Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1897-03-04
Doings at Pierre.
Delayed L%etter.--The Senatorial
Election Woman Suffrage.
Taylor Investigation.
PIERRE. S. d., Fen. u, 1897
our Special Correspondent.

election, equal suffrage question, and The
resolution OF investigation Of all the
state officers from the beginning ~ofstate-
hood.
The first and most important OF these
was the senatorial deal. The pops were
taken completely b, surprise and when
the election of Kyle was assured We're
fairly wild with rage, and it looked for a
time as though the joint assembly
would be a riot at any time. But only
one personal encounter took place and
this was in the hallway outside o. the
house
When the pops failed to get any nearer
to an undersi anding in their Monday
night caucus than in any OF their past
meetings. some OF their leaders went at
the task ofsecuring signatures oil enough
Of the pop members to insure success to
stand by some dark horse candidate at
the Thursday night meeting to make a
nomination. This was to be kept abso-
lutely secret and the election OF their
choice was to follow on FRIDAY. But
hey had traitors in their ranks who let
the plan slip, and as it had come to a
situation where the Republicans could
hope for no further delay, and Kyle was
certainly defeated, the Republican steer
ing c. mmittee went to work about
three O'Clock Thursday morning on a
plan to head off the pop election. A
confer ence with Kyle assured them that
he was in favor OF carrying out the pol
icy of protection which the people had
demanded in the late election, and that
he was in favor OF an international
agreement on 4he money question, and
on this basis they determined that ii
they could not secure Pickler they would
p efer such a man as Kyle to II radical
pop, and the committee decided to en-
dorse him. 1t was hard to get all the
Republicans to look at it in just that
light, but all save one finally agreed to
stand by the senator.
Early Thursday morning rumors
began to fly that Kyle would be elected
that day and that the Republicans were
to vote for him, but il was not known
nor believed that they would give him
their solid support. When the roll cell
on senator began, all the Republican
senators voted for Picker, but when the
house roll was reached, their votes with
one or two exceptions went for Kyle.
! The votes Of the house Republicans were
not enough to elect him, and the pops,
| with the exception OF the Kyle contin-
gent and a few of them, began to change
their votes from Plowman to Goody-
koontz and back to Plowman again,
some of them making several changes
each way in "a vain hope of rafting the
Republicans and getting their men to
desert Kyle. During all this time, when
ever there was a lull, one or two Repub-
lican senators would rise and change
from Picker to Kyle until all had made
the change. The pops were never sure
at any time that all OF them would go
over, and thought that every one would
be the last. As a final effort, Palmer, i'm
m impassioned speech, in which he de-
nounced the pops to be incapable of
managing the affairs OF the state, cast
his vote for NJ. f. Greedy with a hope
that he could get following and make
a break in the Republican ranks. But
all the votes stood without a break, and
the clerks after several Notifications OF
the roll announced that Kyle had 65
votes, and the chairman declared him to
be elected. Then started q long wrangle
to prevent the signing OF the certificate
without an adjournment, but about two
o'clock the certificate was signed aud
attested, and the fight was over so far
as the session was concerned, but not so
lar as the pops were concerned On the
outside. No further business was tho't
OF for the day and an adjournment was
taken to the next day, while the pops
quarreled among themselves the whole
afternoon, several fights being narrowly
avertcd. But, kick and roar as they
might, the senator had been elected, and
they could do nothing but give rent to
their rage, and instead OF the announced
caucus in the evening, they held an in
dignation meeting in which they de-
nounced and ~repudiated Kyle.
On the suffrage question, the house bill
to allow a vote on that question had
failed for lack OF a constitutional major
ity, and when the senat measure on
that subject had come to the house Tor
action an effort was made to postpone
it without action. This failed and the
senate bill was pushed to its first and
second reading at once by it's opponents
and made o special order for Friday. At
the Friday meeting, the suffrage forces
were short OF the constitutional majority
on account OF absentees and asked for a
continuance, which was given them, oil
the friends Of the measure voting to