Los Angeles herald., 1906-12-04

1 a "mere lawyer" The people of this
nation do not appear to agree with the
doctrine that mere. lawyers" are unfit
to hold the reins of government. Con-
slider, for example, that everyspresident
of the United States since Grant has re-
ceived legal training; that state after
state has chosen lawyers to occupy the
governors chair; witness California
with Gillett,,. New York with Hughes,
Missouri with Folk and Wisconsin with
La Toilette, to mention only very few
OF thet names which will come most
readily to every mans recollection; that
New York city and.sa ma jority of the
larger cities of the United States now
have lawyers at the, head of, their mu-
nioipal administration. and that one at
least|of two largest industrial corpora
tions in the world, the steel trust, after
experimenting with plain business
| man." has finally placed a a''mere law
yer at it's head. Certainly If Los
Angeles is mistaken in selecting a
lawyer as it's chief executive officer, 1t
Is mistaken in the best company in
the country.
! Consider further that, whenever the
"plain business manor any other citi-
zen--must make a really critical de-
cision in his own affairs he invariably
lays the whole matter before some
ii
acts in. accordance with the advice re-
ceived.
In very truth, the position which Lee
! Gates has occupied for fourteen years.
and which he has filled to the eptire
satisfaction of the officers and stock
holders to whom he was directly re-
sponsible as well as to that of the i'm
mensely larger circle, the safety of
whose investments has depended upon
l. rf la1e k1aa
keenness of his penetration and the cer-
tainty of his declsion-this training,
say, has been one almost ideally call
! culated to fit him for the responsible
! ties of the mayors chair. Particularly
at this very moment. when the city
| is about to embark on enterprises of
| immense importance, involving the
raising and expenditure of huge sums
of money, while at the same time 1t
must remodel its whole form of gov
ernment to correspond with its evolu-
ton from an overgrown town to a
great metropolis, does Los Angeles
need for mayor a man with the sa-
gacity. the legal knowledge and the
! judicial temperament which could have
been better. developed at no, other work
than at that which Lee Gates has been
doing.
But there is a oity attorneys office,
to have an able and competent city at
torney for the next three years, 1t is
also true that the infnitude OF details
with which the city attorneys office
must be occupied will tax its energies
to the utmost. No man more promptly
than Mr.. Hewitt will recognizetand as
sert the G@rfnN Ntage-yes. the paramount
necessity-of a mind In the executive
department of the city trained in the
law and, equipped for shaping general
policies and solving for itself the knotty
problems with which the mayor of Los
Angeles viii have to deal. 1t Is no
derogation to his rivals for the mayor
atty to say that none of them can COM
pare at all with Lee Gates in this re-
spect.
Many other points OF special fitness
might be dwelt upon did time and
space allow, but l must content my
self with but few more words. Even
In the heat of this fiercely contested
campaign, no man has dared whisper a
suspicion against the integrity of Lee
Gates, against his fidelity and skill
with which he has executed every
task ever assumed by him, nor against
his high ideals of civic duty He has
served Loyalty not only in every per-