The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1893-06-28

would damn you and the Great West
DeyOnd resurrection. l, as your
friend, would come in for a large
share of the abuse. It would be
charged that both of us had been
bought with IS money. I
would have to give up my candidacy
Tor the state senate and place myself
at the disposal of the Ovens cam
palgn committee until election day.
| cannot go back on the principles
have preached for quarter of CEN
tury, just when there is a chance of
their being successful, however badly
may have been treated by the men
who have temporary control of the
campaign. The cause is above all
personal considerations. Your course
is plaln:-make each paper your is
sue, from now to election, stronger
and stronger, in defense and advo-
cacy OF the alliance state ticket: and
after the polls are closed labor to in
duce the alliance to reform itself.'
Fish replied protesting against my
course, but agreeing to stand by the
ticket until after election. And now
he charges that he was always kept
busy trying to prevent me from fus-
ing with one or the other of the old
parties!
And as late as January 17th, 1892,
right after his election as State Lee
turer, DR.. Fish wrote me, II took :.
steps at once to correspond with par
ties with view to liberating me from
the Great West, and apparently with
success. I fully agree that
yOur course has been honorable IN the
highest degree" this from the man
who is now covering me with abuse,]
II trust you will still follow your DO
litical course to it's higest fulfillment,
though l do want to say, reTy badly,
that you would win your constituency
closer by driving your enemies farth-
er," etc.
To this ] replied, Jan. 10Th, 1892:
"Don't sell out the Great West. Why
should you? If it goes into the
hands of third parties who can tell
what they will do? They might 90
back on the alliance, and then the
alliance acould insist on establishing an
organ Of its oaun, and there acould be the
deril to pay; and the organization
would be torn to pieces"
To this Fish replied, Jan'y 10th:
II will undoubtedly dispose of the
Great West during February or
March, continuing to edit one page
while in the state, or for one year."
Now, the originals of these letters
from Fish are open to the inspection
of any doubling Thomases; as are
my letter books.
1 am inclined to think that at this
very time Fish had already made his
trade with the republicans. It was
at first intended that he should sell
them the paper, and so spike our
guns for the campaign of 1892, but
my suggestion that the alliance
would start an organ of it's own,
showed the Ring-masters that that
would not be good policy; and SO Fish
remained, to ostensibly work for us,
but in reality to slaughter us.
One of his games was to call public
meetings, as the Rev. Mr.. Holloway
pointed out. in the midst of harvest;
and then make a terrible hubbut
about the small audiences he had
and the republican papers took ur
these outcries and republished them
to show that the reform sentiment
was dying out. l remember how, in
passing through St. Paul, l called at
the executive committee room of our
party, and said: why don't you ad-
vertise DR. Fish's meetings better?
1t is shame to leave him without
official notice, and it is bad for the
cause. ''Why," they replied, 1--WE
have nothing whatever to do with his
meetings, and never have had. He
ddvertises them himself; and if suffi-
cient notice is not given 1t Is has oscn
fault" And there l began to ''smell
a mice" foot long! saw that the
small audiences, and the harvest
meetings, and the great uproar, were
all part and parcel of a game to ar
rest and discourage the popular
movement. Any man with the
tenth part of the ShrewdneSS and
cunning posed by E. w. Fish would
know that the farmers would not
leave their binders in the field to go
and hear, not political stump speak
ing even, for that is always attrac-
tive, but songs and discussions on
recondite questions of finance. I
had begged him not to attempt to
hold meetings during the harvest
season, but he persisted. He knew
what he was about.
do not say all this to keep up a
controversy with this wretched man,
but to show that secretly DR.. Fish
and I have been pulling at cross-pur-
poses for three years past. At one
time for three months 1 refused to
enter his Office. But what could I
do? The alliance had it's head in the
lions mouth. It could not quarrel
with this dangerous and unscrupu-
lous man withOut,a newspaper to de-
fend itself, and answer the false
hoods that we're sure to follow. But
when he withdrew from the alliance
movement and resigned his state lee
tureship, we thought we had gotten
through with him; and that we
would be permitted to continue the
reform movement without interfer-
ence. But, as Mr.. Vermilya's letter