The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1893-05-17
The Effect of SANDER.

Morgan, OF FalrnelQ township, virtues
us:
II was in Benson last fall, when
you addressed the people of Swift
county, and yours was the first pOliti-
cal speech l heard. You took ten
subscribers then and there for the
Great Vest, and l was one of them;
and have been subscriber to that
paper ever since. Before the election
you and your record were all 0. X;
but now you are charged with endOrs-
ing Fusion, and many other Of
fences. What is the reason that the
democratic press has changed so in
its treatment of yOu?"
Mr.. Morgan encloses clipping from
the Benson Monitor Dem.) J; in which
the editor says:
''It does not take seer to observe
that the line of action followed by
Senator DOnnelly is great improve
ment over his former course. This
is universally admitted on all sides.
His acts in the present legislature
are such as will receive the approba-
tion of people of all classes thrOug-
out the state," etc., etc.
While / am glad to have words of
approval, instead of abuse, from
democratic and republican editors,
and men 'of all classes" claim that
my course in the last legislature does
not differ in the slightest degree,
from my course in all previous legis-
latures of which l have been mem
Der. 1 have advocated the same
measures and fought against the
same evils. l made speeches and
voted to reduce wasteful apprOpria-
tions, to cut down railroad rates, to
tax railroad lands, to reduce the
interest on money and punish usury,
to expose the wheat rings, ETC., etc.
In 1876 l began the investigation of
pine-land frauds and robberies, (see
journal of that year, which l took
up again in 1893, seventeen years
afterwards. Why then do the village
and town newspapers of all parties
now praise me where they used to
abuse me? The explanation is simple
enough. When heretofore, during
the past twenty-five years, l fought
wheat rings and railroad exactions,
and usurious practices, was deal
ing with evils which principally af
flicted the farmers, and not the town.
people. The foolish village editors
did not see that the growth of the
towns depended on the prosperity of
the farmers; the very merchants
chuckled over the robberies which
the combines had practiced on their
customers; and all hands united in
cursing me vociferously, as per-
sistent, pernicious, impairment, ir-
repressible wretch, who was constant
ly stirring up the farmers to a sense
of their wrongs and uniting them to
defend themselves. But this winter
I attacked among others, an evil
which scarcely touched the farmers,
but which came home to the very
fire-side and pockets of all the dwell
lers in the villages, towns and cities,
to-wit:-the coal combine. We had
a terribly long, hard winter, and the
the price of cOal-as necessary in this
climate as food-had been largely in
creased; and every townsman and
townswoman could understand the
outrageous character of the
coal ring; and when I led the fight
against it they cheered me to the
echo; and declared I was one of the
best and most patriotic men that
ever lived. / was astonished at my
own sudden and great popularity. I
had been so long used to denuncia-
tion that my system had grown &C
customed to it. I was like a fellow
who had lived for twenty years on
black bread and cheese, and was sud-
denly plunged into a diet of roast
turkey, mince pie and champagne. I
could not accommodate myself to my
environment. I was stalled with
affluence.
And the worst of it was that con-
scienceless skalawag, seeing all this
pointed to the praises of the repub-
ican press and cried out, "See! told
you so. Donnelly is going over to the
republicans !" And the next week
he quoted some strong democratic
commentator and howled, "Behold!
the democrats have swallowed Don
nelly, body and boots and breeches!
The peoples party is paralyzed. Let
us reform it by splitting it in half"
But the sensible reformers said
eve are glad to see one of our own
men so popular with all classes. 1t
proves we were right in supporting
him. And we will continue to trust
him until he plainly and unequivoca-
ly deserts our principles and hauls
down our flag" I. D.
The Legislature.