The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1907-05-28
THE CAUSE OF DELAY,


IL did yesterday morning. 1t calls upo1
the City Council, If it has any regard
for the welfare OF the city or its owl
reputation, TO get action on this delayed
work, which has been "held up foI
various rensons.' AS u matter of fact
there has been but one reason for thai
holding up, and that reason is fulIy
known to the Herald. 1t was the stag
gering blow delivered by the Smoot
Legislature to this city, in order TO pre-
vent tho American party from reapinc
the credit which is its due for the fur
thering of public improvements and
raising the city TO its proper rank as
the metropolitan emporium Of the basin
region
1t Is well known that the legisla tion
/ referred TO is the sole reason for the
! delay. 1t is we'll known that the leaisla-
tlon was enacted for the purpose indi-
( Gated; that is to say, TO operate against
I the progress and improvement which
! the American party was melting out TO
this city. Tho Smoot crowd was Jealous
OF the high rcpute that the American
party was obtaining, as the party Of
action. the party of resource. the party
OF improvement. the party Of progress,
| thc party that was benefiting the city
immcasurably. The leaders of the
Smoot party, the ring, got together and
concluded that something must be
done TO stop this praise that the Amer.
lcap party was getting on every hand
for its good work and fine administra.
tion here. And the legislation referred
to was the result. 1T put stop to the
letting of contracts, a number Of which
were all ready for signing, and for
which bids had been had and
awarded on; but this legislation came
right i'll the midst of that ac.
t'vity and decreed that the CON
tracts for public work could no more
be let by districts, but must be let by
separate contract for every individual
piece OF property Necessarily. that
made delay. 1t was quite impossible i'm
medlately to segregste every piece of
property and make separate contract
for 1T, involving immense clerical labor
and tremendous amount of detail in n
day or IN month. The problem had
to be worked out But first of all
the main problem was TO reconcile ex.
lsting conditions with that damaging
legislation. This, however, the City At
torney has now accomplished, and a
form of contract which is strictly con.
fornable TO law is framed and agreed
on that will allow of the work proceed.
ing under due and advantageous con.
tracts, To be sure, that legislation is
not as advantageous to the property
owners as were the old conditions.
Necessarily. il costs more to make the
segregation which the law requires, and
the property owners who are being
made the henehciaries Of the improve
ments will have to pay more for work
This added cost must be charged against
the account of the Smoot ring, and noA
against the American party manage.
ment. 1T was no part of the American
party programme to burden the prop.
crty owners in this way, nor to delay
the work in its progress; it was, in fact,
a move to damage the American party
administration and not to help it.
So far as all that is concerned, the
American party and its administration
is just as much opposed to the harm
full and procrastinating legislation as
can be. Both arc in the same fix with
respect to that ill-adviscd legislation.
But inasmuch as it is legislation, ms it |
has been enacted into law and made a
part OF the State statutes, 1T must be
conformcd to- That it has taken some
so as to meet that legislation and still |
go on with the public works, is some
thing clearly not chargeable against the
American party. And the attempt of |
the Herald to stand in with the Smoot |
machine regime in It's attempt to hold |
up the American party and make it |
for something to which it |
was altogether opposed, which it never
asked, and which it has never ceased to |
regret the enactment Of is something
so indefensible, so illogical, so unfair,
in short, so Smooty, that if we did not |
know the Herald's Is habit of crawling
under the church toadstool whenfver it
rains we would be surprised at its at
ttudc. The Herald. however, is very
little chap, and is able TO get under the
tc&lsiool without any particular diff
Guilty, and IL is doing its utmost to
squeeze under right now, scared out of
it's wits by the Smootitc charge that it
is in league with The Tribune. So it is
trying to be meauer and more dishonest
than usual in its effort to show that its
natural depravity does not relish tho
idea Of being found in good company
We notice that the News last night
charged Councilman Fernstrom with
being in a life buoy" scheme 10 help
the American party out of its assumed
financial crisis by tho authorize
tiou of transfer Of funds. At the
same time, the News insists, while this
may afford temporary relief, the end
H. no., a