Page:California Historical Society Quarterly vol 22.djvu/125

 And in 1854, after examining his conscience carefully, Royal H. Waller changed his politics. He became a candidate for recorder on the "Citizens Reform ticket," a child of the incendiary Native American party. There were some who said the Whigs were deserting their party in quest of politi- cal jobs, that the party "was an old dotard." One editor commented, "It is quite clear however that to nominate a Whig ticket is to elect a large ma- jority if not all of the candidates of the Secret Order." So Royal H. Waller had his fling at secret handshakes and secret "dark lantern" meetings. He be- came recorder for the second time.

By 1854 the Wallers had moved to their last San Francisco home, which stood on Montgomery between Green and Union Streets. Late in that year the Rev. Albert Williams preached his farewell sermon, preparatory to re- turning to the Atlantic States. The trustees of the church, among them Royal H. Waller, addressed a letter to their pastor asking him to furnish them with a copy of the sermon, so that it might be printed for the congregation. Touched and pleased, their shepherd complied with their request.

Directly after Waller became recorder for the second time, the Alta com- mented, "We have no sympathy with the 'Know Nothings' as a political body . . . but if they have elected their ticket in this city, they have done the city the service of placing in office good and capable men." Royal H. Waller had lost neither his dignity nor his good name by the change.

But sometime during his year of office the spirit of his new party surged over the boundary between a defensive course and that of offense. The theory of priority in office for Native Americans became one of increasing persecution against those who were not natives. From such action the staid Vermonter shrank. Although he probably had never heard of a speech made years before by an obscure Illinois lawyer named Lincoln, he shared the conviction that: "When men take it in their heads today to hang gamblers or burn murderers, they should recollect that in the confusion usually at- tending such transactions they will be as likely to hang or burn some one who is neither a gambler nor a murderer as one who is . . ."

He returned to his law practice in July 1855 and took no active part in politics through the fire and fury of Charles Cora's trial and the violent sum- mer of '56.

Just when he again changed his politics is not clear. In November 1855, he had at least nine political tickets to choose from, all of them variations of the issue of property rights versus the emotional appeal of "black servi- tude." Lincoln's cry for the preservation of the Union and national unity won the Vermonter, heart and soul. He became such an active Republican that in 1861 President Abraham Lincoln appointed him United States land receiver and pension agent.

By this time he had a new law partner, Joseph H. Moore. They occupied