The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-12-10
AN ERRONEOUS VIEW.

A dangerous conception of duty with
regard to the conduct of local government
is discovered in the st. Helena Sentinel.
The view there expressed is so directly ap-
plicable to events in San Francisco that
discussion of them is timely.
Oar contemporary begins the announce
ment of its policy with this wise declara-
ton: "Men and not party ideas locally;
party ideas and not men nationally"
Then it proceeds unwittingly to stultify
this motto by announcing that it will be
Independent in local politics, for the reason
that from the local point of view the
whole country is more or less non-partisan
or independent" and that both Democrats
and Republicans vote for candidates who
belong to neither party, "as protest
against local bosses in either or both of the
old parties" Elsewhere our contemporary
says:
This independent attitude assumed by
the people was forced upon them through
local bossism. In almost every party there
is town clique or ring that presumes 20
run primaries and dictate from the mire
of politics who shall be officers in the COM
munitv. Against this state of affairs the
people rebel, but instead of opposing it in
the primary fight they choose to oppose
them in the open-at the ballot-box. The
result is that the bosses find themselves
defeated by the people who care more for
decency in politics than for partisanship.
This alternative remains open to the peo-
pie, who will not be slow to use it,"
The evident weakness of this argument
is that the energy, intelligence and public
spirit necessary to defeat the candidates
of the bosses IN the election might be made
equally effective in defeating the candi-
dates of the bosses in the primaries.
There is no escape from that proposition.
To follow the plan of permitting the
bosses to name the candidates and then
attempting to defeat them at the polls is
not only to run the grave risk of failing
to defeat them, but is also desertion OF
the party, surrender of its machinery to
INSCRIPTIONS men, destruction of its
strength as factor in securing its State
and National power and an invitation for
the election of rogues to Office. And yet
every respectable Republican or Democrat
who deserts his party for an independent
movement is doing each and all of these
most unworthy, most uninteligent and
most unpatriotic things, besides taking
chances on being made the tool of as I'M
scrupul Gus persons as those whom he is
seeking to punish.
The plain duty of an intelligent Repub-
lican or Democrat is to exercise all his eff
forts to secure uprightness in his party.
Ii his efforts IN that direction fail, and he
observes that corrupt men or men with
shady history dominate the party and
nominate unworthy candidates along
with worthy, it is his duty as citizen to
vote for the worthy and reject the I'M
worthy; but the fact that improper candi-
dates may have been nominated by his
party in no sense releases him from his
obligation as citizen to stand by his
party and work increasingly to purify it.
To desert it is merely to strengthen the
evil which the desertion is intended to
cure.
This is true also of newspapers. The
one that has furnished the text for these
observations announces that while it will
be independent in local politics it will be
Republican in National concerns. That
position is Illogical and dangerous. There
could not be pure National party if the
idea of abandoning the local party to
bosses and other rascals were universal.
This is so evident that it needs no demon
stration. If our contemporary would
mercilessly assail bossism and its at
tendant evils in local affairs and at the
same time earnestly urge honest men to
take an interest in the local organization
and extirpate its evil, it would be render
ing the best service to the community and
adding to the strength of the National
party.