The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, January 17, 1902, Page 1

19 LN ‘_‘_"“&v,,‘ 34 VOLUME XCL-. SAN FRANCISCO, FRIDAY, JANUARY 17, 1902. PRICE FIVE CENTS. SWORN WITNESSES COMPLETE THE PROOF OF MAHONY'S PRE-ELECTION BONDAGE AYOR SCHMITZ has now under advisement the evidence which supports the grave accusations which this paper has made against County Clerk Mahony. The testimony, overwhelming in its charac- has been presented to the chief executive of this city, and one of the most serious issues which he probably will be called upon to determine during his term as chief magistrate of San Francisco is before him. The in- quiry resulting from the charge made by The Call that County Clerk Mahony lated the lazws of the State and of the municipality in signing a secret, un- 'ful, criminal. ante-election compact is over, and the duty of The Call / ter, is ended. This paper performed the painful duty of exposing a crime, end the re- | sponsibility of punishing the perpetrator of that crime, under the law, rests | owith Mayor Schmitz as far as he has power to act. The investigation was concluded yesterday, and County Clerk Mahony stands now under the blaze of rx;'osu;'p. as a man who is not only ready to commit a felony but to lic and to shrink behind his friends in order to evade the consequences of his criminality. The testimony submitted to Mayor Schmitz yesterday showed beyond a shadow of doubt that the criminal ante-election compact to reward W. A. Deane in consideration for his retirement from the race for the nomination for County Clerk was signed by Mahony. Stenographer John C. Flood recanted - his former testimony and admitted that he wrote the compact, W. A. Deane testified that he saw it signed, and as a startling climax to the whole disgrace- ful affair, one witness made confession that the incriminating document, which under the lawo deprives County Clerk Mahony of his position of trust, was burned vyesterday afternoon. ness-stand. shameful. Only one person sought to hide from the truth. While not under oath, County Clerk Mahony denied that e had ever signed the agreement, and in thdt denial gave woice to a lie. When asked to place himself submit to the added danger of committing perjury, he refused to take the wit- He remains therefore before the people ‘of this city tn a light most The pdsition which he occupies involves the presumption that he must be a man of the most scrupulous integrity, absolutely above suspicion and under oath and whom no confidence can be given. of The Call has developed these wery serious facts. fit to record his own opinion that if the charges of The the evidence he would in himself be derelict in his duty mary action to protect San Francisco from the danger it in the County Clerk's office. The issue is in the hands uncompromising in his just treatment of persons and affairs. He has in his custody documents of incalculable value. He is called upon to perform a sacred duty of drawing juries, which may affect the life and even the death of the people of San Francisco. He has in his custody documents which determine the possession of property, and in the daily routine of his office he is called upon to exercise the most exacting care and judgment to conserve the rights and liberties of the people of San Francisco. This is what he must be to fulfill rightly the obligations of the post to which the electors of San Franeisco have elevated him. And at the very beginning of his public career he convicts himself. as a liar, a signer of a criminal compact, the perpetrator of a felony and a man to The inquiry which has followed the expose Mayor Schmitz has seen Call are sustained by if he did not take sum- which mnow confronts of the Mayor. PARLIAMENT 5 OPENED WITH POMP King and Queen Pass Between Walls of Po- lice and Troops. —_—— Edward Reads Speech From Throne Regretting That Boer War Continues. ords and Commoners Lose No Time in Criticizing the Government’s Operations in South Africa. al Dispatch to The Cail. 16—King Edward to-day Wwith m Last year's opening. was robbed of much f the court mourn- s ceremonial showed but t period of sorrow. a1~ procession, solid walls be- Queen passed. ed and bowed left, looked the past 2 the band the King. it was tarn s a matter of facr, not have oc- TR EIL L 1 wit che maintenance, burried forward to the entrance. Holds the Queen’s Hand. Ir stately manner the King and Que Majesty holding t Que & to many of his rea & t smile and nod for those whom she The Queen wore a high dress of ack id the same jewels she - Jt with