This whole episode proved to be a turning-point in Keith's career. His revulsion against the feminine--hence society--side of life brought about by the affair of Mrs. Morrell, might soon have passed, and he might soon have returned to the old round of picnics, excursions, dinners, and parties, were it not that coincidentally a new and absorbing occupation was thrust upon him. Dick Blatchford's case was only one of many that came to him. He became completely immersed in the fascinating intricacies of the law.
As has been previously1 pointed2 out, nowhere before nor since has pure legality been made such a fetish. It was a game played by lawyers, not an attempt to get justice done. Since, in all criminal cases at least, the prosecution3 was carried on by one man and his associates, poorly paid and hence of mediocre4 ability, and the defence conducted by the keenest brains in the profession, it followed that convictions were rare. Homicide in various forms was little frowned upon. Duels5 were of frequent occurrence, and, in several instances, regular excursions, with tickets, were organized to see them. Street shootings of a more informal nature were too numerous to count. Invariably an attempt, generally successful, was made to arrest the homicide. If he had money, he hired the best lawyers, and rested secure. If he had no money, he disappeared for a time. Almost everybody had enough money, or enough friends with money, to adopt the former course. Of 1,200 murders--or "killings"--committed in the San Francisco of those days, there was just _one_ legal conviction!
It was a point of professional pride with a lawyer to get his client free. Indeed, to fail would be equivalent to losing a very easy game. The whole battery of technical delays, demurrers, etc., was at his command; a much larger battery than even the absurd criminal courts of our present day can muster6. Delays to allow the dispersal of witnesses were easily arranged for, as were changes of venue7 to courts either prejudiced in favour of the strict interpretation8 of "law" or frankly9 venal10. Of shadier expedients11, such as packing juries, there seemed no end.
Your honourable12, high-minded lawyers--which meant the well-dressed and prosperous--had nothing to do with such dirty work; that is, directly. There were plenty of lawyers not so honourable and high minded called in as "counsel." These little lawyers, shoulder strikers, bribe13 givers and takers, were held in good-humoured contempt by the legal stars--who employed them! Actual dishonesty was diluted14 through a number of men. Packing a jury was a fine art. Initially15 was needed connivance16 at the sheriff's office. Hence lawyers, as a class, were in politics. Neither the stellar lawyer nor the sheriff knew any of the details of the transaction. A sum of money went to the former's "counsel" as expenses, and emerged, considerably17 diminished, in the sheriff's office as "perquisites18." It had gone from the counsel to somebody like Mex Ryan, from him to various plug- uglies, ward19 heelers, shoulder strikers, from them to one or another of the professional jurymen, and then on the upward curve through the sheriff's underlings who made out the jury lists to Webb himself. The thing was done.
In this tortuous20 way many influences were needed. The most honest lawyer's limit as to the queer things he would do depended on his individual conscience. It is extraordinary what long training and the moral support of a whole profession will do toward educating a conscience. Do not despise unduly21 the lawyers of that day. We have all of us good friends in the legal profession who will defend in court a criminal they know to be guilty as charged. They will urge that no man should go undefended; and will argue themselves into a belief that in such a case "defence" means not merely fair play, but a desperate effort to get him off anyhow--trained conscience. If such sophistries22 are sincerely believed by honest men nowadays, it cannot be wondered at that queerer sophistries passed current in a community not five years old. It was difficult to draw the line between the men who mistakenly believed themselves honest and those who knew themselves dishonest.
But once in politics there could be no end. In this field the law rubbed shoulders with big contracts, big operations. A city was being built, in a few years, out of nothing, by a busy, careless, and shifting population. The opportunities for making money on public works--either honestly or by jobbery--were almost unlimited23. The mood of the times was extravagant24. From the still unexhausted placers poured a flood of gold, hard money, tangible25 wealth; and a large percentage of it paused in San Francisco, changed hands before continuing its journey. Immigrants brought with them a lesser26 but still significant sum. Money was easy. People could and would pay high taxes without a thought, for they would rather pay well to be let alone than bother with public affairs. The city treasury27 should have been full to bursting. In addition, the municipality was rich in its real estate. The value of all land had gone up immensely; any time more cash was needed it could quickly be raised by the sale of public lots. The supply seemed inexhaustible.
