Morris tribune., 1901-06-08
st. 9oue 9e&tc5.

into fusion in 1896 and repeated
the experiment in 1900, great man.
of the leaders of both the Democratic
and Populist parties still advocate
fusion for 1902 and and a prepare
ton for the same thing in the mex
presidential campaign. Mr.. Bryan
himself is probably the strongest ad
vocate of this 'union of forces anc
his paper IS being made the of6cia
organ of the fusion faction.
There never was but one reason
or excuse--for fusion, and that was
the desire to capture the Offices, and
there never was but one basis upon
which such an arrangement could, be
brought about, and that was upon q
businesslike division of the spoils'
Originally the Democrats and Popu-
lists were, if possible, farther apart
than the Republicans and Populists.
The Populist party was never a free
trade party, and it never agreed with
the Democrats on anything except
free silver This was the pfetext on
which the parties got together in 1896
| and when the free silver craze died
out, as it did long before, the cam
paign of 1900, there was no longer
j even pretext for fusion. This is
shown by the fact that. in North and
South Carolina, Arkansas and other
hopelessly Democrats states, the
Democrats refuse to fuse with the
Populists, and the latter sick every
opportunity to fuse with Republicans
on state, local and often ON congress
sional candidates. AL they want is.
an office here and there, and they are
quite content that their Yaunted:
"principles0 shall be held in abeyance.
This has often enough been made APP
parent right here in Minnesota: The
two parties get together and adopt
different and conflicting platforms,
declare their renewed" allegiance to
a different and conflicting SGT of
principles and then nominate q set Of
candidates who. do not subscrfBe to
or believe in either platform OF set OF
principles. Once out of three: times
they have succeeded iB eleeting the
candidate for governor thus nOmi,
nated1 and the administration be-
comes something THAT WIS newer con-
templated by either convention and
that neither party had in
mind at the time the. Homiaa tons
! were 81 ! made, 3 Freq Silver an1p lieapi
administration. IHtherg was, any gre
issue, upon which, Minnesota was
wholly oue-sided it was the issue Of
sound money, as was shown by the
more, than $1,000 majority for Nc
Kinley in 1896 and more than 75,Wo'I
for him i'm 1900, and yet the PopulistslI
and Democrats who fused on gover4}l
nor in 1898 found enough d4fce-hun-
CRY followers to elect Lind and pub
fish to the world that Minnesots was
a FreeASilver- Republican state.
And what did Minnesota RepuB-
licans gain, or what did thef state
itself gain, BY electing a Democrats
PopulTst- Free Silver Republican, GOV
ernor?e During his administration
there was not a single department ell
the state government that was lcon--
dueted better than it was before, ancRf
very few of them thatweTe cond4ctedl.A
as WE'LL Nearly eveny departments
was run at an increased expense and
many of them were 3d. wasteful end
extravagant as to bes reproach and
scandal to the state. The state bind
ing twine plant, which under former
auspices had been self-slastaining. and
which, had saved tbs. farmers of the |
state hundreds of thousands of dol
lars, experienced the first failure OF
its existence through acknowledgement
or worse, and the state prison itself,
lost the regulations which it had en-
loved as. a model institution Of it's
kind. The railroad commissions and
grain inspection bureau we're trans
formed from comparison body into
a political machine in the faee. of q
statute which distinctly declared
that not more than two members of
the commission should be members
Of the same party-a statute that had
been religionsly observed by tho
Republican governors since the crea-
ton of the commission. That the
people did not approve Of the fusion
administration in this branch was
\