The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1896-04-30
TIE HENNEPIN COMBINA T1ON

51HEHEN.NEPIN COMBINATION.
The three-cornered ombination be-
tween Vim. ~. Lee, S. r. Vansant and
W. H. Eustis to carry the Hennepin
county primaries for governor is the
most unheard OF scheme known to the
history Of Republican politics ia Min
nesota. One would suppose that a man
who thought himself worthy Of the sup
port OF the State and strong enough to
secure the support of his party for. gov
ernor would be willing to make the
fight on his own merits, in other words
to stand against all corners, and place
his campaign on its own bottom. Com
binations, it is true, often come about
by way of compromise in the conven-
tlons; but there is no case yet recorded
in the history of Minnesota politics, or
elsewhere, that we are aware Of where
three candidates for the same position
have pooled issues against a fourth. as
they have in Hennepin county, and
mapped out cut-and-dried program,
months in advance, to carry the con
ventions and the primaries on three
cornered cast-iron joint-ballot.
How the voters of Hennepin county
and of the State at large will look on
such Ombination remains to be seen
It is an attempt, of course, to prevent
| the people from sending to the State
| convention the delegates of the candi-
date receiving the largest number of
| votes. That is the reason for the pool.
| It is recognized that if each candidate
| runs on his own merits, single-handed,
Clough will lead the others in Henne-
pin county and accordingly will have
the largest representation from Henne-
pin county in the State convention.
The pool is formed so as to give a can
didate, or the several candidates, re-
ceiving smaller number of votes the
delegation; in other words; to over
turn the plurality vote and enthrone
the minority candidates by combina-
tion. How the people will take
to such scheme will develop
later.
Let us see how this pool arrange
ment would work if applied to the
Sixth district. Lee is the favorite-son
candidate of this district as Clough is
leading home candidate in the Fifth.
We will suppose Clough, Eustis and
VanSant formed a pool to carry the
Sixth district primaries and leave Lee,
the home candidate, out of it. We will
suppose that this pool, made up of can
tdidates from the outside, should print
ballots to be used at the primaries for
the alleged purpose of securing the
I.sentiment of the Sixth district on the
subject of governor, and we will sup
Ipose that these ballots contained the
names of Clough, Eustis and VanSant,
and omitted the name of Lee theSixth
district candidate. That is what Lee,
| Eustis and VanSant have done in
Clough's home, the Fifth dis.
trict. - d.
. a will f11rf no, hot III
100 delegates Lee should get 40 and
Il that the combination should get 81 be-
tween them, or, say, Clough Is, @Eustis
| 16 and VanSant 10. Now, according tc
the usual plan each would go into the
convention with his share Of represen.
tation according to the popular vote.
4 But according to the pool arrangement
Lee, with his 40 votes would have tc
stay at home without a delegate; while
the outside combination would divide
up his entire district between them
selves. The pool would have every.
| thing, while the home candidate, who
according TO the popular verdict was
| the first choice, would have nothing.
i Now that is what Messrs. Lee and Van
SAINT have lent themselves to in going
down to Hennepin county and entering
into the recent pool to carry that dis.
trict against the governor.
4 That kind of a scheme has never yet
been tried in Minnesota politics, and
| we prophesy that it will never be trie6
again. We do not believe that the
people will put up with that kind o:
politics. We know that the people o.
the Sixth district would never stand il
to have a pool of outsiders to come W
| here and RIM orr nrima aries fO1. nc t(