Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1905-03-09
The Rise Of lsFoIIeffe.

he tried for the Republican nomina
ton for governor, and the machine
ran over him. But it was noticed
that each time he gathered strength.
He had developed wonderful capaci-
ty az Il lender. Not only had he the
gift of oratory toa remarkable de-
gree, and was thus able to charm ana
attract the masses, but he knew how
to organize and direct all who were
drawn within the circle OF his infiu-
ence. He left the large cities, where
the innchine was invincible, and
drove up and down the muddy coun
try roads, speaking in schoolhouses
81 by the way side. He soon had u
larger personal acquaintance than
any other man in the State. 1t is told
of him, and believe with truth that
for years he kept card index OF all
the men in Wisconsin he ever met
1t is not surprising that in time
bis personal following became IA
force which he could WELD, that
scores of thousands OF farmers and
workmen and small shopkeepers
knew him az Little Bob and wor-
SHIPPED him.
The protest against the old order
of things has appeared, almost stimuli
taneously, in Wisconsin, In Iowa, in
Minnesota. in Nebraska, in Michi-
gau, in Missouri. In one state it has
taken one form OF expressions; in an
other, another form. In Wisconsin il
has taken all forms. There it has
gone the whole length. In the House
OF representatives, the other day,
when the railwny-rate bill was un-
der debate, Mr. Hepburn, Of Iowa,
eloquently warmed the managers of
the grent railway corporations, who
seem busily engaged combining all
the railways in the country under
the direct control of "A mere handful
of hnaucier-, that it would be wise Of
theu to yield obedience to this law,
ipl II Ni'N dii hoNt VIZ IItpHi' N'hid
be reused aud we should have revo-
lution--not a revolution of violence
and destruction, but quiet revolu.
ton worked at the ballot-boX.
Well, they have had their revolu
tion in Wisconsin. This new man
this rising man, this man Of perform
ancc and promise, La Toilette, was
the leader, the soul, the genius of it.
He made II, and IL Is making him,
For years La Toilette has led Il life
of battle He comes To the Senate n
stormy petrol of experimentation. InI
his wake lie the wreck of one Of the
most powerful political machines
the country ever saw and the ruins
of poltico-railway combination
long deemed iuvincihle His pro-
gress from comparative obscurity
to his present proud position of lead
or of the Republican party of Wis
consin and the master mind ia all
the affairs of that State has been
marked by one continuous struggle.
1t has been fight all the time, and
then fight again. 1t Lal'uilette had
not been fighter 10 start with, the
eNigencies OF his career would have
made "A warrior of him He has be
come So accustomed TO battle that it
is doubtful if he can be happy in the
repose and calm of peace; hence
the prediction, So often heard of him,
that when he gets going in the
United States Senate there will be
"A rattling OF the dry bones
Governor LaFollette's career in
the upper branch of Congress the
whole country will watch with keen
interest That he is To be heard from
there can be no doubt, But the we'll
known restraints of that body will,
for q time at least. serve to hide his
light under bu-hei of Senatorial
traditions. Some observers think he
is in line for the Presidential nominal
ton in 1908; but more careful view
is that he is generally regarded as
too radical for that, though actual y
he Is not ~ radical as he seems. He
is not a wild-eyed reformcr His
dreams are not of Utopia. He is rea
sonable, and intensely practical. The
size Of the figure he IL TO cut on the
national stage must be determined
by the tendeaoy Of his party. He,
more than any other man in tie
country till President Roosevelt took
hold of il, populsrized the issue of
government control of railways, oG
curbiug the political power of cor
porations of the abolition of special
privilege. Just now, as the railway
rate bill in Congress demonstrates,
the trend of republcauism is pro-
~, ssive, toward government control
of common carriers, ia favor Of, do
ing things If this spirit continues
and dominates, LsFollette should be
"a prophet not without honor in his
own country.
neutrality-suspicious..
The man who has achieved the