The herald., 1895-06-16

His father, ?. II. Smith, was one
of the best known chefs in South
ern California. and for years he delight
ed the palate Of the epicures in this sec
ton. Upon his death in 1888 Tommy be-
cme the sole Import Of the family consist
younger brother. For years he had
monopoly of the sale of oranges and news
papers at the old depot. His mother re-
ceived oil the money andbuilt lovely lit
tlel home fol the family. Upol her death
the family broke up, Tommy still'continu-
ing to support them until they were able
to take care OF themselves. Since then he
has travelled nearly all over the vest re-
turing finally to his old home, where he
has been engaged in politics, upon which
subject he is a recognized authority. He
will argue point to finish. and if an
uppercut will convince an opponent-lt
goes. He has been in the thick OF politics in
caucuses and coventions to an extent
only rivaled by his friend Col. Ed Niles.
In order to understand the difference
between theoretical and practical politics,
one must entirety disabuse the mind OF
all prejudice. and the moral character OF
the boss" should not,be taken into CON
sideration, since without the boss the
practical end of politics would not be pos
sible, for the simple reason that the
dough" would not materialize in the alb
sence of the leader, consequently the
gang would refuse to be handled, and
upon him depends the failure or success
OF the primaries. which IS the first
as cards and spades to have them with
you. 1t is true, liking and previous
favors extended may have some effect on
them, but not often, as their gratitude is
more honored in the preach than in the
observance. Practically no one can get
tboSa'fuDtl a re- fha tt1Onu
green" into operation.
All the great political bosses came from
the ranks and won their way to the top
step by step. First, as heelers they made
them selves useful in clubbing into line
the tough element IN their precincts. and
primaries the attention OF the ward lead
ers was called to them and they are then
introduced to the imam at the wheel"
who is supposed to have the ear OF the
"old man. or the big boss. Then pro-
motion follows; the precinct heeler be-
comes the ward leader and has the giving
away of the patronage and all OF the
money in the ward, but he must continue
to hold his people on hand. for mistakes
are never forgiven. Results must follow
and no excuse can Justify failure.
The orders are like the advice the prac
tioal father gave to his son: make
money honestly. u you can: but make
poss, and Los Angeles can boast of more
has beens" than any other city Of its
size in the world. Men of the Croker. Buck
ley. McGee. Higgins stamp have had re-
verses in their time, but they were 50
firmly seated IN their places that it was
impossible to down them because of the
failure OF their party to carry an election,
and not until public opinion had become
so pronounced that to any longer ignore
it might have been dangerous to liberty
did the first two conclude to abdicate.
However, Tammany is today the greatest
political organization on earth. while the
Democratic party OF San Francisco, in the
language of its prophet. remains in "a
state of innocuous desuetude, too broken
to be feared and too poor to be despised,
and alas the good old days of practical
methods are about to depart.
The Australian system OF voting with
ballot makes the colonization scheme en-
Iirely useless; the new purity of primary
do IS away with the heeler and suffer,
and the law compelling candidates to
swear to an itemized account OF their
expenses stares the striker in the face
and his occupation is gone. But the
most remarkable circumstance in connec-
tiun with the downfall of the old meth.
DDS is the fact that the final and fatal
thrust was delivered by the hand of Mar
tin Kelly: in the language OF Blinker
Murphy Eft tn Brute But one single
ray of hope pervades the awful glo1m
and that is SO faint that under the new
purity law. conventions will be SO small
that they may be handled, but so emil
nent an authority as Dan Burns mas de-
clared that the reverse is true and he
should know.
1t was mooted question amongst the
practical workers for a long time why
Martin Kelly of all Others should have
been the father of so radical an innova-
ton. but in an interview with the refor-
mer he disclosed the fact that in the be-
ginning his ideas were not SO pronounced,
but unfortunately after the ball h ad been
started rolling it swept along with irresist-
ible force and he was unable to stay its
progress. hence the evolution of law
so stringent that now countless workers
mourn its passage.
In Los Angeles there are number of !
would be politicians who remain in the |
background until the rough work is accom- |
olished and then, like all parasites. claim |
in sight and usually get it. |
rot becau Sc they are entitled to any con.
ideration. hut because their position is |
VI such character that they presume to |
,wn it all. THOMAS J. SMITH.