CHAPTER XXXV.--_The Fashion of Justice in San Diego._
If those kind eyes of the Goddess of Justice were not bandaged, but shecould see how her pure white robes have been begrimed and soiled in SanDiego, and how her lofty dignity is thus lowered to the dust, she wouldno doubt feel affronted and aggrieved. And if she is so irreverentlymaltreated, can she afford any protection to those who must rely on heralone, having no riches to maintain protracted litigation or carry theirplaints to higher tribunals? To the moneyless laity Justice thus defiledseems as helpless as themselves. She is powerless to accomplish hermission upon earth whenever a Judge, through weakness or design, maychoose to disregard her dictates. At present the dignity of a Judge'spersonality is more sacred than the abstract impersonality of justice.Because the accepted theory being that Judges are always just andincorruptible (and generally the supposition is correct), there is abroad shelter for a Judge who may be neither just nor impartial. Whatmockery of justice it is in our fair land of freedom to say that a badJudge can be impeached when impeachment is so hedged with difficultiesas to be impossible--utterly ineffectual to protect the poor, victimizedlaity! Who is the poor litigant that would dare arraign an unjust Judge,well sheltered in his judicial ermine, and the entire profession readyto champion him? "_Libel_" would be the cry against any one who woulddare hold the mirror for such Judge to see himself! Ah, yes, when thereal libel is to distort the law and degrade the mission of justice onearth!
Peter Roper, knowing well with what impunity he could violate justiceand decency, conceived the brilliant idea of taking the Mechlin house atAlamar, now that the family were sojourning in town. Peter did not liketo divide the spoils, but as accomplices were absolutely necessary,there was no alternative but to take his friend and client Gasbang intothe plot.
On a Sunday evening Peter proceeded to unfold his plan before John, whohad come from his farm to attend church and was attired in a white vestand black coat, having just come from evening service. For, as I havesaid before, John Gasbang was a pillar of the church now, and neverfailed in his attendance every Sunday. People knew that in old times,when John was very poor, he used to play "_monte_" with the Indians andcheat them out of their money. Many times he had been known to spendalmost the entire night sitting cross-legged on a blanket with a tallowcandle set in a bottle to light his high-toned game, surrounded by theselect company of naked Indians, who were too fascinated to see howplainly John was robbing them. Pitilessly would John strip hisunsophisticated tattooed comrades of everything they owned on thisearth. Their reed baskets, bows and arrows, strings of beads, tufts offeather-tips, or any other rustic and barbaric ornaments. All, all, Johnwould gather up with his skillfully shuffled cards. The spoils he thuscollected he would sell to other Indians from whom he would presentlygather in (like the good Sexton he was), gather in, with high-toned andhighly skillful shuffling. But John now was a rich man. Kindly San Diegohad forgiven John's petty thieving. The money won from the poor Indianshad helped him to thrive, and consequently convinced him that, afterall, cheating was no worse than other sins, the gravity of whichentirely depended upon the trick of hiding them. He would now try tohide his humble, predatory gambling, he said to himself, and seemrespectable.
Yes, he would wear a white vest and try to look honest, but on hearingRoper's project, his dull, fishy eyes revolved quickly in their littlesockets, and his square jaws expanded like those of a snake before itshakes its rattle and coils up to spring. His mouth watered inanticipation of the sweets of ill-gotten gain as he listened attentivelyto all that Roper had to say.
"I'll see Hogsden the first thing in the morning," said he, joyously.
"But wait. Can you trust him?"
"Trust him? I should say I could, and if he weakens, there is his wifeto brace him up with her good advice. He owes a big sum of money to oldMechlin; so old Hoggy will be only too glad to get even by jumping thehouse. I suppose our friend, the Judge, is with us."
"Don't be silly. Do you suppose I would do a thing of this kind if Iwasn't sure of him? He won't fail me. He'll do as I say. Be sure ofthat, and don't talk. Come to my house now and I'll draw up theconveyance. Hog. must sign his quit-claim deed, and then I'll see thathis location of one hundred and sixty acres is properly filed. But,mind, if Hogsden betrays us, he'll spoil our game," observed Roper.
"Leave that to me," said John, rubbing his hands and giving his vest adownward pull.
The result of this dialogue was that Hogsden quit-claimed all his,"right, title and interest in a certain parcel of land, etc., etc., witha dwelling house and other improvements, etc., etc.," and thedescription of the property might have applied to a hundred others inthe county. This transaction accomplished and recorded, they took thefurniture that had been left in the house by the Mechlins and put ittemporarily in the barn; Mrs. Hogsden taking only such articles as shewished to keep. She stole them brazenly, saying she had bought them.
