St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1896-02-18
NECK OF LOREN
FLETCHER.
HE WILL RUN FOR CONGRESS
ON AN oUT-AND-oUT FREE SILVER
PLATFORM TO DOWN "YOUR
UNCLE.V
She Resists With Artless Simplicity
the Ardent Addresses of the
Anti-Ctough Committee.

John Day Smith, of Minneapolis, says
that he is out Of politics, but he is loyal
| enough to his, city not to take offense
when the Globe intimates that the
statement is evasive, rather than strict
ly truthful. If Mr.. Smith is out of
politics, 1t is only because he thinks it's
a little early to spread his canvass, and
because he has been pretty busy trying
to figure out how so many people were
admitted to the hanging of Harry T.
Hayward.
The fact remains that Mr.. Smith
Mr.. John Day Smith, Of the Eighth
ward, Minneapolis-will be a candidate
for congress from the Fifth district. now
represented at Washington by that in
| genuous statesman, Loren Fletcher. Mr..
Smith will make his canvass on a free
silver basis, believing that the doc
trines Of Wolcott and Jones and w. H.
Harvey have sufficiently saturated the
warp and wool Of Hennepin county
manhood to make his victory possible
All! that word victory. When the phi
losopher wrote that he did not appre-
ciate victory who had never suffered
defeat, he was voicing a sentiment that
now finds new life with every pulsa-
ton from the heart Of Minneapolis dis
tinguished Eighth ward leader. He has
had both, victory for the small offices
and defeat for the big ones. When he
first managed to get prominently into
congressional canvass, he was per-
suaded to draw out on the theory that
Mr.. Fletcher would give way to him
two years later With the dexterity Of
a slight Mr.. Smith dis
entangled himself temporarily from his
ambition and threw all his strength to
Fletcher. A year and half later he
came up smiling to receive the unsoiled
| toga which Mr.. Fletcher had worn
through two busy sessions of the lower
house, but it looked so clean and pref
ty, and even unused, that Mr.. Fletcher
was 10th to give it up. There was
| three-rOund ch-as-catch-bout for the
Hennepin convention, and Mr.. Smith
went down before his more skillful adj
versary. Since then Mr.. Smith has been
an asSiduous student of practical poll
ties, reading such standard works as
the biographies Of, David B. Hill, the
BOSS of the Ward" and the proclama
ton Of the committee Of one hundred.
He has decided that to purify politics
there is no better way than to GUST the
scCundre1s. He is convinced that Mr..
Fletcher is one Of these and he Is pre-
| pared to GUST him. He would prefer to
be the residuary legatee, so to speak,
but he will not complain seriously if his
Vaccinations should inure to the bene-
fit of some other good man, even Dem
ocrat. In a political way, at least, Mr..
| Smith has abandoned for the nonce the
Calvary church ideal Of peace and
brotherly love and blazoned in his bou-
| doir the motto Of the Moslem, 1.-THE
sword for all but the followers of Mo-
| hammed.'' "'.-7
That committee of one hundred that
thrust itself between the jewel box
which guards the precious bauble,
Minneapolis political reputation and
| the warlike advances of the BiXby-
| Richardson-Clough machine, is prob
ably having more fun for its money
| than any organization that ever tried
| to float a large block of stock on a
badly sailed mine. Having been una
BILE to make any particular Roadway
with the people of Minneapolis, 50 far
as can be learned, it has taken to the
woods. Washington county is now
overrun with the emissaries of the
new school Of philosophy that a
| change in raScalS makes the people
richer. But they are having a hard
row to hoe, as it appears. The fact
| Of the matter is, that Washington
county never was particularly strong
| Oh WaShburn, and, while it has no
great love for Clough, it is in an ex-
cellent position to hold back and wait
| until the political affairs have reached
a point where Washington county can
see what it is going to get out of it.
| 1t is even possible that if the rest of
the state can turn the Hennepin cats
| heels up on the gubernatorial clothes
| line. Washington county may have a
! favorite puSS Of it's own to snatch the
| juicy mutton from beneath the scrap
ping felines. AT any rate, it is not
coming out on the anti-side yet.