The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1918-01-17
Mayors Job Goes a Begging.

4ion as to whether or not Kenosha Will
have a Mayor during the two years
from April the middle" There IS
no provision in the law for the present
acceptable Mayor to continue in office
and there does not appear to be any
special interest among the people OF
the city to find some one to take his
place Possibly there will be q life
saverD bob UP in the last few days OF
the campaign but now it is only
couple of months until the primary
election will be held and there has
not been so much as peep from any
of the prospective candidates. vi
course a number Of people have sug-
gested that they were looking the of
flee up and that they might be led
to accept it but there has been no
announcement Of candidates. and 1T
is usually the case that men who are
prominently mentioned" in December
and January fail to come to the post
for the primaries in March. Notwith-
standing the dearth OF candidates the
cliques are lining up and getting in posi-
ton to fall in behind the candidate
who seems most willing to guarantee
the carrying out Of their policies dur
ing the next two years and these peo-
pie give assurance that the office will
not be left empty and that if the peo-
pie who have q civic interest in the
election Of Mayor do not get busy
and get busy quick they will get busy
and find man who will be willing at
least to serve the private interests of
the cliques
Clique government is just as bad as
party politics or worse. In the old
days when we had political conven-
tions there was just touch of the
party conscience which always came to
the surface and put the soft pedal on
the aspirations of men who were en-
tirely untitled for public Office The
"soft pedal" went out of commission
with the coming of the non-partisan
form of electing city Mayors.
With an awakened public conscience
to take the place of the rather dor
mant party conscience the non-part-
isan form of electing city officials is
all right but it is mighty hard on the
city to have no kind of political con-
science working long about this time
of a general election year.
Men with broad vision believe that
Kenosha is destined to make great
strikes in the next two years and there
should be Mayor elected who would
be able to keep step with the progress
of tile city Ordinary fellows would b.
all right for Mayor in some periods
of city's history but they are not
the best way to fill the office in ex-
traordinary years.
The old Quaker plan of waiting for
the spirit to move some one to come
out and serve the city does not seem
to get away very well in Kenesha.
The spirit seems to work faster with
the men who can and will serve private
interests than it does with the men
who want to serve the people The
thing that is NEEDED right now is lit
tie quicleneing of the spirit.
Real campaigns for Mayor are not
made over night. People in Kenosha
have been so accustomed to having
other people do their political thinking
for them that it is going to take a little
time to educate them up to system
of doing little thinking for them
selves. These people ought to know
pretty quick along what lines they
are expected to think.
If a mayor is to be elected by the
intelligent vote of the people the man
who wants to be considered for the
position should be trotted out now and
not a week before the primary election
is held. Men who are on the E'insideo
OF the political activities in the city
may know who is being lined up for
the office and they may be hesitating
to take the people into their confidence
with the old desire of doing the peo-
pies political thinking for them.
Smoke EN- opt now. Put them right
out in the front trench and LETT take
look at them. If the picking is poor
there viii be still chance to get some
others to the front line. If any man
thinks he is big enough, that he is a
man of sufficiently wide vision to be
Mayor of the best city in Wisconsin
he should be willing to give the peo-
pie at least a couple of months to look
him over and examine his record. If
there are no candidates let 3 call a non.
partisan convention of the people and
put some in the field 1t does not make
any difference how many candidates the
people put up so long as they get the
right kind of a selection. The primary
is the elimination trench and if we
have the right kind brought out it is
probable that couple of worth while
men will be left in the race after the
first battle is over. The real thing
now is to know who these fellows are
going to be. If it is you announce your