Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1912-01-11
THE TURNING POINT
OF La FolLETTE's LIFE
His Own Account of That His.
toric Meeting With Sen
ator Sawyer.

IN the American Ma gazIne. Senator
La Toilette, writing his autobiography.
gives che first authoritative account of
en- experience he had in the Planking-
ton hotel in Milwaukee with Philetus
Sawyer, the famous standpat Wiscon-
sin senator of a generation ago. Saw
yer was interested in some suits that
We're being tried before Judge Siebeck-
er, of Wisconsin, who was a brother
inlaw of La Toilette. The suits were
to recover money from a former state
treasurer whose bond Sawyer had
signed. Following is La F'ollette's re-
port of what happened in the hotel:
ION the 18th of September I went to
milwaukee, and met Sawyer at the
Plankington house. The parlors We're
large, and he led me away to Il portion
of The room remote from tho entrance
where we sat down. After some pre-
llminafy conversation in which he said.
Il wanted to talk with you about Sic
becker and the treasury NATTER he
finally came directly to the point and
said:
""These cases are awfully important
to us, and we cannot afford to lose
S'SseA ANS' = NAttAC lSIcH ~ seq
you lone. No one knows I am to meet
you here; I don't want to hire you
as an attorney in the cases, La Fol-
lette, and don't want YOU to go into
court. But here is $50, [ will give Won
$500 more or a 81, 00G-or $500 more than
a $1,000 u was never able to recall ex-
actly the sums nan,cd) when Siebecker
decides the cases right
81 said to him, Senator Sawyer. Won
- q NJ IVNnHr. Who r-~., L.
me. If you struck me in the face you
could not insult me as you insult me
now
He said. 'wait-hold on
Il was then standing up. 1 said, No.
you don't want to employ me MS an at
torney. You want to hire me to talk
to the judge about your case off the
bench He said, I did not think you
would take a retainer in the case. i
did not think you would want to go
into the case us an attorney. How
much will you take as a retairer?'
II answered, You haven't enough
money to employ me as an attorney in
your case after what you have said to
me-
well. perhaps I don't understand
court rules. Anyway, let me pay you
] for coming down here
Il said, Not a dollar. sir and i'm
mediately left the room.
Nothing else ever came into my life
that exerted such a powerful Influence
upon me as that affair. Sooner or later
probably would have lone what l
did in Wisconsin. But it would have
been later. But it shocked me into a
complete realization of the extremes to
which this power that Sawyer repre-
sented would go to secure the result 1t
vas after. But in another way. its
effect upon me as an individual vas
most profound. 1 had always had q
pride in my family-in my good name.
There. has always been uncertainty
Iii my mind about the money he Of
fered me-the amounts. He had his
p~ocketbook in one hand. and a roll OF
money in the other. For All instant l
was dazed, and then the thing surged
through me. l felt that / could not
keep my hands off his throat-I stood
over him, said the things to him that
I have related and then left him. blind
ly. ! knew he followed me. I went
rapidly down stairs. and out of the
hotel. The state fair was on. and tine
hotel lobby crowded With people. I saw
nobody. I got out ia the strcet suu
walked and XQlkedh