| Show GnOD ii iiillIP LIAG L E The First Public Meeting Held Last Night NOW FULLY ORGANIZED G F GOODWIN CHAIRMAN J B CALDWELL SECRETARY A Central Council of Thirty JHem bert Chosen Object of the League Set Forth Andres By Chairman Gooilnin Lr aialiry nnd Rev B P Clay The Good Citizenship League a nonsectarian nonpartisan organization organiza-tion which according to its rolls as read last night has a membership of 132 of which several are ladles met in the old federal court room last night for the purpose of selecting a central council consisting of thirty members six trom each precinct who will choose an odd person to prevent ties In voting I was nast the usual hour of meetings meet-ings of this kind when the meeting was called to order Fully one hundred and fifty people many of them ladies were present OBJECTS OF THE LEAGUE Scattered over the seats were circulars circu-lars extensive in character addressed HTo the Citizens of Salt Lake City the opening paragraph of which set forth the fact that Within the past year what has been aptlv described as the new municipal spirit has been making unprecedented headway In many of the larger cities of our country The sober thought of the American people cannot but lead them to thoroughly endorse this revival revi-val of the snirit of 1776 This declaration was supplemented with the assertion that There has been started in our city an organization bearing the name The Good Citizenship League of Salt Lake City The reasons leading to the formation for-mation of such a league are as follows fol-lows FirstLaxness In the enforcement of law SecondLack of interest shown by citizens in the selection and election of good and unright men to office ThirdThe existence of evils in our midst which tend ito corrupt the morals of the community Following this came tha appended in Italics The League is not a third party movement It does not propose to go I outside of existing party lines believing believ-ing that all needed reforms can be inaugurated in-augurated and consumated through existing ex-isting pplitical channels I seeks to I wrest the control of the primaries from the lawless disreputable and of ficeseeking element and place i in the hands of patriotic lawabiding citizens so that whether the city is governed I by Republicans or Democrats is not so much a matter of concern as whether I I the administration of municipal affairs i i is In the hands of honest intelligent men Patriotism honesty and capability I capa-bility the qualifications of the officeholder office-holder is one of the mottoes of the League A syllabus of the Leagues proposed action condensed shows that it proposes pro-poses to better existing conditions by advocating three tests of qualification for voters and candidates In the language of the circular The first test is Interestedness Disinterestedness Dis-interestedness in politics now so often I the boast of our citizens is culpable and indeed criminal in a city of this sizeVhere the issues of political action their influence are so farreaching in infnence Apathetic unconcern is responsible for i i municipal corruption and social degradation I I degra-dation We contend that every citizen Is under obligation to take a lively interest I in-terest in political and social affairs The second test is that good citizenship zenship shall be Intelligent citizenship Ignorance is unpardonable where knowledge is accessible By the public press we will reach every one in this community There Is not a reform of our time that would not leap to prominence promi-nence and success if the people were in possession of the facts concerning it I The third test is that there is such a thing as good citizenship and public morals and that It Is possible to reach the one and attain the other We do not believe that there is any necessary permanency beleve in organized iniquity The gigantic evils of our time now so rampant pant in our city are preventable The meeting was called to order by George F Goodwin whose first act was to invite those in the rear seats to come up front I The chair announced that In the absence ab-sence of Bishop Leonard he had been requested to call the meeting to oraer He would call upon Rev E G Hunt to offer prayer CHAIRMAN GOODWIN SPEAKS At the conclusiOn of the invocation the chair made a few remarks in which he stated that for nearly half a century cen-tury the people of Utah had been living liv-ing under a Territorial form of government govern-ment under which great progress had been made We are standing now upon the portal of the temple of statehood Delegates to a constitutional convention conven-tion will snon be chosen This election ton demands the earnest attention of every citiaeh for upon their action depends everything The question of labor and capital is one of the most important and merit earnest attention The relation re-lation of the saloon and the liquor traffic traf-fic to the moral and social side of life is one which must be settled and lfe to the end that good results may accrue ac-crue all should be vigilant The question of municipal government Is another of equal