comradeship which one usually seeks in the "Boss" type. From a
barren little room over the "Mecca" saloon, with the help of a
telephone, he managed his machine. He never obtruded himself upon
the public. He always remained in the background. Nor did he ever
take vast sums. Moderation was the rule of his loot.

By 1905 a movement set in to rid the city of machine rule. Cox
saw this movement growing in strength. So he imported boatloads
of floaters from Kentucky. These floaters registered "from dives,
and doggeries, from coal bins and water closets; no space was too
small to harbor a man." For once he threw prudence to the winds.
Exposure followed; over 2800 illegal voters were found. The
newspapers, so long docile, now provided the necessary publicity.
A little paper, the Citizen's Bulletin, which had started as a
handbill of reform, when all the dailies seemed closed to the
facts, now grew into a sturdy weekly. And, to add the capstone to
Cox's undoing, William H. Taft, the most distinguished son of
Cincinnati, then Secretary of War in President Roosevelt's
cabinet, in a campaign speech in Akron, Ohio, advised the
Republicans to repudiate him. This confounded the "regulars," and
Cox was partially beaten. The reformers elected their candidate
for mayor, but the boss retained his hold on the county and the
city council. And, in spite of all that was done, Cox remained an
influence in politics until his death, May 20, 1916.

San Francisco has had a varied and impressive political
experience. The first legislature of California incorporated the
mining town into the city of San Francisco, April 15, 1850. Its
government from the outset was corrupt and inefficient.
Lawlessness culminated in the murder of the editor of the