The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1893-05-10


that there was a game on foot to
elect Cleveland by clecting those
four peoples party electors. And
this was the very idea conveyed by
the next words of the article:
GOOD GOD. WHERE IS THE DEBT
WE OWE TO THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY
TO REBUILD IT'S SHATTERED CARCASS
AND RESTORE 1T TO POWER"
How cunning this appeal to party
prejudice. 1t said. in effect, what.
defeat Harrison and elect Cleveland
by elccting four peoples party electors
in Minnesota and defeating four re-
publican electors, and do it by the
help of democratic vOtes!" We had,
of course, gone into the peoples
party believing that its success was
essential to the safety of the country
and the prosperity of it's citizens;
and we did not care whether we
helped or burt the democratic or re-
publican parties; we believed they
were both representatives of the
money power. But there were
thousands of our followers who were
not SO Jealous or so determined: they
were still republicans at heart, and
to those this appeal of the Great
West came with terrible force, sup.
plemented as it was by the beseech.
ing cries of republican speakers and
the disbursement of not less than
100000 of republican money in the
state.
And then this beautiful article
continued:
''Let us find the obligation and pay
it and then be free to stand on our
own feet. Stromberg. Holloway
Meighen and Dillon were all demo
crats-StrOmberg the most recent
convert. WE MUST TAKE OUR
MEDICINE"
Here the cunning insinuation -
false as hell-was that Stromberg,
Holloway, Meighen and Dillon, hay
ing been all Democrats, (Which was
not true,) had agreed to vote fol
Cleveland, and this without the
smallest scintilla of evidence to sus-
tain such a charge, presented then
or at any time since.
eve must take Oat1 incidence
What medicine? Fusion, absorb
tion in the democracy, desertion OF
our party.
And all this from our only STATE
ORGAN, in the heat of a fierce cam
paign, the tiercest ever seen in the
state, and six weeks before the cleo
ton. Oh! 1t was the most horrible
betrayal of a great cause ever known
in the annals of time. And this
wretch still insists he must lead
us-to destruction-and be well paid
for it too.
In the meantime Fish was working
for his employers in another way.
There was considerable number of
peoples party men who were friends
of S. NJ. Owen, Esq. Fish had at
tackled Owen in the state convention
which nominated our ticket, and had
been hooted off the platform, leaving
behind a residuum of bad feeling.
He persisted in his attacks in his
paper and in his public speeches, and
every blow drove the Owen men
further away from the support of
our ticket. l begged Fish verbally
and by letter, a score of times, to
leave Owen alone. / told him it was
his duty to unite the party, not tear
it to pieces; that he had persuaded
me to run for governor, and that in
good faith he should stand by me
and not labor for my defeat. To try
to counteract his evil work, wrote,
out at Willmar, an interview with
myself Gas is the newspaper custom),
and sent it to his paper and it was
published in the Great Vest of Octo-
Der :. In that article [ stated that
[ would not be candidate for United
States senator under any circum-
stance: that Mr.. Owen was a man of
ability and that | was glad to see
him stumping the state for the
peoples party with the hope of being
elected United States senator next
winter"
The same number of the Great West
which published this interview con-
tanned an attack on Owen three
quarters of column long, and
fiercely savage. And the next issue.
October 14,-the same which assailed
the party for the. alleged fusion
an editorial which said
''the article (my interview was not
seen by the editor-in-chief or it would
not have appeared. We do not
for one moment the
election of Mr.. Owen to the United
States senate" Think of it-an ar
ticle from the candidate for governor,
Of the party, written to harmonic
and unite the party at the polls,
would not have appeared in the party
organ if he had seen it.
On the 18th of October was at
Crookston campaigning, and then I
saw the Great West of the 14th. Lat
once wrote Fish a letter. After en-
closing the names of 12O new sub