Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1897-03-26
REFORM PRESS BUREAU.
PIERRE. March Is, l99

PIERRE, March 10. 1897.
The legislature has adjourned. The
mem bers escaped through the Highmore
drifts accompanied by some of the state
officers, and the ocean Of snow closed in
behind them as the Red Sea swallowed
the hosts of Pharaoh. So the sixty days
ended, but the public is interested now
in knowing what the legislature really
did do To presume that the people at
large know anything but the most meagre
fragments of the facts concerning the
history of the legislature which has just
adjourned is to presume that the daily
press reports during the winter have been
fair, truthful and complete-a presump
tion which nobody can or will make when
Informed that nearly all the news sent to
the dailles during the winter was the
work of Ole Tomlnson of the Argus
Leader, who never tells the truth except
by accident, and L. e. Cavalier, who got
all his news from Tomlinson. and who is
mentally incapable Of telling the truth If
The Sioux Falls Press, The Omaha
World Herald, and the St. Paul Pioneer
Press were represented by G. w. Lukes,
editor of the Pierre Journal, whose reports
have been fair and usually accurate.
Some Of the Populist country newspapers
have had representatives on the ground
during the winter and readers of those
papers have Jared we'll in the matter of
truthful legislative news. Taken as
whole however, the people Of the state
have been misled on the doings at Pierre
this winter. A perfect flood of falsehood,
direct and implied, has gone over the
wires. A broadsde of dirt, filth and
slander, directed against the governor,
the members of the legislature and prom
inent politicians has poured forth contin-
ually from journalistic pirates, resulting
in the formation of the widest and most
ridiculous conclusions on the part of the
general public. Snowbound for weeks,
without rail or mail communication,
rushed with business and absorbed in the
exciting TRANSACTIONS of the session, the
administration and its friends had little
opportunity to defend against the Grimm
al slander which has been piled noun
tain high through the instrumentality of
the newspapers represented by o.nlinson
and Cavalier. To unoo this dirty work
and relate the straight facts concerning
the legislative session just closed will be
the work of the Reform Press Bureau
during the next year, arrangements hav-
ing been made to supply weekly letters to
each of the silver papers in the state. To
carry out this plan consecutlvely. begin
ming with the first week of the session,
will require some time, therefore, at the
present attention will be directed to the
work of the closing days of the session,
involving the appropriations and other
important legislation which is now being
drastically commented upon by the gold
bug press in this state and in Sioux City
St. Paul and Minneapolis.
Next to the election of Kyle in point of
excitement, was the session of the senate
on Friday afternoon, Feb. 5, the occasion
being the consideration of bill for the
creation of new board of charities and
corrections. The bill had safely passed
the house where it was generally sup
posed it would be slaughtered, if at all,
and had gone to the senate where the
majority was large enough to pass it.
1t was known that Senator Palmer was
against the bill for reasons personal to
himself II was known also that Senator
Kellar would oppose it on constitutional
grounds" an excuse which is easily fur
nished on all occasions in lieu of the real