Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1910-04-20
THE MILWAUKEE ELECTION.

The remarkable victory Of the
socialists of Milwaukee at the re-
cent election there is one of the en-
signs that the people
generally are beginning to tire of
the disagreement as dominant un-
der the misrule Of the bi-party sys-
tenn. LaFollette's Weekly Maya
zine publishes lengthy resume of
the Milwaukee shake-up. from
which we make the following ex-
tracts:
LET US look at the facts. For
ten out Of the past twelve years,
Milwaukee has had a Democratic
administration. 1.-TWO years of Re-
publican administration marked
simply a breathing spell for Mayor
Rose.) During this time Milwau-
kee was ruled by the worst type of
a political machine. At the head
of the Democratic machine was
Mayor David S. Rose. At the
head of the Republican machine was
Charles F. Pfister. They were
cronies. Periodically, the Pfister
crowd put up straw man candi-
ate, and then helped Mayor Rose.
"Since 1904, the Social-Demo-
cratic party has heen a factor in
Milwaukee's politics that at all
times had to be reckoned with.
And to local politicians familiar
with the situation, the fact that this
party polled winning vote for
mayor was not an occasion for
surprise: the surprising part of the
election was the decisive manner in
which the voters put it into power.
lit was indeed decisive. In a
three-cornered contest, the Social
Democrats won by the largest plur-
atty ever accorded a candidate for
mayor in the city. They put in
their candidates for mayor, for
comptroller, for city treasurer, and
for city attorney. They secured
twenty -one out of the thirty-fve
seats in the common council. They
elected eleven of the sixteen county
supervisors; and two Of the civil
judges. They swept into absolute
control of the administration, ex-
cept in cases where two-thirds
vote of the council is necessary to
insure control, and except in the
police, fire and other departments
whose personnel cannot be changed
at once. }
This, too, in spite Of the fact
that both the Republican and the
Democratic parties had inserted in
their platforms the three main
planks of the Sncial-Democratic
platform, namely. home-rule, the
initiative and referendum, and the
recall. Here was situation where
all three parties were pie dyed to
the same reforms. For this reason
the contest centered chiefly around
the personnel of the tickets. The
economic principles agitated by the
socialists were an important ele-
ment. but it appears that the fierce
onslaughts made upon these tenets,
and the advocates thereof, made
slight impression upon the voters.
DR.. J. M. Beffel, the Republican
candidate, made the most sensa.
tional attacks upon the socialists
and his vote was held down t.
1862. Vincent J. Schoenecker, Jr.
the Democratic candidate, is pei
sona]ly popular but his association
with the Rose machine and the fact
that he was hacked by Rose, is the
reason generally given for his fail
ure to secure more than 20,51:
votes.
Emil Seidel, the Social-Demo
cratic candidate, was not handi
capped, either by questionable con
nections or by wild statements
He is respected even by his bitter
est political opponents. He served
ably as council man. His honesty
| is not to be questioned. He is !:
practical business man manager