Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1894-03-02

own Mnn H;o.t this booked Nehemiah
which ans storicai = Tor mayor
ought to "read /, lea-,o ,so"iot1 nwa,dIy
digest" you will see that nehemiah.
the mayor, or burgomaster, or gov
ernor of the Old city of Jerusalem
stands before us as an almost ideal
mayor. #.
A few years agoin Boston above all
places in the world a mayor made d
public address OF welcome and con-
gratula tion to the we'll known pugi-
list, Jno. L. Sullivan.
In Little Falls mayor having a
similar taste to the ex-mayor Of Bos-
ton has been known to stand on a
platform and express his deep. re-
grets that Il prize fight did not. take
place. We have therefore the spec
tacle of an ex-mayor of Boston and
the mayor of Little Falls going
down to posterity together arm in
arm as the patrons and apolugists
OF the brutal pugs, bruisers and
prize fighters who disgrace our land.
In Boston the citizens at the mex cleo
tion converted the mayor into all
ex-mayor by rejecting him at the
polls. The people OF this city ought
to he capable of performing asimilar
act of conversion.
Another quality needed in the
mayor OF a city is Il reverence for the
laws and a determination to enforce
them. No official has reverence for
| the laws who does not attempt to
enforce them. Some laws in this
city are deliberately broken. There
are laws against bad houses and
gambling dens yet these institutions
flourish in our midst and the mayor
knows it. Other people know it and
he surely cannot plead ignorance.
There is law which says that sa-
looms shall be closed at a given hour
every week night and all day on Sun
day, yet this law with the know
ledge of the mayor is likewise bro
ken. To do him justice of a certain
kind he is no hypocrite, he does not
apparently make any pretense Of en-
forcing it. Now what are the duties
of mayor in the question OF law
enforcement? 1t is not his duty to
discriminate between this law Or
that; he is not to say what laws
shall or shall not be enforced. By
his oath of office he promises to obey
and enforce all laws.
Now the mayor may plead that it
is not possible to enforce certain laws
1t is not question Of ability but of
| will. There is not a law on our
statute book but can be well Ell
forced if there is disposition to do
it. We are not asking for new laws.
We are simply asking that the
present laws be enforced and
that a chief magistrate be elected
| who will enforce them.
! 1t does not make city stand well
in the eyes Of surrounding cOmmuni-
ties or of capitalists to have a
mayor who goes to distant city to
view treasures of art and industry
in Worlds Fair letter writes home
for publication letters which detail
with much gusto the various kinds
of beer which he sampled freely and
without cost in Chicago breweries
| Once more the sanitary condition
of the city az all know depends almost
entirely upon the action of the mayor
and council. They appoint health
officers and are responsible for tho
condition of Ourstreets and premises.
Therefore any candidate for so high
and responsible a position ought by
his own personal example to show
his fitness. The right kind of d
mayor ought also to have some fac
ulty OF public speech.
The right kind of a mayor will not
be chosen on account Of his politics
or his religion. "NO man ought t.
be elected or rejected on the grount
of his political belief, or his religious
faith. It is bad enough to make
it political question. It is ten-fol(
worse, both in itself and in it,
mischievous results, to let religion
enter as a discordant factor.'
We have got far beyond 1h'
Middle Ages with all their narrowness
bigotry and barbarism. Therefore tC
Introduce religious test is not onl,
a return to the old persecution days
but is entirely un-American ant
unchristian and should be con
demmed by all fair minded people O
every political party and of every re
ligious faith"
The right man for mayor Of cit.
is the man who has business capac
ity, strength of will, Il determine
ton to enforce the law and who en-
> joys a character for uprightness tina
will lead men to rep or in him impli
cit confidence.
The opportunity Of elccting tbi
kind of mayor is before the peopl
of this city at the present time
: What the result will be rests wit
the people themselves. II they ar
content to have things go on in tn
present way with it's disregard q
law and practically wide open polio.
2 the responsibility rests with them
= But such action cannot but result il
: injuring the fair name Of the city ant
will prevent it from advancing as
ought along those lines which max
: for the true prosperity Of a commu
! nifty. Our city has many natura
= advantages which only need to b
, developed to add material wealth
t That alone, however, will not plac
8 the city in the high and noble pos
e tion in which it should stand. Cor
: |jOined with material wealth an
1 superior to it, always, is intelle,
!, tnal and moral advancement. Thi
e cannot take place if the saloons ar
: allowed to dictate the policy Of thi
e city Whether therefore the saloo
8 element and those forces which al