St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-11-16

The Pioneer Press, under the caption
of "Nothing in It," says:
Among the influences which saved the state
of Minnesota to the Republican party in the
year of its utter reverse. which have held this
state firm where others fell out of line,
which have regained the legislature and as
sured a Republican United States senator,
we count deliberately the surrender of the
Democracy to the Populists.
The GLOBE just as deliberately, and
on accurate information, declares that
what Kept Minnesota in the thraIl OF
RepublicaDism this year was the cam
paign of lying, bribery, knownothing-
ism and bigotry conducted by the Re-
publican party, and that what that
paper miscalls fusion had nothing
whatever TO do with the result.
The Republican committee flooded the
state with printed facsimiles of the
bills of the wildcat banks, asserting
that it was the kind of money the peo-
pie would have if the Democrats won.
Its candidate for governor lent himself
to spread the charge. Both knew it
was lie. The dignified and eminently
moral Pioneer Press itself never hest
tated to give currency to any roorback
which might mislead voters if it deemed
such result possible.
The Democratic party boldly attacked
The wealthieSt interests in the state. the
elevator and railroad combine, and pub
Iished proofs of their methods of illicit
gains. They did not attempt to dis
prove the charges. They could only say
their publisher was a bad man and that
ME Chicago board of trade was behind
heeXposure. But they were not inactive.
They knew that if that party were suS-
tanned by the voters of the state their
plundering would be stopped. They
knew that their danger point was the
legislature. If they could control that
they could snap their fingers at the peo-
pie. They sent their agents into every
doubtful district in the state. They
bought votes where they could; they
hired men not to vote where their vote
would have been adverse. Their ex-
penditIres were commensurate with
the magnitude of their gains. They
have won the legislature. Fusion has
assured Republican United States
SENATOR" forsooth! If CUsHMAN X.
DAVIS is returned to the senate, he will
owe his election to the corrupt use of
money by the elevator ring, which cared
nothing for him. but only to save itself.
Another element contributing some
what to the result was the direct, open
and unblushing appeal to the most Of
fensive kind of knownothingism, the
foreign article, by the nomination of a
man for governor for the sole and
avowed purpose of drawing back voters
of the same nativity with himself. The
GLOBE ventures the prediction that the
device is one that will return to plague
Its inventors.
Not content with these measures to
achieve success, the managers OF that
party went still lower and appealed to
that ugliest of all motives of action--the
bigotrY of men. During the last days of
the campaign they scattered among the
LutheranS of the state circular warn
ing them not to vote for Mr.. LAWYER
because he was a Catholic. They
warned the reader that if Mr.. LAWYER
were elected the archbishop of that
church would c9ntIol the schools of the
state and divert the school moneys to
his parochial schools.
These are some of the means used to
"hold this state firm where others fell
Out of ltne;" and the GLOBE believes
that they were the effective means Of
continuing Republican control for an
other two years.
SOLUTION OR GUESS, WHICH :?
The Republican party in this state
has again escaped defeat by small
plurality. Is this due to the ordinary
chances of political struggles, Or was 1t
due to deft management When the
campaign of 80 presented its results in
the tabuiated returns. it was apparent
to every one that the opposition to Re-
publicaniSm was vastly in excess of the
voting strength of that party. 1t was
apparent that the elements of the oppo-
EitiOn were running on converging
lines. 1t was only a question when
they would meet and coaeSce. When
they did the Republican party would be
in a hopeless minority. Plainly, the
problem set the managers of that party
to solve was to- set those lines 10 diyerg-
ing. 1t was the only possible resort. As.
Stunning that they saw what was plain tc
every one else, what, naturally, would
they do? They could not browbeat Oh
bulldoze the deserters back into line;
they had tried that and failed. They
could not buy them back; they were toe
numerous. They could not work OIL
them from the outside; that had been
tried and failed. The only recourse
was to get it done by some one on the
inside of the Alliance. If they could
find some man in it influential in its
sounsels, plausible in address. unscru