Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1934-02-22
SMOKE SCREEN
IS THROWN IN
Police Department Used to
Befog Issues in Coming
st. Paul Election.
u. S. Attorney General and
A Senator Step in to Help
Power Trust.
BY HENRY G. TEIGAN

by HEN II ". ElN<AN
Farmer-LaboriteS of Minnesota are
vitality interested in the outcome OF
the St. Paul primary election on
March 6. Their interest is primarily
in the result of the vote to establish
a municipal light and power plant in
the capital city.
The Power Trust is not going to
yield anything without fight. More
over. there is no branch of Big Bust
ness better organized to wage bat
tie than is the power crowd. This is
amply demonstrated whenever the
people make war on private power
companies.
legislators. city councilmen, gov
errors of states, and mayors OF cities,
are all alike subject to the control
of the private vendors of electricity.
Time and again alleged progressives
holding office bend the knee and 90
obesiance to the power octopus. Any
person at all familiar with politics
in this and other states know this to
be true.
"POwer" in st. Paul.
This was demonstrated a few days
ago in the fight that is being made
by the people of the city of st. Paul
against the Northern States Power
Company. Two prominent govern
ment officials, Attorney General HON.
er S. Cummings and United States
Senator Royal S. Copeland OF New
hn Goh N
against the present Farmer-Labor
mayor, William Mahoney, and his
labor colleagues on the ticket.
To be sure Cummings and Cope
land did not state that they were for
the Power Trust. Indeed not! what
they say was that st. Pauls police
department was in league with the
underworld and needed overhauling.
It was a clever political maneuver on
the part of these high governmental
officials to divert attention from the
power issue to one of far lesser i'm
portance.
Copeland A Power Supporter.
Senator Copeland has been a con-
sistent opponent of public ownership.
He was first elected to the United
States senate in 1922 as a Tammany
senator. No sooner had he taken his
seat in the upper house of Congress
before he began doing the active bid
ding of the power crowd. During the
years when Senator George w. MOTIFS
of Nebraska, waged his fight for gov
eminent operation of the large Muscle
Shoals hydro-electric project, Cope
land worked and voted against the
Norris proposal.
The same story could be told with
reference to Mr.. Cummings. His rec
ord, however, is not as clear as that
of Senator Copeland inasmuch as he
was not a member of Congress nor
of any other law-making body.
Anyway ST. Paul Labor-Progres-
sives, as the Farmer-Laborites of the
SANITY City style themselves, should
not be deceived by the Copeland
Cummings propaganda. II the good
people of st. Paul including those in
charge of the Mahoney campaign Will
but hew to the line and not allow
themselves to be diverted from the
mower issue to defense of the pres
ent police administration, they are
going to come out victorious on March
6. Notwithstanding the propaganda OF
the notwithstanding type.
An Important Issue.
The establishment of municipal
light and power plant in St. Paul Will
have a most wholesome political ef-
feet in this state. 1t is to the In
terest of all progressives OF Mime
sofa to render all possible aid to the
Labor-Progressiv ticket headed by
Mayor William MahOney, in the pri-
mary on March next. 1t goes with
out saying that there are thousands
of voters in ST. Paul who can be IN
fIuenced to do the wise thing In this
election by persons who may be resi-
dents of other parts OF the state.