Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-11-08
WAR ON ORGANIZATION
Urged BY NEWSPAPERS
Editorials Tell Town Meeting
Party Leaders to Follow Up
Tuesdays Gains
NOT ONE ADMITS DEFEAT


Aggressive action by the Town Meeting
rortv 70 follow up the wide breach II made
in the first shock of battle with the Repub-
iIcan Organization in Tuesdays election is
urged in the editorial columns Of the Phila-
delphia morning newspapers today.
Not one newspaper admits defeat. Two
call for Immediate steps to prove the Organ.
Ization's vlctory-on.paper a fraud and all
unite in declaring 1t imperative that the
initial success be followed up by permanent
orpanization of the Independents to over
throw Gang rule District Attorney Rotan
is reminded of his pledge to prosecute fraud,
THE PUBLIC LEDGER
The public Ledger taking as its theme
.ho necessity of decent citizenship arousng
itself from lethargy, says:
"yhether I'm the final count the candi
dates Of the Town Meeting party for CITY
treasurer and Register of Wills null
through or are defeated, whether the Ware
control OF Councils is more or less shaken,
the results of the election in this city are
far fro indicating any decisive victory
for honesty and decency in municipal af'
fairs Considering the agn tude of the Is.
size that was presented to the voters, the
slow response to II Is at once amazing and
discouraging. It was not an issue of good
government merely. Something more was
involved than n protest against machine
control Even tnOuRn the DTlnC PIE OF par
tisanship in city administration be dis
credited political organizations may yet be
honest and decent The organization mas
uuerading' in Philadelphia as Republican
has been neither. gang that sfHops to
violence to attain its ends. that demoral.
ICES the police and the magistrates in order
10 ride rough.shod over law and order, is
menace to the community that every
good citizen should fight with all his power.
Yet all the dscreditable tactics Of the gang
ster, all the abuse of police power. all the
intimidation and thuggery. all the insolence
Of contractor bosses. could not rouse the
citizens of PHILADELPHIA from their lethargy.
Even a Mayor under indictment. could not
stir their wrath to fever heat.
something has been gained of course
An ineffective protest Is better than none
at all There were those who resented the
shame of the city sufficiently to work
earnestly for reform. They deserve and
should receive the gratitude of their fell
lows. II Is not their fault If the grip of
the Frog Hollow sDoilsmer has been only
relaxed little, not released. The comfort
able gentlemen who let the occa sion go by
without an effort are the real culprits. Had
not the bosses ouarreled among themselves
the result would have been even more fu-
tile As it u.s. the decent citizens of Phil
adelpha owe more to the Penrose- Nichol
faction whatever the purpose Of it's hos
tllity to the Wares, than to the respectable
members of the Republican party who let
the phantom of regularity guide their
action who voted for government by MUIR
DER bv sort of political camoufage or
who did not vote at all. Their lack Of
energy, of sincerity, Of public snirt. is
the root Of the evil. They hove the kind
of government they deserve. If they do not
like 1t they can change whenever they
Choose to bestr themselves. Philadelphia
will continue to he one of the worst gov
erned cities in the world until they do.
That is the moral Of the election of Tues
day"
THE NORTH AMERICAN
1T is doubtful whether in all the history
of municipal contests thern can be found
the record of another uprising comparable
to that which voted under the Town Meet.
ing title" is an excerpt from the North
American
"Yet it is doubtful whether the Ware.
Smith combine has elected it's candidates.
1.-TWO main factcrF for only one of which
the hackers of the murder ticket were re-
sponsible. produced the result az it stands
The first was the elimination of 10000 in
dependent voters. who had disqualified them.
selves by neglecting to register The second
was the disappearance of 10000 inde.
pendent votes undoubtedly cast but arbi-
trarily thrown out in the count by the ma
chine election officers.
"The incontrovertible meaning of the
great uprising. and the tremendous vote cast
, by citizens who were unOrganiZed save in
less than half a score OF districts. is that
the end of Ware governr ent has been de.
creed-that all contractor rule, indeed, is
doomed No matter how the Vare-Smith
politicians may delude themselves with the
belief that they have gained new Ease of
life the truth is that they have heard their
death sentence.
THE unity of the public press in be-
half Of civic rights is a fact not to be
overlooked. The sordid and desper-
ate character of the combine in possession
Of the city Is now universally understood,
and united aggressive action is the imper-
ative duty.
Meantime, every possible measure should
be taken to guarantee relentless scrutiny
or the returns. Every effort should be made
to have the ballot-boXes opened. ."
THE INQUIRER
Asserting that 1t is without the shadow
OF doubt that ntractor.bossism brought
every force of evil to bear to steal this elec-
tion and that deliberate fraud has been re-
sorted to-" the Inquirer says in part:
"Contractor-bossism has had the shock of
It's life. The great majority of 7S,50S given
Mayor Smith two years ago has been virtu-
ally wiped out The tremendous efforts of
Nareism to command a two-thrds majority
In Councils and thereby exercise absolute
control over the city's finances have been
met and defeated.
"Yes, intrenched Might over Right, in
trenched despotism has been shocked to its
foundations, the forerunner of what Is TO
come For the movement to purify politics
has only started. Philadelphia will be
cleaned up, and a splendid start has been
made.
I'VE believe that the Town Meeting ticket
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