Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1901-05-01
WEDNESDAY, M AY l, 1901,
The PLEA OF the DUMP ORGAN.

The Foot Lake dump organ, the Re-
publican-Gazette, published in its last
issue an attempt at justification of the
the work which has been done by the
big republican .moguls of Willmar in
trying to force the people of the coun-
ty to pay for that impracticable piece
of civil engineering. AS is usual with
the gang organ, anyone who dares to
to disagree with it is at once stig-
matized as being dishonest. It hopes
to awaken prejudice against the TR1B-
UNE and make out it's editor as dishon-
est, thinking that then it will succeed
in its designs. The TRIBUNE is will
ing to let the future decide the ques-
ton of the propriety of it's motives.
AS newspaper it claims the right to
criticise and comment upon any mat
ters affecting the public interests. Any
tax.paying citizen has the right to find
fault with any expenditure of public
money, and such a person is certainly
entitled to as respectful hearing as are
parties who are seeking to re- imburse
themselves from the public's money.
The great trouble in such cases is that
''what is eyerybody's business is no.
body's business" and therefore de-
signing persons when making their
grabs into the public treasury very
often succeed because there is no one
in the body of citizens who cares to
brave the annoyance and trouble that
always falls to the lot of the complain
ing citizen. The TRIBUNE as a news
paper stands ready to expose and turn
the light of publicity upon any such
scheme it can find proof of, but it has
not the means wherewith to push such
matters in the courts or maintain lob
bies in the halls of legislation. It
considers, therefore, that when it has
stated the facts as it finds them, it has
done it's duty. If the citizens fail to
act and thus acquiesce in the matter,
it is not the fault of the TRIBUNE;
neither does it prove that the TRIBUNE
is wrong.
The TRIBUNE is glad that the Ca
zette published the findings of that
special committee. If the truth of tn at
report can be established the TRIBUNE
would consider it duty to withdraw
it's opposition and admit that it has
been mistaken. 1t is apparent that the
committee heard but one side of the
matter. What a pity that the commit
tee did not come up to Willmar and
advertise public hearing in the mat
ter instead of taking the word of those
who were lobbying for the Foot Lake
dump and Pine county stump land
road promoters. In regard to the
Pine county matter, it is only necessa-
ry to show that the Senator McKusick
who violently opposed the bill and
made all kinds of charges" represent
ted Pine county in the senate and is
responsible to the people for his off,
cial acts.
The fact that several populists have
been deceived in the dump matter does
not make the matter right. The TR1B-
UNE is as ready to criticise a populist
whom it believes neglects to do his
duty as it is a republican, and more
so, because it is through the lack of
consistency and continuity of purpose
of men elected to represent and lead
the party that it has suffered loss of
prestige in the past.
Returning to the findings" of that
committee, we desire to comment brief
ly on each section of the same:
That the obligations referred to in the act
were incurred by the counties of Pine and
Kandiyohi for the construction of public high
ways therein in the year 1896, pursuant to
chapter 302 of the General Laws of 1895.
There is hardly any doubt that the
law was a special one, modelled after
the ditch law, and conceived with Foot
Lake insview. That it was not a law