San Francisco has just lost a very remarkable man—Mr. William
Coleman—the chief facts of whose life are well recorded in Thursday's Times. On no less than three occa- sions, he stepped in when the affairs of the State and city had become involved in anarchy, assumed the powers of a Dictator, put down mob-rule and mob-violence, established law and order, and then quietly went back to his country house. The first occasion was in 1851, when San Francisco was invaded by the scum of the diggings, and practically passed into the hands of a gang of desperadoes. Mr. Coleman, whose first public act, by the way, was to stop the lynching of a supposed murderer, thereupon formed a Vigilance Committee, and soon cleared the city. Five years later, however, the rowdies again got the upper hand, and Mr. Coleman was called back to restore order,—which he did. His next dictatorship was in 1877, when the notorious labour agitator, Dennis Kearney, "went for" the capitalists and the Chinese, "openly boasting that he would murder the latter, and burn the homes and warehouses of the former." Once more the respectable classes appealed to Mr. Coleman; and in twenty-four hours he had five thousand citizens under arms, and after a single conflict in the streets, the rioters were put down. It is a significant fact that Mr. Coleman was never in the course of his career elected to hold any public office. Not long ago, Mr. Coleman's business house failed, and he was only able to pay his creditors 40 per cent. But though he obtained a full discharge, thie did not satisfy him; and he never rested till he had earned enough to pay his debts in full. The last payment was only made a short time before his death. Such men are the real safeguards against Revolution. If France had possessed a man of that kind in each of her great cities, there would have been no Reign of Terror.
Previous page
