Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1912-10-14
TELEPHONE SO
THE COUNTY JUDGESHIP.

Things have been very quiet in the
county campaign since the primaries,
partly because national issues have
oyershadowed it and partly because
the bunch at Medford have changed
their tactics and are making strictly
a gumshoe campaign. The fine ltal-
ian hand of the same old bunch OF
political buccaneers is coming in evil
dence in strong relief in the Tou
Velle campaign as held the boards
against George Dunn in the primaries.
The difference is this: In the pri-
maries the campaign was made open
the purposes of the gang. 1t was
openly charged that the Mail-Tribune
support of Mr.. Merrick did more
than any other one thing to defeat
him. That scared Tou Velle. He
did not want the Mail-Tribune mill
stone hung about his neck. So he
called Putnam off. Merrick wanted
to call him off before the primaries,
but he was not as close to Putnam as
Tou Velle and did not succeed in
quieting him. However, Tou Velle
has been successful in silencing his
old friend Putnam and the Mail-Tri-
bune has made not a cheep since
Tou Velle's nomination. The differ
ence between Merrick as a Medford
gang candidate and Tou Velle as the
candidate of the same bunch is this:
The gang believed they could handle
Merrick if they could elect him, but
it is different with .Tou Velle; they
have made a deal with him by which
they know they can control him.
George Putnam and Mr.. Tou Velle
have long been intimate friends and
close companions. Mr.. Putnam is
the bell-wether of the Medford buc-
cancers. After the defeat of Mr.
Merrick in the primaries it did not
take Putnam long to make the dea
with Tou Velle that put the gans
solidly behind his candidacy. But i
was very necessary that the deal b'
a secret one. The voters of jackson
county have had enough of the dom
ination of the Medford political gang
If they knew it they would stand 70
it no longer. 1t had already looteC
the public treasury to the tune o
about half million dollars durini
the past four years, with little prac
tical good to the community. Tha
same gang put up job through
which the county treasury would b.
further looted to pay for concret
bridge with feathers and frills TO
the city of Medford and the Easter
Oregon Railroad Company, and TO
which the taxpayers from the remot
est sections of the county would pa
without getting any benefit, Will
the roads in their neighborhoo
would have to be left belly deep il
black sticky because the count
money which should have been spen
on them had been used to build eleC
trio chandeliers and street car track
on the proposed Medford bridge.
And the Medford gang have mad
an awful howl because Benton Bow
ers and other taxpayers of the count
brought action. to restrain the ganl
owned county court from so spendin
the treasure of the whole people fC
the benefit of the few. Because NJ
Bowers restrained them they mai
the claim that it grew out of the al
tagonism of Ashland for Medfor
and give that as a reason why Geors
Dunn should be defeated Georl
Dunn had absolutely nothing to {
with the Benton Bowers suits again
the Medford bridge, and the polite
buccaneers who inhabit that toy
well know it, 1t is not the brid
situation that is hurting that gan
They but use that to muddy the W
ter. The real thing that hurts the
is Mat the election of George Dul
means that they will not be allow
to get their chubby hands into t
county treasury. Since they ha
succeeded in making a satisfacto
deal with Mr.. Tou Velle every o
of them have been busy througho
the county quietly canvassing I
Tou Velle. Because the people ha
not been able to properly connect I
deal the work has had some effe
Mr.. Tou Velle is fine looking +
low. He has a glib tongue and
attractive bearing. He is a splenC
mixer and he is turning over heav