The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-10-10
An AUTOMATIC MACHINE.

AN AUTOMATIC MACHINE.
With automatic precision and almost
without JAR the Republican machine
went through the motions of a con-
Vention Tuesday and evolved a ticket
Tor county and legislative offices that
ought to be highly satisfactory to the
nominees and their sponsors With
one possible exception. the names had
been put on the slate before the dele
gates reached the hall. most of them
had been on the program for weeks,
and all OF them were certified By the
Smoot-Salisbury-C allister-Spry combi-
nation before they went through.
Frank Emery, the nominee for re-
election as sheriff has already had
two terms in that office: ]. u. Eldredge
is named to succeed himself as county
clerk; Willard Hanson, present depu-
~ i'm the county attorneys office, is
down for his chiefs job: Percy Perk-
ms wants another term as county re-
corder, and Surveyor Swenson also
would like TO be a repeater. That is
10 say. the county officials, with their
employees and deputies. framed up an
arrangement for mutual support in the
convention, a sort of "you-tickIe-me''
game that worked to a charm 1t side
tracked the agrarian element in the
convention all right, and left the coun-
trymen wondering why they had taken
the trouble and spent the money to
come to town
For county commissioners, A. w
Carlson and j. B. Cosgriff were chosen.
again discomf1ting the agricuIturists
Indeed. the rural brother found the
convention hall about as chilly as a
cold storage plant and about as profit
able as a dry farm in Death valley
When the legislative nominatio were
made the machine doled out a place
or two to appease the wrath of the
whiskered contingent, but when they
walked up yesterday. after it was all
over. they must have known how to
sypathize with the McWhirters
Taken individually, the nominees are
a fairly decent lot, and the two named
for county commissioners are of a
higher class than usually offer for that
important department of the public
service: but the whole bunch represent
the ultimate workings of machine poll
tics. reduced TO science and excluding
any possibility of a popular choice in
the selection OF candidates The list
was fixed up by half a dozen men, and
all opposition was ironed out as smooth
over it. In one instance, the nomina-
tion OF Benner X. Smith, the machine
concluded to make n showing of con-
cession TO the delegates, but that was
a small concession, since Mr.. Smith is
not averse TO a little machine in
fuence in a pinch and will be regular
enough TO suit the most orthodox Re-
publican i'm any party emergency.
Altogether. the convention confirmed
the charge that the Smoot branch of
the Republican party is absolutely
dominated by few leaders. who are
utilizing their power for their personal
ends. The county building gang" and
the federal ofTice-holders syndicate
controlled the proceedings from invo-
cation TO benediction. while the out
siders" did the swearing The result
geans a continuance of the old hos
tilfties and heartburns. the old meth
eds and old men who have done SO
much 20 make factional politics the
curse OF the state and the bane of its
public life.
The Republicans go into the cam
paign without any of the elements of
popular selection or popular approval
and with the knowledge that they can
not hope TO carry the county so long
as the American" party continues to
hold within it's ranks very large pro-
portion of the men who were formerly
most active I'm Republican affairs. The
city election last fall demonstrated the
weakness of the Republicans in this
city; the election this fall will show
that they have lost even the feeble
strength they mustered in support Of
Lynch The people are tired of the