The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1899-01-31
A HOT BLIZZARD From
THE NORTH Star State
A Merriam Champions Def
ance of Cushman K. Davis.
The Olive Branch TO Be Burned
on Delivery.
insinuatinn That the senator Dare
Not Antngonisc The Aspirn-
tions of His Enemy.
To The Editor of The Times:

To the Editor of The Times:
l respectfully ask space in your columns
to express the resentment which ex-Goy-
ernor Merriam's friends in Washington feel
on account of a paragraph which appeared
in your columns on the morning of January
30. Whoever wrote the matter objected to
was entirely mistaken in calling the pres
ent movement in Minnesota to modify the
influence of Cushman X. Davis in
that State plot. The friends of
Governor Merriam, it is true, are
not friendly to Senator Davis, and their
reasons for not being friendly are sufi
cient. They approve the course which has
been for years taken by the applicant for
the census superintendency to show the
Senator that there are certain things which
even he cannot force upon the people of his
State, and. in demanding that he shall bow
to the opinion of those who represent the
best elements of citizenship in Minnesota,
they demand only what he ought to recog-
niZe and what he will find he must sub
NIT to.
1t would be cowardice on the part OF Gov
ernor Merram's adnerents to suggest, when
they insist that Cushman X. Davis shall
abandon his attitude of opposition to the
mean thereby any apology for their course
in antagonizing the senior Senator from
their State 1t is but political honesty to an
| nounce that, in demanding the endorsement,
or at least cessation OF antagonism. on
the part of Davis in connection with Gov
ernor Merriam's candidacy for the census
superintendency we do not ask any favor at
his hands. We know and he knows that,
although he has been allowed another term
;,, ., tnl Csasn of hn ttTna a
! gone by when he dares to fight against his
| peer as a statesman and his superior in the
affections of the people of Minnesota.
| The argument which you put into the
| mouth of a member of Congress. and, L
/ am willing to acknowledge justly, because
l recognize the long earmarks. is sheer
nonsense. The position which Governor
| Merriam's friends want for him is strictly
| political one. 1t would be abiect foolish
ness to call it anything else. The conten-
tion of your member that he is unquali-
| fled for it, because he is not a great statis-
| tician like the late Francis Walker or the
! present Carroll ID. Wright, is rot" to a
practical man of public affairs. What the
country wants is a strong and influential
! personality at the head of the Census.
The technical business connected with the
work can easily be confided to any number
| of mathematical and investigating gentle
men. who would be glad enough of sal
| larry of eighteen hundred dollars a year
more than they could otherwise earn by
| their wits.
We are very much mistaken if Governor
| Merriam is not the man for the place. and
| we are justified in believing that he will
| get II. He would be pleased. and his
friends would no doubt be pleased, IL he
| could have it with the endorsement OF
| Cushman X. Davis; but | do not think I
violate any confidence in stating that that
endorsement is not necessary: nor that if
| given, it would tend in tho least to change
| the Davis views of Minnesotans who resent
| assumption of exalted political and social
| standing by certain Statesman" who
! shall be nameiess. J. D. J.