Willmar tribune., 1899-10-18

/, Wednesday, Oct. Is,
the party for selfish ends; he was op-
posed to the. state administration
stulifying itself by being the abject
tool of grea corporations.
Mr.. Eustis would have been gov.
ernor. himself And, Mr.. Editor, the
railroads knew this. And they also
knew that in Mr.. Douglas the gov
ernor would have the right kind of
legal advisor. They realized that
with Douglas and Eustis at the helm
their "administrat ton of the state
government would cease. These
gentlemen would tolerate no inter-
ference in their official acts. Had
the old dClough-machine-corporation
gang prevailed in the republican con-
vention, every railroad in the state
would have sung the praises and
sprang to the support Of the repub-
lican candidate. But when the old
gang got cleaned out; when the
young men in the convention arose
in their might and said this damna-
ble corporation domineering Of the
party must stop, then the old gang
went home converted from republi-
cans into soreheatls, and quietly and
openly became traitors to the party
that had honored them.
And, Mr.. Editor, l may we'll in
quire, and the public may we'll in
quire, what WAS the power behind
the throne? Wherefrom came this
spontaneous effort on the part of the
old corporation-ridden gang OF re-
publicans to unite with a. lot of al
legged refOrmers to beat Eustis? They
(the gang) saw the end of their polit-
ical existence in the success of Mr..
Eustis. 1t is an open secret who die
tated previous political appoint
ments! Does any rational-minded
person believe for one moment that
this thing would have continued un-
der Mr.. Eustis? No, no, Mr.. Editor,
the old crowd realized that change
was imminent; they realized that in
the nomination of Mr.. Eustis the
party had expressly freed itself from
the old machine barnacles: they real
lied, in other words, that they would
be given II vacation sine die. And
the corporations, they realized the
same feeling. Every dog has his
day." They had had theirs. The
republican convention of 1898 had
completely broken up any existing
partnership. They were to be treated
henceforth as ordinary citizens of the
commonwealth.
This angered the critters, and. in
company with the sorehead republi-
cans, they became fusion aid soci-
ETY. and encOmpassel the defeat of
the republican candidate. It may
sound strange, Mr.. Editor, to your
readers, and particularly to those
who had such implicit confidence in
the righteousness of the cause Mr..
Lind stood for as a candidate for
governor, to know that he was the
candidate Of the corporations. But
such was nevertheless the case.
While Mr.. Lind was standing forth
as the one great champion of the
common people, and as such received
thousands of votes from honest,
though misguided republicans, he
was nevertheless the chosen candi-
date Of the great corporations; par.
ticularly the railroads. 1t seems
they turned to him as a saviour
when they were "turned down" in
the republican convention.
Now, Mr.. Editor, these corpora
tions don't do these things without
some prospect of reward. They are
too good politicians to make any
such "breaks" When they throw
their combined influence in favor OF
some candidate, it indicates some
understanding between the parties
Since | am not in the confidence o
Governor Lind cannot tell of any
compact he may have made. Perhaps
my friend Lawson can explain these
things! He is the governors apollo
gist, sponsor and adviser. He may
know the inner details of this ALI
ance OF the reform (?) forces. tht
railroads and the sorcheads.
He may he able to explain this
rather incongruous conglomeratior
Of reform, anti-reform, good God an(
good Devil politics. You may alsc
tell US, dear Victor, whether or moi
the cordial, sincere, hearty and ef
fective support of the railroads was
unsolicited by candidate Lind OF
whether it implied all agreement o
future favors! You may also state
whether or not the governors ST
lence on the freight rate question cal
in any shape, form or manner bt
traced to the effect Of corporation
support in the past and also. in tht
future. You will pardon NE and 6
few other citizens for entertaining
this belief. If we are wrong, ther
please set us right, but don't, DON'T
for Heavens sake, don't sentence us
to ''go to the commission" We