On the night of April 1, 1910, A. Leo Wei!, Pittsburgh attorney and president of the Voters' League, stood before a "tumultuous" gathering of over 3,000 Pittsburgh citizens in Exposition Hall in downtown Pittsburgh. Behind him on the platform sat an impressive collection of the city's notable men, including prominent manufacturers, businessmen, attorneys, political figures, and clergy, along with the Republican mayor William Magee. The agitated crowd before Weil represented a broad cross-section of Pittsburghers, drawn to the meeting by notices of a "mass indignation meeting" to protest the ways in which the current city administration promoted graft and vice in Pittsburgh.