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Show Is Princess Alice Safe? SALT LAKE'S city commissioners did well to clarify the record in connection with the ' strange disappearance of five elk from Hogle 1 Gardens over last week end. The official recognition recog-nition of the park department's removal of tha . ' i 1. 4U- Mmi.l announcement of i live auiuie aiiu w.... . . ! tha accident which took the life of one elk came , as welcome climax to the Keystonish comedy j capers which have been indulged in by membera ' of the) department of parka and public property ' during the last few day. I The case of the five elk produces first- clasa chronology of the futility of official pom- posity and the unhealthineas 6f dealing the pub- J lie deck underneath the table. History will ' bear out tha fact that formality ind orderliness -In the administration of public affairs is a fundamental funda-mental principle of good government However humane the removal of the elk to a natural ' habitat may ba construed, that explanation does root condone the manner in which the animals were moved, and later development. The humane aspect of the situation may well be questioned when it is recalled that the moving mov-ing operations were carried out under the cloak of nightfall, an element of the now solved "mystery' "mys-tery' that still lacks adequate explanation. One ' night inquire as to whether the slain elk's life ' might not have been spared if the matter had J been approached through proper channels. With j ' approval given by tha city commission for re-I re-I tnoval of the beasts in advance of the action, ) 1 what possible reason could there have been for ' stalking them in tha middle of the night? ! As insignificant as it may appear now, the ' case of the five elk also serves to advance the 1 proposition as to how much responsibility a I public official owes to the public and as to how i ' much of the public' business is conducted in an i ' atmosphere of comic proportions. i! - The five elk were officially reported as sto-' sto-' len last Sunday, according to report at police 1 headquarters. On the theory that the police department de-partment investigatei all reports' of stolen prop- ' arty, whether of municipal or private ownership, I the reported theft took valuable time of police I officers which might otherwise have been dl-( dl-( rected toward a gainful endeavor. And all the ' while the park department ostensibly knew !what happened to the elk! Then, of course, reports began circulating. The Telegram waa informed that parka depart-i depart-i Bant employe were the ones responsible for ro-I ro-I moving the animal from the too. And so they I 1 were. But Park Commissioner P. H. Coggin, ' whea asked to confirm or deny the report, wa I "too busy to talk about it" Among other things, ' he had to attend a ball game. He proceeded to I Indulge in some Ill-tempered vituperation and ' ' preferred to allow the "mystery," which he now I aaya was never mystery at all, to remain un-I un-I solved. - There are many other animals now domiciled ' at Hogle Gardens. There are monkeys, lions, I. and, above all. Princes Alice, the city's pet ele-1 ele-1 ! phant, acquired with the pennies of school chil-I chil-I dren some year ago at tha suggestion of The : Telegram. Purchased by public subscription, as aha was, there can be no doubt but that Prln-I Prln-I Cess Alice is a public institution. Yet, in view ! of the unannounced dispatch that characterized ! the case of the elk, it might be reasonable to ln-I ln-I tjuire of the parks department whether we can f assume with any degree of satisfaction that Prln-1 Prln-1 cess Alice will not be carted off lock, stock and I barrel on some dark moonless night - Public official can never expect to gain tha desired confidence of the public unless they ac-I ac-I cept the fact that they are charged with one 1 major duty, and that is to keep the public in-! in-! formed of all action they are required to per-i per-i . form zn carrying out the responsibilities of the : office with which the public has entrusted them. They cannot gain thia confidence through acts performed under cover of darkness. |