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 COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 
 
H. P. HALLS 
 
 OBSERVATIONS 
 
 BEING MORE OR LESS 
 A HISTORY OF POLIT- 
 ICAL CONTESTS IN 
 MINNESOTA 
 
 FROM i849 TO i9o4. 
 
 AUTOGRAPH EDITION. 
 
 )AeP Ai# 
 
 ST. PAUL, MINN. 
 1904. 
 

 fUBH "V ' MtWOTCSS 
 TVwj Oopigs amtvrt 
 SEP 24 1904 
 Hehtemrv 
 2 XXo. No. 
 COPY B 
 
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 COPYRIGHTED 1904 
 By H. P. HALL. 
 
J4-^NaSQ_ t 
 
DEDICATION. 
 
 To the young men who may at some period in their lives 
 feel inclined to abandon regular and legitimate business for 
 the purpose of securing. a foothold in political life, and inci- 
 dentally some office, these pages are warningly inscribed, 
 with the simple suggestion 
 
 DONT. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS, 
 
 Page. 
 
 Territorial Governors — Ramsey, Gorman, Medary 7 
 
 The Dual Constitutional Convention 14 
 
 Final Admission — Three Governors at One Time 24 
 
 The Trick Which Saved the Capital for St. Paul 26 
 
 How Minneapolis Might Have Had the Capital 38 
 
 Peculiarities of Early Legislation 45 
 
 Election of the First State Governor 48 
 
 First Congressional Delegate from Minnesota was from Wisconsin 53 
 
 Ramsey's First Election to the Senate 56 
 
 Wilkinson's Defeat for Re-election to the Senate 61 
 
 Marshall's First Nomination for Governor 69 
 
 Windom's First Election to the Senate 72 
 
 Donnelly's Defeat in the Qreat Campaign of 1868 76 
 
 William Windom's Start in Political Life 91 
 
 Donnelly's Resurrection as a Republican 93 
 
 Ramsey's Second Election to the Senate 101 
 
 The Liberal Republicans of 1872 108 
 
 How I Was Appointed Pension Agent but Slipped a Cog 113 
 
 How I Discovered C. K. Davis 121 
 
 Senator Ramsey Defeated for the Third Term 135 
 
 A. E. Rice's Bad Mistake 155 
 
 Pillsbury's First Election as Governor 158 
 
 Donnelly's Campaign for Congress as a Democrat 160 
 
 Putting on the Garb of Statehood 164 
 
 First Republican Senator — M. S. Wilkinson 168 
 
 King's Election to Congress and Pacific Mail Scandal 172 
 
 Davis' Second Election to the Senate by a Scratch 185 
 
 McGill's Nomination for Governor 190 
 
 Merriam's Election as Governor 196 
 
 C. K. Davis' First Election to the Senate 202 
 
 Windom's Defeat by Sabin 206 
 
 Donnelly's Contest for Washburn's Seat in Congress 215 
 
 Merriam's Election as Speaker 221 
 
 Brass Kettle Campaign 225 
 
 Pillsbury's Defeat for the Fourth Term by Hubbard 231 
 
 Washburn's Defeat for Senate by Nelson 242 
 
Page. 
 
 The Five Million Railroad Bonds 246 
 
 The Great State Treasury Defalcation 252 
 
 McMillan's Re-election in 1881 258 
 
 J. B. Gilfillan's Election to Congress 263 
 
 Washburn's Defeat of Sabin 279 
 
 Knute Nelson's Contest for Congress with Kindred 285 
 
 The Dunnell-Ward Fight in 1880 296 
 
 Series of Gubernatorial Campaigns 302 
 
 Moses E. Clapp's Election to the Senate 308 
 
 The Dunn-Collins Contest for Governor in 1904 317 
 
 Resume of State Elections for Fifty Years 345 
 
 Windom's Candidacy for President 352 
 
 General Reflections and Nuggets of Wisdom 359 
 
 Our Trans-continental Railroads 364 
 
 Two Men Elected President Who Never Served 374 
 
 The Grant-Conkling-Garfield National Convention of 1880 378 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED. 
 
 While, as far as they go, my observations are designed to 
 make, when united, a political history, I do not assume to write 
 what might be termed a complete resume of the political events 
 which have transpired in the State of Minnesota. That would 
 involve the publication of a semi-political almanac, which is the 
 farthest from my intention. It has been my aim to confine 
 myself to political contests ; not so much between political par- 
 ties, but rather internecine struggles within the ranks of the 
 party which has been dominant most of the time since the forma- 
 tion of the territory of the State of Minnesota. If the Democrats 
 do not appear as frequently as the Republicans it is because the 
 Republicans have been so much more numerous that they (the 
 Democrats) did not have as much to fight about. 
 
 As the work has progressed, my greatest dilemma has been 
 to determine what to omit rather than what to tell. I have 
 sought not to invade the grave or unduly disturb the living, and 
 so far as the dead are concerned have largely confined myself to 
 matters made public while they were still alive, as well as quot- 
 ing from public (though forgotten) records which live forever. 
 
 I make no apology for the use of the personal pronoun. It 
 probably appears more frequently than any other word in this 
 book. For the most part I can say of what I have written, "all 
 of which I saw and part of which I was," and I accordingly write 
 of things as I saw and understood them at the time of their occur- 
 rence. I have aimed to refresh my memory, which is still fairly 
 good and vivid, by reference to newspaper files, largely newspa- 
 pers of my own, when I recorded events at the time they were 
 current and fresh. Errors have doubtless crept in, but the truth 
 has been stated as carefully as possible, fairly and honestly, with- 
 out a single intention of misrepresentation. In writing my book 
 no attempt has been made to indulge in stilted rhetoric — just 
 plain newspaper vernacular. 
 
 I frankly state that all the truth has not been told, and it is 
 better for history, for the living and the memory of the respected 
 
 (5) 
 
6 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS 
 
 dead, that there should he some omissions. I have no grudges 
 to even up. Life is too short, and, with me, too near its con- 
 clusion, to set down aught in malice. And so, without apology, 
 or further explanation, I submit my observations for approval 
 or disapproval, as the reader may prefer. 
 
 I think ] can claim without undue vanity that not many now 
 live who possess as much personal knowledge of the matters 
 referred to as I do, and I concluded it would be unjust to those 
 who are so unwise as to wreck their lives in the maelstrom of 
 politics to permit this information to perish with me. I accord- 
 ingly launch my observations as my contribution to current his- 
 tory and my personal monument. 
 
 ;^p^ 
 
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OBSERVATION ONE. 
 
 The Territorial Governors — Ramsey, Gorman and Medary. 
 
 The Territory of Minnesota was brought into being on 
 March 3, 1849, ^ ie passage of an act in Congress organizing 
 the territory. The boundaries were thus described in the organic 
 act: 
 
 All that part of the territory of the United States which lies within 
 the following limits, to wit: Beginning in the Mississippi river, at the 
 point where the line of forty-three degrees and thirty minutes of north 
 latitude crosses the same; thence running due west on said line, which is 
 the northern boundary of the State of Iowa, to the northwest corner 
 of the said State of Iowa; thence southerly along the western boundary 
 of said state to the point where said boundary strikes the Missouri river; 
 thence up the middle of the main channel of the Missouri river to the 
 mouth of White Earth river; thence up the middle of the main channel 
 of the White Earth river to the boundary line between the possessions 
 of the United States and Great Britain; thence east and south of east 
 along the boundary line between the possessions of the United States 
 and Great Britain to Lake Superior; thence in a straight line to the 
 northernmost point of the State of Wisconsin in Lake Superior; thence 
 along the western boundary line of said State of Wisconsin to the 
 Mississippi river; thence down the main channel of said river to the 
 place of beginning, be and the same is hereby, erected into a temporary 
 government by the name of the Territory of Minnesota. 
 
 There had been a controversy between the Senate and the 
 House, the Senate being Whig and the House Democratic, as 
 to organizing any new territories. The slavery question was 
 then dominant, and the Southern Whigs and Democrats, as 
 well, were opposed to admitting any more free territory. The 
 Northern Whigs were divided. The result was that all through 
 that session of Congress the question was of organizing the ter- 
 ritory or not. The Senate passed the bill early, but the House, 
 in the controversy between the Democrats and the Whigs, held 
 
 (7) 
 
8 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS: 
 
 it up; so that it was not until the last day of the session, and 
 practically the last day of President Polk's administration, that 
 the bill was finally passed. 
 
 President Polk was a Democrat, and his successor-to-be, 
 General Taylor, was a Whig. Polk was strongly urged to 
 organize the territory by appointing the new governor, but, 
 with a fairness which almost seems abnormal in the present 
 state of politics, he declined to take advantage of the last day 
 of his administration to put a Democrat in office. It is almost 
 impossible to imagine a president of the present day declining 
 to secure a political advantage as a matter of sentiment. But 
 the country had evidently not reached the stage of political 
 "civilization" which exists to-day. The consequence was 
 that it fell to General Taylor, the Whig president, to organize 
 the territory of Minnesota; and in doing that he selected 
 Alexander Ramsey of Pennsylvania as the first governor. His 
 commission bore date April 2, 1849, though his term of office 
 in Minnesota did not actually begin until June 1, 1849, an d 
 continued to May 15, 1853. 
 
 It was early on the morning of May 27, 1849, that the 
 steamer "Dr. Franklin" stuck her nose into the bank of the 
 river about where the foot of Jackson street in St. Paul is now 
 located. This steamer carried Alexander Ramsey and his 
 family. His family then consisted of his wife, a son of three 
 years, and a nurse. The governor was an early riser. Leav- 
 ing his family sleeping on the boat, he concluded to recon- 
 noiter the town. Leaving the boat and clambering up the 
 steep hill, the first building he encountered was the Mer- 
 chants Hotel, located where it still stands at the corner of Third 
 and Jackson streets, and then kept by the late J, W. Bass. It 
 was a combination of log and frame structure, and, while the hour 
 was early, Mr. Bass was on hand, all attention to his visitor, 
 though unaware of his identity. He explained to the visitor that 
 the governor had just been appointed, and he expected the hotel 
 business would soon be booming, as people would be coming to 
 the capital, and he was accordingly making improvements, which 
 he insisted on showing. Governor Ramsey says he c ound the 
 improvements to consist of cutting up the rooms, already small, 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 9 
 
 into still smaller ones, evidently with the view of furnishing ac- 
 commodations for a larger number of guests by reducing the 
 space each one would occupy. Concluding that the accommoda- 
 tions would not be satisfactory to himself and family, Governor 
 Ramsey strolled up Third street, and before he had gone half a 
 block saw a building which bore evidence of reconstruction ; and 
 asking a boy, who chanced to come along, what that building 
 was, the boy replied, "The governor's residence." He returned 
 to the boat with rather an unfavorable impression of the situa- 
 tion. The governor consulted with the clerk, who advised him 
 to remain on the boat and take his breakfast and go up to Men- 
 dota, where they had to deliver a cargo of Indian supplies. 
 
 Gen. H. H. Sibley, then the delegate to Congress from Min- 
 nesota, resided at Mendota ; and while the governor had no per- 
 sonal acquaintance with him, he concluded to accept his advice 
 and return to St. Paul later in the day to locate. Arriving at 
 Mendota, General Sibley came on board without knowing the 
 governor was there, but upon meeting the new official greeted 
 him with his characteristic hospitality and insisted on the whole 
 family coming to his residence until accommodations could be 
 secured in St. Paul. With some demurrer on the part of Mrs. 
 Ramsey, who thought it would be trespassing on hospitality, 
 the invitation was accepted, the governor assuring her that there 
 was nothing else to be done, as he had unsuccessfully explored 
 the capital earlier in the day. 
 
 Later in the day Ramsey and Sibley started on horseback 
 for St. Paul, Sibley suggesting a call on the commandant of Fort 
 Snelling en route. When the commandant was introduced and 
 found he had a real, live governor on his hands, he told Governor 
 Ramsey that, under the regulations of the War Department, when 
 a governor visited a military post, he was entitled to a salute of 
 seventeen guns, and proceeded to give orders for their firing. 
 Governor Ramsey told the commandant that he was not very 
 familiar with military customs, but if he would supply him with 
 a glass of good whiskey he would waive the guns. 
 
 When Ramsey told me this story he said, with a twinkle of 
 his eye, 
 
 I think that must have been pretty good whiskey, for we went down 
 to St. Paul that day and laid the foundations for a good state. 
 
10 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 Crossing the Mississippi on a wheezy and primitive rope 
 ferry, the shore opposite Fort Snelling was reached, where a hill 
 almost as precipitous as the side of a house was encountered. 
 The ride to St. Paul was not cheerful, there being no road and 
 scarcely a trail. They encountered withal sloughs where their 
 horses floundered up to their saddle-girths in mud and water ; 
 but the journey was finally made, and the small house, formerly 
 a saloon, which the little boy had styled "the governor's resi- 
 dence," was actually selected as such as a dernier resort, there 
 being nothing else vacant in the town. 
 
 It was three or four weeks before the "executive mansion" 
 was sufficiently transformed for occupancy, and during that 
 time the governor and his family remained at General Sibley's. 
 The governor had in the meantime sent orders by the boats to 
 St. Louis for furniture, and when he brought his family down 
 they came in dug-out canoes, one canoe containing the family 
 and another their trunks. This was the customary way of com- 
 ing from Mendota to St. Paul in those days (there being no trav- 
 eled road), except when the large boats chanced to be making 
 a trip, though it was not a very safe method for inexperienced 
 people. 
 
 The governor and his family landed at what was known in 
 St. Paul as the Upper Levee at the foot of Chestnut street. The 
 next serious trouble was the transportation of their effects from 
 the landing to the "executive mansion ;" such a thing as a truck 
 or an express wagon was unknown, but at last a Frenchman with 
 an ox cart was discovered. The trunks were loaded thereon, 
 and with Mrs. Ramsey sitting upon one of the trunks, while the 
 governor walked, the cavalcade proceeded up Eagle street and 
 down Third street, from what is now the Seven Corners. The 
 whole town turned out to witness the official arrival ; and it is 
 within bounds to state that the governor of Minnesota, traveling 
 on foot, with his family seated on trunks in an ox cart, landing 
 at their "official residence" on Third street, between Robert and 
 Jackson, is an instance of democratic simplicity which eclipses 
 Jefferson's inauguration ride. 
 
 This was not a very encouraging advent for the new gov- 
 ernor, but Ramsey was young and plucky in those days, and had 
 undertaken the task of making a state even greater than he then 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 11 
 
 dreamed of, and lie had not put his hand to the plow to look 
 backward. What he accomplished during his lifetime, and the 
 development which he saw, was in marked contrast with the 
 early period of his arrival, and was most exceedingly gratifying 
 to him, as he frequently recounted to his old friends his begin- 
 ning in Minnesota. 
 
 At that time the governor was ex-officio Commissioner of 
 Indian Affairs ; and as there were more Indians in the territory 
 than white people, a large portion of his official duties related 
 to regulating the Indians ; and in "regulating the Indians" I 
 should explain that the term means crowding them off the earth 
 so that the aggressive white man can take his place. Of course, 
 Governor Ramsey was only conforming to the customs of the 
 country and discharging his plain duty. But he proved a great 
 success, and was soon a great chieftain in the minds of the 
 Indians. The most important treaties with the Indians, whereby 
 they ceded their reservations and moved farther west, were made 
 during Governor Ramsey's administration. 
 
 During his six years' term as territorial governor there was 
 nothing of greater importance than these Indian treaties. 
 
 While President Polk had been very punctilious about seizing 
 the control of Minnesota for his party, when President Pierce was 
 elected by the Democrats, in 1852, he had no compunctions 
 whatever in selecting a Democrat to succeed the Whig governor 
 of Minnesota. General Willis A. Gorman, of Indiana, who had 
 distinguished himself in the Mexican war, as well as served a 
 term in Congress, was promptly appointed governor of Minne- 
 sota by President Pierce, in 1853, and Governor Ramsey was for 
 the time relegated to private life; though he had made such a 
 marked and so successful an administration in the new territory 
 that he was later called to the governorship and other high posi- 
 tions, and was perhaps more potential than any one man who 
 ever lived in laying the foundation for what is now the greatest 
 state in the Union. 
 
 GOVERNOR GORMAN. 
 
 It was in May, 1853, that Governor Gorman took charge of 
 affairs in Minnesota. The territory was then crystallizing into 
 formal shape preparatory to statehood and questions were arising 
 
12 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS: 
 
 which had not come up under Governor Ramsey's administra- 
 tion. 
 
 The germ of our railroad system was really laid during Gov- 
 ernor Gorman's administration, though the system has since 
 developed to such an extent that the plans of the early settlers 
 would hardly be recognized, even as a rough survey of what is 
 now in existence. Still the territorial legislature was passing 
 land grants, and Governor Gorman was especially insistent on 
 inserting the clause imposing a three per cent gross earnings tax 
 in lieu of all other taxation upon the railroads then in embryo ; 
 it is not at all likely that he or anyone else then living in their 
 wildest imagination dreamed of the vast sums which would 
 accrue from this form of taxation. 
 
 Governor Gorman had an especially stormy time during his 
 career with the Indian traders. He, too, was Superintendent of 
 Indian Affairs, and the territory had become the mecca for Indian 
 traders ; in fact, in the sparsely settled condition of the ter- 
 ritory Indian trade was the vital and essential business. On 
 general principles it is probably fair to assume that Governor 
 Gorman was justified in antagonizing the Indian traders, at all 
 events he did so very vigorously ; with the result that he retired 
 from office in 1857, and President Buchanan (also a Democrat) 
 appointed Samuel Medary, an editor of Columbus, Ohio, his suc- 
 cessor. 
 
 GOVERNOR MEDARY. 
 
 Medary had been, like nearly everyone else in Ohio, an 
 active politician; had presided at the convention which nomi- 
 nated Buchanan in Cincinnati in 1856, and was credited with 
 being the author of the political shibboleth "Fifty-four forty or 
 fight," which rang through the country during the period when 
 the Oregon boundary was in dispute with England. 
 
 The territory was then approaching statehood. Governor 
 Gorman's last message to the territorial legislature was largely 
 devoted to showing that the territory had reached proportions 
 in population, business, and in every other respect which would 
 entitle it to admission as a state. 
 
 Medary's term of office was, accordingly, quite brief; for in 
 less than a year after he came to Minnesota the territory was 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 13 
 
 admitted as a state, and the reign of the territorial governors 
 ceased. They had left their impress, however, especially the 
 work of Ramsey and Gorman — an impress which was lasting 
 and will undoubtedly remain as long as Minnesota exists. 
 
 As a matter of fact, Congress had passed an act, on Feb. 26, 
 1857, authorizing a state government for Minnesota. This was 
 prior to Medary's coming to the territory as governor. It author- 
 ized an election in June, 1857, to select delegates to meet 
 and form a state constitution, which was to be in conformity to 
 the federal constitution and to be submitted to the voters of the 
 territory. Governor Gorman had already issued the official call 
 for the election when Governor Medary arrived, and the anomaly 
 was presented of one governor calling an election and another 
 one seeing that the duties thus indicated were properly dis- 
 charged. 
 
OBSERVATION TWO. 
 
 The Dual Convention Which Framed the Constitution of 
 Minnesota — A Violent Political Contest. 
 
 Governor Medary reached St. Paul April 22, 1857. A 
 special session of the legislature had been called by Governor 
 Gorman to arrange for a constitutional convention, and on April 
 29th Governor Medary sent his first message to the legislature. 
 The two important items to which it referred were the constitu- 
 tional convention and the railroad land grant which had just 
 been passed for the benefit of the territory and state by Congress. 
 The session was a brief one, adjourning on May 25th, but it 
 arranged the machinery for the constitutional convention and 
 appropriated $30,000 for its expenses. 
 
 An active political campaign was already in progress for the 
 election of delegates to the constitutional convention on June 
 1st. The Republicans were especially active, importing a num- 
 ber of prominent speakers. 
 
 No sooner was the election over than both sides began claim- 
 ing to have a majority. The convention was due to consist of 
 102 members, and the Republican newspapers claimed 59 Re- 
 publican to 43 Democratic delegates. The Democrats were less 
 specific and vociferous in their claims, and practically conceded 
 that they were in a minority without openly confessing the fact. 
 The Republicans were exceedingly suspicious that they would 
 be tricked out of their majority, as there were several contests, 
 notably the election of four delegates from St. Anthony in Hen- 
 nepin county — now Minneapolis East. The Democratic claim 
 was that B. B. Meeker was chosen by 524 votes, C. L. Chase by 
 521, C. A. Tuttle by 509, and William M. Laschalles by 497. 
 The Republican contestants were J. H. Murphy, whom the 
 Democrats claimed received but 496 votes, I. W. Putnam 491, D. 
 
 (14) 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 15 
 
 M. Hale 495, D. A. Secombe 472. Presumably, on the ground 
 of alleged fraudulent voting, C. G. Ames, register of deeds in 
 Hennepin county, refused to issue certificates to the four Demo- 
 crats, and Governor Medary, with due political strenuousness, 
 promptly removed him from office. The county commissioners, 
 not to be outdone in politeness, as promptly re-elected him, and 
 he then gave the certificates to the Republicans. 
 
 There was also a contest in Houston county and some others, 
 which made it doubtful which party would have the supremacy 
 if there was a fair fight. But such a thing as a fair fight was not 
 imaginable in those days ; possibly I might say the situa- 
 tion has not much improved in politics in this respect since that 
 early period. It was therefore a question of the sharpest fac- 
 tion, instead of the rightful faction, which was due to win. 
 
