The Salt Lake herald-Republican. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1909-1918, 1910-09-23
Communication

Editor OF The Herald Republican:
The Democratic conventions recent
~ held I'm this county. first the state
convention i'm Provo. followed I'm I'VE
days by a county convention at Span
ish Fork developed into a contest as
to who could crate the loudest In de-
nunciation Of the machine power and
dominance I'm the politics % Utah. The
different speakers at these cOnven-
lions denounced Senator SmOOt and
his political machine. whether reel or
imaginary. and i'm their platforms they
were emphatic in arraigning the Re
publican party and leaders on their
bossism. and ignoring the voters.
Now. all this may be politics. for
one party to fay another and attempt
to ride into power or political control
10y impeaching the honor and integrity
OF every OffiCehOldeT whom the kick
ers did not help to elect. II may be
all right to call the opposition rascals
and cry. turn them out" and call the
leaders dictatOrs. but somewhere.
sometime. I have heard IL said that
people who live i'm glass houses ought
never throw stones. These Democrats
seemed to take delight i'm denOuncing
Senator Smoot. the federal bunch"
the Republican party and their office
holders for maintaining machines and
combinations. and at the same time il
was painfully evident that there never
were conventions seld in the state Of
Utah so dominated and controlled by
one man and his followers as was the
recent state and county conventions
held by the Democrats.
Never before in the history OF this
commonwealth was free speech so
brazenly muzzled. Every man who at
tempted TO oppose Jesse Knight and
his pet schemes was silenced by a gag
rule previously put in force by this
same Knight bunch" while Jesse
knight was permitted to assail the
regulations OF every man i'm the COM
munity who ever opposed him and his
policies The writer has all his life
been a Democrat. but when I see one
man grab the party and use IL to
avenge the wrongs that he says the
railroads. smelter trusts. power COM
panies and saloons have heaped upon
him and his enterprises. ! object. and
TO such one-man rule and dominance.
even i'm my party. ] am insurgent.
There are scores OF good. true men
in the Democratic ranks. who view
with alarm the sudden assumed own
ership Of the party by the Knight
machine They are all dancing to
the crack OF the Knight whip. In the
convention at Spanish Fork. Jesse
is right or not I want il to go in the
platform" and the amendment he was
talking about went in the platform
with a whoop. Jesse Knight made the
legislative ticket for the Democrats Of
Utah county. and included his own
name i'm the slate-making. In the
state convention Jesse Knight took a
Whit OF governorship SNUFF and every
tool i'm the convention sneezed. knight
said Gin two years from now ! want
to be nominated for governor" and
the delegates yelled approval. What
ever hobby or pet idea knight desired
20 engraft into the Democratic plat
forms. was placed in there. regardless
OF the consequences. An attitude OF
1--WE don't care whether It disrupts the
party or not. so long as we get our
pets. prohibition. recall and public
utilities commission engrafted onto the
Democratic party" was assumed by
the Knight satrap.
Should a stranger come to Provo at
the present time and ask one Of the
citizens what are the policies OF the
local Democrats. the answer would
certainly be Jesse Knight
INSURGENT DEMOCRAT.
F,roxo Sssptember %. 1910.