Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1908-05-29

ga telegram from Senator Kit
tredge was put in my hands and |
read it and it congratulated the state
senate for defeating the petition for a
primary election law.
81 told them that Peter J. Rogde,
Kittredge's law partner, had said to
me that under the law and constitution
the legislature would be compelled to
submit the primary election law to a
vote of the people and State Senator
Henry Robertson said, TO hell with
the law and the constitution
"They tried to bribe me by offering
me any Office / wanted in Minnehaha
county, and by asking me what else l
wanted, and | told them ! would
rather keep my conscience clear than
to stay in Pierre or Washingto all my
life.'
These are sentences from drama
tic recital by Gilbert Thorson of Dell
Rapids, Minnehaha county, former
representative from this county, of
the efforts made to induce him to
vote against the petition for a pri-
mary law submitted to the 1905 state
legislature Mr.. Thorson is going to
tell this story from the platform all
over Minnehaha county and he con-
sented to give it to the press. Never
before has he told his thrilling ex-
perience of two hours behind locked
doors in the Locke hotel at Pierre.
Mr.. Thorson's reputation for varacity
in Minnehaha county is beyond any
reprOach.
PETITION WAS SUFFICIENT.
1t is we'll remembered that in 1905
the advocates of a primary election
law in the state of South Dakota, un-
der the constitutional provision for
iniative and referendum, sent to the
state legislature a petition signed by
1854 names, far more than the per
cent required, asking that the legis-
lature submit the primary election
law to a vote of the people. Under
the constitution and the political
code it is mandatory for the legisla-
ture to submit law petitioned for
by the required number of citizens.
Only by defying the law and the con-
stitution could the legislature refuse
to submit, but this is just what the
1905 legislature did. Mr.. ThorSOn
was a member of the house of repre-
sentatives in that year and if he had
changed his vote the house would
have voted down the petition. The
senate blocked it.
"Whe the primary petition first
come to PIERRE" says Mr.. Thorson,
Il took the precaution of going to see
Peter S. Rogde of Sioux FallsN Sena-
tor Kittredge's law partner and a
member of the house.
BEFORE KITTREDGE SPOKE
'"What are we going to do with the
primary petition? 1 asked him.
He said in reply, According to
the law and the constitution of the
state we must submit it to the peo-
pie. The people have got to decide
whether they want primary law or
not. So that takes it out of our
hands,
"BuJ little later we began to hear
rumors that a movement had been
started to defeat the primary petit
tion. l did not say where I stood but
they had suspicious, because one Of
the Minnehaha delegates WAS asked
by my roommate: why did you put
that man Thorson on the delegation?
We won't be able to handle him.
"And the other one answered, Oh,
he slipped in on us.
"It came to be the day when the
house was going to vote on the pri-
mary petition. &C. Bratrud, one of
the Minnehaha delegation, came to
the state house and told me l was
wanted in Rodge's room in the Locke
hotel. He said they wanted to see
me about signing a petition for a
game warden and they wanted to see
me particularly that forenoon.
TWO HOURS ON THE RACK.
81 started from the state house and
I met one of the representatives. He
appeared to be angry and 1 asked him
what was going on.
'They'r lacking one vote to beat
the primary petition he answered,
'and that vote is worth 81, ,00O.'
81 said to him, well, there is no
use of my going down there after you
have been there, if that one vote is
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