It was further agreed that they would work the farm in partnership,dividing profits equally, and a contract in writing to this effect wassigned by them.
Roper now being a property holder, besides being so influential with_the_ Judge, thought he could soar to higher altitudes. By theassistance of Gasbang and a few others, whom he said belonged to his_gang_, he managed to get himself nominated for Representative toCongress. Bursting with pride, puny Peter started on his way to glory,to _stump_ his district. He would begin at San Bernardino and carry thecounty by storm, with the force of his eloquence and personal magnetism,he said, with characteristic modesty.
He made speeches at San Pascual, and Poway, and San Bernardo, and BearValley, and Julian, but his greatest effort, the achievement that wouldcrown his brow with laurels, that effort he reserved for Los Angeles.Quite a big crowd was marshaled to hear him. He had paid a good deal ofmoney in advertisements so as to collect an audience. He succeeded; acrowd was there ready to make up in quantity what it lacked in quality.
Roper came forward. His face was red as usual, but he seemed sober--hestood straight. He was as loquacious as ever, of course, and talkedincessantly for quite a while, making the crowd laugh. After he had allhis audience in a laughing mood with his coarse anecdotes and broadjokes, he thought he would capture their votes beyond a doubt if he thenand there proved himself--by his own admissions--to be _low_, the lowestof the lowly--so very low, so very disreputable, that no one could belower.
"You cannot doubt," said Peter, "that my sympathies as well as myinterests, are with you, the working people, the poor who must work orstarve. I have nothing in common with bloated bondholders or pamperedmonopolists who have enriched themselves with the earnings of the poor.I don't know how I came to be a lawyer. I suppose it happened because Idon't like to work. I would rather talk and let others work. [Laughter.]I am a child of the people, and _for_ the people--the poor people Imean. My mother was a cook, a poor cook--poor in pocket I mean. Hercookery may have been rich [laughter], but upon that point I couldn'tenlighten you, for I have forgotten the flavor of her dishes. But shewas a cook by profession, just as I am a lawyer by profession, and oneis as good as the other. [Laughter.] As for my father, of him I knownothing to speak of--literally--[laughter], so the less said on thathead, the sooner mended; for if the fact of my being here goes to prove_to you_ that I had a father, that is all the proof _I_ ever hadmyself."
Here Peter laughed, but he laughed alone. He thought that a burst oflaughter and applause would follow this last shameless, revoltingadmission, but not a sound was heard. He had overstepped the bounds ofdecency so far, that even such a crowd as made his audience was silentas if unanimous disgust was beyond utterance. Roper was evidentlydisconcerted.
"We don't want to be represented in Washington by a fellow who exults indegradation and has no respect for the memory of his mother," said aloud voice, and the crowd began to disperse.
Soon Peter's native impudence came to his aid and he tried to recommencehis discourse. "Look here," he cried, "where are you going? You ain'tgoing to send my
mother to Congress! Did you think I came to ask you tovote for her?" He went on in this coarse, bantering style which hadtaken so well at first, but in vain. Nobody wanted to hear him now. Itseemed as if the ghost of the poor reviled cook had come, like that ofBanquo, to frighten off the audience. In a few minutes only about half adozen of his supporters had been left, and they remained to scold.
"Well," said one, looking back at the receding crowd, "that cake is alldough, Peter. I hope your mother would have made a better job of it."
"A delightful dough," said another; "and his goose is well cooked. Isay, Peter, you cooked your goose brown, browner than your mother evercooked hers, and I bet on it."
Peter answered with an oath.
"The worst of it is, that in cooking your goose, you burnt ours to acinder. We haven't the ghost of a chance now, and the Republicancandidate will have a walk-over to Congress," said a third supporter.
Alas for human delusions! This fiasco was the crowning glory of Roper'spolitical campaign. Like the celebrated ambitious toad which cracked itssides by the force of its own inflation, Peter came to grief,ignominious grief; that is to say, it would have been ignominious to anyone not thoroughly inoculated with disgrace as he, _according to his ownversion_, must have been from the day of his birth.
"Let me ask you a question, Roper," said a fourth friend. "Why did youbring out such a thing against your mother? It was your misfortune aslong as you kept quiet about it, but now it is your shame. What was thegood of telling against your own mother? Don't you know that people,even the humblest, must censure and despise you for it? Few, very fewdecent men, like to have anything to do with a man who reviles his deadmother, no matter if she was a poor cook. What pleasure can you find inproclaiming your shame?"
