The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1890-03-28
HOW 1T WAS WORKED.

The Minneapolis journal, OF March
18th, had an article in which it gives
an interview with farmer, a dele
gate to the.recent session of the State
Alliance, showing just how Sprague
and company made the farmers
believe that Mr.. Donnelly had made
a combination to have the Alliance
endorse Merriam. The charges made
were of course a lot of lies. for the
first speech Mr.. Donnelly made be-
fore the Alliance contained an en-
phatic declaration that the Alliance
must not tie itself to the coat-tails OF
Merriam, Scheffer, McGill or anyone
else; and we personally know that,
weeks before the State Alliance met,
Mr.. Donnelly had prepared a draft
of the new constitution, (since
adopted), which declares if any men,
Der of the Executive Committee tries
to turn the alliance over to any
party or politician he should be
liable to expulsion.
The supporters of Mr.. Donnelly
were not professional politicians.
They held no meetings, had no
''slate," and regarded a caucus as a
corrupt political intrigue. When
that caucus was held in the base
ment OF the capitol they looked up
on it as a serious blot on the alliance
and said SO fatty. The Sprague
people knew how to do it. They
knew their only ground was to make
delegates believe Donnelly was work
ing for Merriam. The Minneapolis
Journal speaks OF that room on the
third floor of the Clarendon, where
they played cinch" as follows:
ga sort Of star-chamber inquisition
went into session in q room in one OF
the principal hotels, and every hour
OF the day and night was utilized IN
Influencing voters. One by one the
new members were led into the star
chamber by the emissaries OF the in
QUESTION, where they were warned OF
the plot OF the "Donnelly- Merriam
combine" to get control OF the al
lance by the election of Donnelly as
president. This, they were told,
would mean that Merriam would be
given the Endorsement of the officers
of the alliance for Governor next fall,
op1 IN font +bo+ +bo o1l;onoo would
be turned over body, boots and
breeches, into the Merriam camp.
| This method OF gaining converts,
if sure, was necessarily slow, and it
was deemed necessary to secure
postponement of the election until
such time as they had enough votes
to insure Donnelly's defeat. This
was easier than they anticipated.
Mr.. Donnelly, sure OF election, not
for moment suspecting he could be
beaten at his own game of politics,
did not seriously oppose a resolution
to elect officers at 10 O'Clock on Fri
day. Then the inquisition worked to
such good purpose that by Friday
morning they had secured a majority
and when the vote was taken DON
nelly and Fish were defeated.
! The sage was given his own way
after the election, but he had been
taught lesson in practical politics
that he will doubtless remember for
some time to come"
1t is a fact that Mr.. Donnelly
made no canvas for the position; he
asked no mans support; while his
enemies we're busy in their "star
chamber" he was at work organizing
his deputy lecturers or attending to
committee work. He would have
} had supervision over the pur-
chasing department, and the insur-
ance business, and the national
work. which now he does not pos
sess. All he can do now is to push