Спрут: Калифорнийская история
Chapter V.
Youwill,nodoubt,rememberthat,atthecloseofourlastcommitteemeeting,specificchargesweremadeastofraudinthenominationandelectionofoneofourcommissioners,emanating,mostunfortunately,fromthecommissionerhimself.Thesecharges,mydearMr.Derrick,weredirectedatyourself.Howthesecretsofthecommitteehavebeennoisedabout,Icannotunderstand.Youmaybe,ofcourse,assuredofmyownunquestioningconfidenceandloyalty.However,Iregretexceedinglytostatenotonlythattherumourofthechargesreferredtoaboveisspreadinginthisdistrict,butthatalsotheyaremadeuseofbytheenemiesoftheLeague.ItistobedeploredthatsomeoftheLeaguersthemselves—youknow,wenumberinourranksmanysmallfarmers,ignorantPortugueseandforeigners—havelistenedtothesestoriesandhavepermittedafeelingofuneasinesstodevelopamongthem.Eventhoughitwereadmittedthatfraudulentmeanshadbeenemployedintheelections,which,ofcourse,Ipersonallydonotadmit,IdonotthinkitwouldmakeverymuchdifferenceintheconfidencewhichthevastmajorityoftheLeaguersreposeintheirchiefs.YetwehavesoinsistedupontheprobityofourpositionasopposedtoRailroadchicanery,thatIbelieveitadvisabletoquellthisdistantsuspicionatonce;topublishadenialoftheserumouredchargeswouldonlybetogivethemtoomuchimportance.