Roper laughed loud and derisively, saying:
"What will you bet that I'll have just as good and just as many friendsin San Diego as I ever had before?"
"Do you mean to say that the people of San Diego _approve_ of languagesuch as you used to-night? Approve your conduct?"
"Never mind about that, only will you take my bet?"
The henchman shrugged his shoulders and walked off, but if he had takenthat bet, he would have lost.
When Colonel Hornblower received the news of Roper's fiasco, it occurredto him that he would take a trip to Europe. He had now made money enoughout of the troubles and distress he and Roper brought upon others, toindulge in that luxury, the pleasure of saying he had been to Europe.
"My dear," said the Colonel to his wife, "I think now is the best timeto take that trip to Europe we have had in our hearts for so long. Getready; let us go."
"What has happened?" Mrs. Colonel Hornblower asked.
"Nothing, except that that partner of mine made a fiasco of hispolitical campaign," and the Colonel related to his swarthy lady Roper'sspeech, and how it was received.
"How absurd! so unnecessary!" she exclaimed.
"Perfectly, but you see, for a man of _my_ dignity the thing is awkward.What will the town say of _me_, *ME*?"
"The town will say nothing. As long as Roper has the friendship of JudgeLawlack he can have clients; and as long as he has clients the San Diegopeople will be indulgent to him, no matter how debased he says he is.However, drop him, and let's go to Europe. I wish we could get lettersto distinguished people abroad."
"What for? Our American ministers can present us to the best society,and besides, I am sure I am well known abroad. My name--the name ofColonel Hornblower--must be as familiar to Europeans as the names ofother distinguished Americans. I am the most prominent man in San Diego.All the world knows San Diego, all the world must know ColonelHornblower."
"Still, I would like to get letters."
"Not at all necessary, I assure you. I'll tell our minister in Englandthat Mrs. Colonel Hornblower wishes to be presented to Queen Victoria,and he'll present you. The Queen, no doubt, will wish to make ouracquaintance."
"I would like to see other royal people. I would like to see the Pope,also."
"You shall see as many princes and princesses as you like. We Americansare princes, all of us. We are the equals of princes. As for the Pope, Iwould not take one step to make his acquaintance, unless he met me halfway; but if you like to see him, we'll get an introduction easily.Perhaps he might invite us to dinner. If he does, I hope it won't be onFriday, as fish don't agree with me."
"Does he ever invite people to dinner?"
"Distinguished people, of course."
The Hornblowers sailed for Europe before Roper returned from hisstumping tour. He was detained at Los Angeles, where he had been beatenso badly in a bar-room brawl that he was obliged to keep in bed forseveral days. The Colonel then wisely slipped off for Europe, to hob-nobwith royal people and take dinner with the Pope, perhaps.
Mrs. Hornblower conjectured rightly. Roper's disgrace was condoned bySan Diego, because he was under the patronage of Judge Lawlack, and inSan Diego everybody has a law suit.
But has the Judge no moral responsibility in this? _Has he the right toimpose upon the community_ a man so self-debased and noxious? If theJudge were to withdraw his support Peter would collapse like a prickedgas-bag, to be swept off into the gutter. But the Judge is the genii,"_the Slave of the Ring_" and his power keeps the little gas-bag afloat,soaring as high as it is in the nature of little gas-bags to soar. TheJudge keeping in his hand the check-string, kindly preventing him fromgoing to destruction.
With characteristic coarseness, amounting to inhumanity, Peter Roper andGasbang decided to throw down their masks, and reveal their fraud in"_jumping_" Mr. Mechlin's house. They came to this decision about tendays after Mr. Mechlin's death.
Gabriel had returned that same day from San Francisco, where he hadaccompanied the remains of his father-in-law, and deposited them in avault to await until Mrs. Mechlin should be able to travel, when she,with all the family, would go East.
Mr. Lawrence Mechlin had also arrived. He started from New York on theday of his brother's death, two hours after receiving George's telegramconveying the terrible news. He reached San Francisco on the nightbefore the steamer for San Diego sailed. Thus he and George cametogether.
The Deputy Sheriff presented himself to announce to Mrs. Mechlin thather furniture left at her country house had been taken out by order ofPeter Roper, and put on the road about two miles from the house. As Mrs.Mechlin was too ill to see any one, excepting the members of her family,the Sheriff made his statement to George, in the presence of his uncleand Gabriel, just arrived.
The proceedings seemed so atrocious that at first no one couldunderstand the Sheriff.
