Show HON DAVID MATTSON SEEKS HE N N popular secretary of state will likely succeed himself in responsible office hon david mattson secretary of state is a candidate to succeed himself in that position and there is every indication that lie he will again be the nominee of the republican convention his record in the public service is open to all and explains itself in last weeks duchesne record that admirable newspaper devotes considerable space to mr Al mattson attson and his candidacy and it gives the fhe reaper pleasure to make a few excerpts from the well written article as follows As a result of legislation passed by the last utah legislature each county in the state will during the year 1916 receive additional help on its state roads to the amount of approximately this sum comes from the operation of the motor vehicle law which N 7 41 Z ik ap X L HON DAVID MATTSON was rewritten under the recommendation and initiative of secretary of state david JI attson during the session of 1915 and will bring an added revenue to the secre office of almost under the provisions of the law the amount collected from this source is divided among the several counties of the state before assuming the office he now occupies Mr mattson was the states treasurer which under the law made him a member of the state road commission while acting in that position lie he came in close touch with the needs of the roads in the rural districts of the state and during his tenure in office as treasurer and since occupying the position as secretary of state he has bent every energy to secure funds especially for the cow counties of the state which might be placed on road betterment while the large percentage of motor vehicles are to be found in the cities through the utah law the outside counties receive the same proportion of the fund as do the counties in which are located the majority of motor driven vehicles under the supervision of david mattson no pub public lie office in utah has shown such remarkable improvement during the past four years as that of the secretary of state in point of arrangement and organization it has no equal during the adm administration inist aaion of the office the legislatures of 1913 and 1915 upon his recommendation and initiative revised many existing laws pertaining to the secre office and added to the statutes several new measures which have had the effect of producing an additional a revenue annually in excess of more t than ban when he was elected four years ago it was entirely due to his efforts that the annual corporation license tax schedule was re drafted thereby compelling large corporations to pay a proportionate share of the tax this one measure alone iacre increased based the revenue of the state approximately irately annually it was he who caused to be rewritten and made effective the motor vehicle law this revenue goes into the state road fund and produces year yearly ly which is equally apportioned amone the counties of the sta state te for road purposes since mr M mattson attson took office wild in the state which has been such a menace to utah as well as to the other western states has been almost entirely eliminated through his I 1 refusal of admission into the state of foreign corporations w with ith any odium attached to t their heir methods of doing business and it was upon his recommendation that laws have been revised to permit a more close cloe scrutiny and supervision of building and loan associations and investment concerns the wisdom wis of this legislation has been ap barent on several notable occasions during the past few years the present secretary of state has been a central figure in republican state politics for years and has been a leading factor in shaping the policies cies of his party and in its victorious battles probably ebly no man in the utah public eye has more warm personal friends throughout the state A pleasing personality and absolute efficiency in office has drawn to him supporters by the hundreds mr mattson Al attson is of swedish descent he was born at ogden in 1875 and Is is 0 of f mormon parentage and belief his father dying while he was a mere lad ad placed him largely on his own resources and prevented him from regularly attending public schools but at the age of twenty one he had succeeded in saving enough from his hard bard earnings to enter the weber stake academy he was afterwards employed in a responsible position in the ogden state bank as deputy in in the office of the recorder of weber county and later was elected to county clerk of weber mr mattson as state treasurer was particularly successful in his administration of the states finances and drove some very clever and sharp bargains in the sale of bonds and the handlin account sat the banks at that time the law requiring the payment of interest on public funds had not come into effect nevertheless by a judicious handling of the states finances he effected a saving of two per cent on daily balances it was while he was treasurer and therefore a member of the state road commission great interest in the outside counties of the state if mr mattson has that attainment known as a hobby this can safely be described in the two words better roads even since he ceased to be a member of the state road commission his enthusiasm thusia sm for better thoroughfares has never abated as will be noted by the excellent legislation he has been largely responsible for in putting on the statute books in an interesting three cornered fight mr mattson is a candidate to succeed himself and should he receive the nomination at the republican state convention there is not a republican in the state who will not be glad to support him from the standpoints of capability efficiency party politics and work well done |