The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1911-09-09
THE POLITICAL COMMISSION.

THE POLITICAL, COMMISSION.
| We arc Informed by the Smoot organ
that the commission form of govern
ment win work we'll in Salt Lake City
because ii has worked well in other
places, and has given good government
This ignores the essential facts in the
ease, for we are not 70 have any form
OF commission government such as other
cities have. So that, however well the
commission form OF government may
have worked elsewhere, that is no basis
to Judge of how the extraordinarily per
foratcd form OF commission government
politically provided for us here will
work IN this city.
The organ pointed with pride TO the
fact that the arbitrary imposition Of
this form OF government upon Salt Lake
| City was ihc partisan work Of the Re.
from the omission Of the safeguards
against partisanshIp which accompany
the commission form Of government
elsewhere. that the party bosses here
looked well 10 their party interests in
what they did The commission form
of government as provided for Utah
cities conServes and protects the parts
anship of whatever party may carry the
election, There arc none of the usual
provisions eliminating partIsanship from
the commission government. in the form
in which we arc to have IT. On the
contrary, partisanship is TO remain SUI
premc, not only in the general form
of the commission government provided,
but in all It's ramfications branches,
assistants, and employees; everything is
to be partisan; there is no bar against
this. but ON the contrary every aid
TO it,
First Of all, in other cities the com.
mission form of government is adopt,
ed by the people; here it is forced upon
the people whether they want it or
not In other cities that have tho com
mission form Of government there is
many safeguard against partisanship.
against collusion against fraud, against
graft. All these are omitted in the cmas.
culatod commission form forced upon US
here. Everything is so shaped as TO
give the Federal bunch in its hope Of
carrying the city as a partisan propo-
sition. the full spoils which it hopes
to win
Under these circumstances il is rather
grotcsquc to see the SmoOt organ up
braidiug the American party for want.
ing TO have its Just influence upon the
election. Inasmuch as The whole mat.
ter is presented by the Federal bunch
organ as a political proposition. as par
tlsanship is AT the bottom of it all, not
only in general but in particular and
In detail, what else is there left TO the
American party to do but TO accept the
political proposition as laid down in the
law by the Federal bunch7 If We had
a form Of government agreeable to the
people and accepted by them, that would
be in fact non-partisan. then there
would be some sense in talking about
non -partisanship in the election. But.
since the whole scheme has been pre-.
sented by the organ Of the bosses as "A
partisan matter. and as the enjoyment
Of the spoils Of the party that wins is
especially on tap, the idea Of the Smoot
organ talking about -partisanship in
this connection is exceedingly grotesque
and impudcnt. II is especially so when
we remember that the whole matter is
political Job. presented as such by the
organ, and the appeal to the business
ticket which the inner circle has ready
for endorsement, is sheer confidence
game which cannot possibly impose upon
any one. Let there be ne mistake about
this bogus commission form of govern
mcnt forced upon Salt Lake; it is par
tisan to the core. dishonest throughout,
and full of sham and deceit