St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-10-13
II WILL NOT Be LIND.
Congressional ASpirantS In
the Second District Boom
ing Lively,
But the Willy John Refuses
to Take the Golden
Bait
And Continues to Dish Up
Fat Offices to His
Rivals.
lie Has Too Soft a Thing Now
to Desire to Succeed
Merriam.

year," was the query fired at me few
days ago by the chairman Of the Repub
Iican county committee i'll one of the
staunchest Republican counties in the
state.
"Do?'' IIeplied; ''Of course he would
do; but it takes money TO be the Re-
publican candidate for governor of Min
nesOta. and that is just what Mr.. Lind
lacks.7
of course John Lind hasn't a great
amount OF DOODLE" as they call it, to
invest" continued the venerable Re
publican. 'but he has considerable pop
ulariJy; and. besides, he is a man of
good ability, and was born, politi
cally speaking. in 4 fortunate quarter
of the globe. Indeed. John Lind pos
sesses a power in Minnesota politics
that cannot be over-estimated in the
mere fact that he was born IN Sweden.
Now, do not understand that | am cast
ing any reflection upon the emigrants
from that country, for John Lind pos
sesses and holds this power by his
abilities quite as much as even the
great KnUte Nelson"
The politician above quoted halls
from the Second district, and his con-
versatiOn shows that Congressman Lind
really has a gubernatOrial boom. But
it is a remarkable fact that it exists
only among, and is being worked
I'D solely by the active poll
ticians OF the district without
the least encouragement from Mr..
Lind. 1t is a well known fact that
there is at least a round dozen Of aspir-
ing politicians in the Second district
who would like to and have hopes of
some time holding down Mr.. Lind's
seat in Washington, and to these men
the rumOr that Mr.. Lind had decided to
drop out of congress at the expiration
Of his present term, which has been
quite largely circulated during the year
past, was traced. Prominent among
these wOuld-be statesmen from the
twenty counties Of Lind'S district are:
Hon. c. r. Davis and Senator Ives, Of
ST. Peter; Hon. E. Z. Freeman
and eX-RepTesentative Burlingame,.
Of Mankato; Hon. o. B. Turrell
Ward. of Waseca; Hon. II. G. Smith. of
Lu Verne: Senator Frank A. Day, of
Martin county, and numerous other To-
cal politicians.
This multitude of local candidates is
caused by the tremendous Republican
majority of the district; for the Second
district Of Minnesota is undoubtedly
more uncompromisingly Republican
than any other district in the state. The
"blo0dy Fifth" may sometimes roll up a
larger majority for the Republican
ticket, but it is not so sure. There is
practically no floating vote in Lind's
district. A weak, or perhaps l should
say, an improper OF unpopular
nomination in either Of the
Dther four districts might be, and
t.,.laaI l,,- hui ad af
The polls. but this has never happened
in the twenty counties which make up
the southwestern district of the North
Star State. 1t seems as though the situa-
ion there had been sized up about right
by prominent Democrat Of st. Peter,
now deceased. who once remarked that
If the man who delivered the sermon
Oh the mount We're running for congress
in the Second district against the Tegu-
lar Republican nominee he wouldn't
stand a ghost Of a show of beng elected,
even if his opponent were his Satanic
majesty himself"
But all this Republicanism will avail
Mr.. Lind nothing when he desires the
nomination Of his party for governor;
Tor the party leaders know that the Sec
1nd district is all right under any cir
cumstances. and that any Republican
will ''gO'' in that section.
But there is still another reason why
Nr. Lind will not be the Republican
candidate for governor next year.
lie hasn't SAID that he wants to be
governor as yet, and Il remains to be
seen whether he can be attracted by the
bait which his wOuld-be successors are
holding out 10 him. 1t certainly looks
tempting: but John Lind is not the man
10 be attracted by the glare and glitter
Of the thing. Then. too. the gen
PTal trend of Lind'S appointments
certainly does not indicate that
he has any intention of dropping out of
congress Immediately. One of his first
acts after the Inauguration of the pres
rnt administration was to secure the
appointment Of Hon. E. P. Freeman, of
MankaJO, one Of his strongest Op-
pQnentS in the convention which first
nominated him in 1886, to the register
ship OF the Marshall land office. A few
DAYS ago County Attorney Lange. of
Cottonwood county, was given a similar
position, and in this way another pros
pective rival was killed off in a
most expeditions manner. The appoint-
ment of Hon. w. g. Ward, of
Waseca, as United States marshal, which
will probably soon be made, will dispose
Of another. At the present rate Mr..
Lind will have settled every one of the
many aspiring statesmen of the Second
district in good, fat places before six
months hence, and, with the aid of the
powerful machine which has always
been so easily created in that section of
the state during the aScendency of the
Republican party, there is no reason
why John Lind should not remain in
congress as long as he so desires.
For the reasons above enumerated.
Mr.. Lind will not be the next Republi-
can nominee for governor of Minnesota.
In the first place. he doesn't want the
Office, and in the second place he
couldn't get it if he did; for the man
who WTests that honor from the present
governor will pay in solid cash a great
deal more money than Mr.. Lind has
ever seen.
But John Lind is a great deal more
OF a man than he is given credit for.
Next to Dunnell he will be the ablest
MinnesOtian in the lower house at the
coming session of cOngress-indeed,
one might 90 farther and say that John
Lind and Mark II. Dunnell are the only
Minnesota members of the lower house
OF the next congress who possess the
ability to rise above the very common
place. 1t will be noticed also that so
far neither Of these two gentlemen has
allowed his mouth to get away with
him a la Tanner, as Congressman OAR
Hall, of the Third district, has done;
nor will either of them require Mai. b.
B. Strait, OF any other retired political
boss to chaperOue them through their
congressional careers.
But to get back to the matter Of the
Lind boom for governor, there's moth
ing in it. "A dead sure thing" on seat
in congress Is more attractive to Lind,
and, under the circumstances, is certain
to last longer.
The next REORGANIZATION campaign
may be Merriam against the field, )" but
.Inhn I lind will NOT he in the fiaI6