The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1880-07-16
THE wAsECA CONVENTION.
The statement OF the Blue Earth County
Delegation.
4 Plain Statement of Facts from
Official Papers.

Official Papers.
The undersigned desire to present a
clear and impartial history of the pro-
rccdings of the late Waseca Convent
ion Ia the ends of truth and justice.
These facts are presented from official
papers. and from notes made ut the
very moment III which the transact
ions occurred.
The convention consisted of l25
members. Necessary to Il choice If
all wrr" admitted rs legal and voted.
IS. But in calculating the legitimate
strength of the contestants upon the
question of organization, the two con-
testing delegations of Mower and
Jackson. making in all IL votes. must
I've excluded, which leaves ITO legitl-
mate votes to pass upon the org:lniZa-
tiun. OF this number IS would he Il
which is the strength re-
CURED Ia honestly organize the Con-
Ncntiom upon the rules heretofore gov.
crnimg the organization of all District
and state Conventions. Here is the
list of counties with regular, uncon-
tested delegates. all of whom were
pledged to vote for Capt. W. W. Bra
den. for temporary Chairman, had the
full Convention come together = Blue
Earth, IL; Dodge :; Farbault 4; Fill
more Is: Frcchorn L.; Houston !;
Wascca total 81. Capt. Braden
would have polled just 81 mcontested
votes had the prcccdcntS of organiZa-
ton been maintained upon principles
of common honor.
THE ACTUAL DUNNELL STRENGTH.
Cottonwood 3; Martin 1 .; Murray
-; Mobiles ! Olmstcd IL; PipcStonc
/: Rock 3: Steele :: Watonwan / ;
WinOna 10: total -. The Dunnell
men would thus have had but 10 I'M
contested delegates To vote for Mr..
IoUmanS aS their candidate for tenn
pOraTy chairman. These delegates
here enumerated are the only ones
rightfullv and lawfully entitled t.
vote upon the question of temporary
chairman. and would have voted pre-
riSrlv as above stated had the two
bodies acted jointly. Ii is just this
situation. which was fully known Ia
the Dmncll men. which inspired then
to the first step in the programme OF
outrage and wrong. and for which
| there is no Justification in the codt
of political morals.
THE lNITIATORY WRONG.
The attempted diSfranchiSement OF
! Freedom county, WAS the scheme sci
on foot Ia thwart and defeat an hon
est organization This wicked scheme
was devised in the Continental Hotel
| in WaSeca. under the immediate cy,
of Mr.. Dunnell. and by the men i'm
mcdiately surrounding him. 1t wa.
! 4 bold trick to exclude Freebor
county an anti-Dunnell, county, from
any participation in the proceeding.
appertaining to the organization. Here
WAS the initiatOry wrong, deliberate
| ~ pcrpetratcd and stands without ;
single justification. The election oi
| the Freedom county delegation was
never. in any formal manner, queS
! toned in Albert Lea. 1t was claim
ed that if the anti-Dunnell men pro
| recdcd with their acknowledged ma
| iority TO organize the convention. the
/ Mower and Jackson county deiega
/ tiumS opposed 10 Mr.. ID. would he al
mittrd. and therefore 10 provide fol
, IN anticipated wrong, they must de
/ wise and perpetratc an actual wrong
! This bold move of the diSfranchiSe
mrnt of Freedom county, was made
| known TO hut few even of the leaders
/ 1t was kept i'm the dark. rs 4 card to
! hC played suddenly and Unexpectedly
! Even in the meeting of the congress
! aiuual committee. thirty minutes he
| fore the calling of the convention t.
order. Capt. Bradcn, of the commit
/ tee. asked the chairman. Mr.. Holt
! if he had any notice of contest from
| counties other than Mower and Jack
| son. and he replied he had not And
| Just as Mr.. Holt entered the Hall, {:
delegate advanced and asked Holt the
! same question. and he denied that
! there WAS. Mr.. Holt Immediately
I proceeded to call the convention Il
order. and proceeded To state that Inc
! had h"Cn instructed 10y the Cong. com
mittcc not To permit counties with
| contcStiug delegations To take part in
| the organization. and that he held in
! his hand notices OF contest from the
( counties of Mower, jackson and Free.
| Lmu, When Freedom was mention.
| ed. there WAS Il sensation! They
/ afterwards claim as Il virtue. that
| they excluded this bogus delegation
| hut mark well. that they used it fOl
! the purpose of fraud for which it was
! intended in the matter of nrganiZa'
ton. After being thus fortified 10y
sitting the voice of Freedom, Holt
| immediately placed the name of L. $.
| IounamS before the convention fOI
Temporary chairman. And here be-
gan
| THE SECOND GREAT OUTRAGE.
simultaneously with this announce
Hrut. :. i. ChildS. of Farbault cOun.
| ly. i'm stcnt0rian voice. substituted
tn" name of Capt. W. W. Braden.
and insisted upon having the SuhSti.
tut" PIT fairly to the convention but
| Holt. turning from ChildS, refused t.
| hear his oft repeated motion, and
! gagged the convention against all pre-
ccd"mt in this congressional district
The only way out of the dilemma was
10 appeal to the body of the cOnven,
ton, which Mr.. Childs, Oh the de.
lnamd of many voices, did. Capt
Bradcn WAS elected 10y an Ovcrwhelm.
| ing aye. and only one nay. Capt.
! liradcm immediately assumed the du.
ties Of the chair, and first called the
| tsf ~ f.,t ia l,,t I,1{
in the trcpdatiOn always attending
guilt. failed to put the negative of
| his question, and cody declared it
carried without asking for a negative.
thus doubling the measure of the
fraud which was natural. This i'm.
pOrtant fact can he fortified by scores
of anidavitS. Now what do honest
Republicans think of Il body so or
ganiXcd These two objectionable
outragcs mullify, in advance, every
act claimed TO have been done by the
Dmncll body.
WITHOUT CREDENTIALS.
In the progress of the proceedings
Of the Dmncll body, il will he OBJ
served that three delegates are claimed
from Fillmore, from Dodge and
from WaScca. If such delegates
appeared, they were wholly without
credentials. The regular credentials
of all these counties are now before
us, having been duly filed with the
regular committee on credentials.
Suchpcrsons were simply nondescripts
and if admitted to the Dunnell body,
were admitted without a vestige of
written authority. The Dunnell list
was made up, in point of fact, from
mere newspaper mention, while not u
single delegate appeared in the regu-
lar convention with0m credentials in
dU, farm. This statement of fact eli