
butchers, which, however, was of short duration. The striking cooks and waiters
paraded in front of the boycotted establishments and made it unpleasant for those
who sought to patronize them, but the number of the latter was few, as the fear
of violence was never absent. The carriagemakers went out about the same time,
but the employers professed to be willing to accept the abridged hours of labor
and to pay the wages demanded. The union, however, imposed a condition of rec-
ognition which was not acceded to by the employers, who refused to deal directly
with representatives of the organization. There was also a strike of iron workers
for a nine-hour day and over 4,000 of the men in this industry were unemployed
for some time.
The most serious of all the strikes of this period was that of the teamsters.
It began in July, 1901, and continued during several weeks, and was attended
with considerable violence and may be said to have paved the way for the politi-
cal success of the workingmen's party, which followed not long after. The trouble
was precipitated on the occasion of the visit of the Epworth League to the City.
It grew out of an alleged violation of an agreement by the draymen who, the
Brotherhood of Teamsters and Draymen asserted, had promised to employ only
union men. The extraordinary occasion made it impossible for one of the employ-
ers to expeditiously handle all the business which the arriving Epworth Leaguers
threw upon him and he called on his brother for assistance. The latter was a
member of the Draymen's Association which employed nonunion men. The union
teamsters promptly objected to handling any of the baggage which the nonunion
firm had contracted to deliver, claiming that to do so would be a violation of their
agreement with the brotherhood. This refusal was followed by a lockout of the
teamsters and in a few days all but about 300 were idle. These were later ordered
out by the executive committee of the union.
The employers' association then took a hand in the matter. The union had
reckoned that their refusal would utterly paralyse business, but the activity of the
employers was such that the places of the strikers were soon filled with competent
men. So large a proportion of California's interior traffic was carried on with wagons
that little difficulty was experienced in obtaining men from the country who were
able to drive, and quite a number of teamsters who had been with the army in the
Philippines were also available. There was some interference with the regular
course of business, owing to the unfamiliarity of the newly engaged teamsters with
the streets of the City, but this shortcoming did not last long. As soon as the
leaders of the union perceived that the employers were in the way of becoming
independent of their displaced employes they began an agitation for a sympathetic
strike which they managed to bring about by reminding the unions of the result
of the contests of 1893-4.
The Team-
sters Strike
in Will
The Alliance
and the
Teamsters
SAN FRANCISCO
Sympathetic
Strike
Ordered
Employers
Decline to
Yield
On July 30, 1901, the sailors, longshoremen, marine firemen, porters, packers,
warehousemen, pile drivers, hoisting engineers, ship and steamboat joiners, steam
and hot-water fitters, marine cooks and stewards and coal-cart teamsters, in all about
13,000 men left their work. Their action was at once followed by several other
city unions, among them the boxmakers and sawyers, and the sand and gravel
teamsters, and by the dock laborers of Oakland, Redwood City and Benicia and
the warehousemen at Crockett. The marketing of fruit was seriously interfered
with, and the supplies of the canneries being cut off those industries were brought
to a standstill. The strike had in fact become state-wide and was creating con-
sternation and causing loss in all quarters. Civic bodies and various organizations;
groups of citizens; clergymen and others interested themselves in bringing about
an understanding, but could accomplish little. The unions gave heed to these
advocates of peace, but the members of the employers' association planted them-
selves on the proposition that nearly all the outside interference was actuated by
sentimental considerations, and that there was a disposition being shown to sacrifice
their interests because the workingmen threatened to interfere with their comfort.
AVhile the workingmen professed a willingness to terminate the trouble, their
profession was accompanied with the intimation that nothing but a complete sur-
render to their demands would prove satisfactory. While the strike was in prog-
ress the unions made efforts to discover the names of firms in the employers' asso-
ciation for the purpose of instituting a boycott, and circulars mentioning several
concerns were distributed in California and the neighboring states. The mayor and
supervisors communicated with representatives of the employers' association and
obtained from them a statement of its position. The association announced that it
was willing to recommend to the members of the Draymen's Association that they
fill all present and future vacancies with such persons as may apply for work
irrespective of whether the applicant belongs to a union or not, upon the following
terms :
I. That the employes shall obey all lawful orders of the employers.
II. That the employe will not directly or indirectly attempt to compel a fel-
low employe against his will to join a union, or to compel his employer to employ
none but union men.
III. That the employes will not engage in or support any sympathetic strikes
or boycott.
There was no point of contact in this offer. The unions still insisted on obey-
ing what orders they pleased; and reiterated their right to bring men into their
organizations by any methods to which they chose to resort, and claimed that their
only effective weapon against employers was the boycott and the sympathetic strike.
The supervisors, professing to have at heart the interest of that portion of the
community not directly interested in the contest, but suffering from the interrup-
tion of the orderly conduct of business, informed the association of employers
that public opinion was crystallizing against them, and urged that an understand-
ing be reached, but the association stood firmly by its determination to not deal with
the unions. They were ready, its agent said, to take up the matter with individuals,
but to meet the representatives of the unions would simply result in a surrender
of the principle for which they were contending: the right of the employer to
control his business.
ST. MARY 'S CATHEDRAL
HINDU TEMPLE, WHERE ONLY WHITES ARE
PERMITTED TO WORSHIP
APTIST TEMPLE
JEWISH SYNAGOGUE
SAN FRANCISCO
691
The assertion of the committee of supervisors that public opinion was crystal-
lizing against the association was one of those meaningless assertions put forward
whenever labor troubles occur. The men who made the statement had no informa-
tion concerning the attitude of the community which would permit a judgment to
be formed that would stand challenge. The workingmen had the sympathy of their
class, but it is doubtful whether outside of the unions the people were ready to
accept the theory that an employer should be deprived of all voice in the manage-
ment of his business. As a matter of fact, outside of the immediate contestants
the only concern seemed to be to get rid of the impending trouble. The public
sentiment was largely dictated by selfishness, and if the quarrel had not operated
to interfere with the general comfort it would have found but feeble expression.
The employers were not disposed to accept the intimation that the public was
against them but proceeded with their efforts to maintain their position. As al-
ready stated they had little difficulty in finding men to take the places of the
striking teamsters despite the fact that all sorts of violence was resorted to in order
to intimidate those who took the places of the strikers. Police protection was de-
manded and extended, but sometimes in a very perfunctory manner. The presence
of men in uniform on the teams excited the strikers and their sympathizers, and
attacks were frequently made on the new drivers on the most prominent streets of
the City. James D. Phelan was mayor of the City at the time and was un-
doubtedly firm in the determination to preserve the peace, but the attitude of the
police, whatever their orders may have been, was often very questionable. Cases
occurred of men being beaten on the wagons they were driving while guarded by
police without any arrests following. Perhaps the forbearance of the officers was
wise, for when assaults of this nature occurred there was usually a mob present,
and a riot might easily have been precipitated.
The trouble dragged along until the beginning of October, when Governor Gage
intervened. On the second of that month Gage appeared in the City and the an-
nouncement was made that he had been requested to attempt to settle the difficulty.
It was never clearly explained at whose instance Gage moved at this particular
time. The excuse, or opportunity for his doing so, had been presented much ear-
lier, when the movement of grain and other products had been interfered with,
and suggestions that he should act were freely made, but Gage had political ambi-
tions and was not disposed to antagonize any influential element. That the em-
ployers did not move at this particular time is evident from the fact that they had
practically won a victory, and that they did not desire intervention is further
confirmed by the result. Gage sent for the officers of the Brotherhood of Team-
sters and those of the Draymen's Association, and after a brief conference the
strike was declared off. No publicity was given to the method by which an agree-
ment was reached, but the community was enabled to form its own conclusions as
the striking teamsters returned to work, and made no objection to the strikebreakers
retaining their places.
It was while these events were occurring that Abraham Ruef conceived his
idea of making use of the workingmen's organizations to further his political am-
bitions. Up to this time Ruef, while not exactly a negligible quantity in local pol-
itics was hardly regarded as a leader. He had a following and professed to be
desirous of effecting reforms within the party with which he affiliated. About his
Attitude ot
the Com-
munity
Governor
Gage
Intervenes
Trying to
Block Km
Game
SAN FRANCISCO
Ruef Pro-
poses to
Reform tbe
iblican
Party
Ruef and
Schmitz
Make a CaU
;uef Deals
With the
Unions
sincerity there is a doubt, but concerning his professions at the time there was
none. The teamsters' strike terminated in October, 1901, and the municipal elec-
tion at which a new set of city officers was to be chosen was imminent. Before the
composition by Gage with the workingmen Ruef had been intriguing with the
union leaders, and it was suspected by some that the governor's intervention was
inspired by Dan Burns, the republican boss, and that its purpose was to prevent
the too active local boss from gaining too strong a hold on the affections of the
trades unionists.
Up to that time the political bosses were not in the habit of regarding the
unions as a factor in their games ; they assiduously cultivated the individuals com-
posing the unions, and even had relations with their leaders, but there was appar-
ently no one bold enough to attempt to handle the organizations as a body until
it occurred to Ruef that such a thing might be possible. While the teamsters' strike
was on Ruef called on the managing editor of the "Chronicle" and expressed a
desire to acquaint him with the local political situation. In the course of the inter-
view he dwelt upon the chaotic industrial condition and expressed the view that in
order to secure permanent peace and an approach to contentment that it would
be necessary to recognize the place of the workingman in the social and industrial
scheme, and that he believed that it was the duty of the republican party, as the
party of progress, to take up the cause of labor. In the interview Ruef did most
of the talking and at times became rhetorical. He referred to the oppressions en-
dured by the toiler, and the necessity of giving him a better show if it was desired
to avert a future castastrophe, and ended his discourse by urging that it would
lie the part of wisdom to elect a union man as mayor, and suggested the name of
Eugene Schmitz as a candidate, and asked the editor whether he could not bring
him to the office and introduce him.
He was informed that the editor had no objection to meeting Schmitz, but the
political course of the paper was determined by its proprietor, who was then ab-
sent from the City but was expected to return in a short time. Subsequently Ruef
took Schmitz to the "Chronicle" office and presented him to the editor, but singu-
larly enough no reference was made to the future mayor's political ambitions.
Although Ruef did not repeat his former request he was evidently desirous of dis-
playing the qualifications of his candidate by drawing him out. The conversation
took a wide range, but Ruef skilfully directed it into channels which permitted
Schmitz to air his views on many subjects. Subsequently the editor met Ruef on
the street and the latter asked the journalist what he thought of his man, but gave
no intimation of his design of running him as a candidate of the workingmen's
party. Whether he tried to persuade Herrin and Burns that Schmitz would prove
a strong man for the republicans to take up is not known but he probably did.
That he made no secret of his affiliations with the trades unionists, and was trad-
ing on his influence with them was known at the time, but his project of causing
their absorption by the republican party was not made public.
The situation created by the strike probably changed Ruef's earlier point of
view and caused him to abandon his idea of republicanizing the laboring element.
The workingmen were easily persuaded that the success of 1878 could be repeated.
There was always in the ranks of the unionists a considerable number adhering to
the view that the only possible mode by which the worker could achieve his desires
SAX FRANCISCO
would be through politics, and in times of excitement the proportion was greatly-
increased. The matter of control now presented itself to the unions in a concrete
form. The action of the municipal authorities in affording police protection was
bitterly resented. It was charged by the strikers and their adherents that the
police had exceeded their duties in various ways under instructions from the mayor;
and it was also asserted that the force ordinarily assigned to Market street would
have sufficed for the maintenance of order, and that the real purpose of placing
officers on wagons with the teamsters was to assist the latter by giving them direc-
tions and otherwise helping them in their work.
The latter accusations were wholly without foundation. The fact that the or-
dinary police protection was inadequate was apparent to everyone. It was difficult
to preserve order even with an augmented force of specials. Teamsters were dragged
from the wagons they were driving at such crowded centers as Market and Third
streets and cruelly beaten, while mobs applauded and the police were unable to
disperse them, and sometimes exhibited a disinclination to do their duty. Occa-
sionally a violent demonstrant would meet a check from an officer, but there was
no interference with peaceable men. The bitterness was deliberately worked up
and there is every reason for believing that the emissaries of Ruef were active in
that direction. There was a prodigious quantity of talk about the assistance ren-
dered to capital by the authorities, and it was pointed out that the charter adopted
not long previously gave a great deal of power to the mayor who under its provi-
sions appointed a number of commissions. Appeals of this nature found the work-
ingmen in a receptive mood, and all opposition to the unions engaging in politics
was laid aside. A workingmen's party was formed and Eugene Schmitz, Ruef's
candidate, was chosen to head it, and his connection with the new party was soon
made apparent.
The earlier political manifestations of the workingmen did not partake of the
narrowness exhibited in this campaign. In 1871, and again in 1878 the leaders of
the laboring element made their appeals to all classes. An examination of the
platforms of those years discloses no tendency to set up class distinctions. The
crusade against the Chinese, the denunciation of official malversation, the objection
to the monopolization of land, the demand for the direct election of president and
vice president and United States senators, the insistence upon the regulation of
railway and other corporations, the affirmation of the principle that minerals and
other public resources, including the public lands, should be conserved and retained
for the benefit of the whole people, and the declaration in favor of equitable taxa-
tion were the main features of the earlier workingmen's pronouncements, and ap-
pealed alike to the man in the country as well as the toiler in the city, to the employer
as much as to the wage earner. In short, unless labeled as such these first efforts
at platform making would not have been recognized as class productions. They were
in fact merely a formulation of the complaints and criticisms which were constantly
finding expression in the newspapers, and, as already stated, although framed forty
years ago, they anticipated nearly every demand made by the advanced progressives
of 1912.
The municipal campaign of 1901 was not fought on these lines. The working-
men's party did not discard any of its former objections to the existing order of
things, it even embellished them. But they were not seriously considered or thought
of by the workers who were struggling to accomplish one purpose : that of securing
Formation
of the
M'orlsingnien'f
Party
Work ingulf ii
Schmitz
Elected
694
SAN FRANCISCO
Minor
Offices
Traded for
Head ol
Ticket
possession of the local offices to the end that such power as the charter reposed in the
mayor should be exercised in their behalf in the event of future difficulties. The
issue was clearly made and was perfectly understood by the people, but whatever
may have been the real sentiment of the majority of the community it could not
find effective expression owing to the failure of the adherents of the old political
parties to come to an agreement. The republicans, whose destinies were controlled
at the time by Burns, put up as their candidate Asa R. Wells, and the democrats
named Joseph S. Tobin. Although Wells had the support of the Southern Pacific,
which commanded the services of Sam Rainey and Chris Buckley, the democratic
bosses, as well as Kelly, Crimmins, Burke and Lynch, who were republicans for
what they could make out of that brand of politics, he failed to retain the support
of the latter party ; and Tobin was not strong enough to hold the democrats who
had practically disbanded municipally and gone over to the workingmen. The
result of the triangular fight was the election of Schmitz, who received 21,77-1 of
the 53,746 votes cast at the November election.
As in the election when Kallach was chosen, all the other offices with the excep-
tion of three supervisors were nominated by the other parties, the republicans
winning the most of them. At no time during the contest did the workingmen
make a serious effort to secure the other offices; their desires were centered on the
mayoralty, and it was freely charged that some of the successful men of the op-
posing parties had traded away the heads of their tickets to secure the votes of
workingmen. Although the workingmen had elected their candidate for mayor,
the fact that the rest of the city government was composed of members of the
older parties practicalby isolated Schmitz. He was looked upon as harmless by
his antagonists, and Ruef contributed to this feeling by using the argument that
the election of his candidate was allaying class bitterness. As a matter of fact,
dullness of business was accomplishing the result to which Ruef directed attention.
The general recovery of trade at the East did not reach the coast until later, and
workers thought more of getting jobs than of politics, but the latter were by no
means wholly overlooked as the event showed.
While Schmitz's election in 1901 failed to secure for the workingmen the
power which their leaders hoped for, and while circumstances were such that there
was no cause for its exercise during his first term, there is no doubt that the com-
munity suffered greatly in the esteem of the outside world through his success.
And it is noteworthy in this connection that the criticism directed against San
Francisco during this period differed radically from that to which it was subjected
later. It was wholly based upon the assumption that the City was given over to
extremism, and that it had weakly surrendered to trades unionism. The press of
the East echoing the charges made by San Franciscans, declared that capital was
being frightened away from the City, and held the triumph of the workingmen
responsible for a condition not at all peculiar to the metropolis of the Pacific coast.
These criticisms were keenly resented by San Franciscans because they had come
to believe they were true. Later, when the pendulum of business swung to the
other side and business briskness succeeded dulness, with an inconsistency, remark-
able because of its utter absurdity, the workingmen claimed that their rule had
brought prosperity, and queerly enough there were plenty of people who really
believed that the policy for which the workingman's party was beginning to stand
sponsor, that of throwing the City wide open to vice, was the cause of the good
SAN FRANCISCO
nor.
times which had commenced about the year 1896 and extended throughout the entire
United States.
In 1903 the workingmen renominated Schniitz, and while the desire for a
united front against the trades unions by those opposed to class rule was very
pronounced, the same obstacles to fusion encountered by them in 1901 were again
interposed. The democrats and republicans insisted on putting forward separate
candidates, thus dividing the opposition. Repeated experiences with nonpartisan
movements had inclined many republicans to look upon them as devices of the
democrats to win success with republican votes, and the bosses of the latter party,
big and little took advantage of this distrust. The outcome was a second triangular
fight, and the reelection of Schmitz, whose vote was larger by several thousand
than he had received two years earlier. The vote cast in the municipal election
of 1903 was 59,767, of which Schmitz had 26,050 and his two opponents 33,717.
The workingmen also elected a supervisor and some other candidates who received
the endorsement of one or the other of the opposing parties.
By the second election of Schmitz, although the workingmen were not in pos-
session of the money appropriating body of the municipal government, they gained
a decided political advantage through the control of several important commissions,
obtained through the exercise of the appointing power conferred upon the mayor
by the charter. In Abe Ruef the laborites found a man with a marked capacity
for organization, and they promptly recognized the fact and practically gave him
full charge of their political destinies. The control of the commissions in addition
to enabling Ruef to create a machine, which soon surpassed in effectiveness that of
the other bosses, who were his inferiors in every particular, also put him in the
way of making sums of money out of people who had business with those bodies
controlled by the mayor. From the beginning of his power Ruef began a system of
extortion, the profits of which were shared by the mayor, the lion's share being
retained by Ruef until Sehmitz's education in rascality was sufficiently advanced
to enable him to cope successfully with his wicked partner when there was a division
of spoils.
It would have been extraordinary if the flagrant actions of Schmitz and Ruef
had escaped attention and criticism. They did not. Exposures were numerous, and
in many instances the proof was of such a nature that it would be impossible to
discredit it if steps of any kind had been taken to bring the charges to the atten-
tion of the courts, but nothing of the sort was attempted. So far as their supporters
in the workingmen's party were concerned, no accusation, no matter how detailed
made any impression. If the workingmen believed that the pair were rascals they
concealed their opinion and charged that the accusations were merely the result
of spite work. There was an investigation by a grand jury but it was conducted
in a perfunctory fashion and its failure to act enabled Ruef to laugh at his accusers.
To tell the truth the people had become so habituated to scandals that they took
no note of them. They had by no means begun with the advent of Schmitz to
power. There were repeated cases of malversation on the part of earlier boards
of supervisors. The fixing of water rates had been a joke for several years, and
such appellations as "the solid nine" bestowed upon the majority of that body,
and implying that it was corrupt, were in common use. The cynical ordinarily
spoke of the supervisors as not being in office for their health alone, and the easy
going community laughed at the joke.
Schmitz
Elected a
Second Time
Ruef's
Methods Not
An Inno-
SAN FRANCISCO
Holding
TJp the City
Incivicism
Responsible
for Official
Turpitude
Extraordi-
nary Power
of Chris.
Buckley
In short it was a case of people living in glass houses; and if there is any
foundation for the assumption that long continued tolerance of abuses excuses
their commission, the workingmen would have had no trouble about invoking it. And
they did. The tu quoque argument was used by them as often and oftener than
any other; and unfortunately the men who managed the affairs of the two other
parties were unable to answer the charge brought against them that the men of
their selection were no better than those in office. This retort was frequently made
by the defenders of Ruef and Schmitz in the campaign of 1905 and it made its
impression. But before describing its results, it may be well to investigate and
see what foundation there was for the workingmen's charges. Such a review may
disclose the causes which brought San Francisco the unhappy distinction of being
the most misgoverned city in the United States, a reputation it did not deserve,
because the disease afflicting the municipality was one which had hold of every large
community throughout the length and breadth of the land, an assertion supported
by the evidence and the admissions of that part of the press severest in its con-
demnation of the shortcomings of the City.
That other American cities have displayed municipal incapacity constitutes no
excuse for San Francisco, and to dwell on the fact only serves to obscure the true
cause of the inefficiency and worse displayed in the past. Agitations to bring about
better results under a popular system of government are perhaps indispensable but
they have the defect of concentrating attention on the offenses upon which the
light of exposure is made to fiercely beat, while those in the shadow are ignored
and those of a period immediately preceding are entirely overlooked. The present
offender, who is the natural product of past laxity, is offered up as a vicarious
sacrifice for the sins of the whole community. He deserves his punishment, per-
haps, but the people whose negligence incited him to turpitude do not deserve to
get off so easily. Schmitz and Ruef were rapacious scoundrels who shrunk from
no infamy, but they and the rotten board of supervisors which made their greatest
infamies possible were preceded by equally corrupt municipal bodies, whose mem-
bers were permitted to profit at the expense of the taxpayers, and whose violations
of law were condoned by amendments to the constitution of the state, as in the
case of the authorization to pay the claims of merchants who had supplied goods
to the City in direct disregard of the so-called one-twelfth act, which was enacted
to restrain supervisoral extravagance and to prevent the cupidity of contractors.
In a preceding chapter the advent of Christopher Buckley, afterward known
throughout the length and breadth of the land as the "Blind Boss," was described.
There had been bosses in San Francisco before Buckley, but it is doubtful whether
any of his predecessors had ever succeeded in bringing municipal rascality to the
same perfection of working that it attained during the time of his leadership of
the democratic party. No one man after the death of Broderick had so absolutely
dominated the democracy as Buckley, and no leader of that party in San Fran-
cisco ever retained undisputed supremacy for so long a period as the "Blind White
Devil," a name bestowed upon him by the Chinese, who had felt his power. Buck-
ley did not work in secret. His scoundrelism was perfectly known to the com-
munity in which he lived, and operated, to the people of the state, and to many
outside its borders. Yet distinguished politicians did not disdain to confer with
him, and there was no one too proud to accept a nomination at his hands. During
the height of his power, and until his accumulated crimes made it possible for an
SAX FRANCISCO
outraged community to drive him forth in disgrace, honest men, men of standing
and substance, were not unwilling to head his tickets, when it was notorious that
his political cunning led him to put forward an irreproachable leader so that a
gang of spoilsmen could more easily march along the road to victory.
This condition of affairs endured throughout the Eighties. It was in the be-
ginning of the decade that the Blind Boss attained his hold on the party and suc-
ceeded in creating what might fairly be called a political clearing house for rogues.
At first a republican, Buckley changed his coat when he came to San Francisco
and masqueraded as a democrat. But he was a democrat for revenue only. He
maintained relations with the smaller bosses, who soon came to recognize him as
their master and succeeded in perfecting an understanding with them by which
they hunted their prey together. It goes without saying that a man able to develop
such qualities stood high in the graces of the railway corporation, which always
found it profitable to train with the strongest side, choosing its instruments without
reference to partisan brands and with no other object in view than to secure the
most effective services.
The career of Buckley forcibly illustrates the defect of the popular method
of electing officials and deserves the close study of the advocates of the short ballot
system. The Blind Boss was never seriously disturbed by emotional waves, for it
must not be supposed that there was no demand for reform in the days when Buck-
ley dominated. The press did its duty. It persistently pointed out the rascalities
of the Boss and his satellites; it traced his connection with the railroad corporation,
and it may be added that Buckley welcomed rather than complained of criticism.
It was bis theory that the exposures were the chief source of his strength as they
assured his "lambs," the name by which his obedient followers were known, that
his pretensions were real. His enemies or opponents charged him with receiving
bribes from corporations, and that fact assured the lambs that he would be able
to reward them. He was accused of interfering with the operation of the law and
that, instead of weakening him, rallied to his aid all the venal and criminal ele-
ment who sought him out as their logical protector.
If the framers of the system of popular government had deliberately sought
to bring about the condition of affairs existing in San Francisco during the Buckley
regime, and later when his successor Ruef assumed control, they could not have
devised a plan which would have effected the desired result with more facility.
Much has been said about the force of public sentiment, and there is no doubt that
in the long run it must effectively assert itself, but the fact remains that during
certain stages of its development cunning men can make it serve their purposes
and graft the scion of roguery on the sturdiest reform stock. Buckley exhibited
his ability to do this, and incidentally exposed the short-sightedness of the people.
The nomination of ex-Railroad Commissioner Stoneman for the governorship was
in response to a popular demand that the aggressions of the railroad should be
curbed. The convention which selected him as the standard bearer of the demo-
cratic party met at San Jose, and the bulk of the delegation from San Francisco
was controlled by Buckley, who voted against Stoneman first, last and all the time.
Stoneman was nominated and elected despite the strenuous efforts of the corpora-
tion to defeat him, but the reform wave which resulted in the triumph of the ex-
railroad commissioner strengthened the hold of Buckley on San Francisco. He
returned to the City from San Jose and when the municipal convention met a little
Methods of
the Blind
Boss
A Boss Ml
ProBted
Through
Exposure
Boss Buckley
and Emo-
tional Politics
SAN FRANCISCO
Buckley's
Traffic in
Municipal
Offices
Corporations
Blackmailed
by Buckley
Buckley the
Moses of tbe
Democratic
Party
later his lambs nominated a ticket which was swept into office. The zeal for better
things at Sacramento gave the Boss possession of the board of supervisors, the
board of education and all the other municipal offices, and they were administered
with as great a contempt for public opinion and supercilious disregard of exposure
by the press as they were during the last term of Eugene Schmitz.
