The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-05-06

whole machine, honest men and dis
honest ones alike, rose to fight him.
They raised the cry folk is no
democrat He had refused to vote
for James J. Butler, son Of the boss he
was prosecuting, when Butler was a
candidate for congress.
The machine people thought the
charge would kill Folk politically, but
when Folk stated his case the people
said you did right
Governor Dockery finally attacked
him in two prepared interviews and
charged him with party disloyalty and
slandering the state. The answers.
came back when in the strongest DEM
ocratic counties of the state IS per
cent of the total democratic vote IN
the county was cast for Folk in pr,
mary elections In ST. Louis and
Kansas City the police departments,
controlled by the governor, drove vot-
ers away from the polls on the day OF
the primary, or stood idly by and let
thugs and thieves beat respectable
citizens, in some cases, into 1nsensl-
bility. For every man driven from
the polls or slugged under police SUI
pervision, thousand democratic Mis-
souri, farmers dropped their work and
went to the primaries to vote for Folk.
Primary days became holidays in the
country.
Had Few Friends.
When he went into the race Folk
could count the politicians who had
good word for him on his fingers. The
county machines used all the ingenui-
ty they had to beat him. They de-
vised unusual, and often, unfair rules
for the primaries. Now they are try
ing to make terms with Folk. but the
people are demanding a clean sweep.
In what is known as the Missouri state
o1bi inc nv
acter and many who detest the hood
| lers and grafters, as heartily as
| the people themselves, but others
whose record for dishonesty is dis
grace to the state. Whether the con-
vention will discriminate between
them is hard to say now. The worse
element had the power, in some way,
to bring the more respectable element
| to it's aid in fighting Folk. The coun-
try people are ready to punish all
alike. The vote in primaries is some
thing wonderful. Up to May no less
than forty counties had held primaries
without Folks losing county, tho
| there is contest in one. Two Of his
competitors have quit the race in dis
| gust. The third has been urged to
stay in by men, who. tho they have
cried party loyalty for years, are
now trying to lay the foundation for
bolt that will be as harmless as Gov
! eronr Dockery's attacks on Folk have
been.
Fight Was Bitter.
The fight made against Folk has
been the bitterest since reconstruction
days. Counties that cast 1000 demo.
cratic votes in the last election are
giving Folk $500 to 5000 votes In the
primaries with scattering votes fol
the opposition. In some counties the
primary vote for Folk has beer
unanimous and yet men have ridder
ten and fifteen miles to the polls tt
swell his vote and make sure that thu
county's expression of preference wa
sufficiently emphatic. In a few
places where trickery was feared som,
of the older men brought guns to tn,
polls. The race is a, whirlwind, a run
away that seems to the machine poll
ticians of the state more like a tor
: nado than anything else. The smalle
fry say wave of fanaticism is run
ming over the state, that 80 per cen
of the democratic voters of a count,
would not turn out to vote in
primary unless they had become de
ranged in some way.