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Show I Politico-Personal 111 The Inter-Mormon has a new city editor, but i the advent of a now head of the local depart- I ment has become so common an event in that shop as to create no surprise oven among the reporters who have to work under him. .During its brief and fevered existence of a little over a j: year the sheet has had six city editors, includ- ; Ing the one who has just been taken on. The list j includes A. G. Mackenzie, Roderick Sprague, j Russell Lowry, Carl Williams, "Billy" Williams t and John L. Dirks, the last named being the new one. "Too much Armstrong" is the rock upon which every city editor of the Inter-Mormon sooner or later comes to grief. The editor of the paper is the head of the Armstrong dynasty. He has two sons on the local end. Nominally these sons are supposed to be subject to the city editor. Really they are a law unto themselves, and their independence of control makes a city editor regret his job. For the same reason it is impossible for the paper to keep good reporters, because when a good assignment is to be given out one of the Armstrong hopefuls claims it, and the other reporters re-porters are left to do the disagreeable work. Buil Armstrong, the eldest son of his father, is as good a political reporter as ever struck Utah, but he has failed lamentably in contributing to the peace of mind of several successive city editors. edi-tors. L John Dirks, the present city editor, quit the R Herald to accept his new job. Ho is a trained newspaper man of exceptional ability, but he is I i not of the easy-going temperament of several of I his predecessors, and, in all probability, ho will soon be numbered among the ranks of those who, when asked why they quit the Republican, always ' have the same answer: "Too much Armstrong." The Desoret News executed a groat flip-flop last week. "Wednesday evening it condemned the celbration of the Fourth of July in an editorial which, for rank Anglomania, might have been written by Apostle Penrose himself. It was an echo of old-time undisguised Mormon hostility to the American government, and probably warmed the cockles of the prophet's heart when he read it By the time the next issue of the paper appeared, ap-peared, however, somebody around the offlce must have recalled the fact that just now the church Is protending to be ultra-loyal to the government gov-ernment of which its great and good friend Roosevelt Roose-velt is the head. So Thursday evening the Lord's Own printed an editorial breathing the true spirit of patriotism. The first editorial, written on the spur of the moment, was a truer indication of the News' real feeling than the second sec-ond one, composed in a spirit of calculation to deceive and befuddle the public. : & Those who figured that District Attorney Loof-bourow Loof-bourow was unwilling to participate in the conspiracy con-spiracy against Chief of Police Sheets have seen their error since the Donaldson trial began. The district attorney has lost no opportunity to drag Chief Sheets into the case and cast odium upon him. At every possible stage of the case he has thrown out a dirty slur at the chief, and tried to connect him with the filching of money from the McWhirters. Another election is coming on, and . evidently Mr. Loofbourow feels it his duty to himself and his family to make himself solid with the disreputable dis-reputable political machine which, in his opinion, opin-ion, controls this judicial district. That machine is after Sheets, and Mr. Loofbourow s apparently anxious and willing to aid it to disoredit the chief r in the public mind. The combined legal acumen of he county attorney, at-torney, the district attorney and the attorney-general attorney-general Las not been great enough to draft either a complaint or an intormation against the chief which would hoid water, and common decency, in such an event, wouid seem to dictate that his persecutors should go away back and sit down. Certainly he has not been on trial in the Donaldson Don-aldson case. A good many people in this community have felt hitherto that Mr. Lootbourow was cast in a mold superior to that In which his associates in tue Smootite legal department were cast; but his performances ot late indicate that he is fashioned fash-ioned afor the same manner as they, and here-alter here-alter any American party man who may feel an inclination to vote lor Lootbourow would do weil to change his mind. Wuen Lootbourow ran be-iore be-iore the American party nominated no candidate against him; ho probably will notVe so fortunate next year. & & & The state land board has whitewashed John De Grey Dixon, its former secretaiy, who was i accused of favoiitism and other offenses by a &ephi attorney. "Billy" Lynch ought to white- 4 wash Dixon. Dixon sweat eight quarts of blood during tiie investigation before a senate committee commit-tee last winter trying to give Lynch and the other board members a spotless reputation, and throw all the odium for land board incompetency and dereliction of duty on a clerk who drew a salary of $100 a month. In the whitewashing business turn about is fair play, and Dixon has no reason to complain of ingratitude. State Treasurer James Christiansen and State Auditor J. A. Edwards, both of whom are ineligible ineli-gible for re-election, are mentioned for secretary of state. It is a ten to one shot that Edwards will got the nomination. He is a weak and trembling Mormon vassal, who can be counted upon to do anything his priestly superiors may direct from going on a mission to the ungodly Lamanites to jumping into the Great Salt Lake. Edwards is the only man in Utah so lacking in even a semblance sem-blance of courage that he is afraid of the frown of the tailor-governor, John C. Cutlah. He is the legitimate product of the Smoot system of politics. pol-itics. By all means he ought to have anything Smoot doesn't need for a more valuable man. Mr. Christiansen, on the other hand, while a Mormon , is a man of courage and independence. He doesn't think Reed Smoot has any business in the United States Senate or in running Utah politics, and has no hesitancy in saying so at any time or any place. He slipped on the ticket in 1904 when the apostle from Provo was not looking, and next year he will retire from public life unless Smoot loses the power to reveal re-veal the mind and will of the Most High to his political followers. |