The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1902-07-17
WHY THEY BOLT.
Independent Republicans Issue
Formal Address.
Explain the Reason For Their
Decisive Action.
QUOTE MIR. ROOSEVELT
QUOTE MIR. ROOSEVELT
JuStifies Honest and Fearless
Action in Politics.
County Attorney and Sheriff
Held Responsible For Joints.


to the voters to SUPPORT Frank Stahl,
the candidate of the Independent Re-
publicans for sheriff and L. A Stebbins
their candidate for county attorney.
The open letter was prepared by the
executive committee and meeting was
held late Wednesday afternoon in Sc
curity hall and Il. S.etter was signed by
the members of the general committee.
The open letter. is as follows:
To the Voters of Shawnee County:
Theodore Roosevelt has said: In po-
litical life, whether a man act within or
without party lines, is not of very great
moment. if only he acts honestly, fear
lessly and effectively, but remember
that it is necessary to be both efficient
and upright, too Parties are necessary.
Without association and organization,
and the necessary partial subordinatiOn
of individual preferences, no greater work
can be done. But on the other hand,
no man has a right to condone crime, to
excuse moral shortcomings of any kind,
because of alleged party necessity.
THE SITUATION.
There are as many as 100 joints run
ming unmoleSted in Shawnee county,
many of them without even a pretense
of a cigar store drug store to give
semblance of legitimate business. There
are six wholesale liquor depots in the
city of Topeka distributing several car
loads of liquor weekly. Every few days
jointists in the police court of the city
of Topeka plead guilty to Keeping a
tipping shop open on Sunday, and not
a move is made by the county officials
to put an end to this lawlessness. Nor
is this all the lawlessness. Gamblers,
prostitutes and all classes of criminals
implied in wide open" policy. flock to
any place where official action is deter
mined by other considerations than the
commands of the law and the require
ments of the official oath.
DUTY OF SHERIFF AND COUNTY
ATTORNEY.
We have a statute one section of
which REQUIRES that all Sh0FlffS. deputy
sheriffs, mayors, marshals, police judges,
ETC., shall notify the county attorney OF
any violation of the prohibitory law
coming to their notice. Another section
requires the county attorney when so
notified to make inquiry. and begin
prosecution if he finds grounds for it.
Another section requires the county at
torney to prosecute diligently all vlo-
lations of the prohibitory law in his
county. Violation of any of these pro-
visions is misdemeanor punishable by
fine, Imprisonment and forfeiture of Of
flee. The county attorney and sherlH
each take an oath to support the cen
stitution of the United States and of the
state of Kansas, and to perform faith-
fully the duties of their respective Off
ces, and violation of such oath Is pun
ishable as perjury.
THE REAL ISSUE
For five years the sheriff and county
attorney in this county have made all
these provisions dead letter so far as
they are concerned. Their notification
of the law results in ensnaring youths,
making loafers, wasting wages. cor
rupting the administration of justice.
and undermining the very foundation
of popular government, which is loyalty
to law. The men who now pose as the
regular Republican nominees for these
offices have been selected because they
can be depended upon to perpetuate a
policy under which every provision of
the prohibitory law may be violated
one or ten thousand times day with
+sr,rro Of fI,ic
policy is the real~issue in county poll
tics this fall and this makes the poll
tical and official record of these two
men the MAN subject of inquiry. What
is their record, and what is their title to
a place on the Republican ticket?
RECORD OF THE REPUBLICAN
CANDIDATE FOR SHERIFF
The candidate for sheriff assisted a
Democrat to defeat D. n. Burdge when
he was the regular Republican nominee
for sheriff. AS his reward he served
two years as Democratic deputy
sheriff and throughout his term abso-
lutely ignored the explicit requirement
of the prohibitory law that he notify
the county attorney of violations there
of. although he had full knowledge of
such violation. He opposed the present
sheriff when he was first a candidate
because he was pledged to enforce the
prohibitory law, and he was a delegate
in the convention which nominated his
Democratic opponent He, assuming
that his record had made him an APP
propriate Republican candidate, with
two others, importuned a complaisani
central CON mittee into calling a pri-
mary to nominate county officers fol-
1901. after Republican legislature had
said there should be no county officsN
elected in 1901.
primary was called in May to nomi-
nate candidates to be voted for at the
general election in 1901" Divers per-
sons who under proper conditions would
have desired to become candidates fol
selves, and many, regarding the entire
proceeding as illegal. paid no attention
to the primary, hence the present can
didate for sheriff was nominated Ito be
voted for in 1901"
In July. 1901, the supreme court de-
cfded that no officers were to be elected
in 1901, except a commissioner, notwith-
standing such decision, the candidate
for sheriff, and others. chiefly to pre-
vent the Republican voters from having
any opportunity to express their choice
for sheriff, set about the manufacturing
Of majority in the central committee
favorable to the revolutionary policy OF
declaring the nominees of the illegal
primary of May. 1901, also the nominees
for 1902. and were finally successful in
SO manufacturing such majority.
RECORD OF THE REPUBLICAN
CANDIDATE FOR COUNTY At
TORNEY.
Now what is the record of the candi-
date for county attorney? His four
years service as deputy county attor-
ney was schooling in notification On
this record he was nominated for coun-
ty attorney in 1900, at a go
called Republican primary by the
aid OF votes of the lawless
elements in all parties. including repeat
ers and imported voters On this nomi-
nation he pulled through with a ma
jority of 654. in county normally Re-
publican by $500; but he was not elect
ed by Republican votes. Many Repub-
Hcans voted for him then believing, In
spite of his record and his following,
that he would enforce the law. All such
voters are now undeceived. He GER
ta1n1y will not get. on his record, any
Republican votes that he did not get
before He, too, had much reason for
fearing to risk his fortunes in Q fair