 The convention was due to be called to order at 12 o'clock 
 noon, Monday, July 13, 1857. The Republican party was only 
 a year or two old, and its members evidently believed in being 
 very prompt on such an occasion as the capturing of a state. 
 They accordingly went to the capitol on Sunday and took pos- 
 session of the house of representatives and remained there all 
 night in order to make sure that they were present on time, Mon- 
 day noon. At 15 minutes before 12 o'clock on Monday, accord- 
 ing to the official Republican record, J. W. North called the con- 
 vention to order and nominated Thomas J. Galbraith as president 
 pro tern. Mr. North also put the question and declared it car- 
 ried. The Democrats, not to be outdone in enterprise, appeared 
 in the hall just as these proceedings began, headed by C. J. 
 Chase, the secretary of the territory, who called the convention 
 to order. As soon as he did so, ex-Gov. Willis A. Gorman 
 moved that the convention adjourn, and all the Democrats filed 
 out, leaving the Republicans in peaceful possession of the hall. 
 
 The official record of the proceedings of the Republican con- 
 vention states that after Mr. North put the question for the elec- 
 tion of a temporary chairman, "Mr. Galbraith thereupon took the 
 chair," and then, in brackets, this is added : "At this stage of 
 the proceedings a portion of the delegates left the convention." 
 That is the only allusion the Republican record makes to Gov- 
 ernor Gorman's motion to adjourn. 
 
16 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 Both sides caucused during the evening to devise plans each 
 for getting the better of the other; but the caucuses bore no 
 fruit. The next day the Republicans again took early possession 
 of the hall. The Democrats formed in a body, with Secretary 
 Chase at their head, and marched to the door of the hall where 
 the Republicans were in session, but did not enter. Secretary 
 Chase said to his Democratic brethren in explanation : 
 
 The hall to which the delegates adjourned yesterday is now occu- 
 pied by a meeting of the citizens of the territory, who refuse to give 
 possession to the constitutional convention. 
 
 In emulation of the King of France who marched up the hill 
 and then marched down again, the Democrats turned and sought 
 the council chamber, which is now called the senate. The build- 
 ing was incomplete, and the council chamber was not sufficiently 
 finished for occupancy. Secretary Chase, however, called them 
 to order, and Hon. H. H. Sibley was chosen president of the 
 Democratic constitutional convention. The convention then 
 adjourned, and though they met briefly every day, it was not 
 until June 22d that the room was sufficiently completed for regu- 
 lar sessions. 
 
 Meantime the Republicans, claiming to be the only legitimate 
 constitutional convention, proceeded to business in the house 
 of representatives. They reported 56 present, which was a major- 
 ity of the 102, the number of the entire body. 
 
 The Republicans organized by electing St. A. D. Balcombe 
 of Winona permanent president, and L. A. Babcock secretary. 
 Though it was summer time and no fire was necessary, it was 
 important to recognize the German element of the party, and 
 Gustave Leue was accordingly elected fireman. Perhaps it was 
 due to this early recognition of the Germans which led Mr. Leue 
 to become a Democrat later in life and start the first German 
 paper ever issued in Minnesota. 
 
 The early proceedings of both constitutional conventions 
 were chiefly devoted to determining which one was the regular, 
 "blown-in-the-bottle" affair. The claim of the Republicans was 
 that 56 delegates had signed a paper requesting Mr. North 
 to call the convention to order, and that, as the convention must 
 itself originate its organization, the majority had a right to devise 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 17 
 
 the plan. They of course ignored the question of the contest- 
 ants already mentioned, and the four delegates from St. Anthony 
 were among the 56 signing the call. To have admitted any 
 question about the legitimacy of the election of any of the 56 
 members would have ruined their claim, and consequently the 
 contests were deliberately ignored. There have been hosts of 
 precedents since that time to sustain this early action of the Min- 
 nesota Republicans, but in those days no precedents were neces- 
 sary, and they simply proceeded to be a law unto themselves. 
 
 CLA.IM OF THE DEMOCRATS. 
 
 The contention of the Democrats was twofold : first, that 
 the Republicans did not have a majority uncontested ; second, 
 that the constitutional convention, being ordered by an act of 
 Congress, the secretary of the territory, Mr. Chase, who was an 
 appointee of the general government, was the proper person to 
 call the convention to order. The original report of the com- 
 mittee on credentials in the Republican wing showed 56, though 
 later 3 contestants were added, making 59. In the Democratic 
 convention there were 53 participants, though the committee on 
 credentials only reported 49 uncontested seats. 
 
 On the 22nd of July Delegate Charles E. Flandrau offered a 
 resolution setting forth that the Democrats had over 1,600 major- 
 ity in the territory ; that the action of Register of Deeds Ames 
 in issuing certificates to the four Republican delegates was illegal, 
 and that the body at the other end of the capitol was a band of 
 usurpers and revolutionists. The resolutions provided that they 
 should be transmitted to the president and all the members of the 
 cabinet. These resolutions were debated during a portion of 
 each day for five days, and were finally adopted on the 27th 
 of July. Having thus by their own declaration proved them- 
 selves to be entirely legitimate, the Democrats proceeded to elect 
 permanent officers, choosing Gen. H. H. Sibley for president, 
 and Major J. J. Noah for secretary. Rev. J. G. Riheldaffer was 
 elected chaplain, but, evidently thinking that wing of the con- 
 vention could not be saved by prayer, he declined, and Rev. John 
 Penman was chosen and duly served. 
 
 2 
 
18 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS'. 
 
 OVERTURE FOR PEACE. 
 
 The first overture for peace was a resolution offered by Judge 
 Sherburne in the Democratic convention, providing for a com- 
 mittee of five to confer with the Republicans. This was debated 
 at length and indefinitely postponed by a vote of 23 to 19. On 
 August 10th the Republican convention adopted a similar reso- 
 lution and sent it to the Democratic body. 
 
 The Democrats were willing to confer with the Republicans 
 if they could do so without recognizing them as a constitutional 
 convention. Consequently they proposed a caucus committee 
 and appointed a committee of five for this mission. The Repub- 
 licans declined to meet a caucus committee ; and when their 
 resolutions asking a conference reached the Democratic conven- 
 tion they were referred to the caucus committee, which promptly 
 reported that, in view of the Republican refusal to meet 
 a caucus committee, instead of a convention committee, 
 the convention could not recognize the Republicans. This 
 action was adopted, and an official record made in the 
 proceedings in accordance with the facts. There was 
 really no principle at all at stake in all this controversy, and 
 looked at from the present standpoint it seems decidedly child- 
 ish. The actors themselves evidently took that view later. 
 They were all anxious for the admission of the territory as a 
 state, and if they went to Congress with two constitutions it 
 would simply mean delay and disadvantage to everyone. There 
 was no contest, as in Kansas, over slavery, or, in fact, anything 
 else. It was merely an effort to establish a legal charter for the 
 state, and, as passion cooled, common sense resumed sway. 
 
 On the 1 8th of August the Republicans again made a move 
 for a conference, and appointed Messrs. T. J. Galbraith, Lewis 
 McCune, Cyrus Aldrich, L. K. Stannard and Thomas Wilson 
 as a committee. The same day that was done A. E. Ames 
 offered a resolution in the Democratic body for a conference 
 committee, and it was ordered by vote of 33 to 20. The Demo- 
 cratic committee was composed of W. A. Gorman, J. R. Brown, 
 William Holcomb, M. Sherburne and W. W. Kingsbury. It 
 took but a very few days to ascertain that, laying politics aside, 
 there was practically no difference of opinion upon the constitu- 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 19 
 
 tion. On August 27th the conference committee of each con- 
 vention reported the same document, and on the 28th both con- 
 ventions adopted the constitution. It only remained for the 
 joint committee on enrollment to report that the constitution 
 mutually agreed upon had been correctly enrolled to complete 
 the work. This committee was composed of Moses Sherburne 
 (Democrat), chairman ; L. K. Stannard (Republican), secretary ; 
 Joseph R. Brown, W. Holcomb, W. W. Kingsbury, on the part 
 of the Democrats, and Thomas J. Galbraith, Cyrus Aldrich and 
 Charles McClure on the part of the Republicans. This report 
 was made on August 29th, and the double-headed convention 
 adjourned on that day, having occupied 47 days, during 41 of 
 which sessions were held. The constitution was ratified by a 
 vote of the people on Oct. 13, 1857, but it was not until May 11, 
 1858, that Minnesota formally became a member of the Union 
 by act of Congress. 
 
 INCIDENTS OF THE CONTEST. 
 
 While this epitomizes the absolute official proceedings of 
 both conventions, there were numerous incidents of interest in 
 connection with this early contest that are worthy of preserva- 
 tion. 
 
 There were three daily papers in St. Paul at that time, the 
 Pioneer and Democrat, published by Goodrich & Sommers, the 
 Minnesotian, published by J. W. Owens and George W. Moore, 
 and the Times, published by T. M. Newson ; the two latter were 
 Republican, and of course sustained the Republican convention 
 and belabored the Democratic. At the beginning the Pioneer 
 and Democrat was sufficiently enterprising to report both bodies. 
 The newspapers in those days did not indulge in display head- 
 ings, and over a two or three-column report a single line, bold- 
 faced head would appear "The Constitutional Convention," fol- 
 lowing with the Democratic proceedings ; then came the Repub- 
 lican proceedings, and that was headed "A Republican Meet- 
 ing." The Republican papers never attempted to report any 
 proceedings save the Republican, but would occasionally give 
 excerpts of occurrences in the Democratic body. The Minne- 
 sotian headed such reports "Border Ruffian Convention." 
 
20 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 Almost every day the Minnesotian had an editorial fusillade 
 against the Democrats. After a few days the Pioneer and Demo- 
 crat dropped its report of the "Republican meeting," and there- 
 after to be informed concerning what was going on at the capitol 
 it was necessary to read the papers of both political persuasions. 
 Both parties held frequent caucuses, in fact almost every even- 
 ing, and excitement ran high. An open outbreak between the 
 respective bodies was anticipated, and many members of both 
 bodies went armed, to be prepared for any emergency. 
 
 ACTUAL HOSTILITIES. 
 
 In spite of the suppressed excitement and constantly expected 
 outbreak, but one hostile scene really occurred. On the 18th 
 of August the Republican convention appointed a conference 
 committee, and on the same day the Democratic convention 
 appointed a similar committee. Thomas Wilson was a mem- 
 ber of the Republican committee and ex-Governor Gorman a 
 member of the Democratic. 
 
 ll the subsequent events had not absolutely formed a portion 
 of the official proceedings, being duly printed and preserved in 
 the printed record of the conventions, I should not here allude 
 to them, and in doing so now I quote from the records rather 
 than give any version of my own. 
 
 An affray had occurred between ex-Governor Gorman and 
 Mr. Wilson on the 25th of August. This occurred during a 
 meeting of the joint conference committee, the appointment of 
 which I have already noted. The Pioneer and Democrat at that 
 time made this report of the event: 
 
 Mr. Gorman was reclining on the sofa, and Mr. Wilson sitting facing 
 him, when Mr. Wilson replied to Judge Sherburne that there were some 
 men whom he hoped would understand him, in whom he had no confi- 
 dence personally or politically, and he wanted to choose his own asso- 
 ciates. "But," said Mr. Wilson, "1 do not apply that language to Judge 
 Sherburne." Mr. Kingsbury then promptly asked Mr. Wilson if he 
 intended that language for him. to which Wilson replied, "No, sir: but 
 there were others on the committee whom he did apply it to." Where- 
 upon Mr. Gorman raised on his elbow from a reclining position on the 
 sofa and asked quietly if Mr. Wilson intended the offensive language 
 for him, to which Mr. Wilson replied, looking in the face of Mr. Gor- 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 21 
 
 man, "I certainly do apply it to you." Whereupon Mr. Gorman raised 
 and struck Mr. Wilson with the small end of his gold-headed cane which 
 he then held in his hand and broke it. and then followed with blows of 
 his fist. They were promptly separated, and while two persons were 
 holding Mr. Gorman, Mr. Wilson seized a large lead-headed cane and 
 approached Mr. Gorman, and Gorman said, "Don't hold me until he 
 strikes me with that cane. If he does I shall make a more summary 
 defense than I have." 
 
 Mr. Gorman shortly after passed out of the room and returned 
 in a minute or two and took up his hat and walked deliberately 
 away. 
 
 On the 26th of August Governor Gorman rose in the Demo- 
 cratic convention to a question of personal privilege. He read 
 the account of the altercation, and in tracing down the offensive 
 remark to himself it reminds one of the story of the little girl 
 playing with her kitten in a room where she and her grandmother 
 were the only occupants. When her grandmother had reproved 
 her for some transgression the little girl stroked the kitten and 
 said, "There is some one in this room that I wish was dead, and 
 it isn't you, Kitty, and it isn't me." 
 
 Governor Gorman read the report from the Pioneer Demo- 
 crat, which I have quoted above, as his explanation of the event, 
 and, as it appears in the official record of the constitutional con- 
 vention, it seems fair to present it here, though he has long since 
 passed from life's activities. 
 
 In the Republican convention the next day, August 27th, 
 Judge Wilson rose and made a lengthy personal explanation. 
 This, too, is spread upon the pages of the volume reporting the 
 Republican convention, and that both sides may be properly rep- 
 resented I again quote from the official record. Judge Wilson 
 began by stating that he responded to a question by Judge Sher- 
 burne. 
 
 "There are some gentlemen that I wish would always understand 
 me. I prefer to choose my own companions." Those, I think are the 
 very words I used. As to Judge Sherburne feeling insulted and demand- 
 ing an explanation that is a flat lie, got up by those who retail it, who- 
 ever they may be — an unmitigated lie. Judge Sherburne, I am confi- 
 dent, will state that fact if called upon. To him I appeal in confidence. 
 * * * I made the remark I above stated, and Governor Gorman rose 
 up and asked me if I meant him by that remark. I told him certainly. 
 
22 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 I spoke it out flatly, with no reservation. I was sitting by a round 
 table in the corner of the room. I had been sitting a few minutes with 
 my feet upon the table, and whether I was in that position at the 
 moment, I do not certainly know. Those present say I was and my 
 recollection is that I was. He took his cane — every man knows it was 
 a heavy cane — and struck me over the head before I could place myself 
 in a position to defend myself. I was then in a position in which I could 
 not defend myself in any possible way. I was struck to the floor, and 
 as I rose I saw this man — the most consummate and the basest coward 
 I ever saw in my life — diagonally across the room. I picked up a frag- 
 ment of the cane and finding it of no use for my purpose I seized my 
 own, when I saw him shrinking away into the corner of the room and 
 crying, "Don't let him strike me with that cane." He immediately left 
 the room. Where he went I do not know. My friends could not ascer- 
 tain, and as I understand he continued in some place around the capitol 
 until nearly dark, and then with two men in his buggy to guard him 
 went home. 
 
 Referring to Mr. Gorman's statement of the attempt of Wil- 
 son to strike him with a lead-headed cane, Mr. Wilson spoke in 
 addition, and it is thus recorded in the official report: 
 
 Now as to that, we were standing opposite to each other across the 
 room. There were a number of men close around me to prevent me 
 from crossing the room to him, and he on the other side of the room 
 evidently much alarmed for his safety, no person holding him or having 
 a hand upon him. For all that matter all that was necessary was to 
 hold him from jumping out of the window. 
 
 On the same day a resolution was offered in the Republican 
 convention, declaring that they would no longer confer with the 
 Democratic convention until Gorman was removed from the 
 committee. This resolution, however, was not pressed and did 
 not pass. The work of the conference committee was nearly 
 completed, and, notwithstanding the bitter feeling which existed, 
 it was apparently smothered for the time being for the public 
 good. 
 
 One of the incidents of the affair was a subscription for one 
 dollar each, which Michael E. Ames took up among the Demo- 
 crats. He went to them, saying, "Governor Gorman has broken 
 his cane and we want to buy him a new one." The response 
 was prompt, and another gold-headed cane was soon secured, 
 which bore this inscription : 
 
 Presented to Willis A. Gorman by the Democratic members of the 
 constitutional convention for valuable services rendered the party. 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 23 
 
 The closing business in each convention was in keeping with 
 the proceedings throughout. The Democrats controlled the ter- 
 ritorial government, George Armstrong of St. Paul being treas- 
 urer. 
 
 While by the act of the territorial legislature $30,000 had been 
 appropriated and a per diem of $3 per day fixed as the pay of 
 the delegates, the treasurer refused to pay anything to the Repub- 
 licans, but paid the Democrats regularly. A few minutes before 
 the Democratic convention adjourned, A. E. Ames offered a 
 resolution naming 53 Republicans as entitled to compensation, 
 coupled with the request to the treasurer that he pay them their 
 per diem. W. P. Murray of St. Paul moved that it be laid on 
 the table, and the motion prevailed. 
 
 The next motion was for adjournment sine die. 
 
 While this was going on in the Democratic convention, Mr. 
 Thomas Foster in the Republican convention offered a resolution, 
 the preamble of which arraigned the Democrats for bad faith in 
 refusing to pay the Republicans after the compromise constitu- 
 tion had been agreed upon, stating that part of the compact was 
 to allow them salaries. His preamble concluded with this reso- 
 lution : 
 
 Resolved, That the violation of honor and faith on the part of the 
 Democratic minority convention implied by this action on their part 
 and the territorial treasurer should receive, and we doubt not will 
 receive, the condemnation of all honest men; and we appeal to the peo- 
 ple of Minnesota to rectify the wrong of this action of a partisan terri- 
 torial officer, the appointee of the present governor, acting under the 
 influence of a partisan convention. 
 
 On motion of Amos Coggswell, the resolution was indefi- 
 nitely postponed, and the next motion in the Republican conven- 
 tion was for the final adjournment. The Republican delegates 
 were subsequently paid, though no record appears showing just 
 how that conclusion was reached. The original appropriation 
 of the territorial legislature for the expenses of the constitutional 
 convention was $30,000, but State Auditor Dunbar sent a report 
 to the legislature in i860 stating that the total cost was $59,803.07. 
 The original amount was considerably increased by the neces- 
 sity of issuing the debates in two volumes owing to the partisan 
 quarrel. 
 
 Probably in the hope that their pay would be forthcoming 
 in the future, the Republican convention closed with prayer. 
 
OBSERVATION THREE. 
 
 The Final Admission of the State — Three Governors at the 
 Same Time. 
 
 As the continuation of Minnesota as a territory was a large 
 bill of expense to the general government, our people supposed 
 that it was only necessary to conform with the legal requirements 
 to at once become a state. As the constitution was to be 
 adopted in October, and the legislature and state officers were 
 elected at the same time, the document provided that the first 
 state legislature should meet in December, 1859. The Demo- 
 crats carried the state, electing Gen. H. H. Sibley governor, and 
 George L. Becker, J. M. Cavanaugh and W. W. Phelps mem- 
 bers of Congress. It was uncertain just how many members 
 would be allowed the state, but in order to keep on the safe 
 side it was decided to elect three. Congress finally allowed but 
 two, and the three members elected cast lots, the result being 
 that Mr. Becker lost, and Cavanaugh and Phelps served as the 
 first members of Congress from the State of Minnesota. 
 
 When the time came for the meeting of the State Legislature 
 Minnesota was still a territory. The House of Representatives 
 was Democratic, having been elected at the same time as 
 Buchanan, in 1856, but there was a wide diversity of opinion 
 growing up between the northern and southern Democrats. 
 The southern Democrats were not anxious to admit any more 
 free-state congressmen, and, as the admission of Minnesota 
 would give the Democrats two more votes, the Republicans were 
 nothing loth to have delay. Here was a dilemma. Locally the 
 slate government was provided for, but nationally not recognized. 
 Governor Medary was still the executive, but he was a territorial 
 governor, while Sibley was the state governor-elect. Minnesota, 
 however, was adequate to the emergency. Her State Legisla- 
 ture went right along passing laws, and they were duly signed 
 
 (24) 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 25 
 
 by C. L. Chase, secretary of the territory, as acting governor. 
 He certified them as secretary besides. Practically Minnesota 
 had three governors at the same time. Sibley was governor- 
 elect; Chase signed the bills passed by the legislature as acting 
 governor, and Medary drew his salary as territorial governor 
 until May 24, 1858. 
 
 On a close legal construction it is questionable whether any 
 of these laws were strictly legal. By good fortune the late 
 Charles E. Flandrau had been appointed, in July, 1857, a territo- 
 rial judge, and he was also elected in October, 1857, as one of 
 the associate justices of the Supreme Court. Consequently he 
 had a pretty good title to his position whether Minnesota was a 
 territory or a state. The question of the legality of the laws 
 passed under such peculiar circumstances would naturally reach 
 the courts, and Judge Flandrau was the first judge called upon 
 to pass upon the question. He, of course, promptly decided 
 that they were all right, and no successful attack was ever made, 
 later, to question their legality. In a historical address deliv- 
 ered some years before his death, Judge Flandrau thus spoke 
 of that incident in his judicial career : 
 
 With that common sense which should always govern a frontier 
 judge, I held it was all right and perfectly constitutional. What else 
 could one do? They had passed an immense bookful of laws, and the 
 job of declaring them all unconstitutional at once was rather too formid- 
 able an undertaking for a boy. So I did the only common sense thing 
 there was to do. But I felt a good deal as the jury did when it acquit- 
 ted the man of murder, but said he must be careful not to do it again. 
 
