St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-10-03
By a Knight Of Labor, Who
Has Found His
Record.
The Special Tool Of ALI the
Corporations and Com
bines.
A Man False to the Trusts
Imposed Upon
Him.

tilC COuloC VI ~ o- SOihoeoSA>3
the present Republican candidate for
congress from the Fifth district, in the
last legislature:
ST. PAUL, Mimi. Sept. 14.-Mr. w.
| E. Mackenzie, CrookStOn, MIMI
Dear Sir: Your letter requesting IN
| formation relative to the course of 5.
&. Comstock in the last legislature
was referred to me. The committee
from the Knights of Labor that watched
| the proceedings of the last legislature
| relative to labor measures made very
| good report, On the original lists of
members of both houses whose presence
| in the next session the committee APP
| pretended would not advance interests
of the producers of the state, judging
from their conduct in that session, there
were several names that were after
| wards dropped, as it was thought best
| TO centraliZe all our power to defeat
! those placed on that list, and it was
feared by making the list too large some
OF them would escape the penalty.
But in dropping those thought to be
the least guilty, it happened that very
cunning knave and corporation tool
slipped through. shipping" however,
seems to be one of the mans chief char
acteristics, as he was so sly and slip
pcIy tildI IL WAS
ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE
to get his record on measures in the in
tereSt of the farmers and wolkingmen.
This man Is the same regarding whose
actions YOU desire decentralization. ).
q. ComstOck.
He was on the two most important
committees in the senate-judieiary and
railroads-and in those committees,
where no record of his actions could be
kept, he did his ''fine work." That he
acted as the special tool for Jim Hill, no
man who took any active interest i'll the
peoples demands at the hands of the
legislature will. or can, deny.
No place in the journal of the senate
can his name he found as fayoring a
measure of any Importance in the inter-
est of the producers. When the meas
ure was popular, and his vote against it
counted for naught, he invariably
''dodged" by absenting himself. OF in
some way eyading the vote. Neither
can there be found, from beginning to
the end of the senate journal, record
of his name in opposition to corpora
ton measure. especially if it in any way
advanced the interests of the Manitoba
railway company.
NO HONEST MAN
ever sent to a similar body could avoid
placing himself on record OH a greater
number of measures affecting the i'll
tereStS of the people. No honest man
would endeayor to dodge" those issues.
None but the fOulest political hypOcrite,
who, while betraying the trusts of his
constituents in obedience to the will of
an oppresSor, yet seeks to cover his
tracks by mut1iing his feet, SO that no
trace is visible where he tread, could be
induced to such cOWardly, treacherOuS
| strategy. -it,-.
An ambition that crayed to be graft
fed at the hands of those interests he
betrayed, made him dread the record,
while a selfshneSs bordering on yillainy
prevented him from making record
with which he would dare TO return to
his constituents like man of honor.
1t is not always possible to judge from
the journals, as to the position of
member OH measures affecting the in
terestS of the people, unless one knows
beforehand the nature of the various
measures passed upon. A bill may
have title indicating that it is bill in
the interests of the producers, while
the effect of it, if passed, would be the
reverse; and as only the titles are
shown in the journals, it is evident that
no definite knowledge can be gained
from this source without
FIRST KNOWING
the true import of the bills.
The measures to which | now call at
tentOn as showing the mans record,
were all in the interest of the toilers,
not only in title, but in fact.
House File No. IA bill relative to
the reduction of the rate of interest,
when it reached the senate, was referred
to the committee on banks and banking,
and that was the last was ever seen of
it. And when Mr. Dodge moved to re-
quest the committee to report forthwith,
Mr.. Comstock undoubtedly voted against
the motion, for he had special weak
ness for voting against the peoples in
terestS in all cases where the yeas and
NAYS were not called-he seemed to
dread records. One thing is certain; he
did nothing to encourage the passage of
the bill.
House File No. "a bill proposing a
constitutional amendment to prevent
combinations from controlling the mar
kets of the state, he ''dodgedo on the
final vote. That he did so purposely. is
proven by the fact that he voted on
House File No 100 Immediately before,
and on House File No. 24S Immediately
after. so he could not have been very
far away when the vote was taken on
House File No. 2.
House File No. ga bill giving me-
chanics and workingmen a first lien on
the products of their labor, did not re-
! ceiVe his support. he ''dOdged'' though
he was present and voted on House File
No Cos Immediately before, and on
House File 206 few minutes after. He
probably went out between acts to see
a man."
House File No. 107-A joint resolution
to congress asking that coal lands held
by conspiracies be restored to the pub
I lie domain for the benefit of the people,
did not receive his support; he
| ''dodged" on the final vote the first time
and allowed the bill to be defeated,
! though he was present and voted on
| House File No. 100 Immediately before
and House File 35S Immediately after.
sAnd when the vote by which it
! WAS LOST
was reconsidered and it was again put
1 upon its final passage, he ''dodged"
| again, after having voted on House
! File 725 immediately before and voting
1 on House File 100 Immediately after,
/ which proves that he ''dodged'' to evade
| the record.
House File No. 392-A bill providing
a penalty for the issuing of false or
fraudulent stock By railroad companies
passed the house by a unanimous vote,
! but when it reached the senate and
went to the committee on railroads, of
which COmstock was member. it
| never again saw the light of day. There
is a great amount of interest accruing
to Jim Hill from the water" that has
been injected into the stocks and bonds
of the Manitoba railway company, and
if would be unwise for his special
friend, Mr.. Comstock, to aid in depriy-
ing himOf revenue. Wisdom dictated
the quiet smothering process as a re-
markable antidote for all attempts at
reducing revenues"
Senate File No. 140-A bill to estab-
lish bureau of labor statistics. He
lodged the record on the final voted