The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1906-12-07
He Won an Election; Aided
By DOggerel.
OLE SAGENG PENNED LINES.
How His Campaign for The Legisla-
lure Mas Conducted: He Was
Personally Popular.
From Thursdays DAILY.

From Thursdays DaiH-
One of the new faces in the state sen
ate will be that of Ole G.. Sageng, "the
man behind the plow," who was elected
from otter Tail county after brisk
campaign by plurality of 1877 over
two opponents, says the St. Paul Dis
patch.
Mr.. Sageng is farmer and muca
stress was placed on this fact by ms
supporters who contended that a farmer
could. much better represent an agricul-
tural county than banker or a lawyer.
Mr.. Sageng conducted Il personal cam
paign, driving through the county and
speaking at school houses. He had no
organization to help him and spent no
money on orators or halls. He is popu-
lar in his home county, but his large
plurality was unexpected, even by his
friends.
A feature of the campaign was the
doggerel verse which was circulated
Shortly before the campaign closed
the supporters of Mr.. Sageng issued a
statement, of which the following is Il
part.
For thirty years he has driven from
school house to school house, discuss
ing nightly the issues which affect the
people. 1t has been unnecessary for him
to take along squad of orators to tell
what he thought or to eXtoll his vir
tues. The people have heard him and
heard him with approval.
There is something in the history Of
this candidate which appeals to every
one who tils the soil with his own
hands. When he got what education he
could at the school house near the farm
i'll Tumuli, he packed his provision box
each Monday morning, came to Fergus
Falls and boarded himself to get the ben
efits of the high school. Unlike many
young men he knew exactly what he
was there for. and the result was, that
although iaboring under many disad-
vantages he graduated second in the
large class in 1895, Miss Goetzinger alone
standing higher. ----
'When he had finished his high school
course, unlike SO many Young mer of
the present time, he did not desert the
farm but returned to it, and every day
lives the life of the man who gets his
living from the soil. When the days
work is done, his education, for which
ne struggled, comes in play, for with
his books ana publications he is able
to study the questions which affect the
welfare of us all and to discuss them
with intelligence.
His work takes a practical form and
he has striven to do those things which
will give the man who does the work
a larger portion of the results of his
labor. He is president of the Farmers
Cooperative Elevator and vice president
and manager of the Dalton Cooperative
not fail to help his neighboS.
when Ole Gets Through Flowing"
was the title of one of the campaign
songs, of which three of the stanzas
were as follows:
when Ole gets through blowing, he'll
take his family mare
He never rides on passes when going
anywhere:
He'll go from church to school house.
he'll 90 from place to place,
He'll talk direct on issues, and he's
strictly in the race,
They'll crack the lash of party, but
one great fact remains,
That Hille has the money, while Ole has
the brains.
Machine trust representative, he's lost
for us his charm
For Hille farms the farmers, while Ole.
farms the farm.
The villages have got their share, and
likewise Fergus Falls;
They've a lawyer, druggist, editor and
banker, Michael Walz;
We only ask one farmer and we've
named the best of all,
He'll represent the county, when we send
him to st. Paul"
Another entitled "The Man From Tu-
mulee" has this little verse:
when ole goes campaigning