The “justness” of this contention appealed to all. A compromise was finally arranged, under which those who had stood out to the end against granting the Home franchise, should receive no part of the Home Telephone bribe money; those who had received $5000 from Halsey but finally voted for the Home franchise, were to return $2500 of the $5000 to Halsey, and receive $3500 from Gallagher, making the total of the telephone bribe money for each $6000; those who had received nothing from Halsey were each to be allowed $6000 of the Home Telephone money. In this way each Supervisor who had voted for the Home franchise would get $6000 for his vote. In the case of four of the Supervisors the entire $6000 came from the Home Company. Gallagher, too, was one of this class, all his compensation being Home Telephone money. But Gallagher received $10,000. Eight of the Supervisors had received money from Halsey, and yet voted to give the Home Company its franchise. These received $3500 Home Company money from Gallagher and were allowed to keep $2500 of the Pacific States Telephone and Telegraph Company money that Halsey had given them. Thus the Pacific States was forced to pay the Supervisors part of the bribe money they received for granting its rival a franchise. Incidentally, some of the Supervisors did not return half the $5000 to Halsey. But this is a phase of the ethics of bribery upon which it is unnecessary to touch.
Ruef regarded this unique discipline of the Pacific States as just punishment for its offense of trying to buy his Supervisors away from him.[177]
Following the telephone bribery, came that of the United Railroads to secure the much-opposed over-head trolley permit. On account of this permit, Gallagher testified, Ruef had given him $85,000 to be distributed among the Supervisors.
Of this $85,000, Gallagher kept $15,000 for himself, gave Wilson $10,000,[178] and to each of the other Supervisors with the exception of Rea,[179] $4000.
Gallagher’s testimony relative to the offer of a bribe in the matter of the Parkside Realty Company franchise was quite as explicit. He swore that Ruef had stated to him there ought to be $750 for each Supervisor in this. Later on, with a change in the proposed route,[180] Ruef had told Gallagher that the amount would be $1000 to each Supervisor. Gallagher had conveyed this information to the Supervisors. At the time of Ruef’s flight, arrest and the attending breaking up of his organization, the Supervisors were impatiently waiting for this money to be paid.[181]
One by one, sixteen of Gallagher’s associates went before the District Attorney and made full confession. In every detail they bore out Gallagher’s statements. When they had done, the District Attorney had statements from seventeen[182] of the eighteen Supervisors, that they had received large sums of bribe money to influence their votes in matters in which public service corporations were concerned; he knew the purposes for which the bribe money had been paid; he had a statement from Gallagher, corroborated at many points by the testimony of the other Supervisors, that the money had been furnished by Ruef. Ruef’s testimony would bring the bribery transactions directly to the doors of those who had bribed. This testimony could have been had, had the prosecution agreed to give Ruef complete immunity.
Ruef was a prisoner in charge of an elisor. He knew that the Supervisors had confessed. In an agony of indecision he sent for Gallagher and Wilson to learn from them all that had occurred.[183] They told him that full statements had been made to the District Attorney. Ruef complained that Gallagher should have tried to get into touch with him before making statements. To which Gallagher replied that such a course would have been impossible.[184] Both Gallagher and Wilson advised Ruef to make terms with the District Attorney. Ruef replied that he would think it over. Little came of the conference. The statements of the two Supervisors, however, must have shown Ruef how thorough the undoing of his organization had been, and how hopeless was his own case. But Ruef, sparring for time, and pleading for complete immunity, did not make immediate confession and, as a matter of fact has not, up to the present writing, told the full story of his connection with the public service corporations.[185]
After the confessions of the Supervisors, the District Attorney left Ruef to himself and hastened the Supervisors before the Grand Jury, where they repeated their miserable stories.[186]
And then the Grand Jury took up the task of tracing the bribe money from those who had received it, to those who had paid it.