St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-04-10
AN OUTRAGED PEOPLE.
Iniquities Practiced Upon the Long Suffer
ing People of the Canadian North
west
By the Emissaries ola Government of VIC
lenCe and Oppression as Told by
Victim.
Claims OF tho Farmers Union Repre-
senting the Brains, Bone and
Sinew OF the Province.
One OF the Alleged Instigators OF
the Late Instruction Gives Some
Inside History.
To the Editor OF the Globe:

To the EDITOR OF the GLOBE:
MIMIC, OAK, April ST have just been |
shown copies Of the st. Paul GLOBE con-
tanning sensational dispatches from Winnie
peg, Manitoba, alleging that 1.-THE Manitoba |
and Northwest Farmers union were plotting |
a rising in the province during the Riel re- |
belliOn last spring." and stating that the |
fact was made known by a special message |
of the governor general, submitting private |
papers u the house OF commons at
OTTAWA" and containing a portion OF a
letter address to me as secretary or the
farmers union by one Mack HOwes. also
that some eXcitable citizens believed the
provincial rights party aided and abetted
the Northwest rebellion, and were
trying TO pIecipitate an ''insurrectioni in the
provinces for some time" that had been
notified before the publication Of the insur-
rectiOnary letters and left the country;
that Twas considered the most guilty
party and was not likely to return, and that
it was extremely probable that the Farmers
Union and Manitoba Rights league were
PLOTTING REBELLION
in Manitoba a year and half ago, and
failed only because the ringleaders detected
that they were privately exposed to the
government, by whom they were privately
warned to desist." The authority for this
precious piece of news being the ManltOban.
the federal government organ.
The absurdity of the dispatches Is appar
ent to all acquainted with the position of
public affairs in the Canadian Northwest
and would be treated by me with contempt,
but others are interested as well as /, VIII o
urge me 10 Tefute a libel as false as it Is
malicious. At mass meeting of delegates
representing farmers unions, cities, towns
and villages, who were accredited at meet
ings held throughout the province and
Northwest to protest against the maladmin-
| iStratiOn of affairs. was chosen one OF three
delegates to place the demands of the peo-
pie to their constitutional rights before the
| federal government and was appointed by
my colleagues to present the case of the
province and lead in the argument before
| the priv council. and because 1 fearleSsly
exposed the iniquities and enormities prac-
ticed upon long suffering people by the
emissaries of a government of violence and
oppression, secured the everlasting en-
nifty and petty malignant persecution of
yoraciOus crew whose cupldity was desolat-
ing the province and reducing the people TO
a condition of
wETCHEDNESS AND DESPAIR.
In an able dispatch to his government,
| dated February IS, 1884, United States
Consul James W. Taylor of Winnipeg. re-
ferring to the agitation in Manitoba, states:
'sFirst-Thore Is great complaint in regard
| TO what Is called the monopoly clause of the
Canadian Pacific charter prohibiting future
branch lines except in directions southwest
| of the main line and to q distance of fifteen
| miles from the frontier for period OF twenty
| years The Canadian Pacific Railway COM
| pany finding the proposed per cent. guar
| antees by the government ina6eluate to float
its per cent. stock. had applied for gov
eminent per cent loan of $50, 900, 900, secured
| until maturity In 1891, by mortgage of all its
| assets, and IL was contended very persistenty
| as a condition OF such aid, that the barrier
to the access of American lines should be re-
linquished."
..Second-Upou the most substantial of all
grievances the Canadian tariff Of 80 per cent
on agricultural implements and other indis-
pensible supplies OF an agricultural settler
there seems no prospect of relief. The Do
miuiOn government Is committed to pro-
tectiye tariff, and having only year since
advanced their rates from % 10 80 per cent
to exclude competition from the United
States differential duty or special free
list in the interest of Manitoba is pronounced
by the Canadian premier as wholly inadmis-
| sable Herein is the greatest discrimination
| 10 the disadvantage OF the Manitoba farmer
| as compared with his Minnesota or Dakota
neighbOr, which has been frequently esti-
mated by speakers at farmers conventions
rs 25 per cent. on the value OF the years
J crop
Third-There are other important domestic
| questions connected with the financial situ-
| alton OF the provincial government of Mani
to5a--a claim to the public domain and an
increased subsidy in lieu of the surrender of
the power hitherto possessed by the govern
ment to levy customs duties. And there is
no subject so engrossing and expressive of
the determination or the community to Sc
cure competing routes 70 the European mar
ket than project 10 build a railway to Hud-
sons bay under provincial auspices. The
enthusiasm in this direction even extends to
the adjacent territory of Dakota. ..-- or,
The above summary by an important OBJ
server outlines the main claims in the bill
of rights Of
THE FARMERS UNION,
adopted by the legislature of the province,
and embodies the views of the Provincial
Rights league, amalgamated with the
Farmers union over two years ago. the com.
, bined association representing the hear
l and brains. bone and Sinew and wealth Of
the province No member of either aSsoci
alton ever uttered, wrote or published 4;
5 word that could be construed or dis
: turted into an act of disloyalty o.
rebellion against the constituted au
thorities but the government with tn
0 care and indefatigable industry of an anti
quarry hunting for some fellows vestige o
treason through private letters stolen b,
their emiSSaries, having utterly and hope
lessly failed to discover an atom of evidenc
that could be magnified into anything lille
: gal. with mOnstrous conception determines
0 to entrap the union into some act of indis
: erection that could be distorted into Grim
inal charge. Accordingly an agent In tn
. secret service wrote and dispatche
: the now celebrated letter of whic
u YOU have published an extract
y The letter was stolen from tn
o that Office by another agent, and submitte
: to a Manitoba judge with an application
e for an indictment against the secretary O
the Farmers union for treason. That wa
y i'm the summer of 1884. The judge as
! founded at such villiany directed the lette
:, to be sealed and dispatched to its destina
II ton and severely reprimanded
y THE GOVERNMENT AGENTS,
70 stating that they were the parties again:
- whom an indictment should issue, and tins
10 there was no proof that the person to whOl
! IL was addressed had any knowledge {
=, either the writer or its contents. The lettC
:, reached me some time afterwards at IN
20 farm in the country, aud although had n
~ information regarding the proceedings tn;
~ had taken place. saw through the clumsil
~ prepared trap and treated it accordingly.
came to Dakota in the interest of m
business and children. some of whom wei
born in the United States. The dOcumen
ON record with the American consul
a Winnipeg. who gave me the requisite p;
r pers to pass customs, will show that the
was no secret about our departure. Whe
,o left Winnipeg two months ago 1 tTavel6
90 by the regular train in the light of day, I
NJ act of mine OF of those with whom hs
been associated having given II