The sun. [volume] (Morris, Stevens County, Minn.) 1882-1895, 1890-12-04

act app ar to have been for the advance
mcnt of what he considered right, and
against what he believed to he wrong
Guided by more than the usual portion Of
common sense, he has generally been in
the right, and this has earned him the good
will and even the admiration of all vino
have known him. For instance: Seven or
eight ycarS ago Mr.. IlaIv"r,cn both rInukc,t
and drank, not to excess but in what
people call moderation. He found that
the prevailing vice among his neighbors was
drunkenness. and that they were impOyCr-
lshlmg themselves 10y their intrmperatc IaD-
its. Without auy oStcmtatiOn kittei Hal
VorSen gave up the use Of liquor altogether
and herame PrOhibitionist. This is what
his neighbOrs say of lIIlr, and they further
say that his example has done much toward
curing large numbers of farmers, especially
NOrwegians, of their drunken habits HIS
nelghbors also say that to his efforts mainly
is owing the existence of the little Norwe-
glan Lutheran church, aud also the estab-
lishment of modest but useful library in
connection with the district school.
1t is but natural th~t such man should
become the natural leader OF his fellows
and that his natural 81 Is and Characters
pedestal i'll the midst of the Scam-
dinavian community in which lie
dwells He is their beau ideal
OF an upright, honest, capable man, and
looking upon him with their lights, they
have not a shadow of a doubt but that lie
Is a tit and proper man to represent them in
congress or anywhere else. They chose
kittel IIalvorsen as against 5. G., COmstOck
because they had lost faith in a man vino
had voted for bill which was as opposed
f. their interests as they were told the Nc.
KinIey bin wac and Alonzo J. Whiteman
to them was straI. yOF from the big Cltic>,
wit1fwhOm they had nothing i'll common.
The very manner in which lIalvorseu was
nominated, and his manner Of campaign
ing, confirmed their good opinion Of him.
Here is the way Mr.. HaIvorsen talked
his nomination, campaign and election:
When the Alliance district convention met at
Fergus Falls last July several names were pre-
scented as candidates Tor congressman, and
among them was mine. To my surprise, and in
the tuCe OF my protest. the convention nOiui.
mated Inc by 96 votes out OF In2. or something
like those figures. on the first ballot. declined
resolution ignoring my resignation. and | went
off home feeling mad At that time had no
idea OF being elected, and furthermore | dit
not want TO be elected. Friends came to me and
urged me to make canvass, aud finally set
out. though somewhat late III the day. visited
st. Louis, Carlton, Aitkin, Cass, uuLba rd, Pc L.
Norman. Becker. otter Tail and one or two
other counties, and had just got into Douglas
on the day OF election As | made my canvass
! gradually became more and more convinced
that | would be elected and when some pO}i
ticians III LfOOkstOn asned me what WAS run
ming for, told them that | was afraid would
be elected. The anmoUncement OF the returns
did not surprise he, nor has it elated me |
WAS expecting it,
When told that reports were in circula-
ton to the effect that he had been kept in
the field by Democrats and Democrats
money, Mr.. HalYorstn, in place Of flying
into passion, smiled and said quietly but
cmphatcaliy;
Any person who states that was assisted,
either financially or any other way by the
democrats, either as party or by individuals
states what is not true.
