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Show r Tribune Makes overtures Hj Last week Truth published an ar- H ticlc to the cfTcct that the Tribune Hj had made or was about to make over- Hj turcs to the Mormon church for a H( cessating of hostilities and that if the H church accepted the proposition the HJ paper would promptly cease its cam- Hj paign cf slander and abuse. Since Hj then we have learned on unquestion- H able authority that the overtures have actually been made. An accredited H emissary of the Tribune met with a representative of the church and said that if the church authorities would issue a manifesto to the effect that in the future no high church official would be a candidate for any political office and make other concessions seeming or real, that the Tribune would stop the fight at once and that a reign of peace would be inaugurated. inaugurat-ed. The Tribune of course ever since it started the present fight was ready and willing to lay down if the church would exercise political influence in , favor of Ex-Senator Kcarns and his I gang. The church has so far refused and it is most unlikely that it will ac-ccedc ac-ccedc to the Tribune request now, when the paper and its gang are thoroughly thor-oughly whipped. Annihilation or unconditional un-conditional surrender it is believed is the only terms it can get at this stage of the game. However, one thing is certain, the Tribune would accept almost al-most any even seeming concession in order to give it a plausible excuse for changing its policy and "save its face." It has failed miserably in everything it undertook, has no standing stand-ing nationally and very little locally It is ready to desert its creature, the "American" party at any moment, if it can make any terms at all with the church. This is not a very comfort-"ing comfort-"ing situation for the contemplation of the rank and file of the "American" party. Here they arc in a fight in which their leader is ready to betray them, just looking for an excuse to do it. It is pretty generally conceded that the "American" party's cause is lost. Even under the most favorable circumstances it can't last long and the circumstances arc not at all favorable. fav-orable. The members of the party are beginning to realize where they stand. In the bitterness and strife of the past few years many lasting enmities en-mities have been made. The prominent promi-nent people among the "Americans" arc piling up sorrow for themselves for the future, they have p'laccd themselves them-selves outside of the pale of those who in the future are eligible for honors and emoluments from cither the republicans or the democrats. The especial aim of the Amcrikearns crowd is and has been to defeat the republican party. All these things will be remembered in the future and the longer they persist in their course the more pronounced becomes the ban which they have placed upon themselves. Although the "Americans" had about 800 votes more than the republicans repub-licans in the city, in the county election elec-tion last autumn, few people suppose they arc as strong now as they were then. The party's defense of those who robbed the McWhirtcrs and its defense of the chief of police and other officers who it is generally and firmly believed participated in the robbery rob-bery and shared in the plunder was a stunning blow to the party. The general gen-eral management of the city's affairs the squandering of money, the graft and the bankrupt condition the treasury treas-ury has been reduced to is justly and directly chargeable to the administration, adminis-tration, and is so charged by the public. pub-lic. The Tribune may juggle figures .and try to mistify the public, but the cold fact stands boldly out that the general or what is called the contingent contin-gent fund from which the running expenses ex-penses of the municipality is derived is not only depleted, but warrants have been issued for nearly all the taxes for the current year which arc due in November. In two months or ten weeks at most there will nut be a dollar of those taxes going to the contingent fund which has not oeen used up. What will happen then? Will the administration in pursuance of its illegal methods issue warrants against the 1908 taxes? If they don't where is the money for the daily needs of the city to come from? Large sums of money have been collected from property owners for sidewalk and sewer construction. The sidewalks and sewers have not been built and the money is gone The property owners can neither get a refund of the money nor the improvements. im-provements. It's a pretty state of affairs af-fairs indeed. |