St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-10-13
ASSESSED ALL AROUND.
An Airing of Dnnneil's Method of
Getting Money for Campaign
PurnOSaS


Getting Money for Campaign
Purposes.
Special to the Globe
HoKAH, Oct. 12.-Hon. Fred Gluck,
of Brownsville, formerly state senator
and an influential German of Houston
county. now candidate for county treas
urer, met Judge Wilson last night here.
Almost his first words we're: 81 believe
that you will carry Houston county. In
our section there will not be ten Ger
man Republicans vote their party
ticket. The chief objection to Dunneil
among our people is that he accepted
back pay while In congress and was no
tOriOuSly connected with the salary
grab bill. They remember the contrast
between his acceptance of the back pay
end Alexander RamSey'S vote against
the bill, and refused to accept the
money when it was rendered him."
He had hardly finished when w. W.
Woodward. formerly an editor at Wells
and a postmaster there for nine years,
when that place was in Dunnell's dis
trict, dropped in and said:
IF | lived in this district / should
vote for Wilson, for know Dunnell.
During the nine years that | was post
master at Wells, l never received cam
paign
ASSESSMENT FROM DUNNELL,
but his committee and the national CON-
mittee sent them by the score. They
came so thick at one time that wrote
back that they could have the Office
when they wanted it, but that as long as
l held it did not intend to pay any as
sessment, nor did l. My salary was
only $3.50, and had to pay clerk hire
out of that. | noticed this: When the
old First district extended across the
state that Dunnelfs big major
tiles always came from the ex-
IRENE western counties, and that
there was his strength. When the dis
trict was divided in 1881 he lost these
counties, and it is that fact now that
makes me think his election doubtful.
| think Mr.. Merriam will RIM about
10000 behind, whatever majority the
national ticket receives"
1t is probably true that the old First
district, when Dunnell was congress-
man, suffered more from the odious sys-
tenn of political assessments upon pub
lie officials than any other part of the
State. As in the case of Meigs, of Aus
tin fully exposed in Mondays GLOBE),
the assessments came
SOMETIMES FROM OUNNELL
himself: in other cases his campaign
committee carried the process to limit
that often passed endurance. In the
towns of KaSson, Dodge Center, Austin,
Preston, Houston, Caledonia, Mantor-
vile and HOkah have gathered statis-
teal and other information in regard to
the assessment plan SO ably conducted
when Dunnell was congressman and
which has now been revived by the Re-
publican State Central Committee and
Dunnell and other congressional candi-
dates. | find from Republicans and
Democrats alike that when Dunnell was
first elected in 1870, S25 was considered
to be fair assessment upon any official.
AS his terms increased, the assessments
approximately approached these sums:
Officials. Assessment
Presidential pOstmasters. 5000
Second-ciass poStmasters.. 100
Third-class postmasters. 40
Fourth-class postmasters ....... 10
Mail clerks. ......-.-........... 10 to %
Deputy revenue collectors. ........ 10 to 25
County officers ....... ........ ..... % to so
THE MANNER
in which these requests were made was
sometimes very polite, as witness the
following:
Owatonna, Oct l. 1SS0-Dear Sir: The
Republican congressional committee is i'll
need of funds for campaign purposes All
federal officeholders it is expected will con-
tribute what they can to the expenses neces-
sary. May we not expect to receive from
you at once a check for So. that being the
sum which yOur salary will certainly war