Scandals followed each other thick and fast. There were charges that the
moneys appropriated for school repairs were stolen and that teachers were carried
on the roll who were little better than hoodlums, and that they got their jobs
through Buckley, who transacted business with them at the Bush street saloon.
The assessor's office was crowded with lambs who were dummies, and did no work
to earn the salaries paid them; the county clerk maintained an enormous force, a
large proportion of which were idlers drawing pay. All of these appointees of the
Boss were compelled to pay handsomely for their positions, and contributed from
their salary regularly every month a fixed sum which was to be devoted to for-
warding the interests of the party, but which went into the Blind Boss' pockets.
If a lamb showed signs of recalcitrancy he was promptly discharged and another
put in his place.
The pernicious activities of Buckley were by no means confined to placing his
lambs in position and taking a "rake-off" from them; he controlled the board of
supervisors absolutely and arranged all the "dickers" with the gas and water com-
panies regarding the fixing of rates. In dealing with these corporations Buckley
adopted the methods of the blackmailer. He set the most supple supervisors at
work investigating and permitted them to assume a menacing attitude, and when
his victims were thoroughly scared he stepped in and directed the board's action,
which was always in harmony with the agreement made by the Boss. Some one
has said that Ruef's practice of acting as attorney for the corporations and inter-
ests he intended to pluck was an innovation, but that is a mistake. The Blind
Boss, although never admitted to practice as a lawyer, was in receipt of regular
retainers from the water and gas companies who looked to him to protect them
against the depredations of his disreputable crew. There was no abuse charged
against the Schmitz regime that was not practiced during Buckley's period of con-
trol. The Chinese were plundered, and they were allowed to gamble unmolested.
In the matter of gaming Buckley had the City in hand more thoroughly than his
successors in villainy. He went further than the mere toleration of violation of
the law ; he actually caused the supervisors to pass an ordinance giving a concern
which operated in Piatt's hall, and in which he shared, a monopoly of the business.
He was in collusion with corrupt judges who decided cases according to his dicta-
tion, and jury "fixing" was brought to the stage of a fine art by him. So versed was
he in this particular sort of villainy that thieves and other criminals resorted to
him and paid handsome sums to get them out of the toils.
It is sometimes assumed that the successes of bosses are due to a recognition on
their part of the desirability of practicing the sort of honor that is supposed to
obtain among thieves, but Buckley was not governed by any such rules. He ac-
cepted money from one side and if the other outbid he cold-bloodedly deserted his
original client. He made promises to aspirants for office, accepted their cash con-
tributions and then took up a fresh applicant. This propensity caused him to be
DESTRUCTION OF THE BALDWIN HOTEL BY FIRE
SAN FRANCISCO
neglected by the railroad for a long time, that corporation expecting loyalty from its
bosses and "other servants. Until this distrust was removed Buckley at times posed
as an anti monopolist, and it was not until the extra session called by Governor
Stoneman for the purpose of regulating rates of fare and freight that the corpora-
tion, rendered desperate by the prospect of a strongly antagonistic legislature re-
ducing it to submission that it took him into its service. In the San Jose conven-
tion the Blind Boss could only control a local following; in that which met at Los
Angeles in 1888 he was the democratic cock of the walk, and in the municipal
convention of that year the decrees of the Boss were registered without cavil.
During the period in which Buckley flourished the community was under the
domination of the idea that restrictions on the expenditure of money and taxation
limits were the only effective agencies through which good municipal government
could be secured. The cautious citizen was apt to assent to the proposition that
things were going on all right provided the tax rate was not raised, and Buckley
was cunning enough to take advantage of this peculiar attitude. His platforms
always declared in favor of "the dollar limit" on taxation, and his lambs when
in office usually adhered to this campaign promise. The Blind Boss was avari-
cious, but his avarice was tempered with caution. He had felt the economic pulse
of the community and found that it still beat strongly for the conservatism that
followed the outbreak of 1856. He had profited by observation of the past, and
was perfectly aware that the spirit which had intrenched the people's party formed
by the Vigilantes was still a potent factor in the community despite the fact that
there had been a disposition to break away from it during the early part of the
Comstock excitement. He might probably have developed into a bold plunderer,
capable of making the best of big sums of money raised by bond issues, but run-
ning into debt was out of the question during the Eighties so he contented himself
with such pickings as the growing assessment roll and a dollar limit provided.
That there was enough for a cautious boss will be inferred from the fact that
the amount derived from the city tax, which was $4,452,940 in 1876, had increased
to nearly $7,000,000 in 1890. In 1882 the school department expended for all
purposes $735,475, in 1890 the sum demanded and used was $983,014. The cost
•per capita of attendance during the interval had increased from $24.98 to $31.35.
Compared with the expenditures of earlier years those during the Buckley regime
cannot be regarded as excessive, nor were they so considered at the time. The
discussion in the press about election times did not deal so much with the question
of amount as with results. Outside of the element which concerned itself about
political matters, chiefly for what there was to be made out of office, or through
connection with office holders, the City was divided into two camps when municipal
affairs were discussed. One side planted itself squarely on the proposition that any
departure from the settled rule of the dollar limit in taxation, or a change of pol-
icy with reference to the incurrence of debt would prove injurious to the interests
of the City; the other was distinctly in favor of inaugurating an era of public im-
provement. The idea of the city beautiful was taking shape, and there was a great
deal of talk about making San Francisco "the Paris of America." The line of
cleavage between the two views, however, was not sharply defined, and was nearly
completely obscured about election time, when even the warmest advocates of better
streets, boulevards and other civic improvements yielded to the slogan of the dollar
Buckley
Champions
the Dollar
Limit
700 SAN FRANCISCO
limit. This caution disappeared about the time that Buckley deemed it advisable
to abandon San Francisco, and the events synchronize so nearly that the followers
of the deposed Blind Boss some time later claimed for him the dubious virtue of
having been the bulwark of the dollar limit during the time of his domination of
municipal politics.
CHAPTER LIX
SAN FRANCISCO MAKES MANY EXPERIMENTS IN MUNICIPAL
GOVERNMENT
REPEATED EFFORTS TO SECURE A NEW ORGANIC LAW THE CONSOLIDATION ACT FINALLY
DISCARDED A CONTINUOUS STRUGGLE FOR REFORM AUSTRALIAN BALLOT ADOPTED
OLD TIME PRIMARY FARCES A GREATLY IMPROVED PRIMARY LAW THE BOSSES
AND THE STRATTON PRIMARY LAW IT MERELY RESULTS IN GIVING THE CITY A NEW
SET BOSSES PROFIT BY DIVISION OF THE RESPECTABLE ELEMENT THE RAILROAD
POLITICIANS AND BOSSES WERE NOT INNOVATORS SCANDALS ATTENDING ELECTION
OF LELAND STANFORD DOMINATION OF STATE AND MUNICIPAL POLITICS BY THE
RAILROAD INCREASED MUNICIPAL EXPENDITURES BUT FEW IMPROVEMENTS
CHANGES PRODUCED BY ADOPTION OF CHARTER OF 1898 NO ECONOMIES EFFECTED
A MORE EXPENSIVE FORM OF GOVERNMENT CITY SECURES LOCAL AUTONOMY
THE CITY BEAUTIFUL MOVEMENT MERCHANTS' ASSOCIATION AND ITS ACTIVITIES
IT FURNISHES MANY VALUABLE OBJECT LESSONS DOLLAR LIMIT DEPARTED FROM
IMPROVEMENT CLUBS CIVIL SERVICE LAW COST OF CITY GOVERNMENT VOTING
MACHINES WOMAN SUFFRAGE DEFEATED IN 1896- — THE INITIATIVE IN SAN FRAN-
CISCO OWNERSHIP OF PUBLIC UTILITIES GEARY STREET ROAD TAXATION CHARGES.
T CANNOT be repeated too often, or be too firmly impressed
on the mind of the student of political conditions, that the
desire for reform may exhibit itself in a very pronounced
manner in a community, and yet be defeated or obstructed
by subordinating the major to the minor consideration.
Bosses have successfully traded on their knowledge of this
fact. It is only when the people can be induced to sink
out of sight their personal predilections for the relatively inconsequential that they
succeed in securing their main desire. There is no doubt that from the time of the
adoption of the constitution in 1879 there was a pronounced desire in San Francisco
to abandon the out-of-date Consolidation Act and substitute for it a charter which
would permit the expansion of the City on modern lines. There was no disposition
to deny that the' scheme of municipal government devised by Hawes, and adopted
in 1856, had served its purpose, but it had been amended beyond recognition, and
there was a current joke that no one in San Francisco but the clerk of the board of
supervisors knew what ordinances were in force and which were repealed.
But the efforts to secure a new organic law for the municipality were rendered
nugatory by the activity of opponents who were not arrayed against the instruments
submitted to them because they were opposed to their underlying principles, but
because some particular feature did not meet their views. The first charter voted
701
Desire for
a New
Charter
Fruitless
Efforts to
Charter
702
SAN FRANCISCO
A Charter
Finally
Adopted
Years to Get
upon and rejected met its adverse fate because a recent experience had caused
the peopile to distrust the expediency of conferring too much power on the mayor.
That was the cause assigned, but its defeat was, perhaps, more attributable to
civic indifference than fear of a bad mayor. The election was held on September
8, 1880, and only 23,398 votes were cast, while at the preceding general election
there were 41,292. The charter submitted in 1883 called out a still smaller vote,
only 18,764 going to the polls. It was defeated by the narrow majority of 32,
the affirmative vote being 9,336 and the negative 9,368. An extraordinary quan-
tity of space was devoted by the newspapers to the discussion of the provisions of
this document, and much of it was given over to consideration of an alleged am-
biguity, the effect of which the "Bulletin" claimed would be to give to the mayor
the power to appoint the tax collector, auditor, treasurer, etc. This argument
was based on the alleged fatal omission of the charter to state how the successors
of those officers were to be chosen. The election of the first set was plainly pro-
vided for, and the "Chronicle" pointed out that as the charter failed to say that
the successor of the first mayor elected was to be elected, that the omission would
apply to that office also. A third attempt was made on the 12th of April, 1887,
at a special election to secure the adoption of a charter, but the instrument sub-
mitted met the fate of its predecessors. There were only 25,959 votes cast as
against 45,716 at the preceding general election. In this contest the question of
intra mural burial was raised, and it was assumed that a large part of the adverse
vote, which was 14,905 to only 10,896 for, was due to the active opposition of
those interested in maintaining the cemeteries within the city limits. A fourth
fruitless attempt was made in the November election of 1896. On this occasion
64,820 votes were cast for the candidates for municipal offices, but only 33,857
expressed an opinion on the charter, the vote being 15,879 for, to 17,978 against.
It was not until May 26, 1898, that the people of San Francisco consented to
accept a charter framed for their benefit, and it might be inferred from the small-
ness of the vote on its adoption that the acceptance was merely a fluke and not a
real expression of popular judgment. The vote was 14,389 for and 12,025 against,
a total of 26,969, whereas at the general election in 1896, 64,820 had voted. It
has been assumed that the apparent lack of interest was due to the fact that voters
were disinclined to sacrifice the time involved in going to the polls on a day spe-
cially set apart, but this assumption is dissipated by the fact that nearly half of the
voters in the general election of 1 896 refused to avail themselves of the privilege
of voting for or against the charter submitted, probably because they were honest
enough to admit their incompetency to form a proper judgment concerning the
desirability of the changes, and their inability to understand the multitudinous
details of a voluminous document, concerning the meaning of many of whose pro-
visions there was a serious disagreement.
Thus it took nineteen years to secure an organic law for San Francisco, the
imperative need for which was supposed to have existed even before the adoption
of the Constitution of 1879. When a charter was finally adopted the result seemed
to stamp as puerile the earlier objections to the conference of power upon the
mayor. The new instrument in this particular gave that official as large a degree
of control as any of the previously rejected documents, and the fact that it did
was a subject of felicitation until the exercise of authority by Phelan, when the
labor troubles occurred in 1901, caused it to become an object of fierce denuncia-
SAN FRANCISCO
703
tion by the workingmen; and later when their party came to power, and Schmitz
and Ruef were running things with a high hand, it became the target for adverse
criticism by the conservative element. In view of the fact that the people of
San Francisco had suffered repeatedly from the derelictions of elected officials
it is astonishing that any considerable number of persons should have retained
implicit faith in the wisdom of the electorate. They had gone to the polls election
after election, and had chosen supervisors who deliberately allied themselves with
the corporations, and sold or carelessly conferred valuable privileges which should
have brought a return to the community, or would have done so had the people
recognized their value. They had given their suffrages to a tax collector who
had robbed the treasury, and they had elected other officials who filled their offices
with tax eaters who performed no services for the salaries paid to them. But on
the other hand it is equally surprising that after witnessing the possibilities of a
Kalloch administration, and what actually occurred after Schmitz obtained full
control of the city government, that any considerable body of men should exhibit
confidence in the workings of any system which the ingenuity of statesmen may
provide.
The powers conferred upon the mayor by the charter of 1898 were not extraor-
dinary. They gave him the appointment of several members of commissions, but
a system of holdovers was provided for which would make it impossible for him
to absolutely control any board if the people chose to exercise their power of lim-
iting the number of terms of his office. Confidence in the ability of the people to
recognize when they were being wronged dictated the provision of the charter
relating to the appointment of boards and commissions. The freeholders did not
foresee the possibility of a majority of the electors of San Francisco deliberately
continuing to support a mayor who almost openly defied public opinion, and who
converted his position into a source of personal gain. And yet the second mayor
elected under the new organic law proved to be a man of that sort, and whether
or not San Franciscans like to consider the fact, it remains one all the same, that
the third time he was elected Schmitz received a handsome majority of the suf-
frages of his fellow citizens.
A hundred years hence the historian in attempting to understand the conditions
existing in San Francisco in the opening years of the nineteenth century will
probably be bewildered by the apparently conflicting endeavors of the people to
bring about satisfactory results in municipal government. Perhaps, if he is a
philosopher, he will have reached the conclusion that it does not much matter about
systems. If he is at all acute he will deride the belief that now obtains that
people with widely diverging interests can so reconcile them that they will all act
together to bring about an ideal state of municipal affairs. He will in the light of
San Francisco's experiences be inclined to regard with astonishment the assump-
tion that a community whose voting element was composed in large part of voters
who had no property to be taxed regarded the problem of municipal government
from the same standpoint as the owner of real estate or personal property. He
will probably see nothing extraordinary in the persistent disregard by a portion
of the electorate of the appeal to run the City in a businesslike manner. He cer-
tainly will not wonder that workingmen subordinated every other consideration
to that of protecting their direct interests, and, as history is full of instances
of the vast influence exercised by the class which thrives upon the blunders of a
The Coming
Philosopher's
704
SAN FRANCISCO
Continuous
Struggle
for Reform
Methods of
Preserving
Secrecy of
Ballot
Adoption of
Australian
Ballot
community, the existence of the parasite known as the "tax eater" will not seem
strange to him.
Perhaps the only thing that will greatly excite his wonderment if he makes a
special study of American municipal institutions in the twentieth century, such as
Mrs. Green made of "Town Life in the Fifteenth Century," will be the facility
with which experiences were forgotten, and the disposition of the people of older
cities of the United States to misunderstand and misrepresent the municipality in
which more earnest efforts to effect reforms were made than in any other in the
Union. That they failed was due to the same cause that has produced the same
result in other cities where the inclination to expose deficiencies is not so insistent
as it is in San Francisco. The Constitution of 1879 was in response to a strenuous
demand for reform which was voiced most loudly in the metropolis of the state,
and the long-continued effort to secure a charter was prompted by the belief that
supervision and regulation would abate the evils which afflicted most • American
communities.
The activities of the San Francisco reformer of forty years ago asserted them-
selves in fields which are only now beginning to be explored in Eastern cities.
Before the term Australian ballot had been made familiar to the East, and while
that section of the Union was discussing the desirability of a secret ballot which
could not be manipulated by the bosses the City was working under an election law
which assured the elector that his rights would be respected, and which gave him
as complete an opportunity to express his preference as through any means since
devised. The uniform ballot adopted in the seventies, and the precautions taken
against importuning voters within 100 feet of the polls, the closing of saloons on
election days and other devices adopted presented an opportunity for an untram-
meled choice which was exercised in such a fashion that the selection of a straight
ticket composed of members of one party was almost unheard of, and in 1892,
responsive to an agitation in San Francisco, a law was passed which provided
as near an approach to the Australian ballot as could be devised while the demand
persisted that the bulk of the administrative officials should be subject to popular
choice.
During the Eighties, and the greater part of the Nineties, the filling of munici-
pal offices was accomplished very simply. The people retained the right to choose
from tickets presented to them by committees, or those resulting from a farcical
pretense of popular initiative at primaries. These latter were conducted without
attempt at regulation and were wholly managed by the bosses. As already related
after the Vigilante troubles of 1856 for many years there was absolutely no
attempt on the part of those representing the general taxpayer's interest to consult
the people respecting the choice of candidates. A few men met together, named
a ticket and it was accepted and voted for and was usually successful. That the
method was criticized it is hardly necessary to state, but frankness demands the
admission that the severest censors of this undemocratic mode of putting forward
condidates were the bosses. The element which took no active part in politics,
and had only one object in view, namely, to get men who would administer the
affairs of the City as cheaply as possible, was glad to have the job of selecting
candidates taken away from it. Many who would cheerfully have performed the
duty of voting at the primaries refrained from doing so because they were perfectly
aware that they would have their labor for their pains.
ft
SCENES IN GOLDEN GATE PARK
/
SAN FRANCISCO
705
The real or imaginary success attending the method inherited from the Vigi-
lantes could not, however, utterly destroy the democratic ideal. As in the case of
the police commission, which for many years held office without change, the stand-
ing committee or junta of the so called people's party was under suspicion, and
there was an uneasy consciousness in the minds of those who upheld it that the
system was not entirely in accordance with the genius of American institutions.
The suggestion that everything was cut and dried was constantly being made, and
finally the objection to nominating cabals became so pronounced that an insistent
demand arose for properly regulated primaries which was responded to by the
enactment of a law which threw about these initiatory proceedings all the safe-
guards provided for the conduct of general elections at which candidates for office
were voted for by the electorate.
It was thought that with the passage of the primary law of 1897 the matter
of properly selecting candidates had been satisfactorily solved, but a constitutional
defect was found which was seized upon by the bosses who imagined the new
law might have the effect of abridging their power. The trouble was cured at
the ensuing session of the legislature by its author, Senator F. S. Stratton. The
amended law was entitled "an act providing for the election of delegates to con-
ventions of political parties," and provided that all political parties which at the
preceding election had polled at least 3% of the vote of the state, should be
entitled to a place on the ballot. The Australian system of balloting had to be
modified in order to allow the use of pasters, but in other respects the methods
of a general election were adhered to, and the qualifications of electors remained
the same. The new law was fiercely assailed as a device to perpetuate existing
political parties, and it was predicted that its effect would be to fasten a partisan
system of municipal government on the City. This objection was chiefly urged
by the advocates of the back room system of nomination who realized that whatever
its defects the new primary law would certainly put an end to selection by cabal,
and that therefore nonpartisanism in municipal elections in order to win at the
polls would have to be real.
The result of the first election under the amended primary law was to greatly
discomfit the old time bosses, and to disclose the fact that if the people could be
induced to turn out and vote, it would be no difficult matter to defeat the machina-
tions of those who had hitherto had their own way at primary elections, wholly
because they were allowed to run affairs without interference from the decent
elements of society. The election was held on the 8th of August, 1899, and 32,519
votes were cast. This was an immensely greater number than had ever before
turned out at a primary election in San Francisco, and exceeded by several thousand
the number who had voted at the charter election of the preceding year when the
new organic law of the City was adopted. There was an undisguised effort on
the part of the bosses big and little to make an exhibition of their power, a fact
which served to put the people on their mettle, although it cannot be said that the
electorate was fully aroused for the total number of votes cast was only half as
many as the 64,820 in the general election of 1896.
There was absolutely no ground for adverse criticism of the operation of this
first primary under the Stratton law. It was conducted in an orderly fashion, and
no suspicion of fraud or irregularity of any kind attached to it, but when the
smoke of battle cleared away, and the results were surveyed, there was an uneasy
The Primary
Law and
the Cabals
706
SAN FRANCISCO
Discomfited
by Result of
Primaries
feeling that although the bosses formerly in the ascendency had been shown up
as pretenders, the splitting into factions of their opponents had exposed their weak-
ness. A new set of bosses, it was feared, would profit by the experience. Indeed
there was evidence in the figures of the election which pointed conclusively to the
advent of a new boss, Gavin McNab, who, however, was credited with a desire to see
the affairs of the municipality conducted in a businesslike fashion, and who later
made his boast that the boards of supervisors put forward by him were efficient
and honest.
One possibility was made apparent by the workings of the new primary law.
It presented an easy opportunity to the people to take the direction of affairs out
of the hands of the professional bosses provided they were willing to do the arduous
preelection work which these men performed. An analysis of the vote shows that
on this occasion at least sufficient interest was aroused to promote the organization
of numerous groups within the parties, and it also disclosed that the old bosses,
who put forth their most strenuous efforts were unable to rally anything like a
sufficient number of voters to make themselves formidable. The divisions were rep-
resented by names that were misleading, and in some instances assumed by trickery,
but they deceived nobody. Every voter knew under whose auspices the delegates
he voted for were chosen. There were eleven different tickets, but some of them
received a vote so small as to render them obnoxious to the charge that they were
put forward by "piece" clubs. Their designations are interesting and with a few
sidelights will indicate the nature of the contest. There was the Central Repub-
lican League (anti boss) which polled 5,644 votes as against the Regular repub-
lican (Kelly and Crimmins boss ticket) with 4,400 votes. Then there were Citizens'
republicans, Reuf republicans and independent republicans with 195, 302 and
279 votes respectively. The Regular democrats led the democratic vote with
10,544, the Rainey democrats polled 4,004 votes, the Buckley lambs 5,116 and
the Independent democrats 40. The Socialist Labor party polled 605 votes in
this primary, but had no contests within its ranks. There was also an organization
with the pretentious title of the people's party which had only 58 votes, and there
were 278 scattering.
While the bosses were completely discomfited by the result of the primary
the outcome was not regarded with unalloyed satisfaction by the reformers who
plainly perceived that the name of the election was a misnomer, for all the candi-
dates' were chosen in advance by coteries, and the people were no nearer their
ideal of direct nomination than before. In the case of the triumphant anti boss
element which overthrew Buckley and Rainey, the ticket subsequently put up
was named by Gavin McNab, who had engineered the campaign for James D.
Phelan. In the democratic convention McNab controlled 307 out of the 354 dele-
gates, Rainey securing 31 and Buckley 16. Ten years earlier Jeremiah Lynch,
a former state senator, had published a pamphlet which had mercilessly exposed the
rascalities of the Blind Boss, but it did not accomplish its purpose because while in
possession of the machine Buckley was able to snap his fingers at public opinion.
Lynch clearly indicated the secret of Buckley's success. He pointed out that the
Boss was in the habit of putting up a good man for mayor and then under the
cloak of his respectability foisting into the patronage offices creatures who gave
the Boss the appointments with the accompanying "rake off." The new law seemed
to be working out in the same way.
SAN FRANCISCO
707
It was noted at the time of this primary that the bosses' candidates received
only 13,560 votes out of the total of 32,519 cast, and with some show of reason
it was assumed 'that it would be an easy matter for the better elements,
if they would unite, to elect good men whenever they chose to do so. But the
difficulty of inducing them to stand together, and the possibility of men primarily
acting in the public interest turning bosses was not foreseen. At the very next
election Ruef, who had posed as an antagonist of the bosses, had become one
himself. He found it impossible to obtain control of the republican party, but
the circumstances already described made it easy for him to put the workingmen
into the traces and drive them to success. With the rise of the workingmen's
party the object for which the primary law was enacted was defeated. It could
only prove valuable and effective with two leading regular parties in the field.
Under the original conditions the decent elements in the democratic and republican
ranks could easily with its aid keep the bosses in check; but when a third party
numerically strong came into the political game it resulted in providing the ma-
chinery by which the two national parties were able to keep up their local organiza-
tions only to be beaten in detail.
One of the most serious evils connected with the boss system, and perhaps more
directly responsible for its existence in San Francisco than any other cause, was
the use made of the bosses by unscrupulous men with ambitions. We have seen
that in the early days Broderick used the power he obtained as a local boss to secure
the United States senatorship. His rivals were no more scrupulous in their methods
than he was, and manipulation at the bottom was the recognized mode of accom-
plishing political results. There was absolutely no spontaneity in the selection of
candidates for the highest offices in the gift of the state, and there was no pretense
that the people were exercising a choice when the legislature chose a United States
senator. Men are prone to forget, and are quite ready to assume that the republic
was administered more simply and purely in the days when the great corporations
were undreamed of than it is at present. A careful study of Californian political
methods in the period when the personal was the predominating element, however,
discloses that there were as many scandals connected with the selection of United
States senators as to-day, and that bribery of the direct kind, and promises of
reward for services rendered were as common as they became later, when it was
generally assumed that no man could obtain high office in California except by the
consent of the railroad, unless indeed a popular revolt occurred, in which case a
man like Stoneman, or Stephen J. White, who refused to accept orders from the
corporation, crept between the bars.
