ON AMERICAN SOIL 183 



every one of them— though he may be often unable to go 

 beyond "yes" or "no" and to count (on his fingers) — 

 has a very conspicuous sign in his show window an- 

 nouncing his linguistic ability in words like: "Aqui se 

 habla espanol; " "Ici on parle franc;ais," and "Hier 

 spricht man Deutsch." In this respect most seaports 

 are alike. Considering the great mixture of elements, 

 each one representing different modes of living, thinking, 

 acting, each individual educated and raised in different 

 zones from those of his neighbors, impressed from child- 

 hood with different principles, different ideas of right 

 and wrong; they are united only in one purpose, namely, 

 a desire to become rich as quickly as possible. Does it 

 or should it astonish you that one's personal safety and 

 that of his property are not as yet as firmly assured as 

 in other civilized states? Notwithstanding all this, I can 

 truly say that the average opinion in this respect of the 

 folks at home is a very erroneous one, even exaggerated. 

 Our daily communications and means thereof are now no 

 more endangered by criminals and actual crimes than in 

 any other city which has so large an influx of foreign 

 elements. 



In order to explain to you the circumstances which 

 brought about a radical change in the social conditions, 

 changing the most disreputable state of disorder and law- 

 lessness into one of absolute safety, I shall have to take 

 you back in spirit over a period of about nine months, to 

 a time when lawlessness was at its very height. This re- 

 quires likewise a detailed account of lyneh-law ami its 

 executions during the last year. As these events which 

 I am about to relate have very likely been reported in 

 fragments or in such distorted fashion that you will not 

 have been able to get correct impressions of the matter, I 

 have taken particular pains to get at the very truth of 

 this history making epoch of San Francisco. I conse- 

 quently vouch for the reliability of the following descrip- 

 tion, as it has been told me by Boettcher, a man who had 

 been one of the prime factors of the movement and in 

 whose veracity I have the utmost confidence. 



