The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-04-05
GOOD CTS EXCITED
SENSATIONAL TIMES AT THE MEET
ING OF THE LAW AND ORDER
LEAGUE.
MAYOR PRATT CRITICISED
EX-MAYOR EUSTIS GIVEN A HOT
RECEPTION WHEN DEFEND
ING HIMSELF.
RIVER CONTINUES ITS RISE,
Prospects of Increased Flood From
the Rain-News of Mime
apOlis.
RIVER CONTINUES IT'S RISE

! said:
Mr. Moderator, I protest that the gentle
man is interrupting a meeting which was
called for specific purpose. and he is not
| keeping to the agreement he made when
! given permission to speak"
A storm of mingled Kisses and applause
drowned the closing words of his protest.
Il move we adjourn" was the next re-
mark audible in the tumult- The motion was
! lost, and the most exciting meeting held for
many a day in Minneapolis soon after drew
! to close.
The dialogue quoted grew out of the de-
! sire of Mr.. Eustis to defend himself from
| sharp criticism which had been heaped upon
| him in the course of the law enforcement
meeting held at the Lyceum theater yes
terday afternoon. The building was we'll filled
/ and there were many ladies in the audi
/ ence. On the platform were a number Of well
| known citizens and prominent clergymen.
! Dean Pattee presided in a dignified and
| scholarly manner. There were eloquent
! speakers and a well arranged programme.
The vowed object of the meeting to
| insist upon the literal enforcement of munich
pal law, especially that relating to the SELL
/ ing of liquor. Everything went merry as
marriage ball until the close Of the formal
programme. The speakers all agreed that
| the law should be literally enforced. A let
ter had been read from Theodore Roosevelt,
! Of New York, and another from DR.; Albert
ex-Mayor Eustis' policy.
The speakers had naturally drawn the log
ical Inference from these letters and casti-
| gated the my policy idea pretty severely.
In fact, to the unprejudiced observer, the
meeting drifted more into anti-Eustis than
law enforcement meeting. But it was all
| very interesting and harmonious until the
| finished.
At this point A. f. Hall arose at the rear
! Of the hall and said that in view of the
severe criticism made Of Mr.. Eustis, he
! thought that gentleman should be heard in
! his own defense. The audience agreed with
| him, and applauded the name of Eustis to
! the echo. They were perhaps a little FESTIVE
under the prolonged flow of harmonious and
mellifous oratory, and from that moment
| until the close there applause literally
! bestowed on anybody anything which
| promised more excitement, and cat calls and
Kisses seemed occasionally necessary to ex-
| press the turbulent spirit which had been
let loose in some unaccountable manner
MR.. EUsTIS APPEARS
Mr.. Eustis promptly made his appearance
when the applause started at the sound of
his name, and made his way to the stage
entrance in response to en- invitation from
| the chairman.
First, there was a conference between mem
bers of the managing committee and Mr..
| Eustis in the wings, and after some delay the
chairman announced that the meeting hav-
| ing been called for a specific purpose, it
would not be proper to have any outside
allow Mr.. Eustis time for a brief speech in
which to defend himself.
George P. Wilson, who had previously read
the Roosevelt letter, sad he thought the
speaker should be strictly confined to ex-
planning matters in which he had been mis-
quoted, and that DR.. Hunter should reply
to him, If he made any general remarks.
This suited the audience. They didn't care
who spoke, so long as there was a lively
debate in prospect DR.. Hunter, however,
! speak and hoped that Mr.. Eustis would not
say anything needing reply.
WROUGHT TO FEVER HEAT.
All this delay only wrought the audience to
fever heat Of expectancy, and Mr. Eustis
was evidently prepared to make the most Of
/ his ODpOrtunitV. In Dathpfic Of voice
he opened his speech with the words quoted
at the head of the column. The interruption
by Dr. Hunter followed. When quiet was re-
stored, Mr.. Eustis getting excited, for
his voice rose to such pitch that he fairly
screamed.
"If | was mayor would have answered a
letter from such a splendid body of citizens
! as this he said. 1T would not have been
necessary for you to call a meeting to protest
about not being noticed by the mayor
The audience liked this, and even the COM
mitiee on the stage began to look more COM
Portable. The next sentence, however, let
pandemOnium loose again.
1T Is hard for a mayor to know what to
do" he continued. Now when was mayor
the ministers asked to meet them at one
Of the Baptist churches. and l went. I've
been ridiculed and abused since. Now
you are protesting because Mayor Pratt won't
answer your communications. So you see a
man is damned if he does and damned if he
DON'T
Il protest again. said DR.. Hunter, but the
audience made so much noise that he couldn't
however and insisted that ex-Mayor Eustis
had nc business to enter into explanation
of his administration
The audience cheered both sides quite i'm
partially, and Kissed down motions to ad-
journ. The chairman threatened to declare the
! meeting adjourned, but the crowd yelled:
mol No. let's hear both sides''
Finally Mr.. Eustis managed to say that
he had never invented the term my policy"
among certain of his fellow citizens He
! deemed it advisable to close his remarks at
! this point and the chairman put the motion
! to adjourn. 1t carried but there were
many who evidently wanted nothing better
J than to stay and it out and let the best
man win. They slowly filed into the lobby
! and carried on the discussion among them
selves with much noise and gesticulation.
On the stage Mr.. Eustis and the members
of the committee had very exciting debate
in which everybody tried to talk at once and
most of them succeeded. At length however
the theater cleared. and the little groups
drifted up and down Hennepin avenue in the
rain. 1t is safe to say that some of them
were not in the most Christian frame Of mind
though when they came to think about it,
perhaps. it would be difficult to say what ali
the excitement was about.
OBJECT OF THE GATHERING.
The meeting proper began at 8 o'clock in
the afternoon. Dean Pattee, of the uniyer.
sity law school, opened it with a forc.ble ad
! dress on the necessity of having the laws
strictly enforced, and not leaving the inter
probation Of them to the discretion of an ex-
ccutive officer.
George P. Wilson read the Roosevelt letter
which had been awaited with much interest
| In order to make it Ineligible 1t was neces-
sary to refer to letter which Dr. Albert
Shaw wrote to Mr.. Eustis some time ago
! and in which he said that the ATTEMPT to
bring the whole machinery of the city gov
eminent TO enforce the Sunday LIQUOR law
in New York had not been a success. This
had been taken by Mr.. Eustis as an indorse-
ment of his policy, but a subsequent letter
was read in which DR.. Shaw said he only
meant to refer to defects in the New York
law, that many of them had now been rem
edied, and that he did not consider Sunday
enforcement failure.
| The Roosevelt letter sent to Mr.. Bell re-
| ferred to the same matter, and was as fol-
lows
MR.. ROOSEVELT'S LETTER
Dear Mr.. Bell: Now, in regard to DR..
| Shaws letter. There was no effort to bring
the whole machinery of the city government
10 prevent the sale of liquor on Sunday"
On the other hand, there was a resolute eff
| Tort that that very small portion of the ma
chlnery OF the city government which was
necessary to be used to prevent the Illegal
sale or liquor on Sunday should be used with
honesty ana effe1eney: and instead of it's
being total failure it was an unqualified
ana complete success. The law was hon
esuy and thoroughly enforced in spite Of the
TACT that it had been drawn largely with a
| view to provide for its own defeat The best
| proof of its complete success was the fact
passed Under the Raines law the courts
| have held that a sandwich constitutes a neal
! so that the results to which DR. Shaw AL
| ludes arise from the law and its construc-
| ton, and have nothing whatever to do with
its enforcement by the police. Sincerely
| yours, Theodore Roosevelt
MIR. Wilson followed the reading OF the