St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-06-21
A Victim to the Seheming
Wiles Of Wicked Pol
iticians.
McGill and Merriam Combine
to Down Scheffer in That
County.
The Alliance to Be dubbed
Into the New
Deal.
Major Strait Said to Be
Shelved by His
Friends.

1t is Otter Tail county that is to afford
the state at large this year the spec
tacle of novel political contest, involv-
ing three cOmbatants and having at
stake the ten votes the county Will be
entitled to cast in the coming Republic
can state convention. To begin with,
there has hardly ever been time in the
history of the state when Otter Tail
county was not fighting ground and did
not have two-sided or three-cornered
contest on hand. Through some super
stition or fable set atioat, the county has
been credited with being the key to the
Red river valley. 1t contains one large
town = Fergus Falls - and enough
townships to make dozen
counties of the size of some of the South
ern Minnesota ones. 1t is section eS-
Sentlally given up to farming, and there
for years the Farmers alliance has had
a stronghold more than temporary, and
from which influences have gone out
vitality affecting conventions and cleo
tons. The county is surrounded by
country given up to the farmers. Big
Stone, Traverse, Grant, are localities
where the alliance has been and is
potent, and which have drawn their in
SEPARATION from Otter Tail.
xxx
By some fortune the county has been
prolific in its production of politicians.
No Georgia matrOn proud Of her quad
rupletS can swell more with pride than
does Otter Tail over the tens OF tens of
politicians scattered from Iowa to
Manitoba and who call her
mother. The discreet Bob Miller; the
omnipresent Sam Nichols; versatile G.
D. Baker: John Hampe and Boen of
Compton, all by My Otter Tail. IT'S of
Thee!" The county's Republicanism
has been rockribbed. 1t gave Hub
bard 700 majority, McGill LOCO and
Blaine 1000. 1t had Prohibition vote
of 400 in 1856, that will probably be in
creased to 700 this fall. The strength
of the county has lain in its farmers
vote and the potent influence that it has
exerted on other counties.
~
Two years ago the fight in Otter Tail
county was between McGill and Gil
man. This year 1t is between McGill,
present writing Scheffer has had his
own way there. The Alliance in
dorsed him, and at the late county
convention his forces succeeded
in having nominated county
ticket after their own liking. These two
victories have given them good grounds
for claiming that they would have the
delegation to the state convention.
Candidates McGill and Merriam have
viewed with alarm these inroads into
territory which they have thought be-
longed to themselves. Their fears bred
action and as result the following tale
comes to the GLOBE direct from Otter
Tail:
The representative of the McGill clans
at Fergus Falls is Elmer E. Adams,
editor of the Journal. lie has never adj
mitted that Scheffer could carry Otter
Tail and said to the GLOBE at ST. Cloud
that he did not think his victory in the
county convention would give him the
state delegation. Now as the story runs
the McGill men realizing that they could
not afford to lose the whole county
recently made quiet OvertureS to Mer-
RAM, with view to aScertaining if he
would combine to prevent Schetfer get
ting the county. The Merriam repre-
sentativeS in the matter as reported
were Sam Nichols and Senator James
Compton. They received the offer with
grace and without much difficulty. 1t
was agreed that a campaign should be
mapped out which would effectually
knock in the head any Scheffer aspira-
tiOns in Otter Tail.
~
This campaign was so well defined at
the start that at least three of the ten
delegates to the state convention were
selected, viz: Chase, ShoutZ andsBurn-
ham, all of Fergus Falls. 1t was de-
cided also that because he was too pref
udiced in favor of Scheffer, G. ID. Baker
could not be delegate. The plan
for securing the county convention,
which is to elect the delegates, is that
Fergus Falls shall control the conven-
ton. Five of the delegates are to be
from Fergus Falls and five from the
county. The delegation is to be I'M
pledged and the report is to be allowed
CATION is for Scheffer. But, underneath
the surface, this will not be so. The
scheme of the McGill-Merriam plotters
is that, while alliance men are to go on
to the delegation, only those will be Sc
lected who, on the test, will vote against
Scheffer. Five votes of the delegation
are to go to Merriam and five to McGill,
The club to be held over the alliance to
bring about this arrangement is this:
The alliance men, having a county
ticket up, are anxious to elect
1t. By threatening to cut that ticket
the McGill and Merriam allies hope to
prevent their making any effort to con-
troll the state election. 1t is the inten-
ton of the combine to permit the cleo
ton of John Hompe to the legislature,
but to slaughter Boen, who is a candi-
date for register of deeds and prominent
in the alliance. This triangular situa-
ton in the county opens the way for
huge fight, in which the alliance will
cut a prominent figure. 1t leaves Nc
Gill in an anomalous position, for he is
combined in Ramsey county with Schef-
fer to outwit Merriam, and in Otter Tail
with Merriam to defeat Scheffer. The
alliance has got hold of the latter bar
gain and is bGckling on armOr and rub
bling in the war paint. The neighbor-
hood of Fergus Falls for the next six
weeks will resemble the pugilistic sec
ton of the Bowery. May the best man
win and the Almighty save the farmers!
A search was made by the GLOBE
| Yesterday for Sam Nichols ratification
of this story. A call at Mr.. Merriam's
Office found him out. Mr.. Scheffer is
not talking politics, nor is Gov. McGiIl.
! On its face the tale is plausible for the
reason that neither McGill nor Merriam
can well afford to give Scheffer both
Ramsey and Otter Tail.
-
The latest news from the Merriam
camp is that two-thirds of the Henne-
pin delegation is pledged to him. This,
if true, will divide Hennepin just as it
was two years ago when -cGill and
Gibbs split it. This new arrangement
by which Merriam gets a foothold in it
! is said to be made on the pledge of
Capt. Snider, who evidently expects to
take his own county with him into the
| al f,rht