the exception of a suy h formerly be- g n. She wore her diam wr far back on her mond drop falling v behind came the Duchess mistress of the robes. The merset was in black with ess of Welling- a very fine crown of hess of Marisborough th a diamond tiara and Perhaps the most o be seen was that worn It was made of a shade velvet chiffon. She wore nond crown, with green € cloak of apple green velvet, lined with ermine. She had five aesNs y Lady Galway pple gree L © h 1 lo: Continued on Page Two. e—— ey JOSEPH LEGGETT Sanw THE. | CREMATION ©OF THE AcCREEMENT 2 cMR DEANE THIS WAS JUST A PROMISE BETWEEN FRIENDS SucH AS HAVE BEEN MADE FOoR TWENT Y Y4 Tom RICRDAN EDWARD LANDE , RioRDANS SILENT PARTNER. Ahas WITNESSES . AND OTHERS WHO WERE PRESENT AT INVESTIGA- TION HELD BY MAYOR SCHMITZ. EARS sack’? - - G Investigation of the County Clerk Scandal x3 Closes and the Case Rests in the Hands of the Mayor. HE investigation by Mayor Schmitz yesterday of the Ma- hony scandal was conducted in open session and the evidence adduced completed the discom- fiture of the County Clerk. The hearing was concluded before 5 o'clock and the Mayor announced that he would take the matter under consideration. In answer to a question by Attorney Rior- dan, Mahony's counsel, the Mayor said he would let the accused know when he was ready to give his decision. Five witnesses who had seen the con- tract in which Mahony agreed to take care of Deane and his friends gave their testimony. The former County Clerk told a straightforward story of the circum- stances that led to the drawing up and signing of the contract. Mrs, Deane tes- tified to having the contract for months in her custody. John Deane, brother of the former County Clerk, had read the document and he told on the stard what were its contents and what signatures were attached. Joseph.. Leggett testified to the signatures and to part of the contents. And most conclu- Custodian of Venal Contract Burns Document. sive of all, John C. Flood, the deputy in the County Clerk’'s office, who drew up the document and with Gregory Vallero signed it as a witness, recalled the occa- sion and the deed. He testified that he probably drew it up on lines of Mr. Deane's direction and that:his remem- . brance of signing the contract was defi- nite. Tragedy Being Played. The monotonous routine of question and answer was varled by z few dra- matic situations that made those present realize it was a tragedy that was belng played to its denouement. Mrs. W. A. Deane, to whose keeping the document signed by Mahony had been intrusted, furnished in her testimony the sensation of the proceedings. The wife of the recent County Clerk had been asked where the contract was at that moment. With face tense with emotion and voice scarce above a whis- per, Mrs. Dedne replied: “It is burned!” And in a silence that was a rare tri- bute to the noble impulses of a woman, the group of men about the Mayor’s table listened to the woman’s reasons for de- stroying a document that with fine sense of honor she had felt from the first to be shameful, and which she could not pre- serve to add to the burden that a man must bear, even though he had brought it upon himself. Msahony’s Hope Fades. At one point Mahony seemed to feel that much hope for him depended upon John Flood's standing pat and denying under oath that he had signed the Deane WILLIAM A.DEANE TEL-S OF THE CoMPACT ThAT Wa s NoT KREPT..... Deane Testifies That Pledge Wzs Duly Signed. contract as a witness. The situation be- came more and more strained as Mayor Schmitz, with a skill that showed the lawyer born, since not made, led the wit- ness on and on to the climax. where Flood admitted without reserve that he signed the paper by which Mahony prom- ised to reward Deane with the chief deputyship. Mahony had listened appre- hensively, and when the weight of Flood's testimony fell into the scales against him FlLoen: "L REMEMBER B SIGNING THE CONTRACT - Jorin DEANE - SAYS HE SANv THE DOCUMENTL < Flood Now Remem- bers the Document in Question. AYOR SCHMITZ sent for the reporters waiting In the outer office yesterday aftermoon and after they and the parties to the Mahony investigation were seated in his private room he announced that the remainder of the hear- ing would be public. Thomas D. Riordan, Mahony's attorney, demurred at first, but finally admitted that it was for the Mayor to determine what the form of the proceedings should be. “I desire, however, since the news- paper men are here,” Riordan sald, “'to re- peat my objection to theMayor conducting this