The Saint Paul globe., 1897-10-17
A CORRECTION.

CORRECTION.
The editor of the Pioneer Press, hav
ing been deprived of the educating and
Democratic associations, and not hav
ing availed himself of the privilege,
which he could have exercised with
such advantage, of attending Demo-
cratic meetings, has fallen into an err
ror which we are sure he will be glad
to have us point out. In referring to
some remarks made by the editor of
the Globe to the Fourth Ward Dem
ocratic club, he assumes that the gen.
eraI statement was made that we have
had recently mo government in st.
Paul; that there has been mot so much
abuse as non-use Of power" Upon
this text he reads the usual moral, not
now much over ten years old, of dan
ger from 1.-The gang" and the accumu-
lation of debt which Republicans aid
ed in incurring and Democrats have
aided in paying off. We have to offer
a correction, which will doubtless be
accepted by him as making the asser-
ton actually advanced proof against
contradiction or amendment
The statement referred to was made,
in the words quoted but was applied
to the acts, or absence of acts, by the
city council since it fell into the hands
of the Republican party. Great things,
we may remember, were to be done by
this council, according to election
promises in the spring of 1896; almost
as great as were to be done by the
Republican delegation in the legisla-
ture of 1897. In both cases the result
is absolute zero. We ask any man to
take the record of council proceedings
since June, 1896, and point out one act
that has been of benefit to ST. Paul
or any of it's citizens. 1t has not abus-
ed its power, because it has not eXer-
cised it. 1t could not, because the
street railway company cut off the cur
rent. That body has attended only to
such business as the company pleased.
1t has resembled nothing so much as
one of the trolley cars of it's master,
showed backward and forward as the
motoneer applied and reversed the
power AS he did not please that it
should do anything except something
that would provoke a popular revolt,
the council has never got off the side
track. AS far, then, as government by
council is concerned, there has been "a
negation of all government in st. Paul"
AS far as the executive and his police
depa1 tment are concerned, there has
been, as the editor of the Glob e
pointed out, and as he is quite ready
to repeat, much government; too much
government; government of such
shameful sort as this city has never
seen before and we trust will never
see again. No one can accuse "Grif-
fin & Co." who have had matters in
their hands, of not doing all the gov
erning" that was in sight, according to
their lights. The mayor who is one of
the Co." with his abettors and apollo
gists as sleeping partners, has left
nothing in his reach undone to degrade
the public service to the lowest level
He has filled the places within his dis
posal with his political creatures. What
he has done with the board of public
works, and is still proposing to do in
order to make clear his way to a renom-
ination, is known to all men, What
he has done with the police force, with
what indecent haste the double pay
rolls, to be footed by the taxpayers,
show, is the talk of the town. What
he tried to do to the schools is what
might be expected of one of the firm
of Griffin & Co." His power has not
rested in allegiance, but has been exer-
cised with all the brutal haste of ig-
norance and all the diligence of the
low politician.
But it is in the police department
that we have had most government. "
Witness the innocent people who have
been taken to the city lookup almost
daily on the pretense that they were
crooks, subjected to insult and indig-
nifty and then released without even
the poor reparation of an apology. Wit
ness the horde of confidence men who
have been invited to come here, making
their headquarters where they could
fraternize readily with the police force.
Witness the liberation given to little
games" when they were conducted un-
der the patronage Of the city author
ities. Witness the horrible scandal Of