New Ulm review., 1913-02-26

How the republican machine care
I fully guards the good things" fol
its party henchmen is well illustra,
ed in the hearings held last weel
before the house committee on pub
: .ic accounts and expenditures. The
i names Of Mayor Keller Of st. Pau
!. and of Lake Chetek are indelibly
written into the annals OF political
scandal of this state. There Is little
doubt but Mayor Keller IL interest
. ed personally In the fishing com
pany which has been seining Lake
Chetek. Why should the mayor OF
a great city appear personally, use
this official prestige as q lever to
secure favors from the state game
and fish commission? No one knows
whether it was graft or not, but the
entire deal Is tainted and public
sentiment is not 50 discriminating
as to the kinds and classes OF graft
as the average politician. Here is
the story, judge for yourselves. The
writer is accusing no one. The facts
speak for themselves.
Aaron Margulis through the in
fiuence of Mayor Keller and Mayor
Kellers law firm, Loomis, Keller &
Schwartz, secured the seiDing rights
in Lake Chetek for the 1911 season.
This year Marquis refused to treat
with. the Keller organization in get.
| ting the privilege and they blocked
him in securing that right.
Lake Chetek was withdrawn from
| competitive bidding and William Sum-
~ To fr3 - 20
Hayes, Governor Eberhart's executive
clerk, was selected to figure In the
deal. Marquis testified before the
committee that Mr.. Schwartz, law
partner of Mayor Keller's. came to
him and said: "Keller will fix it,
so we. get the, lake we want" 1t
is common report about the city hall
that reports OF the amount OF fish
seined in the lake have been receiv-
ed at Mayor Keller's office.
Another strange feature is that ]
Abraham Makiesky sidewalk inspect.
or. and Louis Pawn. political asso-
ciate Of Mayor Keller's, are inter-
ested in the fishing enterprise. Be-
cause Margulis would not allow the !
"rakeoff," demanded by Schwartz he !
was successfully blocked. It is urged |
that the fishing privileges in this |
lake alone are worth between $751; |
900 and $4,000. Nice tid-bit for the
politicians.
The committee is trying to as
certain how many more lakes are
being seined by the Eberhart-Smith
administration 1t would be we'll
also to call Senator Cooke of Wa.
basha, who is willing to tell what
he knows about how the fish and
certain mesh to be used in some
lakes while less favored applicants
are corpelled to adhere to the let
ter of the law. Let the fish probe
continue; there are some big po-
litical fish in the net. a..
The senate has been a busy lit
tie body this session. Outside Of
Moonan's recall bill, about the most
'mnortant bill passed by that august
body prohibits the hunting Of hares |.
IN Hennepin county by the means
of ferrets. Although the legislature
has been in session for nearly two
months not an important bill has
been enacted into law. Some of the
glowing promises made previous to
the session relative to the dispatch I
with which the Burnquist-Rines or.
ganiZation would handle legislation ;
DO not seem to be realized
1t is doubtful whether P NJ Ring {
lal would have accepted a reap {
pointment upon the board of con- I
troll at the hands of the Eberhart- {
Smith machine. At any rate it {
would have reflected credit upon Gov s
ernor Eberhart to offer him this ap- {
oointment. There can be but one
comment upon the appointment of {
and the appointee has
title or no capacity for the work
demanded of him."
Tonnage tax went down to a de- '
.isive defeat under the Rines-Knapp
;tea.n-roller in the house last week. {
Bjorge and Frank &
ION made a valiant fight for their i
ill, but the cards were stacked s
lgainst them. Mr.. Rines voted In {
he negative. Practically all his floor !
eaders joined in the opposition. s
Did someone say that the steel trust !
nd c.. D. Congdon We're not inter. t
sted in promoting Rines' candidacy. '
Zines fell heir to the Sam Y. Cor.
lon organization when the Browns r
7alley editor no longer proved pos. f
ibility.
Politics is a strange institution as
he members of the house committee q
n public accounts and expendi a
ures have discovered The state ap. il
ropriates about $125,O0O for the fish [
nd game department. Approximate
Y 100000 of this goes for salaries f
nd operating expenses. This leaves n
bout $4,000 for stocking the lakes n
18th fry and spawn. Then the ma Il
hine leaders come along in the fall a
nd sein the various lakes for pri- Ii
ate gain under the guse of pro- n
acting the game fish. There is a n
Ike in Minnesota which could yield
8 cars of rough fish. Of course if S
le politicians under the Eberhart- n
mith regime are taking the bass, I
ike and other game fish why that is II