| OCR Text |
Show THE ARGUS. of the operative than of the executive depart- ment. The Commission is a stultification on the name and on the office ; the chief is aging to the limit of usefulness, and the captain, soured by the chagrin of past personal criminations and recriminations, has but one axe to grind, and is seemingly dead to all other interests than his own ; the patrolmen, divided against themselves as to religion and social effort or placement, forget their official capacity and have become selfish, suspecting, suspicious and simply animated automaton in blue and brass that ooze through our streets indifferent to all else except The first battle ' on the present issue was when Chief Fratt, as the trusted lieutenant of the Czar of West Temple street, decided, by advice from said Czar, that he could not be removed from office neither by suggestion, scheme, influence, justice, honor, right, coercion or any of the justifiable personal or political reasons of his opponents that Mayor Glendinning concluded that the merry but farcical dance of the power had gone on long enough for some one to pay the fiddler of a clamoring public and also to issue a new programme. Then came the deplorable aftermath the sequel to the most flagrant regime of police corruption, at heart, ever foisted upon a people in an alleged free republic. The political methods and public life of Arthur Pratt are well and a review of them in known to all is print at this time unnecessary. But be it said to his credit he never shirked a duty, right or wrong, or went back on a friend. His word was good in personal affairs however indifferent it may have been, or is now, in political transactions. For the service he rendered in whatever capacity the heads of the dominant people desired to keep him in his accustomed groove. It was a critical moment in the political career when the First Presidency sent a of the pathetically appealing letter to Mayor Glendinning and prayed for the retention of Pratt as chief of police to cease the cruel war against n His heroic record, clean as the him. snow that caps glorious Ensign Peak was matchless in the line of police history ; he was faithful, dutiful and no one could gainsay that he was not an exemplary officer, and in that superbly diplomatic way the epistle left the strong impression with the Mayor that he had let Pratt alone. But but one thing left to do not so inclined. His Honor was a peculiar and debasing bit of diploBy matic political machination this letter, through the instrumentality of City Attorney McKay, disappeared, and never was of public record to any one, except one, perhaps, notwithstanding that it was a public document. But it is known to be extant and can be produced when time and events shall demand it. Not only was the influence used in this way but also to induce Senator Shoup of Idaho to telegraph his brother-in-law- , Mayor Glento dinning, as a personal favor him, to cease his warfare on Pratt, and allow him to retain his inlieutenancy under the Czar. The same fluence was pulsated by telegraph by Frank J. Cannon, who was then getting his first Senatorial clothes fitted upon him in Washington. Thus the very highest and best Mormon influence of two States, with the First Presidency and hundreds of other great, good and noble, and some ignoble influences were brought to bear Bight upon the Mayor to let Pratt alone. here it may be justly stated to the reader that a great many influences, of divers and sundry kinds, were brought to bear upon the Mayor, which are reserved for future recitation if necessary that will make interesting reading, but will cut this sufficiently-tolstory shorter and leave it none the less intelligible. one-ma- n old-timer- ex-chi- s, ef wind-rive- d i During all this time the Mayor was constantly in a most perplexing Mayor Dilemma. dilemma. He could not find a cabinet that would fit his plans. Man after man with whom he could discuss an appointment on the police and fire commission would willingly agree to all his ideas but that one of firing Pratt. It The 1 i . j Jm 5 became very trying, exceedingly but all this history is fresh in the public mind. Finally the crisis came ; the tools were found and of the the board was ready for the wobble-sawhich of Arthur Mayoral edict, and the knot Pratt was it, was grooved from the sash of the frame of the municipality. Why not? Victory was his, but he had no spoils, and he was sorely short of a successor to the man who has notoriety for the arrest of his relatives for polygamy. Applicants were plenty but timber was scarce, that is, not only passable timber but anything that would finish up the job. blood-sweatin- g, w Ex-Chi- The Argus Mission. Pauls stock was high ef and in demand, but he had posi- tively declared himself out of the market ; he wanted nothing in that line : had had enough of it; was suspicious; didnt believe everything he heard ; wouldnt trust the Mayor ; was just a little bit afraid of the council, and above all, felt that the dominant Church was against him. When all other influences failed to convince the patriarchal liveryman that he really didnt have to groom the horses but simply have his name on the and allow the servants to do the rest, the Mayor threw up his hands in despair and came to The Argus. In the meantime Pop .Eslinger had been deposed. This added much curdle to the already thickened milk. The Mayor had no public mouthpiece. What papers were not against him were After many recitals by the Mayor to The Argus, which, by the way, were always fair and just, to Mr. Paul. The Argus went on a mission After great labor and incessant pains it succeeded in bringing the backward brother to the front. He accepted the situation, and with conditions concerning Eslinger, he assumed the position of Chief of Police of the City of Salt Lake. At heart Chief Paul is an honest, conscientious man and official. In spirit, he is growing weak and is