The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-09-17
CAREER BEGAN IN JEST
philadelphia Saturday Post.)

The political career of Samuel AL
schiller. the present Democratic nom
tnee for the governorship of Illinois,
began as joke. In 1881. SAM" then
not far along in his twenties, had been
admitted to the Illinois bar and haa
hung his shingle from little Office
over g. clothing store in Aurora, the
home of his boyhood. and was having
hard Scrambling to make ends meet.
SoI' Hirsch was a clerk in the cloth
ing store. Dick Corbett another
young man who had grown up in this
MS native city, was the local of the
Aurora Daily News, one of the first
chronologically, of many little local
dalleS that sprang into being in. the
fOS throughout the middle west Cor
bett, with salary of 81 a week, was
probably much richer in ready money
than either AlschuIer or Hirsch
These three young men were Demo-
Gratis, in which respect they differed
from very large majority of the vot-
ers IN their town, county and congress
Sional district. Indeed, there were so
few Democrats there that they hardly
kept up party organization: and, ex-
cepting in presidential years they
seldom took the trouble to put up either
county or a district ticket. In town
matters party politics played no part.
One day in the summer of 1882 Sam
ana Sol and Dick CHANGED to meet on
the street and after some good-na-
tured political raillery (the few Dem
| ocrats In Kane county were standing
jokes ever among themSelyeS) the
three repaired to AlschuIer's office and
held a mock town caucus-a primary
it would now be called. AlschGler was
chosen chairman: Hirsch, secretary
and Corbett made the motions. Del
egates TO an imaginary county conven-
ton were chosen and a resolution was
adopted instructing them to vote as
unit for the nomination of AlschuIer
for county judge and Hirsch for conn
" clerk, and, according to the form of
instructions III those DAYS TO use all
honorable means to procure the nom
nation ard election of Richard w. Cor
bett to congress-"
Corbett wrote q report of this eau
Gus seriously, as if the thing had been
called and conducted in the most regu-
lar way. He deftly omitted to saw
where 1T was held or how many were
present. When this was published that
afternoon in the Daily News the DeOple
took it as seriously as they ever took
anything that the local Democratic
party did. They poked all manner. of
run at the candidates. but nobody
questioned the regularity of the eau
Gus. Democrats merely thought they
mad been recreant to party duty in not
knowing, or caring. that there was go
ing TO be caucus. and nobody else,
of course. had any interest, saws a hui
morous one, IN the ma tier.
6 @ q
When the three saw how well the
joke was going they interested some
young chaps of their acquaintance in
other parts of the county, and man
aged to get delegates enough quiet
ly together to hold a county conyen-
ton, cut from the same piece as the
Aurora caucus. And at last, by merely
extending the same methods they sue
ceeded in holding a similar district
convention, at which Corbett was for
mally-very formally-nominated for
congress.
Every newspaper in the district re-
ceiVed an official looking report. duly
signed and attested by the proper con-
ventiOn authorities. and the nominal
| ton was made widely public
Alschuler and Hirsch from that time
on had to take most of their enjoy
ment of the joke vicariously. Their.
little county nomination did not count
for much in the state and nation. bur
the congressional nominee was a man
to consider And when, a year later
Mr.. Cleveland was elected president Of
the United States, the young man who
had carried the conventions of his
town. county and district" knocked
down most Of the patronage persim-
mons.
But Sam has been climbing stead
lily up the political ladder ever since
that memorable Aurora caucus