The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1895-07-03
BURKE'S GRAFTON.
A DECLARATION OF INDEPEND-
ENCE TO THE UNCoNvICTED
FELONS-WITH ODE.


there was given to the world from old
Independence Hall. Philadelphia, docu-
me4t over the reading of which you are
wont to go wild with enthusiasm on the
day of the three hundred and sixty-five.
emily to forget its precepts on the others;
having apparently become entirely d.
vested of the spirit of yo6r forefathers
and Instead with Bonded knee and craven
hearts bow before the car Of Juggernaut,
at the behest Of the powers that have SO
long used crime or wrong to Cypress you
and yours and enthrall you in the chains
OF bondage. while you forsooth lick the
hand that smites you and do honor and
obeisance to the oppressors, la Jim Hill,
st. Paul blow out.
Time was when the people Of this coun-
try respected and rewarded integrity and
veracity, but that time Is among the dim
vistas of the past, since the so-called civ
ilization of the present day demands that
being should be liar, thief, forger bank
smasher, would-be murderer and all
round villain to be eligible as leader in
politics., society, and religion in some If
not all communities, and the greater
adept he has become in the common sin
Of part or all of these crimes the more
proud have you been to lift him to an
exalted position, and the more enthusi-
astic in his support, till in time you have
succeeded in building up among you an
aristocracy Of crime that has to very
large degree controlled part Of your
press, your pulpits, your political organi-
cations Ia ST. Paul, Minneapolis and
part Of the state, and indicted into city,
county, state and national office members
Of their unholy guild
Stand by and burn Il you will! Let the
unholy and ungodly set Of criminals crack
your banks, rape your school fund, and
deflle your homes without let or hindrance
on your part, II you have not the man
hood or integrity to try and stop It! AS
for me, have concluded that when SEN
atorfal poker gambler and senatorial
bank srnasher set up that job In the city
Of Washington calling to their aid fed
eral judge, several present and past state
and city officials and intended to cul-
inmate in stealing the property Of the
W11lCl nC1 GU dAu~k1 AcCu NC C11COllpdSSluS
his notwithstanding aid, as they did,
from the Vice President Of Young Mems
Christian Association, 1t was about time
that we should assert our right as an
American citizen, even if In so doing the
result should land large part OF the past
and present officials Of our state in the
penitentiary.
These be strong words, but used adj
visedly,, since we have been. silently in
formed that such is the fact, and more
over have had our property stolen by de-
tectives employed by the young Chris
tian referred to, and as to the latter hold
evidence to that effect. And not content
with this, these criminals or their agents
first threatened our life and then twice
attempted it; once at the hands of tool
in their employ and once at the hands of
a state official, who, alas, l fear was
equally an employee, stool pigeon or dupe
Of some of the criminal element Of this
state. Hence, as an expression of our de-
termination to assert our constitutional
rights, we address the following:
To the unconvicted felons of the State
of Minnesota and their aiders, abettors
and accessories before and after the fact,
both in and out of Office. Greeting:
For over a quarter of a century you
i,
religious and financial destinies of this
great North Star State till you have come
to consider your wishes law, legislatures
and courts as supernumeraries, and
churches as simply erected for your glori-
fication, edffcation and worship, and in
your inordinate vanity you have actually
made yourselves believe that the mass of
the people considered you semi-respecta
BILE, since you have so long succeeded in
escaping that felon's garb the most of you
so richly deserve and which it Is devoutly
hoped few of you will soon wear.
Stealing, lying, fraud and every crime
named in the decalogue, the commission
of which does not require on your part an
exhibition of physical courage, has by long
usage therein become to you second ma
ture. So that no doubt he who dares to
act honestly or to tell the truth is looked
upon by you not only as an oddity but an
extremely dangerous being, since he is
disposed to unsettle the existing order of
things by substituting therefor reign OF
Justice, veracity and law in place of the
existing state of anarchy, chaos and crime.
You have polluted all that is sacred in
public and private life by your unholy
touch. using alike the agencies of the
church and state to further your schemes
for you to commit or cause to be COM
mitted, if the agencies come not too high,
for it is true that all of you have too much
physical cowardice to yourselves commit
any crime that will require the possession
Or exhibition of physical courage, but the
lack thereof has been to you no drawback,
because your stolen millions have been
partly used in employing hired braves or
alleged private detectives to consummate
those crimes you have been too cowardly
yourselves to commit.
All In all, you are about as contemplate
and pusilanimous set of cowardly, hypo-
critical villains as ever afflicted or dis
graced any community. Though 1t be
true that you have largely controlled the
political, financial and religious affairs of
this state, and though among your num-
| Der may be found one or more ex-state
| and federal officials, and the only wonder
the writer has ever experienced is why in
| thunder you have not been brought up
with a round turn long ere this.
In some communities whence it has
been the lot of the writer to reside, gen.
| tlemen of your kidney have not at all
| times been tolerated, and even those more
/ respectable have at times been the recipi-
| ents Of certain gentle hints that their
presence. was not desirable.
| In the year 1878, five men and boy
| were hung at Bakersfield, California, be-
cause they were suspected Of stealing a
! horse Now you are not suspected of
stealing, because it has been proven that
| you did steal-and you dare not deny it
not horse, but large part Of the school