The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-08-03
KEY-NoTEs OF BOTH KINDS.

Judge y. j. Weber, who cid tfe
spellbinding for the American" cele-
bration, sounded the keynote Of the
coming city oamraign in, his sneccE.
when he said the party eheert!IIy J.
mits that lie administration has spa1t
more money than any of its pre,Ieces-
sors, and promises 20 spend more
money next year.
In the beginning of an important
campaign like this it is just as wei t.
start right with the facts. The Amer
ican' administration has not spent any
money of itsef-it has distributed the
money which the people of Salt Lake
put up, and the distribution is being
made with very little regard for econ
omy or efficiency of service. Like
most other Americans, the judge as
sumes that the expenditure of public
money is virtue, whether it is spent
wisely or not; and he also assumes
that the American" party alone is
deserving. of credit for public improve
ments which the people wanted and
had begun to make before the Amer
leans" took office.
X X
In support of his plea for the ThorlD-
son administration, Mr.. Weber cites
the miles OF water mains and sewers
of street paving and sidewalks that
have been put in under Thompson. and
he calls attention to the perfection Of
the city's water supply as evidence
that this is the most progressive al
ministration the city has ever had. As
a matter of official record, known TO
Judge Weber and all Americans
every dollar of the money spent on
sewers and water supply and water
mains by this administration was FUR
nished from bonds proposed by the
Morris administration and voted for
by the people of Salt Lake on the u
gent appeal of Mayor Morris and The
Democratic city administration.
Moreover. Judge Weber knows. as
do his party associates. that the Big
Cottonwood water supply was secured
by the Norris administration, and the
Big Cottonwood conduit contract was
let by the same city management.
Further, the negotiations of Mayor
Morris for this great water supply
were obstructed by the American"
party in every possible way; q suit to
prevent the contamination of the
transaction by which that water was
made available to the city, is still
pending in the courts-and that suit
was brought in the name of an Amer
lean" partisan at the instigation and
with the support of the party's lead
ers. II the suit had achieved its pur-
pose in the beginning the acquisition
of the Big Cottonwood water would
have been postponed indefinitely, if not
permanently
In view of these indisputable facts it
is piece of consummate nerve for the
Americans" TO claim credit now for
an undertaking they did not initiate
and which they tried hard to defeat.
Judge Weber makes some COMPARE
sons between former city administra-
lions and the present Thompson re-
gime. He is very careful not to com
pare the former Thompson manage
ment of city affairs with the Morris
administration or with this one. He
goes back to the John Clark hybrid ad-
ministratiOn for figures. but very dill
gently omits TO tell what Thompson did
when he was a Republican mayor. Nor
need that make much difference Ezra.
under any party name, is not a fair
comparison with himself or ANYBODY
else; he is what the mathema ticians
call negligible quantity, and it's dol
lars TO doughnuts the Americans"
themselves will not attempt to run him |
again for office after his pitiable fail |
ure as an executive.
His principal achievements have been |
the appointment and retention in Of
fee of Sheets, the selection and reten- |
ton of Jake Raleigh as street super |
visor: the choice of Fred Leonard as
chairman of a board of public works |
which needs no comment; a notable ig-
norsnce of public affairs with which he |
should be familiar. and peculiarly I'M |
happy ability to pick the wrong man |