New-York tribune., 1920-01-29

would not even give him something to
Staue "lth at the national convention.
slnce every other faction would he
"Ar"ld TO do business with the league.
on the theory that il would hurt the
iact'oh DONG the trading too much in
o'ner parts Of the country
ms idea is excellently illustrated
.! 'he recent charge that the Wood
people IN North Dakota had made n
deal with Senator McCumber and tho
NohparNsan League. BY such deal
Beyond any question the Wood people
could obtain the North Dakota dele
saNon' but Immediately they were
vigorous III their denials that there
was any truth in the story. Further.
they charged that the story was pur,
posely put out to injure them in other
parts of the country.
Steel Corporation Issue Raised
curious phase of the Wood fight
mere IS that originally practically
every one OF the leaders Of all fac
tlons was for him. No one was rush
ing INTO print about it, worth men
I'oNlng, but they were all for Wood
'onn /. King did some quiet mission
arF WORK with men usually regarded
as the old guard leaders, while the
Roosevelt men naturally focked TO
other parts of the country, ALWAYS ex-
cepting Illinois
Inc trouble started right after Gov
ernor Burnquist came out for Wood
That had the effect of lining up tho
state organization solid for the Cen
eraI, Of course, but ii also had the ef
feet Of cooling the ardor of the anti
burnqulSt men, no matter what thev
thought about the Presidential candi
dates. The Lowden and Johnson advo-
Gates nave been using this to good ad
vantage, apparently. For instance, one
Of the points used is in connection
with bu1nqulst's veto last year of the
proposed steel tonnage tax The I.epis
lature passed bin designed to i'm
pose tax of a few cents a ton on
every ton OF steel ore sent out of the
state. One third of the entire amount
OF steel orc smelted in the United
States comes from northern Mime
sofa. The farmers in many parts Of
the state were strong for such a tax.
so as to shift the burden Of the states
expenses from their shoulders. Burn
quist vetoed the bill With the Burn
quist announcement for Wood the ou
poncnts Of the General began to cir
culate rumors among farmers as to
Why he had done it, and ask whether
Wood were not the candidate of the
Steel Corporation
Anti Burnquist mon, talking about
this. told me they thought the Cover
nor did right, as matter of principle
to veto this bill But they pointed
out, also, how such a story might af-
feet resentful farmers
Kellogg Men for Wood
While no statement has bees made
by Senators knute Nelson and Frank
Z. kellogg, both arc understood to be
for General Wood, and the kellogg
men, especially are working their
heads off for Wood. incidentally, the
W ood people are better organized, ap-
parently, III Minnesota, than in any
state have yet visited. Fifteen of
the seventeen men announced as can
cldates for delegates so far have an
nounced themselves for Wood.
Senator Johnson made a tremendous
impression when he visited the state
on his trip following President Wilson,
The contrast between the meetings Of
Mr.. Wilson and Mr.. Johnson was very
marked. observers here declare. They
say Johnson got an ovation and kept
his audience on its toes, while the
crowd which heard the President was
politely curious. At any rate, there is
no doubt that Johnson has strong
following mere, while wilson, because
OF this country getting into the war
after the kept US out of war" cam
paign Of four years ago. is apparently
highly unpopular. The state is in
tensely pacfst. The Germans. Swedes,
and Danes are all strong,
and i was their votes, in tremendous
numbers, which nearly carried this
state for Wilson in 1916. Hughes's
plurality was only 375. as contrasted
with d normal Republican majority of