The San Francisco graft trials were a series of attempts from 1905 to 1908 to prosecute public officials in the city of San Francisco, California, for graft and other political corruption. Only one person was convicted and went to prison: the city's main political boss Abe Ruef.
Among those implicated were Mayor Eugene Schmitz, and various members of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, all of whom had taken bribes from business owners. Ruef was at the center of the corruption; while acting as Schmitz's attorney, he approved all city contracts and received hundreds of thousands of dollars in payment from business owners, keeping a portion for himself and distributing the remainder to the Mayor and Supervisors.
Former mayor James Phelan, along with banker Rudolph Spreckels and editor Fremont Older of the San Francisco Evening Bulletin, asked United States District Attorney Francis Heney, fresh from a successful stint as special assistant to the U.S. Attorney General's office in prosecuting the Oregon land fraud scandal, to help put an end to the corruption. Heney charged Ruef and Schmitz with numerous counts of bribery and brought them to trial. Heney rejected a juror because he was an ex-con and publicly accused Ruef of trying to plant him on the jury. During the trial, the rejected juror shot Heney in the face, but Heney survived. The juror was found dead in jail the next morning, and many suspected Ruef and his allies of complicity in his death. Some members of the public thought that Sheriff William Biggy was negligent, and when he fell off a boat late one night and drowned, some thought it may have been suicide, but others thought he may have been murdered.
Ruef's trial was eventually brought to a successful close by Special Assistant District Attorney (and future California Governor and U.S. Senator) Hiram Johnson, and after several appeals, Ruef served four years in San Quentin Prison. While there, he wrote a series of tell-all columns for Older's Bulletin newspaper implicating a number of companies, executives, and public officials. Mayor Schmitz was found guilty, jailed, and then released and retried, but did not serve any time. All of the business owners and supervisors implicated received immunity for their testimony about Ruef's and Schmitz's complicity and were not arrested or charged. When a new District Attorney, Charles Fickert, was elected, he stopped the investigations and all further prosecutions.
Background
During the first decade of the 20th century in the United States, employers supported an open shop movement and were decidedly anti-union. They were able to obtain government support to prevent workers from organizing. California was a center of corruption at the time, indirectly influenced by the Southern Pacific Railroad which had exerted a large degree of control over California politics for many years. This is evidenced by the refusal of Stephen T. Gage, one of the directors of the Southern Pacific Railway, and Richard Chute, a salaried employee of the same company, to obey a summons from the 1891 Wallace Grand Jury until compelled by the California State Supreme Court.
These companies and other well-funded interest groups and individuals used their economic power and influence to form trusts and monopolies that guaranteed them power. Many of these wealthy and powerful people lived in San Francisco, the largest port on the West Coast, and when necessary could reinforce their hold on power through corrupt politicians and city bosses.
Powerful unions
In the spring of 1901, San Francisco employers made a decision to try to push back gains made by the trade unions during the previous two years. They formed a secret employers' association. Its bylaws stipulated that no member could settle a strike by a union without permission from the executive committee.
Beginning of strike
On May 1, 6,000 of the Cooks' and Waiters' Union walked out, demanding one day off per week, a ten-hour work day, and a union shop in all city restaurants. They were joined by the Carriage Makers union and journeymen butchers, and on May 20, the International Association of Machinists announced a nationwide strike.
To counter the success of the unions, the secret Employers' Association hired an attorney, M.F. Michael, who was initially their sole visible face. He announced in an interview published on May 10, 1901, that the employers were unalterably opposed to a closed shop and they would not negotiate that point. The Employers' Association received up to $500,000 in anonymous donations and used their financial muscle to threaten to cut off supplies to anyone who broke ranks.
The contract for handling the baggage for attendees of a national convention of the Epworth League in San Francisco was given to a non-union company. During the prior year, a union company was hired during another convention in San Francisco to handle the baggage, but many attendees did not receive their luggage until they were ready to leave town. Tens of thousands of attendees were projected to attend, and the Drayman's Association was hoping to avoid a similarly embarrassing episode. However, the non-union company given the contract was unable to fulfill its obligations and sought the assistance of firm controlled by the newly organized Brotherhood of Teamsters. The union refused to work on a job with non-union men. In response, the Draymen's Association, under pressure from the Employers' Association, locked out the city's unionized teamsters on July 21. They were hoping to break the power of the teamsters' union.
Fearing that the teamsters' union would be crushed, the San Francisco Labor Council directed the City Front Federation, led by its President Andrew Furuseth and made up of the city's 14 maritime unions, including the Sailor's Union of the Pacific and the longshoremen's unions, to strike in support of the locked out teamsters. A total of about 16,000 longshoremen, clerks, packers, and warehouse workers on both sides of San Francisco Bay joined the work stoppage, further increasing the tense situation. The lockout spread to the entire waterfront, which shut down much of the Bay Area's transportation and as a result most commerce.