"Do you mean to say that Peter Roper claims to own our house, andbecause he is the owner, has taken out the furniture and left it lyingon the road?" asked George.
"Yes; that's what I was told to say," the Sheriff replied.
"But why? How is he the owner of our house?"
"Because he and Gasbang bought it from Hogsden, who located a claimthere after you abandoned the place."
The trick was infamous. George and Gabriel saw through it. There wasnothing to do but to bring a suit in ejectment to get rid of them, butin the meantime they would hold possession (perhaps for years), and thatwas what they wanted, to get the property into litigation.
Gabriel went to state the matter to the lawyer who had attended to Mr.Mechlin's law business, and he corroborated their opinion, that therewas no other course to pursue but to file a complaint in ejectment todispossess the thieves.
"Is there no quicker way to obtain redress?" George asked.
"No, sir," the lawyer answered; "as the deed is done by Peter Roper andJohn Gasbang, the Judge will decide in their favor, and you will have toappeal."
"But this is atrocious," Mr. Lawrence Mechlin said; "Do you mean to saythat people's houses can be taken like that in this country?"
"Not generally; but Peter Roper might, if there is the ghost of apretext, and if there is a dishonest servant, like Hogsden, left incharge, who will steal
and help to steal; then, you see, the thing iseasy enough, as long as the Judge befriends trespassers. But the SupremeCourt will put things to right again. That is to say, if the Judge'sfindings are not a string of falsehoods which will utterly mislead theSupreme Court."
This property, Mr. Mechlin had repeatedly said, he intended should be ahomestead for his wife, so the suit in ejectment was brought in hername. She at the same time filing a petition for a homestead before theProbate Court, and asking that Gabriel Alamar be appointed administratorof her husband's estate.
All this would, of course, involve the property in tedious legalproceedings, there being the probate matters, beside the suit inejectment to litigate in the District Court. The attorney employed inthe case advised George to have a deed executed by Dona Josefa,conveying the property to Mrs. Mechlin, as it had been agreed before thedeath of their husbands that it should be done. Dona Josefa cheerfullyassented, remembering that Don Mariano had said to her:
"If I should die before I get my land patented, the first thing you mustdo is to make a conveyance of his place to Mr. Mechlin."
The shock caused by his father's death when that of Don Mariano was yetso recent, acted most injuriously upon George's health. It made himfeverish, inflaming his wound again very painfully, as the ball hadnever been extracted; now it chafed the wound, and gave him as much painas before.
Mrs. Mechlin, Dona Josefa and Mercedes were also in their beds,suffering with nervous prostration and night fevers. It seemedimpossible that people could be more bereaved and disheartened thanthese ladies, and yet exist. Mr. Lawrence Mechlin saw that George musthave skillful medical attendance without delay, and wanted his owndoctor to take him under his care. So he and Gabriel arranged allbusiness and other matters in order that George should go East. It washeart-rending to Elvira--the mere thought of leaving her mother andsister sick, and all the family in such distress--but she must go withher husband. Gabriel would attend to the lawsuits. He had powers ofattorney from George and Mrs. Mechlin, and was the administrator.
The answer to Mrs. Mechlin's complaint was a masterpiece of unblushingeffrontery that plainly showed it had originated in a brain where brazenfalsehoods and other indecencies thrived like water-reptiles growinghuge and luxuriating in slimy swamps. The characteristic document ran inthe following manner:
_In the District Court of the ---- of the County of San Diego, State of California._
_Beatrice Mechlin_, _Plaintiff_,
_v._
_Peter Roper_, _John Gasbang_, and _Charles Hogsden_, _Defendants_.
And now come the defendants, Peter Roper, John Gasbang and Charles Hogsden, and for answer to plaintiff's complaint, on file herein, they and each of them say:
That they deny that in the year of 1873, or at any other time before orafter that date, James Mechlin was owner of the premises described inthis complaint; deny that the said James Mechlin ever purchased fromWilliam Mathews the aforesaid property or any part thereof, or paid anymoney or any other valuable consideration; deny that the said Mechlinever built a house, or planted trees, or resided on the said propertyhimself, with his family, or by agent or servant occupied said premises;deny that respondent, Charles Hogsden, was ever put in charge of theaforesaid premises or any part thereof, as the agent, or servant, ortenant of the said James Mechlin; deny that the said James Mechlin everwas in the possession of the said premises, but on the contrary, thesedefendants allege that if James Mechlin had any kind of possession, itwas as a naked trespasser, and his title to said property was at alltimes disputed and contested by other parties.
