The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-10-05
UN-AlEERIcAN METHODS.


arr both advocating The. ncn-partisan
movement, telling how a non-partisan
city administration would work won
deTs in reforming Salt Lake City, while
they. seem never TO tire Of telling what
a bad thing partisan government is.
They condemn primaries and conven-
tons as things of iniquity and take up
with a system of nominating candf-
dates for office that is a radical depar-
ture from the usual American method
Of doing it. While they DO this. nei-
Their of them has offered any explana-
ton OF why it prefers the new way TO
the old, nor has either deigned to tell
why it is superior, this important point
was also ignored by the committee
having in charge the non-partisan
movement when it put forth its address
to the people.
What is the great objection to the
non-partisan manner of naming can
didates for Office? II is that is casts
an irnputation upon the fitness Of the
people for self government The COM
mittee was self-constituted, and was
the choice Of no organization of the
people whether as Democrats. Repub-
licans, Populists CT non-partisans. Os-
tentatiously protesting to act for the
people. it has never called the people
together to ascertain their wishes or
TO have their course Endorsed. If the
members of this committee having in
charge the non-partisan movement
really believed the people of this city
we're in favor of a. non-paEtisan ad-
1ninistratiou of municipal affairs, why
did they not take the people into their
| confidence and discuss the situation
with them? If the people are capable
Of understanding the arguments % in
| favor of supporting the non-partisan
ticket now that it has been named,
we're they not equally capable of under
standing the reasons why there should
be a non-partisan ticket and why those
| who have been placed on 1t should be
placed there? Neither the committee
! nor any defender of the non partisan
movement offered any explanation of
| the nominating method it has pursued,
nor why THE committee found it desir-
! able that it ignored and refused to
adopt the free and open methods that
have always obtained in American
politics. The promoters of the non
! partisan movement have done their
work in secret concIave. and for rea-
| sons best known TO themselves. They
have protested that their purposes are
most careful to exclude the people from
| all their meetings where they have dis
cussed their purposes. When it comes
to dealing with public affairs it is not
sufficient to declare that that which
! goes on in secret is for the peoples
! good and is only prompted by honorable
motives; the dealings must be open to
| public inspection and the possibility
Of suspicion avoided. Why could not
| the gentlemen composing the commit
tee having in charge the non-partisan
movement have done this? If in the
methods they have pursued there was
nothing to hide, then why have they
pursued secret and hidden methods? If
! they suspicion the people and lack con-
fidence in them, is it not natural that
the people should suspicion them and
lack confidence in them? The people
like free. open, American methods and
find them sufficient for all their pur-
poses. Win the non-partisans tell why
| they stunned these methods with which
| the people are so familiar? If their
secret ways are Better they should be
more than willing TO enlighten the peo-
pie on this point. But they do not do
| this, for the very sufficient reason that
| they have absolutely no faith in the
fitness of the people to name suitable
men and women as candidates for the
various municipal offices. And now
they think they can beguiIe the pep
pie into voting for a ticket in the nam
ing of which they were not deemed fit
to participate. IF the non-partisan
ticket should be elected in this city it
would be an Acknowledgement on the
part of the citizens that the covert
charge against them that they are
wholly unfit to name a candidate for
office, is true. Every respecting
citizen in this city owes it to his
American manhood and Wornanhood to
resent the imputation put upon their
political integrity and capacity by the
methods adopted by the non partisans.
They are the methods of oligarch5.
Stamp out this non-partisan business
which denies the capacity of the people
for Stelf-goVernnaenf