The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-10-26
An Insult to the Swcdcs.

IT John Lind should lie q ced gov rncr
and was elected by Swedish Repub lean votes
il would raise such a spirit of antagCn SIN
to the Swedish peope ana bring n sucl a
race war as would practically put an cru
for years to come, TO the consid Srauon OF
men and measures upon their merits.
If Swedish Republicans burden themS ives
with him at this time and have MS eiecu IN
charged up against them on the pohtcal
LEDGER. they may well make up hsir minds
that they will be paying dear fer the whistle
st. Paul Dispatch.
From an unusually proliX editorial
in the Dispatch, in which the premise
is the assertion that John Lind was
nominated for governor by the union
conventions because he traces his an
cestry to Sweden, because the Swedes
belong to the Republican party and
because the conventions hoped to break
into the vote of that nationality by
nominating one of their race, we make
the above excerpts. ut Is time to
tear the mask off" the hypocrisy Of the
union conventions, it says, and show
the Swedes how they are being played
upon. But. in tearing off what is as
sumed to be-a mask, the Dispatch tears
off the cover of confident assurance IN
the election of Eustis or any yellow
dog" and reveals the state Of panic
that prevails in it's camp.
Mr.. Lind is an American citizen.
Those to whom the Dispatch reads the
riot act are also American citizens.
Mr. Lind is not asking votes because
of his extraction; he would esteem it
an insult to those of similar deriva-
ton to ask their votes because they
came, nearly or remotely. from SWe-
den. He is asking votes and giving rea-
sons for the asking that appeal to
voters regardless of their nativity or
nationality. The question each voter
should ask himself, if he is true and
loyal citizen, is whether the reasons
of state given by Mr.. Lind are sutfi-
cient; are the reforms he advocates
needed; do the abuses he depicts exist?
Is there any possibility of reforms be-
ing made or abuses corrected by Mr..
Eustis whose party denies the need
of the one or the existence of the 9TH
er? The man is not a good citizen
who, believing what Mr.. Lind says, re-
fuses him his vote, or who, disDelieVing
his reasons, votes for him because he
is a SWede.
But what low conception the Dis
patch has of the Swedes. Any Swede
who reads that editorial and does not
feel a sense of insult must be thought
less, indeed. What is it's significance?
It says to every SWede: You belong
to the Republican party. as does the
negro; you must vote for its nOni
nees; if you do not, if you vote for
Lind because you believe the things he
proposes needfuI for the welfare of
the state and its people, you will COM
nit an act Of treachery to your party.
More than that, more insulting than
that, we, those Republicans who are
not Swedes, will declare a race war"
against you Swedes; we will see that
you get no nominations for Office or, if
you should, that we will knife you at
the polls.
No lash of slave driver was ever
swung over the backs of his negro
gang mere insolently or contemptuous-
ly than does the Dispatch swish the
party lash upon the voters of the state
who trace descent through Swedish
ancestry. If no other reason existed
for giving the vote of every such per-
son for Mr.. Lind, this editorial should
furnish it, if only as a protest against
the insolence and the insult Of it.