Waterbury Democrat., 1901-08-08
WANTSBLA AIRS JOB
Republicans to Have Big Fight
 Over Registrarship.
EDWARD PLATT THE MAN.

His Friends Say He Is Competent To
 Fill The Position and Is Deserving
 of It-John Blair's Friends Are Up
 In Arms-A Calamity, They Say, It
 Has Filled The Position So Long
 and So Thorough.
 It has often been said that if one
 wanted to create conSternation in the
 republican camp he could not hit upon
 better plan than by getting some one
 to enter the race for registrar of voters against John Blair, who has held the
 position for the past fifteen or sixteen
 years and appears to be giving satis-
 faction to all parties, democrats as we'll as republicans being loud in their
 praises of MT Blair'S efforts to keep
 the lists in the best possible shape.
 For this reason he was supposed to have hold on the office which no man would dare to tamper with. But this was a mistake and unless all signs fail the hottest battle ever fought among the democrats over the regis
 trarship was nothing more than child's
 play compared with the tussle which
 the republicans will have this fall be- tween the friends of John Blair and Edward Platt, man who filled the berth years ago, and has kept in touch 1 with 1t ever Since being MT BlairS right hand man until last year, when l they are said to have had a difference l that came near ending in blows about MT Blair employing nOn-residents of | Waterbury to work on the lists.
 One of Mir Platt'S packers talked on | the subject to-day with a representa- l tive of this paper and while he was | not sure that MT Platt can get the l nomination, still he had no hesitation l in stating that the time is ripe for
 a change in the office of republican registrar of voters. He believed that | Edward Platt is as competent to do
 the work and probably more so, on ac l count of his familiarity with all the 1 details of the office, than MT Blair, who he claimed, is so occupied with his duties at the Apothecaries Hall com pany since the death of L. l. MunSOn, l that he has devoted practically none l of his time to the registrarship. Be- | sides that, he said it was folly to be paying MT Blair, who has no time to ] attend to the office. so long as the party can secure the services of re- I liable man who is willing to give it l his entire attention. 'Blair,' he con- l tinued, lis a good man. and I'm not l aware that anyone has anything to ] say against him personally or other I wise, except that the office has become | a sinecure in his hands and think if the truth were known he would be very glad to retire any day It is an open secret that he has been holding it for some time past because few men in the party feared to have him resign on account of the trouble it might lead to in the selection of his successor. ! | don't think anyone would countenance 1 a change if Blair was doing the work, but he is not and the worst of it is that
 all his assistants are not Waterbury
 men, some of them coming from the
 far west, Chicago, to earn money at
 the business, while good republicans, who belong here and have always been | with us, could not get a chance to earn l a dollar at the job. Platt's not the only man that is seeking the position. There are others and it would not sur prise me to learn that in the event of a change the party may ask the man 1 whom Blair succeeded Frank Field, to step into the harness again, but per- I haps Frank would not care to bother
 with it now, so that if we have a change in all probability it will be Platt or Smith,
 Of course what we have said comes from one of MT PIatt's closest friends I and the public can take it for what they consider it is worth On the other hand, some of the republicans are up
 in arms over the matter and have al- ready taken steps to close the doors against the Platt contingent. They res gard it as calamity, politically, to in- troduce such a proposition, and claim 1 that the party leaders will never con- \ sent to the removal of John Blair. | Many democrats stand with the repubS | licans, who desire to retain the services of MT Blair and are using what in- f1uence they have to head off his com petitor One of the democrats told a reporter that had it not been for the fact that John Blair is straight forward and honest, the democrats
 would have been in the sssoup," that's the word the gentleman used on more than one occasion and that he consid- cred it for the best interests of both parties to keep him there as long as he I is willing to serve. A few others who have been heard from on the question advocated a change on the ground that l it is a fat office and should not be held by a man who can well afford to get
 along without it. They favored giving it to Edward Platt because he is com- petent to do the work and has the time to attend to it. Whatever way the bat file goes it is certain that it will make
 things lively for our neighbors from ! now on and we'll all watch the man.
 auverings made by the Blair and Platt
 men until the contest is over.
 T CHAUTAUQUA TEACHER DEAD. n-1ao~ CoI A,,o Nbor.IoC IT