The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-11-03
"UHmanly and cowardIy!"

1t has always been a recognized
privilege of citizens in this country,
when they believed they had just cause
for complaint against public officials,
to formulate, in some manner their
complaint, and, where the source of the
grievance involved body or system
comprising "a number of officials, to re-
fer thereto in a general way, relying
upon possible invsstig for sitting
the innocent from the guilty There
have been cases, for instance, where
suspicious of corruption existed against
a city board Of aldermen; but it has
usually happened that the man who
ronlized his individual freedom from
guilt has not felt called upon to defend
himself by heated proclamation of
his own innocence, or, if he was chair
man of the board, to insultingly stig-
Matte the action of the complainants
against the body in genelnl as "un-
manly and cowardly"
But Judge Ira B. Mills, chairman of
the Minnesota railroad and warehouse
commission, thus characterizes the
farmers of the state who, in a per-
fectly legitimate and proper manner,
assembled together individually and by
representation, and formulated a gen
eral complaint against the system of
grading end docking wheat The grain
inspectors are state officials cooper
ating under the prevailing system. 1t
is believed by the conlplainants that
the willful practices of these officials
have resulted in robbing the grain pro-
ducers of Minnesota Of hundreds of
hn1 dc Nf laI1to
and has been for years administered.
primarily, in the special interests of
the elevator and milling potentates of
Minneapolis and elsewhere with the
secondary object of retaining the Off
Gals in thed lucrative offices, which
result can be the more positively as
sured through the continued domino
ton of the Republican party in the
state
The farmers Of Minnesota, great and
small alike, have suffered for MANY
years from the outrages practiced
upon them by the ring controlling the
inspection of grain. They, as a class,
have been insolently told in substance
by Chief Inspector Clausen: IF you
don't like the law, change itr' That
is precisely what they are seeking to
do, and in the only way that is pos
sible, namely by the overthrow of the
ring at the polls. 1t certainly is time
that this result was accomplished
when, upon presenting their complaints
to the board of railroad and warehouse
commissioners, they are insultingly
styled towards" by the chairman
himself.
The insolence of office has rarely
been more conspicuously illustrated
than by Chief Grain Inspector Clausen
and Judge Ira B. Mills In
this their official treatment Of
the farmers of Minnesota, and
it should receive a stern rebuke These
complaints emanate from Democrats
and Republicans alike, for all have
suffered in varying degrees under the
administration of the law. According
to the views of Judge Mills it is "un-
manly and cowardly" to complain
against abuses and outrages which
have become notorious; but would it
not be more unmanly and more coward
ly, not only to submit to the abuses
aid outrages, but to the insolence of
the head of the board as well?
The election of John Lind next Tues
day affords the only means of over
| throwing the ring, reforming the sys-
| tenn and putting an end to the rotten
| ness of the state government now eX-
! listing.