Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1880-10-02
trolled, and that you eraoted these payments

troiieu, anu that you exacted these payments
as condition of my retaining it. :
without further comment leave this evil
dence of your corruption for the confederation
or the public, and pass to the consideration of
graver charge which, that there may be no
Misunderstanding, l put in the following
language: You through your committee. levied
assessments on me- as postmaster
for political purposes and I paid the money
TO you In person and you put it into
your own pocket and kept it, and credit was
not given me for it by the committee. When
discovered this and was written to by the
chairman OF the committee that no credit was
given me for money paid you, wrote you on
the subject and you answered rs follows:
WASHINGTON, d. O., March d. 1876.-Mr.
anywhere, has any Authority to write you on
any such subject. Will you please inform me
who has go written you, and for what reason.
Here you repudiate thu right of the district
committee to handle funds aud assume author
ity 70 do SO yourself. While l held the Office
OF postmaster you exacted and took from me
the full SUM of one hundred and seventy-five
dollars, which you put in your own pocket
and used. no one knows how-perhaps to
swell the corruption fund with which you
bought your way into Congress, perhaps to
pay your store bills /. matters not which.
you may think. Besides this, / paid
large contributions levied by your committees,
,hermore charge that you have descended into
the dirt pool of local politics and for the pur-
pose or packing caucuses and conventions in
your Interest, have ordered me as postmaster
to pay men for going to these places and their
expenses while there, and have agreed to re-
lmbnrse but you have been very careful not to
do So About the time the county conven-
tionE were being held to elect delegates to the
convention that re -nu minated you in 1874 I'M
DER GATE OF July 7th You wrote me as follows
Dear Sir-Yours received. You 60 pre-
pared to Grand MEADOW to meet just expeota-
tons and promises as to the expenses of dele
gates. Keep the ball in motion. Yours,
The Mower county convention was held ct
Grand Meadow that year and at Your direction
l disbursed to delegates, large amount of
money. Again, on the same day you wrote me
as folio We:
Don't fail to offer to meet expenses of going
TO county convention when necessary, and
will pay back. Yours truly.
DuNNELL.
When you said you would pay back, sup
posed you meant "back pay" ana of course
kept it, at least have never seen it. July 4th,
the same year, You wrote me as follows:
Frind Meigs: I am not satisfied with the
current of affairs in Your county. Cannot you
organize for the towns. TWILL SEE THAT THE
EXPENSES ARE MET. Gan my outside men do YOU
any good3 Don't let Page intimidate you.
Yours, DUNNE1L.
In this letter is disclosed an interesting fea-
ture of your political career, viz: That you
have Outside men, ready to obey your sum
mons and go where you direct. Who are they?
L answer, your appolntees of whom you de-
maud money and service as a Consideration of
retaining them IN office. Every day that you
have occupied a seat in Congress you have been
guilty of violation of the law to vindicate
which Belknap lost his official head. The only
difference being that he was wholesale dealer
and you a common country ped6ler. / charge
further that you have corrupted the entire par.
ty of your district by the use money.
You started ont with no honest purpose to
win seat in Congress by the use OF disreputa-
BILE means. Your first campaign for the nom
ination was carried on in most disgraceful
manner. You borrowed all the money you
could get of friends and begged Of others. and
seDt your runners over the district to spend it
in packing caucuses. You failed that time
Your retainers were not numerous enough, nor
your purse long enough. Next time the same
friends used you largely for the purpose of get
ting you into office where you would be able to
pay your DID debts, but they say you have
never done it. AS soon as your posi-
replenish your own pocket ana to keep
yourself in ctfice The people have
never supported you from choice. You have
thrust yourself upon them, and by sending out
your hired men to pack caucuses and conven-
tions, have presented the alternative of voting
for you or Democrat. You have bought your
way along and kept your seat by the use of
money, and that money has been mainly fur
nlahed by your employees Us pay for their posi-
tions. For your corrupt career, selfshness and
base ingratitude most of your early friends
have left you. You have had a remarkable
faculty of attaching disreputable characters
to yourself, on the principle, l suppose, that
Ike atfrQota 70 rhiu ayrIa xsrhv n, ~
johnson, who, as you said was drummed out
of New Mexico, is now yeur right hand support
81 and confidential adviser here. When you
were first candidate for congress ne said lyou
was the most corrupt man in
the state" and he ought to
know for be had been in the legislature with
you. II Now when you are together, it is i'm
possible to See any difference between you ex-
cepk you nave to stoop little to whisper IN
his ear.
Now, Mr. Dunnell, I am probably the fra.
OF your appointees III Minnesota who has told
tho truth about you. You cannot complain
that this is done for political purposes, nc
election impending. have no ill feeling to-
ward you. rather pity you. What l have
said Is IN the interests of truth and good gov
eminent. You and others like you have dig
grared thu Republican party long enough, and
are largely responsible for the sad unfavorable
condition our country is now in. Without 6
single aspiration above self, and
unable to rise to the place of ordinary states
manship. you drag down, faint. and corrupt
every subject you touch, and every per son
you come in contact with in political life.
Lacking all the elements Of greatness, SO you
are incompetent to become great thief, as
many of your associates are, but the petty
plunderipg of the earnings of postmasters and
route agents, whose appointments you have
secured, is leading further. Don't complain
that am severe, A public man has no right
to cringe at his own record. Face it and drop
into the political grave your own hands have
dug, with head Mp. have only opened it that
you may realize what you are coming to.
shall be pleased at any time to hear that you
have reformed. Yours,
A. E. MEIGs