The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-05-05

Public sentiment is not in favor of a
change in the personnel of the police
force. as outlined in The Herald yester-
day morning, and according to the
plans of the mayor and his chief of po-
lice. The action of the city's executive in
discharging sumnarily so many mem
beers of the force and substituting for
them a lot of raw hands. does not meet
with the approval of those who have
property interests to guard.
Expressions condemnatory of this &C
tion were heard on all sides yesterday,
and could the mayor get around among
the business people of the city, he would
doubtless become the possessor of a
great deal of information which would
be Of service to him.
OF the new appointees, Adam Paul,
BOman Cannon, z. III. Talbot and o. z.
Pratt have had some experience polio
ing, but it has been of a very quiet sort
Of nature. None of them have ever
distinguished themselves in any official
positions with the possible exception of
Paul, who sacrificed his moustache at
the time he went TO Denver and dis
covered where the home and office of
the late Martin Hayken were situated.
But all those who are slated to be let
out are good men; men who have earn
ed a reputation for intelligence and
AAtlIllNs anu nave NS1 NOu biAc
public. True they may be regarded as
official excrescences,' but the rule laid
down in the platform of the party in
possession of the mayors office does
not seem to have been very vigilantly
enforced up to date. A very large num-
Der of people do not seem to be able to
credit the story that Wire, Rhodes,
Raleigh, Busby, Heath, Shannon, Ever
i'll and Carey are to be dismissed from
service, as every man of them has
been regarded as efficient in his posi-
ton and faithful to the interests of the
public.
There seems to be an expression Of
sentiment to the effect that Mr.. Pratt
cannot rest quiet with a good depart
ment. When he took the police force
the first time, the personnel of the men
was such as no officer could complain
of. In a short time confusion reigned
in the department, and now, in the
judgment of a great many, it seems as
if there was going 20 be lot more.
It is understood that the chief has
prevailed upon the mayor to permit
these changes to be made in order that
Pratt may have chance to do good
work with the department. From what
can be learned. it seems he is to be
given every chance to make the depart
ment efficient, and no man who stands
in the way at all is TO be given any
chance, but must stand from under.
The dropping of Silas Smith as one
of the desk sergeants has caused a
story to go the rounds of the officers. 1t
is stated that when Smith heard he was
going to be fired, he went to the chief
and asked what the trouble was, and
was told that some person had told the
mayor he was a man with bad habits;
that he did not pay attention to his
duties. and all that sort of thing. Smith
is not the kind of a man to rest quiet
under such suspicious, so he went to
Mayor Clark and asked him about it.
The mayor is said to have informed
him that there was nothing in the
tale; no man had made any such state |
mentS to him. Then Smith went to the |
committee. and there learned that it
was q no less person than the chief
himself who had made a statement be- |
fore that body. Now Smith has on a |
coat of war paint a foot thick, and is /
doing a lot of probing, calculated to |
make Afr. Pratt retract or prove some
statements.