New Britain herald., 1925-04-25

which Is being quietly waged has for its purpose the elimination of states Attorney Hugh M. Alcorn from off cial life. Sponsors of the drive will probably be among the first to deny this but there is enough evidence at hand to indicate that a well-formu- lated program to drive Alcorn back into private life is now being carried out.
 In Hartford, as well us New Brit ain, there is desire on the part or many politicians to relegate Alcorn to back seat. far, far back. He IS persona non grata with the repub- lican state organization. it is said, because it is feared that if he ex- tends his powers further the prestige of the organization will be endanger- cd. Consequently. in the two largest centers of population in Hartford county. Hartford and New Britain, the skids are being greased and the states attorney will be invited to ride at the first opportunity.
 A hint of what is happening may be gained from the attitude of a Hartford paper which has always made & hero out of .Alcorn. The paper and the states attorney have been very warm friends and 1t has been suspected that the latter has frequently made it a point to sec that the former got the news first. He was good for front page position nearly every day and his word was quoted as the Bible is quoted. He was infallible, in the eyes of the newspapermen and could do no wrong.
 But that was quite while ago, al- though recently enough to be fresh in the minds of newspaper readers. It is said that the paper and Alcorn still maintain a speaking acquaint- ance hut their relations are not as cordial as when they romped up and down the first page together. In fact, a number of recently published editorials create the impression that the editor of the paper would not die of broken heart if Alcorn went back to Suffield and stayed there.
 All this is generally accepted as part of the drive on the states at- torney. He has been criticizd by the public for the manner in which he prosecuted the Chapman case and it is suspected that part of this criti- cism was inspired by sources which do not wish him well. The climax came when he appeared as cham pion of the Wheeler bill in the state
 legislature. This was a signal for the grand rush, and his enemies did not hesitate about starting. The open season on the states attorney is now on and the heavy artillery is getting in it's work. The heavy
 booming heard this week is reported to have been caused by the repub,
 ican organizations field pieces.
 A few years ago, "KinG Dodo," a musical comedy. swept the country
 in a gale of laughter. In it wa.
 one line which is particularly appli.
 cable now. The leading character
 was wont to eXclaim: "There is nC
 king but Dodo," and his subject! would echo the sentiment. In Con
 necticut there is no king but Dodo
 and he happens to be the head o, the republican organization.
 Although organization domination is not wholly popular, the power that be will receive considerable support in their attempt to put Al corn back into. private life. During
 his term as states attorney he ha made many enemies. This is cer tain to be the case. It is one of th . penalties of the office, although it 1 not believed that Aleorn would con , sider it in this light. The impression has gained ground that he is of vindictive type. The Observer is no s attempting to spread propaganda l against him nor will the Observer at 9 tempt to sit as judge whether Al ! corn deserves 10 be so pictured. Tn l fact remains, however that a grea
 many people believe that he is win 0 dictive and that he plays to the bo - with the spotlight in the gallery. N c one, so far as the writer has heard Il has questioned his integrity in tn c conduct of his office. But the i'm
 pression grows that he has been to
 enthusiastic about putting people 1
 jail and that sometimes he has al lowed his personal feelings to fir c trude. particularly in political al
 fairs.
 it Sending Hugh Alcorn into retire @ ment Is a mans size job. He is n fighter with a capital r. He is V power with the judicial branch ( l. the government and if his oppC
 ncnts come from under cover an , fight in the open a pretty war wi
 result
 With the approach of spring, Il