Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1886-06-02
HURRAH FOR DUNNELL. {,

"A tclckIau 1IOm OWSLOO08 announces
that Hon. M. II. Dunnell has formally de-
clared himself candidate for congress
from the First district. The Pioneer
Press is strongly Of opinion that the Re-
publicans of the First district could not
do better than to nominate and elect Mr..
Dunnell to congress. It is some three
years since he vacated his seat in con-
gress. and it has been practically vacant
ever since. His successor has performed
just one valuable public service, and that
is to make conspicuous by contrast the
ability and usefulness of the man he dis
placed, and to render the absence of Mr.
Dunnell from congress generally re.
GREETED by his constituents and the peo-
pie of the state. We are not oblivious
of the objections to Mr.. Dunnell which
resulted in his temporary retiracy from
public life. He was accused OF employ
ing his control of the federal patron
age not simply to reward his friends, but
to exact from his placemen the most
untlring and servile personal devotion to
his political interests. he had thus built
up powerful machine of officehelders in
his district, which naturally incurred
much popular odium. But events have
obviated this objection to Mr.. Dunnell
The control Of the federal patronage has
passed int the hands of another party
Mr. Dunnelps machine is irretrlevably
smashed with all the other machines Of
like character. If he should be reelected
to congress he would be free to devote
his recognized abilities and energies
solely to the public service instead of
expanding them mostly in the narrow
field of local political activity and IN
trigue. The Pioneer Press has not been
backward in criticising Mr.. Dunnell's
political methods, But the era and the
opportunity for the exercise of these
methods has for the present passed away.
We hope it has passed away never to
return, and that with the return of the
Republican party to power the princi-
pies Of civil service reform will have be
come so we'll established as one of its
leading doctrines that restoration of the
old system of political control of federal
patronage will be impossible.
Meanwhile the Pioneer Press would
heartily rejoice to see MI. Dunnell returned
to his old seat in congress. The state
and the country has never had more neeG
than now of the services in that body o.
its strongest and ablest men. The Re
publican party needs to be represented or
the floor of congress for the next few
years by it's best intelligence and wides
public experience. There may be othe
Republicans in the First district a
capable as Mr.. Dunnell. There is M
one, however, who has come to the sur
face in that district who has capacity TO-
useful public service arising from hi
large experience of public affairs and hi
wide acquaintance with public men. HI
will probably be much more useful rep
resentative in the future than IN the past
he has probably learned something from
his own errors. He will have been fou
years in fallow, gone to good wholesome
rural grass. This long repose will d.
him good. 1t will replenish the waste,
elements of his intellectual and mora
vigor, and eliminate some of the noxiou
weeds Of his too exhausting career of pc
litical activity. He will probably be
great deal better and stronger congress
man after his long vacation. So Dun
nell let it be, if so will the people of til
First district. Hurrah for Dunnell!-
Pioneer Press.