Abuses of this sort were so numerous and flagrant that in 1871 a convention of
workingmen in San Francisco denounced the system of electing senators in the
method prescribed by the constitution and resolved in favor of choice by direct
vote of the people. It does not appear that the demand which was renewed by the
so-called sand lot convention made any serious impression. No attempt to bring
about a change followed, nor was the agitation of the subject renewed until 1892,
when a proposition was submitted, which, however, had no other object than to
test the sense of the people on the question of direct election of United States sen-
ators. It showed an almost unanimous desire for the change, the vote being 187,-
958 for and only 13,342 against the direct method. The overwhelming affirmative
Bosses ProBt
by Division
of Decent
Voters
Evil Political
Methods
Before Cor-
poration
Ruled
Direct
Election of
United States
Senators
Advocated
708
SAN FRANCISCO
Railroad
Betrays
.. Sargent
Scandals
Attend
Election of
Stanford
Absolute
Domination
of Politics
by Railroad
vote was undoubtedly due to the agitation begun in San Francisco when Leland
Stanford was elected United States senator.
The circumstances attending the election of Stanford, who was president of the
Southern Pacific, made a deep impression on the public. He was chosen to succeed
James T. Farley, whose term expired March 4, 1885. Although the legislature
which had elected Farley in 1877 was decidedly anti monopoly in sentiment, and
during its entire session had proved a thorn in the side of the corporation, the
political machinery of the railroad was so adroitly handled that the corporation had
no serious difficulty in sending a serviceable representative to Washington. Farley
was from the interior, and was absolutely controlled by Huntington, but there was
no desire on his part to continue him in office. It was an open political secret that
his place was destined for ex-Senator Sargent, who had suffered a temporary
eclipse owing to the anti monopoly upheaval which resulted in the overthrow of
the so-called Federal Ring. The railroad satellites throughout the state thought
they were working for Sargent, and it is not improbable that he would have been
elected, despite the fact that he was regarded with hostility by a section of his
party for his subserviency to the corporation. But when the republican caucus
met his name was not even mentioned. Stanford was its choice, and when the two
houses assembled to ballot he received 79 votes and was elected.
The sudden change caused a great scandal. Charges were openly made that
$250,000 hid been expended to bring about the result, and the price of members
was freely quoted. On former occasions when charges of this sort were made an
investigation usually followed, but there was no disposition in this case to make an
inquiry, and the people were permitted to speculate and criticize as much as they
pleased. Criticism took the form of cynical comment rather than that of denuncia-
tion, and the opinion was expressed that the railroad had made up its mind to be
directly represented in the senate instead of by servants willing to carry out its
behests. But beneath the cynicism there was deep resentment which, however, ow-
ing to the control of the political machinery, and the refusal of the people to inter-
est themselves in primary politics, bore no fruit at the time. The corporation still
went on as formerly, and continued to so arrange matters that it made little differ-
ence to it which political party won at the polls. No matter what the outcome of
the elections, by skilful manipulation a majority of the Railroad Commission and
of the State Board of Equalization was assured to it, and it invariably contrived
that legislatures should elect, if not servants of the corporation, at least men who
would not antagonize its interests.
The events narrated, although participated in by the entire state, were usually
directed from the office of the railroad in the City to which the footsteps of the
politicians had beaten out a well defined path which the ambitious had to follow
or renounce chances of success. And it was the local bosses who cleared away the
underbrush and made the trail clear. Political storms occasionally arose, and there
were some wrecks, but as a rule the wind blew pretty steadily from Fourth and
Townsend streets, where Stanford sat in state and received the willing and anxious
or turned them over to his chief political manipulators. The latter, whose business
it was to keep track of all that was doing, kept the local bosses well in hand, and
considered the municipal situation strictly from the standpoint of its relation to
the more important matter of controlling the legislature and the two bodies which
touched it so closely. It was believed in some quarters that a restraining influence
A STREET IN CHINATOWN*. HE I "'ORE THE FIRE
A GROUP OF CHILDREN IN CHINATOWN
SAN FRANCISCO
709
was exercised over the bosses in shaping their taxation policy, but the evidence
points with tolerable conclusiveness to the fact that the dollar limit was adhered
to by the manipulators because it was regarded the bit of sweetening calculated to
catch the cautious property owner, who during the Eighties still tenaciously ad-
hered to the belief that public expenditures for any other purpose than mere admin-
istration opened the door to abuse and made municipal government a menace rather
than a benefit.
There were occasional distractions other than those mentioned whose import
was scarcely recognized at the time, and some almost too puerile for mention, but
on the whole the municipal history of San Francisco was not an exciting one during
the period. The budgets of the Eighties and most of the Nineties are simply a rec-
ord of increasing expenditures made possible by the expanding assessment roll.
The city hall, the only public improvement of consequence, whose construction
began in the first year of the Seventies, was uncompleted in the middle of the Nine-
ties, and was at times the subject of scandal, and a never- failing source of fault
finding for those who were impatient with its slow progress, and of still another
class who recognized its defects. Sums were regularly appropriated for the care
of Golden Gate park and the minor squares, and they were assuming a creditable
shape, but the streets of the City presented an unkempt appearance, and there
was little hope that they would be improved, because of the settled conviction
of men in a position to shape public opinion that the basalt block laid on a sand
foundation was an ideal pavement.
It was not difficult during the Eighties, and the better part of the Nineties
to acquire the reputation of being a predatory person. To advocate improvements
of any sort was sufficient to bring on an accusation of that sort, and to suggest
that it might be desirable to abandon the hand-to-mouth method of doing things,
and instead to resort to the mode followed by business men was branded as treason
to the municipality. The obstructionists of progress were derided as "silurians,"
but their position could not be shaken. There were intervals during which there
were dreams of making San Francisco "the Paris of America," but they always
faded away when the taxpayer was confronted with the alternative of abandoning
the cherished plan of paying as you go for the dangerous experiment of launch-
ing forth on the dreaded sea of bonded indebtedness.
This condition of affairs endured until after the adoption of the new charter.
It did not absolutely require the change in the organic law to put the spirit of
progress in motion, but it made it easier to do so. In shaking off the restraints
which the Consolidation Act and its amendments imposed the City began to take
a broader view of its possibilities and lost some of its fearsomeness. The instru-
ment adopted in 1898 was by no means a "wide open" affair; it contained limita-
tions and restrictions innumerable which might have been invoked to prevent ex-
pansiveness, but they were not resorted to because under the spur of outside criticism,
and the rivalry of Los Angeles, San Franciscans were awakening to the necessity
of doing something to redeem the City from the imputation of dry rot. The new
charter may have been no improvement on the existing body of municipal law,
and it probably did not improve the mechanism of the municipal government very
greatly, but the people thought it did, and the belief served as a stimulus to
exertion. In one particular, however, it made a wide departure. Its framers were
caught in the rising tide of the municipal ownership idea and they made it possible
Increasing;
Municipal
Expenditures
Abnormal
Fear of
Debt
Changes
Worked by
Charter of
1898
710
SAN FRANCISCO
Economies
Not Effected
by Charter
Changes
Futility of
Charter
Restrictions
for the City to engage in schemes which thus far have not realized the hopes of
their projectors.
Although the changes effected by the new charter were fought so long it is
doubtful whether the community was able to detect any particular difference in
the conduct of affairs after its adoption. Many reforms were promised, and
there was a vague idea prevalent that departure from the old modes of doing
business would result in economies. In the Constitutional Convention of 1879
the author of the section providing for the framing of charters by a board of
freeholders had answered the objection that the result would be a multiplication
of officials by asserting that the tendency would be to reduce the number. He said:
"Instead of having a set of City and a set of county officers they are consolidated.
The tendency of a consolidated government is to reduce the officers from two to
one in every sense, and reduce the expense in every particular." The same argu-
ment had been employed when the Consolidation Act was imposed upon the City.
Under the act of 1850 the City of San Francisco was provided with the following
officers : mayor, recorder, board of aldermen, board of assistant aldermen, treasurer,
controller, street commissioners, collector of city taxes, city marshal, city attorney
and two assessors for each city ward. At the same time the County of San Francisco
had a district attorney, county clerk, county attorney, county surveyor, county
sheriff, recorder, assessor, coroner, treasurer, public administrator and county board
of supervisors. The Consolidation Act of 1856 rid the taxpayer of many of these
duplications, and the decided reduction in the cost of the administration of city
affairs was in part due to the elimination of unnecessary officials, but by far the
greater part of the decreased expenditure was directly traceable to the salutary
lessons taught the tax eaters by the Vigilantes whose protest was against the
corrupt conduct of municipal affairs as well as against the laxity of the judiciary.
A comparison of offices provided for by the charter of 1898, and those since created
shows a decided increase.
In the light of later events the critic is forced to agree with George Bancroft,
the historian of the United States, who dissented from the proposition that it was
the Consolidation Act which gave the City of San Francisco the economical govern-
ment which endured for a few years after 1856. But his observation that it was
due to the people's party, or in other words to the selection of good men to hold
office, needs the qualification that the organization was only able to make a record
by pursuing a course which absolutely disregarded the necessities of a growing
community. It was because of the strict application of the "hardscrabble" method
that expenses were kept down. As soon as the people tired of bad streets and lack
of improvements of all sorts, and went in for conveniences the restrictions of the
Consolidation Act proved unavailing. Long before the adoption of the Constitution
of 1879 there was incessant complaint that large sums were annually collected
from the taxpayer and that there was nothing to show for them. If the city
hall was pointed to it was merely for the purpose of illustrating the facility with
which the money of the people could be expended without producing satisfactory
results, and as has already been shown there was abundant ground for the charge
made that there was waste and theft. With all its restrictions and limitations it
was possible for a tax collector to make away with a considerable sum of the people's
money, just as a similar official did in 1902. In short, so far as safeguarding
SAN FRANCISCO
711
the treasury was concerned, there was very little improvement between 1850-56
and 1856-98, and for that matter between 1898-1912.
It took nineteen years for the people of San Francisco to make up their minds
to abandon the Consolidation Act and when they finally did they were under no
illusion of the sort that Hager labored under when he advocated giving cities of
100,000 or more inhabitants the privilege of framing a freeholder's charter. They
had rejected several instruments, none of which, however, provided that simple
and inexpensive form of government which the author of the charter section in
the constitution thought was demanded. When the organic act submitted in 1898
was finally presented the array of officials elective and appointive for which it
provided was as formidable as the most thoroughgoing expansionist could desire.
There were to be elected a board of supervisors, a county clerk, a sheriff, recorder,
assessor, auditor, treasurer, district attorney, tax collector, city attorney, public
administrator and superior judges and justices of the peace. The list shows no
abridgment which was not fully offset by the appointive boards and commissions
created, none of which were particularly new, but all of which represented ampli-
fication and in some instances the substitution of special officials in the place of
bodies which had acted in an ex officio capacity. These consisted of the following:
board of public works, fire commissioners, board of health, election commissioners,
police commissioners, park commissioners, board of education and civil service com-
missioner.
The charter which was ratified by a vote of the people May 26, 1898, had to
be approved by the legislature and was not in operation until January 8, 1900.
Since that time it has been amended in many particulars and has been construed
by the courts. Although it was clearly intended by the framers of the constitution
to grant the city adopting a freeholder's charter the completest control of their
local affairs the fact that San Francisco was still under the operation of the gen-
eral laws of the state, and that some of its officials performed the dual duties of
county and city officials, caused confusion at times until by amendment and inter-
pretation their relations were defined. In a decision rendered in the case of Kahn
v. Sutro, the court had illustrated the distinction between city and county officers.
The mayor, the city and county attorney, superintendents of public streets, high-
ways and squares, the school directors, treasurer, auditor, tax collector, surveyor
and supervisors were distinguished as municipal rather than county officers, while
the district attorney, sheriff, county clerk, county recorder, coroner, public ad-
ministrator, assessor and superintendent of public schools were held to be county
officers.
As the terms of the municipal officers and county officers were not of equal
length complications ensued. Under the freeholder's charter, the mayor, the city
attorney, the school directors, treasurer, auditor, tax collector, board of public works
were solely municipal, while the remainder of the list were county officials and as
such were elected for a longer term than the former. This difficulty was finally
overcome by the City taking over the duties and obligations of a county of the
state. This left the City the power to decide the manner and method of electing
or appointing the necessary officers to fulfill these duties and their compensation.
The settlement of this matter, which was a vexed one for a time, gave the City
the local autonomy it so earnestly desired, but the claim that economies were
A More
Expensive
Form of
Government
Dual System
Away With
City Secures
Autonomy
712
SAN FRANCISCO
"The City
Beautiful"
Idea in
1900
Blundering:
Attempt to
Fix Interest
Rate
effected by the assumption of control is not borne out by the salary lists of the
City.
As a matter of fact economy had ceased to be the prime consideration in SaD
Francisco before the adoption of the charter of 1898. Before the new organic law
went into operation on the 8th of January, 1900, the City had given a decided
exhibition of its intention to go in for a comprehensive system of improvements.
"The City Beautiful" idea had found lodgment in the public mind and expressed
itself at an election held in 1899 at which several civic improvements were voted
for which involved in the aggregate an expenditure of $18,000,000. One of these
projects was known as the Park Panhandle and provided for the extension by a
parked boulevard of the approach to the people's pleasure ground which would
terminate at Van Ness avenue at a point practically in the heart of the City. A
new hospital and school houses were also included in the list of schemes submitted
to the electors. There was a vigorous discussion of the merits of the projects,
especially that relating to the extension of the pan handle, and the cautious ex-
pressed the fear that there was a job involved. But in spite of the apparent lively
interest, and notwithstanding the fact that an affirmative vote for the propositions
would amount to a reversal of a policy steadily adhered to for over forty years
only 29,972 votes were cast at the election. A year later at the general election
when the selection of officials was the main question over 66,000 voters went to
the polls, and expressed their personal preferences.
Owing to a blunder made by the freeholders in framing the charter whose pro-
visions would govern the emission of the bonds a rate of interest was arbitrarily
fixed, and the securities were to be sold at not less than par. The result of these
restrictions was to make the marketing of the bonds impossible. During some
years previous to the adoption of the charter interest rates had been steadily de-
clining throughout the world, and the framers of the instrument had become imbued
with the idea that the condition was to be permanent. This belief, coupled with
the extreme cautiousness engendered by years of fancied observation of the neces-
sity of imposing restrictions on the City's administrators, caused the freeholders
to reject the experience of other cities and to disregard the suggestions of common
sense and to assume that the lenders of money could be dictated to by a municipality.
The fact was overlooked that the competition of capital, if the bonds were sold
to the highest bidder, would properly adjust the interest rate. The impossible
was demanded and the bonds could not be sold. Subsequent experience developed
that the mistake was not without its compensating advantages, for while the
people were perfectly willing to expend $18,000,000 for the purposes outlined
in the bond proposals for which they voted affirmatively, when Ruef's party came
to power there was less confidence in the wisdom of the movement for improvements.
It should be added, however, that so far as the most important of the proposed
expenditures was concerned, that relating to the Park Panhandle extension, a
decision of the courts, which found informalities in the measure as voted upon,
prevented the carrying out of that scheme.
It is not to be supposed that the changed attitude toward bonded indebtedness
came about in the twinkling of an eye. There had been much talk about the
uneconomic method adopted in the construction of the city hall, the expenditure
upon which had very greatly exceeded the original estimates. It had been fre-
quently pointed out that the "pay as you go" plan was responsible not only for the
King Mc
Statue of Father Junipero Serri
Goethe and Schiller Monument
Francis Scott Key Monument Statue of General Henry W. Halleck
MONUMENTS IN GOLDEN GATE PARK
SAN FRANCISCO
713
interminable delay in the building of the municipal edifice, but that it prevented
the economies which are possible when a work is properly mapped out and con-
tinuously prosecuted. These criticisms were revived with vigor in 1894, when
contracts were let for the building of a dome. It was pointed out that such a
structure would be out of harmony with the remainder of the building, but criticisms
of this character had little effect. The hall had been in process of building for
twenty-three years, and its cost had exceeded several millions and there was now
a burning desire to get it finished in some fashion. The original plans of the
architect had long been lost sight of, or were modified because it would have
been too expensive to carry them out. A mansard roof was to have surmounted
the main structure, but it was cut out on the ground that it would prove too great
a fire menace, and there were other changes which deprived the building of all
claims to harmony, and the critics cheerfully abandoned the tall tower and ac-
cepted the circular innovation in its stead, and the people acquiesced, only urging
that the work be rushed to completion.
About the time this restiveness was displaying itself there was formed an
organization which contributed greatly to the growth of a new opinion respecting
the functions of a municipal government and laid the foundation of the sentiment
which finally overthrew the laissez faire policy that had endured for nearly forty
years. On the 13th of April, 1894, forty-seven merchants met in the Palace hotel
to discuss the needs of the City and the possibility of bringing some effective aid
from the outside toward the bettering of municipal government. At this meeting
the Merchants' Association came into existence, its avowed object being politely
stated to be "the practical improvement of the City of San Francisco," and its
work was "to be the doing of those things which were not being done because there
was no one in particular to look after them." That it had a more far reaching
object is disclosed by the first step taken by the organization. It resolved to give
an object lesson in the cleaning of streets. Obviously there was some one par-
ticularly chosen by the people to keep the streets clean, and money was appropriated
for that purpose; there was a superintendent of streets, and several hundred thou-
sand dollars were annually expended to keep them in order. Consequently the
Merchants' Association was not undertaking a new line of work; it simply invaded
the field of the tax waster to show what could be done if affairs were properly
managed.
The object lesson served one purpose. It created a desire for better and
cleaner streets. The Merchants' Association went about the job intelligently,
and succeeded in showing what could be done. At the same time its course suf-
ficed to emphasize the ineffectiveness of municipal methods and to clearly indi-
cate the source of trouble. Subscriptions were made by merchants along the
principal streets, and with the sum thus obtained men were hired to clean the
thoroughfares by the block system which had not been employed theretofore in
San Francisco. The success achieved was not due so much to the change of
methods, as to the fact that the merchants took care to hire men who were willing
to work, whereas previously those engaged were usually selected with reference
to the part they had taken in advancing the personal political fortunes of the
superintendent of streets or of other city officials. But the success achieved was due
in a large degree by the fact that the wages paid were not high enough to tempt
political loafers.
Formation
Merchants'
Association
714
SAN FRANCISCO
Ineffective-
ness Does
Not Deter
Advocates of
Municipal
Ownership
Activities of
Merchants'
Association
Revolt
Against
Dollar limit
The experiment was a success, however, and during several years the municipal
authorities, after the initial object lesson which lasted twelve months, permitted
the merchants to usurp their function and accepted and followed the specifications
prepared by the association. It is extraordinary in view of the fact that the
activities of the Merchants' Association were all of a nature to emphasize the inef-
ficiency of the municipal authorities, and to suggest that the initiative would have
to come from some other source if progress was to be made, that concurrently with
its almost constant effort to introduce improvements, and while it was making inno-
vations which public officials under our system would never think of proposing,
and which if proposed by them would have no chance of being carried out, there
grew up a sentiment in favor of public ownership, and a further enlargement of
the sphere of the ineffectives. A recital of the claims made for the Merchants'
Association constitutes an indictment against the American municipal method which
should have warned those who so zealously entered upon the scheme of public
ownership and operation of utilities, that the step would be beset with enormous
difficulties which would have to be overcome by completely altering the attitude
of the people on the subject of the expenditure of moneys raised by taxation before
the optimistic promises of the departure from individualism could be realized.
For forty years or more the men regularly elected to office, whether good,
bad or indifferent, had contented themselves and satisfied the community by simply
doing what was required of them. The highest encomium bestowed upon a retiring
official during the period was embodied in the admission that he had not
abused his position, or that he had prevented others from doing so. As soon as the
merchants got to work they began doing novel things which might just as well
have been done by the salaried servants of the people. For instance it occurred
to the directing spirit of the association that the park being in need of a fertiliz-
ing element it would be a good plan to spread the street sweepings upon the bare
places. The idea was put into execution; the street car lines were persuaded to
haul the stuff to the required spots and the reclamation of a good many acres
resulted, thus adding to the beauty and attractiveness of the pleasure ground.
Years after the superiority of electricty had been recognized elsewhere the super-
visors continued to make contracts with the Gas Company for the supply of the
inferior illuminant until a subscription of $15,000 was raised and a number of
electric lamps were introduced to prove that they served the purpose better. The
rest of the country had made successful experiments with asphaltum pavements,
but San Francisco's legislative body refused to encourage the use of any other
material than the basalt block until the association directed its efforts to creating
a sentiment in favor of smooth and presentable appearing streets. The public
service corporations were permitted to make the streets unsafe and unsightly with
poles and overhead wires until under pressure the supervisors passed an ordinance
compelling wires to be laid underground in the business districts. The practice
of stretching advertising banners across the streets, and the defacing of the side-
walks with signs went on unchecked until the association acted, and it was at the
instance of that organization, and not until after it had at the expense of its mem-
bership given a practical exhibition of the value of isles of safety on Market
street, that the latter were introduced.
These activities and others which could be recited are dwelt upon to emphasize
the assertion that there was plenty of latent public spirit which was easily aroused,
SAN FRANCISCO
715
and that it began to assert itself when the people shook off the idea which had
taken possession of narrow minded men that the only object in life is to dodge
the tax gatherer. With the advent of the Merchants' Association, whose member-
ship extended rapidly, and had reached nearly fifteen hundred at the time of the
fire of 1906, the hostility to smooth pavements disappeared, and under its influence
citizens were becoming sensitive to ridicule, and were no longer willing to submit
to the indignity of having corporation moonlight impose upon them. The petty
economy of shutting off the street lights on nights when the almanac said the
moon should be shining was abandoned, and the wTetched bungling which had
characterized the making of the budget ceased to the extent at least of guarding
against the evil of plunging the City in darkness towards the end of the fiscal
year because of want of funds. The people were becoming educated to the fact
that many things which the "silurian" spirit had opposed were really desirable,
and that the City would be compelled to provide them even if the dollar limit had
to be exceeded.
The necessity of such an organization as the Merchants' Association was made
apparent by the fruitlessness of repeated earlier efforts to promote an interest
in the subject of public improvements. Sporadic attempts had been made to that
end under other auspices, but it required constant prodding to lift the people out
of the slough of satisfaction into which they had fallen through contemplation of
the undoubted advantages of the port, which many fancied would force prosperous
conditions in spite of bad management. There were numerous mass meetings,
some of them under the auspices of influential bodies to urge public improvements.
A large meeting called at the instance of the Mechanics' institute was held at the
Grand opera house in June, 1887, which was addressed by numerous speakers
all of whom pointed out the necessity of abandoning the too conservative attitude
of the past and going in for a policy which would make the City attractive. The
meeting was a representative one in every particular, and many of those on the
platform were large property holders. The movement was assisted also by the
district improvement clubs which had been called into existence by the desire for
neighborhood improvement. The first of these appears to have been the Point
Lobos Improvement Club, which was organized in 1885. In 1885 the Holly Park
Improvement Club was formed and the North Central Association came into exist-
ence the same year as that which witnessed the advent of the Merchants' Associa-
tion. A year later the Sunset Improvement Club was organized. All of these
bodies interested themselves more or less in the movement to secure a new charter.
Their primary object, of course, was to promote the development of the particular
section in which they were formed, but even at this early date their memberships
evinced a keen appreciation of the value of solidarity in promoting the public wel-
fare, and could always be depended upon to work together when a plan for the
general benefit was advanced. The Merchants' Association while not directly
affiliated with these improvement clubs worked in harmony with them and through
the sentiment produced by united action the long desired charter was finally
secured.
When the new charter was put into effect there was a pronounced belief that
the creation of the civil service system for which it made provision would eradicate
all the troubles that had attended the administration of the municipal government
during previous years. It was thought that the selection of subordinates under a
Neighborhood
Improvement
Clubs
Civil Service
Law in
Operation
716
SAN FRANCISCO
Impossibility
paring Cost
of Govern-
ment system of appointment would work a revolution in the office personnel, and
completely destroy the power of the bosses, thus insuring greater efficiency, at
the same time promoting economy. It does not appear that these results were
achieved during the period between the adoption of the charter and the great fire
of 1906. The merit system was first applied in 1900 when forty examinations
were held and 2,064 applicants examined, and there were regular examinations
thereafter. Charges of evasion of the spirit of the law were frequently made
after the election of Eugene Schmitz in 1901, and in many instances they were well
founded. Whether civil service selections succeeded in giving the City a better
class of employes is still to be determined, but there can be little doubt concerning
the soundness of the view that its successful operation would impair the power of
the bosses. Under the operation of this provision of the charter including the
members of the police and fire departments who came in with the instrument on
December 31, 1911, there were 3,019 civil service employes, 2,546 of whom re-
ceived their appointments after examination. In addition several hundred tem-
porary clerks, mechanics and laborers were awarded positions by the commission.
If the object of the reformers who advocated the merit system of selection
was to take away from the bosses the power to reward followers by giving them
positions at the public expense it was measurably accomplished. The system
is now well established, and the exercise of influence at the polls has ceased to be
a considerable factor in the appointment of men to subordinate positions. But
Ruef and Schmitz, and subsequently McCarthy, found many ways of evading the
spirit of the charter while apparently complying with its letter. The demonstra-
tion that the system has proved economical is yet to be made. Perhaps it never
will be. The growth of the City; the increasing demand for conveniences and
improvements formerly unthought of, and other causes have enormously swollen
expenditures since 1900, and it is practically impossible to make comparisons. Per-
haps the latter may be undesirable in view of the undoubted fact that selection on
the merit plan is popular, even those who stand ready to interpose practical obstacles
to its working being compelled to accept it as sound in theory, and the only mode
which can be successfully pursued under a democratic form of government in
which the autocratic exercise of power in a municipality will not be tolerated,
even though foreign experience has shown its efficiency.
