St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-12-23
NETTLETOy SCORED.
His "NOn. arti.an'' Methods Dis
sected. and His Real Purpose

His "Non-r arti.an', Methods Dis.
sected, and His Real Purposes
Revealed.
The taste which the delegates to the Ma
tional convention of the w. c. T. u, at
Minneapolis, got of Deacon Nettleton does
not seem to please them particularly. The
efforts Of the willy deacon to use the cen
vention in his ''nOn-partisan'' way for the
| purpose of saving the Republican party,
seem to have created a storm
that will not blow over, but which
appears to be still raging with great vehe-
mence in different points of the East. 4
correspondent of the New York Christian
Advocate has recently taken the gentleman
to task with dignity that adds sharpness
to the reproof Mary T. Lathrop, in the
New York Witness. also dissects what she
calls the 'self-consttuted mission of Gen.
NettletOn," and states that the strange
message brought to the convention by Net
Teton was given to the political press Of tie
country early the next day. and in the cir
cumStanceS there is abundant proof that
Gen. Nettleton. instead of speaking to the
convention. was speaking to the public and
at the women he was supposed to address.
The writer goes on to say:
His sef-constituted mission was to pose as
martyr to the "impoliteness' of the grand
est body of women ever assembled in this
country in order to save the Republican
party of Minnesota from loss through the in
tuence OF The great annual gathering of the
National union; to win applause from the
same party all abroad for his brilliant cham
pionship; to weaken, if possible, the steady
and growing influence of the temperance
women on the line of political prOhi-
bition, were doubtless suficie Mt reasons 10
bring the polite al to the place he occu-
pied that hour. Ii Inc motive of his mission
had been serious belief that those he adj
dressed were in error, and strong desire to
win them from position which worked
harm to the truth, then there would have
been i'll his manner and speech the glow of
such honest convict;on-grief at such harm
and desire too strong for bitterness to lead
his hearers to other thinking and action. In
stead of this there was suppressed wrath,
lll-concealed prejudice and subtle contempt
for the cause and its representatives. too
plain to escape the consciousness of those
who listened.
The writer then reviews the official re.
port OF the secretary to show that he
forced himself on the convention at a busy
time and deceived it as to the purpose of
his coming.
He accused the women of aiding in
electing Democratic candidates, locally and
nationally, whose moral character was Sc
vile The would not speak their names in
the presence of women assuming that Re.
publican candidates had always held in thu
court circles of the republic the same reputa
ton Joseph maintained in the court circles o,
Egypt. He assailed the party to which
the body he was addressing had given in
dorsement, denouncing leaders and assailing
principles, especially its position on equa
suffrage, which he must have known uld
be offensive to a majority of his audience.
Tne convention listened in silence until the
ten minutes were used and time was called.
exhortatiou he was granted two minutes
more, when the ''discOurteous' body of in
telligent women refused longer to be imposed
upon. What was the burden of his mission?
To say: Ladies. don't you know that, with
the exception of very few of your number,
you are set of blessed fools and fanatics
doing untold harm to the cause you profess
to ADVANCED" A resolution was written ex-
pressing the sense of the convention that
Gen. Nettleton Came to its platform on q false
pretense and then betrayed its courtesy,
but at the suggestion of the president it was
withheld. Beyond an official correction of
errors in the newspaper reports of the follow
ing day, the women have kept silence, but so
widespread has been the complaint that Gen.
N was treated with intolerance and
impoliteness" that this true tale is told. The
triumphant shout Of the Republican press
over the address proves that the blow was
struck for the world affair." and the tired group
of women were but the anvil to bear the
stroke; but all the same these women are not
dreamerS, grooming over Illusions and delu-
sions; they are discoveries; they know the
liquor traffic; they know the politicians; and,
unatright-d are here to stay till prohibition
or eternity