St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-02-11
Donnelly Voted to Help Along
the Duluth & Winnipeg
Grant.
He Favored the Confirmation
Of the "PoliticaI Farmer
From Benson"
While All Other Alliance SEN
atorS Voted in the
Negative.
Gen. Sanborn, Though a Re-
publican, Conceded the
Farmers Demands.
Special to the Globe

Special to the Globe.
HENNING, Mimi, Feb. 1O.-The third
OF Senator Hompe's series of letters OH
the Legislative record of the Sage OF
Nlnlnger will appear in the Advocate
tomorrow. In this letter the Otter Tail
county senator devotes considerable
space to showing where Mr.. Donnelly
stood on the interest question. The
Sage's vote in favor of suspending the
rules for the passage CT the Duluth d
Winnipeg land grant bill is also crit
iciSed at length. The most interesting
feature of this letter, however, Is that
portion showing the position of Senator
Donnelly OH the question of confirming
the nomination of Col. w. NJ. Liggett
as railroad commissioner. In doing this
Senator Hompe quotes from The GLOBES
report of that executive session, which
so excited the Dakota senator at the
time, aud which he admitted was cor
rect. That report in the GLOBE caused
the senate to abolish secret sessions.
The letter follows:
Perhaps there is no one measure
about which there has been IN Ore false.
hoods told than about SenateFiie No.
|, the usury bill. Myself and major
ity of the Alliance senators, while we
were unanimous in favor of reduction
uf interest, disagreed with the others as
to the penalty for usury. Let the reader
remember that at the state meeting Of
the Alliance held just ahead of the
opening of the session. the Alliance
adopted the following: 1.-THE present
high rate Of Interest is unjust: it should
De reduced tot per cent per annum
With Stringent Penalties
to prevent money loaners from eXactlng
higher rate. The general statutes of
all states provide fines as penalty for
minor crimes, while imprisonment is
added as penalty for more serious
offenses. Forfeiture is the same as a
fine. MIR. Donnelly wished to retain the
present law, which is a forfeiture of
principal and interest; we. a forfeiture
OF the interest and fine and impriS0n-
ment of the person taking usury. Let
no reader miScOnStrue what now say
as in any way defending the present
national monopoly of money, which,
as an Alliance, we are seeking to rem
edy; but, remember, that state iegiSla-
ton is only remedial.
The Law a Failure.
All men know how Intellectual the
present law has been. | believe that it
is unjust. The majority of the capital
loaned in Minnesota comes from the
East. 1t is loaned by agents. The prin-
cipal in the East receives only per
cent. The agent is the person who
charges the usury; the more he can eX
tort the more he makes; the law does
not punish him. The man East who
does not violate the law receives the
punishment, if any is rueted out, which
is seldom. Such a law not only does not
punish the real offender. but makes cap
italists uneasy; some will not send their
money here; this has d tendency to make
money still searer. Ii so, interest will
be high. law or no law. 1t may be we
were mistaken in our views; we thought
them i'll accord
With the Alliance Platform.
All men are liable to err, and why not
us? But we were entitled to decent
usage. Finding that we could not agree
we yielded the point, and all the ALI
ance senators, except DedOn, and most
of the Democrats. voted with Mr.. Don
nelly for the passage of the bill. (See
page 511.) Our yielding our views gave
the leadership and framing Of the
measure to Mr.. Donnelly and his side.
Now the house had passed bill simply
amending the present law as to the rate
of interest, and had that bill been sub
y. La
Reduction Of fIle Interest
rate would have been secured. But an
entirely new law was drawn and we
were compelled to support it Or be
placed in the position of opposing re-
ductiOn of the rate interest. The house
bill was OH the calendar and could have
been passed after it became evident that
the house would not reach the senate
bill. Let Mr.. Dennelly and his follow
ers answer why they would not do this?
Even if some amendments were deSlra-
BILE to the house bill, these could have
been carried and then the bill sent back
to the house where, from the fact that
it was house bill, it would have prece-
dence in legislation. L will now call at
tention to House File No. 379, better
known as the
Duluth & winnipeg
land grant. The history of land grants,
both state and national. is cess pool of
corruption. The national congress has
granted to the different railways about
100000 acres of land. A territory
greater than France and the British
Isles, which supports population of
about loo, 100000. Some yerdant people
believe this vast territory was given
away in order to improve and develop
the country. That is, that this is the
object a congress or state legislature
has i'll view when they make these land
grants. The truth is that a company is
formed with the object of obtaining a
certain tract OF land. The first thing to
do is to gel the support of certain news
papers. This is done by promising
blocks of land. A bill is introduced
and a number of sections
Promised for Each Vote,
members of prominence, generally,
receiving the largest blocks of land.
This work is done by lobbyists who
have for their pay a certain amount of
land contingent upon the passage of the
bill. Some members are worked by the
developing of the country dodge, but
not many. The most get their land
scrip.
This is one of the secrets of how many
of our public men have become owners
of so much land. The state of Mime
sofa has received large amount OF
land, nearly all of which has been dis
posed of in the way mentioned. All
can remember the 5000.000 acres of in
ternal improvement lands were given
to pay the old fraudulent railroad bonds.
The state owned many millions of
acres known as swamp lands. Had
these been kept and the proceeds of
their sale honestly handled, it would
have
Paid Our Public Debt
and provided ample means to defray all
state expenses. A number of years ogo
the state made grant of land valued
at about S9.000.000 to the Duluth &
Iron Range Railroad company. 1t was
transferred to the Duluth d
Winnipeg company, contingent upon
their building the road within certain
time; otherwise the lands were to re-
vert TO the state. A subsequent legis-
lature passed an act that if the Duluth
Il Winnipeg failed to build, that the
land would go to q company known as
the Brainerd & Northwestern. This act
rs Held TO Re Invalid
by section in the constitution; nor has
the Brainerd Il Northwestern built any
road. The ID. & W. rallied to build their
road within the prescribed time, and
they came before the legislature of 1889
asking for an extension of time. The
bill passed the house. of which was
member. in spite of all we could do. by