The difficulty of making comparisons of the cost of city government at various
periods is accentuated by the failure to adhere to any consistent method of public
accounting. From the beginning of the municipality down to the present, there
has never been a time when the most accurate statistician could determine whether
the rate of taxation was higher or lower at one time than another. The nominal
tax rate is easy of ascertainment, and it is possible to find the assessed valuation,
but only the individual taxpayer can tell whether the burden was more oppressive
at one time than another. In 1860 the assessed valuation of the City was $35,-
967,499, and the tax rate $2.25; ten years later the value was $116,375,988 and
the municipal rate $1.98; in 1880 the assessed value was $253,520,326, and the
tax rate $1.57, and in 1890 the assessed value was $291,583,668 and the tax rate
$1. The year after the charter went into effect assessable property to the value of
$410,155,304 was found in the City, and the tax rate was for city purposes $1.27
and 49.8 cents for state purposes. As the population of the City between 1890
and 1900 had only increased from 233,959 to 342,782 it is obvious that the addi-
Monument to California Volunteer
ish-American War, Van Ness Ay
Market Street
Donohue Founts
Eobert Lou
Market Street
Governor of
urial Ground of
Dolores
Stevenson Monument, Ports-
mouth Square
SAN FRANCISCO
717
tion to property values was out of proportion to the growth of the inhabitants of
the City. It may have represented a true increase to the extent indicated, but it
is more than probable that the assessor under the pressure of the growing needs
of the community had enlarged his roll sufficiently to meet the expanding demands
of the various departments of the municipality for funds to carry on their operations.
Whether these latter were carried on economically or conducted extravagantly
no accountant or expert could possibly tell from the data at hand. All the citizen
could learn from the information furnished by officials was that expenditures were
constantly increasing. In this particular the charter made absolutely no attempt
to provide reformation. The inherited system of auditing was grafted on the
new instrument, and as that simply imposed on an official known by the name of
auditor, the duty of deciding whether a demand on the treasury was created in
conformity with law, there was absolutely no real check. If the expenditure was
duly authorized the auditor had no other recourse than to allow it; he could not,
or at least did not, go behind the returns, and indeed there was no machinery
provided which would have enabled him to do so. As a result of this loose method,
which for years had been extolled as a safeguard of the treasury, there was con-
stant suspicion and many accusations of loose and corrupt expenditure; but nothing
came of the charges, as it would have been impossible to prove any of them simply
because the evidence could not be obtained. The only definite knowledge con-
cerning the administration of public affairs was that conveyed to the people when
the figures of the constantly swelling budget were announced. They knew that
the assessment of 1900-01 of $410,155,304 had produced or called for a tax
amounting to $6,665,023, and that in the fiscal year 1905-06 the assessment had
been increased to $524,000,000 and the taxes to $8,666,960, and that the amounts
raised by taxation direct, and from other sources such as licenses and fees, which
nearly reached two million dollars in the last named year, had been expended
assumedly for their benefit. And they further knew that the rate of municipal
taxation had been increased during the five years to $1,164, but the wherefore of
the increase could only be guessed.
A provision of the charter devolved upon the mayor the duty of reporting
upon the various departments of the municipality, but it happened that no machinery
was devised by which he could obtain independent sources of information. As a
result the messages of the mayors under the new charter retained the same per-
functory character as those under the Consolidation Act. Being based solely on the
data furnished by the various city officials they merely consisted of a setting
forth in a condensed shape of the figures or statements thus obtained, and rarely
took on the form of criticism. Occasionally when the public inclination to censure
became pronounced the chief executive would constitute himself a defender of the
department under suspicion of extravagance, or worse, and attempt to dispel the
uneasy feeling of the taxpayer that his money was not being properly expended.
At different periods prior to the fire of 1906, pressure had been brought to induce
the municipality to thoroughly reform its system of accounting. A movement was
started in the Commonwealth Club in 1903 to effect that object, and it was taken up
by public accountants, but it made no progress during the administration of
Schmitz ; and although tentative efforts in the direction have since been made, in
1912 the community had not been thoroughly impressed with the necessity for a
change.
Attempt to
Secure Syste-
matic Public
Accounting
718
SAN FRANCISCO
Objection
to Double
Board of
Voting
Machines
Tried and
Abandoned
Although it took the people of San Francisco nineteen years to make up their
mind that a charter was needed to take the place of the Consolidation Act, they
were not inactive during the entire period in the matter, but resorted freely to the
amending power which the Constitution of 1879 made easy of exercise by the
people. Many of the amendments to the constitution adopted during the Eighties
and Nineties were inspired by San Francisco demands, and some were needed to
clear away the objections to making a change in the municipal laws of the City.
By means of an amendment the provision requiring double boards of supervisors
in cities of more than 100,000 inhabitants was eliminated in 1894. This proviso
was at one time regarded as the best feature of Hager's section which entrusted
to freeholders the duty of charter making. It was hailed by the reformers as a
safeguard, but previous experience in the early history of the City had made
clear that a double board was a broken reed to lean upon. The common council,
consisting of a board of aldermen and an assistant board established by the act
of 1850, unless the advocates of the consolidation scheme carried through six years
later grossly exaggerated the facts, proved a stimulus to extravagance rather than
a check on expenditure. Whether deservedly or undeservedly the bicameral plan
was in bad odor and the amendment of 1896 which permitted San Francisco to
frame a charter with a single board of supervisors paved the way to getting a new
charter. The amendment adopted in the same year exempting cities desirous of
acting under freeholders' charters from the operation of general laws concerning
municipal affairs also promoted the feeling in favor of the acceptance of a new
organic law.
There were other amendments adopted chiefly at the instance of San Francisco,
during the Nineties, which indicate the uncertainty in the public mind concerning
the desirability of the Draconian enforcement of laws designed to regulate ex-
penditure and to curb extravagance. The legislature of 1877-78 had passed an
act which required the departments of the municipal government to apportion the
appropriation of amounts to be disbursed by them so that they would last through-
out the year. It was generally known as the one-twelfth act, and applied solely
to San Francisco. For the first few years after its enactment it was lived up to
after a fashion, although methods of evading it were frequently resorted to, such
as the payment of one class of claims out of the fund provided for some other
purpose. This dishonesty succeeded in breaking down respect for the law, and
finally departments boldly disregarded it until under pressure of public opinion
an auditor refused to allow the illegal claims. Suit was brought against the City
unavailingly, but an amendment was submitted by the legislature and voted upon
in 1900 by which the claimants, who were put forward in the light of innocent
sufferers, obtained relief, and the anomaly of the people of the sovereign State
of California condoning the infraction of its own laws was presented.
Although the California election laws as early as 1875 had been framed with
especial regard for the preservation of the secrecy of the ballot, and with the view
of making fraud as difficult as possible, and later had adopted all the safeguards
which the Australian ballot system is supposed to possess, San Franciscans were
eager to try the virtues of the voting machine. There were provisions in the con-
stitution requiring amendment before the desire could be gratified and the legisla-
ture submitted one which would have accomplished the purpose had it not been
rejected by a decisive vote. That was in 1896, and it required six more years of
SAN FRANCISCO
719
argument to convince the people of the interior that if the cities really wished
to discard the old-fashioned methods of casting the ballot that they should be per-
mitted to do so. In 1902 an amendment was adopted by a vote of 83,966 for to
43,127 against. In the election of 1896 the number voting against the law facili-
tating the use of the machine was 158,093 and only 63,620 in favor of the inno-
vation. The large vote against in 1896 was due to the suspicion that the adoption
of the amendment was favored by jobbers who sought to impose their devices on
the public, and it was in a measure justified by an exposure made at a later period
which pointed directly to a corrupt bargain with members of the legislature en-
gineered by one of the bosses. Subsequent to the enabling amendment machines
were introduced and made use of in the City, but they were destroyed in the fire
of 1906 and were not replaced. There was an opinion prevalent after the third
election of Schmitz in 1905, that the machines had been tampered with, but no
evidence was ever adduced to support it. The accusation was probably caused by the
surprise occasioned by the result of the contest in question which seemed to have
been shared by Ruef as fully as the general public. That no further attempt to
a machine voting has been made since is due rather to the difficulty occasioned
by the multiplication of persons and propositions to be voted upon than to distrust
of the new device.
Among the numerous amendments the citizens of San Francisco were called
upon to deal with in common with the voters of the rest of the state was one
granting the suffrage to women. The vote was taken in 1896, and resulted in the
defeat of the amendment, 137,099 casting their ballots against and only 110,358
in favor of the change. The test was not preceded by an active campaign. In
the City a few meetings were addressed by speakers whose names were familiar
as advocates of the change. At that time the women's clubs organized for social
purposes had not attained proportions of consequence, and the movement lacked
organization. In the campaign which resulted in the adoption of the amendment
in 1910 there was a marked change. The energetic elements in the clubs arrayed
themselves on the side of suffrage, numerous meetings were held which were ad-
dressed by speakers of both sexes, but the amendment failed to receive a majority
in San Francisco. The boon sought by the women would not have been secured
if it had not been for the strong support which it received in Los Angeles and the
interior which overcame the adverse vote of a majority of 14,000 against in the
metropolis.
One of the provisions of the Constitution of 1879 most bitterly antagonized
was that providing for the taxation of mortgages. It was contended by those
opposing the new organic law that its effect would be to impose double taxation
on the owners of property, and that the system would operate to exclude outside
capital from investment in the state. The major part of the opposition came
from San Francisco, but the interior was strongly in favor of that particular
section. After the constitution had become effective it was seen that the charge
of double taxation was groundless, but with the development of the southern part
of the state, particularly Los Angeles, the idea that it tended to exclude capital
grew in strength. San Francisco which from pioneer days had been almost
wholly dependent upon local financial resources, after the first flurry of opposi-
tion was over, adapted itself to the new system, and apparently took little interest
in the renewed efforts to strike out the mortgage tax provision. In 1896 an at-
Woman
Suffrage
Defeated
720
SAN FRANCISCO
The
Initiative in
San Francisco
Acquisition
of Public
Utilities
tempt was made to repeal the mortgage tax law which proved unsuccessful. Ten
years later an effort was made to meet the views of those who were convinced
that the mortgage tax law was injurious to the development of the state by an
amendment which permitted borrowers to contract to pay the tax, but it did not
effect its purpose. The amendment received less than a hundred thousand votes
of 312,030 cast at the election. In November, 1908, the attempt to repeal was
repeated and was defeated by a narrow margin, the vote being 90,061 for repeal
and 90,896 against in a total vote of 386,597. In 1910 the long agitation resulted
in success. The amendment for repeal was resubmitted and carried, the vote being
118,927 for and 79,435 against.
In 1902 the state constitution was amended to permit the inhabitants of cities
to submit amendments to their charters by petition. Prior to that date the charter
had been amended so as to permit the voters of the City to initiate ordinances
upon petition of 15 per cent of the number of electors casting ballots at the last
preceding election. When the required number of petitioners signed, it became the
duty of the supervisors to order an election. It was freely predicted that the result
of the privilege would be incessant change, but this fear was not justified, although
there have been some innovations of doubtful value in consequence of the facility
with which propositions may be introduced. That the initiative has elements of
danger in it owing to the difficulty of getting out a full vote when elections are
numerous vill be inferred from the fact that a proposition placed before the people
in 1900 by petition, which provided for the legitimatization of pool selling was
nearly carried, the vote being 22,419 for and 25,347 against. The near success
of the gambling element in this election was due to the fact that the movement
in favor of permitting pool selling was well organized, while the opposition was
confined chiefly to the columns of the newspapers and the Ministerial Union. Later
invocations of the power of the initiative have produced varying results which will
be referred to in describing the events occurring after the fire. It is significant,
however, that this first effort was made prior to the election of Schmitz, and the
idea suggests itself that the looseness of thought respecting what is called an "open
town," had already reached an advanced stage of development before the work-
ingman's mayor sought to make San Francisco the Paris of America.
Undoubtedly the most important of the innovations of the charter adopted in
1898 was that providing for the acquisition and operation of public utilities. James
D. Phelan during his first administration as mayor had urged this policy, and the
freeholders embodied it in the new organic law. As the reader of these pages is
aware there had been many earnest efforts to acquire a municipal water supply, all
of which, however, failed, not because there was no effective mode of bringing
about that result, but rather on account of the hostility of the people to the Spring
Valley Company in whose interest it was assumed every proposition that the City
should purchase and operate its own plant was supposed to have been made. About
the time of the adoption of the charter this fear had in a measure been allayed
by the belief that a supply wholly independent of Spring valley could be obtained
by resorting to the Sierra, and it was assumed that by providing the necessary
legal sanction for acquiring and operating a municipal water plant, there would
be no difficulty whatever attending the creation of a system which would meet
the requirements of the metropolis for an indefinite period. The fact that the
Spring Valley Water Company had practically monopolized the available reser-
SAN FRANCISCO
721
voir sites on the peninsula was not wholly lost sight of, but its importance was
minimized.
There was no ambiguity in the provision respecting the acquirement and opera-
tion of public utilities, and the discussion of the policy or impolicy of municipali-
ties owning and operating public service corporations had been carried on for some
time in the newspapers, but in 1898 the subject had not yet become one of burn-
ing importance. It did not reach that stage until after the sale of the Market
street system of street railways to the Baltimore syndicate in the fall of 1901.
Prior to that year there were a few active advocates of the construction and opera-
tion of the Geary street railroad whose franchise would expire in 1907, but their
position and number did not have sufficient weight to move any of the parties
striving for control of the municipal government to declare in favor of the City
owning and operating a railway until the alien holding organization which bought
out the local capitalists came in conflict with its employes. The friction produced
by these labor disputes gained a large support for the policy of municipal owner-
ship of other utilities than the supply of water and culminated finally, after several
failures, in securing the necessary two-thirds vote to authorize the issuance of
bonds, to enable the City to enter upon the construction of the Geary street rail-
way. The vicissitudes attending the carrying out of the enterprise will be described
later.
Another movement closely touching the administration of the municipality was
inaugurated in San Francisco in 1904. There had been discussion of a desultory
character concerning the desirability of changing the taxation methods of the state,
and efforts had been made to substitute for the then mode of taxing the railways
a tax on the gross receipts of such corporations. An amendment to that effect had
been submitted by the legislature many years earlier, and was rejected by the
people, who were justifiably suspicious, as the rate proposed was extremely low,
and the difficulties of raising it in the event of the amount produced by the tax
proving inadequate being almost insurmountable. In 1904, at the instance of Pro-
fessor C. C. Plehn of the University of California, the Commonwealth Club, which
had been formed in the previous year, took up the matter, and assisted in creating
an opinion favorable to the change. After repeated discussions and investigations
made under the guidance of Plehn, who was acting in an official capacity, the
club finally adopted a recommendation in favor of "the abandonment of the attempt
to tax all forms of property for the support of each and all departments of govern-
ment by a single and uniform system." It also favored the abandonment of the
attempt to support both the state and local governments from taxes derived from
the same sources of revenue, and urged the separation of state from municipal
systems of taxation. It required several years to effect the change which was not
accomplished until the people were thoroughly assured that the railroads would
not escape their share of the burden of supporting the government.
In this resume of the main political factors operating in San Francisco during
the period described it has been impossible to even glance at the mass of ordinances
enacted by the successive boards of supervisors. They constitute a vast body of
regulative matter filling pages, and which, if gathered and printed would require
a much larger space than will be devoted in these volumes to an effort to note the
changes which have affected the growth of the City, and the manner and life of
its people. The charter with its various amendments and brief references to de-
Congtruction
of Municipal
Street Rail-
way Author-
ized
Agitation
for Separa-
tion of State
and Munici-
pal Taxation
Countless
Regulations
and Ordi-
722
SAN FRANCISCO
bated provisions is in itself a formidable book. There are numerous volumes
containing the opinions of various city attorneys. Year after year the operations
of the different departments of the municipality have been set forth in bulky
tomes which few read when they were first issued, and from which only an interest-
ing note can now and then be extracted, but whose financial intricacies would defy
the efforts of the most accomplished expert to unravel. From them may be gathered
a list of the officials who have served and those who have betrayed the interests of
the City, but the acutest critic would be unable in nine cases out of ten to separate
the good from the bad. And if the latter feat could be achieved no benefit would be
derived from its performance. Men play their little part which in ninety-nine
out of a hundred cases is cut out for them by circumstances. They are the creatures
of their environment and their sins oftener than otherwise are those of the whole
community. No one can study the history of San Francisco without reaching that
conclusion; nor can the conviction be escaped that if a reformation of municipal
political methods is to be effected it must be preceded by a reformation of the
people, not merely of the cities but of the country and the nation.
Complexities The most of the shortcomings of urban communities can be traced to the pro-
produced pens jty of the weak and inefficient, of the unwilling worker and the ambitious and
by Urban r J > e
Development capable to make their way to the crowded centers carrying with them one dominant
hope — that of getting through life more comfortably and with less toil than in
those places where exacting Nature demands incessant effort. If this were not
true it would be easy to determine why a people continually agitated by reform
movements, some of them almost revolutionary in character, should at one period
ferment and stew, and at another be as dormant as a hibernating bear. The
annals of a peaceful village present, as a rule, an unbroken record of civic vir-
tue. A dominating personality or two direct its course and trouble is reduced
to a minimum. In the City conflicting interests produce complexities which baffle
the understanding of the most acute observers of political conditions and call
forth innumerable contradictory explanations. Like the so called financial crises
they appear to be due to a state of mind oftener than otherwise produced by
economic causes. The intimate connection of national politics, and the prosperous
or depressed condition of the country has often been noted, but few have sought
to establish a relation between the economic conditions of a great city and its
fluctuations between civic virtue and corruption. Perhaps there may be excep-
tions to the rule, but San Francisco's experience seems to demonstrate that if the
ardor for good municipal government had been as intense in times of great pros-
perity as in those of adversity much of its history would be written in different
terms.
CHAPTER LX
FREQUENT ALTERNATIONS OF ACTIVITY AND DEPRESSION
INDIVIDUAL ACTIVITY EFFECTIVE PROGRESS IN SPITE OF POLITICAL DRAWBACKS AD-
VERSITY AND PROSPERITY WELL BALANCED GRIEVANCES SOON FORGOTTEN
GREAT INCREASE IN SAVINGS BANKS DEPOSITS RESOURCES OF COMMERCIAL BANKS
ENLARGED ACTIVITY FOLLOWS SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR THE MIDWINTER FAIR
OF 1894 THE RAILROAD RIOTS OF 1894 TRANSMUTING CLIMATE INTO GOLD
SAN FRANCISCO HARSHLY CRITICIZED THE KLONDIKE GOLD DISCOVERY AND THE
RUSH TO ALASKA A MILD REVIVAL OF MINING SPECULATION HYDRAULIC MINING
STOPPED BY COURTS GOLD DREDGING EXPANSION OF GENERAL MINING INDUSTRY
AGRICULTURE RAPID URBAN DEVELOPMENT IMPEDIMENTS TO MANUFACTUR-
ING GROWTH FIGURES THAT DECEIVED TRADES UNION RESTRICTIONS MANUFAC-
TURES IN 1904 IMPORTANCE OF HABROR RECOGNIZED HARBOR COMMISSION A
POLITICAL MACHINE CORRUPTION AND WASTE ON WATER FRONT CITIZENS*
COMMITTEE FORMULATE PLANS OF IMPROVEMENT IMPROVED SHIPPING FACILITIES
—HAWAIIAN AND ALASKAN TRADE FAILURE OF A BIG WHEAT DEAL LUMBER
AND COAL TRADE— THE OIL INDUSTRY DOMESTIC SHIPPING INDUSTRY THE
UNION IRON WORKS WAR SHIPS BUILT OTHER SHIPBUILDING CONCERNS.
HE political histories of municipalities, like those of states
when they are allowed to occupy too much attention
may easily convey the impression that the people are
chiefly occupied in quarreling about the method of regu-
lating their affairs, and that the net result of their dis-
putes is confusion and ineffectiveness. Compared with
other achievements of men, those accomplished when acting
in a collective capacity do not show up favorably. The management of the
affairs of a municipality such as San Francisco was at opening of the fiscal year
1912, when a budget was framed which provided for the expenditure of a sum
a little in excess of $15,000,000, deserves to be considered as important, but after
all the combined operations of the City seem insignificant, viewed from a business
standpoint, when contrasted with the multitudinous activities of the community
which in the course of the year reach a total approaching two and a half billions
of dollars. Some one has intimated that if permitted to write the songs of a
people he could come nearer to shaping their destinies than law makers. He
might do so now and have them set to the best or most popular ragtime music
without achieving any political result of consequence. The campaign song, like
the torchlight procession, has gone out of fashion and will never regain its oldtime
723
Collective a
Individual
Activities
Contrasted
724
SAN FRANCISCO
Progress
Despite
Political
Drawbacks
Adversity
and Pros-
perity Well
Balanced
potency. But there is one custom which does not weaken with age, and that is
the habit of politicians drawing on the provident. It is from the latter that the
means to carry on government must be derived. No matter what subtleties
of argument may be advanced to prove that in the last resort the people generally
bear the burden of taxation, the fact remains that it is the thrifty who are called
upon to settle with the tax collector, and it is the energies of that class, and the
skill with which they use their opportunities, that determine whether a city
shall progress of retrograde. England, until recently, was undisputably preemi-
nent in the commercial world, and her name will go down in history as a great
empire builder, yet her publicists are in the habit of complaining that her states-
men are constantly blundering, and that their mistakes cost the country dearly,
yet in some manner the nation manages to "muddle through" its troubles, and in
the end things come out all right.
Turning from the ineffectiveness of city governments, and closing our eyes to
contemporary complaints, and concentrating our attention on the accomplishments
of the people as a whole, the most captious critic will find little in the record as
made up to justify adverse criticism. Like the sea which is troubled at times,
San Francisco has had its storms, but when they had passed the damage wrought
was found to be infinitesimal, comparatively speaking. One hundred years hence,
if the historian chooses to take a comprehensive survey, he may find it as easy
to pass over the vicissitudes of the first sixty years or so of the Pacific coast
metropolis, as the chroniclers of nations do when they condense into a paragraph
the story of an unwarlike period, and convey to their readers an impression of
continuous advancement by showing that the population had increased, and that
the wealth of the people was greater at the end than at the beginning.
Universal history is necessarily treated in that fashion, and when the infinitude
of incident in the daily life of the people of a city is considered, much of which
absorbs public attention one day and is forgotten the next, the question arises
whether any particular benefit or even amusement is derived from recounting
blunders and sufferings. If it could be shown with such positiveness that there
could be no dispute, that the departures from the normal were real mistakes, a
moral might be pointed, the force of which would serve to regulate conduct in the
future ; but no such consensus of opinion can be hoped for in the present stage
of human progress. The only real purpose served by detailed recital is the possi-
bility that its presentation will establish the mutability of human opinion, and
that it may suggest that it is the part of wisdom to refrain from innovation until
the proposed change has been considered in all its aspects, and especially to
avoid a seeming novelty which has already been tried without producing the
expected result.
But there is no possibility of difference of opinion being engendered by re-
counting the ups and downs of trade and the drawbacks to which life in a great
and growing city is subjected. Mankind considered in the large is philosophic.
Its accumulated experiences, while not rendering it indifferent to disaster makes
it rise superior to all vicissitudes. There are calamities which would be appalling
if consciousness of the ability to repair them did not exist; therefore it is well
for a people to know all that their predecessors have passed through in order
that no difficulty may seem insurmountable. This information to be reassuring
must embrace the prosaic recital of the good fortunes of the community as well
NATIVE SOXS HALL,
Before the Fire
ST. LUKE'S CHURCH,
Before the Fire
CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH,
Before the Fire
OLD HALL OF JUSTICE,
Destroyed by the Fire
SAN FRANCISCO
725
as the story of its misfortunes. The recovery from a mercantile depression, or
relief from oppression, as a rule, is not much dwelt upon. While times are bad
the air is filled with plaints ; when they are good men go about their affairs con-
tentedly, and have little to say, and that little, if it partakes of the nature of
gratulation, is easily mistaken for what is called "booming." But the record of
these felicitous periods is essential to a correct understanding of what the people
have gone through, and it is fortunate for the peace of mind of succeeding genera-
tions that San Francisco's banking and other institutions in their reports present
abundant evidence that the daj's of adversity have been well balanced by those of
prosperity.
In a previous chapter the effects of the currency troubles at the East in 1893
were dwelt upon. It was shown that the close relations established with the
people on the other side of the Rocky Mountains had created a condition on the
Pacific coast which made business in San Francisco as sensitive to the influences
affecting the centers of the Atlantic seaboard as though the City were one of
them. The agitation which preceded the construction of the San Joaquin valley
railroad was described at some length, and the temporary closing of many banks
whose solvency was beyond question was brought out. The figures showing the
shrinkage of mercantile business, and the labor troubles of the period were dwelt
upon. The data for these descriptions was abundant. The newspapers were
filled with accounts of the differences between labor and capital and of the dis-
orders ensuing in consequence ; column after column was devoted to the complaints
by merchants of the oppressive tactics of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company,
and with plans to escape from its clutches. Pamphlets, voluminous reports and
even books were published to emphasize the difficulties of the situation. If they
had survived, unaccompanied by other evidence, it would have been impossible to
draw any other inference than that the City was in an acute state of pessimism.
But as will be shown later, there was no serious interruption of the social or other
activities, and that in some directions they were actually extended during what
seemed the darkest moments.
