The Minneapolis journal., 1901-12-18
MINNESOTA POLITICS


Members Of the Legislature who have found
their way to the capitol within the last month
are OF one mind agreed that the present
| railroad and warehouse commission is a bar
nacle, and ought to be removed Many of
them go farther, and say it will be done by
the extra session. II there is a show for any
legislation outside of the tax code, the matter
| Is bound to come up. in the shape of a Dill
repeating the acting making the commission
elective, and substituting the old form of
| appointment ty the governor
Ihe 1899 act was party measure. Repub-
| licans had before them an example Of the
| appointye system. Governor Lind controlled
the commission, and hence the patronage.
| The democrats might elect a governor, but it
| did not seem likely that they could ever
elect commission. ard the real motive for
the passage of the Torson bill was party
/ one. 1t was cloaked under the pretensc Of
giving the people teir choice
! The result has been disastrous from a party
standpoint All agree that no governor would
ever have appointed the present commission.
1t is the only branch Of the state govern
ment for which apology is necessary, ard
II something is not Gone with it. It will
/ seriously embarass the party in the next cam
| paign.
Something is bound to happen" said a
Well-known member of the Legislature the
/ other day II do not see how it can be
siderably, and with one exception the reDub-
| lican members have seen are ready to 4>tc
| to DO away with the commission. IF there is
any show for such legislation, it is bound to
! bob up"
| The present situation eloquently demon
/ strates the need of q commission in harmony
! with the governor. He will be handicapped in
! his contest with the railroads by the apathy
| of the commission, unless something is done
| to bring it under his authority
The worst OF it is, the two members who are
particularly obnoxious were elected for four
years, and will control things for three years
more unless displaced
The feeling that prevails is eloquently
shown by the following from the Albert Lea
| Tribune:
! warehouse commission is succeeding in get
| ting about as much uncomplimentary COM
ment upon his official actions regarding his
! attitude toward the proposed railroad merger
and other questions affecting these great cor
porations as the most pachydermic skinned
| individual could wish, and the unpleasant part
receiving are merited. The an
| nouncement that the railroad commission will
] abandon Governor Van SAINT in his fight
against the consultations proposed is good
! news TO the people, as the body that has
! thus far done nothing but draw its salary
| would prove the worst kind of a handicap
liness.
If Judge Theodore Bruener of st. Cloud
| knew how badly some sixth district demo-
Gratis are wanting him to run for congress,
he would think more seriously Of the propo-
sition. Judge Bruener has turned a cold
! shoulder to the politicians far, to their
! despair. They were never more anxious to
! run John Lind for governor than to get Brue-
ner the ticket for congress. He is in
nearly every way the strongest democrat in
the district. He would carry the Catholic
vote, which is very strong, almost soldly.
His thoughts do not seem to run on political
preferment of late years, however.
If the populist and Bryan democratic ele-
ments of the opposition party gave evidence
that they had forgiven the past, and would
fall in line for Bruener, he might be persuaded.
He realizes, however, that many of them
would never forget his support of Page Nor
ris, which, beyond doubt, defeated Towne in
1896 and 1885, He would bring the gold deln-
ocrast back in line solid1y but would lose
many populists and silverites. On the other
hand, silver man would not get the full
democratic strength, and the general feel
! ing is that Judge Bruener if he would only
run, is the most likely to win of any demo-
crat in the district.
Once more the discussion of a four-year
term for all state officers is going the rounds.
| / ne Red wing RepuDl1can started II, the
Austin Register indorsed it and others will
be speedily heard from. There appears to
be strong sentiment in favor of the change
and move in that direction will probably be
made at the next regular session r.
The auditor and clerk of the supreme court
serve four-year term now, and there seems
| 10 good reason why their terms should be
| longer than the rest. The auditors office
is the mCst efficiently run of any in the cap
itol, because of the long experience of en-
ployes. The governor is kept campaigning
all the time, and so his subordna6es,
who barely get acquainted with their duties
when they have to face an upheaval A green
legislature needs veteran governor to tenn
per its transactions, but as rule the legisla-
ture has a brand new governor over it, whose
time is all taken UP by office seekers, and
who knows little or nothing of the details Of
I bis work. BY the time he comes to under
stand legislation, and to know what measures
are needed, he has to write farewell address,
which is pigeonholed by the new legislature.
The change would have to be submitted to
the peole, and could not go into effect before
1906, If passed by the next legislature
James w. Nash was elected secretary of
the Hennepin Republican association last eve
ming at a meeting of the executive committee.
He succeeds ]. Albert Hagstrom, deceased.
The committee is working hard on arrange
ments for the Lincoln Day banquet, which
| will be held at the West hotel Feb. r. 1t
will be known III a few days whether Sena-
tor Fairbanks OF Indiana will be present on
that occasion. C B. C.