The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-09-28
BADLY SCARED POLITICIANS.

| BADLY SCARED POLITICIANS.
| The proceedings of the Republican
convention which recently adjourned at
Saratoga, N. Y, possess a special sig
nificance in the light of recent develop
ments.
The aggressive condition of public
sentiment in the Northwest on the sub
| ject of revision of the tariff and the
control of the trusts is universally rec
ognized. 1t has become apparent, too,
beyond all doubt that the national adj
ministration and the party which it
represents have been placed on the de-
fensive on those two subjects. But in
the East popular sentiment has not
been regarded as being so positive and
well defined in this regard as 1T is west
of the Allegheny mountains. The pro-
| ceedings of the New York convention,
exists among the leaders Of the party
in power, even in the large manufac
turing centers of the East, that pre-
walls throughout the West, on the score
of their Identification in the public
view with the trusts.
The st. Paul Gl o b e has already
commented on the completeness with
which the work of the New York con-
Vention was mapped out and deter
mined on long before that body met;
but the programme decided upon, was,
through an unexpected circumstance,
changed in one vital respect. George
r. Sheldon, determined upon between
the Republican bosses, Odell and Platt,
as the candidate for lieutenant gov
ernor, was at the last moment discard
| ed. His rejection is instructive and
significant. 1t was decided upon on
account of his alleged Identification in
business with trust interests.
Not all the protestations of Sheldon
and his friends to the contrary were Of
any avail. The imputation cast upon
him of having been at one time asso-
ciated financially with trust interests
was conclusive on his political for
tunes, and the nomination went to an
other man. 1t is true that a personal
feud underlaid the change in this re-
spect of the programme Of the bosses, but
Sheldon would have been the nominee,
feud or no feud, were it not for the
charge of trust connection on his part.
He is a banker, and has been able ap-
parently to demonstrate that he never
had a dollar Of interest in any trust Or
| oh IN hi oI,o atry.
as banker he had been into trust con-
nection, but he was surely and fatally
disqualified by the very imputation,
| however unfounded, that was cast upon
him.
Republican dread Of the trust issue
could have no better demonstration.
The consciousness exists among those
who are responsible for the leadership
Of the party in every section of the
country that it's management is identi-
fled with trust interests and that it is
fatally vulnerable at this point. Moth
ing that may be said can discover the
connection in the popular mind be-
tween the trusts and the tariff The
for the tariff is not disputed. The re-
sponsibility Of the tariff in great meas
ure for the creation Of the trusts is
hardly less open to dispute. Of these
truths the Republican bosses are be-
coming painfully conscious, as the
proceedings at Saratoga clearly indi-
cate. The tariff and the trusts are the
issues in this campaign, and those
issues the national administration and
the party which it represents are even
at this early stage in the discussion
hopelessly on the defensive. They are
finding that falsehood and evasion are
| alike unavailing, and that cause must
be shown to enlightened American
citizens why, in the interest of the
prosperity Of the people and the safety
of their institutions, radical changes
should not be made, and made speedily,
in the prevailing policies, both towards
the tariff and the trusts.