The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1907-03-04
SLIPPED A COG AGAIN.

The air is beginning to clear in this
latest phase Of the war upon Chief
| Sheets. The motives have been clear
enough all along; they are partly parti-
san and partly revengcful, Under the
last churchly rule in this city the rob
bing gambling games were openly. scan
dalously prominent; men who could not
afford to lose money, laborers whose
earnings were needed to support their
families, were coaXed into those gam
bling Joints and aecced. Sure-thlng
games, bunko workers. were prevalent;
even under the shadow of the temple,
in the tabernacle grounds the stranger
was "worked - through various lock
games and put-up Jobs.
MI this was stopped when the Amer
lean party came into power. The sure
thing skinner, the bunko shark, the
thimble rigger. the confidence man, had
to leave town; the robbing gambler
had TO cease his depredations upon his
victims pocketbooks; the joints had to
close down.
But those who thrived and thieved
under these various means of preylng
upon the public had come to be an inn
portant element in the population;
much wealth had been gathered by
them. They sought revenge upon the
agency that had driven them out of
business. They found Jealous allies Ill
certain tools Of the hicrarchic rule. who
were in position TO aid them in their re-
ycnge upon those who had stopped their
predatory raids upon their fellow men.
4 convenient and notojous event gave
them their opportunity. BY strained
construction, they held the Chief of Po
lice patty 10 the robbery of the Nc
Whirters. Those lads were brought
back and made TO figure In a political
brace game, which the court knocked
out in one round The chief was in
nocent; nothing could be shown against
him, the case was dismissed, But it
had served its purpose; the political
campaign was poisoned with it. Then 1T
dropped out OF sight
But the partisan animus still re-
NAMED. The desire of the outlaws
against humanity for revenge remained.
a bill was up In the Legislature to un-
deprive this city of the
control of its police and fire depart
ments There was naturally disincli-
nation among fair-minded legislators to
set aside the constitution and the prin-
ciples of free government. So an eX-
hibition must be got up for their ben
eft. The old rotten charges were
dragged forth again. 1t was tri-
umphantly announced that this time
they chad him" As often happens,
however, with put-up Jobs in the legal
arena as in other walks of life, the Job
bers didn't study their case. They
found it impossible to connect the chief
switched to another charge, seeking to
him with a gang of the very
sort that he had so promptly and stern
" driven out of town. a crook Of
unsavory and lurid notoriety is i'm
ported to "confess He delivers his
testimony; certain dates are essential
to his story; he fixes them absolutely
and repeatedly; tells of meeting the
chief on the coner and paying him
to secure indemnity for their
swindles. But two things
upset the confession break it all to
pieces, and scatter the pieces to the four
winds First. no sure-thing man, no
bunko steerer, no confidence man, has
operated in this town, or had been per-
mitted to show himself here in his line
of transgression; the chief has sent
them all out, and barred their return.
For n second blow to that "confession
comes the absolutely certain fact that !
Chief Sheets was not in the city at all |
during the time that this 'confcsion
locates him here receiving money from
the crooks.
SO the unholy combination between
the hierarchic tools making for political
partisan ends, and the robbing gam
blers, thugs, bunko steerers, confidence
men, and flim-hammers has again
broken down; the game was badly
played; the conspiracy gets stale. But |
no doubt the farce will be played to the
end, and that>a sequel will be brought |
on the stage in time for next fall s cleo !
ton campaign is probably not open to
doubt.