Concerning this recrudescence to better times the literature is comparatively
scant. Much is left to be inferred. A book was published to extol the uprising
of the merchants and their demand for a railroad which would penetrate the great
interior valley, and thus create the conditions which would compel San Francisco
to make the best possible use of its splendid harbor facilities, but the sequel prom-
ised never appeared. With the disappearance of the monetary troubles, and
the recovery from the depression the grievance of two or three years earlier was
forgotten, and only a slight sensation was created when the project to put San
Francisco in a position to compel the transcontinental railroads to respect its com-
petitive facilities was abandoned in 1895, and it was seen that all the hullabaloo
was raised for the purpose of procuring entrance to the City for a member of
the Transcontinental Association. It is not probable that any considerable num-
ber of those who primarily interested themselves in the San Joaquin valley rail-
road project were conscious that they were being used to carry through a clever
scheme of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Company, but on the other hand
it is nearly certain that there were some who did, and who thought the method
adopted was justifiable.
Grievances
Soon For-
gotten
726
SAN FRANCISCO
Savings
Banks
Deposits
Increase
The Southern Pacific for years had used its power unscrupulously to exclude
all rivals from San Francisco and it was only by a resort to some such device as
that adopted that a transcontinental railroad could hope to gain its object. The
Santa Fe had succeeded in reaching the southern part of the state but was prac-
tically halted at Mojave. Any open movement to accomplish its purpose would
have been frustrated by the tools of the Southern Pacific in office. Its rival com-
prehended this perfectly, and as in the case of other places where obstacles had
been placed in its way it succeeded in overcoming them by finesse rather than by
making a direct attack. In this instance it took advantage of the quarrel between
the shippers and the Southern Pacific, and converted what was ostensibly put
forward as a purely local undertaking into a part of its transcontinental railway
system, and incidentally secured terminal facilities of great value on the water
front which it might have failed to obtain under other circumstances. When it
finally developed that the San Joaquin valley railroad was to be turned over
to the Santa Fe there was little adverse criticism. People took the liberty of
doubting the assertions of those who declared that such a course was made neces-
sary by the discovery of the alleged fact that the road could not be made to
pay. No effort had been made to test the possibilities, and there were no signs
that there ever was any intention to do so. Nevertheless, despite what appeared
to be sharp practice, there was general satisfaction with the outcome and a dis-
position to believe that the entrance of a rival road into the City would furnish
competition of service even though no other beneficial result ensued. The con-
nection of the Santa Fe with the Transcontinental Association was ignored, and
the arguments urged when the San Joaquin valley road scheme was first mooted
were speedily forgotten. The members of the Traffic Association ceased to be
keen concerning the desirability of making it impossible for the overland roads
by their machinations to destroy competition, and taking it all together there wa*
a strong disposition to make the best of conditions, and to even think that they
were likely to be greatly improved.
How much of this complacency was due to the fact that there were signs of
the passing of the business depression it would be difficult to state, but the in-
difference synchronized with the return of prosperity. The clearings of the banks
of the City, which had fallen from $892,426,712 in 1891, to $658,526,806 in 1894,
in the latter half of that year began to increase in volume and in 1895 they
amounted to $692,079,240. From that time forward to the eve of the great calamity
in 1906 there was a constant expansion. In 1902 clearings were double those of
1894, reaching $1,373,362,025, and in 1905 they aggregated $1,834,549,788. The
bank clearings of a city can sometimes be made to represent a condition that does
not exist, but in San Francisco, owing to the practice of settling daily balances
in coin, and to the fact that there is much conservatism in the use of checks, the
habit of making collections by calling on debtors being retained, the volume of
business is under rather than overstated by clearing house footings.
Although there were many industrial disturbances between 1895 and 1906
the condition of the laborer must have been vastly improved, for the deposits in
the savings banks and the operations of those institutions clearly demonstrated
that the workers were laying by money, and that many of them were investing in
small properties and providing themselves with homes. The deposits in the San
Francisco savings institutions which had dropped from $55,871,000 in 1875 to
SAN FRANCISCO
727
$42,323,000 in 1881, increased from the latter figure to $63,154,000 in 1888.
After that date they continued to mount steadily until 1892, when they fell off
some, but after 1895 they again began to reflect the prosperity of the City, reach-
ing $115,588,000 in 1900, and in 1906 they totalled the large sum of $169,538,-
000. These figures hardly convey their full significance unless accompanied by
comparisons which show that no other city in the Union could make near so good
an exhibit, and that San Francisco at that date was the great financial reservoir
of the state. Outside of the City the combined deposits of all the savings banks
in 1906 was only $91,756,000, as against the $169,538,000 in those of the metropolis.
The condition of the commercial banks was equally indicative of the increas-
ing expansion of business. In 1896 the resources of financial institutions of
that class in the City amounted to $68,339,005 and the deposits to $30,178,548;
in 1906 the former had increased to $157,156,723, and the deposits to $101,901,-
692. The major part of this expansion occurred after the year 1900, the resources
rising from $76,543,241 in that year to $157,156,723 and the deposits from $46,-
270,737 to $101,901,692. The creation of banks as well as the condition of those
existing at a given time, may be regarded as a sure sign of the general diffusion
of prosperity. For several years prior to 1906 owners of capital manifested no
strong disposition to embark in the banking business. In the late Eighties and
during the Nineties a few institutions were added to those already doing business,
among them the California National bank, which had a brief career of one year,
failing in December, 1888. In 1893 the Union Trust Company was formed
with I. W. Hellman as president. It was first classed as a savings bank. The
Columbian Banking Company was organized in the same year; the Swiss Ameri-
can in 1896, and the Italian American by A. Sharbono and a number of friends
in 1890. The Mercantile Trust Company was incorporated with a $1,000,000
capital in that year. In 1901 the Yokohama Specie, the Western National and
the Canadian Bank of Commerce were added to the list. A couple of years later
several euphemeral concerns started and were closed after a brief career. In
1905 there was a rush for bank privileges. Some of the institutions created at
that time perished in the stringency of 1907, and others were forced out of busi-
ness by the requirements of a new banking law.
Much of this activity was attributed to the Spanish- American war in 1898,
when San Francisco became the great depot for troops and supplies destined for
the Philippines. A camp was established in the district bounded by the park,
and stretching northward towards California street and west of Laurel hill cem-
etery. Recruits from all parts of the country were assembled there and prepared
for the field. A city of tents covered the unoccupied tract which a few years later
became one of the chief residential sections of the City. A large commissary and
quartermaster's depot was established, and a transport service started with fre-
quent sailings. During the entire period of hostilities there was much activity
and bustle, and the City took on a military air. The streets were enlivened with
soldiers passing to and fro, and there was incessant movement. At this period,
however, no trade was carried on with the Philippines excepting that of supplying
the troops dispatched to the islands to conquer and hold them; but subsequently
a commerce of considerable importance, much of which passes through San Fran-
cisco, was created, but it did not attain proportions of consequence until after the
fire of 1906. San Francisco exhibited its patriotism in a marked fashion during
Increasing
Resources of
Commercial
American War
728
SAN FRANCISCO
Fair Proves
a Financial
Success
the continuance of hostilities. It contributed more than its proportion of volun-
teers to the cause, and its inhabitants, perhaps because of their keen appreciation
of what the future might bring forth, took a livelier interest in the fortunes of
the war than those of most other sections of the Union.
But it would be a mistake to date the recovery of San Francisco from the
depression of 1893 to causes operating as late as 1898. There were other cir-
cumstances which tended to bring about the better state which was reflected in
the increased clearings of the banks after 1896. It is true that the needs of the
troops were largely supplied with the products of the great interior valley, but
their demands after all were inconsiderable compared with those which were made
upon California by the people of the East, who were coming more and more to
depend upon California for their supplies of fruits of all kinds, and various other
products. The rural population was increasing with tolerable rapidity in conse-
quence of the enlarged opportunities which the breaking up of the big ranches
afforded, and the City was feeling the impulse caused by the increase. In 1894
in the midst of the depression a fair was held in San Francisco which by the
audacity of its conception and the time chosen for holding it procured for the
state a great deal of advertising of a desirable character. The project owed its
inception to M. H. de Young, proprietor of the San Francisco "Chronicle," who
had been appointed a commissioner to, and was acting as vice president of the
Columbian Exposition in 1893, and who while in Chicago in that year conceived
the idea ot holding an exhibition in San Francisco at the conclusion of that at
Chicago.
.The suggestion was favorably received by the people of San Francisco. A
sum of money exceeding $350,000 was raised by subscriptions of private citizens,
but no aid of any sort was extended to- the enterprise by the state or municipality.
As the main purpose of the exhibit was to emphasize the climatic attractions of
the City and state the name Midwinter Fair was bestowed upon it. The com-
mittee called into existence at a public meeting elected M. H. de Young director
general, and he devoted his attention to making the affair a success. Although
preparations for the event were only begun on August 24, 1893, when in the
presence of seventy or eighty thousand people the first shovelful of earth in the
work of grading was thrown, operations were pursued with such vigor that on
the announced day of opening, January 1, 1894, the buildings and grounds
were in readiness and most of the installations of exhibits were made. The in-
closure of the fair embraced an area of nearly two hundred acres in Golden Gate
park, within which were constructed over a hundred buildings, all of which were
erected within a period of five months. The main buildings were only excelled in
size by those of the two great exhibitions hitherto held in the United States, and
the displays made were attractive and interesting although absolutely no assistance
was rendered by the federal government, some departments of which actually
placed obstacles in the way of success by creating difficulties for foreign exhibitors
at Chicago who desired to transfer their exhibits to San Francisco.
The portion of the park selected for holding the exposition was at the time a
waste of sand dunes and scrub brush, and the jealous custodians of the people's
pleasure ground were reluctant to change its appearance, but the pressure of
public opinion compelled them to yield. The outcome was the conversion of one
of the most forbidding parts of the park into what is now conceded to be its
BATTLESHIP "OREGON" ON DAY OF RETURN TO PACIFIC COAST AND SAN FRANCISCO
AFTER THE FAMOUS RUN TO SANTIAGO
THE FERRY "OAKLAND" CROSSING THE BAY
SAN FRANCISCO
729
most attractive section. The main buildings were erected about the depression
now surrounded by the classic music stand, the Japanese tea garden, the Mid-
winter Fair Memorial Museum and walks and drives which are made interesting
by statuary and other attractive objects. The amount subscribed by the citizens
was $361,000, but before the gates were opened the committee had made improve-
ments which cost over $730,000, and concessionaires and counties, and the Pacific
coast states had also expended large amounts. Up to the date of the final clos-
ing of the gates on July 9, 1894, the attendance aggregated 2,255,551. The affair
was admirably financed and interest was maintained from first to last by a suc-
cession of entertainments which attracted large numbers of people despite the
fact that the business depression throughout the country was very severe, and
that there were other things to distract popular attention. The museum, as its
name implies, is a reminder of the success of the exposition. The surplus was
devoted to adding to the collection installed within its walls shortly after the
closing of the fair, and to this work M. H. de Young devoted untiring attention
for years.
It was designed to formally close the Midwinter Fair on the Fourth of July,
and an attendance of 120,000 was confidently expected, but the admissions only
reached 79,082 owing to the distracted state of the public mind induced by the
railroad strike troubles in the East which had assumed alarming proportions,
and finally necessitated the calling out of the National Guard of San Francisco.
The strike began during May, 1894, in the shops of the Pullman Car Company
and rapidly extended to the coast, a sympathetic strike being ordered by the Amer-
ican Railway Union which took the form of the railroad men refusing to handle
Pullman coaches. The sympathetic strike commenced June 26, and on July 2
a sweeping injunction was granted by the federal courts against Debs, president
of the American Railway Union, and others, restraining them from obstructing
the United States mails, but before this time the conditions in Chicago had become
so riotous that Cleveland ordered 2,000 federal troops to that city. The situa-
tion in Illinois was aggravated by the attitude of the socialistic Governor Alt-
geld, who protested against the sending of United States soldiers to Chicago, but
the president firmly maintained his position and declared that he was acting
strictly in accordance with the constitution of the United States.
This state of affairs created uneasiness throughout the whole country, par-
ticularly in railroad centers. The ferment in San Francisco was very marked
and caused much uneasiness, but no overt acts were committed in the City other
than the seizure and stoppage of the ferry steamers of the broad and narrow
gauge lines of the Southern Pacific. A resisting engineer was killed, but the
railroad officials made no resistance, and even advised the telegraph operators on
the Oakland mole to abandon their stations to avoid friction. The closure of the
ferries occurred on the Fourth of July, and the result was the practical interrup-
tion of all traffic. Much fruit was wasted, and great losses occurred in conse-
quence. There were no mails for several days, and the excitement became intense
as the conditions grew worse in the East. On the 6th of July there was desperate
rioting in Chicago and on the 7th the police fired upon the mobs in that city,
and on the next day the soldiers were forced to take the same stand.
In Sacramento an equally desperate condition was created. H. A. Knox,
who was at the head of the American Railway Union in that city, announced that
Disorder In
Chicago
730
SAN FRANCISCO
1.0W Prices
Cause of
Troubles
Transmuting
Climate
Into Gold
the strike would not be raised unless the Pullman Company returned to the rate
of wages paid in 1893, and demanded that unless this was done the Southern
Pacific should abrogate its contract with the sleeping car organization. On the
9th of July the situation appeared so grave that the regulars at San Francisco
were ordered to cooperate with the militia. In one or two cases companies of the
latter had refused to respond to the call to suppress the riots at Sacramento, and
federal troops were dispatched to that city. On July 11th a train containing a
number of soldiers who were en route to Sacramento was wrecked and five were
killed. This occurred near the capital and was caused by loosening a rail, and
weakening the timbers of a trestle over which the train had to pass. The dastardly
act was undoubtedly instigated by Knox, as was shown at a trial subsequently
held in Yolo county in which he was accused of the crime. He and a man named
Warden, although the proof against them was strong, were not convicted, the
jury disagreeing. On the day following the wrecking of the train regular troops
reached Sacramento, and on the 13th they fired into a crowd which would not
leave the freight yards of the Southern Pacific when ordered to do so. One man
was killed and another wounded in this collision. On the 15th the Pullman strik-
ers declared their readiness to abandon the strike, and on the same day a train
was wrecked on the western division of the Central Pacific road. On the 22d of
July the strike was declared off.
It is perhaps unwise to introduce vexed economic questions into a narrative
of events in San Francisco, but it may serve to emphasize the fact that men are
apt to err in their judgment respecting the causes which produce business depres-
sions or create the opposite condition of prosperity by calling attention to certain
phenomena. If a consensus of opinion at any particular time has value, that ex-
isting in 1894 may be quoted to show that the belief was very general at that
time that the low prices which rendered production unprofitable was at the bot-
tom of the troubles of the period. The attempt to reduce wages on the Pullman
system was defended, so far as any attempt was made by the corporation to ex-
plain its position, on the ground that the depression had caused such a falling off
of traffic that such a step was rendered necessary. At the same time it was ac-
companied by a showing that the cost of living had greatly declined, and that the
proposed reduction was more than offset by the lessened price of all sorts of con-
sumable goods. The price lists of the period between 1873 and 1894 fully sub-
stantiate this claim, but they will not be quoted here, and the fact is merely referred
to in order to emphasize the assertion that human judgment is fallible, and that
men are very apt to err when they disregard the experiences of the past in their
effort to find an explanation of present troubles.
There are so many factors in the progress or retrogression of communities,
it is impossible to decide with certainty which operate the most potently. It is
not improbable that the one least regarded, or sometimes most deprecated, may
be the really important one contributing to the growth of a city in wealth. For
some years prior to 1893 the city of Los Angeles had been attracting attention
because of its pronounced change of attitude towards all that was practical. It
had in earlier years been almost a negligible factor in the history and growth of
California. Its own people had fallen into the habit of deriding the very optim-
ism which subsequently made it the wonder city of California, and of the nation.
But a change came over their spirit, and years after San Diego had sought to
SAN FRANCISCO
731
convert climate into cash, Los Angeles with the aid of her orange trees suc-
ceeded where her more southerly rival had failed. The lure of the citrus grove
soon made itself felt. It proved as powerful an appeal to the imagination of the
Middle West, as Goethe's pictures of Italy, as the land where the orange blossom
grows did to sentimental Germans. But the strangers from Iowa, Wisconsin
and the other states that have contributed so largely to the growth of Los Angeles
carried with them to their new home something else than their imagination. They
took with them the spirit of enterprise, and the dolce far niente feeling vanished be-
fore it as the snow does when kissed by the ardent sun. Los Angeles, from the slow-
est place on the footstool was suddenly converted into the briskest. There was a
real boom, but it was based on something else than mere talk. The boomers
traded in prospects, but the purchasers were not deceived. They bought climate
and they transmuted it into gold.
San Francisco had so long occupied the center of the stage in California that
some of her people had come to imagine that any one seeking to share it with her
was an intruder, and some were so shortsighted that they fancied the rivalry con-
tained a menace, but the number of that sort was comparatively few. Many of
the prominent business men of San Francisco seized the opportunity to extend
their operations in the growing town, and the visiting San Franciscans saw many
familiar signs on the prominent streets and realized that what appeared to be
rivalry was merely expansion from which all who were smart enough to do so
would be able to profit. But this recognition did not soften the criticism of the
interior press which was decidedly disposed to indulge in injurious comparisons,
and did not hesitate to say that San Francisco was suffering from the retention
of pioneer habits of doing business, and that it would not move forward until it
shook them off and adopted methods more in consonance with those of the close
of the century. The thrusts of the critics were sharp, and while their effect was
not noted at the time they undoubtedly contributed much to the awakening of
the spirit which toward the close of the Nineties superseded that which the dollar
limit and the general disposition to take things as they came had fastened on the
City for many years.
The reawakening which followed 1895 was by no means an abandonment of
the conservatism which had always marked the development of the City. If there
was a boom San Franciscans refused to recognize it by that name; nor did they
consent to adopt methods which were pursued in the rival city. They realized
that the value of real estate was beginning to appreciate with rapidity, but they
persisted in their sober fashion of recording transfers without attempting to adver-
tise the advance. Nominal considerations were expressed in deeds and the tricks
of the inflationist were avoided. These quiet methods, however, did not conceal
the change that was occurring. There were plenty of transactions, the signifi-
cance of which were appreciated abroad as well as at home, and the erstwhile
critics were impelled to remark that the City was "getting a move on." Curiously
enough these critics did not seem to realize that San Franciscans were not profit-
ing at the expense of rivals, but profiting because there were rivals and because
the rivalry was filling up not only the state but all the region along the Pacific
coast upon which the development of San Francisco depends, and without which
the City could never occupy the great position destiny had marked out for her.
San Francisco
Subjected to
Criticism
Rivalry
Promotes
Growth of
City
r32
SAN FRANCISCO
Growth of
Northern
Coast Cities
The Hunt
.r Minerals
Discovery
of Gold in the
Klondike
The Rush
to the
New Mines
One of the misconceptions of this sort which arose in the middle of the Nineties
was that growing out of the rush to the Klondike which did so much to promote
the development of Seattle and other cities of the Pacific Northwest. As in the
case of Los Angeles ill natured critics remarked the obvious fact that the Sound
cities were growing with great rapidity, and drew the conclusion that their growth
was at the expense of San Francisco, ignoring what was patent to all observers,
that the prosperity of Seattle, Portland, Tacoma and the other assumed rivals was
contributing to the prosperity of the metropolis. At the time attention was wholly
concentrated on the direct trade which suddenly developed. It had its spectacular
features, and it is not surprising that a people once accustomed to monopolizing
the fruits, as well as suffering the injuries from mining rushes, should have over-
looked the contingent possibilities in considering those immediately apparent.
From the time of the acquisition of Alaska San Francisco had been the chief
factor in the development of its resources. The capital for exploiting the fur
seal and fisheries industries had been supplied by business men of the City, and
the commerce created was largely enjoyed by its merchants. There was a great
deal of confidence in the mineral possibilities of the new territory, and consider-
able prospecting had been done at intervals long before the discoveries made in
the Klondike region of British Columbia. As early as 1867 a man named Culver
had found gold in the neighborhood of the Taku inlet, but on attempting to lead
a party to the place where he had made the discovery, his mind, owing to hard-
ships previously endured, gave way, and he was unable to relocate his find. In
1879 placer gold was found by Joe Juneau and Dick Harris near Silver Bow not
far from Taku, and there was a rush to that place and something like $150,000
was taken out. Several years later silver prospects were found on Galivan bay
and an expedition was fitted out in this City by Captain A. M. Brown, to work
the mine, but the falling price of the white metal put a damper on the enterprise.
The hardy prospectors were confident that plenty of gold existed in the
interior, but the warlike Chilkoots interposed obstacles to their search for the
metal, and it was not until 1880 that they managed to cross the mountain range
which was named after that Indian tribe. In the Eighties there were several
important discoveries, and after the year 1886 men were taking out $100 on the
American side of the line, but the output was not on a scale important enough
to arouse the attention of the world until about ten years later. In 1896 a squaw
man named George Carmack while prospecting a "moose pasture" in the Klon-
dike country found a creek filled with nuggets. The report of his find spread
rapidily but was received with incredulity by many of the prospectors in Alaska.
There were some, however, who believed the story and made their way to the
newly reported diggings. They were extremely fortunate and a year later when
they reached San Francisco with a half a million in gold dust and nuggets a
rush at once ensued.
By the middle of August, 1897, the rush was under full headway. Despite
the changes in the City since the days of the Fraser river excitement, many venture-
some men in the community were lured by the prospects, and parties were fitted
out to brave the hazards of the new region. The newspapers sent special corre-
spondents to describe the scenes, and report conditions, but the accounts they sent
back of many difficulties which had to be overcome in reaching the new golconda,
although accompanied by photographs which vividly supported their narrations,
1'IONKKR FOUNTAIN. MASON AND MARKKT
STREETS, BEFORE THE FIRE
ROW OF BUILDINGS AT ELLIS AND TAYLOR STREETS BEFORE THE FIRE
Compare with the new buildings in that district
SAN FRANCISCO
733
had no deterrent effect and the excitement continued to increase. The first ob-
jective of these parties was usually the Klondike, but it was not long before at-
tention was directed to the entire region, and adventurous men were exploring
in every direction. The country bordering on the Arctic was penetrated and the
conviction grew rapidly that the entire Alaskan region was well mineralized.
During the continuance of the Klondike rush the scenes of the earlier days were
in a measure revived in San Francisco. Men in miners' costumes could be seen on
the streets, and the talk was all about the marvelous finds and the prospects of
Alaska proving another California. The stories of the adventures and hardships
endured by the prospectors printed in the daily press and duly illustrated formed
the principal topic of conversation, and interested everybody, because San Fran-
cisco had contributed a great proportion of the large number who had made their
way to the remote diggings.
The effect on business was very marked. There was an enhanced demand
for many of the peculiar products of California, and while the Puget Sound ports
at once came into prominence be-ause of their proximity, and enjoyed a remark-
able development in consequence, their good fortune was by no means at the
expense of the metropolis, for the indirect traffic with Alaska continued to expand
while the direct trade with the growing states of Washington and Oregon grew
still more rapidly. The creation of this new commerce, while vastly beneficial
to San Francisco and the whole Pacific coast, was by no means the only benefit
derived from the discovery of the Klondike placers and the subsequent opening
of the different gold fields in Alaska. Far more important was the result of the
attention which was drawn to resources other than the precious metals. Very
soon it began to be realized that the fisheries of the waters of the territory were
inexhaustible sources of wealth, whose output could be made to rival those of the
placer diggings and the quartz mines which were known to exist, and some of
which were being opened and later developed into producers on a large scale.
It took but a few years to bring the nation to a realization of the importance of
Alaska. But while the people generally have some acquaintance with its value, and
have made some use of its resources, bungling theorists have placed obstacles in
the way of their development which is reserved for the future.
The Alaskan discoveries and the development of trade with that territory
had been preceded by a revival of interest in gold mining in California. Specu-
lation in mining stocks had almost ceased during the Eighties, and in 1901 the
professionals practically gave up the game. In that year the Pacific Stock
Exchange building and lot which had cost $644,000 when erected during the Corn-
stock boom was offered for sale for $400,000, but owing to some complications
caused by the improper draughting of the articles of incorporation no purchaser
could be found. These hindrances were finally disposed of and the property was
sold in 1893 for $300,000, and a dividend of $3,200 for each seat was declared.
This transaction was commented upon at the time as sounding the death knell of
mining speculation in California, but there was a subsequent revival in 1905
when the discoveries in the Tonopah, Nevada, region gave a renewed impetus to
the buying and selling of mining stocks, and the seats of brokers in the Pacific
Board of Brokers which had sold at $500 and even as low as $200 advanced in
value until they were appraised as high as $5,750.
Alaska's
Varied
Resources
Mild Revival
of Mining
Speculations
734
SAN FRANCISCO
San Francisco
and the
Hydraulic
Mines
Although there were no speculative features connected with the mining indus-
try during the interval between the collapse of the Sierra Nevada boom and the
Tonopah revival in 1905 the work of taking out gold proceeded, and while the
output of the earlier years, when the placers were yielding their riches, was no
longer approached the mines were steadily contributing to the wealth of the
state. In the legislature of 1875-76 the agricultural interests of the Sacramento
valley started a crusade against hydraulic mining which subsequent*}' resulted
in putting an end to that method of obtaining gold. A special commission ap-
pointed at the instance of the legislature of 1877-8 made an investigation of the
complaints which were chiefly directed against the practice of filling the streams
with detritus, thus causing floods with accompanying destruction of lands by cov-
ering them with "slickens." It was also claimed that there was an impairment
of the navigability of the Sacramento and its tributaries due to hydraulicking
operations. In 1881 Governor Perkins sent a special message to the legislature
in which he described the ineffectual methods adopted to deal with the evil. Dams
had been built which were designed to restrain the debris, but they were washed
out and finally, after litigation inaugurated by antagonistic farmers the supreme
court decided in their favor, and the practice of washing down mountain sides
with the powerful monitors had to be abandoned.