Mayor arms strikebreakers
Both sides refused to compromise on their stance for a closed or an open shop. Both accused the other of conspiracy and aggressive tactics, further aggravating tensions and confusing the public. During July, regional produce was ready to be shipped, and the employers hired strikebreakers. Democratic Mayor James D. Phelan, who had served three consecutive terms, designated the employers' strikebreakers as "special deputies", allowing them to wear badges, bear arms, and carry clubs, and told the police to protect the strikebreakers. Farmers grew frustrated when their wheat stood on the docks and began to load and move their own crops. Former Army teamsters, returning from the war in the Philippines, gladly filled the available strikebreaking jobs, and university students from the University of California took jobs.
The employers' strikebreakers were met by the unions with force and the employers called for police intervention. The strikers threw rocks at the strikebreakers and marbles under the feet of the horses pulling the carts. The mayor's actions did nothing to stop the violence and inflamed the union leadership. They accused the strikebreakers of routine brutality and violence. Mayor Phelan had been elected in large measure due to the support of organized labor but now he sided with the employers. At a meeting in his office, he refused to withdraw the policemen from the waterfront. In anger, labor attendees falsely reported that Phelan told them, "If you don't want to be clubbed, get back to work." His attitude further enraged the labor leadership.
Strike broken
On September 29, after four months of strikes and increased violence, a bloody riot and gun battle broke out on Kearny Street in broad daylight. The employers' strikebreakers attacked the union blockade. Picketing workers were clubbed, five workers were shot and killed, and 336 were injured. Hundreds more were arrested and the strike was broken. On October 3, California Governor Henry T. Gage stepped in and threatened all parties with the imposition of martial law. He convened a meeting of the Drayman's Association and the Teamsters Union, eliminating the employers association. The terms of the settlement were never made public, but the result was that the employers were able to retain an open shop, though they could not exclude members of the union. The employers' association, flush with success, soon disbanded.
Union Labor Party formed
Anticipating defeat, on September 5, 1901, about 300 delegates representing 68 of San Francisco's unions met at a convention and established the Union Labor Party of the City and County of San Francisco. The convention approved a platform including a call for the revision of the city charter to curb future intervention by the city administration in labor disputes, a demand for municipal ownership of all public utilities, building more schools, promoting teachers based on merit, and ending the poll tax. The platform also contained a nativist demand that called for restricting Asian immigration and creating racially segregated schools for Asian children. Some organized labor, including the State Building Trades Council led by P. H. McCarthy, refused to join the new labor party.
Ruef backs mayoral candidate
Abe Ruef was a Republican for a number of years when it was generally seen as the party of the Southern Pacific Railroad and its allies. Ruef patiently built a patronage empire over several years. He methodically sought out neighborhood associations, ethnic clubs, and other civic groups, supporting them with contributions and payments, and providing services like leniency from a local judge and quick approval of a business license. Ruef competed with Michael Casey, president of the Teamsters Union, for control of the union, but eventually ceded the contest, but not his influence, to Casey. Union local Eugene Schmitz played the violin, conducted the orchestra at the Columbia Theatre on Powell Street in San Francisco, and was president of the Musician's union local. He and Ruef had been friends for 15 years. When the Union Labor Party sought a candidate for mayor, Ruef contributed $16,000 (about $ in ) to Schmitz's campaign and used his considerable influence to make sure Schmitz was selected to front for the new Union Labor Party.:commons:File:"The system," as uncovered by the San Francisco graft prosecution (IA cu31924028884231).pdf :commons:File:"The system," as uncovered by the San Francisco graft prosecution (IA systemasuncovere00hich).pdf Ruef wrote the Union Labor Party's platform and built a strong, behind-the-scenes network of supporters, including the more than 1,000 saloon keepers and another 1,000 bartenders in San Francisco, who all influenced political discussions in their saloons.
Once the strike was concluded, Mayor Phelan found he had no friends and was forced to drop out of the race. The Republicans nominated Asa R. Wells and the Democrats chose Joseph A. Tobin. The local citizens supported the Union Labor Party because they felt it was more sensitive to their needs even though the elected officials were enormously corrupt, and Schmitz was narrowly elected on November 5, 1901, winning 21,776 of the 53,493 votes cast; the Republicans and Democrats split the remainder, allowing Schmitz to take office. Although the labor party only won three of the Board of Supervisors' seats, they managed to control many of the city commissions due to appointments made by the mayor. With union control of the mayor's office, San Francisco became the first union-run city in the United States.
Ruef controls city contracts