As to Mr.. Halv0rsen's qualifications for
the Iii III dut;e, he has lccn called upon TO
per urm, il ~ not easy TO form Just and
accurate opinion, BY reason Of his mode
OF lie lie might be expected to possess mar
row views OF the leading issues of the dav,
or to be ignorant OF many of them. lie
might a SO be expected to be more
or less wanting in that education or
polish. ami knowledge of the world
and OF men, which many people
consider so essential to The perfect po!iti-
can. Polished gentleman kittel Halvor-
sen is not, no more than was Abraham Lin
coin or Ulysses :. Grant. His reading has
been not as limited as his company, hui It
has lacked variety, perhaps, and it must
have been inlpOSsl bic to keep abreast of ;Ic
current literature OF the times. But al
though not fluent CunvcTSationali>t. being
man who would listen rather than
be heard, no one can hear his tcrSe pointed
remarks without being convinced tha; he
is possessed OF a keen, d seeming mind,
and Of sufficient soil! education to carry
him safely through such temple Of rare
culture as the house OF representatives at
Washingtom. As to his views ON political
questions, here are some of them:
My teLici cles have always been toward the
Republican, party, although am not tavorahIy
inclined toward a high tariff, said Mr.. HaINur-
sen. A time came wien deemed the question
OF prohibition superior to that OF party poll
tics. and abandoned the Republican party
Would You. if you had been a member ui he
last congress, have voted for the Mckinney
bill""
Il cannot say. l am not sufficiently well ac-
Quainted with the Mckinley bill to be al X to
give an answer to your question. have hear
a great deal about it, but would like to study
the measure more before deciding for or against
it. II it mCreas, the duties on imports am
opposed to it, and don't think l should have
voted for it.
The silver question Mr.. Halvorsen said
he had NOT studied, and he declined to cX-
press an opinion regarding the recently
! aSSed bill
am in favor Of the proposition Of the federal
government OF lpan'ng money to farmers at =
per cent interest. Ii would le OF immense
benefit to the farmers who have to pay eXorbi
tant rates Of interest upon the money they Dor
row am also favOrnbly inclined toward the
sub-treasury scheme which Is that the federal
government establish stOrehouseS throughout
the country, where farmers can store the ir
produce and rsCeive In return a negotiable re-
Ceipt or treasury note for the full market value
of their produce, 1t would be a costly proceed
ing. however, and would require careful fore
Thought 1t Is as lair a scheme as the present
system of bonded warehouses for the benefit
Of the whisky dealers.
"Do you favor government control of the rail-
roads?'
THAT has always been one of my favorite
Ideas. If we could have the civil service system
extended to include the railroads it would, |
think be practicable; but it would Be great in,
jury to the country if the government had CON
troll OF the railroads and used them az Il pO}it-
ical machine, appointing the employees for DoIit.
lcal reasons. think the civil service might Very
well be extended to thI whole postal service
After some other conversation on various
subjects of some OF which Mr.. Halvorscn
frankly owned he knew nothing, while on
Others he spoke INTEL gently, if briefly tine
reporter asked him what he thought of the
future of the Alliance party. Mr.. Halvor-
sen seemed to be OF the opinion that it had
come to STAY, and he EXPRESSED q strong
wish to see the Alliance, Labor and Prohi.
bition parties all collected into one third
party, having common platform broad
enough for them all to stand upon.
Il shall do what can to bring this about, -
said he. 1T may prove an impossible task,
but it is worth trying. | expect the matter Will
be brought up at the State Alliance meeting to
be held in st. Paul on Dec. g."
DlSCuSSlIS Ine question: as TO watcher he
should go down to Washington before con-
gress met, or not Mr. Halvorsen remarke ed:
shah probably go down next January and
learn my way about. l need scarcely tell YOU
that go down there absolutely unpledged 1t |
cannot couscientiously enter into caucus with
any party find there shall remain out of any
caucus. There is no reason that am aware Of
why should not be able to participate in the
Alliance caucus, if such a thing is held,
In this connection it might be stated that
Mr.. Halvorsen will occupy the peculiar 20
sition of being the first congressman who
has been nominated by the Prohibition
party and been elected. The Prohibition.
lists nominated him at their convention
held after the Alliance convention, not
merely endorsing him, and he ran on both
tickets.
Before parting from Mr.. Halvorsen the
reporter was introduced to Mrs. Halyorsen,
a comely matron of proposing appearance
and also to three or four sturdy YOUNGSTERS
rejoicing in the surname of HaIvorsen. As
the reporter shook hands with the con.
gressman- elect and babe him adieu, he ex-
perienoed a feeling of regret that