The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1889-10-18
as your only hope. Don't pro-
.craatinate. II, ia the thief ri time

crastinate, it is the thief of time.
Don't wait for your neighbors to
make the first start. Go at it at
once. They say that the farmers
can't be organized, they won't
hold together, they don't know
anything. Got to work and show
them their mistake. Forward
all, let us make the welkin ringl
jet us be able to say with truth,
eve are free American citizens"
THE LAST LEGISLATURE.
\ In 8 recent circular letter which
Isent to the subordinate Alliances
of Minnesota / said:
"The Minnesota Legislature of
1887 was denounced as a "Gran-
ger Legislature" by the hirelings
of monopoly throughout the
state. 1t is now conceded thatit
was the best Legislature the state
has ever had, that it passed more
valuable and important laws
than any that ever preceded it;
notwithstanding the opposition
of an unprogressive Senate. If
it had not been for the railroad
corporations, buying up some of
the members of the House, that
Legislature would probably have
secured for the people laws that
would have made them millions
of dollars richer to-day.
The railroad corporations de-
termined that another such
"Granger legislature" should not
be elected, if they could prevent
it; and in the fall of 1883 they set
their tools at work, to manipu-
late things in all the counties OF
the state; they created divisions
among the people; they pushed
forward crossroads lawyers,
machine agents, railroad en-
ployes and corruptionists OF all
sorts, for nominations for the
House; and they entered the diff
ferent counties, and, with money
stolen from the people, bought
up enough votes Of the people, to
defeat every man who had con-
spicuously opposed their aggres-
sions. The result was that they
succeeded in electing House in
which, for the first time in many
years, the farmers were in the
minority. Instead of SIS farmers,
as in the Legislature of 1887, the
number of those really farmers
had fallen to A. Instead of z
lawyers, as in the Legislature of
1887, (not enough to compose
the Judiciary committee), there
were 10 lawyers. Instead of half
a dozen representatives of organ
lied labor, from the great cities,
there was not one. In the last
House there were SO grain-buy-
|ers, railroad agents, machine men,
Insurance agents, contractors,
lawyers, doctors, editors, mer-
chants and book-keepers, against
a. farmers, 1 blacksmith and not
a single representative of organ
lied labor! While the former gen
tlemen constituted a large ma
jority of the Legislature they be-
longed to pursuits which repre-
sent probably not one-tenth of
the whole population of the state.
He is indeed blind who does not
perceive the manipulation of the
railroad corporations in these as
tonishing results.
AS soon as the House was
elected there was great rejoicing
among the friends of Monopoly,
and the leading newspapers Of
the state could not restrain their
expressions of delight, that now
they had a Legislature in which
the farmers would be po> orless.
What was the result?
Hon. VIM. D. Washburn was
not long since interviewed in the
city of New York, by a reporter
of the New York World, and, tits
alleged by that paper, that he
stated that that Legislature was
''THE WORST AND MOST CORRUPT
THAT EVER SAT IN THE HISTORY OF
THE STATE"
And Mr.. Washburn, we are told,
even expressed patriotic(!) fears
as to what the country was COM
ing to, if such influences were to
continue unchecked; that the life
Of republican institutions was
threatened by such practices.
Mr.. Washburn's opponents charge
that no man is better fitted to speak
of the corruption OF the last Legisla-
ture than himself. And is certainly