St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-01-29
Freeman as reported in the Pioneer

Freeman as reported in the Pioneer
Press:
"Col. Fred Wright has received the
Endorsement of an element which de-
sires to see the laws enforced in this
city and order preserved"
1t cannot be that so gentle and so
good paper as the Pioueer Press was
engaged i'll conspiracy to hoodwlnk
the PrOhibitionists, who, it must be con-
ceded, as a party, are rather lacking In
that worldly wisdom" which MI.
Wheelock so much adlnires. On the
same day, in its editorial columns. the
Pioneer Press says:
If elected mayor he would enforce
the excellent laws we have for restrict
ing the sale of liquors, and would not
permit the open and bare-faced viola
lions of those laws which are sanctioned
by the present administration"
But perhaps Mr.. Wheelock is not in
the habit of reading the Pioneer Press.
l next call your attention 10 the recital
of grievances contained in the Repub-
lican platform by the convention which
nominated the present mayor. Among
other things il SAYS: 1.-The law gov
erning the sale of liquor at retail is con-
temptuOusly ignored" and sums up by
saying: ION behalf of the moral as
well as the material welfare of our peo-
pie we register our conscientious pro-
test In order that out of the mouth
of at least two or three witnesses every
word shall be established, L addressed
letter to \. z. Langford. who took
prominent part i'll that campaign. lie
says:
Your letter of this date, inQuirlng if
the citizens committee which aided in
the election of Mayor Wright under
stood that he was pledged to enforce the
laws, has been received. l reply that
Mayor Wright agreed TO stand upon the
platform Of principles affirmed and de-
clared by the Citizens party at the last
municipal election. The paragraph of
the platform which relates to the en-
forcemenr of the laws is as follows:
We demand that there shall be an in
telligemt, fair and vigorous enforcement
of existing laws and regulations. ,"
y similar letter OF inquiry to the Rev.
d. Morgan, leader among the Prohi-
bitionisis, brought the following reply.
~ went and saw MIR. Wright, and he
assured me that if elected he would ell
force the laws, and he would not run
unless we united and gave him our sup
port. On that condition we voted for
him."
The further question arises as to
whether the enforcement of the laws
under this administration has met these
pledges and UNDERSTANDINGS. Again |
introduce as witness the Pioneer Press.
On Feb. 20, 1898, in the waning months
of the first year OF this administration,
there was held one of the largest and
most representative mass meetings that
ever convened IN this city. The strong
headlines in the Pioneer Press report
are as follows:
Enforce the Laws" keynote of a
Big Mass Meeting" Market hall
crowded with citizens who demand ell
forcement of laws affecting the sa-
looms"
Then follows an elaborate account of
this great meeting conceived in the
most cordial spirit. On the day follow
Ing very excellent and able editorial
appeared in the Pioneer Press, Begin
ming as follows: "If the movement for
m enforcement of the law relating to
the sale of intoXicants in ST. Paul,
which was begun by the meeting at
Market hall Monday evening, is pressed
forward and persisted in earnestly, it
will be successful" linen after strong
argument i'll favor of Sunday closing,
which it declared to be right and fea-
IiDle, it concludes:
"It the people keep up their agitation
they will secure it, as also a better OBJ
Bervance of the law against that most
RbOminable crime, the sale of liquor to
minors. There is no better time than
this to push forward movement that
shall bring the saloon into the circle of
laW-aDlding business Institutions"
The question may arise why the
movement begun in that Market hall
meeting was never pushed forward as
so strenuously advised by the Pioneer
Press. a quotation is given from let
ter written to the secretary of his honor,
the mayor, by Col. j. Ii. Davidson, who
was member of a committee to carry a
petition 10 the city nall signed by sew
erat thousand voters, asking for better
enforcement Of the laws. This letter is
dated April 10, 1898. Among other
things he says: The present mayor,
at every public meeting during the
campaign, said in substance, L will
turn out the gang and enforce
the laws In describing the visit
of the committee to the mayor,
he says: They asked no new
legislation, but they did ask that the
pledges of the platform Oh which he was
elected by popular majority of over
1000 votes be redeemed at par; they did
ask that the voluntary pledges made by
his honor at every public meeting which
he attended before election. should be
redeemed by performance. His honor
listened courteously until all had spoken
their minds, and then he did not get I'D
on desk, wave his hat and shout, Turn
out the gang, enforce the law but he
began to talk dipomaticallv about what
was best in our municipal affairs and
to say, 1 can't If he had been as non
committal when notified of his nominal
ton, or at the public meetings which
followed, as he was when talking to this
committee of his friends and earnest
citizens, he would not have had cor
poral's guard to follow him to the
polls"
With these witnesses l close the case
for the present,
But what should be the attitude of