San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1923-04-13
DEPENDS UPON THE MAYOR

lhe mayor-elect Oh DaliaS mas an
nounced, according to newspapers pub
lished there, that he will be mayor Of
all the people" of his city. Without
questioning Mr.. Blaylock's motives in
any respect, or his ability to carry out
his promise, one may nevertheless rec
ognize his pledge as a discreditable COM
mentary upon a modern political prac-
tice which overdoes an ancient doctrine
ITO the victor belongs the spoils."
Why shouldn't the mayor of any city,
or any public official elected by ma
jority vote of self-governing people,
serve all whose interests are affected by
the conduct of his office, rather than de-
vote his energies to the benefiting of
only those who cast their ballots for
him?
Of course, the answer is that not all
officials have been doing what Mr.. Blay-
lock has voluntarily announced he will
do. Otherwise, there would be no
Sense" in his promise.
A Dallas newspaper, commenting upon
the mayor-elect's statement, interprets it
as an invitation to his political foes, or
those who opposed him in the recent
contest, to coin with his friends in aid
ing him to solve the difficult problems
which will confront him and his col
leagues during the next two years"
Unless the average citizen of Dallas
is more depraved than the average citi-
zen of the average American city-and
the orly affirmative indication from the
standpoint of San Antonians is that the
first mentioned lives there instead of
nerc-then it may be said that the gen
eral acceptance of the mayor-elect's i'm
piled invitation will depend upon him.
SELF There have been and are some
mayors whose notion of cooperation for
their city's welfare is that their conduct
of the office entrusted to them should
please everybody, regardless. If they
spend the taxpayers money recklessly
and get the city "in the hole" so deep as
to impair its prospects of future growth
and raise the valuations of taxable prop.
erty so high as to discourage investments
and imperil those already made, they
are prone to blame their troubles upon
citizens who fail to Cooperate" with
them.
There is probably no city in the United
States whose citizens, irrespective Of
their political affiliations, would not co.
operate with mayor who was evident
| ly promoting the general welfare.
There is probably no city in the
United States whose citizens, irrespective
of how they voted in the last election
would continue to Cooperate" with /;
mayor who was evidently initiating
against the general welfare. Any ad
ministration whose acts and policies ar,
inimical to the general welfare will
eventually effect an impairment even o
the special interests which it undertake.
to serve.
Dallas has the reputation of being
city in which the spirit of genuine co
operation is strong. It's people pull to
gether" for the benefit of their communi
ty-and consequently of themselves, in
dividually. But if the mayor of Dalla
!. should perform such disservice as tina
which describes the record of the prescn
) administration of city that is not on Il,
side of the world opposite the site whic
| is called San Antonio, cooperate
would be about the last of his "entitlt
ments."