Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1908-06-09

party or its machine, to speak plainly,
set about to build an
other machine which they could con
troll. Secret meetings we're held at
Devils Lake, Fargo and Valley City,
at which prospective Offices were ped
died out. H. T. Helgeseon, Of Mil
ton, and George M. Young, of Valley
City, were to go to congress; Tread
we'll Twichell, of Cass county, was
to be governor; Editor Winship Of
the Grand Forks Herald, was to step
into AAlex McKKenzie's shoes as ma
tional committeeman, and P. Q. For.
tune, of the '.Nordmanden," a Scan
dinavian paper, was to relieve Mrs.
VIM. Bulge as postmaster at Grand
Forks.
Congressman Thos. F. Marshall, Of
Cakes, thought SO well of the COM
bination that he decidtd to join it as
a candidate for United States sem
ator. Although he had been called a
traitor to the cause Of the people
because of his going with the Stall
wart faction at the jamestown con-
vention, in which he held the balance
of power, his overtures were accept
ed, and M. N. Johnson was left out
in the cold.
The next move Of this selfrighteous
combine was to call a conference or
convention to be held at Grand
Forks November 26. It was decided
that there should be a great gather
ing to ratify what these two leaders
had decided upon. All members Of
the legislature who had worked for
reform and the primary law were
to be invited to attend, as were all
committees Of reformers in the diff
ferent counties and all committees
established by the Scandinavian Re
publican league; all editors who had
worked for reform; all candidates on
the reform slate at the Jamestown
convention, whether elected or not,
and finally (this is the little joker
that in order that there should be
full representation each county
should be allowed to send ten dele
gates in addition.
OF course, if Alex Mckenzie and
four or Ave other leaders had held
these secret meetings, agreed upon
a slate and arranged for its ratifca-
ton, all the friends Of reform wonld
have claimed that Mckenzie had
capped the climax Of his work of
usurpation, had trampled the pri-
mary law under his feet and won the
contempt Of all good citizens by his
defiance of the primary law.
But what was not permissible for
Mckenzie ct al, was adjudged the
proper thing for Geo. B., Winship, "a.
T. Krabbel, ]. Austin Regan and
OIuSTSf VI IudI llk. nv
The plan Of allowing ten delegates
to be called In from the county gave
Marshall an opportunity to pack the
convention in his favor, which he
improved by offering to pay the ex.
penses of delegates and even recon-
pense some of them for their time
Thus it was that he controlled the
convention, the delegates to which
We're not elected by the people, but
simply selected because they were
friendly to Marshall. The. following
counties had no representation what
ever: Bowman, Hettinger, Billings
Burleigh, Emmons, Kidder, Logan
Mcintosh, Mckenzie, Mercer, Nor
ton, Oliver, Stark, Williams.
The state superintendent o
schoosl, w. L. stockwell, the higl
priest Of political hypocricy, was
made chairman OF this love feast Of
reform.
Thus the convention was loosely
organized and packed for dirty po
litical purposes in defiance OF thu
primary law which placed in nomina
ton the candidates for the senate
congress and state officers who arr
now seeking nomination according t,
the primary law, which was thus vic
lated. It was sufficient to seat TIL,
delegates that their names were or
the list prepared by T. F. Marshal
and the guardian committee, invita-
lions having been sent them by Sec
rotary Fowler. OF Fargo.
The convention proceeded yer,
much in the old ways OF the ma
chine. It was even proposed tina
there should be a unit rule to con
troll delegations, which the Insur
gents had always condemned. Me,
like Judge Engerud, Of Fargo; Judg
Lauder, of Wahpeton, and Attorne,
Skulason. of Grand Forks, and other
protested that this procedure wa
not only absolutely contrary to tn
primary law and to the principle
necessary to reform movement, blu