The Guilt of the Grafters
It is a pretty poor presumption of innocence that some of the San Francisco prosecuted are laying before the greater jury, the people. When an official loudly declares his innocence, one would naturally think that his legal counsel would welcome all evidence, would suppress their constant “objections” to evidence presented by the prosecution, and would not advise their client not to answer plain questions having direct bearing upon the charges against him. The idea of innocence which some of these grafters seem to have is that one is innocent till he is proved guilty. The claim is a legal technicality, not a declaration of fact. The “great Delmas” in defending one of them does not make the innocence of his client the more evident by sneering at his more youthful legal opponent and waxing eloquent over legal technicalities, instead of meeting the charges in a straightforward way. According to all common logic the grafters have unwittingly confessed their guilt.