Los Angeles herald., 1909-10-18
SMITH IS KEPT
BUSY HUSTLING
FOR BALLOTS
MACHINE LEADER LEFT ALONE
TO DO ALL THE WORK
ONLY "OFFICIAL" AID is BUNDLE
OF NON-UNlON CARDS
Trading Seems to Be Active in the
Political Game and a Select
Five Are Picked for
Council

Until NJ. P. Light returned from the
north George A. Smith was left to
handle his mayoralty campaign vir-
tually alone and last week presented
the pitiable spectacle of being COM
PEELED to close his headquarters while
he cornered the voters personally up
and down the street. The situation
was so serious and the trading on the
head of the ticket so apparent that the
officers of the Republican city central
committee were severely rebuked and
the committee was called together TO
make an official assertion that no
"knifing" would be practiced-at least
not in the open.
In spite OF that, no official aid was
extended to Mr.. Smith other than the
printing of a large number of cards
by a non-union shop stating that the
Republican party of Los Angeles in
dorsed the candidates selected by the
rump convention.
Mr.. Lights heart and soul are cen
tered on the election as mayor Of his
friend, George A. Smith, and his re-
turn will inject a new activity at ma
chine headquarters. If there is to be
any more talk about "knifing" the
head of the ticket Mr.. Light will know
about it and read the riot act.
The talk about using the mayoralty
office to trade for votes by other can
didates on the machine ticket made
up most of the gossip around Repub-
lican headquarters last week. 1t was
so insistently in the foreground that
an attempt to hush it was even made
through the Times, and Chairman Cas-
selman was kept on the jump assert
ing that the camp was not full of
traitors, although none of the poll
ticians affected appeared to believe
him.
Council Candidates Carved
Gossip of this sort was not confined
to the knitting" of Smith, but a fear
some rumor arose and smote several
who have been thinking themselves
officially in the running for the coun-
Gil This rumor, which is firmly be-
lieved by men who are not merely
prominent in the machine ranks be-
cause they are lonely there is that
under the surface only five councilmen
are really indorsed at Southern Pa
ciic political headquarters. The
powers are said to have figured that
it will be hard enough to get through
five councilmen, but that the run of
voters working under machine orders
ought to be able to cast their votes
properly if given slip with the names
OF HVe men. by concentrating on
these the machine hopes to save some
thing out of the wreckage.
1t is a curious and rather significant
fact that four of the five men who will
not be dumped have openly indorsed
Mushet for mayor, three of these being
quot d in the Times to that effect, al
though they have been thereby some
what embarrassed. The Endorsement
was made before it was discovered that
the Mushet strength was more of a
bold front than anything else, and now
looks like reflection on their political
sagacity.
The Select Five
By limiting active work to five coun-
cilmen the restless elements in the
machine ranks who have been friendly
to candidates for the council not in
dorsed at the rump convention can be
told that they may vote for their
friends, but fought to stand by these
five" The these five" are Barney
Healy, Henry Lyon. H. H Yonkin, w.
H. O'Connell and S. C. Dodge.
w. E. Mckee may succeed in scram-
bling back by pushing Mr. Dodge over
board, and he is spending most of his