The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-03-13

or not. His administration was, how
ever, evidently clean and a good one.
After Mr.. O'Brfen, Edmund Rice
1885, who before the expiration of his
term on the 18th of February, 1887. re-
signed, by reason of having been elected
member of congress. Robert A.
Smith. then president of the common
council, was unanimously elected by
the council to fill the uneXpired term,
and by successive reflections held Of
flee until June, 1892, and then again
reelected in 1894. 1t is no part of my
purpose to say but little in regard to
his several administrations. less cannot
be said, however, that, while it is an
undisputed fact that he was a Demo-
cratic politician of the old school and
had been more or less mixed up in
politics for more than forty years, and
Notwithstanding the howl-that he was
the embodiment and chief of gang rule
these points were urged against him
by small calibered Republicans and
disgruntled Democrats who were never
satisfied unless they had hold of the
public nipple, and all the time he was
as free from partiSanship as any OF
his predecessors in office. Any citizen
who may take the trouble to inquire
into his many appointments will find
that the Republicans always had
large share; in fact. the majority of
the boards were controlled by RepubH-
cans when he went out of office, men
whom he had appointed not with re-
gard to politics, but for fitness and
haracter-men who are among our
first citizens. No one has ever at
tempted to impugn his honor, his hon
esty or his integrity.
That mistakes We're made in his as
we'll as i'm other administrations there
is no doubt, but they were the out
growth Of boom times, and honestly
made for the betterment of the city,
as was thought In 1892 a surprise
a political cyclone was in store for all
parties, Democrats and Republicans
alike. The Democrats were of the
opinion that with Bob Smith as their
standard bearer they We're impregna-
BILE. They had forgotten one fact, how
ever, that the financial crash of 1899
was increasing in volume; that the
times were hard, real estate depreciat
ing in value, men out of employment,
business at standStill-thiS wrong
fully charged upon the municipal ad-
ministration then in poWer-yet, there
were men simple enough to believe it.
The Republicans and their allies, with
out much hope of success, spent weeks
in procuring a candidate for mayor.
After many failures and with a pledge
that all they required was the use of
his name, they succeeded in getting
use of his name as a candidate for
mayor. Mr.. Wright was a prominent
busiTess man, whose education was
and had be- in the counting room
knew but little aGcut municipal affairs.
After a spirited canvG@~ he was elect
ed. and for some: months afterwards
it was a problem who was mayor-AIr.
Wright, or the machine who nominal
ed and secured his election. For
while it may be said the gang run
high, but he soon realized the fact that
if he wanted to make his adminiStra-
ton respectable and sustain his own
reputation it must be run upon bust
ness lines-which for part Of his term
he tried to do
At the election Of 1894 Mr.. Doran
was the candidate of the Republicans.
but failed of an electiOn-the neces-
sary combinations had not been made.
Up to Doran.
The municipal election Of 1896 was
an extraordinary one-neXer had such
a combination of forces been arraign-
ed against the Democratic party in
any one campaign. For weeks prior to
the election. in nearly all Of the
Protestant churches of the city, dis
courses were delivered upon municipal
reform, in regard to the suppression
rigid enforcement of laws and ordi
nances in relation to saloons and Sun
day baseball. 1t was claimed that the
Democratic policy of municipal gov
eminent was too wide open, and that
Doran was the Moses to lead the peo-r
pie out of the wilderness into a purer
and better administration CT local af-
fairs, in fact, after the election, in two
of the churches of the city. jubilee
LalI yx-hi 0p
with great force, praise God From
Whom All Blessings Flow" A large
number Of sporting men. who thought
they had been unfairly dealt with,
insisted that. if the boys wanted 10
hear the rattle Of the chius at all
hours of the day ard night Doran
was the man. Certain saloonkeepers
were of the opinion that with a
change of administration. they would
fair better. could run all night. have
more time to pay their license, and
less police surveillance-they were for
Doran Scarlet women, who wanted
to open sided palaces on business
streets and in residence localities. were
in the procession for Doran and re-
form.
Disgruntled Democrats, who had
been warming their shoes around the
radiators in the court house for many
something to turn up, thought, with
Doran, the millennium would be at
hand, and other associations and other
organizations were under the impress
sion that, with Dorar. it would be
the break of day with them, and, with
no small number of the men who claim
to constitute the better element of the
Democratic party, jumped into the ma
chine band-wagCD. in the hope
change of administra ton would bring
better times All of these different
elements. together with the Republi-
can machine, elected D,'ran. But
somebody has been fooled. Was it our
church people, who made his election
a. matter of special prayer? Was it
the gamblers and sporting men. who
speak of the improved conditions of
business in ST Paul? Was it the
women who run the gilded palaces of
sin. and ere the patronesses Of French
balls which are run under the protec-
ton of the mayor and his police force,
or was it the men who run blind pigs
and all-night houses? Lincoln once
said: you can fool all of the people
some of the time some of the people
al! the time. but you can't fool all
the people all the time Who was it?
The Republicans say his administra-
nj MS bonum.
No Other Like 1t.
A comparison of former Democratic
administrations with that of the pres
ent Republican are unnecessary; they
speak for themselves. and it will not
be difficult for an intelligent people to
determine the difference between those
run upon business lines from the pres