The Idaho scimitar. [volume] (Boise, Idaho) 1907-1908, 1908-05-23
THE IDAHO SCIMITAR.


one else to succeed him as national committeeman
If the delegation does not select Senator Borah,
will pick a dummy" under the control of Borah
Mr. Barney O'Nei1 of Shoshone county, wher
Senator Hepburn lives, commanded the Shoshon
county delegation and was selected as delegate t.
the national convention instead of Hepburn
O'Neil is the open, pronounced enemy of Hey
burn. O'Neil will control the delegates from Sho
shone county to the nominating convention at Boise
in September.
1t is rumored that ONe has made the combina-
ton with the Mormons which will enable him to be
Heyburn's successor. Perhaps ONei thinks he has
If SO, he will be wiser some day. The Mormons
will not make Barney the senator.
1t looks very much like Hepburn has not effected
arrangements with the Mormons for his reelection
If he has not he will be defeated Heyburn's only
hope of success if the Mormons are not for him. is
to carry out Borah's campaign of two years ago.
History will hardly repeat itself so soon in Idaho
republican politics. Then the Mormons and the
machine, i. e., Governor Goodng, Chairman Brady,
Senator Hepburn, Congressman French and all the
lesser machine folks were bitterly opposed to Borah.
Borah made fine and aggressive fight, in the open,
against the Mormons and the machine He enlisted
under his banner the best of the republicans of the
At the state convention he had about so dele
party Borah made his fight on the issue that the
state convention should nominate him for the senate
He was the undsputed choice of his party for SEN
aor four years BEFORE and legislature was elected
for him, but the Mormons defeated him in the legs-
lature and elected Hepburn.
Borah did not want encore of that performance,
and demanded that the party pledge itself in state
convention to elect him. if it carried the legislature
When he arrived at the state convention with his
friends and found that it was against him by de-
cisive majority, he forced the Mormons to abandon
their machine allies and accept him. His manager
called the Mormon chiefs together and said to them
You will nominate Mr. Borah for the United States
senate, will re-elect Senator Dubois You will
take your choice now, between Borah and Dubois"
They knew that Borah and his friends had the power
to carry out their threat, and that they intended
to exercise it.
The Mormons yielded, and made their deal with
Borah. The machine acquiesced perforce and be-
sides, Borah left the machine intact In fact Borah
became the dominant factor of the machine. To be
sure, Borah betrayed his friends, who stood with
him in his fight against the machine but pretty gen
eraly they forgave him because he got the senator
hip.
Hepburn is not equipped to make Borahs fight
3orah had his county sodly and aggressively
ehind him. Hepburn cannot control his own county
}orah had strong personal friends all over the state
Hepburn has none. Senator Hepburn has many ad-
1irers He is the best qualified man in his party for
his high position, and if the real republicans of the
tate could express their true choice, they would
elect Hepburn to succeed himself. 1t looks as
lough the Mormons and the machine were against
i'm. If so, cannot see how he can overcome
leir opposition Hepburn has not sufficient strength
the Mornons as Borah did, and cannot
tighten them into his support
Hepburn, the Mormons and the machine strenuous