Roy had told Lonergan of an ordinance authorizing the establishing of an oil refinery in which Roy claimed to be interested. He promised Lonergan $500 to support the measure. The ordinance had been cleverly prepared, with an acrostic in the title, spelling the word “Fake.”[159] Roy had interested Boxton in the measure as well as Lonergan. Boxton had introduced it at a regular meeting of the Board of Supervisors. On March 7, while Ruef was a fugitive, Lonergan went to Roy’s house to get the money to be paid him for the support of the “Fake” ordinance.
The same arrangements had been made for Lonergan as for Boxton. Burns and his men were concealed in the darkened dining-room; the folding doors were ajar. Lonergan took the money.
“What,” he demanded of Roy, “have you in the next room?” and advanced toward the partially-open folding doors. At that Burns threw the doors open.
“You see,” said Burns, “what he has in there.”
“I want you to arrest this man,” cried Lonergan, indicating Roy. “He bribed a Supervisor.”
“Yes, I saw him do it,” replied Burns. “But you did not tell me to arrest him when he bribed you down at the skating-rink.”
Lonergan at first denied the skating-rink incident, but finally admitted it. Langdon and Heney were sent for, and joined the party at Roy’s house. Lonergan was urged to tell what he knew of graft of the Schmitz-Ruef administration. He finally consented. It was not a long story. Supervisor James L. Gallagher had acted as go-between, Lonergan stated, from Ruef to the Supervisors. From Gallagher, Lonergan testified, he had received $475 to influence his vote in the ordinance granting permits to the organized prize fight promoters to hold fights once a month; $750 to influence his vote in fixing gas rates at 85 cents per thousand instead of 75 cents, as had been pledged in the Union Labor party platform on which he had been elected; $3500 in the matter of granting the Home Telephone Company’s franchise; $4000 for his vote in granting the United Railroads its permit to establish the overhead trolley system. Lonergan stated further that Gallagher had promised him $750, and later $1000, to influence his vote in the matter of passing an ordinance for the sale of a franchise applied for by the Parkside Realty Company, with the “biggest thing yet” to come, when the deal was consummated, by which the city would accept the plans of the Bay Cities Water Company.
In addition to the sums received from Gallagher, Lonergan confessed to receiving $5000 from T. V. Halsey, representing the Pacific States Telephone and Telegraph Company. Halsey had paid Lonergan the money, the Supervisor said, to oppose the granting of a franchise to the Home Telephone Company.
Walsh and Boxton were sent for. On their arrival at Roy’s house they were closely questioned, and urged to confess, but neither would make a statement that night. Boxton insisted that he would admit nothing unless the other Supervisors made statements. But on the following day, March 8, Walsh made a statement under oath to the District Attorney and Heney, in which he confessed to receiving bribes from Gallagher, except in the Home Telephone bribery, in the same amount and under like conditions that Lonergan had stated bribes had been paid him.
Startling as these confessions were, they as a matter of fact involved none but Lonergan, Walsh, Gallagher and Halsey. At no point did they touch Ruef, or Schmitz, or those who had furnished the bribe money. Boxton with Walsh and Lonergan had been trapped in bribery. Two had confessed to receiving money from Gallagher, but even though the third, Boxton, added his confession to theirs, it would not have provided sufficient to convict. The confessions of the three were uncorroborated as to each bribe. The remaining fifteen Supervisors would to a certainty have sworn they voted for the several measures without inducement. With such testimony from the fifteen, no motive could have been shown for Gallagher to bribe Lonergan, Walsh and Boxton; the measures could, with the votes of the fifteen, have been passed without the votes of the three Supervisors trapped. To make out even a fairly good case against Ruef, it was absolutely essential to have Gallagher’s testimony, and in addition thereto, the testimony of a majority of the members of the Board of Supervisors.[160]