St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-02-22

MOSES r. CLAPP.


at is altogether likely" remarked a
prominent Northern Minnesotian a few
days ago. THAT the Republicans of
Northern Minnesota will have a candi-
date of their own for governor at the
coming convention" Among the many
Fifth district Republicans whose ability
and prominence have marked them as
capable ana worthy of filing the
highest Office in the gift of the
people of Minnesota no one is
more frequently mentioned than Moses
+. Clapp, the present brilliant and tai
ented attorney general OF the state. lie
was but little more than thirty-hve
when first elected attorney general OF
the North Star state, but so well and
satisfactorily did ne perform the duties
of his arduous office during his first TWO
years that he was accorded a unanl-
nous denomination by MS party in 1883.
But Attorney General Clapp is not all
0tficeseeker, and not even to his warm
est friends has he ever even limited
desire of becoming a candidate for gov
ernOr or any other office. Such men
are, however. Just the kind the people
most delight TO honor, and it wouldn't
be at all surprising if the people of Min
nesOta, tired and disguised as they are
with the selfish scheming and plotting
of the many professional politicians
now figuring for the Republican NOM
him in the chief executive office of the
state.
Moses E. Clapp was born in Delphi,
Carroll county, Indiana. May 81, 1851.
His father came of good old New Eng
land stock. having emigrated from Yer
mont in 1917. On his mothers side.
the general is descended from a sturdy
Dutch family that crossed over from
Holland early in our history as nation.
When the present attorney general was
seven years of age the New England de-
sire of being in the front rank of the
advancing tide of civilization and con-
quest induced his father to remove to
Wisconsin. This was in 1S5S,and the little
town of Hudson was just coming into
notice. Here the family located and re-
manned. Mr.. Clapp spent his summers,
as most boys of his age, on the farm,
and his winters in gaining good COM
mon school education. In 1872, having
decided upon the law as his profession,
he entered the law school of the Uni
versity of Wisconsin, graduating there
from in the class of 1874.
The future attorney general of Min
nesota was then twenty-three years of
age, and lost no time in hanging out his
single in his home town of Hudson.
He commenced the practice Of law with
all the energy and enthusiasm that have
characterized him in everything that he
has ever undertaken. Being a strong
partisan and good orator. each polit-
ical campaign found him on the
stump. His party Id0lized him and
the opposition respected him. though
they recognized that he was a hard
fighter, and the worst man to face on
the stump in the entire district. Four
years after commencing his practice.
the Republicans of st. CroiX county
nominated him for county attorney.
This nomination being followed by an
election, Mr.. Clapp filled the position of
county prosecutor Of his county for the
years of 1879 and 1880.
About this time the "bo0m" struck
Fergus Falls, and it didn't take the, at
that time, rather youthful county attor-
ney of st. CrOiX county, Wisconsin, long
to make up his mind that he wanted to
become citizen of the newer common
wealth to the west OF the Badger state,
and in 1881 he opened a law Office in
Fergus Falls. He was from the start
remarkably successful in his new
field, and during 1858. 1884 and 1885
was the city attorney of the lively CAPT
tai of Otter Tail county. In all the po-
liticaI campaigns following his advent
into Minnesota Gen. Clapp was prom
jnent figure; and. while he never had
any time for factiOnal fights i'm his
party, he was invariably found doing
yeOman service on the stump.
In the famous Nelson Kindred cam
Daign of 1882 Gen. Clapp took very
prominent part, both at the Detroit con-
Vention and in the hot contest which
followed. Indeed, the general has the
distinction of having written a tariff
plank for the Detroit platform that, as
he laughingly expressed it short time
since, mas stood the mutations of time.'
The plank in question was good deal
like the famous declaration of the late
Vice President Hendricks on the same
question, which possessed the remark
able quality of being adapted to all
times, places and localities.
In 1856, after a brisk contest, Mr..
Clapp was given the Republican nom
ination for attorney general, and the
best test of his popularity can be found
in a brief review of the election returns
of that year. In Otter Tail county the
majority given McGill was abont 900,
Clapp's majority was 3,40O. In the state
McGill had plurality of $500. while
Clapp had over 10. 900 more votes than his
opponent and actually had 1900 votes
more than any other man on the Re-
publican ticket. During the next two
years the attorney general grew in a
marvellous manner; his acquaintance
wldened out and from a Fifth district
representative he became in measure
a representative of the state, and his re-
nomination followed as naturally and
easily as though he had entered the
convention as the ''home" candidate of
four out of the i've congressional dis
trictS.
Attorney General Clapp has always
been an aggressive party worker on the
stump, hence his two remarkable runs
for the office which he now holds are
surprising. 1t is quite different thing,
and usually results quite differently,
for man who is candidate on a ticket
TO go into town and make an ag-
gressive stump speech from what
it does in the case of the
candidate on the same ticket who goes
to the same town and makes himself
solid with the boys" and plays hail
fellow well metz to everybody. In
spite of this fearlessness, however, Mr..
Clapp has never failed to draw voters
from the opposition.
During the last four years the work
of the attorney general of Minnesota
has been largely increased in conse-
guence of the passage of the railroad
commission law, and litigation involv-
ing the taxability of some of the older
railroad land grants in the state. In all
this the present attorney general has
been very successful and has won
a reputation as an earnest.
Woodworking and brilliant LAWYER.
Perhaps the most important of the rail-
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