St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-10-02

lent practice. The defendants applied to IN
for counsel. / tried and won the cases. AM
not one dollar of the notes was collected. II
oil this deserve no credit; for it is just VIVA
any intelligent, conscientious lawyer woult
have done. But may be permitted to sa,
that In one of the suits carried to the supreme
court of our state Cummings VS.. Thompson
Is Minnesota Reports, p. 246) certain prin
! ciples were settled that greatly crippled that
| class of swindlers. But did not st OPP there
! drew, and carried through the legislature q
| bill which gave to the defendants In such
| suits the right to prove that such notes were
obtained by fraud and thus defeat the action,
whether the notes were in the hands OF the
original payee or not. not only drew this
bill and got it through the senate,
of which was member, but
/ followed it into the house, where
it WAS earnestly opposed by certain bankers
and dealers in such paper, and aided in its
passage through that body. Since that bill
became law patent-right swindlers have
rarely been heard of in this state, / believe,
and it would be fruitless for them to come
here. l thus pract cally did away with litiga-
ton on that class of cases, to the great detrl-
ment of some of my professional brethren.
and especially of those who are accustomed
to take them ION the halves"
PROTECTING THE FARMERS.
A few years ago cur farmers storing grain
in warehouses had only the pecuuiary respon-
sibility OF the warehousemen, where the grain
was not stored in special bin. If tie grain
was shipped out by the warehouseman in
such case, and he was irresponsible. the
farmer suffered the loss. This WAS crying
evil. | drew the first bill offered in the legis-
lature TO make it penal for warehousemsn
to ship out grain stored with him without the
written consent of the owner. This bill g I'VE
to member of the legislature from WInona
county 70 be introduced. 1t did not pass that
year: but the next year it did in Slightly
modified form.Soon after theibill became law.
In order to make to the dam
ger to warehousemen violating it
apparent and notorious, ut the instance or
q few of my farmer friends, without fee or
reward. prosecuted and convicted the only
man. believe, who has ever been convicted
under the law. de was by Judge Mitchell
sentenced to state prison. This proved q
sufficient warning, and L have not since
heard OF such crime. | also in the legis!a-
ture favored and aided in the passage OF the
oleomargarne bill. And, to the best OF m
ability, | aided to pass law requiring notice
to the owners Of land before the right of a
tux-title holder should become absolute so as
to make impossible the acquiring of a tax
title without the knowledge of the owner of
the properly, and ! refused to consent to
accept retainer to argue In
the supreme court in favor Of q
construction of the statute to the effect that
2 man could get a valid tax title in the land
OF another after the latter had paid his tax
TO the proper officer. The records viii show
that | have Away refused to be retained as
an attorney 10 assist any person to deprive
another of his land on tax title. Until re-
cent years l was more frequently engaged as
an attorney in Wabasha county than any
other attorney outside of the county. Tao
"half-breed tract" so called, lies largely in
that county, and the titles on that tract have
been very questionable. l, without eXcep-
ton. refused TO rake q suit to question or
esily purchased and paid for the land, even
though the title was not legally valid, and
although many cases were offered to me.
TIE CORPORATIONS OPPOSE HIM.
At one time my friends urged my uomina-
ton for congress. A few weeks before the
nomination l wrote and published letter
for the purpose of letting it be known not
only that ! was not a candidate, but also that
certain potent influences in the district would
be opposed to me and therefore that my nom
inaton would be unwise. In that letter l
said:
Consulting my own feelings and interests
merely, would decline to accept nomina-
ton. even If assured of an election. Recog-
nizing. however, my obligations to my friends,
and desiring to oblige them, might, per-
haps. feel constrained to accede to their
wishes in this case if felt any reasonable
assurance that my nomination would increase
the chances of success. But do not feel
such assurance. On the contrary, as / stated
to you, think that 1 would probably lose
many votes which would be cast for some
other candidate If nominated on our ticket.
And it is to be borne in mind that while hap
PLY party ties are growing weaker year by
year, and electors feel more and more in
clined to vote according to their convictions,
uninhuenced by
PARTY BOSSES
or party names, it is hardly probable that we
have so far advanced in the direction of indie
pendent political action that any one can be
elected in this district this year who is not
called "Republican,' if any influential class
or any great number of electors outside OF
the Republican party oppose him. l believe
l would be opposed by some who could in
huence great many votes. l have never
been or attempted to be prudent. My action
in the legislature land out of it, has by no
means been always acceptable; on the con-
trary, ii has at times been deemed very Oh
jectionable by certain influential parties My
action on the high license bill gave very great
offense. How far that has been condoned l
have no means of knowing. But my opposl-
ton to the
GRANTING OF LANDS
brother subsidy. or to the reviving of any
land grant to any railroad company, and my
course in favor of the taxation of the so
called railroad lands and IN opposition to the
right of power of foreign corporations to
transfer causes from the state courts to the
federal courts, and my opposition generally
to the expansion of the power of corporations
would place in opposition to me nearly every
railroad company and corporation in the state;
while on the other hand, the fact that have
been employed not infreQuently as the attor-
ney of SOME railroad companies and other
corporations would enable certain persons to
misrepresent me and my views and perhaps
to prejudice me in the estimation of some
honest persons who do not know what views
/ entertain, or what have advocated or done.
Under the circumstances, therefore, L wish to
haveit clearly understood that 1 am not a
candidate.