[Ruef, Abraham]:

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA, RESPONDENT VS. ABRAHAM RUEF, APPELLANT. APPELLANT'S PETITION FOR A TRANSFER OF THE ABOVE ENTITLED CAUSE FROM THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL AND FOR A HEARING OF SAID CAUSE IN THE SUPREME COURT.

San Francisco: Phillips & Van Orden Co., 1910. Original green title wrappers. [10], 261, [3 blanks], xxxv, [1 blank] pp, as issued. Text on glossy paper. Mild wrapper wear, Near Fine.

Ruef was indicted and convicted of offering a bribe to a San Francisco Supervisor in order to grant the United Railroads of San Francisco a franchise for building an electric trolley system in the City. This is his brief on appeal, setting forth the history and issues. A hard-fought, contentious case, OCLC records facsimiles only of this document, and a few originals of several other printed arguments and appeals
"Abraham Ruef, born to Jewish merchants in San Francisco in 1864, became one of the most compelling and controversial figures in the history of politics in the city as the (in)famous founder and boss of the Union Labor Party for the Eugene Schmitz mayoral administration from 1902-1906 before his conviction on charges of bribery and extortion and sentencing to the maximum penalty of fourteen years in jail (albeit he served five before he could arrange for his release). While Ruef admittedly engineered the backdoor graft and scheming that helped establish the funds and almost total power the Union Labor Party and its administration exerted in San Francisco politics in the early twentieth century, he was ultimately the only man convicted for any criminal wrongdoing. The other politicians and prominent businessmen involved, including Schmitz himself, either successfully won their appeals or otherwise avoided conviction altogether" [Web site of found.sf article on Ruef]. Item #38289

Price: $350.00