The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-04-06
FOR SMITH IN CRISIS
CITY ALWAYS TURNS TO THE GAL.
LIANT OLD MAN WHEN DIS
GRACE is NEAR AT HAND
MAYORS WRIGHT AND DORIAN
Police Departments of Each Were
the Butt of the Country-Things
Widely Different Now Cam IF
paign subcommittee Named.

Comparison of the votes by which for
mer Mayors Wright, Doran and Kiefer
were elected with the votes polled by
Mayor Smith is the strongest commen-
| tary on the distrust Of Republican admin
istration of municipal affairs prevalent
in st. Paul, and proves conclusively that
if Republican administration has brought
the city to the verge of ruin and disgrace,
| it has turned to Mayor Smith to retrieve
its credit and character.
In 1894 and 1900 Mayor Smith was elected
/ by votes which represented changes or
practically 5000 votes in each instance.
In 1892 Col Wright was elected by
plurality Of about 3 500. His administration
was not success. Personally a gentle
man of-the highest character, Col Wright
was not the man for mayor. He surround
| ed himself with henchmen who made his
| administration a synonym for everything
| representing mismanagement Of municipal
! affairs. He ousted Clark and O'Conn0r
! from the police department and built up
a police department which was the butt
of the country, and made St. Paul the
| chosen haven of the crooks of the United
| States. He Imported a chief of police and
| hired an agency man for chief of his de
! tective force.
Women Afraid to Sit on POrches.
| A carnival of crime ensued Terror
| reigned. Ladies residing in the formerly
! Well-ordered Seventh ward were afraid to
| sit on their own porches after o'clock
| in the evening. Messengers on their way
| to the banks were held up and robbed In
broad daylight Col. Wrights police and
/ detective departments were powerleSs and
! he was obliged to secure the services OF
| a detective agency to ferret out the criEl-
! inals harbored under his system. After
| the agency had done its work and with
4
| the chief Of policies safe in the basement
| of the court house to get back the booty
! which he was unable to care for after
| having it restored by outside agents At
| the end of his term of two years the peo-
| pie demanded that Robert A. Smith again
take the helm, and Col Wright's major
| ity of 1900 was turned into majority of
500 for Smith.
Mayor Smith took hold of the wreck left
| by the Republicans. Order came out OF
| chaos The police department was res or-
| ed. The carnival Of crime gave way to a
regime of safety and quiet, and the GRIM
mails who escaped prison cells Stunned
st. Paul like a pestilence.
Boards governing public institutions
which had been demoralized by Wright
were constructed on a business bi-
partisan basis, and the Democratic ad-
mlnistration again took up the work OF
paying off the debts contracted under Re-
| puDlcan extravaganza.
Again a HOtbed of Crime.
| In 1896 Mayor Smith declined a renom-
| ination and Mr. Doran defeated Mr. Gull
| len by 3,7O5. Again the city was plunged
| into the depths Of the Republican mire
! Mr.. Doran's first act was to set about
| another reconstruction of the police de-
| partment. He did his work so effectual1y
| that within three months ST. Paul was
| again hotbed of crime. The principal
| streets were unsafe for pedestrians after
| nightfal. So wretched was the police de-
| partment that women footpads entered
| the field and successfully held up and
| robbed a citizen at the corner of Fifth
! and st. Peter streets at 8 o'clock in the
| evening under the full glare of the cleo
| trio lights. His work i'll the police depart
! ment completed, Doran set about recon-
| structing every board in control of the
| city institutions. The bipartisan principle
! of Mayor Smith and the Democratic party
| was thrown to the winds and Mr.. Doran
! went TO work to appoint his personal
| friends to secure in the several depart
ments any and all patronage for the ben
| eft Of his friends and henchmen Moth
! ing escaped him. He started with the
water board and went down the line Of
| the fire, library and school boards, and
| the boards in turn were obliged to bend
| to the will of the Doran appointees and
!
! Of political fence building and loot His
| administration was so bad that his party
| repudiated him, and at the end of his
! term of two years his name was Kissed
! in the Republican convention, which nom
| mated Col. Kiefer.
| One More Demand for Democrats
The Republicans tried a change in their
own school of medicine with results
which at the end of a second term of
Republican administration resulted in a
| demand that the Democrats again be Civ
en- the reins of government, with Mayor
Smith at the head Of the administration.
| He was elected by a vote which again
| showed a change Of 1885 votes, or % per
cent of the whole vote Of the city, which
had been materially affected by the fran
| ch1se laws of a preceding legislature. His
administration speaks for itself The St.
| Paul police department and it's chief are
| recognized the world over as me peers
| of any police department It's school
| board has battled against the greatest
| odds and discouraging conditions to pro-
| vide ample school FACT tiles. lis fire board
| bipartisan in its makeup, has reinstated
the chief whom Doran ousted from office.
| and st. Paul is one of the best fire in
| surance risks in the United States.
| Dorans library board has been wiped out
and the city's credit restored. The Demo-
cratic administration has given careful
| account OF its stewardship and the people
Will audit the account with the biggest
majority ever given Mayor Smith.
Mr.. FIeming's subcommittee.
Chairman Fleming, of the Democrat tic
executive committee, yesterday completed
| the campaign subcommittee with the foi-
| lowing assignments:
Committee on Conventions George
Reddlngton, chairman; Pierce Butler,
James Maloney. Herman Oppenheim,
George Mltsch, William Foelsen.
conference Committee Alexander
ADAMS chairman; o. Z. Holman, John
| w. Willis, J. M. Hawthorne. John Cor
man, Michael r. Prendergast, William
Harrington, Charles c. McElWee, Charles
Ferrier, Lee Hall.
Committee on Entertainment-Dr. Alex
ander Stone, chairman; Octave Savard,
Or. W. ID. Kelly, Daniel Foley, Frank
Moosbruger, Michael MEuane, c. j. Buell.
Or. II. ID. Aldrich, Louis Wilkes, John j.
Gleason and Fred L. McGhee.
Press Committee-M r. Kahn. chair
man; F. A. Pike, Edwin Wiesenburger,
Eeter Mcdonald Gustave Scholle, James
ToLreStal / W. Wilwerscheid, James H.
Bell Joseph McCauley.
Arranges for Hall and Speakers.
The committee on halls and speakers
met yesterday afternoon at the central
Democratic headquarters and completed
plans for the campaign. Thomas 4aggett
was elected secretary Monday evening
| the committees will mat yIitI, +ba