moment The urban population is rapidly drifting into the cities New York and Brooklyn control con-trol New York Cincinnati Ohio Chicago Chi-cago Illinois Denver Colorado and Salt Lake city Utah The speaker defined de-fined the objects of the league succeeding suc-ceeding which he complimented the manner in which the city of Salt Lake Is governed paying a high tribute to Chief Pratt for his impartial conduct ordinances in enforcing The objects of the meeting were he said the election of thirtyone members mem-bers of a board of control six from each precinct and one at large the latter lat-ter to be selected bythe thirty f Mr Goodwin Was ten elected chairman chair-man and J B Caldwetl secretary The minutes of the last meeting were read by Mrs EE Shepard and approved ap-proved br the con ven tioni < y Dr Silver fojlow ecl > by reading a list of the members of the league After adopting the report of the committee com-mittee upon membership the constitution constitu-tion and bylaws hitherto drafted were read and affirmed THE CENTRAL COUNCIL The next business being the selection of thirty members the central council coun-cil the meeting plunged into the matter mat-ter by selecting a committee of two from each precinct to present names The central council as selected is First Precinct George F Joodwin F E Houghton Mrs E E Shepard Franlc Pierce L E Berkly E L Carpenter Car-penter Second PrecinctDr E V Silver D R Augsberg S B Blakely C Ira Krebs Dr Heron S H Tplles Third PrecinctProf F W Metcalf E T Ayers Mr Armstrong A S Geddes John Nielson W R liner Fourth PrecinctRobert P Clay Peter Van Houten jr W S Earls C W Caffell C IJ Hawley Miss Grace Flanders Fifth Precinct B Caldwell James H Hogue J A Newbern W Holland Anna F Hulburd Charles Hawks DR MABRY lI4BRY pastor of e First Methodist Episcopal t J xf > I > church then addressed the meeting The sneaker believed that all right minded persons ought to be in sympathy sympa-thy with the movement as Its very name imolied that its purpose was richt and lust I was unfortunate that the club or league had neen characterized char-acterized as a third party movement inasmuch as it had nothing to do with political parties other than it proposed to eet at the fountain head and purify the political stream To establish purity in politics the sneaker declared that a candidate should be pure in private life as well as in public Dr Mabry congratulated the Ashland district of Kentucky which had notwithstanding Mr Breck Inridtres renutatlon for ability etc laid him upon the shelf Another Qualification was Intelli gence An American citizens snould be intelligent should know what he spirit and genius of our government are He would require that a voter know how to read and write in the English language lan-guage and possess a knowledge of the history and laws of his country He must also be one that knows how to respect re-spect the rights of others The auestion of urban and city population pop-ulation was then taken up I the present state of affairs continues con-tinues the city population by 1920 will exceed that of the country Hence the problem merits great attention inasmuch as it has been determined that the saloon controls con-trols the politics of this city the city the state the state the nation Here is the problem which confronts us The remedy lies in improving the intelligence gence of the voter and wresting the government from the hands of those who seek their own agganlteement The candidates of today are selected by the professional politicians bosses II and bossees and it is he duty of all thoughtful men to be In attendance at the primaries I Here lies the solution of the problem The Ladies quartette sang a election elec-tion after which REV B F CLAY addressed the meeting He thought the league was necessary and had a mission mis-sion to perform While party platforms were right if rigidly adhered to it was I necessary for the voter to see that the right men were selected It is a duty we owe to ourselves the unborn children child-ren who will be the men and women a tomorrow and the future to see that the voter is educated in his work If the objects of this league are carried out not only in Salt Lake but elsewhere else-where the results cannot be but bone ficial There is no use kicking at the wrong time Do the kicking not after taking but before taking Dont al low your party to do something you will protest against but go to the primary pri-mary or convention yourself The will of the people is supreme Witness the defeat of the notorious Breckinridge who had all the election machinery in his hands The people arose and defeated him even in the face of a prospect of having to support I him if they failed in nominating his opponent By their action the state and the nation have been saved the shame of having him reelected By prompt and vigorous action upon the part of every man interested in good government all political evils may be averted The people present sang America after which the chair notified all present pres-ent would be notified of the next meet ing by the press The meeting then adjourned |
