As early as April 3, 1906, a petition was circulated for signatures among residents and property owners on Bush street, asking the Board of Supervisors to grant a franchise to operate street-cars on Bush street under the electric-conduit system.
The San Francisco Examiner of March 31, 1906, set forth that “an important feature (of the plans for competing street railways) was that the city should have the right at the end of ten years or any shorter period that might be preferred, to take over the system and operate the same itself, the terms of the transfer to be such as would be just both to the builders and to the municipality.”
Among the purposes for which the Municipal Street Railways of San Francisco was formed, was set forth in the articles of incorporation the following: “To accept and acquire franchises for street railroads, elevated railroads and subways, containing provisions for the acquisition thereof by the City and County of San Francisco, or such other conditions as may be lawfully inserted therein.”
See Keane’s testimony in The People vs. Ruef, No. 1437, Part 3, vol. 1, page 455.
Supervisor Gallagher testified in the case of The People vs. Ruef, No. 1437, that about a week before the fire “Mr. Ruef stated that the United Railroads wanted to secure a permit to use electricity upon their lines and asked me to speak to the members of the Board of Supervisors about it and let him know whether it could go through the Board, and about what amount of money it would take. I told him that I would do so.” (See Transcript on Appeal, page 850.) Similar testimony, to show that the United Railroads was dealing with Ruef during the month preceding the fire, was brought out at trials of other defendants in the “graft” cases. This would make the date of Ruef’s activity on behalf of the United Railroads about the time of Mr. Calhoun’s announcement that he would proceed to present plans for the trolley system, to the “proper representatives” of the People (the Supervisors), who were even then, through Ruef, receiving bribe money from public-service corporations.