No gold was derived through hydraulic methods for many years, but the precious
metal was known to exist in many places, and after a period of attempted evasions
of the processes of the courts ingenious men set to work to devise other means
of extracting it from the gravel beds. Many machines were tried and in 1898
the present dredger, which is doing such efficient work, began to be used. The
machine is a large and expensive affair, some of those in use costing as much as
a quarter of a million dollars. Their method of operation has entirely removed the
objectionable feature of filling the streams with debris, but the soil they work over
presents the appearance of a field of boulders after the gold has been washed
out. The question has been raised whether this alleged destruction of more or less
fertile soil is compensated for by the gold that is obtained, but as the dredgers
are worked wholly on land acquired by purchase the courts have not sought to
interfere with the process. It is claimed that the worked over lands may be re-
fertilized, and that they can be used for fruit growing. Experiments to demon-
strate that this can be done have been made near Oroville and they have been
attended with a degree of success. The gold product of the state, which had
fallen as low as $11,212,913 in 1889, and remained almost stationary for several
years, began to increase after 1893, when it was a little over twelve millions. In
1895 the output reached $15,334,317, and an annual average of about that amount
was maintained until 1901 when the product reached $16,989,044, and in the
year immediately preceding the fire it was close to twenty millions.
A great deal of the capital invested in the hydraulicking operations was sup-
plied by San Franciscans, and their interests sometimes came in conflict with
those which should have been considered paramount. The reports of engineers
and hydrographic surveyors clearly established that the so called "slickens" or
debris was responsible for shoaling the upper reaches of the bay, thus diminish-
ing the tidal prison. The appreciation of this fact, and the recognition of the in-
jury done to the overflowed area brought about a change of attitude, and the vari-
ous civic bodies of the City arrayed themselves on the side of the protesting farmer.
SAN FRANCISCO
r;!5
The sentiment in favor of unrestricted mining was very strong in San Francisco,
and arguments were advanced to controvert the charge that "slickens" was respon-
sible for the mischief to the rivers and bay, and figures were cited to prove that the
gold extracted added more to the wealth of the state than was destroyed by hy-
draulicking. When driven from hydraulicking the mining instinct asserted itself
in other ways, and now the industry is carried on without exciting any serious
antagonisms and the production of gold is steadily maintained and is even increasing.
In 1890 California produced minerals to the value of $18,039,666. Up to that
date the chief and nearly the sole product of the mines was the gold derived from
placers or quartz. It may be added that an overwhelming proportion was obtained
from the region north of the Tehachapi, and that the exploitation and working
of the mineral resources was principally with San Francisco capital or capital
obtained through the instrumentality of San Franciscans. About 1894 a steady
improvement in miscellaneous mining began to manifest itself, and the output at
the end of each succeeding year showed an increase. In 1898 the value of all
minerals mined in the state had increased to $27,289,079; two years later the
yield was $32,622,945, and in 1905, the year before the great fire, it was $43,069,-
227. As the gold yield in the last named year was only $19,197,043, the addition
to the product represents a great change in the industry. This transition began
in the late Eighties, when numerous metals whose production theretofore was not
on a sufficiently large scale to attract attention began to be noted. In 1887 the
output of copper was first reported. In that year the product was given at 1,600,-
000 pounds, valued at $192,000; in 1897 the quantity produced had increased to
13,638,626 pounds and the value to $1,540,666, and at the time of the fire the
product was nearly 40,000,000 pounds. Borax, asphalt, bituminous rock, salt and
cement were being turned out in constantly increasing quantities, adding greatly
to the revenues of the people, and contributing largely to that confidence which
began to assert itself, and which was based on a recognition of the fact that the
resources of the state were numerous and almost illimitable in extent.
It may be said in a general way that as a mineral producer the region south of
the Tehachapi until late in the Eighties was not regarded as of much consequence.
Although the existence of oil in that section was known, and tentative efforts to
develop it had been made at several places in the south, it was not until near the
end of the decade that production on a commercial scale was achieved. The devel-
opment was due to the energy of the newcomers who were bent on exploiting every
resource, and their success attracted great attention, and later stimulated the search
in the country north of the range, which resulted in the finds that eventually put
California at the head of the oil producing states. In 1887 the output had already
reached 678,572 barrels. The production increased steadily after that year until
the value of the output at the time of the fire exceeded that of the gold produced
in the state. In 1906 40,311,171 barrels of oil were produced, valued at $16,782,-
943, an amount reckoned at the time to exceed that of the output of the precious
metal by several thousand dollars.
It would be impossible to overestimate the stimulating effect of these various
contributory causes upon the local industries, but those already described scarcely
equaled in importance that produced by the growing conviction that the agricul-
tural possibilities of the state were illimitable, and that the increasing prosperity of
the nation would give Californians a market which would absorb all their products.
General
Industry
Remarkable
(irowth of
Oil Produc-
tion
Expansion o
Agricultural
Industry
736
SAN FRANCISCO
Raisin and
Beet Sugar
Industries
Rapid Urban
Development
of the State
There had been for a long time what might be termed a passive optimism concern-
ing the future, but this began to be exchanged after 1 895 for an active and insistent
belief that the state would fill up with an industrious population. It exhibited
itself in such bold claims as that made in a San Francisco paper that California
was destined to be inhabited by as many people as France, and these were backed
up by statistics which amply supported the optimistic conclusions of a corps of
writers composed of business men, professors in the universities and the staff of
the journal which printed the prophecies. These all showed a rapid expansion
of production in every field of industry after 1893 and the predictions made were
borne out by the event. The yield of prunes, which had grown to 52,180,000
pounds in 1893, in 1900 was 174,000,000 and in 1902 it reached 195,000,000
pounds. In 1880 it was 180,000,000 pounds. Peaches, apricots, pears, plums,
nectarines, figs, dried grapes, hops, walnuts and almonds all showed great increases ;
but the most impressive expansion was in those fruits to which the soil of the state
is particularly adapted. The seasonal year 1893-4 witnessed shipments of 5,270
carloads of oranges or 1,407,740 boxes, and 145 of lemons, representing 48,430
boxes. In 1897-98 the shipments of oranges had increased more than three- fold,
16,120 carloads or 5,835,440 boxes being dispatched to the East, while the 145
carloads of lemons shipped in 1893-4 had expanded to 2,410 or nearly seventeen-
fold. In 1906 the shipments of oranges had reached 27,260 carloads and 5,146
carloads of lemons were shipped in the same year.
The development of the raisin industry was no less marvelous. The product
of 1870, which was represented by 1,200 boxes of 20 pounds each, valued at $1,350,
had grown to 5,150,000 boxes in 1894, whose value was estimated at $5,180,000,
the product of the previous year having been 4,250,000 boxes. The honey product,
which was 2,680,000 pounds in 1893, reached 5,350,000 pounds in 1897 and 7,878,-
000 pounds in 1898. In 1905 it was 9,500,000 pounds, with intervening years of
small production. The beet sugar industry was also exhibiting remarkable prog-
ress. In 1892 the product was 8,624,890 pounds; five years later it was 70,470,000
pounds, and in 1906 it was 178,000,000 pounds. These extraordinary develop-
ments in every field of industry were making themselves felt in the urban centers.
The state was being filled with an industrious population, for whom the big ranches
were cut up to provide small places, and the prediction of those who opposed
Oriental immigration was in full process of realization. Instead of colonies of
aliens, whose habits were not ours, and whose unassimilative qualities would have
prevented the establishment of that complete commercial interdependence which
can only be found in communities in which there are no extreme differences in the
standard of living of the masses, California was now developing along lines con-
ducive to the general prosperity.
The effect was visible in the rapid urban development which followed 1895,
and which was perhaps more pronounced in San Francisco, and the near-by bay
cities, than in Los Angeles, where as much energy was displayed in making known
the progress of the city and the surrounding country as in the work of promoting
resources. San Francisco for several years had labored under the disadvantage
of over-confidence, and an indisposition to make the best of its advantages. When
the change came, and enterprise took the place of inertia, the fact was not loudly
proclaimed, and it was even made a subject of reproach by critical editors of pa-
pers published in near-by cities, that there was too great a tendency to be modest
SAN FRANCISCO
737
and that profit would be derived from emulating the example of the boomers. It
does not appear that the advice was accepted, except by the leaders of the work-
ingmen's party, who in the election of 1905, which resulted in Schmitz being a
third time chosen as mayor of the City, made the claim that the undoubted
prosperity of San Francisco was due to the success of the labor element in obtain-
ing control of the municipality, and to the liberal administration of the laws by
Schmitz under the directions of Ruef.
Such claims would be a subject for amused comment if the tendency to overlook
true causes, and to regard as causes what are really effects, were not as common
in other political organizations as those of the workingmen. The historian may
refer to blunders of the sort mentioned and dispose of them by adducing facts
which supply a more reasonable explanation. Prosperity is dependent upon pro-
ductivity, and when from any cause, whether natural or merely psychological,
production is interfered with, prosperity is bound to be arrested. Adversity is
often the result of misapprehension. Men may underrate their capacity to get
along, and their lack of confidence brings about the result they fear, but good
deeds and excellent administration cannot promote progress unless they are backed
up by exhibitions of energy which will provide more things to go around. And
when that energy is exerted, and through it production is increased it takes a great
deal of blundering, extravagance and mismanagement generally to consume and
dissipate the wealth which comes from intelligent thrift. It is well to keep this
latter fact in mind. It will serve to clear away many misunderstandings to know
that so long as the capable are not interfered with in their efforts, the means will
be provided for carrying on the desirable activities of life as well as those which can
be dispensed with. Californians when permitted to take advantage of their oppor-
tunities have demonstrated their ability as producers, and the productivity of the
state has permitted vagaries which might have impeded advancement in less favor-
ably situated communities, but which have only interposed a temporary check to the
growth of its principal city. San Francisco has undergone vicissitudes which, ac-
cording to preconceived theories, should have proved fatal to its continued existence.
It had to repair the effects of destructive fires in the early part of its career, and it
was compelled at times to preserve order by extra legal methods. But worse than
these calamities was the state of mind produced by the apprehension that any attempt
to provide the City with those conveniences which a progressive community demands
would result injuriously. Its result was to bring about a temporary paralysis
of energy. The fear of exceeding the dollar tax limit was a greater drag on the
progress of the community than the most rampant extravagance of tax eaters.
The dollar limit incubus was practically lifted when the new charter was
adopted, and the timorousness which had precluded the securing of a new organic
law was dissipated by the prosperity which came from expanding production. It
showed no signs of abatement when the Phelan administration was superseded by
that of Schmitz, and there was no halt in 1905 when the latter's third victory
was shared by the sixteen workingmen 's candidates for the supervisorship, who
proved to be as unscrupulous a band of robbers as was ever chosen to manage the
affairs of a city. Their scoundrelism, however, was powerless to arrest the prog-
ress of San Francisco, which was so marked in the first months of 1906 that men,
usually credited with the possession of that rare attribute known as common sense,
were beginning to lose confidence in the once freely expressed opinion that the
Evil Results
of False
Economic
Notions
738
SAN FRANCISCO
Manufac-
turing
Growth
Causes Pre-
venting Man-
ufacturing
Develop-
setting up of class distinctions, such as that involved in the sharp line of demarca-
tion drawn between trades unionists and other people in the community could do
it any harm. But they were not close observers. The increased productivity of
the state had indeed tended to greatly promote the prosperity of San Francisco, but
concurrently the injudicious course of the trades unionists, whom political success
had blinded to economic conditions, was seriously impeding the growth of the City
along those lines calculated to insure its future and permanent prosperity.
San Francisco had frequently dealt with the problem of creating a great manu-
facturing industry. As has already been shown, some of its ablest citizens, misled
by the theory that proximity to raw materials and other natural advantages, and
the added protection afforded by the cost of transportation from remote Eastern
industrial centers, had unsuccessfully attempted to accomplish something more
than simply supplying local needs. There were dreams of creating a manufactur-
ing industry which would take on a broader character than that of mere neighbor-
hood supply. It was thought that woolen goods could be manufactured at a cost
which would enable competition with the outside world ; our proximity to supplies
of raw silk engendered the belief that we could turn out silk textiles as was being
done on the other side of the Rocky Mountains, and busy brains were occupied with
numberless projects, the most of which came to naught. When men fail in enter-
prises of this character they usually form a correct judgment concerning the cause,
but very often the view of the best informed is rejected and that of the uninformed
which seeks to disguise the facts is accepted instead.
. Two causes operated to prevent the development of manufactures on any consid-
erable scale in San Francisco and California. The most important of these was
the lack of a near-at-hand market which would warrant producing on a scale suf-
ficiently large to bring the cost of production down to or lower than that of the
already established centers, plus the cost of the manufacturers of the latter getting
their goods into the markets of the state ; the other was the excessively high cost
of labor, and the indisposition of the worker to meet the condition which the grow-
ing propinquity with the East had brought about through the facilities afforded by
the transportation companies to the people of that section to put their finished
products in coast markets. Although the Atlantic seaboard was over three thou-
sand miles distant from San Francisco, by the policy referred to it was practically
brought as close and even closer to this City than many places within the border
of the state. The situation created by the inflexibility of the unions was in large
measure disguised by the causes already referred to, which obscured the fact that
many branches of manufacturing were being slowly choked out of existence. The
growing population and the figures of increased production of manufactured ar-
ticles made it possible to charge that the critics who pointed out the difficulties, and
sounded the warning that San Francisco would suffer serious injury unless reason
were permitted to sway, were pessimists who deliberately sought to create a false
impression in order to accomplish their own selfish ends. It also permitted the
easy acceptance of the assumption that lack of cheap fuel was at the bottom of the
trouble of those industries which struggled to keep in the running, but were finally
obliged to drop out. Years before the fire the fallacy of this latter explanation
had been exposed. The productivity of the oil fields and the development of hydro
electricity had given San Francisco cheaper power than was enjoyed by most East-
ern manufacturing centers, but this in no wise improved the situation so far as
SAN FRANCISCO
rm
numerous once prosperous industries were concerned, and which were slowly being
extinguished by Eastern and near-by rivalry.
The figures of the assessor, and those of the census did not, except on close
analysis, disclose this condition of affairs. Between 1889 and 1899 there had been
increases of totals which permitted the San Franciscan to draw upon them to point
a story of progress, and when the census bureau in 1904 presented its figures they
were dwelt upon with pride. They showed that the number of manufacturing es-
tablishments in the City had increased from 1,748 in 1899 to 2,251 in 1904; that
the production during the five-year period had been enlarged from $107,024,000
to $137,788,000, and that the capital employed had expanded in the interval from
$69,643,000 to $102,362,000. Statistics of this sort have a decidedly reassuring
effect, and are apt to mislead even the reflecting. And when supplemented with
the additional information that the number of wage earners in factories had in-
creased from 32.555 in 1899 to 38,429 in 1904, and those of the salaried employes
from 3,413 to 5,190 there appeared to be every reason in the world for the expres-
sions of satisfaction which they called forth. When to this army of workers in
manufacturing industries is added the great number of persons in service, in the
rapidly multiplying stores and in professional callings it is not astonishing that the
workingmen on the eve of the great fire scouted the idea that San Francisco could
be more prosperous than it was, or that there was any possibility of an arrestment
or a set back.
And yet there were facts disclosed by the census report which should have been
disquieting, and would have been had they been duly emphasized. Despite the
gratifying appearance of the totals, the evidence was clear that the City was going
backward in some industries. The once prosperous boot and shoe trade which em-
ployed 987 persons in 1899 only had 643 in 1904; fewer were engaged in the manu-
facture of chemicals ; the number of workers on women's clothing had shrunken
considerably ; the manufacture of men's furnishing goods, which had been in a
promising condition in 1 899. had fallen off greatly ; there were fewer engaged in
glove making and in the production of leather goods. A comparison of the advances
made in these particular industries in other cities in which they had outained a
foothold shows that the recession in San Francisco was abnormal. The compara-
tively slow progress in some other lines which should have expanded with the
growth of population was also an indication of weakness. The manufacture of
carriages and wagons was almost stationary, as was also that of copper, tin and
sheet iron products. The number of wage earners in foundries and machine shops
increased from 3,509 to 3,885, but the metal industries were exhibiting signs of the
severe competition to which they were being subjected, and in the years immedi-
ately following the fire they were greatly diminished. In fact a resume of the
operations of manufacturing industries shows that the gains made between 1899
and 1904 were largely due to the growth of the neighborhood trade and did not
indicate a healthy expansion along lines calculated to realize the dream of making
San Francisco a great manufacturing city.
The principal products of the manufacturing industries as grouped by the cen-
sus bureau in 1904 exhibited the following values: Printing and publishing. $10,-
847,000; slaughtering and meat packing, $9,209,000; foundry and machine shop
products, $10,525,000; bread and other bakery products, $4,882,000; coffee and
spice roasting and grinding, $3,980,000; canning and preserving, $4,636,000; lum-
Manufactur-
ing; Impeded
by Trades
Unionism
Value of
Manufactured
Products in
1904
740
SAN FRANCISCO
Expanding
Markets
Brighten
Prospects
Early
Forecasts
of Harbor's
Importance
ber and timber products, $3,980,000; clothing, men's, including shirts, $4,804,000;
copper, tin and sheet iron products, $4,529,000; leather, tanned, curried and finished,
$2,718,000; malt liquors, $3,482,000; furniture and refrigerators, $1,836,000; flour
mill and grist mill products, $3,423,000; food preparations, $999,000, and tobacco
manufactures, $2,028,000. In many of these enumerated categories San Francisco
held a preeminent position in 1904. It turned out 59.8 per cent of all the foundry
and machine shop products; 85 per cent of the coffee and spice preparations; 91.7
per cent of the men's clothing; 76.3 per cent of the copper, tin and sheet iron prod-
ucts; 64.8 per cent of the furniture and refrigerators; 62.9 per cent of the food
preparations, and 63.5 per cent of the tobacco manufactures of the state; but
while it had thus maintained its position in its relation to other sections of Cali-
fornia it was not holding its own in competition with Eastern manufacturers, who
were relatively and absolutely stronger than at any time previous, and were con-
stantly extending their operations at the expense of the local manufacturer.
It would be an unpleasant task for the historiographer of San Francisco to
record facts such as those contained in the preceding paragraphs if there was no
prospect of improvement. The chief obstacle to the development of the manufac-
turing industry in California has undoubtedly been due to the sparseness of its
population, but that is a drawback now rapidly being corrected. The state in its
enormous area of 158,297 square miles in 1900 had only 1,485,053 inhabitants
within its bprders, and the density of population was only 9.5 per square mile. In
1910 the number of inhabitants had increased to 2,377,549, making the density
15.3 per square mile. There is no reason for doubting the assumption that with
the increased facilities for bringing desirable immigrants into the state which the
Panama Canal will supply that the population will be more than doubled before
the close of the present decade. With a consuming population of 5,000,000 within
its borders, which will grow from year to year, manufacturing will receive an im-
petus which cannot be restrained by the inconsistencies of any class, because they
must succumb to the inexorable law of competition.
The earliest efforts to prognosticate the future of San Francisco were invariably
associated with its harbor, and as was natural, so far as they concerned themselves
witli details, considered its development solely from the standpoint of the trader.
The ideas of the prophets must have been very vague, for they were rarely em-
bellished with explanations of how the great commerce which they predicted was
to be developed. They apparently reasoned that other places situated advanta-
geously for exchange had grown to large proportions, and therefore it was reasonable
to expect that San Francisco, founded as it was on the shores of what was admit-
tedly one of the best harbors in the world, must enjoy a like experience. Although
the conviction that the port must expand greatly was general it does not appear
that the first persons to make good use of its facilities, when they started in to do
so, gave any thought to the future. In all their operations they were guided solely
by expediency and by the desire for personal gain. They talked largely of a city
of a million or more inhabitants, but they built as if they had no confidence in
their optimistic forecasts. They filled in Yerba Buena cove because it was easier
to do so than to level a site back of it for building purposes. It can hardly be
pleaded in extenuation of the course pursued that it was adopted in ignorance of
the great changes which the future was to effect in transportation methods. There
was already, in the early Fifties, considerable mental activity bestowed upon the
SAN FRANCISCO
741
problem of bringing ship and car together, and there certainly was enough specu-
lation as to the great results which must follow the completion of a transcontinental
railroad to have suggested that precautions must be taken to conveniently handle
the Oriental trade which was to spring up in consequence.
Men, however, talk in one strain and act as convenience moulded by immediate
needs dictates. San Francisco's water front, although theoreticallj- regarded as of
vital importance, was made the football for designing politicians and avaricious
individuals for nearly a quarter of a century before any thought was given to its,
development, and when the matter did begin to exercise the brains of legislators
they were apparently more concerned to create a political machine than to plan
a scheme of improvement. A State Harbor Commission took charge of the affairs of
the City's water front as early as 1863, but it was not until 1869 that anything like
a showing was made for the amount of money expended, and it was so insignifi-
cant as to seem almost laughable when taking a retrospect. In that year, when
the Central and Union Pacific were joined, the commissioners had already suc-
ceeded in disbursing half a million dollars and the result of their work was about
600 feet of bulkhead in front of the Ferry building, on a line two hundred feet too
far west to be of any use. Nine years later, when the state was fairly well pro-
vided with railroads the commissioners began the creation of a sea wall which was
to be in two separate sections with a combined length of 2,000 feet. In 1912 this
part of the work was still under construction, just to the south of the present Ferry
building, where the work should have begun.
The sinister influence of the railroad monopoly must be held responsible for
the wretched condition of affairs on the water front. Its policy was to weaken
the shipping industry, and that was easiest effected by pursuing a course which
merely resulted in wasting the people's money without increasing the facilities of
the port. Perhaps it would be more correct to state that while the railroad con-
trolled the politics of the state it was indifferent to the needs of the harbor, and
permitted its creatures to make use of its revenues to reward them for their
services in helping the monoply to keep the legislature and courts in line with
its wishes. Whatever the cause, whether through active opposition or mere indif-
ference, the fact remains that the State Harbor Commission made no attempt what-
ever to build a permanent wharf until 1907, and the funds for creating such a
facility had to be provided by a special bond issue of $2,000,000. The revenues
of the port, which up to that date had amounted to millions, had all been squan-
dered on administration, and in the erection of temporary wharves which necessi-
tated constant repairs.
The present Ferry building, like the permanent wharves since obtained, had to
be secured by a resort to the issuance of bonds. Its erection was begun in the
early Nineties and it was completed in 1903. It cost in redeemed bonds and inter-
est $967,879. Up to the time of its erection there was absolutely nothing along
the entire front to which one could point as something derived from the great
annual revenues of the port. Teredo-eaten piles supported flimsy wharf structures
covered with highly inflammable buildings which frequently became the prey of
fire, and were always in a chronic state of reparation. Over these structures, how-
ever, there was conducted an increasingly large volume of business, the expansion
of which was particularly conspicuous during the ten years immediately preceding
the fire of 1906, the shipping of the port growing from 3,729,367 tons in 1894-95
The Railroad
and the
Water Front
Ferry Build-
ing Only
Improvement
of Value
742
SAN FRANCISCO
Citizens'
Committee
Water
Front Im-
provements
Pla
to 5,292,113 tons in 1904-5. But this development was admittedly uninfluenced
by anything done to promote the business of the port. It occurred because men
learn makeshift methods when there is work to be done, but no one can tell what
might have been accomplished for San Francisco had its harbor affairs been admin-
istered with an eye single to the promotion of commerce and the convenience of
the shipping interest. That it was permitted to exist as a political machine for
half a century negatives the assumption that the people of the metropolis regard
their harbor as their chief asset. As a matter of fact there has been no evidence of
any lively appreciation of the value of the harbor except that sporadically fur-
nished by the traffic associations which use the possibilities of the sea as a club
to compel the transcontinental railroads to deal properly by its merchants, or on
those occasions when sufficient interest has been excited to induce the people to
consider the importance of making comprehensive improvements.
The Harbor Commission during its entire existence has been a nest for politi-
cians. It has provided places for the servants of the railroad, and for men sup-
posed to advance the fortunes of parties, and during later years the law under
which it operates was used to harass San Francisco and impede its development.
Its affairs have not been intelligently nor honestly conducted. During the admin-
istration of Stoneman one of his messages was largely devoted to describing the
grafting propensities of state officials, and in it he made particular allusion to the
shortcomings of the Harbor Commission. But although a reformer he was the vic-
tim of the hallucination that effective work could be expected from a commission
which was a mere political machine. In 1887 he spoke in a felicitous vein of the
removal of the tolls from wheat and flour passing over the wharves, but neglected
to state that the concession was of little consequence because of the diminishing
importance of wheat exports, which was already apparent. He also dwelt upon
the completion to date of 6,361 feet of sea wall at a cost of $1,191,000 or an aver-
age of $187.25 per lineal foot as a great accomplishment, entirely unconscious of
the fact that was clearly recognized by the shipping interest that the improvement
he lauded was being made at the place on the front least needed by shippers, while
that portion of the harbor where business was active was almost neglected.
Until the eve of the fire no such interest as the subject of harbor facilities
demanded was called forth in San Francisco. In the early part of 1906, however,
there was an agitation which began to have good results. In January of that year
delegates were appointed by various civic organizations to formulate a comprehen-
sive plan of improvement. The Chamber of Commerce, the Merchants' Exchange,
the Advancement and Improvement Association, the Water-front Federation, the
San Francisco Labor Council, the Real Estate Board, the Shipmen's Association
of the Pacific Coast, the California Promotion Committee, the Board of Trade, the
Commonwealth Club and the Building Trade Council were all represented at a
meeting which selected an executive committee consisting of Thomas Magee, R.
