Acting upon this hint, Wilson accepted $5,000 from Halsey. Later he told Ruef of having got the money. Ruef told him that he should not have taken it. Wilson has testified that he offered to return it. “No,” he claims Ruef replied, “don’t do that just now. Wait and see. I will let you know later. You might get into a trap by giving it back; you had better wait.”
Ruef claims, however, that he advised Wilson to return the money.
For description of this “dividing of the ways” scene, see testimony of Supervisor Wilson, Transcript on Appeal, The People vs. Ruef, page 2843.
Gallagher in his confession said of the decision of the Supervisors to stand by Ruef and Schmitz: “Mr. Wilson talked to a number of those boys (Supervisors who had taken money from the Pacific States’s agent), he being one of those who had taken this money, and he told me that notwithstanding the fact that they had taken this money that he didn’t feel that he wanted to stand out from the leadership of Mr. Ruef and wanted to act with him and myself in the matter and said that he would talk to the other boys about it, and see how they felt about the proposition of voting for the Home Telephone franchise anyhow.”
In his confession, Gallagher stated that under this arrangement he paid $3,500 each to Coffey, Coleman, Furey, Lonergan, Mamlock, Nicholas, Phillips and Wilson; $6,000 each to Davis, Duffey, Harrigan and Kelley, reserving $10,000 for himself. Those who received no part of the Home Telephone Company money were Boxton, Sanderson, Walsh, McGushin and Rea. Of the five, Boxton and Sanderson received $5,000 each from Halsey of the Pacific Company, and Walsh, according to his recollection, $3,500. McGushin and Rea received none of the bribe money paid by the two telephone companies.
Gallagher testified before the Grand Jury, that the additional compensation had been given Wilson because he was more useful than any other member, besides himself, in keeping the Supervisors in line and in passing information regarding prospective bribe money.