St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1938-11-04
Here And
There
q w. IA. Smish

Il sought " CAdAIAy IAtc POASASaA Stu
alton, sought to get some light o.
the puzzle of Minnesota politics.
And did / get some light? In
deed / did. In fact / got so mucl
that / was left in greater darkness
than before.
Three speakers were extollint
the merits of their respective can
didates for governor.
The first one spoke for Mr.. Ben.
son, the present incumbent.
| He told how Benson was follow.
ing in the footsteps of that former
great leader, the revered Floyd B.
Olson. He spoke of the friendship
of the Farmer-Labor party for the
common people; of how Benson's
administration had saved money
for the small home owner by re-
ducing taxes and warned that his
Democratic rival was seeking only
to cash in on the accomplishments
of the Benson tenure, and declared
if the liberal policies initiated by
the governor were not supported by
the voters, if they were deceived
by the false representations of this
candidate, the benefits flowing from
these wide awake and helpful pol
icies would be entirely lost. Equal
ly lost would be the great efforts of
the Farmer-Laborites if the unfor-
tunate choice fell to young >Stassen,
the standard bearer of the Republi-
can conservatives, whose success
would again give control to the
banking interests and bring in its
train all the. evils from which we
are beginning to escape.
Twas by this time feeling very
well disposed toward Mr.. Benson
and believed / was well bulwarked
against any argument the Demo-
cratic Mr.. Gallagher or the Repub-
lican Mr.. Stassen could advance.
But l reckOned without my host
as I was soon to learn when the
Democratic orator took up the
eudgels for his man.
He recited all the mistakes and
the harmful measures of which the
present administration had been
guilty; how far it had departed
from the pathway of the founding
father; he mentioned with rever-
ence the name of Jefferson and that
great Governor Johnson. He be-
sought his hearers to save the state
from the destructive policies of the
Farmer-Laborites and return once
more to the safety of the Demo
cratic principles.
Before he had finished / began to
waver in my favorable opinion of
Mr.. Benson and his party. Perhaps
it would be better to hesitate a
little.
Surely the Roosevelt administra-
ton had done much, in q national
way, and had spread its benefits far
and wide and without prejudice. It
might be that Mr.. Gallagher would
be able to promote similar helpful
conditions in the State of Mime
sofa. Yes, 1 had better not be in
too much of hurry to support
Benson.
Then came on the Stassen pro-
ponent.
And did he make the fur fly!
He surely did. He didn't leave Mr..
Benson so much as feather to
cover himself with.
Wasn't he, Benson, taking adj
vantage of the people to build a
powerful personnel clique to retain
himself in power. He was! Had
he not run the state into debt that
future generations would be called
upon to pay? He had! Had he
not burdened the people with taxes
to carry out his Utopian dreams
He had! Wasn't everything in the
state in terrible condition? It mos
certainly was!
4 Was it not time then to return
the state to its former allegiance
/ to the party of the immortal Lin
coin and to the direction of con
sentative men and measures.
Il Would it not be better to agail
q give power to the business mel
who alone understood the means o
re-establishing recovery so tina
the many thousands now on relic
could be put back to work.
II AS for the Democrats, why vast
thought upon them. They couldn'
be elected anyway. Their onl,
purpose in this campaign was t
confuse the voters and injure tn
chances of the Republicans by turn
! ing votes to the Farmer-L Aboritel
! By now my head was whirlint
h I didn't know what or. whom t