examination, on the same grounds as stated yesterday: First, the County Clerk is a county officer and the Mayor has no jurisdiction over him; and, sec- ond, conceding that the Mayor has juris- dictlon over elective officers of this city, the Mayor's power to suspension is solely confined to malfeasance or misconduct in office ‘after the official has assumed the duties of his office.” ‘I have given the matter careful con- sideration and taken advice on this ques- tion.” the Mayor said. “‘and consequently 1 intend*to proceed with the investigation. I think it is a duty Lowe, not only to my- self, but to the people of the city and county of San Francisco, who elected me to this office, to take cognizance of any acts, criminal or otherwise, of any of the officers. The charter gives me the right of superiviston over all officers, to inquire into their actions, and I in.end to do so."’ —_————— JOHN J. DEANE - ON THE STAND John J. Deane, brother of the former County , Clerk, was the first witness Continued on Page Five. Continued on Page Five. VENEZUELA SENDS NOTE 10 ENGLAND Protests Against Opera- tions of Filibuster Steamship. Castro’s Fleet Does Not Dare to Attack the Craft of Revolutionists. The Libertador, Formerly the Ban Righ, Appears to Cruise About and Land Afms at Her Pleasure. Spectal Dispatch to The CALL BUREAU, 406 G STREET, N. W., WASHINGTON, Jan. 16.—Venezuela has sent the following cablegram to the British Government, according to ad- vices recelved here from Caracas: “CARACAS, Jan. 0.—Minister of State, London: The English steamship Ban Righ, armed for war, is inimical to Vene- zuela. “MINISTER FOREIGN AFFAIRS.” The British Forelgn Office has not re- plied to this note. Officers of British warships now at La Guayra, the seaport of.Caracas, consider that the Ban Righ, which is now called the Libertador by the Venezuelan insur- gents, is a smuggling and revolutionary vessel and they will not interfere with her movements, because she has not committed any piratical action up to the present time against foreign interests. The craft, they assert, cannot be consid- ered as an enemy to the human race. The Ban Righ was built at Glasgow in 1870 by J. Elder & Co. She is supposed to be owned by the Aberdeen Navigation Company, limited, though the Venzuelan revolutionary party under the leadership of Senor Manuel A. Matos may have pur- chased her. She carried Matos’ expedi- tion to Venezuela, after having arrived at Martinique with a large quantity of arms and ammunition for the Venezuelan revo- lutionists. Her gross tonnage 1s 981 Afraid of the Libertador. WILLEMSTADT, Island of Curacao, Jan. 16.—The Venezuelan revolutionary steamer Libertador (formerly the Ban Righ )was sighted Tuesday evening near Cape Codera, east of La Guayra. It is supposed she landed arms there. Num- bers of insurgents are in the fleld in that vieinity. CARACAS, Venezuela, Jan. 16.—General Mateo, the revolutionary leader, is mas- ter ‘at sea, for President Castro's fleet does not dare attack the Libertador. The Government troops, however, watch the coasts 8o well that the landing of arms and ammunition is nearly impos- sible. The only important successful landing took place January 9, near Tuec- pan, where much ammunition and Gen- eral Riera were safely debarked. According to the last reports received here regarding the whereabouts of the Libertador she was recently at the Dutch island of Aruba. She passed January 9 In view of La Guayra and accidentally carrfed away the mast of a small schooner. General Matos thereupon pald 3150 to the captain of the schooner and towed her two miles to a harbor. Leaders Are Not Yet Beaten. The impression which prevalls here is that the revolution is not progressing. The difficulties encountered in the at- tempts made to pass arms and ammuni- tion through the Government lines ren- der the success of General Matos prob- lematical. Generals Mendoza and Fernandez, the insurgent leaders, notwithstanding their lack of resources, are not yet crushed. The reports of uprisings in Guayars and other points remain unconfirmed. PARIS, Jan. 16—The French Govern- ment this morning cabled to Caracas in- structing the French Consul/there to in- sist that M. Secrestat Jr., who recently arrived at La Guayra on the French line steamer St. Laurent, from Bordeaux, be allowed to land. Caill Hours for Inspection. Dr. Hugh S. Cumming, Federal quaran- tine officer at Angel Island, has an~ nounced that steamers arriving from Vie torfa will be inspected up to 9 p. m. dur- ing the winter and up to 10 p. m. during the summer.