The Paducah evening sun., 1910-02-21

lpartment has tried to keep on friend
ly terms with him by allowing them
all manner of liberties against the
repeatedly expressed protests of the
good people. The latter's demand
that these elements be curbed when
they became particularly bold and
offensive have not been needed by
the mayors police, and the people
have on several occasions applied TO
the county authorities. the states at
torney and the county judge (the for
mer a Democrat and the latter of the
so called Republican machine fac
tion) to interfere. which they did
effectively, to the evident displeasure
of the mayors police force. but to
the qualification of law-abidlng citi-
zens generally.
The sheriff belongs to the faction
supporting the Republican organiza-
tion, and to discredit him with the
people. and through him the ina
chine" would be nuts" for the
mayor and his party. The latter
may therefore be we'll pleased with
the predicament in which the sheriff
finds himself through the terrible af-
fair of Friday morning. 1t is adj
mitted that the sheriff's purpose was
to be prompt and effective In efforts
to uphold the law. profiting by the
experience OF his predecessor who
lost his Office through the uprising
of Nov. IL last. He started in we'll
when he took the office. by appoint
ment of the county commissioners.
TO fill out Sheriff Davis unexpired
term, eliminating the vicious prac-
tice which had discredited the admin
istration OF his predecessor. the ac-
tivity of deputies in behalf of the
which tended to defeat justice. He
seemed to determine to make a good
record in order to get the endorse
ment of the people at the November
election. But his ambition in this di-
rection received a terrible jolt In the
affair of last week and there are
those who believe that the machine
will drop him when the time comes
to nominate a candidate for the fall
election. This presumption will be
strengthened II the sheriff's differ
ence. with the governor shall remain
Judge Butler also belongs to the
sb-called Republican machine; and
while he has been active in political
in which questionable
methods were freely used and has
been severely criticised for some
rulings on the bench which tended to
iiscredit his court, and TO serve the
awless element of the city, he
seems now to have fallen in with the
general demand for stricter law en-
forcement and for cleaner methods
all around. At any rate his demand
that the members of last weeks mob
shall be brought to justice at all haz-
ards would indicate this.
As Ia the Negro.
Both the factions referred to have
played some very dirty politics in
this city and county. probably asl
dirty as has been played anywhere inl
the country, and in this the negro
has been an important factor-es-
pecially the vicious element of the
race. There are great many in
dustrious, law-abiding negroes In the
city, but comparatively few male
members of the race are able to re-
sist the seductive clink Of the dollar
on election days. and this weakness
has been made use of by the party
leaders and workers. But what has
been OF greatest injury to the city
has been the playing of politics with
the vicious element among them and
here the mayors police department
has been strongest-or weakest
would perhaps be the better word.
The vicious negro has been the pri-
mary cause Of all Of Cairo's trouble.