showing symptoms of fatty degeneration. He is forgetful, not intentionally but because it is a physical weakness. His right-hanbower, Eslinger, may be shrewd, although he doesnt look it, but he is a disappointment to his friends and to The Argus. door-plat- e non-committa- l.. d The promises of reform in social Broken government have been broken that Promises. they were never fcgpt, All conditions outlined for good have been assiduously overlooked or entirely forgotten. Every vow for betterment has been exaggerated in contradistinction. Under Chief Pauls regime, following the death of the unfortunate man who met so ignominious a fate in the prize ring, the brutal sport was again introduced in a public theater, with the survivor of the fight as one of the principals. This was the first downfall of the reform administration. All the declarations about and colonizing out and concentrating the demi weeding monde were declared off officially as nothing on these lines was done, or even attempted. As an evidence to the contrary a room on the ground floor of the Herald building was rented by one of the vilest French women known in Salt Lake criminal circles, as a den in which to carry on her unmentionable vice. This vile and unnatural courtesan even had painted her yellow and red signs across the large windows and fitted up the place and was running full blast for some time while The Argus waited for police action. The great reform newspaper with a microscopic circulation, which now virtually upholds ( just to be opposite ) the present maladministration of affairs, finally ousted the nasty beast upon demand of The Argus. Not only in this place but in the same kind of a dive in the same neighborhood the patrolman on that beat dropped in and bummed a cigar just to be friendly with the girl. And yet it was Chief Pauls avowed intention and his subsequent vehement declaration that he would handle the women of the town ; he was used to it by past experience and knew best how to control them. The above recital is in evidence of this. Another evidence is the fact that on Second South street, near State, on the south side, near one of the most prominent corners in the city, where thousands of men, women and children pass every day, is another joint of the French order, which Chief Paul has not reformed or concentrated or done anything else with except to let er go wide open. The . But why go on The Argus, if summoned to recite before the police commission, or any other tribunal of inquiry, justice, right, law, reason or equity, between man, woman or child and the maladministration of affairs in Salt Lake City, can 1 a tale unfold whose lightest word would harrow up thy soul, Freeze thy young and tender blood And make thine two eyes, like stars, Start fiiiiu their spheres Th.v knotted and combined locks To part, and each particular hair To stand on end, like quills upon The fretful porcupine. As to so called legitimate gam- bling, The Arqus has no criticism for Gambling. Chief Paul allowing it to proceed in Salt Lake City. It is considered by many to be just as necessary a licensed vice as the demimonde. Men will gamble legitimate whether a god, a man or a devil should say nay. The other evil is thought to be absolutely necessary for the safety of wives, mothers and daughters iu the honest homes of the world. This appears to be an incontrovertible fact practically demonstrated time and again. All the alleged reformers, ministerial, petticoated or otherwise, can not, for political, social or any other reason change it one iota. But the low, mean, contemptible harlot whose bestial proclivities shock even the most depraved, who lures young men whose age bars them from the houses of the better element of this under strata, can be run out of town. The and other surething is that quiet gambling patronized by the As To so-calle- d youth of Salt Lake, and the damnable policy shops which only rob the poorest of the poor, starve them and make criminals of them, should be closed up. Nor will an empty bluff in that direction, whatever credence is given it by other papers, go down with The Argus. The dens must not only be closed but the game must be stopped. The Argus has no retractions to make to you, to Captain Eslinger or the police department for what it said last week. There was not one word spoken blit what can be verified. There is discipline needed in the department, which you will find impossible, for many reasons, to achieve. An infusion of new blood is needed, but this is not in your power. You can control or discharge the patrolmen who do not do their duty under the law and ordinances this is all The Argus asks, and The Argus demands this I To Chief Paul . EDITORIAL NOTES. The Civic Federation is all right if it doesnt overwork itself. Being quite an orator John J. Ingalls took naturally to pugilism. The moral wave is coming with something on its crest. that looks like a Wonder if this John Hay who goes to the Court of St. James is a member of the Alfalfa Club. Lockwoods Lane contains fresh pigeon-toefootprints and another tirade on vice may be expected any day. Colonel John Luzerne Taylor is said to be working his typewriter nights preparing a letter to McKinley accepting anything in sight. When the modern pugilist engages a hall for an exhibition of his prowess the first consideration should be its acoustic properties. We suppose that the number of men who served with McKinley during the war was never so great as now, nor yet a tithe of those who are willing to serve with him in these piping times of peace. This has been a hard winter on legislators. Iiepresentative Joines is politically ostracized in Idaho, Senator Bloor and Bepresentative Buck-leof Moutaua have just been arrested, and now Senator Boslinger of Colorado has been declared insane. The first three accepted bribes, while the latter would not ; hence he was declared to be of unsoqnd mind. sewing-machin- e d y |
