Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1907-04-03
HOT CAMPAIGN ENDS IN ELEc.
TON or REPUBLICAN CAN.
pIDaTE FOR MAYOR.
ISSUES INVOLVED
Result Gives Black Eye 70 Municipal
Ownership Of Street Railway sys
tern Favored by Democrats.

Chicago. April 3-The revised un
fetal returns from yesterdays elec.
ton show that BuSse. republican can.
didate for mayor. has been elected By
q plurality OF 1906 over Dunno. the
democratic candidate. The entire re.
publican ticket is elected with the ex.
eeption Of Edward c. Young. candi,
date for treasurer. who 10 beaten By
John Il. Treager. democrat The city
council will be democratic by the
same majority as the old council.
The issues In the campaign have
been largely based upon the improve
meut Of the local traction system.
Both parties were agreed that present
conditions were intolerable. but diff
fered as to the best method 10 be EN-.
ployed In revising them. The demo
cratic party. headed by Mayor Dunno.
stood for municipal ownership
through condemnation Of the street
car properties IL the result could not
be obtained In any other way. The
republican party favored ordinances
which were recently passed by a DEM
ocratic city council over the veto of
Mayor Dunno. These ordinances pro.
vided for twenty year franchises for
the street car companies. the city re-
tanning the right to purchase the sys-
TENS for sso,eoo.0oO plus the amount
to be spent for immediate rehabilita.
ton OF the lines, six months notice
being necessary Of the city's inten.
ton 70 acquire the property. The or
Idinances also pfoviae for universai
transfers throughout the city.. a five.
cent fare and ~5s per cent of the net
revenue Of the companies to be paid
to the city. The fight for and against
the adoption Of these ordinances has
been exceedingly bitter. They were
carried yesterday by a majority of
about 10000 votes.
Reversal Of Public Opinion.
The vote yesterday showed a de,
cided reversal of public opinion on
the question OF municipal ownership
compared with the last mayoralty
campaign two years ago, At that
time Dunno received 163.169 votes
against 1852 for John NJ. Harlan,
the republican leader. The prohibit
ton ticket received 22.294 votes and
the socialists 23.034. This year the
republican vote was close to 10000,
and that of the democrats close to
$4,000 The prohibition vote gains
slightly while the socialist fell off
heavily, being more than 10000 less
than that Of the last city election.
The campaign has been one OF the
most vicious the city has ever known
Charges and counter charges have
been hurled back and forth, the per.
sonal lives of the candidates have
been held up to the public. ami
throughout the campaign speakers on
both sides have INDUCED night after
night in Trades filed with invective
and abuse.
Campaign Was Bitter and intense.
The disagreeable features of the
campaign which became so pro-
nounced In the latter part, commenc-
ed when Mayor Dunne circulated a
petition for referendum vote on the
traction proposition at the present
election. He and his followers an
nouncei that they had secured 15o.'
900 signatures to this petition, 10000
being necessary to place the matter
before the voters. Charges were
made by the republicans that thous-
ands of these names had been forged
and that the list had been padded in
every conceivable fashion. These as
sertions were vehemently denied by
the democrats and the followers OF
Mayor Dunno, who were in favor of
immediate municipal ownership
From this time until the end of the
campaign feeling became more bitter
and more intense.