e 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 Bulletin, J. King of William, on May 14, 1856, and a
vigilance committee was organized to clean up the city, and watch the
ballot-box on election day.

Soon the legislature was petitioned to change the charter. The petition
recites: "Without a change in the city government which shall diminish
the weight of taxation, the city will neither be able to discharge
the interest on debts already contracted, nor to meet the demands for
current disbursements.... The present condition of the streets and
public improvements of the city abundantly attest the total inefficiency
of the present system."

The legislature passed the "Consolidation Act," and from 1856 to 1900
county and city were governed as a political unit. At first the hop