Like hyenas28 to a kill the public contractors29 gathered. Immense public works were undertaken at enormous prices. Paving, sewers30, grading, filling, lighting31, wharves32, buildings Were all voted; and the work completed in the quickest, flimsiest, most slipshod fashion; and at terrible prices. The Graham House, a pretentious33 frail34 structure that had failed as a hotel because a swamp lay between it and the city, was bought at a huge price to serve as city hall. It was a veritable white elephant, and even the busy populace spared time to grumble35 at the flagrant steal. Nobody knew what it would cost to make the thing habitable even. Soon, to every one's relief, it burned down. The property was then swindled over to Peter Smith. The Jenny Lind Theatre, an impossible, ramshackle structure, was purchased over the vigorous protest of every decent citizen, for the enormous sum of $300,000. Another $100,000 was alleged36 to have been spent in remodelling37 and furnishing it. Then it was solemnly declared "unsuited to the purpose." It also burned down in one of the numerous fires. But the money was safe!
To get such deals as these through "legally" it was of course necessary that officials, councilmen, engineers, etc., should be sympathetic. Naturally the big operators, as well as the big lawyers, had to go into politics. Elections came soon to be so many farces38. In some wards39 no decent citizen dared show his face. "Shoulder strikers" were openly hired for purposes of intimidation40. Bribery41 was scarcely concealed42. And if things looked doubtful, there were always the election inspectors43 and judges in reserve who could be relied upon to make things come out right in the final count. The proper men were always returned as elected. If violence or fraud were alleged, lawyers always got the accused off in a strictly44 legal manner.
In these matters, it must be repeated, no opprobrium45 ever rested on either the big lawyers or the big operators. "Expenses" went to the underlings, and after some mysterious subterranean46 manipulation, of which the big fellows remained blandly47 unconscious, results came back.
In the world of public works Keith rapidly made himself a position. He was leading counsel for Dick Blatchford and one or two others. His job was to know all the rules of the game so well that there were no comebacks; to set the machinery48 in motion by which the contracts were procured49; and to straighten out any irregularities that might arise afterward50. His position was almost academic. The matters he fought and decided51 were so detached from actuality, as far as he was concerned, that they might have been hypothetical cases. When Dick wanted anything specific, Keith instructed Patsy Corrigan to see that the proper officials awarded the contract. If the matter ever came to the courts, Keith furnished the brains and Patsy somehow "saw" the sheriff and whoever was necessary from the mysterious underworld. Everybody was doing the same thing. In the minds of men profits of any sort were legitimate52 provided they were "legal," but especially against so vague an entity53 as a community. Civic54 consciousness had not been born in them, for the simple reason that the city was constituted perfectly55 to suit them. Only when men are dissatisfied with their government do they seek to become responsible for it. There was no active public opinion against them. Men were too busy to bother with such things. Occasionally a fairly vigorous protest against some peculiarly outrageous56 steal made itself heard, but the men who made it were either cranks or it was suspected they had been pinched in some way. They merely represented the opposition57 any active man expects.
And every last one of these merry, jovial58 pirates was inordinately59 proud of the ship he was helping60 to scuttle61! That one fact, attentively62 considered, explains much.
The city was growing, it was taking on a permanent character. In spite of waste, shoddy work, and frequent fires, its vitality63 was triumphant64. The sand hills had all been graded flat, and the material from them had filled in the water lots of the bay; miles of fireproof brick structures had been built on four or five streets; there were now a half score of long wharves instead of one; omnibuses ran everywhere; fine steamers plied65 to fashionable watering places about the bay; the planks66 in the streets were being replaced by cobblestones; telegraph service had been inaugurated to San Jose and Sacramento; several new theatres had been built; gas lamps were being placed about the streets; huge wooden palaces with much scrollwork ornamentation were being built on Stockton Street and the Rincon Hill. All these things, as well as the climate, the mines, the agricultural resources, the commerce, the scenery, were fully67 appreciated and enthusiastically made the most of by every mother's son. Any man among them was ready at a moment's notice to wax enthusiastic about the resources and the future of the place. They were "boosters" in the modern acceptation of the term.
