The Socorro chieftain. [volume] (Socorro, N.M.) 1902-1959, 1906-11-17
A POLITICAL TRADE
Appeared in a Recent Issue of the Albuquerque
Morning Journal.--It Was Neither Creditable to
the Writer nor Complimentary to the People of
Socorro County.
Again. aIluding to a recent

4
bit of Socorro correspondence in
the Journal, "A Taxpayer"
says, The assertion that the
successful ticket was made up
entirely of clean men is hardly
borne out by the facts unless
professional gamblers be classed
as socially clean. There are
one or two men OF this ticket
that have been so classed. What
the correspondence referred to
really said was, Both tickets
were made up of clean men. "
This statement the writer of the
remarkable production under
consideration saw fit to criticize
in its application to the republi-
can ticket, but was diScreetlv
silent with respect to its appl.. A.
tion to the so-called peoples
ticket. The writer aforesaid
does not indicate just what his
standard of social cleanliness is,
but it is fair to infer from his
language that he would place
gamblers and their associates
under the ban. If so, and if he
wished to be perfectly fair and
apply the same standard TO both
tickets, he should have said
that the So-called peoples ticket
contained the name of at least
one candidate who is known to
be a frequent if not an habitual
gambler, the name of another
candidate who was a bar tender
for some time until just before
the campaign opened, the name
of another candidate who is
quite regular attendant and pre-
Sumably part owner in a saloon,
and the name of another cam
didate who was indicted by the
last Socorro county grand jury
for selling liquor without license,
pleaded guilty, and paid his fine.
The writer aforesaid might have
added, also, that of Socorro'S five
saloons one was run during the
campaign in the interest of the
republican party, one was neutral,
and three were operated in the
interest of the so-called
peoples reform party. The
Chieitain states these facts
in criticism of nobody but "A
Taxpayer" who has seen fit to
make use of peculiar form of
reasoning for political advantage.
1T is freely stated here that
ballot boxes in several precincts
were manipulated" adds "A
Taxpayer" Suppose it is. What
then? 1t is freely stated that
men from Texas and Oklahoma
who had been in the territory
only few days voted the demo-
cratic ticket in Guadalupe and
Quay counties, that at Roy
democratic toughs drove repub-
lican voters from the polls, and
that in Grant county 23S citizens
of Mexico were voted in
bunch for the democratic cam
didates. None of these statements
have yet been proved, and The
Chieftain hopes that for the good
name of New Mexico they never
can be. If they are proved, then
by all means let the guilty parties
be punished to the fullest extent
of the law.
The simple unadorned
fact of the matter is that
the peoples movement" in
Socorro county originated in
democratic councils months ago,
was promoted chiefly by demo
Gratis for political advantage,
drove scores of democrats to vote
the republican ticket, and failed
ignominiously. Any effort on
part of "A Taxpayer" or any
body else to make the movement
appear to be anything else than
what it really was will fail like
wise.