Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1909-03-17
RECALLS POPULARITY


A GAIN The Herald is called upon to
IN envy the capacity which its Re-
"a publican morning contemporary
shows to extract consolation from
situation which would spell ''conster-
nation" to any alleged molder of public
opinion not gifted with the Micawber
characteristics of the esteemed Times.
That remarkable exponent of public
opinion would have the people Of Los
Angeles believe that the election of
w. d. Stephens to succeed Mayor
Harper was a defeat for those good
citizens supporting the recall.
And all this, notwithstanding the
fact that Mr.. Stephens is a member of
the committee having in charge the
campaign of George Alexander, and
would not consent to become Mayor
Harper's successor, pending the cleo
ton of a recall candidate on the 18th
instant, until all his fellow members OF
Mr.. Alexanders campaign committee
and Mr.. Alexander himself had re-
quested Mr.. Stephens to accept this
position for the purpose of relieving
the city council of an embarrassment
and what might easily have been
disastrous situation.
Our blithesome contemporary says:
"The irony of events has discredited,
disrupted and damned the recall device.
Away with it! To the rubbish heap
with it,"
And all this notwithstanding the
fact that the recall Device is directly
responsible for the removal from ONCE
of a mayor who, by his official short
comings, had made 1t necessary to the
welfare of the city that he should be
replaced by some good citizen.
II there ever was time in the history
of Los Angeles since the recall was
adopted as a part of it's charter by
vote of four to one, that larger num-
Der of people were in favor OF the
recall than voted for it. the present Is
that time.
No city in the history of municipal
tiles ever succeeded in correcting cor
rupt condition of municipal govern
ment and replacing bad officials with
good ones so quickly as Los Angeles
has succeeded in that necessary and
wholesome work,
The device which made this wonder
full record possible was the recall, and
we want to assure our optimistic Re-
publican contemporary that If the
recall were submitted to an election
in the city of Los Angeles tomorrow,
in place of being carried by a vote of
four to one it would probably be car
ried by a vote of twenty to one, or most
likely by a unanimous vote, excepting,
of course, such vote as would be cast
by the bosses and subservient hench-
men of the political machine that rec
ognizes in the recall its greatest enemy,
and which is, for that reason, the
greatest enemy of the recall.
One serious word to our contem-
porary before closing:
It threatens that the orderly course
of restoring decent government to Los
Angeles which is now being pursued
by good citizens under the advice of
her able and conscientious city attor-
neY VIII be lQLerIereQ WIFI ny an APP
peal to the courts "to prevent the hold
ing of the special recall election"
Our Republican contemporary, along
with other supporters of the machine
which is opposed to the recall move
ment, should know by the hard bumps
which they have recently received that
the recall is not a healthy subject to
monkey with. If they are so obtuse
that they have not thoroughly learned
this lesson in the immediate past, it
will surely be abundantly impressed
upon them if they attempt to interfere
with what the people are doing so sue
cessfully toward curing the corrupt
condition of affairs brought about by
the infamous political machine that
was responsible for the late incumbent
of the mayors chair, whom the recall
displaced, and which tried it's utmost,
but unsuccessfully, to foist a successor
of it's own choosing on the people
through members of the city council,
who were not as subservient to its
orders as it was hoped they would be.