 It was on the nth day of May, 1858, that Congress passed 
 the act admitting Minnesota into the Union, and as soon as the 
 slow process of official information could reach the state, which 
 was May 24th, Medary retired, and General Sibley took his seat 
 as governor. After enacting laws up to March 25th the legisla- 
 ture took a recess until June 2nd, in order to be ready for more 
 business as soon as the admission had taken place. Upon re-as- 
 sembling a session of three months was held, this time the acts 
 being signed by the actual governor of the state. 
 
 And thus through tribulation and bitter political strife Min- 
 nesota framed her organic law and became one of the stars in 
 the Union. 
 
OBSERVATION FOUR. 
 
 The Attempt to Remove the Capital of the State to St. 
 Peter, and How It Was Defeated by Stealing the Bill. 
 
 One of the most interesting legislative episodes which ever 
 took place in the history of Minnesota occurred during the 
 session of the territorial legislature in the fall of 1857. The ter- 
 ritory was in a transition state, anxiously awaiting the time 
 when it could don the garb of statehood. The organic act of 
 Minnesota, passed by Congress in March, 1849, contained this 
 proviso concerning the location of the capital: 
 
 The legislative assembly of the Territory of Minnesota shall hold 
 its first session in St. Paul, and at its first session the governor and 
 legislative assembly shall locate and establish a temporary seat of govern- 
 ment for said territory at such place as they may deem eligible, and 
 shall at such time as they shall see proper prescribe by law the manner 
 of promoting the permanent seat of government of said territory by 
 vote of the people. 
 
 About this time a real estate pool was made up to perma- 
 nently remove the capital from St. Paul, based upon the claim 
 that under the clause quoted it could be done by legislation, 
 without submitting it to a vote of the people. ■ With this end 
 in view the St. Peter Land Company, which had been formed 
 for the purpose of booming a townsite at that point, entered the 
 lists to secure the capital. A shrewd combination was made in 
 the legislature, and Gov. Willis A. Gorman, then the execu- 
 tive of the territory, was one of the leading stockholders in the 
 company. From the beginning of the session the matter was 
 current talk, and on the 5th of February Mr. Thomas, a member 
 of the house, gave notice of a bill for the removal. On the 6th 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 27 
 
 of February W. D. Lowry of Rochester introduced a bill in the 
 council (the branch which we now term the senate) for the 
 removal, and Mr. Thomas' bill was never heard of thereafter. 
 
 Notwithstanding the talk which had been made, the people 
 of St. Paul had not believed it would materialize, and indigna- 
 tion and excitement was great when the bill appeared. A com- 
 bination had been made sufficiently strong to put the measure 
 through both branches of the legislature, while the St. Paul people 
 had been sleeping in the fancied security of possession. For 
 decency's sake a little time was taken, and it was not until Febru- 
 ary 9th, three days after the introduction, that the bill was con- 
 sidered in committee of the whole and ordered to its third read- 
 ing by a vote of 7 to 6. Three days later the council passed 
 the bill by a vote of 8 to 7. This was the exact strength of the 
 respective parties. The house acted with greater promptness, 
 the bill being read the first and second times on the 16th, and 
 on the 17th it came up for its third reading. Its opponents 
 sought to prevent a vote by filibustering tactics, but the post- 
 ponement was very brief, the bill passing the house on the 18th 
 by a vote of 20 to 17. There was quite a little controversy over 
 the title to the bill, and William Branch of St. Paul moved to 
 make the title read, "A Bill for the Sale of Town Lots in St. 
 Peter's." The townsite boomers were in great glee, as they 
 knew the governor was sure to sign the bill, but the opponents 
 of the removal had by no means given up the fight. There were 
 loud charges of bribery, and they were undoubtedly well founded 
 in many cases. There was no money floating about those days, 
 but a townsite company could distribute wealth with as much 
 lavishness as Satan when he made his tempting offer at an early 
 period in the world's existence. There were millions in the St. 
 Peter townsite with the capital in view, and the promises of lots 
 made by the land company were sufficient to give fortunes to 
 everyone in the territory and still have abundance left for them- 
 selves. 
 
 While, of course, there is no such official record, it was 
 stated at the time, and undisputed by the persons accused, that 
 every member of either branch of the legislature voting for the 
 capital removal had deeds for town lots in St. Peter already in 
 
2S H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 his pocket. If there was anyone omitted it was certainly because 
 he lacked legislative acumen. 
 
 There was so much talk of this kind that, after an angry 
 debate in the house, a committee of three was appointed to investi- 
 gate, and later a resolution was adopted calling upon the com- 
 mittee to report, but nothing ever came of the matter. 
 
 In the senate a similar resolution was offered, but it went 
 over until the next day, and no action was ever reached on it. 
 On February 26th H. N. Setzer of Taylors Falls, who had offered 
 the resolution for investigation, presented the following in the 
 council : 
 
 Whereas suspicions of fraud exist in regard to the passage of 
 No. 62 Council File, a bill for the removal of the seat of government 
 of the Territory of Minnesota, therefore be it resolved that the com- 
 mittee on enrolled bills be, and are hereby, instructed to retain in their 
 possession No. 62 Council File, a bill for the removal of the seat of 
 government of the Territory of Minnesota, until otherwise ordered by 
 the council. 
 
 This resolution provoked considerable debate, but was of 
 course defeated by 6 yeas to 7 nays. Many of the members of 
 the legislature receiving deeds for town lots put them on record 
 at the register of deeds' office in Nicollet county ; but the legis- 
 lature did not propose to incriminate itself, and consequently it 
 was wiser to stop the investigation. 
 
 JOE ROLETTE. 
 
 But now came the episode which saved the capital for St. 
 Paul. Joe Rolette of Pembina was a member of the council. 
 Joe has been commonly supposed to be a half or quarter breed 
 Frenchman, but as a matter of fact he was a full-blooded French 
 Canadian, and withal a very bright and intelligent man. He 
 had been educated in the East, and was a warm friend of St. Paul. 
 He was an especially warm friend of H. M. Rice, delegate to 
 Congress from Minnesota when Minnesota was a territory. It 
 was his custom at home to wear the garb of an Indian because 
 there were almost no white men in his locality. But when he 
 came to St. Paul he would go to the most fashionable tailor 
 which the little village afforded and order the finest suit of clothes 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 29 
 
 which could be produced in the town. When they were com- 
 pleted Joe would don them and say to the tailor, "Send your bill 
 to Mr. Rice." He never asked or had authority for any such 
 proceeding, but Mr. Rice, who was a prince among men, never 
 raised any question relative to Joe's authority, but simply paid 
 the bills. So that after Joe had reached the city a short time 
 he was the finest dressed man in town. Luckily for St. Paul, 
 Joe was chairman of the enrollment committee in the council, 
 and consequently the bill removing the capital to St. Peter came 
 into his possession. He received it on the 27th day of February. 
 The best testimony that can be secured is to the effect that 
 Joe had no intention originally of running away with the bill ; 
 but he was opposed to the removal and thought he would worry 
 the St. Peter crowd. He boarded at the Fuller House, the lead- 
 ing hotel in the city at that time, located on the corner of Sev- 
 enth and Jackson streets. Truman M. Smith had a bank on the 
 ground floor of the hotel building. When Joe left the capitol 
 on the 27th he took the enrolled bill with him, and before going 
 up to the hotel dropped into the bank and, handing it to Mr. 
 Smith, told him that was a valuable package, and, as he was going 
 away for a little while, he wanted him to keep it until he returned. 
 Then he went to the hotel and told Mr. Long, the proprietor, 
 that he was going to change his room, taking one on the top 
 floor of the building, and directing that it be given out at the 
 office that he had left town. When he found the excitement 
 he had created he concluded to remain in hiding. When the roll 
 was called in the council on the 28th, Rolette's seat was vacant, 
 and the capitol removers were nervous. A call of the council 
 was ordered, and John M. Lamb, the sergeant-at-arms, was sent 
 out to obtain the missing member. The full council was com- 
 posed of fifteen members, and all were present but Joe. In an 
 unguarded moment the capitol removers had consented to a call 
 of the council, but they soon discovered that they were in a trap 
 and were anxious to get out. John B. Brisbin of St. Paul, the 
 president of the council, ruled that it required two-thirds to dis- 
 pense with the call, whereupon Mr. Balcombe of Winona gravely 
 argued that nine was two-thirds of fourteen. Mr. Balcombe 
 spent half a day in his mathematical argument, but Brisbin was 
 
30 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 obdurate, and the Winona mathematics made no impression upon 
 him. 
 
 In legislative proceedings, when there is a call ordered of a 
 given body, no other business can be transacted unless by unani- 
 mous consent, save the production of the missing member or 
 members ; and consequently, so long as the call of the council 
 was held to be good, nothing could be done until Joe was pro- 
 duced by the sergeant-at-arms. 
 
 When Balcombe was defeated in his mathematical argument, 
 he offered a resolution calling upon Rolette, as chairman of the 
 enrolling committee, to return the bill on that day, and, in case he 
 did not, authorizing Mr. Wales, the next member of the com- 
 mittee, to procure another enrolled copy and report it to the 
 council on Monday, that day being Saturday. A second resolu- 
 tion directed Mr. Wales to secure the signatures of the speaker 
 of the house and the president of the council to the enrolled 
 copy, and then take it to the governor for his signature. Bal- 
 combe read these resolutions himself, instead of sending them 
 to the secretary's desk, and when he asked for action the presi- 
 dent ruled that they were not before the body. Balcombe then 
 offered to withdraw them, but the president ruled that, not hav- 
 ing been presented, they could not be withdrawn. Balcombe 
 was in something of the position of the new policeman who 
 brought a prisoner to the door of the court room and called to 
 the judge inside that the prisoner refused to come in. 
 
 "Bring him in," said the judge. 
 
 "I can't," yelled the policeman. 
 
 "Come in yourself without him," said the judge. 
 
 "He won't let me," was the piteous reply of the policeman. 
 
 As the hours rolled on the situation became more aggravated. 
 The five friends of St. Paul remained resolute, and the nine could 
 not dispense with the call under the ruling of the chair. 
 
 Brisbin frequently called Mr. Setzer to the chair to preside, 
 and one morning Mr. Setzer addressed Mr. Lamb, the sergeant- 
 at-arms, saying to him, "Mr. Lamb, I do not believe you are 
 doing your duty.'' Go out and bring Joe Rolette into this cham- 
 ber, dead or alive." Setzer was a warm friend of St. Paul and 
 did not want Joe produced at all. 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 31 
 
 As a matter of fact, the friends of St. Paul knew where Joe 
 was all the time, and Lamb was spending his nights in Joe's 
 room playing cards with him, reporting each morning that he 
 could not find him. Other St. Paul friends were doing the same 
 thing. Joe was furnished with luxurious refreshments and was 
 having the time of his life, as well as being the hero of the hour. 
 Every night members of the legislature were with him until the 
 small hours of the morning, and he was entirely happy, as he 
 knew no punishment was likely to be inflicted. 
 
 The Sabbath dawned, and still the council was under the call. 
 Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday followed with the 
 call in force. The journal of the legislature of that day is some- 
 what interesting. It is very much in skeleton form, but that it 
 may be preserved in a record easy of access I quote from the 
 journal of Feb. 28, 1857: 
 
 Mr. Setzer moved a call of the council, which was ordered, and, the 
 roll being called, Mr. Rolette was absent. 
 
 The chair ordered the sergeant-at-arms to report Mr. Rolette in his 
 seat. 
 
 Mr. Balcombe moved that all further proceedings under the call be 
 dispensed with. Lost by 9 yeas to 5 nays, the president deciding that a 
 two-thirds vote was necessary to suspend the call. 
 
 Mr. Balcombe rose in his place and contended that the declaration 
 of the vote was incorrect, that 9 was two-thirds of 14, and the vote 
 should have been declared in the affirmative. 
 
 The chair refused to change the declaration of the vote. 
 
 Mr. Balcombe claimed an appeal from the decision of the chair. 
 
 The chair refused to entertain the appeal. 
 
 Mr. Bassett moved that the council adjourn, and upon the question 
 there were yeas 9 and nays 4. 
 
 So the affirmative of the question prevailed, and the council 
 adjourned at 1 p. m., March 5, A. D. 1857, after having continued in 
 session without adjournment or recess 123 hours. 
 
 That is the skeleton official report of five days' proceedings 
 while Joe Rolette was in hiding with the bill. 
 
 The adjournment was a compromise agreement that when 
 the council should meet again it would still be under the call, and 
 it so met on the 6th of March under that agreement. The 
 session would expire by constitutional limitation on the next day, 
 March 7th, and on the 6th the sergeant-at-arms, who had spent 
 
32 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 the previous night in Joe Rolette's room, was ordered with great 
 emphasis to produce Joe. The friends of St. Peter were exceed- 
 ingly gloomy, and, finding it useless to remain in continuous 
 session, agreed to another adjournment, with the council to 
 reassemble for the last time on the 7th, the call still to be in force. 
 
 The last day the friends of St. Paul were so jubilant over 
 results that they became almost reckless, and absolutely smuggled 
 Joe into the capitol secretly. There had been no day or night 
 during his absence when some members of the legislature had 
 not been in Joe's society. 
 
 The council was to expire at 12 o'clock noon by constitu- 
 tional limitation, and as the pointers of the clock reached that 
 hour, President Brisbin rapped upon his desk to declare the 
 adjournment. As he did so, by preconcerted arrangement, Joe 
 Rolette burst into the council chamber with the bill and submit- 
 ted a report. Brisbin, however, refused to take any chances, and 
 simply replying, "You are too late, Mr. Rolette," declared the 
 council adjourned. The report which Joe professed to desire 
 to make read as follows : 
 
 The committee on enrolled bills would respectfully report that, owing 
 to the absence of the chairman of this committee, Bill No. 62, for the 
 removal of the seat of government of the Territory of Minnesota, has 
 not been reported back to the council. 
 
 Your committee would further state that the above mentioned bill 
 might have been reported back to the council at this time, but that after 
 examining the enrolled copy of said bill which was delivered to this 
 committee, and comparing it with the engrossed bill by the secretary 
 of this committee, we find numerous errors in the enrolled copy, some 
 portions of the engrossed bill being left out of the enrolled copy, and 
 matters being inserted in the enrolled copy which are not in the 
 engrossed bill. Your committee cannot, therefore, report the said bill 
 as correctly enrolled, but retain the same in our possession subject to the 
 order of the council. 
 
 The interesting feature of this report is that it begins with the 
 claim that it could not have been earlier reported back, owing to 
 the absence of the chairman, and still is signed by Joe Rolette as 
 chairman of the enrolling committee. 
 
 An effort was made, in spite of all this, to declare the bill car- 
 ried. A copy of the bill in some form was taken to Governor 
 Gorman, and, as he was in the removal scheme, he promptly 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 33 
 
 signed it. But it could not become a law without the signature 
 of Mr. Brisbin, president of the council, and he, being a resident 
 of and resolute friend of St. Paul, checkmated the scheme. 
 Mr. Brisbin gave the following seven reasons why he refused to 
 sign : 
 
 i. It was not transmitted from the council to the house by an official 
 message. 
 
 2. It did not come to me from the secretary of the council. 
 
 3. It was not enrolled under the direction of the secretary. 
 
 4. It was not reported by the enrolling committee. 
 
 5. I have no evidence that any bill of the contents of the accom- 
 panying ever passed the council. 
 
 6. The certificate purporting to be made by the secretary of the 
 council was not signed by him. 
 
 7. The bill had been out of the hands of the enrolling committee 
 and in the possession of two other members of the council to the per- 
 sonal knowledge of the president. 
 
 These seven reasons are attached to the bill and published 
 with the law itself in the volume of territorial laws for 1857. 
 
 Brisbin's 5th and 7th reasons put in juxtaposition remind one 
 of the man arraigned for horse-stealing, who submitted the double 
 plea that he never had a horse, and if he did have a horse he 
 didn't steal him. 
 
 Governor Gorman appointed W. A. Davis of Belle Plaine, 
 Scott county, M. Grover of St. Charles, Winona county, and 
 D. A. Secombe, capitol commissioners to erect a building at St. 
 Peter. They advertised for proposals, and, in contrast with the 
 way more modern and expensive state capitols are erected, the 
 specifications are interesting. They ran as follows : 
 
 Said building is to be of brick or stone, of two stories, the lower 
 one about 20 feet in height. The upper story is to contain two rooms, 
 about 50 by 60 feet each, and one room about 40 by 50. The lower story 
 is to contain at least 12 rooms. 
 
 Even that modest building does not seem to have been 
 erected, but the land company and enterprising citizens of St. 
 Peter erected a frame building for capitol purposes, which was 
 used for many years as the Nicollet County Court House. 
 
 3 
 
34 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 On June 29, 1857, A. F. Howes, president of the St. Peter 
 Land Company, applied to Judge R. R. Nelson, one of the jus- 
 tices of the territorial court, for a writ of mandamus to compel 
 the removal of the state officers from St. Paul to St. Peter. On 
 July 1 2th Judge Nelson fiied his decision which, after a some- 
 what elaborate argument, concluded thus : 
 
 We are of the opinion, therefore, that there has been no law passed 
 by the legislative power of the territory removing the capital from 
 St. Paul to St. Peter. The application for mandamus is therefore 
 refused. 
 
 And thus in a few lines perished the high hopes of St. Peter 
 and the land speculators who had sought to make their fortunes 
 by the capital removal. 
 
 After the legislature had finally adjourned, Joe Rolette was 
 the lion of the hour. A great torchlight procession was made 
 up, headed by a band, and Joe was escorted in triumph through 
 the streets of the little city. 
 
 Joe was in no sense a corrupt man, and did not take the action 
 he had with any view of pecuniary reward ; and still the citizens 
 of St. Paul, in their gratitude, raised a purse of $2,500 and pre- 
 sented it to him after the matter was all over. But Joe was a 
 prince in social hospitality, and, while he accepted the $2,500, he 
 remained in St. Paul long enough to expend nearly the whole 
 sum in having a good time, so that practically the gift was taking 
 it out of one pocket and putting it into the other. 
 
 A story was told of Joe which illustrates his business sagacity 
 as well as his idea of legislation. While he was a member of the 
 legislature the Minnesota Valley Railroad land grants were pend- 
 ing, the parcelling out of lands granted by Congress to the terri- 
 tory for railroad purposes. It was not supposed in those days, 
 and perhaps it is not even later, that any such thing as a land 
 grant can be given away without the recipients being levied upon 
 for a portion of the proceeds. The Minnesota Valley company, 
 accordingly, had very finely engraved stock certificates printed, 
 which were marked "Paid up," and offered them freely in $5,ooc 
 lots to members of the legislature if they would pass the bill 
 which they wished, disposing of the lands to a local company. 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 35 
 
 A friend of Joe approached him when the bill was pending and 
 said to him: 
 
 "Now, these are our own people, Joe, that want this land, and you 
 ought to help us. I think that I can get you $5,000 paid up stock if you 
 will vote for the bill." 
 
 Joe thought a few minutes, and, with the shrewdness for which he 
 was remarkable, replied: 
 
 "I don't know anything about your paid-up stock, but if you give 
 me $300 cash, it's a go." 
 
 Possibly Joe got the cash ; at all events he voted for the bill. 
 
 A member of the same legislature was drowned a few months 
 after the legislature adjourned, and among his effects the admin- 
 istrator found one of these $5,000 paid-up certificates of stock. 
 When the administrator came to settle the estate he sold it at 
 auction as a curio for $5. Based on this as a business transaction 
 Joe was evidently $295 ahead of the man who was drowned. 
 
 Another incident of that celebrated 123 hours' session was 
 the refreshment bill rendered by Mr. Long, proprietor of the 
 Fuller House, where most of the members stopped. Of course, 
 he was interested in St. Paul retaining the capital, and, while they 
 were locked up, he was very enthusiastic and sent up bounteous 
 refreshments, in which wine was a large factor. He kept encour- 
 aging the St. Paul friends to stand together, and he would keep 
 them supplied with the best there was on earth as long as they 
 would remain. The council chamber was a sight to behold when 
 the long session, without adjournment or recess, had concluded. 
 No one had been allowed to leave the room, even for the direst 
 necessity, except in charge of a sergeant-at-arms. But when it 
 was all over, and St. Paul had won, Mr. Long's business ideas 
 overcame his supposed generosity and patriotism while the strug- 
 gle was pending, and he rendered a bill for $500 for refresh- 
 ments, which, after a good deal of haggling and parleying, was 
 duly paid. 
 
 There hangs in the Historical Society rooms, in the present 
 state capitol, a life-sized portrait of Joe Rolette, presented to the 
 society by the late Judge Flandrau, which bears this inscription: 
 
 Joe Rolette, who saved the capital to St. Paul by running away with 
 the bill to remove it to St. Peter, 1857. 
 
36 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 It was the popular impression at the time that Joe absolutely 
 had run away from the city, and to keep up the semblance of that 
 the sergeant-at-arms sent runners to his former home in Prairie 
 du Chien and his then residence at Pembina, though the sergeant 
 was having a good time with Joe every evening. That was a 
 secret known to probably 15 or 20 persons at the time, and it is 
 surprising that it was kept a secret as long as it was. But if Joe 
 had been found and produced vi et armis in the council he had 
 taken such precaution that he would not have had the bill with 
 him, and the worst that could have happened to him would have 
 been temporary imprisonment. Consequently, he did not take 
 very serious chances, though he rendered an invaluable service 
 to St. Paul, which will never be forgotten, and without which St. 
 Paul would not be the St. Paul of to-day. 
 
