Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1910-11-04
Ed Smith, Corporation Political.
I. Leader !! Manager i. Of / ri: #
& rand Boys" Campaign
WORKED FOR THE SYSTEM
Legislative Record Of the, Chairman Of
2 . the Republican State Central
II. >.,' ::
COMMITTEES. =

In making choice OF candidates
It is necessary to take into considera-
ton the character Of the men. their
regulations for honesty Of purpose and
fidelity. TO- public trust. The best
method of determining this is by scru.
timing the past public record Of tho
candidate. -
This holds good with respect to the
candidates for governor as we'll a.
for other Offices.
In this campaign Mr.. Eberhart must
be Judged By what he did or failed to
do as q member OF the state senate
and a. lieutenant governor, and by the
character Of the men with whom he
has chosen to ally himself.
AS we have pointed out before. the
last legislature was to all intents and
purposes controlled by a combination
of big business interests. including
the Steel Trust or Standard Oil. the
Railroads, the Brewers Trust, and
the Twin City Rapid Transit Com.
pany. This combination may be called
The System. Its principal agent was
Senator E. E. Smith of Minneapolis,
who commanded and directed the band
Of politicians who manipulated things
in both houses of the legislature. Lieu
tenant Governor A. o. Eberhart was
one of Smiths leutenants, as the rec
ord clearly shows.
Smith Organized the Senate.
theoretically, the lieutenant gov
ernor appoints the committees of the
senate. but in the last session it is
we'll known fact that Smith named
the committees which Eberhart was
permitted to announce. The same
was true of the patronage Of the sem
ate, or the appointment Of men to
hold the petty jobs, such as commit
tee clerkships, etc. No senator thought
OF going to Eberhart, the presiding OF.
fcer, for 4 place for a constituent or
friend. He went to Ed. Smith, and
Smith decided his fate. He dictated
the slate that was put through.
Smith placed himself at the head Of
the committee ON taxes and tax laws.
D. s. Hall of Renville county. relia-
bio member Of the pool, was made
chairman of the railroad committee.
Calhoun OF Minneapolis. the faithful
slave OF Chief Smith. headed the COM
mittee on municipal corporations, tho
committee which dealt with franchise
matters; Dunn, representative of Billy
Hamm. the brewer, headed the COM
mittee on elections. And so on all
through the list of committees. The
representatives of Big Business headed
and dominated every committee. nom.
inally appointed by Lieutenant Gov.
ernor Eberhart, actually dictated by
Ed Smith.
II anything further is necessary to
prove the absolute subserviency OF
Smith to the corporations, and his
faithlessness to the interests of the
people, just consider his record on
bills Here are few instances:
H. F. 1890, A Bill for an Act re-
lating to Railroad Freight Rates
in the State of Minnesota, and de-
f1ning certain duties of the Rail.
road and Warehouse Commission.
(See Senate Journal 1913, 1000.
This was bill to regulate freight
rates in Minnesota. When the bill
was considered In the Senate 3
votes were cast against it These
three senators were Calhoun.
Dunn and Smith g..
On Saturday. April Goth: q reso-
lution endorsing President Roose-,
velt against the slurs and accusa-
tons of f.. H. Hartman. and urg- :
= ing the senators and representa-
tives to congress for Minnesota to
assist the president in passing -;
laws for the control by the: gov, ;
eminent Of railroads OF the United
States. andsto regulate all corpora
tons engaged in interstate com.
merce. was defeated. Senator
Smith voted against the resolu.
ton endorsing President Roose.
welt. Page l421 Journal Of the
Senate 1900. ~,.. 49,. .
: On Feb. 26th, 1907. an attempt
was made to amend the 2 cent
fare bill. SO that the railroads
would be able to charge 21s cents
q mile. Only ten votes were east g
for the amendment Among those
voting for the, amendment were
Senators Dunn and Smith page
AZ Senate Journal 1901. On the
:, same day an attempt was made to. :
give the Railroad and Warehouse y
: Commission power to raise the
passenger rates ON railroads when ::
the railroads could prove that 2
): cents miles;Wss :,teo low. Sen
.aas ator Smith. was sone, Sot. the. three
/ i senators who votesis sforsssS thistfs2,
s5Ss,$3 q .ssts5 ssa
ssta on Marehs12 ;a1s07. q nats Josfsa
81 Ill Page 81 S--Hs s: which ~
: = btil for aan act IS auff prizs I Anu
,zS Il ,Slnapo Wer tie Board at Control o !,
8 M q Inst Il ST ltsh and