Omaha daily bee., 1899-09-02
TALK OF TIE POLITICIANS
HOfeldts Friends Try Hard to Pull A, j.
Williams of the Track.
BRoATcH STILL AsPIRES TO Be MAYOR
He Has John It. Clark out Trying to
Put in n Delegation I'm the
Third ward to Heat
Burmester.

The principal anxiety that seems to be
agitating the local democrats Just now is The
possibility that they will really have to
concede the populists an office. Que OF the
few things accomplished by the recent popu-
list county convention was to nominate A.
]. Williams of Waterloo for county commits
sioner from the Third district, which is now
represented by Peter Hofeldt, OF course
Hofeldt is a candidate for reelection, and
the action Of the populists was a tremendous
blow to his prospects. At first his demo-
cratic friends laughed the matter off, saying
that they would soon find means to pull
Williams off the track. but they have now
come to regard his candidacy more seriously.
1t develops that Williams has some opinions
OF his own, and that he has trailed with the
fusion combination long enough to under
stand that one nomination in hand is worth
half a dozen of the promises of future pref
erment that the democrats keep in stock
to deal out to populists who happen to
be in the way. To intimations that, II he
would Just get out of Hofeldt's way, the
democratic party would see that he is well
rewarded, he suggested that the populists of
Douglas county are already overstocked with
Just that sort of paper and he guessed he
would take his chances in the election. The
democratic leaders then offered a written
pledge that they would give him practically
anything he wanted IL he would get off the
track, but Williams happened to remember
that a number of local populists have
similar documents that they have been I'M
able to discount at any price, and he stuck
to his original proposition. The democrats
now declare that, unless he gets out of
Hofeldt's way, they will slaughter him at
the polls, but the threat has apparently
failed to effect it's purpose. Williams is still
in the ring and his friends assert that II
the democrats propose to apply the knife
they will discover that the populist party
has a whole arsenal of knives that can be
put into action without much parleying.
The reluctancy of the populists to abandon
their candidate for county commissioner is
emphasized by the fact that they have en-
tirely failed to profit for their services in
assisting the democrats to obtain control OF
the county board. When they worked for
Hofeldt and Connolly they were assured
that populists would receive equal recogni-
ton in the dispensation of county patronage.
The democratic majority lost no time in
claiming the spoils after 1t got control OF
county affairs, but there was always some
good reason why a vacant position should go
to a democrat. The %populists were invaria-
bly, put aside with the assurance that they
would be taken care of in due time, but
now the Jobs are all filed, and the only
thing a populist has to go to the court house
for is to pay his taxes or serve on a jury
The ~populist workers who were assured that
they would be included in the distribution
Of the spoils are still on the waiting benh
and they demand in the most emphatic
terms that their party shall have a commits
sioner of their own faith who can De ue-
pended on to do them justice.
Undaunted by the very emphatic intl-
nations that he has received in previous
campaigns that the people don't want MIN
for mayor, w j. Broatch has again appeared
in the ring and is getting ready to launch
himself into the breach at the next spring
election. Preliminary to this voluntary sac
rifce of his private interests for the munich
pal good, Broatch proposes to take a hand
in the county primaries, and has ALREADY
begun setting pegs for a delegation in the
Third ward. John T. Clarke, who has OIL
ciated as his treasurer in previous fights, is
again helping to steer his craft, and they
declare their intention of beating Louis
Burmester out in his own ward, just to
show that Broatch is still in it, and form
a base of operations for the future.
C.. J.. Anderson of the Eighth ward, who
was appointed market superintendent by
Mayor Broatch, is managing Charley Peder-
sons campaign for sheriff among the Swed-
ish- American voters.
The Third commissioner district Is bring
ing out a big field of republican candidates
from which the convention will have an
opportunity to choose. OF the nine country
precincts that compose the district a majority
have one or more candidates, and If the
convention was to occur tomorrow none of
them would come in with more than two or
three precincts behind them. There is some
disposition, however, to combine forces on
one or TWO strong candidates, and the field
may be considerably reduced during the
next two weeks. Among the republicans
who are now out for the nomination are
w. G.. Whitmore, ]. Akerlund and Mons
Johnson of Valley, John Siefus of Waterloo.
Peter Mangold of Jefferson, Zach Ellis Of
- .- - ra-.a, IUoleb Of yNogf np,oho