 W. P. MURRAY. 
 
 As Hon. W. P. Murray of St. Paul has figured quite con- 
 spicuously in this capital removal, and as he was one of the boon 
 companions who spent evenings with Joe Rolette while he was 
 concealing the capital removal bill, as well as having occupied 
 many public positions since, it is perhaps appropriate to give 
 some space to show how he happened to get his start in political 
 life. We all know him in St. Paul as plain "Bill" Murray, but 
 for the purposes of this history and to the state at large I record 
 him as Hon. William P. Murray. 
 
 He had come to Minnesota from Indiana a dyed-in-the-wool 
 Democrat; and at the time he entered political life it was as 
 much a surprise to him as a stroke of lightning would have been. 
 In some way he became quite a favorite of James M. Goodhue, 
 the editor of the Pioneer and Democrat at St. Paul. Perhaps 
 this was because there were very few people in St. Paul, and 
 Goodhue had to have some favorites ; at all events Mr. Murray 
 could never account for the fancy which Goodhue took to him. 
 
 A little over a year after his arrival an election for member 
 of the territorial legislature was due. He was going along 
 the street one day when Goodhue stopped him and said, "Bill, 
 how would you like to go to the legislature?" Of course, he was 
 only plain Bill Murray then, but since he has reached the propor- 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 37 
 
 tions of Hon. William P. Murray he says if it should now be 
 seriously proposed to elect him president of the United States 
 he would not be more surprised than he was at Goodhue's sug- 
 gestion. He replied that he would be very glad to go to the 
 legislature, but he had only been here a short time, and there 
 was no use of his thinking about it. Goodhue assured him that 
 there was, and, if he wanted it, he (Goodhue) would see that the 
 Democrats nominated him. 
 
 The Democratic convention was duly called, and four mem- 
 bers of the legislature were to be named. Goodhue and his pro- 
 tege were on hand, and Goodhue notified the manipulators that 
 he wanted Bill to be one of the nominees. They very decidedly 
 demurred and told Goodhue that the slate was made up and it 
 was too late. Goodhue was an aggressive man, and felt his 
 power as having the only Democratic paper. So he told them, 
 "Go ahead, but I will knock hell out of your ticket." They knew 
 that Goodhue was a man of his word, and this was a warning 
 which could not be ignored. The manipulators consulted a few 
 minutes and concluded that there was room on the ticket for 
 Murray after all. There were 76 men in the convention, and 
 when it came to nominate members of the legislature Bill was 
 one of those selected, receiving 75 votes. He was triumphantly 
 elected, and thus began his public career. The Hon. William 
 Pitt Murray of to-day can therefore be pointed to as a living 
 object of the power of the press. 
 
OBSERVATION FIVE. 
 
 How Minneapolis Might Have Been the Capital of the State 
 
 If Her Own Members of the Legislature Had Been 
 
 Sharp and Wise. 
 
 As an aftermath to the attempted removal of the capital from 
 St. Paul to St. Peter, and also as a forgotten incident of history, 
 it is well to here record the fact that Minneapolis narrowly 
 escaped obtaining the capital at that time. When the state house 
 burned in St. Paul, in March, 1881, Minneapolis made a vigorous 
 effort to secure the capital, tendering the state Loring Park foi 
 the purpose of a new capitol building. It is probably due to 
 the Hon. John S. Pillsbury of Minneapolis, then governor of the 
 state, more than to any other one man that the movement did not 
 succeed. And still at the time of the attempted removal to St. 
 Peter it was Minneapolis members of the territorial legislature 
 who prevented that city obtaining the capital. So that the fact 
 of the permanent location of the capital and capitol building in 
 St. Paul can be credited to Minneapolis. 
 
 The bill for the removal of the capital to St. Peter had passed 
 the council, a body which corresponded to our present senate, 
 and the votes in the house had demonstrated that the land pool, 
 was sufficiently strong to pass it in that body., Governor Gor- 
 man was one of the leaders in the St. Peter movement, so that 
 there was no hope from him, and defeat for St. Paul seemed as 
 certain as anything in the future can be. Under these circum- 
 stances the members from St. Paul and their friends decided to 
 put in effect the loose talk relative to Nicollet Island and give 
 Minneapolis the capital as the choice of two evils. Minneapolis 
 was not much more than a hamlet, while St. Anthony was quite 
 a town ; but the two combined had about as much strength in 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 39 
 
 the legislature as St. Paul. W. P. Murray of St. Paul was 
 selected to make the tender, and under date of February 17th, 
 page 166, legislative journal, this paragraph appears relative to 
 the capital removal bill then under consideration : 
 
 Mr. Murray moved to amend the bill by striking out the word "St. 
 Peter" wherever it occurs and insert "Nicollet Island, between Minne- 
 apolis and St. Anthony;" also strike out the second section. 
 
 The second section was the offer of the St. Peter Land Com- 
 pany to donate a site of ten acres and to give $20,000 in cash 
 for a capitol (this was the sum appropriated by the general 
 government for a capitol at St. Paul), and also provide a tempo- 
 rary building for the meeting of the legislature until such time 
 as the capital could be removed. By substituting Nicollet Island 
 for St. Peter and striking out this second section, Minneapolis 
 was absolutely put in the place of St. Paul, and the tender of the 
 capital was thus made without money and without price. The 
 government appropriation for the building would have been 
 expended at Minneapolis instead of St. Paul, and as the bill did 
 not go to the people, the removal would have been absolute and 
 complete. 
 
 I do not assume that this offer was made for any especial 
 love. for Minneapolis, but I am satisfied it was made in good 
 faith, for the double reason that St. Paul was enraged at the St. 
 Peter crowd, and if she could not keep the capital herself pre- 
 ferred to have it in the neighborhood. 
 
 Since I began work upon this book I have talked with Mr. 
 Murray in person, and he assures me most positively that he 
 made the proposition in the utmost good faith, and intended to 
 carry it through if he could. I think it will surprise a good many 
 people of Minneapolis at this date to learn that this proposition 
 was lost by the votes of the St. Anthony and Minneapolis mem- 
 bers, while every member from St. Paul, five in number, voted to 
 give Minneapolis the prize. 
 
 The vote by which Mr. Murray's amendment was lost was 
 18 for it and 19 against it, and among the 18 were William 
 Branch, A. T. Chamblin, William P. Murray, William Costello 
 and J. C. Ramsey, all of St. Paul, with Asa Keith and W. Hayden 
 
40 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 of Minneapolis. There were no St. Paul votes against, but 
 there were Jonathan Chase and Henry Heichtman of St. An- 
 thony, and John M. Troll and J. P. Plummer of Minneapolis in 
 the negative. Here were four St. Anthony and Minneapolis 
 votes in the negative, which, if transposed, would have carried 
 the capital to Nicollet Island by a vote of 22 to 15 against. This 
 is assuming that the St. Anthony and Minneapolis members went 
 over, which would be very natural, and leaving all the other St. 
 Peterites to stick to their text. One of the excuses as given by 
 the St. Anthony and Minneapolis members of the house for vot- 
 ing as they did was that it was a trick on the part of St. Paul to 
 send the bill back to the council with an amendment and there 
 kill the whole scheme. I think this was erroneous, and their 
 action was a fatal mistake for them. The bill had passed the 
 council by the close vote of 8 to 7. Among the 8 voting for the 
 bill were W. W. Wales of St. Anthony and Joel B. Bassett of 
 Minneapolis. Of the 7 voting in the negative subsequent pro- 
 ceedings proved that only one, Mr. Tillotson, could under any 
 circumstances be relied upon to go to the side of St. Peter. The 
 St. Anthony-Minneapolis members of the council therefore, by 
 changing their votes to Nicollet Island if the amended bill had 
 ever reached them, would have been sure of 6 votes uniting with 
 them, which would have reversed the figures and passed the bill 
 in the council, giving Minneapolis the capital by 8 to 7. Quota- 
 tions from the record I have already made demonstrate beyond 
 denial that the Nicollet Island bill would have passed the house 
 if Minneapolis had supported it, and as corroborative evidence 
 that it could also pass the council, I cite that an indignation meet- 
 ing was held at Minneapolis at Woodman's Hall, on February 
 28th, for the special purpose of censuring Messrs. Bassett and 
 Wales, members of the council, because they, had favored St. 
 Peter instead of Minneapolis. Bear in mind that this censure 
 was adopted without their having absolutely voted against Min- 
 neapolis, and in consequence must have been made on the basis 
 that they would do so, or that they had been influential in defeat- 
 ing the Nicollet Island scheme in the house. The meeting in 
 question was presided over by John H. Spear, with H. S. Plum- 
 mer as secretary. The committee on resolutions was composed 
 of E. Murphy, F. R. E. Cornell, Dr. Anderson, W. J. Parkson, 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 41 
 
 and W. A. Hotchkiss. Mr. Hotchkiss was editor of the Minne- 
 sota Democrat, printed at Minneapolis, and subsequently repu- 
 diated the resolutions. Mr. Cornell was the orator of the occa- 
 sion, though many others spoke, and he roundly censured Bas- 
 sett and Wells and also the members of the house who had 
 refused to sustain Murray's amendment. 
 
 It was claimed at the time that there were 600 present, and 
 only 2 negative votes were cast on the resolutions, which were 
 as follows: 
 
 Whereas, We learn that there is a determination on a part of the 
 majority of the .members of the legislative assembly of this territory 
 to remove the capital from St. Paul; and 
 
 Whereas, There is now a bill before said legislative assembly, or 
 about to be produced, for their consideration, providing for the removal 
 and permanent location of the capital to Nicollet Island, subject to the 
 approval of the building; therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That believing it to be a matter of great importance to the 
 citizens of the Eleventh Council District, and particularly to the imme- 
 diate constituency of the councilmen and members of Hennepin county, 
 we do urgently request our member of the council and members of the 
 house to use all lawful and honorable means to secure the passage of 
 the bill above referred to. 
 
 Resolved, That we emphatically disapprove of the votes given by the 
 Hon. Joel B. Bassett of the Council, and the Hon. J. P. Plummer of 
 the house upon the bill providing for the removal of the capital from 
 St. Paul to St. Peter, as being in direct conflict with the best interests 
 of their constituents, and we heartily approve the course pursued by 
 the Hon. W. D. Smith, Asa Keith and Samuel Hayden in opposition to 
 said measure, and tender them, therefore, the plaudit "Well done, good 
 and faithful servants." 
 
 Smith was in favor of Nicollet Island, but was absent, owing 
 to sickness, when the vote was taken. 
 
 As further corroborative evidence, showing that Minneapolis 
 could have secured the state capital at the time mentioned, it can 
 be cited that a counter meeting was held on March 3d to defend 
 the St. Anthony and Minneapolis members for their course in 
 spurning the proposition. A report of this meeting was sent 
 officially to the Minnesotian, published at St. Paul, and an extract 
 from that is perhaps the best evidence. I accordingly quote 
 from the Minnesotian of March 6, 1857 : 
 
42 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 The meeting was addressed by the Hon. J. B. Bassett. In the 
 course of his remarks he stated the reason why he voted for the removal 
 to St. Peter and the bearing it possibly would have on the future growth 
 and prosperity of St. Anthony and Minneapolis, clearly showing that it 
 was for the interest of these towns to have the seat of government at 
 some place where the members of the legislature would not be bought 
 and sold like sheep in the shambles. 
 
 It is really sad to think that Mr. Bassett should have had so 
 poor an opinion of the locality in the neighborhood of Nicollet 
 Island as his remarks indicate. 
 
 Another argument deduced was that if Minneapolis got the 
 capital she would lose the university. At that time the univer- 
 sity was so small an affair compared with the capital that this 
 did not seem a strong argument. At this time the university is 
 the more valuable of the two. However, the meeting was called 
 to endorse the members of the legislature for refusing to accept 
 the great gift, and, of course, it had to be done. This meeting 
 was presided over by Charles Clarke. C. G. Ames, C. Beebee 
 and H. B. Wright were the committee on resolutions. Minne- 
 apolis was evidently short of secretaries in those days, and H. S. 
 Plummer was accordingly secretary of this meeting, just as he 
 had been of the other one three days previous. The resolutions 
 adopted, which really practically concede that the capital might 
 have been secured, were as follows : 
 
 Whereas, At a public meeting, held in this place, on Saturday even- 
 ing last, resolutions were adopted disapproving of the course of Hon. J. 
 B. Bassett and Hon. J. P. Plummer in voting for the removal of the 
 seat of government to St. Peter; and 
 
 Whereas, The reasons which induced these honorable gentlemen 
 thus to vote were not then properly understood as we now understand 
 them, after hearing the statements of Hon. J. B. Bassett relative thereto; 
 therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That we regard the adoption of those resolutions as prema- 
 ture, and are satisfied that the argument in justification of the course 
 of the gentlemen aforesaid is at least as sound and weighty as that 
 adduced by those in opposition to the removal. 
 
 Resolved, That while we urgently desire to see the establishment of 
 the capital on Nicollet Island, we are nevertheless unwilling that the 
 members of the legislature from Hennepin county should use any dishon- 
 orable means or endanger any other important interest to secure that 
 object. 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 43 
 
 Resolved, That we have entire confidence in the integrity and good 
 sense of the honorable gentlemen both referred to, and are pleased to 
 know that they have not allowed themselves to be outgeneraled by those 
 who would make the aggrandizement of St. Paul the chief end of all 
 legislation. 
 
 As additional evidence of the failure of the people of Minne- 
 apolis to grasp the situation at that time and take advantage of 
 it, I quote from an editorial in the Minneapolis Democrat of 
 March 7th. The paper was edited by W. A. Hotchkiss. At 
 that time he said : 
 
 About the middle of last week we met in the assembly chamber in 
 St. Paul, Messrs. J. H. Spear, Colonel Case, E. Murphy and others, 
 citizens of this place, and were solicited by them to approach councilors 
 and representatives from this county and request them to repeal the 
 law removing the capital to St. Peter, preparatory to the presentation 
 of another bill to remove it to Nicollet Island. We positively refused, 
 to meddle with the matter one way or the other unless the bill specified 
 two points to be voted on by the people— and those Nicollet Island and 
 St. Peter. 
 
 There is a wonderful amount of circumlocution in these reso- 
 lutions because the real point at issue was not the introduction 
 of the bill locating the capital on Nicollet Island, but the simple 
 striking out of the name ''St. Peter" in the bill, which had already 
 passed the council and was sure to pass the house, and inserting 
 in lieu of St. Peter the words "Nicollet Island." That would 
 have settled the whole matter, and the votes of the Minneapolis 
 members of the legislature could have carried it if they had not 
 feared there was some trick on the part of St. Paul. 
 
 Major Hotchkiss, in another issue of his paper, said : 
 
 It is well known to every man in St. Anthony and Minneapolis that 
 there never has been a measure brought before the legislature of this 
 territory for the benefit of those towns that St. Paul did not oppose with 
 all her ability. 
 
 It is beyond all question that Mr. Murray's proposed amend- 
 ment was not offered from any love for St. Anthony or Minne- 
 apolis, but solely for the purpose of defeating the St. Peter 
 crowd. It was offered in good faith, and it was one of those 
 
44 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 opportunities which the members from St. Anthony and Min- 
 neapolis did not have breadth of vision to grasp. Of course, all 
 St. Paul is especially glad that the Minneapolis members were 
 so stupid, and by the same token all Minneapolis, when they 
 read these lines, will feel especially sad that they were so stupid. 
 
 In noting this it is well to study the closeness of the vote. 
 St. Peter had only carried the bill by a majority of one, and, 
 with the reversing of the Minneapolis votes which were cast for 
 St. Peter and adding to them the St. Paul votes which were 
 ready to be given to Nicollet Island in a burst of indignation, the 
 bill could have been passed beyond peradventure. 
 
 The Joe Rolette incident had not been thought of at that 
 time ; in fact, that was a mere incident beginning as a joke and 
 only carried to a successful conclusion after Joe found that he 
 was the hero of the day. 
 
 Time has softened the asperities between St. Paul and Min- 
 neapolis, and the new $4,500,000 capitol in St. Paul, now near- 
 ing completion, has in the main received support from the Min- 
 neapolis members of the legislature, though there has been occa- 
 sional objection to some of the increased appropriations. 
 
 I have quoted from the indignation meeting and from the 
 defense meeting as well to demonstrate the claim that Minneapo- 
 lis might have had the capital but for the indiscretion, not to use 
 a severer word, of her own members of the Minnesota legislature 
 in 1857. Having no desire to harrow up the feelings of my Min- 
 neapolis friends, I draw the veil, leaving them to erect a monu- 
 ment on Nicollet Island at some future time bearing the inscrip- 
 tion, 
 
 Of all sad words of tongue or pen, 
 
 The saddest are these, It might have be,en. 
 
OBSERVATION SIX. 
 
 Peculiarities of Early Legislation. 
 
 There are probably many peculiar things in connection with 
 the early times in any state, and certainly Minnesota proved no 
 exception to the general rule. The first state legislature met 
 between five and six months before the state was admitted. 
 When the latter part of March was reached the legislature, being 
 weary of doing business on an uncertainty, took a recess from 
 the 25th of March to the 2nd of June. Here were sixty-eight 
 days apparently gone to waste, as holding office was one of the 
 prominent industries of the embryo state. How to get paid for 
 doing nothing during the recess period was quite a problem, but 
 an ingenious solution was finally discovered. The session was 
 resumed in June, 1858, and on the 9th of August Thomas A. 
 Thompson of Wabasha county offered the following resolution: 
 
 Resolved, That the chief clerk is hereby instructed to draw certificates 
 for stationery in favor of members that wishes to take the same for $75. 
 The members taking the certificates shall sign and receipt in full to the 
 state for all demands they may have for pay during the vacation from 
 the 25th of March to the 7th of June. 
 
 Motions were made to reduce the amount to $30, $25 and $5, 
 but they were all promptly voted down, and the resolution was 
 passed by a vote of 38 to 25. It might be a fair presumption to 
 assume that some of the 25 were opposed to the resolution on 
 the ground of its ungrammatical construction, rather than 
 because it gave $75 per head from the treasury. By the terms 
 of the resolution it will be noted that "such members that wishes 
 to take the same" had the privilege, but it was not compulsory. 
 The state records only disclose two members who did not come 
 
 (45) 
 
4G H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 under the head "that wishes." These were E. Bray of Carver 
 and Robert C. Masters of Dakota county. Mr. Masters turned 
 his certificate back with a caustic endorsement written thereon. 
 The certificates themselves were certainly unique. They were 
 printed about the length of a check, occupying a piece of paper 
 about the size of an ordinary letter sheet. To show the unique 
 manner in which stationery can be commuted into per diem by 
 an able legislature, I quote the one issued to Mr. Masters, as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 $75.00 State of Minnesota, 
 
 St. Paul, Aug. 9, 1858. 
 This is to certify that Mr. R. C. Masters, member of the house of 
 representatives of the State of Minnesota, is entitled to the sum of $75.00 
 for stationery, in accordance with the resolution passed the house of 
 representatives Aug. 9, 1858. 
 
 (Signed) A. T. CHAMBLIN, 
 Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives. 
 
 Notwithstanding this was an order for stationery, the receipt 
 for which was drawn upon the same piece of paper was salary. It 
 read as follows : 
 
 $75-00 State of Minnesota, 
 
 St. Paul, Aug. 9, 1858. 
 Received of the treasurer of the State of Minnesota $75.00, being in 
 full of all demands as member of the house of representatives of the 
 State of Minnesota during the recess of the first legislature of the State 
 of Minnesota, commencing March 25, 1858, and ending June 2, 1858. 
 (Signed) ROBERT C. MASTERS. 
 
 Mr. Masters signed the receipt just as quoted, and not only 
 declined to accept the money but left the document in the archives 
 of the state with this endorsement upon its back: 
 
 I do hereby certify that I have protested by my votes in March, 
 June, July and August against the issue of any certificates for per diem 
 of members of the legislature from the 25th of March to the 2nd day of 
 June, 1858, and that I do hereby relinquish to the state all claim which 
 I may appear to possess on the treasury for the sum of $75 by virtue of 
 the within certificate. The auditor or treasurer is hereby requested to 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 47 
 
 file this certificate with my final and everlasting protest against this 
 high-handed mode of public plundering the state treasury of Minne- 
 sota. ROBERT C. MASTERS. 
 
 Dated Aug. 13, 1858. 
 
 Signed in the presence of 
 
 William F. Wheeler. 
 
 Mr. Masters' request was duly granted, and his "everlasting 
 protest" is still on file at the state auditor's office, where it can 
 be seen by those who are curious enough to wish to inspect the 
 handwriting of an "honest man." 
 
 Mr. Bray was not so emphatic in his endorsement. He did 
 not, like Mr. Masters, sign and return the receipt, but simply 
 filed the certificate issued by the chief clerk and wrote this upon 
 the back: 
 
 I herewith relinquish my claim and interest to the within certificate 
 and donate the same to the State of Minnesota. 
 
 E. BRAY, 
 Carver, Aug. 14, 1858. 
 
 If any other members declined to accept the stationery dodge 
 as a dishonest deal there is no record to be found, and I accord- 
 ingly embalm Messrs. Masters and Bray in history as the most 
 remarkable men in Minnesota during the remarkable era of 1857 
 and 1858. 
 
 The ingenuity of the scheme of making a raid on the treas- 
 ury and calling it stationery may become a pointer to future 
 legislatures, but if it should I think there has been sufficient 
 advancement in business methods for them to refuse to print 
 upon the same sheet of paper the modus operandi of the pro- 
 cedure. It is bad enough to do that, but when in addition a 
 man was asked to sign his name to the grab it became still 
 worse. It was a cleaner give away than Oakes-Ames Credit 
 Mobilier memorandum book. But those were early days, and 
 there has been great advancement in legislative methods since 
 1858. 
 
