The Salt Lake herald-Republican. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1909-1918, 1910-02-04
THE BEST SORT OF POLITICS.

A right good man who voted with /
the victorious party in the recent city /
election said the other day: This re- /
fusal of the council TO let any con- |
tractor excepting Pat Moran get into |
City Creek canyon will be the best
political ammunition the Republicans
can get"
But that isn't altogether the point.
If the action of the council was bad for
the city, the question of politics may
be left undiscussed for the present in
the greater question: How can the
rights of the people be recovered?
We believe the council did wrong in
refusing to permit another paving con-
tractor to go into the canyon. And
having made such refusal-We very
strongly believe they did another
wrong when they refused to move Mr..
Moran out of the canyon.
This paper is a good deal interested
in the success of the Republican party.
But before everything else the inter
ests of men and women and children
OF Salt Lake must be considered. No
policy is good policy which can ignore
their rights. No policy can 'be bad
which takes care of them.
city Creek belongs TO the people of
the city. It does not belong to the
councilmen. or to either of them. It
doesn't belong to any political party,
or the bosses of it. In that canyon
one of the paving contractors has his
plant" It represents many thou
sands of dollars invested, and it is
most valuable because of its nearness
10 the streets TO be paved and the ma
terial of which most of the pavement
must be made.
Remember: That nearness is its
most valuable asset. And that asset
Mr.. Moran is getting from the people.
They are letting him have it. To their
kindness in permitting him to be there
he is indebted for much of the profits
OF his business. The pitiful rent" he
pays cannot be seriously regarded as
compensating the people for what they
give him. And it by no means repre-
sents to him the value he receives.
Another contractor gets work for the
city, and wants to put his plant" into
the canyon. Nearness to material and
place of work appeal to him, too. He
asks just the same rights and priv
fIeges as Mr.. Moran has been receiv-
ing for years, and is even willing tC
pay double the rent" Mr.. Moran pays
First, the council refuses to permit
him TO locate his plant in the can
Won, assigning as a reason the fact
Of its undesirability. And then it re-
fuses to move Mr.. Moran from the
same place-though his plant" GER
tainly is in precisely the same category
as that of any other paving contractor
In all good temper, we believe the
council made a mistake. The compel
ing contractor should have been per
mitted in the canyon. Surely a ma
jority of the members OF the munieipa
BODY have the interests of the city a
heart. They have the good name o
the city at heart. They must ever
have the interest Of their politica
party at heart. We do not at all car
under which of these heads they con
oIude they made a mistake and cor
rect it by giving the competing con
tractor just the same rights in tn
canyon Mr.. Moran receives. We don
care whether they cali it politics, o
business, or public spirit-Or jus
notion" If they viii recede fror
their Monday night action, and trea
all contractors alike, playing no ia
vorites, we confidently assure them c
the approval OF the people-the own
ers Of the canyon. and the payers {
all the bills
Think it over, gentlemen-and do tn
right thing just because it is right.