Omaha daily bee., 1906-01-24
THE NEW MACHINE.

The legitimate object of political clubs
is to stimulate party loyalty, promote
party harmony and supplement the work
of regular party organizations by active
participation in political campaigns.
Clubs organized on that basis are in po-
sition to render invaluable service to
their respective parties. On the other
hand, clubs organized by place hunters
for the distribution of spoils, no matter
under what pretext, breed factional
strife and exert demoralizing and dis
migrating influence upon their parties
and are generally short-lived.
The Fontanelle club comes fairly I'M
der this last head. During the past ten
years the republican party of Omaha
and Douglas county has been cursed
with half a dozen such organizations,
and in every instance they have wrought
disaster to the party. Each of these
clubs, including the U. s. Grant club,
the Patriotic league and, lastly, the
Fontanelle club, started with a great
flourish of trumpets as harbingers of re-
form and party regeneration when, as
matter of fact, the main object was the
capture and division of political spoils.
Incidentally the Fontanelle club was
backed by corporation money as an aux
iliary for their political departments.
1t is significant that the leadership of
all these sham reform organizations was
in the hands of political renegades and
men who had been honored with posi-
tons of trust and had proved recreant
to their obligations either by downright
thievery and bribery or collision with
embezzlers and thieves.
When the Fontanelle club was organ
lied the avowed object was to smash
the machine, to purify politics, to raise
the standard of public officials and make
public office public trust. These high
sounding promises naturally attracted
some reputable people, who sincerely
desired to carry out the objects and pur-
poses for the reform prospectus, but
within the past few months the scales
have dropped from their eyes.
The machine which the club was or
ganized to pulverize no longer exists.
Frank E. Moores has ceased to be an
issue. Tom Dennison has gone over to
Broatch, one of the most rampant Of
machine smashers, and a large section
of the city hall contingent has Joined
| the anti-machine club.
The mask of publication ard reform
has been dropped and the spoils which
the place hunters have coveted are now
the paramount issue. The Fontanelle
governors, who for the most part re-
ceived their training in the old A. p. A.
school, have adopted the dark lantern
methods and plans of organization ana
manipulation of the defunct association.
1t is the same old gang under new
name and their avowed object Is con-
troll of the municipal and county pat
ronage.
The new machine has repudiated the
by practically DISTINGUISHING the rank
and file of its members, who are simply
commanded to support candidates die
tated by the majority of the governors.
BY this process direct primary reform
for which 1t clamored so long as it was
not in sight is practically nulllfed and
becomes a delusion and snare.
The amusing thing about the new ma
chine is that it still wants to keep up
the cry of anti-machine while its thimble
riggers and political faro dealers are
marking the cards. loading the dice and
greasing the wheel. Fortunately this
game cannot be played in the dark alto.
gether When the searchlight is turned
on the new machine it will go to pieces
just as similar spoils-j obbing organiza'
lions have been dismembered when their
insincerity and unrepublican methods
were exposed to the public.
u L., T.. Oh