These defendants allege that defendant Charles Hogsden was the rightfulowner of the said premises; that defendants Peter Roper and John Gasbangare the innocent purchasers of the legal and equitable title, and arenow in actual and lawful possession of the said premises, having paid ajust and fair price to the rightful owner, Charles Hogsden.
These defendants further allege, that the plaintiff Beatrice Mechlinwrongfully, unlawfully, fraudulently and maliciously, and for thepurpose of cheating and defrauding the aforesaid innocent purchasers,Peter Roper and John Gasbang, out of their rights in said property,entered into a fraudulent conspiracy with one Josefa Alamar and oneGabriel Alamar, wherein it was agreed by and between them that saidJosefa Alamar, as executrix of the estate of Mariano Alamar, andpurporting to carry out the wishes and instructions of her deceasedhusband, the said Mariano Alamar, would execute a deed of sale or aconfirmatory deed of said property.
And these defendants aver, that in pursuance of the fraudulentconspiracy aforesaid, the said Josefa did execute a fraudulent deed ofsale to the said Beatrice Mechlin, for the purpose of cheating anddefrauding these innocent purchasers, etc.
This string of prevarications ran on for about twenty pages more,repeating, _ad nauseam_, the same falsehoods with all legal alliterationand more than legal license.
Gabriel was left to attend this suit and other matters, and with grief,which was too profound for description and too heart-rending almost forhuman endurance, the two loving families separated.
Elvira must leave her beloved mother in her sad bereavement; Lizzie mustsee hers go to perform the painful duty of accompanying the remains of abeloved husband.
In sorrow and silent tears the Alamar family returned to their countryhouse the day after the Mechlins left.
Mrs. Mechlin's suit in ejectment against the "_innocent_ purchasers,"Peter and John, was, as a matter of course, decided in favor of these_innocents_ of Judge Gryllus Lawlack. The Judge knew, as well as any oneelse, that the allegations of these men were brazen falsehoods strungtogether for the purpose of robbery. Nevertheless, his Honor Lawlackmade his rulings, and set down his findings, all to suit the robbers.Among the findings that his Honor had the hardihood to write down, werethese: That "James Mechlin had never possessed the premises in question;had never lived there in person or by proxy, and had never made anyimprovements, etc." And these premeditated falsehoods went to theSupreme Court. The case was, of course, reversed and remanded for newtrial, but with additional misstatements it was _again_ decided by JudgeLawlack in favor of his friends. Thus, in fact, the Supreme Court was_reversed by Judge Gryllus Lawlack_. The case was the second timeremanded by the Supreme Court, but in a new trial it was _again_ decidedin favor of Peter and John. This being the same as "reversing theSupreme Court," but Lawlack laughs at this, saying that the SupremeCourt decides according to their opinions, and he (Lawlack) does thesame.
As for Peter Roper, he made no concealment of there being a _privatebargain_ between himself and Judge Gryllus Lawlack. Peter to renderpolitical or other services, Gryllus to reward them with judicial ones.
At a political meeting a friend of Roper (a lawyer in the pay of themonopoly), urged him to make a speech in favor of the railroad. Peterdeclined, saying that as Gryllus Lawlack wanted to run again for theJudgeship, and knew how anti-monopolist San Diego County was, it wouldhurt the Judge politically to have him (Peter Roper) speak for themonopoly, as everybody knew that he (Peter) was the principal support ofthe Judge, and exponent of his principles.
"And," concluded Peter, "if I speak for the monopoly the Judge willgrant a rehearing in a suit I am opposing, and will not decide my caseas I want. That is understood between us."
This is the fashion of dispensing justice in San Diego, just as Peterbargains for.
But this order of things (or rather disorder) could not have beenpossible if the Texas Pacific Railroad had not been strangled, as SanDiego would not then be the poor, crippled and dwarfed little city thatshe now is. In this unfortunate condition it is that she submits to thescandalous debaucheries of judicial favorites; debaucheries andviolations of common justice, social decorum, of individual rights;debaucheries tolerated because the local power sanctions with hisencouragement such proceedings.
If San Diego had been permitted to grow, to have a population, heradministration of the laws would have been in other hands, and outrageslike breaking into th
e Mechlin house could not have occurred. The votersof the county would not then have elected a Judge that could reward suchvandalism, by allowing the thieves to keep the stolen premises. Now,however, without a railroad, San Diego is at the bottom of a bag, themouth of which Mr. Huntington has closed and drawn the strings tight.