Kentucky Irish American. (Louisville, Ky.) 1898-1968, 1919-12-20
CoIored Republicans Force Machine
to Name Colorcd Men to
Ofice.
Near Mayor and Administration
Drop Mask of Lower Taxes
and Economy.
FIRE DEPARTMENT WRECKED.

ueeIlnB Oh GOV. MOrrOW and
the Republican machine bosses is
scheduled to be held in Louisville
tonight, and the story has been
given out that the purpose of the
meeting was to distribute the pat
ronage belonging to the State ad-
ministration. This is partly true,
but the story leaks out that the
principal purpose of the meeting is
to make arrangements to give Boss
Hert the Republican delegation to
the National Republican convention,
and he will vote the delegates for
Loyden In the Presidential contest.
The twenty-six delegates from Ken
lucky will have no more voice at
the convention than that many
dummies, and the Louisville Herald
tries to ease the conscience of the
delegates by saying that the Re-
publican party has no favorite in
the Presidential race. But the Her
aid failed to add that 1t would be
useless for the party to have a
choice, as the choosing will be done
by Mr.. Hert, and 1t is rumored he
has already promised Gov. Lowden
to deliver Kentucky into his camp.
But the principal feature of to-
nights meeting in regard to the dis
tributioD of patronage is that the
colored Republican leaders have
served notice on the Republican ma
chine bosses that the colored BROTH
CIR MUST be served at the pie conn
ter. The Kentucky colored Repub-
licans used the inauguration of
Morrow to gather in large numbers
at Frankfort, and they held little
convention of their own, the story
of which has just leaked out, and
Is giving the Hert-Searcy machine
considerable worry. The Colored
Civic and Political League was or
ganized with two delegates from
each district, and the principal OBJ
Iect is TO get more recognition from
the Republican party and more
equality for the colored man In
Kentucky. A fight on the Jim Grow
law and equal treatment with the
whites in hotels, restaurants and
public places are the principal fea-
lures, next to a division of the Of
fees under the State and city Re-
publican administrations. A step in
the latter direction has already been
made and the friends of Phil Brown,
the coIored politician, of Hopkins
Vile, boast that he selected two col
ored internes for the Louisville City
Hospital this past week-Dr. Grit
18th and DIR. j. r.. Hammons.
Chairman Paul Burlingame, of
the Board of Safety, who is a noted
booster and advertiser for the Re-
publican reform" administration,
failed to live up to his reputation
for publicity by not giving the ap-
pointment of the two colored in
ternes at the City Hospital, nor has
he ever tipped the public off to the |
fact that his board appointed Will |
lam Marley as License Inspector, |
The first colored man in the history
Of Louisville to hold this position. |
So the colored man is coming into |
his own in the Republican party, |
and he is justly entitled to recogni- |
lion, as he has furnished over SO |
per cent. of the Republican vote in |
,ity elections and 40 per cent. of |
he vote in the State. Sorry to say,
he Hert-Searcy machine is not Civ
ing the colored Republicans their |
1ue very willingly, and the local |
is trying to keep the
OF every colored man
under cover. The machine has also |
promised to reform and will not rob |
he colored man in a primary as was |
lone in the Warley-Ryans race. ac-
,ording to w. F. Gurley, a colored |
Republican leader, who says in a |
,olored newspaper this past week |
that ''Mr. Chesley III. Searcy and
MIR. Robert Lucas promised me that |
such as happened in the last pri- |
mary would never happen again."
Well. at last the local reform"
administration has been forced from
cover and now near Mayor Smith
and his administration have drop
ped their mask of economy and
low tax rates" and have come out
In the open, no longer trying to
fool the public, At the beginning
Of Smiths administration the tax
payers were camoufaged with a
lower tax rate, the sinking fund be-
ing depleted to make up the differ
ence, but necessity caused by ex-
and mismanagement has
forced the boIdest raise In ASSESS
ments and THE HIGHEST TAX
RATE in the history of the City of
Louisville. Smith announces that
he will jump the tax rate from
1882 to $2.08, and will try to add
to that license tax later. Mr..
of the Board of Works,
says that his board wants $1,952,-
600 to spend this coming year. and
talks about street reconstruction,
etc., but does not state where the
money allotted the Board of Works
went this past year. Only one
street was built. Fifteenth street.
and as for street cleaning there are
streets and alleys that are perfect
strangers to street cleaner. Many
taxpayers would like to know how
how much money was wasted on
joke vacuum cleaners, motor boat
houses and similar useless pur-
chases.
Mr.. Selligman, OF the Board of
Safety, modestly asks for 1884,
600 to spend. IS per cent. more
than this last year, and said this
budget had been cut to the bone.