The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1894-07-18
ICUSHMAN K. DAVIS.
AN OPEN LETTER.
The Career of the Senator and the
Net Result.


ate in opposition to the resolution of
Senator Kyle regarding the strike.
Ihls information brought to my rec
objection many things in your polit-
lcal career which l wish to recall.
Your first appearance in public life
was as member of the state legisla-
ture for Ramsey county. If l am not
mistaken, about the first thing prior to
that which had attracted public at
tention to you was your defense in the
Van Solen murder case. After you
mad served term in the state legisla-
ture you were appointed United States
district attorney, and served until
1868. In 1872 or 1873 you prepared and
delivered in various portions of this
state lecture on Modern Feudal-
ISM the central idea of which was
that the greater danger then threat
ening the country was the encroach-
ments and extortions of corporations.
l wish had copy of that lecture. be-
cause would like to quote literally
from it to establish the purpose of
this communication. / we'll remem-
Der the vivid, stirring, and even poet
ical language with which you sought
to show that unless the people rose in
their might the country would soon
be under the control of the corpora
tions and they reduced to a state
OF vassalage similar to that which ex-
isted in centuries which have faded
into the dim distance of history.
That lecture stirred those who heard
it up to fever heat. They looked
around in eagernesS for valiant SOL
der to lead them forth to do battle
with the common enemy OF mankind.
They saw you standing by with your
sword in your hand ready to lead
them, and they eagerly rallied under
you for the contest. The first fight
must, of course. be for the control of
the state government, and they put
you up for governor. At that time I
was the editor Of little country pa
per down in Southern Minnesota. 1
had never up to that hour met you,
but | had heard your call to arms, and
| eagerly jumped into the front rank
with you. The battle was on in full
force. The state rang with the noise
Of the contest. Your Old (?l friend
Joseph Wheelock headed the enemy.
Battles took place in almost every
county in the state. Finally, when
the campaign was nearing its end and
the result stood trembling in the bal
ancc, the enemy made its last stand in
Ramsey county. That was the tiercest
battle. butyou aud your gallant band
won. True, when the smoke Of battle
had cleared away and the dead and
wounded had been removed, Mr.. Vince
lock attempted to detIact from the
glisten of your laurels Of victory by
claiming in the Pioneer Press that
you had at the last moment called to
your aid the 'pimps, prostitutes,
thugs aud gamblers Of st. Paul" You
had won, however, and in The state
convention the next day you were
nominated by one majority over your
present fellow senator from this state.
You have not forgotten, nor have /,
the intense excitement which pre-
vailed in that body when the final bal
lot was being taken. We have not
forgotten how we fell upon each 9TH
er's necks when the vote was counted
and you were duly declared the nomi-
nee of the great Republican party for
the office of governor Of the young and
vigorous state of Minnesota. We
thought, or rather thought, that the
country had been saved. God and
yourself alone know what you thought.
In the campaign which followed you
canyassed the state, reiterating many
of the statements made in your lect-
| ure on Modern Fcudalism," pointing
out to the people the great dangers
| which menaced their very liberties by
reason of the inordinatc greed, rapac-
ity and corruptions of great corpora
tions, and especially railways. The
Pioneer Press gave you but scant sup
port The election resulted as fol-
lows:
A. Barton 1924
S. Mayall. NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. 1895
Your plurality ty............... AGO
Two years before Gov. Austin had
IpCClN Gu 1O.SpU NOUCS. w pP ouHS,
3o,376, and Samuel Mayall SAG. Gov.
Austin's majority was nearly 10000,
while there was only about LEGO votes
difference in the number of ballots
cast. In the election succeeding yours,
John S. Pillsbury defeated D. J.. Buell.
by about 1O, 900 votes.
In the winter of 1875 it became nec-
essary to elect successor to Senator
Ramsey. You became candidate,
and after long and exceedingly Bit
ter contest, Judge Mcmillan was cho-
sen as compromise candidate. 1t is
not necessary for the purposes of this
letter to recount the incidents Of that
contest nor to recall the faithfulness
with which "the old guard as your
friends were called, stood around you;
how they took their political fortunes
in their hands in order to place you in
the senate, where you might Go the
state great service and win hOuors for
yourself.
The result Of that fight left you
crushed and cmbittcred politician.
You were not candidate fer re-elec-
sion. and John S. Pillsbury became
your successor. know you said at
the time that you did not wish to be
candidate for governor again, but l
thought it was because tie corpora