The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1900-09-27
be able to conduct the wild and refrac-
tory Pops over the rough and rugged
road from Populism to Democracy.

be able to conduct the wild and refrac-
tory Pops over the rough and rugged
road from Populism to Democracy.
For instance. at the Populists' state
convention In Minneapolis In 1896 some
leading Popnlists desired to see Mr..
Lind face to face and ask him some
plain questions as to his relation to the
two parties-the Democratic and Pop
ulist--in case he should be elected. He
was in Minneapolis, but he could not
be located by the Populists in question.
although the fusion leaders had him
where they could put their fingers on
him at any time. After his nomination
he was brought in the room to make
his little speech to the convention, and
after it was made he vanished as sud
denly as he appeared. Now. John Lind,
! have every reason to believe, knew of
this desire on the part of many prom
inent Populists to see him for the pur-
pose Indicated and he purposely and
studiously evaded them. then got the
impression. as did many leading Pop
ulists. that John Lind and the fusion
leaders regarded us as a lot OF green
horns who could be handled like so
many cattle, simply by bell-gingling,
~
whole fusion program has since abund-
antly confirmed this view. Yet our re-
gard for honest John Lind was such
that we, to some extent, excused him,
and when he came out as the POLITICAL
Orphan phrase selected by himself
as the proper term to define his political
Affiliations, we determined to give him
our support and went out and solicited
votes for him among the Republicans
on the orphan basis. say It DELHI
erate1y, for I know what I am talking
about, that thousands of Populists and
Republicans voted for him for gov
ernor in 1893 in the belief that he was
strictly an Independent and nom parti-
san candidate. And believe that this
vote elected him..
Now. according to my notion of con-
sistency and political ethics, John Lind
should have remained a political or
phan' during his term Of office; other
wise he lays himself open to the charge
of having obtained his election by false
pretences. 1871.
some other suitable person to serve as
his private secretary and political man
ager than the state chairman of the
to choose a man who had made himself
especially obnoxious by offensive parti-
sanship in his dealings with Populists?
Was there no alternative but to choose
man whose conspicuous ambition 1T
had been for four years past to cripple
and destroy the Peoples party that his
own might profit thereby? This man
Rosing has now SO nearly succeeded,
~ o;d ,F It'd IL;
the Peoples party that the remnant of
the latter is only the tail end Of the
donkey, and thus but laughing stock
or joke. y
Nov, this Lind-Towne, end Justify
ing-the-means program may be good
Democratic politics, for all I know, but
to my notion of political methods, ac-
quired in the Republican and the
Peoples parties, it is disreputable. If
real and valuable reform in govern
mental affairs can come into existence
by this road then all the political his
tory of the past Is a lie.
Am I sore at John Lind because he
has been the chief agent in wiping out
the Peoples party? Well, yes; haven't
! good cause to be? Suppose the Peo-
pies party had succeeded in UNDER
mining the Democratic party In this
state by similar methods, don't you
think Rosing and the O'Briens would
have been saying about us just what
am now saying about them? Don't you
think they would have been employing
All their ponderous ingenuity to get
even with us?
But we Pops are simply voting cat
tie! We must kiss the hand that
smites us! Yes, let those who are con-
tent to live ION crumbs from their VIC
tors tables take them and be happy.
am not built that way. I stand on my
dignity in politics as, in other matters.
I will never degrade myself by voting
for man who has taken an undue sad-
vantage of my generosity. I have only
one vote, but John Lind cannot have
it this year. I will not voteNto perpet-
uate Rosing political, machine in
Minnesota"