H. Swayne, W. J. Barrett, James D. Phelan and F. W. Dohrman. After recom-
mending that the money required to carry out the projects to be formulated by
engineers selected by the gathering should be raised by issuing seventy-five year
bonds, which the people of the state would be asked to authorize at the following
November election, Luther Wagoner was offered the chief engineership and Colonel
W. H. Heuer of the U. S. Engineer Corps, that of consulting engineer. They were
engaged in assembling the necessary data and in making investigations when the
SAN FRANCISCO
743
calamity of the 18th of April, 1906, interrupted their work, which, however, was
resumed as soon as the people of the City had time to devote themselves to other
objects than providing for the immediate present.
In marked contrast to the unprogressiveness of the Harbor Commission which,
as the foregoing recital shows, had to be prodded and never made a move without
the exertion of pressure, was the enterprise displayed by the shipping industry.
Its activities prior to the Eighties have been described, and the expansion of the
tonnage of the port after that date has been dwelt upon, but even more noteworthy
than the latter was the considerable improvement in the effectiveness of tonnage
as compared with that of earlier date. In 1883 the Oregon Railway and Naviga-
tion Company began to provide a much better class of steamers. The old wooden
side wheel vessels were displaced by iron hulls and before the close of 1887 the
fleet of this line numbered eighteen, all classed as propellers, and five of them were
advertised as possessing superior accommodations for passengers. This company
was in 1904 taken over by the San Francisco and Portland S. S. Co. In 1887
there were 54 steamers registered in the Pacific coast service, with an aggregate
tonnage of 32,400. In August of that year of the 295 arrivals in the coastwise
trade 132 were steamships. It is recorded that in 1900 the last of the regular line
of sailing vessels between New York and San Francisco entered the harbor. At
the time it was thought that it marked the abandonment of the sailing ship for
these long voyages ; but later they were again resorted to, but only temporarily,
for the purpose of combatting the Southern Pacific's efforts to throttle ocean com-
petition.
An event of importance in shipping circles occurred in 1899, when the Kosmos
line, formed in Hamburg, started a monthly service between that port and San
Francisco, via sundry European ports and the Straits of Magellan. The first
steamer of this new line, the "Tanis," arrived in San Francisco December 4, 1899,
making the voyage from Germany in 89 days. During the first fifteen months of
its operations there were 14 arrivals of Kosmos steamers, but its business after
that period improved to such an extent that the arrivals averaged a little better
than one every twenty days. In 1901 a new line, named after its enterprising
originator, Robert Dollar, commenced operations. The first steamer of this com-
pany was the "Simon J. Murphy," the name of which was changed to the "Mel-
ville S. Dollar." It was purchased in Baltimore, and was 921 tons register. The
Dollar line grew rapidly, and there were added to the fleet the "Bessie Dollar,"
3,679 tons, the "Grace Dollar," 289 tons, the "Harold Dollar," 607 tons, the "M.
S. Dollar," 2,713, the "Hazel Dollar," 3,150, the "Robert Dollar," 3,400, and the
"Stanley Dollar," 983 tons. The operations of the Dollar line were not confined
to any particular trade, either domestic or foreign, but the vessels of the company
have been actively employed ever since the inception of the enterprise. The Amer-
ican-Hawaiian line commenced operations in the same year. Its steamers made
the long run between San Francisco and New York via the Straits of Magellan,
but later an arrangement was made by which freight taken on this side was trans-
ferred by rail across Mexico, where it was transhipped. This change, however,
did not occur until May, 1908.
The Pacific Mail Steamship Company continued to do business during the
period under review, but its trade via the isthmus was deliberately neglected. The
line was controlled by the Southern Pacific interest, and, as related in the account
More and
Better
Steamships
New Steam
ship Lines
Started
Operations
of Pacific
Mail S. S. Co.
744
SAN FRANCISCO
Trade With
Hawaii and
Australia
of the brief uprising which resulted in the starting of the Valley road, was regarded
by the merchants of San Francisco as a hindrance rather than a benefit. Its op-
erations on the coast south of San Francisco were confined to serving the Mexican
and Central American states' ports, and it had a practical monopoly of the impor-
tant coffee trade until the advent of the Kosmos line. The Oriental branch of the
company was conducted on a different footing, and maintained the prestige estab-
lished in early days when it was the pioneer in the over-sea Pacific trade. Its
fleet of steamers received additions when needed, and while in some particulars
they did not compare with the best of the Atlantic liners they were swift and com-
modious and several were of large tonnage.
The constantly increasing trade with the Hawaiian islands made regular and
quick communication with them an important matter. For many years the traffic
was mainly by sail, but this method of transportation gave way to steam during
the period and made openings for several navigation companies. Among these
was the Matson Navigation Company, which has maintained several large ships.
The Matson line, while not making a specialty of passenger business, provides
accommodations. Prior to 1895 all the sugar grown on the islands was sent to
San Francisco for refinement or distribution, In that 3'ear direct shipments from
Honolulu to the East were inaugurated, that step being induced by the failure of
the planters to secure a continuance of the exceptionally low rates which the rail-
road had granted for many years. Although the business of directly shipping to
the East was not begun until several years after the identification of Claus Spreck-
els with the San Joaquin valley railroad enterprise, his activity in the promotion
of that project has by some been attributed to the refusal of the Southern Pacific
to continue the favorable freight arrangements he had for a long time enjoyed.
The diversion effected by this direct trade was more than offset by increased
activity in other directions. The Oceanic Steamship Company, which came into
existence in 1885, operated its steamers between Australian ports and San Fran-
cisco, touching at Honolulu, and the ships of the Pacific Mail also made stops at
that port, giving the Hawaiians frequent and regular service which tended to
strengthen the connection between the islands and the mainland, and to greatly
extend the trade of San Francisco. The Oceanic Steamship Company did not
always have plain financial sailing, and there was considerable trouble with its
stock at times, due to alleged mismanagement and manipulation. In 1902 the
gross earnings of the company were reported at $2,002,219 and the operating ex-
penses at $1,908,036, and the net loss for the year $212,726. In 1902 there was
a deficit of $349,304 and at the end of the ensuing year a further loss of $234,672
was reported. At the close of the year 1903 the fleet of steamers belonging to the
company was valued at $4,363,356. The facilities afforded by the company un-
doubtedly tended to stimulate trade between Australia and the United States, and
that fact was recognized by the Colonials, who extended a subsidy, but the United
States refused to make a similar provision. Considerable difference of opinion
existed respecting the possibility of profitably operating a line between Australia
and San Francisco without government aid, but repeated experiences seemed to
demonstrate that its extension is necessary and desirable, and that a large trade
could be built up by steadily continuing the direct intercourse with the new and
growing commonwealth.
KISHKKMEVS COVE. SAX FKAWISCO BAY
MENDING THE NETS
One of the picturesque scenes on Fishermen's Wharf
SAN FRANCISCO
745
During the period under review the once important grain trade of the port of
San Francisco dwindled to such proportions that it ceased to be a considerable
factor in the business of the city. The expansion and decline of this trade was
so obscured by growth in other directions that it scarcely attracted more than
passing attention. Publicists in discussing the changes in the development of the
resources of the state were called upon to note the tremendous shrinkage of the
output of the cereal, and occasionally the reminiscent writer would comment on
the disappearance of the large fleets of sailing vessels which at recurring intervals
made their appearance in the bay. There were some who lamented the absence
of the "wind jammers" which had formerly entered the port in quest of cargoes
and shook their heads in deprecation of the change. But they were quarreling with
the inevitable. The production of wheat in California declined because it was
found more profitable to raise other crops. The sailing vessel had begun to be
less used for wheat shipments long before California's wheat product was reduced
to proportions scarcely adequate to meet the demands of its growing population.
As early as 1881 the shipment of wheat and flour by steam vessels was begun. The
big crop of 1880 made it expedient to employ the more rapid mode of transit, and
the practice extended not rapidly but perceptibly. In 1896 twenty-five steamers
cleared, taking 1,294,398 centals of wheat and 1,090,789 centals of barley, which
was beginning to take precedence in the crop reports. In 1900 seven steamers
were dispatched with 770,668 centals of wheat, but the shrinking receipts of wheat
and flour which had fallen from a maximum of 23,316,320 centals (flour and wheat
brought to terms of centals), in 1893 only aggregated 13,989,781 centals and dur-
ing the year preceding the fire they had fallen to 6,150,173 centals.
Before this great trade had shrunk to these proportions the men once promi-
nent in mining operations in California, and who had made immense sums of money
in manipulating the mining stock market of San Francisco tried their hand at a
game far more risky than that they had formerly engaged in and attempted to
create a corner in wheat. This speculation, which culminated in disaster in 1895,
was generally supposed to have been suggested by an employe of the Nevada bank,
but the details were never made public, nor were the losses known, although they
were supposed to have amounted to mf:ny millions. The fact was ascertained,
however, that the men engaged in the deal were compelled to carry over in May,
1895, a stock of 175,000 tons of wheat, which was rapidly unloaded after that
date, accounting for a large number of steamer shipments, suggested by the neces-
sity of promptly marketing and realizing on the accumulated grain. Many stories
were current concerning this speculation. One of them was to the effect that
Flood and Mackey were so seriously embarrassed that they found it necessary to
apply for relief to their former partner, James G. Fair, with whom they had a
disagreement which resulted in their separation. It was believed at the time that
Fair's assistance saved his former associates, and that he derived a cynical pleasure
from being called upon to help them out of their financial difficulties.
The cessation of the grain trade was more than compensated for by the growth
of a considerable coastwise intercourse. The development of the Pacific coast
region was followed by the creation of new and the enlargement of transportation
facilities established at an earlier date. The fuel problem of the City and the
interior towns was largely met by the operation of steam colliers plying between
British Columbia and Australia, vessels of considerable size being ernp^ed in
Failure of a
Big Wheat
Speculation
746
SAN FRANCISCO
Remarkable
Development
of Oil Trade
Domestic
Shipping on
the Pacific
the trade. A large fleet of steam schooners also brought supplies of lumber to the
City. In 1887 there were twenty or more of this class of vessels whose tonnage
ranged from 100 to 200 tons. In 1911 there were over 160 steamers engaged in
lumbering with a varying carrying capacity of from 100,000 to nearly 4,000,000
feet. The ownership of these vessels was on this coast, and in addition there
were numerous tramp steamers which found lumber freights profitable.
One of the most important innovations in the shipping industry about this time
was made in the carriage of oil. At one period in the history of the harbor, what now
seems an extraordinary amount of attention was paid to the matter of making San
Francisco an inviting port of call for vessels engaged in the whaling industry. The
possibilities of whaling appealed so strongly to the imagination of statesmen that
the subject was dilated upon in state papers. Queerly enough an industry of a
cognate character, but immeasurably rivaling that of the taking of whales, sprang
up in California without exciting much comment until its proportions became so
great as to excite national attention. The production of petroleum and its ex-
portation to foreign countries began to engage the attention of the shipping men
early in the Nineties, and also called into existence new transportation lines wholly
devoted to the carriage of oil. The largest companies operating in the California
fields in addition to extracting the oil began to maintain fleets in which to export
the products of their wells. Shipments of oil were first made by sail, but in 1894
a steamer was dispatched to China and since that date there has been a steady
development of the trade which extends to Central American ports on the south
and Alaskan ports on the north. The oil is conducted from the distant wells by
pipe lines to convenient shipping points on the bay, in the vicinity of which
important refining operations are carried on, and many by-products are manufac-
tured or utilized. Perhaps more important than the part played in increasing the
exports is the change effected in sea transportation by the use of oil as fuel.
Many coal-burning steamships have been converted into fuel oil consumers and there
is a reasonable prospect that in the near future the majority of vessels clearing
from San Francisco will be oil burners.
The plaint which finds frequent expression in the Atlantic states, that the
foreigner is driving domestic shipowners out of business, is considerably modified
by the statistics of Pacific coast shipping. The increased tonnage of the port of
San Francisco between 1883 and 1905 shows a lively appreciation of the value
of the sea as a medium of communication. In 1883 the arrivals from foreign ports
aggregated 835,600 tons, of which 306,300 was steam; in 1905 the foreign ar-
rivals totalled 1,329,700 tons, 960,000 being steam. Between the same years the
domestic tonnage increased from 1,191,400 tons, 436,800 of which was steam, to
2,250,200 tons, 1,563,500 of the latter being steam. In 1905 the aggregate ton-
nage of all arrivals was 3,579,900 of which 2,523,000 was steam. This growth was
by no means continuous during the period. There was a falling off between 1883
and 1887 and a slight revival after the latter year until 1891. Between 1891 and
1896 shipping conditions as represented by tonnage remained almost stationary,
but there was a notable increase between 1896 and 1905, the total tonnage rising
from 2,501,200 in the former to 3,579,900 tons in the latter year. The gain in
the first thirteen years of the period was only 474,000 tons as against 1,078,000
tons in the nine years ending 1905. These figures in a measure reflect the vicissi-
tudes of trade, but their variations by no means synchronize exactly with the years
The Wine Press
Garfield Monument
Sir Francis Drake Cross
MONUMENTS AND STATUARY rN GOLDEN GATE PARK
The Base Ball Play
Grant Monument
SAN FRANCISCO
r47
of depression and revival. Taken in conjunction with the clearings of the banks,
and the statistics of exports and imports, however, they convey as accurate an idea
of business conditions and fluctuations as it would be possible to present.
It has already been shown that the exports from San Francisco by sea which
were as high as $53,664,352 in 1881, had after that year declined until they fell
as low as $26,410,672 in 1894. After that date they began to increase in volume,
but slowly until 1899 when they received an impetus rising to $41,419,679 in
1900 and reaching $64,918,505 in 1905. The imports which amounted to $37,-
729,402 in 1884 reached $53,325,982 in 1891, dropped to $36,414,862 in 1896,
were $45,677,924 in 1899 and in 1905 they totalled $44,249,211. A surprising
feature of the table of imports is its disclosure of the fact that their volume was
not greatly enlarged after 1882 when they were given at $44,348,545. There
were years, for instance, between 1888 and 1891 when they exceeded that amount
as in 1891 when they rose to $53,325,982, but after that date they dropped off
only rising to $45,000,000 in 1899 when they again showed signs of a decline
and no tendency to increase until after 1905. There is one other index of the
state of trade worth quoting, that furnished by the Internal Revenue Department.
The collections of the San Francisco district aggregated $1,858,852 in 1890;
$2,067,946 in 1895; $4,019,086 in 1900 and in 1906 they were $4,542,255.
The reference in a preceding paragraph to the use made of ocean facilities
for carriage would not be illuminating without calling attention to the shipbuilding
industry of San Francisco which at one time appeared to be in a promising con-
dition, but owing to labor conditions has suffered a decline since 1905. In 1887
there were 23 steam and 31 sailing craft with a total tonnage of 17,629 docu-
mented at San Francisco. In 1890 there was an addition of 12,063 tons; in 1900
the record showed 33 steam and 18 sailing craft constructed aggregating 29,221
tons and in 1905 there were 9,030 tons turned out of the shipyards of San Fran-
cisco. During this period commencing with July, 1888, the following war vessels
were built at the Union Iron Works: Protected cruiser "Charleston" in 1888,
4,040 tons; the "San Francisco" in 1889, 4,080 tons; the armored monitor "Mon-
terey" in 1891; the "Olympia," 5,870 tons in 1892; the battleship "Oregon," 10,-
500 tons in 1893; the battleships "Wisconsin" and "Ohio" in 1898 and 1901; the
armored cruiser "California," 13,800 tons in 1904, and the "South Dakota," 13,-
400 tons in the same year. The "Milwaukee," a protected cruiser of 9,700 tons,
built in 1904, was the last warship constructed in the port. After that date, even
with the differential allowed by the government in favor of a Pacific coast yard
it was found impossible to compete with the Eastern shipbuilders where the labor
conditions were more favorable.
All these war vessels were constructed at the Union Iron Works which began
operations in the City in 1884. The plant was one of exceptional excellence, and
won for itself a universal reputation. The remarkable performance of the "Oregon"
reflected great credit on the builders, and was a subject of widespread comment.
It probably did more to emphasize the desirability of creating a waterway between
the Atlantic and Pacific than all the arguments urged in favor of the construction
of a canal since the time of Philip II. From the day that the "Oregon" started
from this City on her memorable voyage of thousands of miles, to join the fleet
operating on the coast of Cuba against the Spanish until the hour of her tri-
umphant arrival in perfect trim, and ready for action, her course was noted with
Statistics of
Trade Fluctu-
ations
Labor and
Shipbuilding
Industry
and War
Vessels Con-
structed
748 SAN FRANCISCO
eager anxiety, and over and over the necessity of accomplishing so long a journey
was dilated upon as an object lesson which emphasized the value of a short cut
which would readily permit the union of the Atlantic and Pacific fleets of the
United States. In addition to the construction of the warships which represented
a displacement of 103,000 tons and 200,000 horsepower, and whose cost exclusive
of armor was $32,000,000, the Union Iron Works, up to the time of its sale by
the Scotts, Irving M. and W. T., and those connected with them in the enterprise,
constructed about 70 merchant vessels, notable among which were the six large
freight steamers of the American Hawaiian Company. In addition to this im-
portant concern there were also operated in the port the Fulton Iron Works, the
United Engineering Company, the Main Street Iron Works, and other smaller
establishments, while John W. Dickie and Son, Boole & Co., and other companies
were building hulls in San Francisco bay. The great strike of the iron workers
which lasted from May, 1901, to March, 1902, was the prelude to the troubles
which later beset the metal trades of the City, and caused the serious decline in
their importance which the census of 1910 disclosed, but which was understood
and felt before the bureau made its publication.
CHAPTER LXI
PEOPLE RISE SUPERIOR TO POLITICAL AND OTHER TROUBLES
INDIVIDUAL EFFORT SCORES A TRIUMPH UNBUSINESSLIKE METHODS IN CONDUCT OF
MUNICIPAL AFFAIRS LACK OF CONFIDENCE IN PUBLIC OFFICIALS STREET IM-
PROVEMENT DUE TO INDIVIDUAL EFFORT LACK OF IMAGINATION SAN FRANCISCO's
FIRST STEEL FRAME STRUCTURE IMPROVEMENT IN BUSINESS ARCHITECTURE
FIREPROOF STRUCTURES BEFORE 1906 RESIDENCE ARCHITECTURE SITES THAT
AFFORD MARINE VIEWS GROW IN FAVOR APPRECIATIVE CRITICISM BY STRANGERS
SAN FRANCISCO'S PICTURESQUE APPEARANCE GROWTH OF THE HOME INSTINCT
REAL ESTATE AND REAL ESTATE DEALERS OPENING OF NEW DISTRICTS •
"GRAFT" AND THE TIPPING HABIT FRANCHISES NOT REGARDED AS VALUABLE
THE DOOR LOCKED AFTER THE STEED WAS STOLEN SCHEMES TO SHUT OUT COM-
PETITION CABLE SYSTEM ADOPTED ON MARKET STREET LINES AGITATION AGAINST
OVERHEAD TROLLEY UNITED RAILROADS TAKE OVER CHIEF CITY STREET CAR
LINES CONTROL EASILY SURRENDERED BY LOCAL CAPITALISTS MUNICIPAL EF-
FORTS AT BUILDING A STREET RAILWAY NO REAL OBSTACLE TO CREATION OF A
RIVAL STREET RAILWAY SYSTEM BURNHAM PLANS FOR A CITY BEAUTIFUL THE
PARKS WATER SUPPLY TELEGRAPHIC EXTENSION CABLE TO THE PHILIPPINES
FROM SAN FRANCISCO.
N THE preceding chapter it was shown that the develop- The Vpg t
ment of San Francisco along industrial lines between 1883 Downs of
& City
and 1906 did not proceed with that regularity which a sur-
vey of the statistics of the beginning and end of the period
might suggest. A historian writing two or three hundred
years hence may summarily dispose of the subject by as-
suming that there was continuous advancement, and that
indeed is the method usually adopted when the details are not available for close
analysis. Even the hypercritical German writers, unless treating a particular
period, are addicted to the habit of assuming that the salient events, concerning
which they have abundant information, describe its characteristics, and no assump-
tion is more common than that a century or two or three centuries were marked by
peace and prosperity, or that they were troubled throughout with wars and adver-
sity. It is not probable that this was ever the case even in vegetating communities,
and it certainly could not have been true of active minded and energetic peoples in
any country on the globe; and if the chapter preceding this, and which dealt pro-
saically with figures indicating alternations of good and bad times has no other
value than to emphasize the fact that there are ups and downs in the growth of a
749
750
SAN FRANCISCO
Unbusiness-
like Munici-
pal Methods
Bad Govern-
ment Only
a Drag
city it will have served its purpose. It may assist in clearing away a delusion
which may have, or it might as well be said, has had pernicious effects, because it
leads to confounding the material and the spiritual. It has recently been asserted
that the looseness of administration of the city government of San Francisco at
various times has caused it to be discredited and shunned by good people who
would otherwise have made it their home, and on the other hand it has been claimed
that the practices condemned in some quarters have been the magnets to attract
population and promote commercial growth. Both sides err in their attempt to
put a commercial valuation upon morality. The honesty which is engendered by
the thought that it is politic to be honest is not the kind that should command
admiration. If the moral standard of the people is to be raised it must be by some
other method than by holding out commercial rewards. Commercial men may
have their code and enforce it with good practical effects. They can do so because
their relations with each other permit the punishment of violaters ; but the attempt
to apply it to an entire community, a large proportion of which is only indirectly
affected, and cannot be made to see the possibility of direct injury is as vain as
it would be to seek to terrify a propertyless man by threatening to sue him for
damages.
In any event the alternations described demonstrate that the municipal troubles
of San Francisco have been powerless to arrest its growth. During periods of so
called good government the City has vegetated, and it has advanced by leaps and
bounds at other times when corrupt men were in control of the offices. This indis-
putable fact should suggest that the causes of prosperity or depression are economic.
If production is encouraged and wealth is created times are sure to be what we
call "good ;" if the reverse is the case, if the productivity of a people is interrupted
and the ability to consume is impaired either by lack of confidence, or decrease of
energy they will be bad. If this idea once permeates the minds of those who are
constantly seeking a panacea for physical ills in the shape of changed forms of gov-
ernment, they will adopt a different attitude, or insist on applying the same methods
to the management of a municipal corporation as those pursued in the conduct of
the affairs of a business managed for profit. They will cease to demand the impos-
sible, and will abandon the effort to secure the operation of public utilities in a
businesslike manner while defying the cardinal maxim of successful business men that
all cannot be bosses. Our systems of municipal government make the tens of thou-
sands who have the votes the bosses, and efficiency can never be procured by such a
method. It can only be secured by employing experienced men and by investing
them with authority and demanding results.
There was no time in the brief history of the municipality when such power
was conferred on any official, but the jealous withholding of it, as has been shown,
did not save the people from heavy draughts made on their purses for which they
received no adequate return. That there should have been frequent, and occasion-
ally serious troubles as a consequence of this ineffectiveness is not surprising. It
is astonishing, however, and a highly interesting sociological phenomenon, well worth
attentive study, that despite the alternations of good and bad government, and the
sporadic outbursts directed against various forms of political abuses and shortcom-
ings, that the people went about their various ways unconcernedly, and carried on
the multitude of activities which they did not entrust to public servants in a manner
satisfactory to themselves, and on the whole with results far more creditable to
VIEW IN THE NILES CANYON, ONE OF THE BEAUTY SPOTS WITHIN AN HOUR'S
RIDE OF THE CITY
SAN FRANCISCO
751
the community than those achieved by the men employed by them to direct their
public affairs. Indeed, when a retrospect is taken it is seen that in nearly every
instance in which this undirected efficiency received a check, if it was not directly
caused by political interference it was usually aggravated by it, and in no case
did the servants of the people succeed in relieving a bad situation.
Individualism has measurably gone out of fashion, and curiously enough that
result has been brought about by its successes. Had unrequested effort not resulted
in stimulating productivity, and the creation of great wealth, there would be less
agitation over its distribution. The manifold activities of the great and growing
modern cities exerted for the benefit of the weak, the inefficient and the unwilling
would not be heard of if the condition which the superfluous produces did not
exist. Charity, and the disposition to help one another has always asserted itself
in some form, but it finds its best expression under circumstances which abun-
dance create. It may be true that when aid is perfunctorily or automatically
rendered it lacks the proper spirit, but practically considered assistance extended
to the helpless in a substantial form does more to ameliorate wretchedness than
good wishes. That is why we pay a tribute of admiration to the man who assists
the struggling without inquiring too narrowly how he came to be able to assist,
and applaud public benefactors without questioning their motives. In like manner
we accept the contributions to our sum total of satisfactions made by men who put
up handsome buildings, or who erect fine residences, without challenging their objects.
They may be inspired by the spirit of ostentation, and may even have at bottom
a desire to create envy, but they could never accomplish the latter result in the
minds of a people desirous of making the most of life and of getting the best that
can be obtained from the putting forth of the energies of the capable.
It is because this is true that the details of those activities which tell the story
of what a community lives for, and how near it comes to attaining its desires are
infinitely more interesting than the recital of triumphs on the battlefield, or ac-
counts of political intrigues or even the making of laws. Gibbon in one of his
exquisitely balanced sentences drew the inference that a Roman emperor, whose
enemies gave him a very bad name, could not have been as great a tyrant as
charged because he found evidence that the people enjoyed a reasonable degree
of prosperity during his reign ; and in another place the author experienced dis-
trust of an allegation of excessive taxation for a like reason. The historian was
a profound philosopher, but he failed to note the fact that the mass of mankind is
far more philosophical than the students of the schools, and contrives a great
deal of the time to give practical effect to its philosophy. Individuals may look
with apprehension upon the effort to extract satisfaction from life, but the people
as a whole, when they are not diverted from their optimism, are always disposed
to make the best of circumstances. If this characteristic had not prevailed in San
Francisco its inhabitants must have long ago abandoned the contest. That they
did not at any time in its brief career regard any situation as hopeless, or enter-
tain a belief at all at variance with that of the founders of the City, that it must
one day became a great metropolis shakes confidence in the too common assump-
tion that men think more of the mode of attaining their desires than of the at-
tainment of the thing desired.
