Mower County transcript., 1908-10-28
]. +. JACOBSON AND DRAINAGE.
Republican Nominee for Governor Has
=:ssAlKaXs Stead ,for4 Drainage and De. !. ].
J. e s q; II yelopment sofz Waste Lands. =

cobson's record on drainage legisla-
tion. AS usual, they have distorted
and misstated the facts.
The statement is true that Mr.. ia
cobson voted against Senate File No.
211, which was a general drainage act.
but It the Democratic committee had
intended to be at all fair it would have
stated In les pamphlet that Gov. John.
son, when he was 4 state senator, also
voted against the same measure. (See
Senate Journal, page 594, March Fl,
1897 The only difference between
the record of Representative jacobson
and that of Senator Johnson is that
Mr.. Jacobson had the courage to state
his objections to the measure, while
Gov. Johnson, following his usual pol
Icy of evasion, has remained silent
upon the subject to this day. We call
attention to this willful omission on
the part Of the opposition only to show
, that it has no disposition to treat Mr..
Jacobson fairly in this or in any of the
other criticism which has been aimed
Minnesota ever had in the state legis-
lature ! :. iI:sS.~ :: ..~r y
Mr.. Jacobson's objection to-. this
measure was that the members or the
legislature from the north, who were
in favor of this bill, thought it neces-
sary to- go into a com mbination, with
other members Of the '1egislat ture who
sought TO: take: some $2,o00,Qo0 from
the state treasury for other purposes
than drainage. -: ~" ...:;%. ~.
The Hiends of the drainage meas
iure, which was q good one, have long
since seen their mistake; and are now
willing to:ad1nit it. :
Two yearsx' later when House File
No. 13fNMas"4htroduced, Mr.. jacobson
worked Tor and voted for the f.measure,
because it:stood upon it's own merits,
and its;supporters had not entered in
to any entangling alliances with other
interests, and the bill became law.
This Is the present drainage law bf
Minnesota. In this matter the Demo-
Gratis also failed to make mention of
Mr.. Jacobson's support, again showing
studied design upon their part to
misrepresent the present Republican
candidate for governor. The defeat Of
the measure in 1899 did not kill the
policy of drainage, but simply delayed
the enactment of the law for two
years. Mr.. Jacobson believed, and all
fair minded men who have taken pains
toslook into the matter agree with him,
that the defeat of the 1890. bill was
absolutely necessary in order that
other rights of the people might "be
Eprotected. =s s ##,>s. " -.
/ At the time when the first drainage
bill was under consideration, Mr.. Ja-
| cobson had his eye on the state treas.
bury, and was not; willing to allow the
I Interests Of the people 70 be sacrificed
! at>the hands of any combination, and
! he notified the friends of drainage in
advance that if they did not desist in
their support of these other combina-
! tions he would defeat the entire plan
because he felt obliged: to do So. He
did defeat the whole combin alton, and
| tFfs is the only time. that. Mr.: Jacob
son has been known to lift his voice
against any drainage measure Of gen.
eraI application.
| OF course, innumerable bills have
| been introduced from time to time in
/ the legislature during Mr.: Jacobson's s
! long term of service, which called for
/ the drainage of some particular spot
| or. territory, and which would often be
| the pet measure of some private land
| owner Or owners rather than one Of
general benefit. AS to these measures,
Mr.. Jacobson was always known to
| care for the interests of the general
! public rather than for the pocketbook
! Of some individual who sought to use
4 the. peoples money for his. own private
end, and in so doing he performed a
greater service for the real friends: Of
drainage and state development than
could have been done by supporting
the pet measures that were intro
i duced. 11~1': ".~-'s" :%s so; ''=<:''4
Mr.. jacobson did. not uphold the
drainage OF one county at the expense
of another, nor. did he, believe in tax
ing the smaller land owners for the
purpose of improving the lands of
spectators and railroads.
It is hoped that. every real friend Of
drainage will study carefully the rec.
ord of Mr.. jacobson on this subject,
and not be misled by deceitful repre-
sentations of unscrupulous politicians.
One can readily see from what has
already been said that the sole pur,
pose and design of sending out pamph-
lets which do not tell the whole
truth is to mislead the voters.
When. the idea of draining, develop
ing and reclaim1ng public lands in
l1ce&nern. Minnesota came first to be
recognized as sound policy, the
large specularors t.-!>d :s- few years
to Oct their hands into the sta1s t->ce-
ury, and would have succeeded In so
doing had it not been for tho watch.
fulness Of Mr.. Jacobson, who was al.
ways able to detect the difference be.
i tween a genuine drainage act and a
bill to benefit only special interests at
the expense Of the people.
Z. We; can think Of no better sillustra.
j tion of the great benefit that Mr.: ia.
cobson< has been to the people of the
4 state than to call attention to the cir.
i lEcular Of MISREPRESENTATION which the
opposition has put out, wherein it is
clearly shown that Mr.. Jacobson never
i failed to detect the wrong, and if the
i scheming politicians never before per-
! formed service for Mr. Jacobson,
they have done so by this act.
We call special attention to the fact
i that more than one-half of the service
i Of GOOD LEGISLATOR is to kill off unfair