Imperial Valley press., 1908-08-01
Pioneering and Politics
|. Sketch of Conditions In Two Frontier Communities.
CRv EL CAPTTANl

k frontiersmen and American desert dwellers in many ways, and partic- ularly tn this. That they care not at all for small politics and refuse to get excited over the troubles of job hunters and iack-leg politicians. They do not think politics, and they waste little time in talking politics. That is partly because they are busy building an empire of industry and have affairs of importance to them selves to absorb their mental and phy- sicaI energies. There are other reas- Ons, which appear when one consid- CTS the social conditions of some Southwestern communities.
 Some years ago edited a weekly paper in county seat in one of the arid territories, and was forced by the environment into close association with what was termed politics in that turbulent country. You could not publish a paper there without get ting into the suction head over ears, and the suction was always boiling one continuous round of politicians joy. It really was of no practical consequence whether the voter called himself Republican or Democrat, for the Territory had no vote III the election of president and it's delegate had no vote in Congress, but the feud between the parties was bitter be- yond belief and periodically found eX- pression in assassination. When the leader of one faction was waylaid and murdered by band of assassins, the delegate in Congress was accused openly of having investigated the crlme, and although he never was placed on trial, the belief that he was asSessOry before and after the fact persists and is a moral certainty in the minds of most of his fellow citi- ZenS.
 To be prominent or especially ac- tive in politics in that Territory was to invite the bullet or knife of jealous partisanS or hired aSSassins Now and then a statesman did his own killing, but the common custom was to hire gTeaser or a professional bad man to do up an obnoxious oppon- enU-
 And what was it all about? Gener- ally the beginning of the question was who should be Sheriff. That was i'm portant to the politicians, for the office. was lucrative. Sheriffs usually went out of office defaulterS to the
 
 were prosecuted and never made res titution During their terms they lived high, kept race horses and other fast things, scattered small change with prodigal hands, played faro to the limit and were leaders of the sporting and gambling life of the con- munity The man who failed to win the office as Republican candidate at one election was very likely to run Lne next time as a Democrat, some times against the very man who de- feated him before and who had dis pleased his own party and turned his own political coat.
 So it can be seen that politics was a very complicated proposition in that country The curious part of 1t to me at that time was the amazing and ir- rational zeal of the partisans. No principals were involved, no genuine party loyalty existed, and there was nothing at stake but the pecuniary advantage of the candidateS-on the surface.
 There was something else at stake, but it did not appear to the naked eye. The composition of grand juries was matter of deep interest to all ot the politicians and to most of the leading citizens of the Territory An un- friendly grand jury could find true bill against any one of them, and the Sheriff could fix the grand jury. Therefore, when the politicians were scrapping over the shrievalty, most of them were fighting for liberty and some of them for life. The risk of being eXtradited and taken back to the states from which they came was remote. but the danger of indictment, either on true or trumped-up charges was real and imminent.
 The "gente" or common people of the native race also were deeply con cerned with grand juries sheriffs and prosecuting attorneys. A whole Yil- lage in our county was once indicted under the Edmunds Act and only es- capped prison by promising to vote the Republican ticket, The deep and vio- lent interest of the 'paisanO' in pOli- tics was accounted for partly by his personal peril and partly by the fact that he always was paid for his vote and sometimes for his skill in ambus cade.
 A campaign was in progress when l first took charge of the paper, and Isproceeded to roast the other side in a decent sort of way That neither worried the enemy nor satisfied the fellows on my side. The leader of our party and owner of the paper, Fed Ial judge and Justice of the Territor- iaI Supreme Court, said the rapier