The daily sentinel., 1907-07-23
JOHNSON OF MINNESOTA
A Sketch of the Fighting Democrat of the
North, Whose Friends are Urging Him For
Chief Executive of the Nation.

estimate of John A. Johnson, the
Democratic governor of Minnesota.
! Here is part of what Mr.. Inglis has
to say abo>t his hero:
The regard in which the people of
Minnesota hold Governor John A.
| Jonson is a rare combination of af-
| fection and respect. They honor
him for his ability as a statesman.
his Integrity and his success in fore
/ ing great interests to pay their fair
share in the taxation of the state;
they love him for the battle he has
fought against bitter poverty and OBJ
scurity to achieve the highest posi-
tion in the commonwealth. Those
who know him best say he does not
know how to finch. In adversely he
never whimpered, and in prosperity
he is unspoiled.
| 1t has been hard battle and you
will find the marks of it in the deep
! lines around his eyes, the burrows in
his brow, the rigidity of his jaws, the
ironlike fiXity of his determined
mouth. And yet it has not robbed
him Of his optimism, his cheerful
readiness to believe the best of his
1 fellow men. Every man carries in
himself the open record of his deeds
In the aspect of this young governor
one sees at a glance the history of
years of grinding, patient, endless
( toll, of sacrifices gladly made, of
| hardships endured, of unchangeable
resolve to fight the good fight to the
end.
He is long-armed and tall-a
shade less than six feet in height
not of noticeable breadth of shoulder
| but of whalebone fiber; a long, lean,
hard enduring man, the type that
survive many perils and looks around
/ for more. The first impression you
get of him is one of infeXible deter
mination. He neither courts nor
avoids popularity. When he grips
your hand he is not boiling over with
enthusiasm, but is unaffectedly glqd
to meet you. His interest is not dip
| lomatically effervescent, but moder-
ate and sincere. You note at once,
inevitably the height and breadth of
the forehead: then the full, eloquent
eyes of hazel shot with blue set well
apart and alive with the spirit of
| keen inquiry, yet frank and unflinch-
! ing: the heavy brows that frown
with concentration; the long straight
nose: the high cheekbones, typical OF
the latter-day American, and the
| heavy Jaws that terminate in deep
out -jutting chin.
Perhaps undue emphasis has been
| laid here upon the aspect of combat
| iveness That would be unjust to
the subject of the article; for the
first impression one receives upon
meeting Governor Johnson is one OF
simple. genial kindliness, vivid re-
allzation of the descriptions of Lin
coins unaffected cordially and that
! first impression lasts all the time.
| He is the very antithesis to the poll
tician playing to the galleries.
John A. Johnson was born at st.
Peter, Minnesota, on July rs, lS6l L.
| His parents were natives of Sweden
who first met in America. The father
was a blacksmith, prosperous for a
| time, but finally a victim of dlssipa-
| tion. At the age of 10 years John
A. Johnson left school against his
mothers wish and became the real
head of the family. He got lob IN
a printing office in St. Peter at $40
| a month, and gave all his earnings to
| his mother for the support of her and
the other children of the family. He
continued his studies at night and in
| the intervals between his tasks as a
printers devil.
After a few years he became clerk
in a drug store and proved so valua-
BILE that in the sixteenth year of his
age he received the splendid salary
of SIS a month. Then 1t was that
he insisted that his mother must stop
the hard labor by which she helped
support the family.
Later he returned to the printing
business, and in time became mem
her of the firm of Sisler & Johnson
publishers of the st. Peter Herald,
of which he was until recently the
| editor-in-chief In the meanwhile
he had served seven years in the Ma
tiopal guard of Minnesota, in when
he rose to the rank of captain. He
also served a term as state senator
He has always been Democrat
Senator Johnson heard in the ear
" fall of 1904 that there was
great deal of talk about nominatlns
him for governor of Minnesota. lie
was busy running his paper and ne
made up his mind that he could not
AFFORD the time to make canvass.
Indeed he had gone so far as to write
letter to the chairman OF the Dem
ocratic state committee, notifying
him that under no circumstances
could he accept the nomination when
letters began pouring in upon MIN
from the prominent Republicans
throughout the state urging him to
run and pIedging their support.
There was a great popular revolt
AGAINST State Auditor Dunn, the reg
Mar Republican candidate, who was
accused of being too friendly with
tbe railroad interests. About THIS
time fellow Democratic editor
naned Dav called upon Editor John
SON and spent most of the night IN
an argument convincing him that IL
was his duty to lead the Democratic
marty and the decent Republicans to
victory. ---.,.,,,
Editor Johnson at last consented
TO run. He tore up his letter OF re-
fnsaI He was nominated unanimous
iy, And now mark the popularity OF
the man. which gained for him more
votes than the dlsaffection OF the
Pennblicans toward Dunn. The total
vote of Minnesota that year was
2s7,592. Rooseyelt's plurality oornt, f9T
nresident was 10000. Democrati
Iohnson in the face of this RepubH-
can @ landslide carried the state for
governor by a plurality of 6,952.
and that remarked dignihed
..,,,,,,,ontator at the time, was go