OBSERVATION SEVEN. 
 
 Election of the First State Governor. 
 
 The first election for governor in the State of Minnesota was 
 largely a contest over election returns more than a contest for 
 votes. It was altogether a wild and woolly affair. It occurred 
 Oct. 13, 1857, H. H. Sibley of Mendota being the Democratic 
 nominee and Alexander Ramsey of St. Paul the Republican. 
 
 The state was only partially settled and absolutely without 
 telegraph or railroads, so that it required weeks to determine the 
 result. Without a great deal of delay a sufficient number of 
 returns were received to show that the election would be very 
 close; and, pending the time of the receipt of the official vote, 
 the Republican and Democratic papers indulged in claims of suc- 
 cess for their respective parties. 
 
 It was a good deal more like an anti-election canvass than 
 simply a controversy as to the count, and the principle that 
 "there is no use lying after election" was completely lost sight 
 of. It would probably be the truth to say that there was just 
 as much irregularity practiced on both sides as circumstances 
 would permit. The matter of conscience had not emigrated as 
 far west as Minnesota in that early day. 
 
 On the 26th of October, thirteen days after the election, the 
 Minnesotian, published in St. Paul, a Republican organ, figured 
 up the returns and claimed 660 majority for Ramsey. The St. 
 St. Paul Pioneer and Democrat the next day analyzed the claim 
 of the Minnesotian, pointing out several errors, and made this 
 significant paragraph and conclusion : 
 
 Added to the above, Pembina county is yet to be heard from. 
 According to our figures Ramsey is not as yet out of the woods. 
 
 (48) 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 49 
 
 The Minnesotian also claimed that a secret caucus of the 
 Democrats was held in St. Paul on the 26th of October, at which 
 it was decided to send up to Joe Rolette at Pembina to see that 
 the returns came down in proper shape to settle the election. The 
 Pioneer and Democrat had violently denounced this charge as a 
 falsehood, the very mildest expression used being to call the 
 editor of the Minnesotian a "liar," and consequently the gentle 
 allusion to Pembina county, which I have quoted, carried a sting 
 which lashed the Minnesotian into a violent rage. 
 
 When the constitutional convention concluded its work on the 
 constitution proper it made an addenda which was termed a 
 schedule, and this schedule provided that the governor of the 
 territory, Joseph R. Brown and Thomas J. Galbraith should be a 
 canvassing board to canvass the votes cast at the October elec- 
 tion. Gov. Samuel Medary and Brown were both Democrats, 
 and Galbraith a Republican. 
 
 It was not until December 18th that the returns were received 
 to enable the official canvass to proceed. The canvass of the 
 counties was made by the respective registers of deeds, and the 
 registers had in some cases rejected some of the precinct returns. 
 Brown was exceedingly shrewd in politics, and he had ascertained 
 in advance that the returns made by the registers, with some pre- 
 cincts rejected, were more favorable to Sibley than if the can- 
 vassing board should open the question and go behind the official 
 canvass made in the various counties. Under the schedule of 
 the constitution the powers of this canvassing board were sub- 
 stantially unlimited, and they could have opened up every county 
 return in the state. Brown, accordingly, set a deep trap for Gal- 
 braith, the Republican member of the board, by offering the fol- 
 lowing resolution : 
 
 Resolved, That the votes returned from the several counties by the 
 proper canvassing officers, together with the returns from precincts, of 
 the establishment of which the board have been legally informed, shall 
 form the basis upon which the election of state officers shall be declared 
 by the board of canvassers. 
 
 Brown would have been terribly disappointed if Galbraith had 
 favored this resolution. He could not, of course, vote against 
 it himself, and consequently whatever Governor Medary did, 
 
50 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 Galbraith could have carried it by voting with Brown. Instead 
 of that he fell into Brown's trap and offered the following as a 
 substitute: 
 
 Resolved, That the duly canvassed returns from the several counties 
 be adopted as the basis of calculation by the board of canvassers. 
 
 This tied them down exactly as Brown desired, and he had 
 induced the other fellow to do it. Medary and Galbraith voted 
 for the substitute, Medary understanding the situation, while 
 Brown suspended his internal chuckling long enough to vote 
 "NO." 
 
 How the Minnesotian did rave and abuse Brown and Medary 
 the next day when the canvass developed that, under Brown's 
 resolution, 4,058 votes would have been counted, which were 
 rejected under Galbraith's resolution, 1,930 of them being for 
 Sibley and 2,128 for Ramsey. 
 
 The official canvass, as officially made, showed 35,340 votes 
 cast in the entire state, a smaller number than Minneapolis now 
 polls. Of this number Sibley was given 17,790 and Ramsey 
 17,550, a majority of 240 for Sibley. 
 
 While Galbraith's resolution would not have absolutely 
 changed the result, it would have reduced Sibley's majority to 
 42. The Minnesotian assumed to prove, to its own satisfaction, 
 that Ramsey had 80 majority, and then proceeded to claim that 
 his real majority was 600. 
 
 To show something of the wildness of these statements, I 
 note that prior to the official canvass the Minnesotian alleged 
 that Cottonwood and Redwood counties had given over 100 
 votes for Sibley and none for Ramsey, while in the former there 
 were but four inhabitants and in the latter but three. This was 
 cited as a sample of intended Democratic frauds ;' but in the forty- 
 one counties, which were officially canvassed, neither Cotton- 
 wood nor Redwood was reported as having cast a single vote. 
 
 The Pioneer and Democrat had also been just as busily recit- 
 ing Republican frauds, so that the impartial historian is fully 
 justified in concluding that honors were easy. It is worthy of 
 note, however, that the Cass and Pembina district, where Joe 
 Rolette reigned supreme, was very unanimous for Sibley, giving 
 him in Pembina 316 votes and in Cass 228, while Ramsey did 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 51 
 
 not receive a vote in either county. Those were the only coun- 
 ties where there were not some votes for Ramsey. Sibley received 
 the certificate and served his first term as the first governor of 
 the State of Minnesota. 
 
 This was the election where Indians were permitted to vote 
 under certain restrictions. One section of the election law, 
 passed by the territorial legislature Nov. I, 1849, contained this 
 provision : 
 
 That all persons of a mixture of white and Indian blood, and who 
 shall have adopted the habits and customs of civilized men, are hereby- 
 declared to be entitled to all the rights and privileges granted by the 
 provisions of this act. 
 
 This practically conferred the right of suffrage upon all the 
 half-breeds in the territory. The clause as to what should be 
 considered the habits and customs of civilized men was liberally 
 interpreted by the judges of election. It is safe to assume that 
 they had many habits of civilized men which possibly would not 
 pass muster at the polls ; but by common consent it was decided 
 that half-breeds wearing pantaloons filled the requirement. 
 
 A tradition has come down to later generations to the effect 
 that one pair of pants would do service for a swarm of half-breeds. 
 One would don the trousers and go out and vote, and, soon 
 coming back, passed the garment over to the next man, while 
 he resumed his breech clout and blanket. If the Australian bal- 
 lot had been invented at that time the freedom of suffrage would 
 have been very much curtailed. 
 
 Notwithstanding the liberality of the territorial law, when 
 Minnesota became a state, she became still more anxious for 
 voters. The territory only allowed half-breeds to vote, but the 
 state was so liberal that it extended the suffrage to full-blooded 
 Indians. Here is a section from a law passed in 1861 : 
 
 Any male person of Indian blood over twenty-one years of age, 
 who shall desire to become a citizen of this state, shall appear before 
 a district court of the state in regular term and shall establish by at least 
 two witnesses, one of whom shall be a white man, that he is possessed of 
 the following qualifications: 
 
 First. A just idea of the nature of an oath. 
 
 Second. A fixed residence in a house as distinguished from a tepee 
 or wigwam. 
 
52 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 Third. That he has been, for at least two years immediately pre- 
 ceding his application to said court, engaged in the cultivation of the 
 soil, or in the trades, or in any other strictly civilized pursuit. 
 
 Fourth. That he has, during said term of two years, assumed the 
 habits and worn the dress of civilization. 
 
 Fifth. That he is a man of correct general demeanor and possessed 
 of good moral character. 
 
 The clause relative to witnesses to vouch for the Indian in 
 court reminds one of the story of the interview Brown and Jones, 
 two intimate friends, had with Smith. They met Smith on the 
 street, and the following dialogue ensued: 
 
 Brown: "Mr. Smith, my friend Jones would like to make a 
 little loan of you."' 
 
 Smith : "That will be all right, but who will vouch for him ?" 
 
 Brown : "Oh, I will vouch for him." 
 
 Smith : "But who will vouch for you ?" 
 
 Brown: "Jones will vouch for me." 
 
 The prevaricator who invented this story does not say 
 whether the loan was made, but it is safe to say that under the 
 Minnesota law the Indian who vouched for another Indian was 
 accepted as a satisfactory guarantor. 
 
 The Indian did not seem to have much gratitude for having 
 citizenship conferred upon him, for the next year he rose up in 
 his savage atrocity and slaughtered 600 or 700 white men, women 
 and children on our frontier. Possibly this law was forgotten, 
 for, in spite of the massacre, it remained on our statute books 
 until the revision of the laws in 1878. Nevertheless, we recog- 
 nize a good many people as citizens who can hardly conform 
 to the fifth requirement in the law of 1861, quoted above. But 
 we must not be too punctilious, or there would not be so much 
 fun at elections. It is more than probable that the half-breed 
 law had a good deal to do with the unanimity of the vote for Sib- 
 ley in Joe Rolette's district. It has always been regarded as cer- 
 tain that the first governor of Minnesota was elected by the vote 
 of the half-breeds. But what else could you do? We had to 
 have a governor, and inhabitants of Scandinavian countries had 
 not then moved into Minnesota. Consequently, somebody had 
 to do the voting, and in the emergency the half-breed, if he could 
 borrow a pair of pants, was as good as anybody else. 
 
OBSERVATION EIGHT. 
 
 The First Delegate to Congress from Minnesota Was from 
 Wisconsin. 
 
 The first delegate Minnesota ever had in Congress was from 
 Wisconsin, because there was no such place as Minnesota. This 
 is a sufficient jumble to be worthy of a place in a book of puzzles. 
 It so happened that what is now Minnesota, or a portion of it, 
 was once Wisconsin, just as Wisconsin is in some sense an off- 
 shoot from her elder sister Michigan. The act which trans- 
 formed Wisconsin from a territory to a state in 1848 defined the 
 boundaries of the state, but left a portion of what had been 
 embraced in the territory an orphan, subject to the tender mer- 
 cies of a cold, cold world. 
 
 The boundary line of the State of Wisconsin was the St. 
 Croix river, while Stillwater, St. Paul, St. Anthony and what- 
 ever little towns there were in this region had been in the terri- 
 tory of Wisconsin, they were not part of the State of Wisconsin. 
 It was difficult to tell where they were at. There were no laws 
 or courts or officers unless something could be done to rehabili- 
 tate the apparently friendless strip of land. The people then 
 here shrewdly concluded there could be two Wisconsins — one a 
 state, the other a territory. As usual, the governor of the Terri- 
 tory of Wisconsin, Dodge, had been elected to the senate from 
 the state, and his territorial secretary, John Catlin, was ex officio 
 master of ceremonies. At the request of the citizens occupying 
 the orphaned remnant of territory, he came over from the State 
 of Wisconsin to Stillwater and issued a proclamation declaring 
 that the Territory of Wisconsin still lived, and called for an elec- 
 
 (53) 
 
54 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 tion of a delegate to Congress. And thus the double-headed 
 Wisconsin was brought into existence that Minnesota, the 
 greater, might spring from her loins. The handful of people 
 then in the Territory of Wisconsin very wisely selected the late 
 Gen. H. H. Sibley as a delegate, and sent him to Washington 
 to make further arrangements. Of course, the two Wisconsins 
 could not be a permanency, and Sibley, accordingly, devoted his 
 energies to forming the Territory of Minnesota. In this effort 
 he was greatly aided by being recognized as a delegate from the 
 Territory of Wisconsin, something quite unusual, which gave 
 him the right to be heard upon the floor of Congress. 
 
 It must have been a little peculiar when the speaker was 
 called upon to recognize the "gentleman from Wisconsin," and 
 it was almost necessary to have a diagram go with the recogni- 
 tion to determine whether the gentleman was from the State or 
 Territory of Wisconsin. 
 
 Gen. Zach. Taylor had been elected president by the Whigs 
 in 1848, and was due to take his seat in March, 1849, while Presi- 
 dent Polk was concluding the Democratic administration. 
 
 When an administration forms a territory or admits a state, 
 the politics and offices connected with the act usually prove a 
 determining factor, and the new candidate stands by the adminis- 
 tration which gives it life. The senate was Democratic and the 
 house was Whig; so that here was a small population seeking 
 national recognition during the expiring hours of a Democratic 
 administration, to be succeeded by the incoming of the Whig, 
 with the Congress divided against itself. If it came into exist- 
 ence by aid of the Democrats it could be expected to be Demo- 
 cratic ; and if delayed until the Whigs assumed control of national 
 affairs it would be expected to be Whig. It was a case of aerial 
 suspension, typical of the supposed condition' of Mahomet's cof- 
 fin. The odd feature of the whole affair was that so much time 
 had been consumed in passing the act forming the Territory of 
 Minnesota that Polk's term was just expiring, the measure 
 becoming a law on the 3d of March, 1849. 
 
 Except to save the bill from defeat in the quarrel, it made 
 little difference whether it went into effect on March 3d or March 
 10th, for President Polk, very much to his credit, declined to 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 55 
 
 appoint a Democratic governor and other officers for the new 
 territory the last day of his term, though the senate would have 
 confirmed them as it was in political accord with him. There- 
 fore Sibley, an ardent Democrat himself, had secured the forma- 
 tion of a territory with Whig officers, a situation of which Presi- 
 dent Taylor of course availed himself by appointing Alexander 
 Ramsey governor, with the usual retinue of judges, district attor- 
 ney, etc., all Whigs. On June i, 1849, Governor Ramsey pro- 
 ceeded to proclaim the organization of Minnesota territory, and 
 Acting Governor Catlin of Wisconsin's pronunciamento became 
 a thing of the past. It had done its perfect work as an emer- 
 gency act, and proven that in political and governmental life, 
 as well as in other matters, necessity is the mother of invention. 
 
OBSERVATION NINE. 
 
 The First Election of Alexander Ramsey to the Senate and 
 the Contest with Cyrus Aldrich. 
 
 The late Governor Marshall had much to do with estab- 
 lishing the Ramsey dynasty, which ruled the political fortunes of 
 Minnesota for the first twenty years of statehood. Governor 
 Ramsey was not during this entire period in the foreground, but 
 the dynasty he and his friends had established was, and on top as 
 well. Governor Marshall was one of his firmest friends, and, 
 with Mr. Wheelock as his lieutenant, can practically be said to 
 have made the dynasty. In i860 Governor Marshall established 
 the St. Paul Press, and thus brought together and wiped out a 
 good many discordant elements in the party and established one 
 party organ, in place of the three or four which had, for years, 
 been clawing at each other, and incidentally at the party. Mar- 
 shall always supported Ramsey in his Press, and, when he went 
 to the war, Mr. Wheelock, who was commissioner of statistics, 
 by appointment of Governor Ramsey, took up the thread with 
 loyal zeal. At that time a party paper was more effective than 
 it is to-day, and whatever might have been in store for Ramsey 
 in the future, I thoroughly believe he was more indebted for suc- 
 cess at that time to the support of the Press, then owned and con- 
 ducted by Marshall, than any one agency. It was that campaign 
 and alliance between Ramsey and Marshall which founded the 
 Ramsey dynasty, a dynasty which ruled the state for ten years 
 with a rod of iron. The state was small in population and poor in 
 resources, and the governor did not have great patronage to dis- 
 tribute, but a United States senator, in war times, with no civil 
 service impediment, was a very masterful person, and pretty near 
 
 (56) 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 57 
 
 "monarch of all he surveyed/' within the boundary lines of Min- 
 nesota. 
 
 There was a very formidable element in the Republican party 
 opposed to electing Ramsey to the senate, so formidable that, on 
 the 3d of November, 1862, just two months before the meeting 
 of the legislature, a daily paper was started in St. Paul to voice 
 the opposition. The paper was called the Union, and Frederick 
 Driscoll, who had been publishing a weekly paper at Belle Plaine, 
 became publisher. It was not a very brilliant move to start a 
 daily paper to conduct the senatorial fight at that date, as it was 
 only one day before the election which chose the legislature, and 
 whatever the Press had accomplished in behalf of Ramsey had 
 largely been done in the campaign before the people. But mat- 
 ters were at fever heat, and Marshall's steadfast support of Ram- 
 sey bore fruit in the starting of the new paper to supplant him. 
 
 The anti-Ramsey men- had selected Hon. Cyrus Aldrich of 
 Minneapolis, then member of Congress, as their candidate, and, 
 of course, he was violently assailed by the Press and the Ramsey 
 interest. So violent did this become that Aldrich brought a big 
 libel suit against the Press, which was finally adjusted by a very 
 profuse apology and explanation. The Press could afford to 
 apologize — after election, and it did. 
 
 The legislature met on the 6th of January, 1863, with 46 
 Republicans and 17 Democrats on joint ballot. In those days 
 there was no separate voting for senators by the respective 
 houses, but the legislature plunged into the election in joint con- 
 vention, "sight unseen," save as the caucus might have devel- 
 oped. There have been stronger contests, numerically, in later 
 years, but none have exceeded in intensity the fight between 
 Ramsey and Aldrich. There was then a commissioner of Indian 
 affairs at St. Paul, to whom various Indian agents were tribu- 
 tary ; there were army and mail contracts ; there was govern- 
 ment pine almost ad libitum, and, in fact, all the necessary 
 adjuncts to make a United States senator very valuable to his 
 friends. I do not assert that sordid motives actuated the sup- 
 porters of either Ramsey or Aldrich, but mention, as part of the 
 history of that date, some of the things lying around loose that a 
 senator could pick up and hand to his friends, if he had a spark 
 of gratitude and reciprocity in his nature. 
 
58 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 The Republicans held their first caucus on the evening of 
 January 12th, and the six days during which the legislature had 
 been in session had been exceedingly lively. After the usual 
 elocutionary pyrotechnics, the candidates got their start, and 
 the first ballot stood: Ramsey 19, Aldrich 14, Cooper 7, scatter- 
 ing 5. The next ballot Ramsey gained I, coming up to 20, and 
 for 19 ballots that was his limit, while Aldrich's 14 stood shoulder 
 to shoulder for the same length of time. Then the Aldrich men 
 began to cast about for a stronger man, and his vote began to 
 decline in favor of James Smith, Jr., of St. Paul. The balloting 
 was continued until nearly midnight, and, on the 24th and last 
 ballot for that night, the vote stood: Ramsey 23, Smith 16, 
 Aldrich 4, scattering 3. Then there was an adjournment for 
 jubilation on the one hand and the drowning of grief on the 
 other. Marshall's name figured in the "scattering," he having 
 1 vote on the first ballot, and then ran up to 4 on the fifth ballot, 
 but his candidacy was never seriously considered, as he was such 
 a stalwart supporter of Ramsey. 
 
 The next night, the 13th, the caucus made short work. The 
 first ballot stood: Ramsey 26, James Smith, Jr., 20, and Ramsey 
 was as good as senator. The election took place in joint session 
 on the 14th, Ramsey having 45 (one Republican being sick) and 
 Judge A. G. Chatfield (Dem.) 17 votes. 
 
 Following the announcement of the vote in the joint conven- 
 tion, what now seems decidedly amusing occurred. A com- 
 mittee of three was named to wait on Governor Ramsey in his 
 office, on the floor below, and inform him of his election. In 
 the more modern day the committee would have produced the 
 senator-elect bodily before the joint convention. Instead of 
 that Governor Ramsey made his acceptance speech to the com- 
 mittee of three. The Press, next morning, said in its report : 
 
 To the committee who waited upon Gov. Ramsey to inform him of 
 his election he made a neat little speech, expressing his thanks for the 
 honor conferred upon him. 
 
 And then the committee (it being before the era of phono- 
 graphs) returned to the joint convention and repeated what it 
 could remember, as witness the following report in the same 
 paper : 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 59 
 
 Mr. Sprague, from the committee, reported that they had waited 
 on Mr. Ramsey and he desired the committee to say that he was grate- 
 ful for the honor conferred, and would endeavor to discharge the du- 
 ties of the office with fidelity and to the best of his ability. 
 
 The joint convention, which had been sitting, sucking its 
 thumbs, while Governor Ramsey was making his speech at the 
 committee of three, drew a long breath of relief, and immediately 
 adjourned. They had evidently remained in session, not expect- 
 ing a speech, but for fear Governor Ramsey might decline, and 
 they would be compelled to begin over again. 
 
 But he didn't. 
 
 Of course, Mr. Driscoll's new paper, "The Union," was over- 
 whelmed with gloom when Ramsey was elected. The Press had 
 the state printing, then worth about $20,000 per annum. It 
 would have been natural to suppose that it would be easier to 
 win the printing than a senatorship, but it was not. The fight 
 had shown that two Republican papers were a party nuisance. 
 Mr. Driscoll was accordingly elected state printer, with the delib- 
 erate intention of forcing the Union and Press to consolidate. 
 Each paper had won and lost. The party managers immediately 
 set their wits to work to bring the two papers together. Gov- 
 ernor Marshall had for a partner in the Press a gentleman named 
 Newton Bradley. He was in the business office, and in no sense 
 a politician. 
 
