The Twin Falls times. [volume] (Twin Falls, Idaho) 1905-1916, 1916-05-23
Band WAGON NOT STEAM
ROLLER THE CHARIOT THAT
CARRIED ELDER TO VICTORY
Ants Fail to Agree on Driver For Their Vehicle and the Seats
On 1t Did Not Look Good to Some TimOOuS Delegates Who
We're Impressed With the Motto Safety First" Elders
Forces Easily In Control al Show Down.

That the purists have good reason
for denouncing the ruthless manner in
which the English language is butch
cred, is indicated by the loose way in
which those who ought to know bet
ter are describing the vehicle which
carried the Elder forces to victory at
Pocatello last week The journalists
and politicians, the difference between
a steam roller, which was not used,
and a band wagon which did good
service in behalf of the friends of
Nugent and the national committee
man, but through carelessness they
are mixing terms to the confusion OF
the multitude. The Elder bandwagon
was in fair order, though it was not
peculiarly attractive to some who rode
on it, not even to some who rode on it
of their own free will and accord,
but the trouble was that the opposi-
ton never got its bandwagon in such
condition that it could draw the half
dissatisfied from the Elder shay,
without driving away more than
was attracted. If all the instructed
and uninstructed delegates who divid-
ed their votes among six anti-Elder
candidates could have been lined up
| for Arthur M. Bowen, enough men
who voted for Elder voluntarily could
have been enticed from the Elder rig
to fill the Bowen wagon, but while the
early canvass and the final vote show
ed Bowen the most popular Of the fav-
orite sons, yet among the uninstructed
delegates who voted for other favorite
sons or dark horses, who held Elder
as second choice to have offset gains
that Bowen might make from the
Elder forces. NJ. J. Kerr, a dark horse,
could have been elected, if all the 1872
who voted for the various anti-Elder
candidates could have been assured
for him before the ballot was taken,
but this was obviously impossible. so
a number of men who favored Kerr if
they considered him a winner, voted
for Elder as a matter of prudence,
when they realized that among the
anti-Elder men, a considerable ele-
ment preferred Elder to Kerr Under
such circumstances, it was a matter
of prudence to stay with the band
wagon and they stayed If a vote
could have been taken at the moment
when Kerr was seated and the Elder
forces discounted when the conven-
ton was organized, enough delegates
who sat loosely on the bandwagon
might have been jolted off. But the
Elder forces showed no resentment,
the method of selecting the commit
tees was obviously fair and the organ
ization pulled out of the rut without
the loss of a passenger or the spring
ing of bolt. Twenty-four hours tells
in a fight between two forces, one of
which is compact and the other div
ided between half a dozen more or
less antagOnistic factions bound to-
gether to a certain extent by a mega
tive purpose. The Elder forces won
because they knew exactly what they
wanted and kept plugging after it.
Their opponents desired, more or less
intensely, to defeat Elder, but had nc
common plan. 1t required no Ma
poleonic tactics for the best organized
force to win under such circum-
stances.
The above observations are thrown
in as sort of synopsis of succeed
ing chapters in order that the reader
may understand why what happened
|