Los Angeles herald., 1906-07-26
STICKING TO THE PARTY

only the professional politician,
whose personal interests are in irre-
pressible conflict with public interests,
maintains the theory OF sticking to the
party" in municipal and county affairs.
To the chronic ONCE seeker partisan
fealty is useful in his business. with
out the assistance II affords he would
be only bit Of wreckage on the DO
litical strand. Having nothing on earth
to recommend him for a place at the
public crib. he would be driven, but
for his partisanship. to the awful ex-
tremity Of being obliged to work for
his living.
It is from this class of public ieeches.
chiefly that we hear the claptrap about
the Importance Of sticking to the party
in the matter Of selecting men to man
age local public affairs. There are a
comparatively few hard-headed old
timers, not Of the off1ce-seekinR class.
who conscientlously cling to party al
legiance under all circumstances But
It is safe to conclude that there is a
sinister purpose, nine times out OF ten.
in arguments favoring partisan con-
siderations first in the control of local
affairs.
Now for the application of this con-
clusion to present conditions in Los
Angeles: Whence comes the cry.
stick to the party In the selection of
county and city officials? Solely from
the so-called Republican "organiza-
tion," more f1ttingly known as the Re
publican machine. The Democratic or
ganization has expressed its readiness
to ally itself with any reputable move
ment giving good promise of better
ment in local government. But the Re-
publican machine has hundreds Of par
tisan dependents to care for who. but
for access to the public crib, would
be forced either to work or starve. with
the likelihood that they would prefer
the latter
There is a we'll defined issue in the
local county and municipal campaigns,
but 1t embodies not a single element of
partisanship. That issue may be ex-
pressed tersely thus: Shall the future
government of Los Angeles city and
county be good or bad? 1t is indisput-
able that, in a general sense, we have
the bad end of the proposition. Like
oases in the desert, there are notable
exceptions to the rule of badness; but
there is no reason whatever why the
entire public service should not be sat-
isfactory.
A laudable effort is in progress to in
troduce good government into every
branch of the city and county service.
The success or failure of that effort
will depend entirely upon the question
whether the people can be aroused to
the Importance of casting machine poll
tics out Of local affairs entirely and
establishing instead a system of control
pro bono publico.
The Herald adheres to it's theory that
in the management of local public af-
fairs the people get just what they de-
serve. The people of Los Angeles have
no just cause to kick as a consequence
of the wretched management of public
affairs now in evidence. They allowed
professional politicians to capture most
of the official places, and they have
only themselves to blame for the in
evitabie consequences.
Will such experience be fruitful OF
good results in the coming contest
Will the people command good govern
ment by selecting good and faithful
servants" for public stations, or will
they again allow machine politicians
to control the offices and then kick
when it is too late?