The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1890-11-06
THE CANVASS.

There are no legitimate local politics
in Stearns county. The democratic
party, with majority greater than the
total republican vote, is chopped into
warning factions, each strongly for The
ascendancy. employing all sorts OF lie
climate means to secure the loavcs and
fishes OF official position. Caucuses are
packed, conventions manipulated-and
no matter what the result, crowd OF
hungry and disappointed politicians i'm
mediately enter into conspiracy to beat
the regulars-if anything can be said to
be regular which emanates from any
such irregular mob as the average demo-
cratic convention in Stearns county.
And then the trouble begins. Boilers
bolt, independents nominate themselves,
combinations aggregate, intrigue runs
rot, and 10, the canvass is born. The
boilers Of the previous canvass become
the regular nominees, and the old-time
wheel horses are leading bolt. Every
uSStSS 10 lsSoi SNo ~ ioi NhN Pun PSc~ oa
persuading, terrifying and capturing
votes. Religious, sectional and national
prejudices are appealed to; misrepresen-
tation and straw-promises, substantial
rewards and corrupting influences which
determine results. Bitterness, dishonesty
and decentralization results, and success
Los ceo Se1 n I've m honor
The above is tar from an overdrawn
statement of The methods and practices
Of the average canvass in Stearns county.
How about the miuority-are its skirts
clean and immaculate? Far from it.
Demol allied by the knowledge of its
hopeless minority, it has ceased to be a
distinctive party, in the better sense of
the word, and has degenerated into a
little trading stock. Without ambition
the sole question presented to it is not
whom can we elect? but rather, whom
can we beat. Its mission and policy is
emphatically destructive-not construc-
tive. 1t cannot act as unit any more
than the majority does-for It arrays
itself against itself in combining in part
with one democratic faction, and in part
with another, using the weapons sup
piled by the majority in the unnatural
warfare. Nor does it mitigate the evil
to make straight party nominations.
knowing that iefeat is inevitable along
party lines, it will not adhere to them.
The corruption of the majority is con-
tagious. Such an illogical and mel
ancholy condition of affairs is more
readily explained than corrected-al-
though the case is not hopeless:
The trouble lies Ill the fact that the
vote is not distributed, but lies in solid
blocks, held together by the cohesive in
fuence of nationality and religion. Take
samples to illustrate. they arc not iso-
lated cases. nor strained specimens:
North Fork, thickly settled with pros
porous agricultural community is prac-
tically solid Norwegian, Lutheran, re-
publican-or has been until the alliance
wave stru,!l it, when it floated as unit
upon IS WY c.c@.. Spring; Hill, an
cg;3".. .,ro: o.ru,:s -,>y' IS * -:,l> unified
but the con.li-;oHS are Is ditf-rrlt IS one
could agi.:c-solidiy German, Catho-
lie, democrats. In neither town can a
person enquire his way from house to
house without an interpreter. And these
communities so unlike each other, both
partaking largely of the peculiar char
ac.eristics oftheir respective lather-lands,
hold little or no intercourse with each
other-havc little IN common in methods,
manner or sympathies. They are impor-
tant factors in local politics, but CO.
operation between them is practically
impossible. So long as this state of al
fairs exists, SO long will politics be de-
moralized by it. 1t is unamerican. Not
until some differentiation occurs, and
national and religious prejudices are
broken in these colonies can the political
atmosphere be purified.