The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1892-10-08
JUMPS on MCCONNELL.
Sweets Candid Opinion Of HcConnella
Political Character.

aF 4r ~
From the Evening Mail.
The Evening Mail publishes the
following letter which was written
about two years ago by Congress
man Willis Sweet to friend Of his
in Moscow. Just now Willis Sweet
is candidate upon the same ticket
with Mcconnell. The letter is pub
lished to show the people of Idaho
in what high esteem Mr.. Mcconnell
is held by the leading men of his
own party.
The letter is published here ex-
actly as it was written. The docu-
ment is authentic; this newspaper
is prepared to prove that the follow
ing is an exact copy of the original.
But no one will deny the genuine
ness of the letter.
The reasons which led Judge
Sweet to write this letter to Mr..
Barton were these:
In the summer of 1890 Mr.. Nc
Connell was an aspirant for the
United States senate, and Judge
Sweet was the chosen leader of the
republican party of Idaho, espe-
cially of Latah county, and aspired
to be congressman. Mcconnell be-
lieved that it would be impossible
for him to be elected United States
senator, coming as he did from La
tab county, if Mr.. Sweet should be
named as 9 candidate for congress,
he coming from the same county
and town. This was the cause Of
creating considerable feeling be-
tween McConnell's friends and
Sweets friends, and it resulted in
an effort on the part of Mcconnell
to influence and control the primar-
les to such an extent that Sweet
would go to the convention without
single delegate from his county
in favor of his nomination for con-
gress. a rxe
The Sweet faction and the Nc
Connell faction became intensely
bitter, and accusations of all kinds
were thrown out on both sides.
Finally Mcconnell, in a broad
way, without stating facts, accused
Sweet of having been connected with
corrupt and disgraceful fraud, as
president of the regents of the uni
versity, in acquiring the real estate
for the university and in building
the foundation. Mcconnell made
this and other statements openly
in meeting of a number of repub-
licans in Moscow, for the purpose
of organizing a club. This was met
by Mr.. Barton, who was friend
/ of Sweets, by an indignant asser.
ton that the statement was false,
and at that meeting there was ter
rible row between Sweets friends
McConnell's friends. The descrip-
ton of this row was sent to Sweet
by his friends, and in answer to that
description, the letter below was
written.
Mr.. Mcconnell persisted in the
fight. The primaries were held and
Sweets friends were left: Then
Mr.. Barton and other friends Of
Sweet had 1000 copies of this letter
printed for distribution. A meet
| ing of Mr.. Sweets friends was
called. Mcconnell openly stated
before the meeting that if this letter
was circulated, he would expose
the whole fraud in connection with
the university.
This threat of McConnell's in.
duced the friends of Sweet to with
draw the letter, and the 1000 copies
which had been printed, were pu'
| in safe and afterwards destroyed
save and except one copy, which
we publish below.
The circular issued by Mr.. Bar.
ton read as follows:
TIT FOR TAT.
AN INTERESTING LETTER ON THE 20
LITICAL SITUATION.
Various friends having writer
Judge Sweet of the unprovoked at
tack upon him by Mr.. Mcconnell
and he having replied at some length
| thereto, ] have deemed it my right
if not my duty, to make this lettel
public. The specific form of Ian
guage of the charge made, not hav
ing been communicated, Of course
the correspondence is in genera
form, but it will do.
R. H. BARTON.
THE LETTER.
OsBURN, Ida, Aug. 2, 1890.
MY DEAR DAD: Your kind letteI
of the 9th July came duly to hand
You must have had a great time a
the organization of the club; have
had several letters descriptive o
the scene, and if I live q thousant
years, my last regret will be that
missed It. So you and Nc. had .
tilt? Mitch writes that it was bet
ter than Tim Finnegan's wake
And Nc. accused me of associatinl
with democrats, did he? Mon
strousl Still, they do say that oc
casionally Nc. associates with peo
pie of equally doubtful character
|but that, Notwithstanding, virtue
4 ron591efv and innncanc0 have com