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previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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prosecution
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| n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营 | |
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mediocre
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| adj.平常的，普通的 | |
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duels
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| n.两男子的决斗( duel的名词复数 )；竞争，斗争 | |
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muster
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| v.集合，收集，鼓起，激起；n.集合，检阅，集合人员，点名册 | |
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venue
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| n.犯罪地点，审判地，管辖地，发生地点，集合地点 | |
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interpretation
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| n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理 | |
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frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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venal
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| adj.唯利是图的，贪脏枉法的 | |
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expedients
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| n.应急有效的，权宜之计的( expedient的名词复数 ) | |
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honourable
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| adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的 | |
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bribe
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| n.贿赂；v.向…行贿，买通 | |
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diluted
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| 无力的，冲淡的 | |
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initially
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| adv.最初，开始 | |
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connivance
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| n.纵容；默许 | |
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considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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perquisites
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| n.（工资以外的）财务补贴( perquisite的名词复数 )；额外收入；（随职位而得到的）好处；利益 | |
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ward
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| n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开 | |
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tortuous
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| adj.弯弯曲曲的，蜿蜒的 | |
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unduly
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| adv.过度地，不适当地 | |
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sophistries
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| n.诡辩术( sophistry的名词复数 )；（一次）诡辩 | |
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unlimited
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| adj.无限的，不受控制的，无条件的 | |
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extravagant
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| adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的 | |
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tangible
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| adj.有形的，可触摸的，确凿的，实际的 | |
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lesser
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| adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地 | |
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treasury
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| n.宝库；国库，金库；文库 | |
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hyenas
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| n.鬣狗( hyena的名词复数 ) | |
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contractors
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| n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 ) | |
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sewers
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| n.阴沟，污水管，下水道( sewer的名词复数 ) | |
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lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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wharves
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| n.码头，停泊处( wharf的名词复数 ) | |
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pretentious
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| adj.自命不凡的，自负的，炫耀的 | |
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frail
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| adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的 | |
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grumble
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| vi.抱怨；咕哝；n.抱怨，牢骚；咕哝，隆隆声 | |
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alleged
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| a.被指控的，嫌疑的 | |
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remodelling
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| v.改变…的结构[形状]( remodel的现在分词 ) | |
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farces
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| n.笑剧( farce的名词复数 )；闹剧；笑剧剧目；作假的可笑场面 | |
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wards
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| 区( ward的名词复数 )； 病房； 受监护的未成年者； 被人照顾或控制的状态 | |
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intimidation
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| n.恐吓，威胁 | |
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bribery
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| n.贿络行为，行贿，受贿 | |
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concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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inspectors
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| n.检查员( inspector的名词复数 )；（英国公共汽车或火车上的）查票员；（警察）巡官；检阅官 | |
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strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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opprobrium
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| n.耻辱，责难 | |
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subterranean
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| adj.地下的，地表下的 | |
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blandly
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| adv.温和地，殷勤地 | |
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machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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procured
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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52
legitimate
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| adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法 | |
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entity
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| n.实体，独立存在体，实际存在物 | |
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civic
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| adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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56
outrageous
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| adj.无理的，令人不能容忍的 | |
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opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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jovial
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| adj.快乐的，好交际的 | |
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inordinately
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| adv.无度地，非常地 | |
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helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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scuttle
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| v.急赶，疾走，逃避；n.天窗；舷窗 | |
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attentively
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| adv.聚精会神地；周到地；谛；凝神 | |
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vitality
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| n.活力，生命力，效力 | |
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triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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plied
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| v.使用（工具）( ply的过去式和过去分词 )；经常供应（食物、饮料）；固定往来；经营生意 | |
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planks
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| （厚）木板( plank的名词复数 )； 政纲条目，政策要点 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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