The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-03-19
Police Chief Hopes to Maintain His
Life Tenure.
READY TO FIGHT LAW
SUPPOSED FLAW FOUND IN
RECENT LEGISLATION.
If He Is Not Appointed and Con-
frmed Under Reorganization Ord
nance, He viii Go Into Court and
Contend That the Law Is Irregu-
lar and Invalid.

AS Ch1eG Pratt reads nus tate IN the
stars, he will be reappointed and re-
confirmed at the head of the police der
partnent to serve until next January,
at least. Not only does he feel sure of
this, but ne is indulging in the vain
boast that the city must and shall have
him for chief of police for adj time. 1t
is a very nice little scneme he is evolv-
ing. Having once crossed the bridge of
appointment and confirmation the Chief
will gather around him a force ITO build
up his branch of the non-partisan ma
chine, all working for the nomination
and election of a successor to May
Clark, probably Mr.. Clark himself. This
much done and incidentally, perhaps
Republican council elected to promote
his own interests affirmatiyely or to
negative any Democratic opposition, he
will be continued in Office another two
years, from the fact, as he hopes, of
tying the hands of those who may
want to depose him.
Should any of the bridges Chief Pratt
is building fall under him, he pro-
poses, even is boas1ing, that he Will
again appeal to the courts. as he IS &C
cuStomeu to do when in tribulat1on over
the official shoes that he claims are has
for life by a right which the mass OF
the people must respect His legal
strategy will be reSorted to, If need be,
after his successor in the new admin
istration has, drawn salary for months
Then the chief will set up claim to
the salary that he has not earned, ana
will irnplore the supreme Ecourt, in the
interest Of the Republican cause, to or
der paid to him the salary he was de-
prived of earning. The ordinary citizen
would consider that a, difficult under
taking but not SO in Chief Pratt S eS-
timation.
His plan contenplates. if it mead to
be reeorted to, the attacking of the new
law under which the city council is now
proceeding, by ordinance, to reorganize
the police department. He will point to
the enactment of house bill No. 1852, af-
tea, having been amended and repassed
in accordance with the governor sug-
gestions He will claim that the pro-
ceedingS were irregular and unconsu-
tutional in that the vetoed bill should
have either been passed over the exc
cutive's objections or a. new measure
entirely enacted. If the Legislative record
showed any irregularity there might be
a reason for Chief Pratt to chuckle in
glee, but as a matter of fact the gov
ernor's veto was not an unqualified dis
approval of the bill, and there is moth
ing in the record to afford the chief
any great amount of personal gratifi-
cation.
Should Mayor Clark decide to APP
point some other man as chief of police,
Cur should Pratt be appointed and de-
feaIted for confirmation by the council
in either event the result will be the
samoan appeal to the courts. 1t will
be a repetition of the strategy of a
year ago, when Chief Pratt accepted the
ordinance recognizing the department
until his term under that ordinance be-
came impossible. Then he went into
court. He will accept the present law
only as long as it is working advantag-
eously for him, and when it doesn't the
courts will again be invoked for aid
and comfort.
But the chief is banking on enough
votes in the council to confirm Mayor
Clark's appointment of him, notwith-
standing that he fell short of conffrma-
ton a year ago. To go in with, he
counts on the support of Councilmen
Callister, Diehl, Morris, Patrick, Rom
ney and Wallace, the six who stood
by him when he needed aid and com
fort. Councilman Robertson is now
for him and so is Buckle, who, it Will
be remembered hurled fierce invective
at the mayor and the chief not many
that Councilman Buckle is a
candidate for mayor on either the Re-
publican or a non-partisan ticket this
fall. and he looks to the chief to give
him a, boost, please.
That makes eight votes, enough for
but the satisfaction
process has yet to be gone through.
Patrick has renounced
nom partisanism and will align himself
with the Democratic members in stand
ing for the will of the people. Then
there is Councilman Morris, whose dis
pleasure Chief Pratt has incurred. He
will stand for an ideal chief of police
and vote to request the appointment
of such one by Mayor Clark. That
leaves Mr.. Pratt with six supporters in
the council, two short of the number
necessary for confirmation and a new
lease on official life. Of course the
chief figures on doing a liurle trading,
giving a couple of Democratic council
men the privilege of naming a few of
the patrolmen on the force in return
for votes to confirm him, but that
won't work at all.