 He thought he was hopelessly ruined when the Press lost the 
 printing, and was extremely anxious to sell his half interest. 
 
 Mr. Driscoll was equally anxious to buy if he could raise the 
 necessary money. In Bradley's desire to get out from under the 
 calamity, he was willing to sell for $2,000. Mr. Wheelock, how- 
 ever, had shown much dislike to Mr. Driscoll, and with a great 
 deal of emphasis he went at Mr. Bradley and told him to ask 
 $4,000 for his half interest. At this time it should be borne in 
 mind that Mr. Wheelock was not pecuniarily interested in the 
 Press, though he was its editor, Marshall and Bradley being the 
 owners. Wheelock thought $4,000 was a larger sum than Dris- 
 coll could raise, and, while he did not want to be an absolute 
 stumbling block, he wanted to make it so that the onus of the 
 
60 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 failure of the consolidation would rest upon Driscoll rather than 
 himself. With great fear and trembling Bradley nerved himself 
 up to ask Driscoll what then seemed the stupendous sum of 
 $4,000 for a half interest in the Press. Driscoll had more wheels 
 and resources than Wheelock had given him credit for, and 
 when he laid the matter before his friends, they promptly sup- 
 plied the money, and the result was that the Union went out of 
 existence, and Mr. Driscoll came in as half owner of the Press. 
 Albeit the personal relations between himself and Mr. Wheelock 
 were very far from cordial, and for many months they rarely 
 spoke to each other. Later a better understanding arose, and 
 Mr. Wheelock gradually purchased Governor Marshall's entire 
 interest in the Press. Still, the consolidation had saved the party ; 
 and out of my personal regard for the "grand old party'' at that 
 time, as I was employed on the Union, I consolidated too — and 
 the country was safe. 
 
OBSERVATION TEN. 
 
 The Failure of Senator Wilkinson to Secure a Re-election in 
 1865, and the Election of D. S. Norton. 
 
 Many curious things have happened in Minnesota politics. 
 I think no other state ever had a legislative party caucus to nomi- 
 nate a United States senator with two senatorial candidates, 
 members of the same branch of the legislature, sitting in the 
 caucus. This occurred in January, 1865, when Daniel S. Nor- 
 ton of Winona and Henry A. Swift of St. Peter were both mem- 
 bers of the state senate and both candidates for the United States 
 senate in the Republican nominating convention. 
 
 Senator Morton S. Wilkinson of Mankato was the leading 
 candidate, he being the sitting senator, while Windom, Swift 
 and Norton made the field against him. Like everyone who 
 has held a similar position, Senator Wilkinson had given offense 
 in the distribution of patronage, and that was the chief secret 
 of the opposition to him. No one could question his party 
 loyalty or zeal. He ranked with Ben Wade of Ohio and Charles 
 Sumner of Massachusetts in his extreme anti-slavery sentiments, 
 and expressed his views with the vigor of Wade rather than the 
 polish of Sumner. His admiration and support of Lincoln was 
 unstinted, and he was one of the few senators with whom Lin- 
 coln was wont to consult before adopting some radically aggress- 
 ive policy. Mr. Lincoln did not conceal his desire for Mr. Wil- 
 kinson's re-election, and letters showing this were a prominent 
 feature of Wilkinson's campaign. In those days the senate was 
 not as liberal in furnishing clerks and private secretaries for the 
 senators as at present, and Mr. Wilkinson lacked the element 
 of a successful politician as a correspondent with his constitu- 
 ency. Letter writing to him was drudgery, and, while he 
 
 <6n 
 
62 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 would attend to important letters, hundreds of trivial ones, such 
 as every senator and congressman receive, went unanswered. 
 Thus, between failure to devote his entire time to writing letters, 
 to the neglect of his real senatorial duties, and his disappointing 
 fifty men for every appointment he made, Wilkinson went down 
 in defeat, notwithstanding he had the direct request from Abra- 
 ham Lincoln for his re-election. 
 
 The legislative caucus to nominate a candidate for the United 
 States senate was called to meet on the evening of the 9th of 
 January, 1865. In the campaign of 1864 a good many Demo- 
 crats had refused to support McClellan on the "war is a failure" 
 plank, and hence the Republicans were very tender with their 
 partisanship. The call was headed "Union caucus," and invited 
 all those who supported "the Baltimore platform" to participate. 
 This platform was the one on which Lincoln was elected for his 
 second term, and was used as a smooth way of recognizing every 
 one as a Republican who voted for Lincoln. There were forty- 
 nine who attended the caucus, among them being State Senators 
 Swift and Norton. Swift was a merely passive candidate, while 
 Norton was active and aggressive. 
 
 When I say that Swift was "in the hands of his friends," I 
 do not mean in the common acceptance of that expression, which 
 is nowadays used as a cover for an active candidacy. Having 
 literally been boys together, growing up in the same town, I 
 can testify that he was one man who had a United States senator- 
 ship in his grasp, but declined to lift his hand to obtain it. His 
 friends insisted on his being a candidate, and he allowed them 
 to use his name, because he was a man who loved his friends 
 and felt that he must gratify their wishes. When Ramsey was 
 transferred from the gubernatorial office to the senate and Lieu- 
 tenant Governor Donnelly was elected to Congress, Henry A. 
 Swift of St. Peter was a member of the state senate and presi- 
 dent pro tern. The extraordinary circumstance of the govern- 
 or's and lieutenant governor's positions becoming vacant at 
 the same time brought Swift with one bound from the state sen- 
 ate to the governorship of the state. He made a most acceptable 
 executive, and could have had unanimous nomination from his 
 party for governor (which was equivalent to an election), but he 
 persistently declined. He was compelled to serve for eighteen 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 63 
 
 months before a successor could be chosen, and he repeatedly 
 told me during that time that he longed for the quiet and com- 
 fort of his St. Peter home and abominated political positions. 
 No more domestic man ever lived, and, though St. Peter could 
 only be reached by stage from St. Paul, was without telegraph 
 and other modern conveniences, it was "home" and the alpha 
 and omega of life for Governor Swift. In spite of all this, he 
 was again elected to the state senate after being governor. I 
 walked with him from his hotel to the capitol the night of the 
 caucus, and, as we parted, he said with much earnestness : "If 
 I come out of the caucus defeated, I shall be perfectly happy. 
 My friends would have considered it unfair to them if I refused 
 the use of my name, but I do not want it." It was conceded 
 at the time that if Governor Swift had made the slightest effort 
 for himself he would have been an easy winner. 
 
 The caucus which followed was prolonged and exciting. It 
 was held with closed doors, lasting until after midnight, a nomi- 
 nation being reached on the thirty-second ballot. With 49 pres- 
 ent, 25 was necessary for a choice. The first ballot stood: Wil- 
 kinson 16, Swift 11, Windom 10, Norton 12. It is notable that 
 it was "Windom 10" even at that early day. The second ballot 
 stood: Wilkinson 19, Swift 8, Windom 12, Norton 10. Wilkin- 
 son's friends stood very loyal, while "the field" was decidedly 
 mixed and demoralized on everything but opposition to Wilkin- 
 son. In fact, that was the only way "the field" could hold 
 together. The opposition to Wilkinson had caucused privately 
 and pledged themselves on the one point, not to vote for "Wilk." 
 Then each one could take his chances on combining "the field," 
 the only secure thing in the game being Wilkinson's defeat. For 
 seven ballots he had 20 votes, seven more 22, and still seven 
 more 23, which only lacked two of a nomination. It is not often 
 that a combination will hold together when the opponent so 
 nearly reaches success, while "the field" is so badly divided ; but 
 this was one of the times when all political rules failed and the 
 combination won. On the thirty-second and last ballot Wilkin- 
 son still had 21 — within two votes of the highest point he had 
 reached. 
 
 When radicals like Senator Ben Wade of Ohio and Henry 
 Winter Davis of Maryland had hampered and worried Lincoln 
 
G4 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 because he did not move rapidly enough in abolishing slavery, 
 Wilkinson had stood by Lincoln and was frequently summoned 
 to the White House for consultation. Lincoln was very anxious 
 for Wilkinson's re-election, and wrote a personal letter urging 
 Minnesota to return him, but that combination would not have 
 listened to a request from God Almighty that night. And this, 
 too, is politics. 
 
 The ups and downs of Norton were most remarkable, and 
 if he had not been a member of the caucus he would not have 
 kept in the race half a dozen ballots. He had just three positive 
 friends besides himself. One of these was Senator Dan Cameron 
 of Houston county, but I do not now recall the other two. Nor- 
 ton started with 12 votes, dropped to 10 on the second ballot 
 and went down, down until the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth 
 ballots, when he only had four votes, and one of them was his 
 own. At this point it was proposed to drop Norton, as he was 
 the lowest on the list. Norton was pale and haggard with 
 anxiety and excitement, and he rushed wildly about, declaring 
 it would be fatal to his future to be dropped at so low an ebb, 
 begging them to raise his vote a little as a personal compliment, 
 bringing it back to about where he started, and then he would 
 withdraw himself. This appeal brought his vote on the twenty- 
 sixth ballot up to seven, and then Norton and Cameron both 
 urged raising it a little higher before he withdrew. The next 
 ballot, the twenty-seventh, he jumped to 11, and, as Wilkinson 
 could not break "the field" in his own favor, Norton was as good 
 as a winner. He did not now propose to withdraw. "The field" 
 knew they could elect as soon as they could agree, and when a 
 man gained seven votes in two ballots, even under the expecta- 
 tion that he would withdraw, it looked too much as if he was 
 the coming man to hold him down. It took five more ballots 
 to give it to Norton, those ballots giving him 14, 17, 19, 24, 27 — 
 enough to nominate and two to spare. On that last ballot the 
 vote in detail was: Norton 27, Wilkinson 21, Windom 1. 
 
 During all this time Senator Swift sat quietly without asking 
 a single vote, and smiled when he saw the desperation with which 
 Norton was imploring for votes. He was in the hands of his 
 friends literally and nothing more. He began with 11, and that 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 65 
 
 was his highest vote, though almost for the asking he could have 
 run his vote up to the nominating point. 
 
 One incident in that caucus showed the desperation of "the 
 field." Hon. H. M. Rice, once a Democratic senator from Min- 
 nesota, had come out for Lincoln and against McClellan in the 
 campaign of 1864. This brought him within the pale of the 
 "Union caucus," though he never professed to be a Republican. 
 Hon. John Nicols of St. Paul and subsequent Gov. John S. 
 Pillsbury of Minneapolis were members of that caucus, and dur- 
 ing the evening they took a carriage and went to Mr. Rice's resi- 
 dence and urged him to authorize them to announce that he 
 would act with the Republicans in the future, telling him he could 
 be nominated and elected to the senate, but he declined. In 
 spite of this on the twentieth ballot Rice's name was sprung, and 
 he was given 12 votes. For the next five ballots he had 13, but 
 that fatal number ended him, and, after two more ballots, his 
 name disappeared. The next September he was the Democratic 
 nominee for governor. 
 
 The senatorial election, in joint session of the legislature, 
 took place on the nth of January, 1865, two days after the cau- 
 cus. Norton's vote was not then necessary for his success, and 
 he and two other Republicans being absent, he received 46 votes 
 to 12 for Col. James George, the Democratic nominee. 
 
 There is also a history in connection with Norton's election 
 to the state senate, in 1863, which is worthy of preservation. 
 
 Norton resided at Winona and was a candidate before the 
 Republican convention for state senator. Thomas Simpson 
 defeated him for the nomination in the interest of Windom. 
 Simpson was a life-long friend of Windom's and the adminis- 
 trator of his estate after his death. Norton bolted the Repub- 
 lican ticket and joined with the Democrats sufficiently to defeat 
 Simpson at the polls. Mr. Sinclair, the editor of the Winona 
 Republican, ably supported Norton in his bolt. 
 
 At that time the St. Paul Press was recognized as the lead- 
 ing Republican organ of the state. Governor Marshall was still 
 part proprietor, but Mr. Wheelock was editor and Mr. Driscoll 
 business manager. In an unguarded moment both Wheelock 
 
66 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 and Driscoll went East for a considerable absence, and left the 
 entire editorial conduct of the paper in my charge. As a cham- 
 pion of "straight politics," I made the Press sharply condemn 
 Norton and cordially support Simpson. This led to a contro- 
 versy between the Press and the Winona Republican, which 
 grew quite bitter and personal, Norton as well being scored as a 
 bolter. When Mr. Wheelock returned the paper was too far 
 committed to change front, and the war on Norton was con- 
 tinued until the polls closed. I never inquired and was never 
 told whether my course suited the proprietors of the paper, but 
 always congratulated myself that they were absent a sufficient 
 length of time to prevent the usual explanation that "if the article 
 had met the eye of the responsible editor it would not have 
 appeared." There had been too many articles to escape in that 
 manner. 
 
 The success of Norton at the polls carried great consternation 
 to the ranks of the politicians. It was an endorsement of party 
 treachery which boded no good. The Press felt especially sore, 
 as his election was a direct rebuke to the able arguments for 
 party loyalty which I had the honor of emblazoning in cold print. 
 It was really the first kick over the traces since the Republican 
 party had come into power in Minnesota. 
 
 Mr. Norton was an avowed candidate for the United States 
 senate from the start, and, though a bolter from the party, he 
 could not be shut out of the caucus which nominated the senator. 
 It was called as a "Union caucus," the word Republican being 
 entirely omitted, and invited all who endorsed the Baltimore 
 platform, on which Lincoln was elected the second time, to come 
 in. Of course, that included Norton. The Press, by its antag- 
 onism to him, was in a dilemma. It would be almost fatal to 
 allow him to reach the United States senate, so far as the pres- 
 tige of the paper was concerned. Personally, Mr. Wheelock 
 favored Governor Swift for senator, and Mr. Driscoll favored 
 Windom. Wheelock and Driscoll had not been partners a great 
 while, and were not sufficiently well acquainted to speak to each 
 other very often, but they seemed to recognize their divided per- 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 67 
 
 sonality at this crisis. Consequently, the paper did not directly 
 support any one for the United States senate, 'but continued the 
 opposition to Norton which had been so auspiciously inaugu- 
 rated, as I have described. It would be cruel to depict the woe 
 which prevailed in the Press office when Norton actually won in 
 the legislature, and I draw the veil. The Press was not as influ- 
 ential as it thought it was. 
 
 It was not long after Andrew Johnson succeeded to the presi- 
 dency, upon the assassination of Lincoln, before he began to 
 show signs of breaking with his party, and a little later he was in 
 full revolt. Here Norton saw, or thought he saw, his oppor- 
 tunity. Senator Ramsey and the members of the house from 
 Minnesota were bitter against Johnson. Johnson was noto- 
 riously exchanging patronage for support, and, to Norton's 
 vision, his becoming a supporter of the president would enable 
 him to dispense all the patronage of Minnesota. He accordingly 
 Andy Johnsonized as a full-fledged Democrat. This took a great 
 political load from the Press, and it "considered itself endorsed" 
 for its opposition to Norton. 
 
 Johnson placed the Minnesota offices at Norton's disposal, 
 and he promptly selected Democrats to fill them. They were 
 duly appointed, but the senate refused to confirm, and the Repub- 
 licans held on. Capt. C. W. Nash was appointed collector of 
 internal revenue, and endeavored to capture the office by force. 
 He succeeded in obtaining possession of the room, but the 
 Republican collector simply moved out and continued business 
 elsewhere. Norton could not get a single friend in place. Con- 
 gress and cabinet were against Johnson, and by legislation and 
 refusing confirmation tied the president's hands. This was the 
 political ruin of Dan Norton and hastened his death before his 
 term expired. The seed of his destruction was sown by the bolt 
 from his party which the Press condemned. 
 
 In 1868 the house prepared articles of impeachment against 
 President Johnson, and in May of that year the senate voted on 
 the subject. It required two-thirds to impeach, and the effort 
 failed. Seven Republicans — Fessenden of Maine, Fowler of 
 Tennessee, Grimes of Iowa, Henderson of Missouri, Trumbull 
 of Illinois, Ross of Kansas and Van Winkle of West Virginia— 
 
68 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 voted against impeachment and defeated it. The papers and 
 political almanacs published the names of the Republicans who 
 voted for impeachment in Roman letters and the names of the 
 Democrats voting "no" in italics, while the famous seven, who 
 were accused of betraying their party trust, appeared in capitals. 
 Mr. Norton, though elected by a legislature overwhelmingly 
 Republican, was not regarded as a traitor to his party in his vote 
 against impeachment. He had long since gone over to the 
 Democrats, and his name simply appeared in the impeachment 
 voting list in italics. While anathemas were hurled at the seven, 
 even the Minnesota Republican papers did not criticise Norton 
 then. He conveniently died and appealed to a higher court than 
 Minnesota politicians. 
 
OBSERVATION ELEVEN. 
 
 The Republican State Convention of 1865, with Marshall, 
 Averill and C. D. Gilfillan as Candidates for Governor. 
 
 The Republican state convention of 1865 was one worthy of 
 being recorded, though not as exciting as many which have fol- 
 lowed it. The convention was held in Ingersoll hall, St. Paul, 
 Sept. 6, 1865, and was composed of 123 delegates. Besides Mar- 
 shall the candidates were C. D. Gilfillan of St. Paul, and the late 
 Gen. John T. Averill, also of St. Paul, though for political pur- 
 poses credited to Lake City, where he formerly resided. Prac- 
 tically, geography did not cut any figure. It was the Ramsey 
 wing of the party supporting Marshall against the field, and the 
 division of the anti-Ramsey forces between Gilfillan and Averill 
 proved Marshall's good fortune. It was a stubborn and bitter 
 contest, the convention remaining in continuous session from 2 
 p. m. until midnight, repeated motions for adjournment until 
 the next day or for a recess being voted down. The first ballot 
 stood : Averill 44, Marshall 40, Gilfillan 39. Sixty-two was 
 necessary for a choice. On the sixth ballot Marshall ran up to 
 53, and then occurred one of the most remarkable things I have 
 ever noticed in politics. Marshall steadily lost, and on the 15th 
 and 16th ballots only had 38 votes, two less than he began with. 
 By all the rules of politics he should have been defeated after 
 such a steady loss for 10 ballots, but instead he recuperated, and 
 on the 20th ballot he received 52, Averill 53, and the rest went 
 for Gilfillan. On the 22d and last ballot the vote was Marshall 
 63, Averill 50 and Gilfillan 2. 
 
 H. M. Rice was the Democratic nominee for governor, and 
 a very amusing incident of the campaign was a joint debate 
 between the candidates. Neither one was in any sense a public 
 
 (09) 
 
70 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 speaker at that time, though Governor Marshall became one 
 later. They were goaded into the debate by their friends, and 
 the bantering of the Pioneer and the Press with each other. 
 The first debate was held at Hastings, and there was the usual 
 argument for the division of time, each candidate having two 
 speeches. The program would have required about three hours 
 to execute, but, though it was a little after 8 o'clock when the 
 meeting began, the exercises entirely concluded by 9 o'clock. 
 Both were very courteous gentlemen, and the burden of each 
 one's speech was his expression of regard for the other as a pio- 
 neer settler and the esteem in which he was held by the com- 
 munity. When Marshall had concluded, every one present felt 
 like voting for Mr. Rice, and when Rice had concluded he had 
 stemmed the torrent in favor of himself and turned it in the direc- 
 tion of Marshall. The joint debate so taxed their physical sys- 
 tems that by the time they had reached Wabasha both candidates 
 were too ill to continue, and did not sufficiently recover during 
 the campaign to resume the engagement which had been mapped 
 out for the entire state. 
 
 Along in 1860-61 the St. Paul newspapers had much tribula- 
 tion in securing news. There were three daily morning papers: 
 the Pioneer, published by Earle S. Goodrich ; the Press by Gov- 
 ernor Marshall, and the Times by the late Major Newson. Mr. 
 Goodrich stole a march on his "esteemed contemporaries" by 
 making an exclusive contract with the single telegraph company 
 for the transmission of the press report. Minneapolis, at that 
 time, had no daily paper, but St. Anthony (now Minneapolis 
 East) had two or three. Governor Marshall arranged with the 
 St. Anthony Express to get their telegrams, and about 1 a. m. 
 a messenger would run a John Gilpin race from the express 
 office in St. Anthony to the Press office in St. Paul. Governor 
 Marshall frequently took that night ride, as he was accustomed 
 to rapid transit on horseback. After the perpetration of a great sell 
 on the other papers by the Pioneer, printing in a few copies some 
 bogus telegrams, announcing the death of Queen Victoria, the 
 assassination of the president, etc., the matter became too unbear- 
 able. The tradition which has come down in newspaper circles 
 is that Governor Marshall, putting a pistol in his pocket, one 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 71 
 
 afternoon called upon Mr. Goodrich in his office, closed the door, 
 and, taking a seat, politely and calmly, in a moderate tone of 
 voice, informed him that he had come there to kill him. Proba- 
 bly a more determined man never lived in Minnesota than Gov- 
 ernor Marshall, and, if the story is true, he evidently had a busi- 
 ness air in presenting his verbal communication. Tradition 
 states that the two gentlemen parted the best of friends, and 
 thereafter both the Pioneer and the Press received the telegrams. 
 
