The Princeton union., 1912-03-14
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STAT Con TEST |: /
Fight for National Control Of
Minnesota.
RuMoRs OF A DARK HORSE
Gossip Says Man Not Vet in Race May
Land the Gubernatorial
Nomination.
Especial Correspondence

.. Especial Correspondence
st. Paul, March 5.-The opening of
the contest for national control of
Minnesota, with the forces behind
President Taft and Colonel Roosevelt
for the early advantage, has
completely overshadowed the state
game, but if some of the gossip which
has reached the capital the last day
or two is true there is being perfect
ed, under cover of the smoke from the
skirmish guns scheme that will
make all concerned in the state fight
set up and take notice. 1t is the quiet
perfection of an organization for sec
ond choice purposes, the chief aim of
Which is the capture of the Republic
an gubernatorial nomination. The can
didate, so the gossip runs, is now in
the making and his name is not Eber-
hart, nor is it Gordon or Lee. The
Second district may have the honor of
being his home and it may be the
First district. He will be offered on
the proposition that those now in the
race cannot be elected and the further
contention that if the party in the
state is to be firmly enthroned it must
offer the voting public some one in
which it can have confidence. The
story sounds flshy and I offer it as one
OF those bits of interesting gossip that
is the feature of every campaign, with
the added belief that it is hardly like
ly OF realization, but just the same it
cOmpels attention when one calls to
mind the number of little things that
have cropped out in the pre-conven-
ton fight to date. True they were
little things at that and more or less
disconnected, but they involved names
high in political and civic life. When
Representative Congdon, the million
aire house member from Duluth, in a
recent interview spoke disparagingly
OF the present executive he failed to
indicate whether or not Lieutenant
Governor Gordon or w. E. Lee would
satisfy him as a substitute something
equally noticeable in the rather scath-
ing editorials in the Minneapolis Jour-
ANA e@pPSS~A AASo IAo1A1 -I1llES " lille duu
directed at his excellency.
= :. =.
To continue, came rumors of
break in the ranks of the bunch that
has long controlled political affairs in
st. Louis county-given but little
newspaper attention at the time-and
then one fine day Frank Ellsworth,
young attorney at Mankato, popped in
to town with the startling information
that Governor Eberhart could not car
ry his home county, nor the Second
district for that matter. And if that
was not enough then came Edgar
Weaver, auditor of Blue Earth coun-
ty, only the other day with the decla-
ration that what Ellsworth said was
the truth. Like Representative Cong
don and the Minneapolis Journal neith-
er had any substitute to offer except
perhaps themselves, that is, if the yot-
ers were willing. It sounded like "Get
in boys, the water is fine" and to
the lads in the ranks, don't tie up
yet"
X
Ed Weaver's slap at the governor.
which was contained in his declaration
that Governor Eberhart would have
hard time to carry Blue Earth county.
his home, it nominated came as a. sir
prise to his friends up here, who al
ways knew him as a strong organiza-
ton man and careful of his speech
when the party was involved. They
had heard he was off the reservation,
but did not think it extended to open
dislike of his townsman. No one at
the state capitol could explain it and
the governors official family claimed
to be equally in the dark. It was
limited though that Mr.. Weaver might
like the nomination for himself and
possibly he wanted to go to congress-
Smearing your rival, however, is not
In good taste these days and so I will
have to let it go at that.
:: :. <
A. D. Brown, now a minor clerk in
the office of State Treasurer Smith
will become attached to the state fire
marshal's Office April 1 with an in
crease in salary and his promotion.
it is said, fultills promise made when
the present administration came into
power. Brown was chairman of the
state central committee when Jacob
son was the gubernatorial candidate
and wore out much shoe leather he
fore being taken in out Of the cold bv
the late Clarence Dinehart, then state
treasurer. Since the advent of the
Roosevelt boom Brown has been an
enthusiastic shouter for the colonel
..s# = :.
With the possibility of Congressman
Hammond of the Second district being
selected as the next Democratic stand
ard bearer attention is being directed
at his probable successor and the ta1k
runs to half dozen or more who nav
get into the game It was a three
cornered scramble that made Ham.
mond the present Democratic flxture
and no one would be surprised il
another Democrat walked away with
the lob. State Senator Sam Works of