The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-01-26
Letter From w. j. Clark.

Ogden, Utah, Jan. rs.
Editor Salt Lake Herald:
1 desire to call attention to a some
what remarkable statement which ap-
pears in this mornings Herald. in
which a Weber county member of the
legislature is quoted as follows:
The element which controlled that
Thatcher meeting) meeting is not the
element which represent and it will
have no effect upon me whatever"
1 had supposed, as doubtless all Dem
ocrats who voted for Mr.. OBrien sup
posed, that if he was elected he would
carry out the promise of the gentle
men whom he superseded, and cease
being a party candidate, that he might
become a public servant. But it seems
that the gentleman does not even rep
resent a political party. He repre-
sents an element" Let me ask him
If that element" is a political fac
ton? Who and how many are the men
by whom it is composed? Is the wide
spread report true, that he owes his
seat in the legislature to the influence
of a nephew of a senatorial aspirant
and that such influence exerted upon
the controlling power in Weber county
politics was the consideration for his
support? Can it be that Mr.. O'Brien
represents an element different from
that represented by Sheriff Beiknap,
County Clerk Farr and County Com
missioners Seaman and Harmon, all
of whom are ardent supporters of Mr..
Thatcher?
Perhaps a blush of shame would
mantle the gentleman's delicate cheek
at the thought of representing an "ele-
ment" composed of such men as D. H.
Peery, Sidney Stevens, r. j. Taylor, F.
J. Kiesel, David Evans, George J.
Marsh, S. T. Whitaker, c. A. Smurth-
waite, Thomas Mallory, the partner of
Speaker Perkins; a. j. Weber, Post
F. D. Higginbotham, jr.. T. d. John
son, E. NJ. Conroy, NJ. d. Lessenger,
William Sullivan, DR.. George Hyde,
Theodore Schansenbach and A. G..
Horn, whom 1 recall as a few of the
many prominent citizens of Ogden who
belong to the Thatcher element
Or perhaps an element which in
cludes, besides the 1900 present at the
Opera House Saturday evening, large
majority of the Democrats of Plain
City, Pleasant View, Huntsville, Har-
risVille, Hooper and the other country
precincts of this county is too insignifi-
cant to be represented by Mr.. O'Brien
If such is the case, 1 desire to call the
gentleman'S attention to the fact that
the supporters of Mr.. Rawlins con-
Stitute a more numerous element in
reSentS
l am not a politician, but one of the
common people. 1 think 1 know what
the sentiments of the people of Weber
county really are. And it is my de-
liberate judgment that if the election
of a United States senator were left to
a vote of the people here, Hon. Moses
Thatcher would have an overwhelming
majority of all the votes cast
Mr.. O'Brien was not elected by an
element" He was elected by The
people and if he possesses that high
appreciation of the honor which they
have conferred upon him, he will
clearly see that it is his duty to rep
resent them and not an element"
And if he, a public servant, obeys the
wishes of his master, the people, he
will in the future vote for that man of
sublime courage and lofty principles
the choice of the people-Hon. Moses
Thatcher. VIM. j. CLARK.