Arizona republican., 1898-12-22
~pOTATO" plNGREE
He is Unique and naSterfui Leader
 Of P0iiIh al Forces.

E2ZG1 ;. E1ngIe2, governor e M1ch1-
 gan, is the greatest poljical boss that the country has seen. There has never
 been his equa- in the running Of a con-
 ventiCn and in making the people do
 absolutely what he wants. That incl
 derta1ly he does what they want does
 net alter the case. Politicians today
 admit that Quay, Platt and Croker,
 able as they are in the control of or ganiza liens and the mastery Of the people, are not his peers.
 Today H. 2. Pingrea is the absolute
 master of Michigan. His will is law,
 and G1e people net only follow him
 wherever he leads, but they are proud i Of it. There is, to be sure, 9 difference ! in the methods he employs. Pingree | Is honest. One O. the chief faults his enemies find with him is that ae is in cC1ruptible- This is an unusual charge
 to make againas a boss. But Pingree is an unusual boss.
 The election held recently in Micbi- ! gan Illustrates The control which Pin gree has over Michigan politics. The boss himself was a candidate for gQV- e1nCr lie won the nomination after
 the hardest kind Of fight. Then he ran
 30,G00 CT more ahead of his ticket He
 named most of the republican legisIa-
 tive candidates. HG merely sent word 70 the conventions that he wanted So-
 and-SO nominated. The conventions
 usually did his bidding. In those eases
 where the conventions did not cbev him PingTee came out openly and
 fought tthe nominees Of his own parfy.
 Hc did not fight in secret in the usual
 fashion Of the pOlAical bosses, who make professions Of loyalty and then
 pass the word along the line to knife the man whom they profess to support. Pingrea announced that such-2nd-such
 q candidate CT the same ticket with himself ought to be defeated. And he was
 Never has there been seen such case of bCssism as there was in the De- tToit legislative districts. Ping.ee sent down 70 the convention a printed list of the men who were to be nominated. He admilled I, and gloried in it The opposition called the nominees "the o. K. ( ten" and the branded slaves They were held up to ridicula as being owned by Pingree. The nominees pub Ecly announced tca5 if they were elect ed they would have no higher ambi- tiOn than to do eXacdy what Pingrea advised them to do. The result was that they ran away ahead of their
 icket.
 Can Croker, Quay or Platt show any parallel to that?
 Pingrae mas his own methods. He is | original h the first place, he came ] into politics by accident. Before his : nomination as mayer Of Detroit, in | 1889, he did net knew LIe first thing about politics. He was republican | because he was born in Maine. Begin 1 ming life 2s 3 jOu- -i15yman shoemaker, ho had become proprietor Cf . shoe fac tory. and his political duties consisted { il sending . cheek each year to the campaign committee.
 PingFe9 was nominated for mayor in 1889 because Cleveland had carried the ely year before by 5000 majority, and nobody else wanted what was con- sideTed all empty honor. As soon as pingree realized this he became angry md announced that he would ba elect 3d. And ne was, by 5000 majority. af- ter hard fight in which he pledged himself to redeem the city from corpOr- ltiOn rule if elo@.ed. Workingmen sup ported him in spite of the fact he was ! millionaire. During the campaign he showed his genius for organization and knowledge of the wishes Of the people. Elected, he fulfilled his pledges. He made '5he street railway Companies re- luce their fares ID 3 cents, improved he s.reejs, had the gas rates cut in NO. taxed big concerns twice a5 much ,s they paid before, and, indeed, re- ormed 50 much that when L,c came up CT nomination again khe politicians : we're against him. But the people were vith him, and he won. Four lines in accession he was elected mayor of De- rOit, and each time in spite Of the poIi- ] icians and the corporations. Each time ; is majority was increased. Then he made his way fer the gov | rEC-ship, promising that f elected he : would do for the state what he had ore fer .4-e city. Opposed to him were II -he veteran politicians, like Sena- . or AIcMillan, Alger. Bliss, Burrows and | D'DOnnell. But he beat them all and q Ct the nomination. '
 Election 2s governor followed as a T natter of course. Mckinley carried e Michigan by 56000 plurality. Pingree's lurality was s 000 t
 Pirgres set to work 0 reEorm the r ate. lie found that Indians secured i bout $2, 2,500.00O a year ill taxes from I while Michigan, with a larger f lilway m;,c3se, had been g5tt.ng n bout $I00,000 from the same source. 'inE5ce lad q bill introduced in the 3isiaturC giving the various counties :, tlc el3t tG TOW CT CI local taxa I9l OVCr le railroads and allowing them 10 as ' 2ss railroad property the same as her property and collect taxes from le corporations independently The T threads opposed dhis, but the people Y 52foved, and the result was the pas s lg0 Ce a compromise bill increasing O le t9XaS.Cl On gross earnings and | 1ubling the amount Of faxes received. o ut this was not satisfactory to Pin rec, and in She campaign just closed 2 Hads his fight chiefly in favor Of q f, ,T-her increase.
 The general impression is that Pin G, 7ee is g demasCgUe. Those who know =
 n do nc- believe this He is a man =
 high ideals and exalted principles. ;, is reforms have always succeeded. '
 c.. =: =. ln