 While I do not vouch for this story, I have narrated it for 
 another purpose. In the winter of '94 I was preparing a paper 
 for the Editorial Association, on "Early Journalism in Minne- 
 sota," and, wishing to have it accurate, I called upon Governor 
 Marshall at his rooms in the Historical Society. Knowing that 
 it was useless to expect him to tell the story, I narrated the tra- 
 dition as I had heard it, and asked him if it was true. I shall 
 never forget the look of sorrow on his kindly face, as the past 
 was seemingly recalled, when he said: 
 
 k, Oh, Mr. Hall, don't print that. It would convey the impres- 
 sion that I intimidated Mr. Goodrich. We are the best of friends, 
 and I had a very comforting letter of condolence from him 
 recently. We arranged our newspaper differences very pleas- 
 antly, and have been friends ever since." 
 
 A somewhat stormy political and varied business life, clouded 
 in the last years by the loss of wife and only child, ended after a 
 protracted illness, far from the scenes of its triumphs, reverses 
 and sorrows. The soul of business honor, a gallant and gener- 
 ous political adversary, time had long since softened whatever 
 asperities had existed, and, to use his words I have quoted, he 
 parted with his personal surviving world "the best of friends." 
 The impress of his sterling worth upon the State of Minnesota 
 in her earlv davs will be his lasting monument. 
 
OBSERVATION TWELVE. 
 
 Windom's First Election to the Senate. 
 
 It is not likely that Minnesota will ever again see as harmo- 
 nious a senatorial election as occurred in January, 1871. In 
 fact, there were two elections, but one was inconsequential in 
 point of service, though it carried the regular salary with it. 
 Daniel S. Norton, the senator elected in 1865, died in July, 1870. 
 His term would have expired the following March. Governor 
 Austin appointed ex-Gov. William Windom of Winona to fill the 
 vacancy, but this appointment only lasted until the legislature 
 could elect. While this put Windom in the line of promotion, 
 it did not necessarily leave him without opposition. The legisla- 
 ture which was elected that fall had in the senate 13 Repub- 
 licans and 9 Democrats, and in the house 32 Republicans and 15 
 Democrats, a majority on joint ballot of 19. This made the 
 Republican candidacy for the senate all the more enticing, but 
 the political cards seemed to have been played in Mr. Windom's 
 favor. 
 
 The legislature met on the 2d day of January, 1871, but under 
 the congressional law the election for senator could not take 
 place until the 17th. Windom's friends evidently realized that 
 delays were dangerous, and a Republican caucus was accordingly 
 called for the evening of January 5th. An interesting incident 
 of this caucus was the fact that W. D. Washburn of Minneapolis 
 was chairman of the caucus and D. M. Sabin of Stillwater one 
 of the secretaries. 
 
 (72) 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 73 
 
 In later years both of these gentlemen reached the senate, 
 Sabin after a sharp fight with Windom, and Washburn after a 
 violent controversy with Sabin. The caucus was less animated 
 than usual. It was decided to nominate two candidates, one to 
 serve until the 4th of March, 1871, and the other to serve six 
 years from the 4th of March, 1871. The nomination was first 
 made for the long term, with 39 of the 45 Republicans in the 
 legislature present, and on an informal ballot Windom received 
 35 votes, Thomas Wilson of Winona 2, Horace Austin of St. 
 
 Peter 1, and 1. On the formal ballot Windom had 
 
 34, Wilson 3, Austin 1 and 1. The long term, hav- 
 ing thus been summarily disposed of, the caucus proceeded 
 to nominate a candidate to hold for six weeks, and 
 for this position Judge O. P. Stearns of Duluth had 
 27 votes, Gen. James H. Baker of Mankato 9, Wilson 
 2 and Windom 1. The selection of Stearns for so short 
 a period, however, was simply for the purpose of passing the 
 honors about and preventing any formal opposition to Mr. Win- 
 dom receiving the full term, for, as a legal proposition, he could 
 as well have been chosen for both. With the single exception 
 of the first nomination of Senator C. K. Davis, no such harmo- 
 nious senatorial caucus has even been held in the state. While 
 the acceptance speeches of the two nominees were brief, they 
 occupied more time than all the rest of the proceedings of the 
 caucus. During the twelve days' interval between the caucus 
 and the election by the legislature, there were mutterings of 
 trouble, but they did not materialize beyond newspaper talk. 
 On the duly appointed day when the senate met, the thirteen 
 Republicans were in their seats, but not a single Democrat. 
 The Democrats were absent, holding a caucus to determine who 
 should receive the empty honor of their votes. The Republicans 
 thought that such a little matter as the absence of all of the 
 Democrats was of no importance, and immediately after the 
 reading of the journal Hon. John S. Pillsbury arose, and, in a 
 graceful speech, nominated Mr. Windom for the long term. 
 The 13 cast their votes for him, and Mr. Pillsbury again arose 
 and nominated Stearns for the short term, with the same result. 
 The vote was duly recorded in the journal, and the senate then 
 
74 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 proceeded with its regular order of business, as though nothing 
 had happened. A little later the door opened, and Michael 
 Doran, George L. Becker, L. L. Baxter, J. L. McDonald, Leon- 
 ard B. Hodge, D. L. Buell, C. F. Buck, W. T. Bonniwell and 
 R. J. Chewning, all the names of men prominent in Democratic 
 circles, marched in and took their seats. Business ran along 
 for perhaps half an hour, the Republicans chuckling over the 
 situation, and the nine Democrats awaiting the action of the 
 dominant party in calling up the election. Finally the joke 
 leaked out that the thing was all over ; whereupon L. L. Baxter 
 arose and asked to have the privilege of recording his vote, 
 stating that he had been unavoidably absent when the election 
 had taken place. The privilege was granted, but amid much 
 mirth, and he voted for R. A. Jones of Rochester for the long 
 term and E. M. Wilson of Minneapolis for the short term. Some 
 Republican then magnanimously proposed that all the Demo- 
 crats be allowed to vote, and the remaining eight joined Mr. 
 Baxter; but the original record still stands 13 to o in favor of 
 Windom. In the face of this who dare say that 13 is an unlucky 
 number? 
 
 The house did not proceed so rapidly with its work. The 
 Democrats belonging to that body had time after their caucus 
 adjourned to reach there before the vote was taken. When the 
 order of business was reached for the election in the house, Rep- 
 resentative W. D. Washburn nominated Windom for the long 
 term, and, on the vote being taken, it stood Windom 30, Jones 
 14, Wilkinson 1, Buck and Wilson of Winona 1 each. One 
 Democrat had declined to vote for Jones, and two Republicans 
 had refused to vote for Windom, but this did not change the 
 result. 
 
 For the short term Stearns received 31 votes and E. M. Wil- 
 son of Minneapolis 13. 
 
 The next day, in joint session, the respective journals were 
 read, and the election was all completed. 
 
 The next morning after the election the St. Paul Press 
 declared that Messrs. Thomas Wilson, M. S. Wilkinson and 
 Ignatius Donnelly had formed a combination to defeat Windom, 
 over which he had triumphed, but there was no evidence of such 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 75 
 
 a combination ; and I can testify from personal knowledge that 
 it was only a figment of the imagination. Windom had the 
 machinery and the leaders of the party and no opposing candi- 
 date. What more could have been desired? He was nomi- 
 nated in the senate by Pillsbury, who subsequently served the 
 state as governor for six years, and in the house by Washburn, 
 who subsequently served a term of six years in the senate him- 
 self. He was supported by D. M. Sabin, then a state senator, 
 who later became United States senator for six years. He was 
 also supported by John L. Merriam of St. Paul, who was speaker 
 of the house. 
 
 As party politics go, he had all of the leaders of the Republi- 
 can party at that time in his favor, and an act of Providence 
 could not have defeated him unless God had interfered early in 
 the game. 
 
OBSERVATION THIRTEEN. 
 
 The Congressional Campaign of 1868, when Ignatius Donnelly 
 was Defeated for Congress by the Ramsey Dynasty. 
 
 The beginning of the evolution of Ignatius Donnelly from a 
 Republican member of Congress to the position of a private citi- 
 zen, and thence to the leadership of the People's Party, and to his 
 death a disappointed man, might be said to date from Aug. 1, 
 1868. It was on the evening of that date that a most remarka- 
 ble political meeting was held in Ingersoll hall, St. Paul. The 
 late Gen. John T. Averill presided, and Mr. Donnelly spoke until 
 nearly midnight. The burden of his speech was a reply to some 
 charges made against him by E. B. Washburne of Illinois, and 
 repelling assaults of the St. Paul Press, the Republican organ of 
 the state, and thick and thin supporter of Senator Ramsey. 
 
 Mr. Donnelly had been in Congress three terms, and was a 
 candidate for the fourth. While he was not an open candidate 
 for the senate, against Ramsey, the Ramseyites feared that he 
 would be in the way if elected for a fourth term to the house. 
 Hence, the Ramsey men decided to kill him off. W. D. Wash- 
 burn of Minneapolis was one of a distinguished band of broth- 
 ers, all of whom had been members of Congress, and the posi- 
 tion seemed to be due him by right of inheritance. The Ramsey 
 hostilities, coupled with Mr. Donnelly's long term, made it look 
 fairly favorable for a new man. Elihu Washburne, brother of W. 
 D., was a member of Congress from Illinois. He wrote a letter 
 to the land department at Washington concerning the Taylors 
 Falls land office, in which he bore down heavily upon Ignatius. 
 After that letter, which Donnelly interpreted to have been writ- 
 ten by Elihu to aid his Minneapolis brother in reaching Con- 
 
 (76) 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 77 
 
 gress, he donned his war paint. The result was Donnelly's 
 famous anti-Washburn speech in Congress, which was his (Don- 
 nelly's) undoing. 
 
 Elihu Washburne prided himself upon making a reputation 
 as "the watch dog of the treasury." It was a period when 
 extravagances ran riot, and if the treasury ever needed a watch 
 dog that was the time. It is probably to Elihu's credit to say 
 that he was the most cordially hated man in Congress. He had 
 blocked innumerable schemes which different members had set 
 their hearts on securing, probably many times being right, and 
 doubtless sometimes wrong. When, therefore, it was known 
 that Donnelly, with his keen wit and ready tongue, was going 
 to devote an hour in Congress to flaying Elihu Washburne alive, 
 he had a delighted, applauding and enthusiastic audience. Don- 
 nelly's time limit was one hour, and he had loaded himself 
 accordingly. During that hour all went well, and I have always 
 felt that if a merciful Providence had intervened and prevented 
 his speaking longer, his political future, and indeed all his life 
 would have been different. He would unquestionably have 
 reached the senate during his early manhood. Circumstances 
 and antagonisms often change the entire current of a man's life, 
 and they did in Mr. Donnelly's case. 
 
 When Mr. Donnelly's hour expired, there were loud plaudits, 
 and enthusiastic cries of "go on," "go on." His time was unani- 
 mously extended. I imagine Elihu Washburne was about the 
 only man in Congress who did not enjoy it, and perhaps he did. 
 This extension gave Donnelly more time than he had prepared 
 for, but he arose to the occasion and let himself loose. During 
 that portion of his speech some expressions were uttered which 
 were afterwards severely criticised, and one particular word was 
 especially assailed by the Eastern papers for coarseness. This 
 word was capable of a double construction, but, of course, the 
 public gave it the vile interpretation. The result was a reac- 
 tion against Donnelly, which aided in retiring him to private life 
 and ultimately to a minority. 
 
 Mr. Donnelly's first speech in Minnesota, after Congress 
 adjourned, was at the Ingersoll hall meeting I have named, and 
 to say that it was bubbling over with Western enthusiasm is 
 putting it extremely mild. It was overwhelmingly exciting 
 
78 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 and wildly hilarious from start to finish. Donnelly's excoriations 
 of the Washburn family, and especially of the St. Paul Press, 
 were received with yells and whoops of delight. Times have 
 changed, and it would be impossible to provide conditions for 
 such a meeting at this period of the world. Mr. Wheelock was 
 apparently the only friend of the Press present, and a slight inter- 
 jection he made, intimating that Donnelly lied, added interest 
 to the occasion. Resolutions were passed not only endorsing 
 Donnelly, but strongly repudiating and denouncing the Press 
 as a party organ. There was not a dissenting vote. 
 
 Following this warlike beginning, Donnelly's campaign for 
 a renomination to Congreses came on. The district was some- 
 thing enormous, in geographical proportions, as is shown from 
 the fact that it embraced the following counties : Anoka, Ben- 
 ton, Carver, Cass, Chisago, Crow Wing, Dakota, Douglas, Good- 
 hue, Hennepin, Isanti, Kannabec, Kandiyohi, Lake, Lincoln, 
 McLeod, Meeker, Mille Lacs, Morrison, Pine, Pope, Ramsey, 
 Stearns, St. Louis, Sherburne, Todd, Wabasha, Washington and 
 Wright. 
 
 It was generally accepted that, while the contest on the sur- 
 face was for the house, it was in reality a contest between Don- 
 nelly and Ramsey for the United States senate. If the senatorial 
 question could have been eliminated, Donnelly would have been 
 returned to Congress without opposition, as he was, at that time, 
 recognized as an able party leader. But his senatorial aspirations 
 were regarded as the unpardonable sin in the eyes of the support- 
 ers of Ramsey. The young men of the party very largely sup- 
 ported Donnelly, and the older and more experienced politicians 
 were largely on the Ramsey side. 
 
 The state was new, and it was natural that young men, who- 
 had come West to begin life for themselves, should be in the 
 ascendant, numerically. The result was that the young men 
 engaged in that campaign with an enthusiasm and fierceness that 
 could never be repeated by them. The smallpox removes a virus 
 from the system which makes a recurrence of the disease impos- 
 sible. Such a campaign as that of 1868 had a similar political 
 effect upon the youngsters, and never again has blood been at 
 such fever heat in Minnesota as in 1868. It would be absolutely 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 79 
 
 impossible to duplicate the experience. It was a literal display 
 of the old maxim, "Old men for counsel, young men for war." 
 The young men who championed Donnelly's cause had the num- 
 bers and the enthusiasm, but the older men who supported Ram- 
 sey had the sagacity, experience and discretion, and those quali- 
 ties more than made up for the lack of numbers. 
 
 Ramsey county was the hotbed for both factions, though 
 there was much excitement throughout the district, and particu- 
 larly in Minneapolis, where Daniel and Joel Basset and the late 
 Dr. Keith were prominent Donnelly supporters. Whatever 
 furore existed elsewhere was mild in comparison with 
 that which prevailed in St. Paul, where Senator Ram- 
 sey and Governor Marshall, who was his active supporter, 
 resided. Here, too, were the respective "organs." The St. Paul 
 Press was an ardent supporter of Ramsey, and the St. Paul Dis- 
 patch equally ardent for Donnelly. I had started the Dispatch 
 in February, 1868, and, while it was launched to be a legitimate 
 and permanent newspaper, I was personally strongly in favor of 
 Donnelly, and nothing loth to have that faction of the party 
 advance the interests of the paper by business support. 
 
 It would be wearisome to trace the campaign in detail, though 
 it was mighty interesting at the time, but it was protracted for 
 months, and more bitter than any political contest before or since 
 in the state. It was young, impetuous blood against cool, calcu- 
 lating cunning, and, as usual, the latter won. The beginning of 
 the culmination was the Ramsey county convention to select 
 delegates to the district convention. The county committee was 
 in the hands of the Ramsey faction, with the late George W. 
 Moore, collector of the port, as chairman. The district conven- 
 tion had been called for September 3d, and the Donnelly men 
 were so confident of success that they were anxious for an early 
 county convention for its effect on the rest of the district. The 
 county committee were too smart to allow this game to be 
 played, and called the county convention for August 29th, only 
 five days before the district convention — too late for the result 
 to have any moral effect upon the other portions of the district. 
 The primary meetings to select delegates to the county conven- 
 tion were called for the evening of August 27th. 
 
80 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 It is no exaggeration to say that no such primaries have ever 
 been seen in St. Paul as those which were held on that memorable 
 evening. There was excitement all over the city, but the great- 
 est existed in the First and Second wards. In the First ward 
 the late Governor Marshall led the Ramsey forces, and the late C. 
 P. Barnard the Donnelly forces. The primary was held in a 
 vacant store on the lower floor of the old International Hotel, on 
 the corner of Seventh and Jackson streets. One of the interest- 
 ing episodes was the giving way of the floor, precipitating a good 
 many into the cellar. Quite a number discovered, the next day, 
 that they were hurt, but not a man, on either side, flinched that 
 night. As soon as they could pick themselves out of the cellar 
 they resumed the fight as though nothing had happened. Bar- 
 nard went down with the crowd, but Marshall escaped. Barnard, 
 himself, did not know for 24 hours that he was quite seriously 
 injured. A physical contest was narrowly averted, and the Press 
 said next day that no respect was paid the governor and that he 
 was grossly insulted. I have no doubt that this was eminently 
 true. There was no standing on politeness or formalities that 
 night. 
 
 My own station was at the Second ward, where the primaries 
 were held on the second floor of the old tumble-down court 
 house, which occupied the site of the present court house and city 
 hall. We knew that there would be a double-headed delegation 
 to the county convention, and sought to have "regularity" on our 
 side. In those days the political parties used, at the primaries, 
 the ballot boxes actually in service on election day. In order to 
 be "regular," the Second ward box was obtained from the Demo- 
 cratic sheriff, who was the custodian, and carried to the Dispatch 
 office early in the day. Half an hour before the primaries were 
 to open 10 or 15 stalwart supporters of Donnelly gathered at the 
 Dispatch office, and, forming a hollow square about the bearer 
 of the "palladium of our liberties," which was myself, escorted 
 the box to the court house to guard against its being seized by 
 the opposition. 
 
 The county committee had selected the judges of election 
 for every primary, and in every case gave two out of the three 
 to the Ramsey faction; or, as it was termed at the time, the 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 81 
 
 Washburn men. as he was the candidate for the nomination 
 against Donnelly. Of course, the Donnelly men rebelled, and 
 insisted on electing the judges by popular vote at the opening 
 of the meeting. The committee had selected for the Second ward 
 Capt. Russell Blakely and Theodore Sander, Washburn men, 
 and Sherwood Hough, clerk of the supreme court, a Donnelly 
 man, for judges. The Donnelly men proceeded to elect the 
 judges viva voce, selecting both Hough and Sander, omitting 
 Blakely, and with the sacred "regular" ballot box opened 
 the "regular poll'' in the center of the room, while Cap- 
 tain Blakely and Sander went to one side of the room 
 and opened a poll in the captain's hat. Sander declined to 
 recognize his selection by the Donnellyites. The Donnelly 
 forces formed a solid cordon of men from the door to the "regu- 
 lar box," with a view of preventing anyone who desired to reach 
 Captain Blakely's hat from doing so, and no one got through 
 that line, to go to the side ballot hat, without a scrimmage. Dr. 
 W. A. Bentley, now a prominent physician of Bismarck, N. D., 
 and one time mayor of that city, and myself mounted chairs and 
 relieved each other in yelling to the incomers that the "regular 
 poll is in the center of the room." We watched our opponents, 
 and whenever Captain Blakely, or any of his associates, who were 
 also mounted on chairs, opened their mouths and attempted to 
 invite the voters to come over to the hat, their voices were 
 instantly drowned by our yells, the entire Donnelly crowd ably 
 seconding our lung efforts. It is no exaggeration to say that 
 not one of their announcements was heard that evening by any- 
 one but the men who uttered them, and I doubt whether they 
 caught their own words some of the time. 
 
 The Pioneer (then a Democratic paper) of the next day gave 
 this description of the scene, which was really an impartial 
 account from political opponents, and I accordingly quote it, 
 rather than further describe an event in which I was somewhat of 
 a participant: 
 
 [St. Paul Pioneer, Aug. 28. 1868.] 
 
 The Donnelly men had secured the regular voting box. and Capt. 
 Blakely was accordingly reduced to the necessity of using his soft white 
 hat to receive votes in. The Donnellyites were at the desk in the center 
 
 6 
 
82 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 of the room and Capt. Blakely at the left of the Donnelly men. In 
 front of the box where the latter were voting, Mr. Hall and Mr. Bent- 
 ley placed themselves on benches, and during the entire evening made 
 short speeches to the swaying, excited crowd that stood before them. 
 Hugo Petzhold, seeing his friend Blakely in a tight place, hopped up 
 onto a seat and attempted to help him. The first note of his melodious 
 voice had scarcely escaped from beneath his moustache and begun to 
 float upon the balmy air, before Hall's lungs returned a sound that 
 completely swallowed up poor Petzhold's whistle. The song sung by 
 Mr. Hall was, "The regular organized poll is in the center of the room, 
 come up here and vote. Petzhold stopped, and, as soon as his opponent 
 ended, he commenced again, but no sooner was the first sound heard 
 than the same song was repeated by Hall in thunder tones. So this 
 continued throughout the whole evening. Every time Blakely's crowd 
 attempted to say anything they were sure to be drowned out. Capt. 
 Blakely stood on a chair, occasionally attempting to speak, and all the 
 time rubbing his hands. The lights burned dim, the crowd was bois- 
 terous, Blakely and Petzhold, sad and mad, the Donnelly men voting 
 like devils, and the corners of the room filled with jolly Democrats. 
 Blakely and Petzhold again and again attempted to say something, but, 
 heavens and earth, what a yell went up from the Donnellyites. The 
 most common expression heard at this time among the spectators was 
 "This is hell." 
 As near as I can remember, after a lapse of over 30 years, it was H — . 
 
