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Show THE IB DISASTROUS LEADERSHIP. It was probably inevitable that tho Smoot organ should fall back upon a personal plea for Smoot (especially) and Sutherland, and undorlako to hold them up as martyrs to an unjust assault as-sault from Tho Tribune. Wo havo not, however, mado a personal matter of this, but a matter of principle and of party history and party wreckage. The question is a very broad one, and wc have considered it on broad lines throughout. It makes no difference to us that it happened to bo Smoot and Sutherland who wcro so largely instrumental instru-mental in wrecking tho Republican party; and any others who had dono the same would inevitably have received re-ceived tho same criticism and would havo deserved it. The same censure is being visited upon the unfaithful Republican Senators throughout the country; many of them are replaced by Democrats, and others by Republicans who are not standpatters. It is a ques tion of principle and of party salvation with Tho Tribune, and so wo havo conducted con-ducted this discussion. At no time have we allowed it to got into a mero personal wrangle, though insistently invited in-vited by the Smoot organ to do so; and havo used tho names simply because the uso of those names was inovitable in considering tho general questions involved. And so, whilo it is true that tho Senators from Utah have proved themselves unfaithful leaders and should bo retired from party leadership leader-ship and from public life, wo do uot say this becauso of the men themselves, but because of tho record they have made. They have done more than their share in wrecking tho Republican party in the Nation, and in making tho Republican Re-publican party in this State a minority party, successful only because the opposition op-position was divided. The organ suggests that If there could bo a united support of tho Republican Re-publican Senators from Utah thoy would be likely to have greater influence influ-ence in tho discussion of tho tariff bill than if opposition to thom is manifested mani-fested in this State. To this we reply candidly that we do not think so. The Utah Senators have so identified themselves them-selves with the standpat regime in tho Senate, they wero so closely connectod with tho framing of the bogus tariff revision of 1909 that it 5ccraa inevitable inevit-able that whatever they might propose would bo handicapped from tho moment mo-ment they proposed it, becauso tho then minority opposition, which is now in tho majority (thanks largoly to tho Utah Senators), would naturally assume as-sume from the record of those Senators that thero was something sinister in what they proposed, and that proposition propo-sition would bo frowned upon from the first merely becauao of tho source from which it came. As to the further 'suggestion that thero should be a united support of the Utah Senators from this State, it is enough to say that a united support under un-der the circumstances is quite impossible, impossi-ble, for such support would imply an endorsement of tho record of those Senators, which tho people of Utah cannot possibly make. And In this connection wo may say, further, that so far as tho inciting of opposition to these Senators and to the Republican party in this' Stato is concerned, these Senators and the Federal bunch at their back havo been the chief instrumentalities instru-mentalities in breaking up the solidarity solidar-ity of tho Republican party in this Stato and making harmony oven within tho party impossible. Smoot, as tho chief boss, has carried things with too high a hand; the unscrupulous, arbitrary arbi-trary methods of tho Federal bunch in this State taken at his behest, have disgusted dis-gusted the people to such an oxtent that a vorv largo fraction of the party sloughed off at tho recent election and refused to affiliate with the party or support tho party nominees, either local lo-cal or National. The Tribune was not responsible tfor that defection from the party, because it strenuously opposed the candidates supported by that portion por-tion of the party which refused to be bound further by tho bosses. We opposed op-posed that segregation, and opposed the candidato who was Nationally at the head of it. And so The Tribune can iu no wise bo blamed for the fcplit of the Republican party, aa it did split in this State last year. It was tho courso of tho bosses of tho Republican machine ma-chine in this State, run under Smoot 's direction, that made tho split, and that has soeloulled tile future of the Republican Re-publican party iu I tab. Of this then can bo no sort of question n the mind of any honest mau who has kept in touch with the political situation. And so, on local grounds as well ns National Na-tional party, wreckage must be laid at tho same door. Wc may renew here tho suggestion mado in Tho Tribune yesterday morning morn-ing that tho opportunity to test ' tho strength of Smoot before the people of Utah will bo presented just prior to the expiration of his present term iu tho Senate, a year from next fall. By that timo doubtless the amendment to tho Federal Constitution -for tho election elec-tion of Senators by populnr vote will have been ratified. If Smoot thinks at that timo that his party-wrecking course has been such as to commend him to tho party of this State, and to tho peoplo of Utah, it will bo a very easy matter for him to submit his claims at that timo and. receive the popular verdict; or, ho can submit his claims to that vote, whether the ratification rati-fication referred to has boon made or not. As to that verdict we have no sort of doubt. It will be one of condemnation con-demnation and retirement, unless, indeed, in-deed, ho is ablo to bring tho church to his support again, as heretofore. But if tho church authorities should thus interfere in Smoot's behalf it would bo all tho worso for the church. |