The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1912-01-05
A POWERFUL MACHINE.

A POWERFUL MACHINE.
Tennessee has for years been ours
ed with political machines No soon
err has one machine been destroyed
than another has been built upon it's
broken fragments. f. E. Eslick,
one time prominent in State affairs,
was right when he told the Cox-Pat,
terson convention in 1906 that Pat
terson would build a new machine
on the relics of the old. And Pat
terson did. He constructed one that
made the John Isaac organization
resemble the proverbial thirty cents.
A successful revolution two years
ago overthrow the Patterson ma
chine and drove it's head and front
to private life. The people were led
to believe that for a brief period any
way they would be free from machine
domination. But the shattered frag
4ments of the old machine, realizing
that their approach to the pie coun-
ter, the acme of existence to the ma
chine man, was seriously threaten
ed, Immediately began the construc-
ton of another and stronger machine,
with the State Comptroller as the di-
recting genius and the official award
er of offices.
And so successfully have the plans
of the builders been carried out that
the comptroller of the State now
yields a power and boasts a machine
that would do credit to any ever head
ed by Governor in this or any other
state. In comparison with the pat
rOnage which this machine has at it's
disposal the patronage Of the late
Patterson machine was a mere bag
atelle. No governor in the history of
Tennessee and few in the history of
any other state ever welded the pow
er that this machine possesses.
Thomas r. Preston, of Chattanoo-
ga, a banker, citizen and Irregular"
of standing in the State, is authority
for the statement that this machine
has not less than 100 back tax attor-
neys and assistant revenue agents
preying upon the public Tho ramifl-
cations of this machine reach into
every county in the state. The pow
er of pelf at it's disposal cannot be
calculated and will probably never
be known Under the back tax law
and the delinquent tax act Of the last
legislature the fees and commissions
that will accrue to this unlimited
horde of official collectors is simply
enormous.
The number of appointees of this
machine is limited alone by the poll
tical exegencies of the interests
which it serves. The amount that
will be paid to them is circumscibed
by like exigencies. We do know that
the comptroller's last report showed
that over $4,000 had been paid to
the numerous attaches of the ma
chine. How much more will be paid
under the new laws will PROBABLY
never be known.
The power of this machine has
been felt in almost every quarter of
the State. It's hand has been laid
upon number of erstwhile advo-
Gates of good government. It's
influence was potent factor in the
session Of the late unlamented Gen.
eral Assembly. The astonishing
treachery of a state official is direct
ly traceable to the subtle influence
of this same power.
The patronage and pawer of the
comptroller are such that mo bad
comptroller should have and no good
comptroller should DESIRE" The
people in their zeal to break the
power of the Governor over cleo
tions and TO cure the pardon brok-
erage scandal have overlooked one
of the great obstacles to the achieve
ment of good and economical govern
ment. But we believe that the re-
cent outrageous delinquent tax law
will prove the beginning of the end:
that this act will ultimately have
the same disastrous effect upon its
beneficiary that the Paterson effort
to coerce the supreme court and the
Cooper pardon had on the then Gov
ernor.