River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1913-05-15

joyed in this state.
Other men. ambitious to occupy i'm
portant positions in public life, have
dared to do what McGovern has done,
but in no instance, perhaps, has the
break been SO open and so marked.
In past years men who have broken
with the senator, as the governor has
broken with him, have been relegated
to private life, or at last, removed
from any active leadership in politi-
cal affairs in Wisconsin A survey of
the men who have come and gone
because they failed to remain in line
with the senator, shows what q tre-
mend0us task the governor has under
taken to accomplish.
La Toilette still Leader.
While Senator La Toilette has
spent little time in his native state
since he was first sent to the United
States senate, he is still recognized as
the great Republican leader, and the
Ilan about whom the people of the
state gladly flock when there is an is
sue in which La Toilette is making
fight. While McGovern is fighter
and will die hard, it is difficult to con-
ceive of any situation which will re-
turn him victory over the senator
or any man whom the senator may
decide to place in the field against
McGovern for the United States SEN
atorship, the goal to which the gov
ernor aspires
The refusal of Mr.. McGovern to at
tend the Republican banquet came
when Sol Levitan of Madison, dele
gate at large to the last Republican
convention in Chicago, called upon
the chief executive and extended to
him an invitation to attend the ban
quet.
"This is an insult replied the gov
ernor. "Let them play their own po-
litical game"
Strictly La Toilette Gathering.
The governor, it is understood, felt
| that the arrangement of banquet
without consultation with himself,
the nominal leader of the party in the
state, was an insult to the office he
occupies. 1t was not the plan to have
| the governor play an important part
| in the banquet, although there was no
| disposition not to invite him to be
| present
| AS it now stands, the event will he.
come strictly La Toilette gathering
| Governor McGovern intends to make
| his own fight along his own lines. He
evidently intends to build whatever
| machine it is possible to build under
| the circumstances and then trust to
| a popular vote when the next United
| States senator is elected. The cam
paign will be a bitter one, for it in
| wolves the control of the Republican
| party in Wisconsin. 1t probably
means that Senator La Toilette will
| return to Wisconsin and take the
| stump against the governor. No mar
| in years has beaten the senator in
| such a campaign. No man in public
| life campaigns as strenuously and as
| thoroughly as the senator when he
| considers a contest of sufficient i'm
portance for him to take the stump.
The people Of the state await with in
| terest the outcome.
Say Governor Gains Ground.
McGovern men claim that the gov
| ernor has gained much ground in
winning the support and friendship of
| members Of the assembly. From the
| opening of the session it was con-
| ceded that La Toilette men held the
| power in the senate There was never
any question about that In the as
sembly it was a different story, and
| the exact strength Of the governor
was hard to ascertain because no real
| test votes developed, and it is still
| question whether the governors
strength has been clearly established.
| McGovern men claim that the de-
feat of the bill in which Insurance
Commissioner Ekern was interested
and for which he worked, indicates
| that McGovern has gained ground.
| The bill proposed to consolidate the
state fire marshaPs department with
| that of the insurance commissioner,
but the measure was voted down in
| the house. L. L. Johnson, over
| whom Ekern was dismissed by the
| governor, fought for the bill. Assem-
| blyman Mahon, the governors lieu
tenant in the assembly, led the op-
| position forces, and won out
Exhibit at Exposition.
The little difference of opinion that
existed over the state exhibit at the
Panama-Pacific international exposi-
| tion in San Francisco in 1915 appears
to have been settled. The assembly
has already passed bill providing
| for an exhibit at the exposition, the
amount to be spent being specified at
| $4,000. Indications are that the bill
will be passed in the senate, although
it may be amended to increase the APP
| preparation as some of the senators
feel that the amount specified is
hardly large enough to make an ade-
quate display.
1t is the plan to make the exhibit
largely agricultural. Farmers of the
state will be we'll represented, and
the university may exhibit some of
its best products.
FRED C. SHEASBY.