The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-07-15
SOUTH DAKOTA POLITICS

I Fl Il
SOUTH DAKOTA POLITICS
South Dakota democrats will go thru
the motions at Aberdeen next week The
leaders Of the party, disappointed at the
action OF the st. Louis convention and
fully disabused of every notion and hope
of carrying the state, will meet and put
up a ticket. a
Inc democratic horizon appears even
more hopeless than it did a month or so
ago, when former Senator Pettigrew pre-
dicted 400 votes for Hearst on the first
ballot and his nomination on the second
or third. The state democracy wanted
Hearst and Mr.. Pettigrew encouraged it,
especially in the earlier stages Of the
canvass, into belief that 1t would get
Hearst. The talk then was Hearst for
president and Andy Lee again for gov
ernor. The barrel was to be opened and,
with the following claimed for Hearst in
the Hills, where he and his mother have
large mining interests, the faithful felt
they would be justified in making fight
for the state. But the national conven-
ton pulled out the last prop. All visions
of success and talk Of a real campaign
have disappeared. and the state conven-
tion next week will be little more than u
step In perfunctory proceedings to keep
UP the organization for campaigns to be
The party is not so reduced that it
has not it's factions. They clashed at
sioux Falls. when delegates were elected
ito st. Louis, and 1t may be they will
measure strength again at Aberdeen and
thus do something to sustain the int crest.
Newcomers in the party, like Pettigrew
Lee and the Johnsons, are in the saddle.
The oidtimers, who fought and bled for
Cleveland, and incidentally enjoyed the
offices that he had to give out, have been
dethroned. It is possible that they have
gathered; strength for another fight with
the party upstairs, as they regard them
and that the Aberdeen convention viii. not
be the prosy affair that most people seem
to think.
Major Barrett Of Aberdeen can probably
have congressional nomination if he
wants it. He has leisure for such a cam
paign and has been a good forlorn nope
man ever since he served and fought
for the confederacy. T. M. Simmons u
Huron, grand master Of the A. o. u. w.
lodge in the state, can also have noln-
1nation-perhaps the second one for con-
gress. = He is smooth and popular ana is
a good yote-getter. The state papar Of
the democrats, the Critic of Sioux Falls,
is booming John Stransxy of Pukwanh,
one of the delegates to st. Louis. for
governor ana 1t will not be surprising II
he IS nominated. Outside Of these names
few are heard, and the slate VIII prob
ably not be made up until the leaders have
opportunity to reach Aberdeen and hold
a conference.
Mr.. Pettigrew's situation would be
harassing to man less forceful and in
dependent. He is reported to have said
some hard things of Bryan, who has been
and is extremely popular with the repub-
lican opposition in South Dakota. His
pet plank for government ownership and
operation Of the railway systems Of the
country was pronounced ridiculous. and
preposterous by Hill and other leaders,
He could not stem the tide for Parker
and the platform is not at all to his liking.
| Real fear is felt by republicans that he
will yet land in, their party. The stu
alton would be almost unbearable to any
but the Pettigrew temperament.
Correspondents Of : the metropolitan
press who reside at Bonesteel and Other
points where registration is going forward
| for the lands on the Rosebud, deprecate
| the sensa tionalisln. of the imported writer
and attribute to him in large part the fac
that the rush has not been as great a.
expected. They assert that the situation
has? been misrepreseEted from the outset
and that many hundreds have remained
away because frightened at the prospect:
| of having their threats cut or of bens
| sllgged and robbed. T h e j oll rna /
correspondent BonesteelS who has lived
There for years, and expects to remain
right along after the excitement has sub
,, sided, asserts that the writer's from thu
outside have no regard for the truth ant
that the feeling against them is intens
and bitter. Good order. he maintains, ha
been kept, at all times and genuine case
Of grating have been few. Accominoda
/ lions have been ample and the men VIII
are registering are generally of an excel
lent order of citizens. who transact tn
business onZwhich they are bent and star
on their return home at once. Extraordi
nary and wonderful as the movement is
does not justify the nightly colored re
ports Of the "stringfends'' and pres
''grafters'' who have poured in from a
parts OF the country.
Citizens of Minneapolis who have bee
at Bonesteel to register support the cor,
respondent. They had no difficulty
registering and even long waits were nc
necessary. Surprisingly low prices ar
asked for meals and lodgings and the &C
comrnodations were better than they eS
. pected to find. There were few CRATER
! and still fewer Indians and frontier ba
, men.
All of this forcibly reminds one of til
opening Of the big Sioux reservation sey
eral years ago. The capable liar in thu
instance was the home. correspondent
who had been there for years. Pierl
! was the gateway city and the reservatio
t was opened in the dead of a characterize
r northwestern winter. The capital wou
. haze been dead but for the meeting Of tt
legislature. The eastern press did nj
care a copper what the legislature we
{ doing, but it wanted shot stuff" twice
c day Of the mighty rush to the promise
e land. The Correspondents were equal
every demand. The stories with whie
I they burdened the wires were based upc
2 a most ridiculous framework of fact ar
realty. There was no semblance Of rus
! and the lands to this day have few settl
ments of Importance. The assemble
statesmen and politicians waxed fat
r contemplation Of the absurd imposition
E which the Chicago, New York, Philadslphi
; Boston and st. Louis press lent itself
t was a standing joke at Pierre and II
correspondent who could paint in the mo
lurid colors held the center Of the stage
The Rosebud opening is the real thi1
and it would seem that the correspol
e dents are entitled to rake off, 4
q other classes are making hay. Why, the
t as they figure it, may not the space wri
IS ers?" E. G. Torrey.
: WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THJNR
. 49, ~ . {