The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1904-02-19
ANENr THE GovERN0RsHIp.

columns to humble citizen who has |
been watching the political sky and
the gubernatorial horizon with |
deep interest, to express few thoughts |
on the question in which quite num-
Der of newspapers throughout the state
seem to be very much interested, VIZ:
The gubernatorial situation. From read
ing the twin city dailies one would sup
pose that the people in general had moth /!
ing to say in the matter. However that
may be it is erroneous. The voters who
supported the present incumbent with
their fifty thousand majority two years
ago for the manly stand he had taken
against the powerful railroad monopoly
are going to have something to say as
to who shall be the next governor and
however much the merger papers may
advocate the merger candidate, Mr..
Dunn, the name of the next Republican
nominee for governor will not be his
name. It must be conceded, it must be
acknowledged, it cannot be successfully
contradicted, that R. G. Dunn represents
the merger interests in his candidacy for
governor. Now are the farmers going to
nominate man for governor of Mime
sofa who is backed by the great corpor-
ate interests of the state? Mr.. Dunn has
evidently chosen the wrong company. He
has boarded the wrong train. He will
be side-t tracked or derailed long before
his train reaches the goal to which he
aspires.
When this country was in the throes
of war; when it was sought to be de-
stroyed by it's enemies; when the rattle
of musketry was heard in the land;
when the cannons were booming on
the field of battle and men were being
slaughtered by the thousands, lying
wounded and bleeding on the battlefields,
starving and being tortured to death in
prison pens and the martyred Lincoln
called for more men, men rushed to the
front in answer to their country's call,
and among the multitude who offered
to bare their breasts to the rebel steel,
leaving homes, families, friends and their
all to battle and die, if need be, that
their country might live, was one Loren
w. Collins, now known as Judge Col
Inns of the supreme court of the state OF
III onlsCtod fa
soldier and came out of the service as
captain having been regularly promoted
for his great gallantry on the field OF
battle. As Judge of the supreme court he
has gained the admiration of his asso-
ciates and every one who knows him.
He is an honest and upright jurist and
thoroughly conversant with every detail
of the ship of state. He is the man whom
the Republican voters of this state are
going to place in nomination and elect
governor of Minnesota. He will fill
the gubernatorial chair with honor and
dignity. His great knowledge of the
laws of the land and his executive abili-
ty place him in the front rank of our
foremost statesmen. The thousands OF
Union veterans within the borders of the
state will rally in solid phalanx to his
support, and these old veterans have not
been idle since the war. Most OF
them have sons and daughters. The sons
are voters and the daughters have hus-
bands who are voters and are Republi-
cans almost to a man and will rally
around the Collins banner.
One paper in the state while advocat-
ing the nomination of Dunn, and ridl-
culing one of it's contemporaries for sup
porting Collins so degraded itself in the
scale of depravity as to state that this
paper was only edited by lawyer and
of course the lawyers would support
Collins. What terrible calamity it will
be flor DUNN to have all the lawyers in
the state supporting Collins. AS rule
it is usually supposed that the lawyers
are men of good intelligence and learn
ing and amply able to judge between
men and we have the best of reasons for
believing that they know who will make
the best governor.
But the Dunn forces say that the pres
ent administration is supporting Judge
Collins. Why shouldn't Gov. Van SAINT
support his comrade, Judge Collins? He
too, was one of the boys who helped to
save the Union, and who has a better
right to be governor than one who bore
the brunt of battle to save his country?
Is Gov. Van SAINT to be disfranchised be-
cause he happens to be governor? Has
he not just as good right as any one
else to support whom he pleases +? Could
he be expected to support the merger
against which he instituted and had car
ried on such gigantic legal battle to
maintain the rights of the citizens who
placed him in the gubernatorial chair?
We believe that when Mr.. Dunn sees
how the people are rallying to the sup
port of Judge Collins he will pull out
of the race and have Collins nominated
by reclamation.
r,r0