The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1906-10-15
NEW LIEUTENANTS
CHOSEN EACH YEAR
BOrah Has to Select a Bunch in
Every Campaign in
Idaho.
HAS FEW FRIENDS TO
WHOM HE CAN TIE
His Political Record So Spotted
and Inconsistent That PeO-
pie Tire of Him.
Special to The Tribune.

Special to The Tribune.
BOISE, Ida, Oct. 14.-Probably no
politician in America has the spotted
and inconsistent record possessed by w,
E. Borah, the Mormon candidate for
the United States Senste from Idaho
Mr.. Borah has at one time or another
deserted and betrayed every political
principle for which he ever contended,
and gone over to the opposition, and,
what counts for even more than that
in politics, he has deserted in turn
every friend he ever had. and lined
up with his enemies, The result is
that ne has been on all sides of every
political issue, and finds 1T necessary,
whenever he enters a campaign, to get
new friends. because those who follow
&c him in previous campaigns will have
no more of him.
Borah never amounted to much In
Idaho politics until the silver issue
came up in 1896. Then he attained
prominence by leaving the Republican
party and supporting Bryan. Before the
silver issue had been settled, however,
and while others who had left the Re-
publican party with him were still con-
tending for silver, Borah deserted them
and went back into the Republican par
'tY.
He next blossomed forth as Re
publican candidate for Senator in 1902,
and his forces were in control of the
Republican State convention that year.
Borah signahzed his control by putting
IN the platform a plank declaring for
the absolute abolishment of tariff du
ties on all articles manufactured by
trusts. It was a more radical tariff
revision plank than was ever con
ceived of by the advocates of
shock 10 the old line Republicans.
MANY Of them, ike Senator Heyburn,
repudisted 1T openly, and, seeing that
it was not popular with his party as
sociates, Borah abandoned it, and has
never spoken in ITS favor since, al
though when he first promulgated it he
contended that il was high and holy
principle which the party could not
afford 10 stihe.
His attitude on the Mormon oues-
ton has even been more inconsistent
than his attitude on the tariff question.
When the Legislature OF 1908 met,
Borah was a candidate before that
body for Senator He was defeated
by Mormon votes Probably the Nor
mons have never received more sting
ing castigation than Mr.. Borsh admin
istered 10 them and to their church sf-
ter his defeat by the church because
or ms refusal to pledge himself IN ad-
vence TO vote for the seating OF Reed
Smoot, who was just then being elected
10 the Senate from Utah His great
and good friend, Calvin Cobb, proprie-
tor of the Boise Statesman. reiterated
this charge in his testimony before the
SmooC investigating committee at
Washington. Subsequently Borah re-
pudiatei Mr.. Cobb 9 testimony.
For a year or more Borah went up
and down the State complaining about
the treatment TO which he had been
subjected b. the church, anathema-
tizing its leaders as utterly unworthy
of all trust and confidence and denounc-
ing the church itself for its interfer-
ence in politics. In the summer of 1904
he went to the Republican National