Los Angeles herald., 1906-11-23
THE ONLY ISSUE

Only a simple iss. Is involved in
the local municipal campaign, and
there is nothing at stake to warrant
such rancor as has been stirred UP by
supporters Of certain candidates.
The issue referred to cannot be more
clearly or more tersely stated than in
this declaration by President Roosevelt:
"The worst evils that affect our local
government arise from and are the in
evitable result Of the mixing UP of city
affairs with party politics of the nation
and state"
How aptly that statement fits the
situation i'm Los Angelesl In recent
years. as every intelligent citizen
knows we have allowed politicians to
mix up city affairs with party poll
ties" at election time and then we have
felt like kicking ourselves all the rest
of the year for having done so.
With the exception of a few weeks
every two years-the weeks just pre-
ceding the city election-the voters of
Los Angeles have been wont, and for
mighty good cause, to growl about the
results of political machine control of
our local government. And throughout
about twenty-three months of the
twenty-four constituting the two years
there have been raucous threats to
turn down the political machinists at
the first opportunity.
1t was with the object of affording
ernment of this city from machine con-
troll that the non-partisan movement
was organized. Certain prominent citi-
zens, with the requisite courage to fight
the political trust, undertook the
thankless task of organizing a nom
partisan movement, in accordance with
President Roosevelt's idea.
If the anti-machine feeling among
voters would hold out during the month
before election as it does the rest of
the months between elections the. ma
chine would be buried under ballots
deeper than was Pompeii by the ashes
of Vesuvius.
1t was upon the supposition that vot-
ers would jump at the chance of
downing" the machine that the nom
partisan movement was organized for
the present campaign. 1t was organ
lied most auspiciously, too, with
pledges of support from the most inf1u-
entail men of the city.
But the wiles of the machine man
ayers, like those of the serpent in
Eden, have succeeded in making
trouble. Personal considerations and
jealousies were allowed to outweigh the
vital importance of pulling together
for the public veal. And thus the ma
chine managers partly accomplished
their purpose by the tactics expressed
in the military maxim, divide and
conquer"
But it remains with the voters to de-
eide whether the machine shall succeed
in the main object of wrecking the
non-partisan movement so completely
that it will be hopeless to attempt the
launching of another one. That is the
vital issue which the voters of this city
will be called upon to decide Decem-
ber 4.
All the dust that the partisans of the
machine are kicking up is merely in
tended to blind voters to the real issue
involved in the election.
Voters, remember the foregoing
words of President Roosevelt, which
he followed with these: 1.-THE lines
upon which national parties divide
have no necessary connection with the
business of a city. Such connections
open the way to countless schemes of
public plunder and civil corruption"
Sever that corrupt connection by
electing the non-partisan ticket.