The Minneapolis journal., 1902-07-18
THE MINNEAPOLIS JOURNAL.

4 t4 4s r4
influential position at washington, and
take askeen state pride In his prominence.
This being SO, the outsider, promising
that state political affairs ought not to
enmesh the career of a man now dealing
with national affairs, has difficulty In
seeing why the La Toilette men insisted
on imposing humiliating conditions upon
the senator.
There are two sides to the question,
however. The fight against La Toilette
was largely made under the cover OF
Spooner.s name. Time and again, it was
asserted that a vote for. La Toilette was
vote against Spooner.'" This was done
openly and loudly. No word came from
spooner Thus. what was consistently
asserted, came. in some degree, to be
accepted, IN some quarters with result
ant injury to La Toilette; and the La
Toilette managers, In self defense, be-
gan to act on the converse theory that
to work Tor Spooner was to work against
pointees throughout the state, men
closely associated with Spooner, were
stalWarts and did their best to beat La
Toilette. It Is even charged that Spoon
er has quietly used his influence against
La Toilette and was responsible for some
votes against La Toilette measures In
the last legislature. Again, the La Fol
f1S@tO AASti -"SAA hACW ludC III rlCW VI Whe@I
Spooner's' friends had done. the stall
warts would argue that unconditional in
dorsement OF Senator SpooIer reduced the
proportions Of the La Follette-and-re-
form victory onebalf. The La Toilette
men recalled how the pledges Of the
party two years ago were repudiated by
the legislature and they proposed to
take no chances this time. They would
leave no loophole open that they could
stop. They would take no. chances on the
Spooner influence being used to defeat
their measures-now the measures of the
party. Even more,: they would try to
commit the Spooner influence to those
measures. Then, again, Senator Spooner
has never seen fit to withdraw his letter
expressing his unalterable determination
to retire from public life, written when
his wife was very i'll, and hystericai over
her husbands absorption in public 5af-
fairs. r.. - -; ;aGE,1. +>.~ ::
The, La Toilette mon were far from
being intent upon Senator Spooner's, hu-
initiation for in the committee on resolu-
tions they offered to give him an uncon-
ditional Endorsement If his most loudly
protesting friends, the stalwarts, would
consent to bow to the Will Of the party
and accept the primary election law re-
form. = %
A. R. Hall, at one time speaker of the
Minnesota house of representatives and
author; of the Wisconsin anti-pass law,
played an important part in the late con-
vention. He got up from a sick bed, al
most death bed, to come to Madison and
help put the finishing touches on the great
struggle for election reform. Tuesday
night in the convention, he rendered an
important service that the convention did
not then fully understand. The tired con-
vention was distinctly eirritated when he
moved to reconsider the adoption of the
resolutions 80 that an aye-and-no vote
could be. taken. He remembered that in
the fight for the primary law in the legis-
lature it. had; been. said that. the previous
platform declaration was made hastily anc
thoughtlessly, that 1t did not represent
the calm judgment Of the convention, that
it Recommended" instead of demanded
a primary election law, and was alto
gether not of binding force on delibera-
tive body. Mr. Hall saw that the con-
vention which after rejecting the Spoonel
resolution Of the stalwarts by an ye-and-
no vote had rejected their primary 1elec-
tion plank Shy "a viva Yoce vote and
adopted the platform as a whole in the
same manner, would be accused of lack
of de1iberation. So he appealed for re.
consideration and at last got it, and thus
forever put an end to any question as
the meaning of the platform: <@s'.s <;
There are seventeen ho4dover Senators
Fourteen OF them are stalwarts! Wi Tn tina
to go on the republican league purposes
to do its best to- keep Sthe hext clegisIa.
ture from carrying out the mandates O.
the PLATFORM There will be q battle roya
from now. on for control Of the legisla-