If the investigator of conditions existing in San Francisco between 1849 and
1912 makes the mistake of confining his attention to the expressions of discontent
Philosophic
Attitnde of
(he People
752
SAN FRANCISCO
Lack of
Conadence
in Official*
Individual
Effort
Secures
Streets
which were freely uttered during the period he must inevitably reach the conclu-
sion that life was hardly worth the living; but if he does the sensible thing, and
instead of permitting himself to be unduly impressed by what was said and notes
what the people were really doing while the pessimists were telling them they were
marching straight to financial and other kinds of ruin he will be forced to the
conclusion, that, somehow or other, the .inhabitants of a city designed by Nature
to be prosperous and great will work out its destiny, and that despite blundering
methods, and other drawbacks they will manage to extract a reasonable share
of the comforts of life. That this was what happened during the period imme-
diately following the gold discovery which was marked by disastrous fires and
serious political troubles, and municipal mismanagement will hardly be denied by
any one who has taken the trouble to note how the people employed themselves,
and how well disposed they were to extol San Francisco's attractions and supe-
riority over all rivals. This latter state of mind could not have existed had there
not been a solid foundation for the claims put forward, and the fact that the
story of the period is checkered with troubles only emphasizes the ability of the
people to rise superior to them.
A review of those activities of the people of San Francisco which can be con-
sidered apart from their political development, and which were only affected by
regulation, exhibits a capacity for what may be called group organization which
compares favorably with that displayed by other communities with a larger ex-
perience, and who had more time in which to accomplish results. This ability
may have produced those lines of cleavage which sometimes became apparent in the
failure to do what the hustling element in the community calls "team work." Inde-
pendence of thought produces divergent theories respecting courses of action, and
men are apt to be as tenacious of their theories concerning municipal management
as they are when considering such subjects as protection and free trade. Between
1856 and 1898 the laissez faire idea dominated San Francisco. Its adherents
scarcely viewed with patience any proposition which involved collective action
by the community. It even viewed with distrust the suggestion that a fine public
building, and a beautiful park would prove valuable municipal assets. The indi-
vidualistic spirit was intense, and the average taxpayer was profoundly convinced
that the public servant could not be depended upon to do anything in a satisfactorily
economical manner, and thus believing he assented to a continuation of the plans
of improvement introduced at an earlier period which were wholly governed by
considerations of the immediate present.
Thus it happened that well into the Nineties it was possible for citizens to
view with satisfaction the reports of a street superintendent who enumerated im-
provements made through private initiative aggregating hundreds of thousands
of dollars annually, without giving much thought to the fact that little was being
done to preserve and keep in good order the thoroughfares thus provided. Taking
at random a report of this sort we find noted 2,667 feet of streets paved with
basalt blocks, six miles of sewers constructed, 13,830 lineal feet of streets graded,
20,344 lineal feet of streets macadamized, 3,987 lineal feet of planking laid down,
124,277 square feet of bituminous rock pavement, 18,674 feet of plank and ma-
cadam walks, 25,260 feet of curbing, 5,760 lineal feet of brick walks, the total cost
of which was nearly $700,000. This was in 1887, a year as fairly typical as
any of the preceding ten years, and indicative of the exertions put forward by
LANE HOSPITAL
SAN FRAXCISCO
753
individuals to make their property accessible and thereby increase its value by
facilitating intercourse. The improvements of this character, which in some years
cost those who made them more than a million dollars, were often in response to
a speculative impulse rather than to any pressing need, and were in no sense the
outcome of organized plans. The streets were laid down on the map, the realty
bordering them was in the possession of private individuals, and they were ener-
getic enough to do for themselves what the City could not, or at least never at-
tempted to do in its capacity of conductor of affairs of the community.
By this means the City was provided with hundreds of miles of streets and
sewers, which the municipality "accepted," -and in doing so assumed the obliga-
tion of perpetually keeping them in good condition. Although many millions
of dollars were expended in producing the result described the spirit of expediency
was responsible for the creation of future difficulties. The eagerness to extend
the area of accessibility caused property owners to accept without challenge regu-
lations prescribing the character of the material to be used in street paving. The
narrow spirit engendered by the dollar limit caused those who had the determina-
tion of such matters to consider only durability. Sanitary suggestions, and those
made by the advocates of comfort and appearances were entirely disregarded,
and the thoroughfares taken over by the City were generally composed of basalt
blocks, loosely laid in the sand. They proved difficult to keep clean, and the sub-
terranean installations, made as they frequently were in a careless fashion, resulted
in an uneven and unsatisfactory roadway which was endured for some years. But
despite its great initial cost towards the close of the period the basalt block was
rapidly being replaced by smooth pavements in all the downtown streets. The
plank and macadam walks which the easy going ordinances permitted down to the
Nineties, were superseded in most parts of the City by cement, San Francisco
being one of the earliest communities to discover the value of that material for the
purpose. As in the case of the roadways property owners took the initiative in
adopting cement, and the municipality compelled conformation only when the
exceptional owner made the contrast flagrant by neglect. Then an ordinance was
adopted which secured an approach to uniformity, and in a comparatively brief
period the unsightly and unsanitary plank sidewalk disappeared from all parts
of the city except in some of the outlying districts where infrequent use had caused
them to endure longer than in the more densely populated sections.
The outlying districts were not very remote from the business center of the
City in the beginning of the Eighties. In 1883 Divisadero street was beginning
to take on a residential character, but there were plenty of blank spaces between
that thoroughfare and Van Ness avenue which was considered well out of town at
that time. A suggestion that Van Ness avenue was destined to be a great cross
town business street made ten years later excited some amused comment. As a
matter of fact in the year spoken of the imagination of San Francisco had not found
itself. There were still many who could feel a mild surprise when venturesome
men showed an inclination to break away from the narrow precincts in which
business had established itself in the early days, and when the proprietor of the
"Chronicle" in 1890 decided to build at Market and Kearny streets the move
was regarded as something in the nature of a bold flight westward. Not that there
were any doubts respecting the future of Market street; there was a well settled
Streets am
Sidewalks
An Undevel-
oped Imagi-
754
SAN FRANCISCO
Building
Activity and
Improved
Architecture
conviction that it was to be a great thoroughfare, but there was a feeling that it
was a departure somewhat ahead of the time.
The building erected was also looked upon as a daring innovation. It was
the first steel frame structure put up in San Francisco, and although only ten
stories high it was classed as a soaring skyscraper. The knowing ones shook
their heads and speculated on what would happen if there was another earthquake
like that of 1868, but the owner backed by the opinion of Burnham & Root the
Chicago architects who designed it, was confident that the new style of construc-
tion could be made to resist any temblor that might visit the city. It is not im-
probable that the importation of Eastern ideas had some effect in forming the first
adverse judgment, for San Francisco architects were not then as confident of their
abilities as they became later, and viewed with distrust the invasion of their field
by rivals. There was some feeling produced by the necessity of obtaining the
rolled steel beams from Eastern mills, but this soon disappeared, and it was not
long before the steel frame structure on the corner of Market, Geary and Kearny
streets was rivalled in size and later in height. There was no immediate revolu-
tion in business architecture, but the introduction of the new style exercised a
modifying influence on the disposition towards flamboyancy which had manifested
itself during the Eighties, whose most conspicuous feature was pinnacles, cupolas
and even spires, all of which were loaded with the kind of ornamentation sup-
plied by the industrious designers of the sawmills. This efflorescence, in such
marked contrast to the severity which prevailed for many years after the con-
flagrations of pioneer days, toward the end of the Nineties began to give way to
a better style, and at the opening of the century there were numerous creditable
examples of architecture. Plastered brick fronts were superseded by stone,
which material was used with great effectiveness. Among the notable buildings
of this period, whose facades remain to testify the advances made in architecture
up to the date of the great fire are the Claus Spreckels, Mills and Flood buildings,
and the Emporium. Their contents were totally destroyed in the conflagration
of 1906, but the walls survived and they were restored to their former appear-
ance.
On the recrudescence of business activity after 1895 there was much building
in the City, but the wide area appropriated to commercial purposes in a measure
tended to disguise the extent of the operations of constructors. There was no
concentration in any particular locality, and therefore no impressive effect was
produced. Some of the best buildings in the City were erected in districts rarely
penetrated by visitors, and to some extent unknown even to inhabitants who had
made their home in San Francisco for years. These new constructions, surrounded
as they were by the less pretentious efforts of earlier years, did not materially
alter the aspect of the localities in which they were built. It was not uncommon
to find a ten-story structure looming amidst modest two-story frames which were
in some instances still inhabited by families. This was particularly true of the
district south of Market street where costly modern fireproof structures could
be seen alongside cottages with flower-covered verandas. Indeed, except in a
very restricted area, there was no approach to a homogeneous style of construction
or use of buildings, a fact which so disturbed the energetic boosters of the open-
ing of the century that resort was had to the plan of pictorially regrouping
existing buildings to show what had been accomplished. Thus disposed they made
HE OLD CHUTES. AT TENTH AVENt'E AND FfLTOX STREET
SAN FRANCISCO
::,:.
an impressive appearance, and suggested what the City might look like when the
new construction had complete!}' usurped the place of the old.
It is interesting to note that the architectural progress prior to the fire of
1906 was along the same lines as that which has marked the reconstruction with
one notable exception. Up to the time of the disaster the merits of concrete had
not impressed themselves upon builders, but the tendency toward steel frames
and fire-resisting materials was strong, as will be inferred from the long list of
that class of buildings at the time of the fire. Among the most conspicuous of
these were the Crocker building, the Fairmore and St. Francis hotels, the Claus
Spreckels building, the Flood building, the Grant building, Hotel Hamilton,
Hibernian Savings and Loan Society, the Hall of Justice, the Kamm building,
the "Chronicle" and its 17-story Annex, Mercantile Trust Company, Merchants'
Exchange, Mills building, Monadnock building, Mutual Life building, Pacific
Telephone and Telegraph building, the Postoffice, the Rialto, Security building,
Shreeve building, Sloane building, City of Paris building, Union Trust Com-
pany, Wells Fargo Company. The Emporium, whose handsome facade was a
feature of Market street, was not wholly of this style of construction, but was sub-
stantially built, as was the Palace hotel, the Phelan block, erected early in the
Eighties, the Hobart building and a few others which would not come in the
classification A, but which had a sufficiently modern air to help advertise the
City as progressive.
The domestic architecture during this period also underwent a transition.
Throughout the Eighties and well into the Nineties owners and architects were domi-
nated by the bay window fad. Although an adaptation it was deemed particularly
suitable, as it seemed to respond to the exaggerated San Franciscan desire for sun-
light. Whatever the cause, houses with bay windows multiplied. The effort to
secure originality of treatment was not always successful, as it was too often ac-
companied by a riotous use of the product of the jig saw. During the Seventies an
association was formed with the worthy motive of promoting thrift and the desire
for a home. It was known as the Real Estate Associates. It secured tracts of
land in localities usually remote from the business and at some distance from the
established residence districts. Some of these selections were made facing plazas
and squares that had not yet been improved. On these were constructed rows
of houses of frame, two stories in height, all of which were alike externally and
internally. These were sold on easy terms to people who had only two objects
in view, and who were necessarily compelled to subordinate any esthetic aspira-
tions they may have had to considerations of thrift. Almost concurrently with
the promotion work of the Real Estate Associates there was a pronounced develop-
ment of the Building and Loan Association idea, which in its earlier stages adhered
with tolerable closeness to the Philadelphia plan of cooperative building, but
later lost that character. During the time of the popularity of the building and
loan associations many thrifty persons were enabled through their instrumentality
to secure homes. As in the case of the Real Estate Associates the effect was to
promote uniformity in building as there were usually speculative builders who were
able to demonstrate their ability to save money for their patrons by using plans
already in hand. It was owing to an excess of energy by men who made a spe-
cialty of this sort of building, and to the undue stimulus given to such operations
Fire Proof
Construction
Before 1906
Domestic
Architecture
Exhibits
Uniformity
756
SAN FRANCISCO
A Demand
for Sites
With Views
by those who took shares in building clubs merely as an investment, that the
organizations owed their subsequent decline in popularity.
It was not until the Nineties that a disposition to depart from uniformity
asserted itself. Prior to that date there were sporadic manifestations of a pro-
pensity to impress by the erection of costly structures which indulgent critics
called palaces, but the desire to make the home indicate the culture of its owner
did not become prevalent until the rapidly accumulating wealth of the community
became more diffused. This motive had a marked effect in improving residential
architecture, and the increasing attractiveness of the City, which was rapidly
becoming the goal of the prosperous who made fortunes in the mining or other
industries of the state, and of the neighboring states and territories, also played
its part in the change. The style of building was not only showing improvement,
but tempted by the increased accessibility of portions of the City once compara-
tively neglected, the prosperous citizen and stranger were inclined to pick out
for adornment with beautiful homes the choice spots affording views. The num-
ber of these was not limited, and unlike cities on plains an ultra fashionable
quarter was difficult of establishment on this account. There were admirable
sites overlooking City and bay, and there were others from which the marine
feature was absent that proved equally attractive, but toward the close of the
century the water prospect had gained ascendancy and the streets west of Van
Ness with, a view of the harbor were affected by the socially pretentious. The
avenue itself had already throughout much of its length taken on an almost exclu-
sively residential character, although the apartment house was beginning to invade
its precincts, and clubdom was manifesting an inclination to establish itself on
the spacious thoroughfare which was also becoming the favorite locale for churches.
The comparisons which attempt to measure present achievements against
earlier performances are rarely flattering to the past. It is easy to convey the
impression that a city whose progress has been rapid presented a village-like ap-
pearance a few years earlier. But all things are relative, and to acquire a fair
idea of what San Francisco looked like in the early Eighties it is safer to trust
to the description of disinterested contemporaries than to infer from a statistical
presentation. There is no lack of contemporary data and it is usually very com-
plimentary. In most cases the defects which the resident saw so plainly and so
freely condemned were overlooked by strangers. Perhaps those who visited San
Francisco in days nearer to pioneer times were able to realize the difficulties that
had to be overcome, and were less disposed to underrate them than those who sur-
mounted them. Something of the sort must have influenced the Princess von
Racowitza, who saw San Francisco in the early Eighties and subsequently wrote
in her autobiography: "The new country became civilized with astonishing ra-
pidity. Very soon the rough plats of ground were ornamented with fine streets
and beautiful buildings. San Francisco blossomed into the most elegant and
fascinating town in the States." A similar kindly judgment was passed by James
Anthony Fronde a little later, although he indulged in no comparisons, but con-
fined his comment to expressions of wonderment that so much should have been
accomplished in so short a time.
In the face of generous admissions of the kind quoted it may be regarded
as a case of traveling outside the record for a San Francisco annalist to declare
that the eulogies were not deserved, and to repeat the criticism which applied to
VIEW ACROSS THE GOLDEN GATE FROM LAND'S END STATION
This view, tourists declare, surpasses anything of the kind in the world
THE OCEAN FRONT, LOOKING SOUTH FROM THE CLIFF HOUSE
SAN FRANCISCO
757
the architecture of most American cities at the time, and more particularly to
the Pacific coast metropolis whose principal building material lent itself so read-
ily to vagaries. But truth demands the confession that the advances of the City
along good architectural lines had been very slow and that as late as 1890 it was
possible for a serious historian to write of Sutro's baths: "It is perhaps the com-
pletest establishment of the kind ever seen, and in many respects outshines the
imperial baths of ancient Rome." Doubtless this reflected the local judgment
at the time, but we now know that it was the product of an environment in which
oiled paper was accepted as an excellent substitute for art glass, and in which
decalcomania was held in high esteem. It may be absurd to speak of a decadence
as occurring in so brief a period as that embraced in the life of the modern City
of San Francisco, but there is not the slightest doubt that there was a distinct
step backward after the Seventies, which may be attributed to the leveling process
of "averaging up" which followed the accumulation of wealth and its more thorough
dissemination. For several years San Francisco enjoyed the presence of a dis-
proportionate number of good architects, but they were superseded by teachers
who taught "art" to all who were ambitious to learn, and while the process of cul-
tivating the entire community progressed a great admiration for "hand painted"
things arose which sometimes obscured the fact that the application of colors by
hand did not always insure artistic results.
It is possible to dissent from the sweeping verdict of a critic who while com-
plimenting the work of some of the early architects asserted that in the matter
of business structures "San Francisco belonged to a class wholly by itself," but
that in other parts of the City almost every house erected before about lSSS
could be safely and even cheerfully overlooked." Even if it had been desirable to
do so it would have been impossible for the observer to follow this advice, for
much of the bad building before the year named was obtrusively conspicuous ; but
even when obnoxious to criticism of the sort quoted the very bad by virtue of its
location made a stronger impression than the eulogized downtown structures which
were pronounced "the first business buildings erected in the United States which
were both exotic and interesting — buildings which were the product of an alien
tradition, yet which retain under American surroundings a certain propriety
and positive charm." The man restrained by the canons of his art might see the
incongruous features of a wooden Gothic castellated structure, and the contra-
dictions which bay windows and classical columns of timber involve, but the people
who do not dissect regarded only the general effect, and like the Princess Ra-
cowitza felt its picturesqueness and pronounced it "beautiful."
The interest of the historian in the development of architectural taste is less
centered in the question whether it was proceeding along correct lines than in
determining its effect upon the social well being of the people. It is conceivable
that a community might live in the shadow of classic temples and not enjoy any
great measure of comfort or the delights which a cultivated estheticism produces ;
but it is impossible that a city could be created of houses, no matter how plain
in appearance, which served as comfortable homes, without testifying to its prog-
ress. The fact that "Queen Ann and Mary Ann" architecture were inextricably
mixed did not in the least detract from the force of the evidence that San Fran-
cisco before 1885 was preparing herself for what happened after that date. The
better buildings erected thereafter were the outcome of the strengthened home
Picturesque
Appearance
of City
758
SAN FRANCISCO
Real Estate
and Real
Estate
Dealers
Opening
New Resi-
dence Dis-
instinct which had to make its way against adverse circumstances, and of habits
developed under conditions existing in few cities outside of San Francisco. The
unreflecting sometimes attribute the congested condition of New York to the fact
that it is situated on a long narrow island, but experience proves that gregarious-
ness and other motives operate more powerfully than restricted area in bringing
dense masses of people together. There was no reason why San Franciscans
should crowd each other in the early days of the City, but they did so, and actu-
ally adopted measures to perpetuate the condition they had imposed upon them-
selves by making the size of the city lot as small as if the ground available for
building was restricted.
That they broke through these restraints and began to spread over the area
embraced within the limits of the consolidated city and county, and overflowed
its arbitrary boundaries was due to the speculative activity of the real estate dealer
whose desire for gain has made him the apostle of thrift in all American cities.
To the energetic efforts of this class can be traced the great centrifugal movement
which during recent years has so materially changed urban life and made it not
merely endurable, but so attractive that there is constant deprecation of the tend-
ency to desert the farm for the city. The real estate dealer in San Francisco has
played an active part in its development since the days when it was the village
of Yerba Buena, but his activities have rarely taken on boom characteristics. It
has been stated that at no time in the history of the City was there a dis-
position shown to inflate values by the device of misstating sale prices, the con-
servative course of naming a nominal sum in the deed, as the consideration,
being the usage from the beginning; but dealers succeeded in imparting
the belief that real estate is dependable property, and that it is one of the
best forms of investment. To the propagation of this idea, and the diligence
in promoting urban transportation facilities exhibited in the Eighties may be
attributed the fact that San Francisco despite the manifold temptations to crowd,
was never seriously afflicted with the tenement evil. The propensity to live in
rooms and take meals at restaurants, and to board or maintain quarters in hotels,
was very strong before 1906, but there were comparatively few houses into which
a large number of families were crowded.
That this tendency made little headway was due to the fact that San Fran-
cisco real estate men were among the earliest to recognize the possibilities which
improved urban transportation presented. The effect of the introduction of the
cable as an agent in the work of dispersion was foreseen and discounted by them.
Long before the necessary capital could be obtained for the building of cable
railways the energetic real estate dealer had figured out the places to which they
could and would penetrate, and had convinced clients innumerable that they would
be promptly provided. The result was the creation of many nuclei which soon
developed into settlements of consequence, the inhabitants of which incessantly
demanded the fulfillment of their expectations. The modern reformer who dilates
upon the rapacity of the men who "grabbed" the valuable privileges of early days
has deliberately closed his eyes to the existence of the condition which produced
the result he now deprecates. The privilege of running street cars on the thor-
oughfares of a populous city is a valuable one, but we are too apt to lose sight of
the fact that the values were in large part created by the men who obtained the
privileges, and that in many, if not in all instances, they had to be urged to run
SAN FRANCISCO
759
the risk of providing a service long before a proper remuneration for their outlay
could be obtained.
The development of the street car system of San Francisco has been the sub-
ject of more misunderstanding, and has resulted in bringing more discredit on
the City than anything else in its history. It is well, therefore to make
as clear as possible certain facts which will help to fix the blame where it belongs.
Their recital will show that the laches of the community had created a condition
which made development as difficult without paying toll as it would have been
for the merchant to pass through the forest of Arden without settling with Robin
Hood. It is not necessary to inquire narrowly into the causes which contributed to
the state of mind which rendered men otherwise scrupulously exact in their deal-
ings with their fellowmen indifferent to the lax practices of those who were acting
for them in a public capacity. There will be no denial of the assertion that this
looseness existed. It may be surmised that at bottom the indifference was due to
the feeling that the public servant was underpaid, and that the man not properly
rewarded for his services may be excused for adding to his revenues by irregular
methods. At any rate there was condonation of irregularity, and the vice grew in
the same manner as that of tipping, which in many respects closely resembles the
graft of the office-holder to whom tribute was paid, and is still paid, voluntarily to
secure the expeditious performance of a duty which would, perhaps, be performed
with expedition without the tip if the salary or wages of the position were com-
mensurate with the expectations of the person holding it.
The statement that this was and is a condition is merely put forward as an
explanation and not as an excuse for its existence, and because nothing can be
gained by suppressing or misrepresenting the facts. The latter are easily ascer-
tained. They are largely a matter of record, and when that character of evidence
is lacking the deficit can be pieced out with notoriety. There is no question that
up to 1880 a street car franchise was not regarded as a valuable privilege by the
people of San Francisco. In 1879 there was an active demand for franchises and
a great number of them were granted; but it is significant that some of the ap-
plications made by men, who were reputed to be shrewd in business matters, were
for as short a period as twenty-five years, although the term might have been
made fifty for the asking. This implies that these applicants at least did not
imagine that they were securing a tremendously valuable privilege, and it may
be added that the franchises secured at this time, in several instances, proved to
be valueless, the roads built under them being operated at a loss to the investors.
It was not until 1887 that anything like a serious objection was urged against
the granting of franchises. In that year we find Mayor Washington Bartlett in his
valedictory message to the supervisors recommending that "limitations should be
placed upon municipal corporations in regard to privileges, and the using of public
streets by railroads and other corporations, and that franchises should not be
given for more than twenty-five years." Such a prohibition he declared "would tend to
prevent the giving for too long periods of franchises which in the City of San Fran-
cisco alone were worth millions." In view of the fact that Bartlett's name is found
affirmatively appended to several franchises given to street railways during his
two terms of office, which began in 1883 and expired in January, 1887, the recom-
mendation suggests the pertinent remark about locking the stable door after the
steed had been stolen; or it might have done so if it were not true that there were
t Regarded
Valuable
Locking the
Stable Door
After the
Steed is Stolen
760
SAN FRANCISCO
Popular
Indifference
o Franchise
still numerous opportunities to make profitable use of the streets that had not
been taken advantage of up to that period. Nobody questioned the probity of
Bartlett when he approved a franchise granted to Thomas Magee and others in
1886, although the name of a professional lobbyist of the Market street system
was included in the number, nor did anyone challenge the motives of the members
of the board of supervisors who voted affirmatively despite the opposition of
E. B. Pond, who afterward was chosen mayor, largely because of the reputation
acquired by him as the watchdog of the treasury. Several years earlier when a
group in the board of supervisors granted every privilege asked for there was
a great deal of talk about "the solid nine," but later when the legislative body
was nearly unanimous in the exercise of its power of making gifts the voice of
the critic was almost hushed.
A review of all the circumstances attending the conferring of street car fran-
chises up to the close of the Nineties would disclose that the people of the City
generally were mainly concerned to get facilities, and that they were in no wise
particular about the mode of getting them. Such antagonisms as those which
occasionally developed appear to have grown out of the rivalries of the companies
already in the field, who sought to prevent encroachments on the territory occu-
pied by them, and sometimes they were influenced by a narrow jealousy which
sought to interpose obstacles to the extension of lines into sections whose develop-
ment might interfere with the growth of those already penetrated and supplied with
street car service. Gustav Sutro and his associates, who received a franchise in
December, 1886, to construct a line from Central, now Presidio avenue, to the
Cliff house, met with opposition of this sort, and in the ensuing year there
was considerable friction, the most of which, however, was smoothed over by com-
promises which were so easily effected that there was ground for a reasonable
doubt that the contests were not as serious as they appeared to be on the surface.
By 1890 these slight obstacles to the acquisition of privileges seem to have dis-
appeared, and franchises and extensions were freely conferred, many of which
were apparently secured for the purpose of strengthening existing lines. There
were some fresh enterprises represented by new interests, but they were formed
chiefly for the occupation of what at the time were unoccupied fields.
It would be an error to assert that at the close of the century the valuable
street privileges had all been secured, a 
