The Waterbury Democrat., 1937-09-17

broadcast from Station VERY, Senator Culhane attacked the rec ord of the present Democratic ad- ministration. His address was as follows:
 Something new Is happening this year." Thousands of our citi- zens, who for a long time have taken no interest in municipal af- fairs, are working in common for the first time. They are volunteer workers. They are not receiving pay or hoping for patronage. They have forgotten political differences to unite in opposition to @ hard boiled political machine which for 16 years has been running our city affairs. This united opposi- tion to a politically successful or- ganization is based upon an old suspicion, now grown into @ firm and unalteTable conviction, that for many years Waterbury has been paying an unnecessarily high price for an unnecessarily inferior brand of government These people believe that we are entitled to and can get better service for less money. They be- lieve that we can make our city government more efflcient and our community life more pleas ant, more comfortable, more hope ful, more inspiring and more for ward looking than 1t has been for the many years that they have been under the steadily degrading influences that have governed us from City Hall.
 Revolt Starts
 "The revolt began when groups of Republican voters, tired of the double machine in city politics, took charge of their own primaries and broke off under-cover connec- tions with the Democratic machine at City Hall. In doing so 1t was discovered that aproxi- mately three thousand names on the primary list of the Republican party were also on the primary list of the Democratic party, a scandalous condition. It was a de- vice by which the professionals in either party, being registered in both primaries, could throw their weight solidly together in either primary, according to the need of their masters. You all know the history of how this evil was cor- rected by the efforts of indignant, honest Republicans.
 "Next came the revolt of a large group of Democratic voters. They knew from Investigation that the Democratic primary list was stacked against any group of right thinking, honest Democrats who were ashamed of the conduct of their party organization. It contained at one time 21,000 or 22,000 names, thousands more than there are Democratic voters in the city. Thousands of these names were added in one batch during a Democratic party fight some years ago, namely 1929 and 1881. They were given to the reg istrars in three shoe boxes by a Democratic leader who told the Republican registrar of that time that he must shut his eyes when the Democratic registrar added them to the primary list--or else. On the list they went. Most of them are still there. Some thou sands of them were among the names that were removed when the Republican primary lists were cleaned up. Thousands of them still are names of people who do not know they are registered Dem ocrats, names of people who are not entitled to be registered at all, all for the use of workers when the machine is challenged.
 Packed Lists
 Nov to clean up a packed pri- mary list or voting list is like getting darldelionS out of a lawn. Every name has to be pulled up separately and by hand. It takes much time and money as was shown when thousands of illegal names were removed from the voting lists few years ago. Not having the time and money to clean up their party list for an honest primary fight, these hon. est Democrats set up their own Independent Democratic organi- ration and obtained 8 place for their ticket on the voting ma. chine in the 1935 election. Who dares criticize them?
 "You all know the results of that election. Mayor Hayes and his political machine were saved for the time being, but the count ed ballots showed that he was not the choice of the majority of the voters of this city. The Re- publican and Independent Demo- crats boiled more votes than did the regular Democratic ticket. And SO Mayor Hayes was elected, not as the choice of the majority of the voters, but as minority mayor. This was a mighty re- buke to the political machine that had been proclaiming Waterbury as its stronghold. It was indis- putable evidence that the majority of the voters were no longer satis- fled with the Hayes adminis- tration. It was a great blow to the arrogant political group which had been ruling with an iron hand. The results are evi- dent in the humble and appre- hensive attitude of the Demo- cratic leaders. Where formerly poe htical opposition was given scant consideration, or treated with con- tempt, today we hear a plea for 2 campaign that will be con- fined wholly to the limits set upon 1t by the City Hall.
 Honest Votes
 ''Now for the first time, we see two bodies of honest, unpurchase- able voters united for good gov- ernment to turn out the selfish, tyrannical group that has been in City Hall, too long. We see them doing the obvious thing and plit-