The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-02-27
THAT HE ASKED FOR A POSTPONE
MENT ON THE REAPPORTION-
MENT.
'9NI77IM DOL DOL 81 HInOS
AND DID NOT EVEN SHOW UP YES
TERDAY TO DISCUSS THE
BILL.
DUNE-DAY CONTEST STILL ON.
Ii Is q Factor, Or Is Likely to De.
In Amy Plan of Rearrange-
ment Proposed.

J Senator Spencer, Of Duluth, has re-
| grets. They are official regrets, it is
only fair to say, for otherwise he ia
pretty well suited His banking bill
was yesterday recommended to pass.
and in other ways he has been so close
! to the sunny side of Easy street that
no thought Of secession has entered his
head since nearly two years ago. The
| city OF Duluth Is par excellence the
sufferer from the present one-sided
apportionment. Mr.. Spencer, as is we'll
known, is the senator from that dis
! trlct. The reapportionment of the
! state so as to give Mr.. Spencer at least
two companions in the senate from his
present district is one of the subjects
| or highest interest to Duluth in this
/ session. 1t was a special order for
/ w Wednesday, but Wednesday Senator
! Spencer had some private business to
| look after and he had the special order
reset for yesterday No one objected.
| Southern Minnesota districts are will
ing to stave it off as long as they can:
the Twin Cities will not gain or lose
| largely and the Seventh district Is so
! susceptible to infection by Pcpu-
Iistlc bacilli that any complaint that
| section might have made would have
been coldly received. So Senator Spen-
| GERS postponement passed and yester-
| Jay ne was In his seat ready to plead
for justice for the community which
has so long been weakly represented.
numerically speaking, on the senate
| moor. He was not the only one there.
| out ne could gaze over the forensic
| arena and detect more empty chairs
| than cushions that were oppressed nv,
senatorial avoirdupois and It was
! only after a search Of the supreme
! court and representative halls that the
| Sergeant-at-arms was able to present
| 10 the president Of the senate q bare
| quorum or that august legislative as
semblage. Accordingly the reapportion-
ment scAsme went over again Spencer
| coulo not KICK, as the last POSTPONE
ment was at his request. Then 1t be-
gan to dawn upon him that the men,
bers from the southern part Of thu
state were not particular whether the
senate adopted a resolution making
sixty senators or a million the limit.
With barely a third of the population
and nearly half the legislative repre-
sentation, they are doing pretty well,
thank you, and they will postpone the
reapportionment discussion as often as
! senator Spencer or any one l3e asks
IT, II ne be in any measure persuasive.
The senators from the First congress-
SIGNAL district are especially happy to
! witness any delay in the reaDpOrtion-
ment scheme, for while they are not
| unresponSive TO the broad SCOPE Of
their public office, they are still not I'M
! mindful of the fact that the First dis
| trict cannot gain anything by a, reap
| p0ruonment which is numerically even.
| There are ten counties In that district
| each Of which now has a senator and
they pile up in the aggregate 10 repre-
| senatiVes. Four Of these counties
| have scarcely more than half Of the
senatorial ratio each, to-wit: Houston.
1 Neseca, Steele and Dodge The three
| named last are contiguous, and two
| or the three Of them, can be convenient
! ly punched, but Houston is peculiarly
| situated, in that there are only two
| counties in this state that ii can be
| Joined to, and both these are so large
that in the new district the Winona or
the Fillmore dog would be pretty sure
to wag the Houston tail.
The Second district will not fare so
| badly as the First propomtionately, as
number of the counties in that dis
| trict have advanced we'll in population
| since 1885, but at the same time there
| are some troublesome factors to be
| overcome, and the Second will not fight
very hard for reappOrtionment I'M
| less it shall be promised ON a basis
which shall insure the continuance Of
! the present districts on close lines.
With a population Of 23S, 0S4 il has
| seven senators only, not more than it
would be entitled to on the present
size of the senate, although there are
senators representing 1t which live out
side Of it, the lines Of the congressional
district not conforming to those Of the
senatorial districts along the Mime
sofa river.
The Third district would also lose a
senator and DrOpOrtiCrately in the
house providing the reapportionm,ent
should be made on present lines. So
that it will be ssen that the southern
part of the state has little incentive to
haste in the consideration Of this pure
~ political question.
Another, element that is mixing ND in
the contest in the Second congressional
district, however, IS the much vexed
Dunn-Day contest in the Sixth senator
| ial district, which resulted in the I'M
| seating Of the silverite editor and the
installation Of the Fairnont LAWYER.
Mckinley had a, small plurality COM
raratively in that district, and Days
friends are promising all sorts Of vic
tories at the next election, which shall
return Day to the senate on the should
ers Of an admiring populace and all
that sort of thing This has stirred
the pride Of the Republican bosses, who
are thus placed on their mettle and
they are DESTROYS of fighting the thing
out again two years hence without hav-
ing the situation muddled by the adj
ditiOn to the district, or Of another
county, or perhaps, its division ard dis
tributlon into the other districts. The
party lines in the Second were so close
ly drawn this last election, that it is
quite a ticklish manner for the legis-
latuT'e to try to redistrict it, and it is
the desire to let matters political set
tie down until party lines can be moro
clearly marked before the party now
in power will be willing to take any
chances on letting the good things It
now has in the greater part of the dis
| trict to slip from it's grasp.