The Roswell daily record. [volume] (Roswell, N.M.) 1903-current, 1906-10-25
GREAT DEMOCRATIC
LOVE FEAST. LAST NIGHT

IolC almost as nucu dC noIIS III
Chaves county as he did in Eddy For
seventeen years he had resided IN
the Valley. and to man of his age
this was the greater part of mis- life.
He had been getting along the best
he could without a public Office, had
never run for any public Office and
had never been a candidate even for
a nomination This was his first eff
fort at making a political address in
his own behalf, but he thought that
possibly when ne had voted the ticket
for thirty years as Judge Gatewood
had, and tasted the glories of office
holding he might wear off some of
mis- modesty and be able to present
a stronger case.
He had been out of the Territory
for two months on a vacation, and
the first intimation he had of being
nominated as candidate for the
Territorial Council, came from the
king bee of the Republican party,
Col. Max Frost of Santa Fe. He had
stopped in Santa Fe on his way home
and Col. Frost had asked MIN about
his candidacy. He had not even yet
been officially notified of his nomi-
nation, but he had heard of it and
read of it in his home papers, thus
confirming what he had heard at
Santa Fe. Then he had gone to work
investigating as to what kind of
platform had been made for him to
run upon. He had read the Demo
cratic platform of the Territory and
of the county and district conventions
and was ready~to say tnat there was
not a word or a line of either plat
form which he could not stand for.
He was proud to stand on a platform
favoring retrenchment in the ex-
penses of the Territory. 1t is time
we were beginning to retrench I'm
this Territory. He had little proper
ty himself, and of late years it had
gotten so that ne had to pay for it
over again every year.
We are being burdened with out
rageous taxes in this Territory, and
Mr.. Cameron explained it all with
the one word, "Oteroism.' When
this little fellow, Otero, first went
into office as governor, he acted for
awhile very modestly and reasonably.
there were large number of Dem
ocrats still in the legislature, and
his plans could not be carried out
successfully until he gained control
of the iegislature,-but let us note
few figures to show how he finally
gained his ends. The figures are
| those given by Mr.. Cameron, though
we may not be able to give his ex-
act words in commenting on them.
The money ordered paid out by
, the legislature during the last year
of Governor Thornton's administra-
tion amounted to about $1,000. Now,
behold the growth of expenses under
| Oteroism. In 1905, the last year of
| Otero's administration the expenses
| were $62,95O.
In 1899 the salaries paid at the
Territorial penitentiary Amounted to
s7,O65, and other expenses of the
institution $4,000. During the last
year of Oteroism, 1905, the salaries
at the penitentiary amounted to
$4,000, and maintenance $4,000, a
difference of $17,535 per annum Then
i Superintendent Bursum was not sat
isfied with the additional salaries
| and perquisites, but we are told by
expert accountants that twenty to
twenty-five thousand dollars were
spent which nobody ever heard Of
The speaker thought Bursum had
overlooked a bet in making this ex-
penditure, and unnecessarily render
ed himself liable, for the legislature
/ would undoubtedly nave made him
a present of it in due and legal form
had he only asked for it. Mr. Cam
eron learned at Santa FNe that Mr.
Bursum was now gradually paying
back this money, that he had already
paid back over four thousand dollars
and contemplated paying five thous
and more in a few days. This mar
Bursum is the head of the Repubn
can party in New Mexico, the Terri
torial chairman, the bell wether d
the bunch. BY dividing the none,
out among the boys, however, ht
had so won their affection that they
could not refuse MIN an endorsement
in the Territorial convention.
81 The total salaries of Territorial of
-.