“We are after the ‘men higher up’ because they are the severest menace to our institutions, the enduring factors that program and bribe each Board of Supervisors as they come and go. We are after the ‘men higher up’ so as to make criminal acquisition unprofitable in terms of human desire. We are after the ‘men higher up’ so that young men and women growing up in this and other communities will once more believe with ardent fervor not only that dishonesty does not pay, but that of all the goods on this earth the greatest treasure is a straightforward life.”
The vote for Mayor and for District Attorney was as follows:
| For Mayor— | |
| Taylor | 28,766 |
| Ryan | 9,255 |
| McCarthy | 17,583 |
| Reguin (Soc.) | 1,503 |
| For District Attorney— | |
| Langdon | 34,923 |
| McGowan | 20,115 |
| Kirk (Soc.) | 1,298 |
In commenting upon the outcome of the election, the Examiner, in its issue of November 6, said: “And this revolt of union labor against misrepresentation in office began long ago. Before the primaries, when most of the registering was done, it was observed that the number of Republicans recorded was far in excess of the adherents of union labor. The story was told then. Disgusted with the dishonesty of the men they had placed in office, finding the local Democratic party a mere memory, they registered as Republicans because they were determined to vote against the representatives of Ruef and Schmitz who had captured their organization.
“Langdon’s majority will surprise no one. His election was a matter of course, for union labor, like all other decent elements in the community, was determined to sustain the prosecution of the grafters.
“The swing of union labor to Taylor will surprise the gentlemen who have been so fond of assuming that the working people would vote as a class regardless of principle. The fact that they set aside all class feeling, all personal preference, and rolled up a big majority in favor of the man considered most likely to defeat the zebra-striped bandits who had captured their organization proves that government in America is safe in the hands of the plain people.
“It is union labor, and union labor chiefly, which has saved San Francisco from McCarthy and McGowan.”
“Yesterday,” said the Chronicle the morning after the election, “was a great day for San Francisco. It was the turn of the tide. It was the beginning of the ascent to nobler ideals and better days. The passions of the conflict will soon die away. With an honest government assured, capital will not shun us but seek us. And we can look back on the events of the last six years as we remember a nightmare from which we awake to find ourselves in security and peace.”