 It was the well conceived plan of the Ramsey- Washburn men 
 to force double primaries by the selection of judges which they 
 knew the Donnellyites would not accept, and the scheme worked. 
 Each of the five wards in the city had five delegates, four of the 
 county towns two each, and the remaining two towns one each, 
 making the whole county convention number 35. After the cau- 
 cuses the Donnelly leaders gathered at the Dispatch office and 
 before midnight we had reports showing that every ward .and 
 every town, except Mounds View, had held double primaries. 
 Mounds View had just one delegate, and whichever side obtained 
 that would have one majority in the county convention and could 
 throw the other side out entirely. There was a painful silence 
 from Mounds View. A carriage and driver was quickly obtained, 
 and W. L. Wilson, afterwards Governor Davis' private secretary, 
 was posted off for a night ride. He returned in the morning 
 with duly executed credentials for a Donnelly delegate, and the 
 Donnelly forces were happy. The same morning the late Gov- 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 83 
 
 ernor Marshall went out to Mounds View and returned with duly 
 executed credentials for a Washburn delegate. Then the con- 
 vention stood 35 to 35, and there was grief. 
 
 I think, if the truth was known, it would be found that neither 
 side held a primary at Mounds View, and it was only a question 
 of making out the credentials to secure the delegates. And on 
 this turn of a hair the political life or death of a good many peo- 
 ple was determined. 
 
 Of course, under these circumstances there was nothing to 
 do but carry the war into the county and district convention. The 
 result was when the Republican county convention met in St. 
 Paul, Aug. 29, 1868, to name delegates to the congressional dis- 
 trict convention,. there were two of them. The Donnelly and the 
 Ramsey-Washburn factions each appeared with 35 delegates, the 
 full number to which the convention was entitled. It was not 
 the intention of either side to harmonize, simply because it was 
 an impossibility. With the seat of every delegate in the conven- 
 tion contested, who was there left to decide in the premises? 
 The convention was called in the same old court house where the 
 Second ward caucus was held, and the only semblance of regu- 
 larity contested for between the factions was to meet at the place 
 specified in the call. In order to accomplish this it was neces- 
 sary to have both factions present, and, as each had a full hand, 
 it simply resulted in two conventions meeting at the same time 
 in the same room. 
 
 In speaking of the affair the next day the St. Paul Press 
 (Ramsey organ) said: 
 
 "As soon as the door of the court house was unfastened a 
 mob rushed in along with the regularly elected delegates." 
 
 That statement is correct, and from the moment the crowd 
 entered until the retirement of the Ramsey- Washburn forces, 
 bedlam reigned. It would, in fact, bear a stronger expletive. 
 There was not the slightest attempt to preserve order on the 
 part of anyone, but both sides simply yelled to the extent of their 
 ability. The Donnelly forces yelled the loudest, because there were 
 more of them and they were younger men. William Branch 
 was selected as chairman for the Donnelly forces, and Dr. David 
 Day, afterwards postmaster, filled that position for the Ramsey- 
 
84 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 Washburn faction. Branch and Day sat side by side on the 
 judge's bench, and just below them, in the clerk's desk, sat the 
 respective secretaries. I do not believe a single motion made 
 that day was heard by anyone. The yelling was simply incessant. 
 After vain attempts to make motions, to be put by the opposing 
 chairmen, both sides, by common consent, seemed to abandon 
 the effort. But the yelling went right along just the same. 
 Motions were put in writing and handed to the chair, and if they 
 met his approval he leaned over his desk and handed them to 
 the secretary of his faction, telling him to record them as carried. 
 To add to the pleasure of the event, the floor settled about three 
 inches. If the applause and excitement had been expressed by 
 the stamping of feet instead of by noisy yells, I have no doubt 
 the floor would have gone down with the crowd. A good many 
 spectators were too much alarmed to take any chances and left 
 the hall. 
 
 When the secretaries had duly recorded their work, it was 
 found that the Donnelly men had selected James Smith, Jr., 
 Albert Edgerton, H. J. Brainerd, T. Metcalf, C. H. Schurmeier 
 and W. L. Banning as their delegates to the district convention. 
 The Ramsey-Washburn crowd came up smiling with Russell 
 Blakely, G. A. Nash, J. C. Becht, C. K. Davis, David Day and 
 F. A. Renz as their delegates. Perhaps, owing to the sinking 
 of the floor, and perhaps owing to physical exhaustion, the Ram- 
 sey crowd retired first. The Donnelly forces had done all of their 
 business, but, with the coast clear, a love-feast ratification meet- 
 ing was held, and some violent speeches made. It was evident 
 from the result in Ramsey county that there was to be no peace 
 at the district convention. 
 
 The district convention, which was due to have 89 delegates, 
 was merely another struggle to get two nominees for Congress 
 before the public in such a manner that each could claim to be 
 the "regular" nominee. The convention was called to meet in 
 Ingersoll hall, St. Paul, on Sept. 3, 1868. The chairman of the 
 district committee was an ardent Donnelly man, but the majority 
 of the committee were anti-Donnelly. The day before the con- 
 vention the committee met with T. M. Metcalf, chairman, of St. 
 Paul, A. B. Stickncy of Stillwater (now president of the Chicago 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 85 
 
 Great Western), E. W. Cutter of Minneapolis, and F. Foss, 
 proxy for S. J. Willard, present. The majority of the committee 
 elected Mr. Stickney (a Washburn man) secretary, and then pre- 
 pared to issue tickets to the delegates signed by the chairman 
 and countersigned by the secretary. The formal plan of the 
 anti-Donnelly portion of the committee was signed by all the 
 members of the committee present except Metcalf, and given to 
 the public thus : 
 
 That in case any credentials shall be presented to said committee 
 which any one of said committee shall believe to be fraudulent, it shall 
 be the duty of said committee before issuing tickets to such delegates 
 to require satisfactory evidence that said delegates were elected by a 
 convention held in pursuance of a published call, and that no person 
 shall be admitted to the floor of said hall on said day prior to n a. m., 
 and then only such persons as shall be the holders of tickets signed by 
 both the chairman and secretary of the committee. 
 
 Another paragraph in the published fulmination provided for 
 placing the custody of the hall in the hands of the chief of police, 
 who was to be the only man having the key, and he was to keep 
 the hall closed until n a. m., and aid in seeing that only proper 
 persons entered. 
 
 While Metcalf, the Donnelly chairman, would not assent to 
 this program, and it was printed without his signature, it was 
 sharp, though high-handed tactics. It made the district com- 
 mittee absolutely judges of who were legitimate delegates and 
 brought the police force of the city to their aid in an ingenious 
 manner. The late Dr. J. H. Stewart was mayor, and he was a 
 Ramsey man, as was his chief of police, J. P. Mcllrath. Of course, 
 there was nothing for the rest of the police force but to do or die. 
 Chief Mcllrath was cousin of Charles Mcllrath, the then state 
 auditor, who was in the Ramsey circle, and this made another tie 
 that bound. 
 
 Chairman Metcalf issued a proclamation all by himself as an 
 antidote, stating that he would issue tickets, signed by himself, 
 to all claiming to be delegates, regardless of contests. And he 
 did. Then the anti-Donnelly delegates, contestants and all, took 
 their tickets with Metcalf's signature to Secretary Stickney, and 
 he signed them also, but the Donnelly delegates would not ask 
 
86 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 for the secretary's name. Thus the morning of the 3d of Sep- 
 tember dawned with all of the groundwork well laid by the anti- 
 Donnelly men, to win by strategy. 
 
 The Donnelly forces gathered in Armory hall, a block farther 
 down Third street than Ingersoll hall. At 11 a. m. they formed 
 in marching line, two by two, and with W. L. Banning and Henry 
 Acker of St. Paul, and Gen. William Le Due of Hastings, at their 
 head, marched to Ingersoll hall. The street in front of the hall 
 was literally packed with an excited multitude, the Donnelly 
 portion, at least, wrought up to the pitch of a physical contest. 
 George W. Moore had been selected by the anti-Donnelly por- 
 tion of the district committee to inspect the tickets of the dele- 
 gates, with instructions to admit only those who had tickets 
 signed by both Metcalf and Stickney. Moore stood at the foot 
 of the first flight of stairs, on a level with the sidewalk. The hall 
 was up two flights. In a room at the top of the first flight Chief 
 Mcllrath and a posse of police were ensconced to come to the 
 rescue, if George Moore did not stop the crowd at the foot of 
 the stairway. The three Donnelly leaders named marched up 
 to George Moore and demanded admittance, shaking their tick- 
 ets under his nose, which he refused, because Secretary Stickney 
 had not signed their tickets. Stickney had been given no oppor- 
 tunity to sign or refuse to sign. A wordy altercation ensued, 
 and then they turned and marched back to Armory hall, the oth- 
 ers following. 
 
 That was a fatal mistake on the part of the Donnelly forces. 
 They were numerically strong enough to have entered the hall, 
 and I never believed the police would have fought. At all events, 
 I know the Donnelly forces were ready to test the question, and 
 were armed to enforce the contest. I carried a self-cocking 
 revolver in my pocket, and believe I was so foolishly excited that 
 I would have used it if a Ramsey man had struck me. I was 
 spoiling to be hurt that day. The late Gen. John T. Averill 
 passed the briareus at the foot of the stairs and went up to the hall 
 and I did the same. I found Ossian E. Dodge, a Donnelly man, 
 at the top of the first flight of stairs, and we joined in yelling to 
 Banning and his crowd to "come on," but they did not "come." 
 The police were right at our elbows, but did not offer to molest 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 87 
 
 or rebuke us, and did not interfere with General Averill's going 
 up the second flight into the sacred hall. General Averill was 
 very prominent as a Donnelly man, and had no ticket whatever. 
 I learned afterwards, to my chagrin, that Mr. Donnelly and a few 
 of his leading friends had conferred at Armory hall and decided 
 that it would be unwise to go farther than make the demand for 
 admittance. They designed to do just what they did do, "march 
 up the hill and then march down again." If they had fought 
 their way into the hall, as they could, the trend of politics in the 
 state for the last quarter of a century would have been different. 
 The chances for a fight and the political opportunities of a life- 
 time vanished together. 
 
 A DEMOCRAT WINS. 
 
 How the late Eugene M. Wilson of Minneapolis, a Democrat, 
 happened to be sent to Congress from the Third Minnesota dis- 
 trict, in 1868, when the district was overwhelmingly Republican, 
 is an interesting chapter in the politics of the state. I have 
 already recounted the attempt of the Donnelly forces to enter 
 Ingersoll hall, in St. Paul, where the district convention was 
 called to meet, and their failure to gain admission. The Don- 
 nellvites after that discomfiture retired to Armory hall, and had 
 a most harmonious and enthusiastic convention. Mr. Donnelly 
 was nominated by acclamation, and the national Republican 
 ticket of Grant and Colfax was endorsed especially strong, in 
 order to show party loyalty, and thus make amends for any 
 irregularity in congressional matters. 
 
 There was the same effort in Armory hall convention to 
 prove the other side bolters which had pervaded the preliminary 
 primary meetings and county conventions. To accomplish this 
 end the Donnelly convention formulated a proposition and sent 
 it to the Ingersoll hall congregation. That proposition was to 
 have both conventions adjourn without making any nominations, 
 and on the first Tuesday in October hold a semi-election through- 
 out the district to select a nominee. Polls were to be opened 
 as upon election day, but the voting was to be confined to the 
 Republicans. The candidate receiving the largest number of 
 votes was to be accepted by both factions as the nominee, and 
 
88 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 the name placed upon the regular ticket at the November elec- 
 tion. This was a primary election law in embryo. There was 
 really no expectation that this offer would be accepted, and it 
 was merely sparring for "regularity." When the committee 
 with this offer reached Ingersoll hall the convention had taken 
 a recess, and the document was left with the secretary. In the 
 afternoon, when the Ingersoll hall convention reassembled, the 
 proposition from the Armory hall affair was promptly refused, 
 and instead resolutions were passed inviting the Donnellyites to 
 come to Ingersoll hall and submit their claims to seats. When 
 the committee to present these resolutions reached Armory hall, 
 between 3 and 4 p. m., that gathering had completed its work 
 and had adjourned sine die. This ended all convention nego- 
 tiations, and each side went vigorously to work to prove the 
 other bolters. That was a heinous offense in those days, and 
 both factions sought to escape the odium. 
 
 The anti-Donnelly convention at Ingersoll hall was just as 
 determined as the other one, but their proceedings were not 
 nearly as cheerful. The counties of Benton, Carver, Crow Wing, 
 Dakota, Morrison, St. Louis, Wabasha, Washington and Wright 
 were unrepresented. These were not contested counties and were 
 entitled to seats, but they were for Donnelly and would not 
 appear. In the Donnelly convention McLeod, Pope and Sher- 
 burne were the only counties not represented. Truth of history, 
 however, compels the statement that the Hennepin delegation, 
 12 in number, in the Donnelly convention, was not legitimate. 
 Washburn had secured the Hennepin delegation without oppo- 
 sition, and a resolution had been passed instructing the delegates 
 to present his name to the district convention. The delegates 
 were J. S. Pillsbury, Levi Butler, J. H. Thompson, A. R. Hall, 
 G. F. Townsend, A. Ortman, E. B. Ames, G. M. Stickney, L. 
 Fletcher, C. H. Petit, F. R. E. Cornell and W. A. Stanchfield. 
 The Donnelly delegation might be termed a "private snap," and 
 this had a good deal to do with the split in the district conven- 
 tion. This is what the anti-Donnelly men of the district commit- 
 tee meant when, in their pronunciamento, they announced that 
 before issuing tickets of admission to Ingersoll hall they must 
 have "satisfactory evidence that said delegates were elected by a 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 89 
 
 convention held in pursuance of a published call." This rule 
 the Donnelly delegates could not comply with so far as Henne- 
 pin county was concerned, and if there had been but one conven- 
 tion the Washburn delegation, I have named, would have been 
 very properly admitted in spite of any contest. The supporters 
 of Donnelly in Minneapolis claimed foul play, but they let Wash- 
 burn, in the final round-up, take the delegation without a pro- 
 test, and had no ground on which to rest a contest at the con- 
 vention on September 3d. 
 
 A full district convention would have been 89. At Ingersoll 
 hall there were 59 present and at Armory hall 62, but in both 
 conventions there were some who were not legitimate, and the 
 real, honestly elected delegates would have shown still more 
 favorably to Donnelly. W. D. Washburn of Minneapolis, Gen. 
 L. F. Hubbard of Red Wing and Gen. C. C. Andrews of St. 
 Cloud were named as candidates. The first ballot stood: Wash- 
 burn 31, Hubbard 15, Andrews 13. Washburn would have been 
 nominated on the next ballot, but he was shrewd enough to see 
 that with the split in the party he could not be elected, and he 
 accordingly withdrew. General Hubbard was then easily chosen. 
 He made a short acceptance speech, and at the conclusion the 
 gallery gave three rousing cheers for Donnelly, while the con- 
 vention cheered for Hubbard. General Hubbard changed his 
 mind early in the canvass and positively withdrew his name. 
 Then the Donnellyites took heart of hope. They saw victory 
 in the air and fairly hugged themselves with joy, only to have 
 their bright anticipations nipped in the bud. The Ingersoll hall 
 district committee, with much effort, secured the consent of Gen- 
 eral Andrews to accept their nomination, fully understanding 
 he would be defeated. General Andrews showed good business 
 judgment, as he insisted on a purse of $7,500 being placed in 
 his hands for campaign expenses before he would make the race. 
 Between the two Republican candidates Eugene Wilson (Demo- 
 crat) was elected by 2,241 plurality over Donnelly and 4,908 over 
 Andrews. 
 
 This defeat and what grew out of it, resulted in Mr. Don- 
 nelly's permanent retirement from the Republican party, and was 
 the making of General Andrews' political, perhaps, I might say, 
 
90 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 personal, fortune. E. B. Washburne became secretary of state 
 under Grant, and he made Andrews minister to Sweden, a 
 $12,000 "and outfit" position. Andrews held this for 12 years, 
 and later was made consul at Rio Janeiro, which he held four 
 years. 
 
 The result at the polls showed that the "youngsters" in Ram- 
 sey county were overwhelmingly in the majority, and really car- 
 ried Ramsey county at the primaries, but were outgeneraled by 
 the "old heads." The Republican vote in Ramsey county was 
 400 for Andrews to 2,200 for Donnelly. 
 
 The Democrats gathered the harvest by electing the late 
 Eugene M. Wilson of Minneapolis, the vote standing: Don- 
 nelly 11,229, Andrews 8,595, Wilson 13,506. In St. Paul the 
 supporters of Mr. Donnelly were the young, active Republicans, 
 and they were so overwhelmingly in the majority that they could 
 not realize that people "up north" in Norseland would not hesi- 
 tate to vote for Andrews. The favorite bet in St. Paul was that 
 Donnelly would poll two votes to Andrews' one in the district. 
 In St. Paul it was nearly four to one, and the boys were influ- 
 enced by their local surroundings. The result was a wailing 
 and gnashing of teeth. Mr. Driscoll of the Press was sufficiently 
 shrewd to do up the Donnelly crowd sadly. He did not make 
 any personal or open bets, but through others, notably E. G. 
 Rogers, now clerk of the courts in Ramsey county, he accommo- 
 dated the boys to their hearts' content. At least it was suffi- 
 cient after it was over. But, oh, the gall and wormwood of the 
 Donnelly crowd, to think that they had not only lost their money, 
 but that it had gone to one of the proprietors of the paper which 
 had so bitterly opposed them. If, perchance, the Donnelly boys 
 had won, it would, probably, have puzzled Mr. Driscoll a little 
 to catch up with his liabilities ; but, as it was, his happiness 
 was as extreme as was the gloom of his victims. 
 
OBSERVATION FOURTEEN. 
 
 Wm. Windom's Beginning in Politics. 
 
 William Windom certainly had a charmed political life. De- 
 feats which ordinarily retire men from politics forever only 
 seemed to strengthen him for the future. He was a lawyer at 
 Winona with a very limited practice when, in 1858, he was nomi- 
 nated for Congress, his friends giving him the place more from 
 desire to aid him in starting life than anything else. He served 
 five terms in the house, retiring in 1869. As if to make room 
 for Mr. Windom, Daniel S. Norton of Winona, who had been 
 elected to the senate in 1865, died on the 13th of July, 1870, and, 
 on the 16th of July, Governor Austin appointed Mr. Windom 
 to fill the unexpired term. He was then duly elected and 
 re-elected to the senate, and, while serving his second term as 
 senator, resigned to enter Garfield's cabinet as secretary of the 
 treasury. When Arthur succeeded to the presidency, after Gar- 
 field's death he resigned from the cabinet, and A. J. Edgerton, 
 who had been appointed to succeed him in the senate, also 
 resigned to go on the bench, and Windom was, on Oct. 26, 1881, 
 appointed to fill his own unexpired term in the senate. When 
 he was defeated for re-election in 1883 no one expected that he 
 would ever be again in public life. When the first rumors were 
 set afloat that President-elect Harrison would tender Windom 
 the treasury portfolio, they were ridiculed in Minnesota. But it 
 proved to be correct, and he died in office, his almost tragic end 
 occurring Jan. 29, 1900, at the annual banquet of the New York 
 Board of Trade, just after he had concluded his address. 
 
 In 1863, when running for Congress, Mr. Windom opened 
 the state campaign by an open-air speech on Bridge Square, in 
 St. Paul. I reported his speech, long hand, for the Press, with 
 which I was then connected. After the meeting he came to the 
 office and asked to see the report, which I had written out to the 
 extent of a couple of columns. Upon seeing it he begged me not 
 
 (91) 
 
92 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 to print it. He said he had but one speech and could not well 
 prepare another, and he was intending to deliver this one all over 
 the state. The report was very far from being verbatim, but he 
 thought it would take the edge off if he should deliver this speech 
 where the paper was read. I complied with his request, suppress- 
 ing my already glowing account of the ''immense attendance," 
 "great enthusiasm," "brilliant oratory" of the speaker, etc., mak- 
 ing only a few lines of what really was said. Before he died Mr. 
 Windom's ability was greatly developed, and he left an enviable 
 national reputation. 
 
 Mr. Windom was not the only politician with "one speech" 
 for the campaign. Away back in the fifties Salmon P. Chase, 
 then governor of Ohio, and subsequently the war secretary of 
 the treasury, and later chief justice, had a "one-speech" cam- 
 paign. It was at the time of the celebrated Breslin-Gibson defal- 
 cation. Breslin had been the Democratic state treasurer, and 
 was a defaulter to the extent of several hundred thousand dol- 
 lars. The defalcation was not known, and, as Republican pros- 
 pects were quite bright, Breslin and his friends managed to get 
 his (Breslin's) brother-in-law, Gibson, nominated for state treas- 
 urer on the Republican ticket. Gibson was elected, and for a 
 time covered up the defalcation. Like all such matters, there 
 was a final explosion, and the Democrats arraigned the 
 Republicans for the offense because Gibson was in office, 
 though he had not received the money. Chase was gov- 
 ernor, and his campaign speech was entirely devoted to throw- 
 ing the responsibility for the defalcation upon the Democrats. 
 He delivered it first at Sandusky, and the Cincinnati Commer- 
 cial sent a shorthand reporter there and printed the speech ver- 
 batim. Two or three weeks later Chase reached my town and I" 
 essayed to report him. I had the Commercial report with me, 
 thinking he might use some portion of the same speech. To 
 my surprise, he delivered the identical speech, word for word, 
 and nothing else. I sat on the platform with the Commercial 
 in my hand and "held copy" while he spoke. He had memorized 
 it perfectly, and I did not have to prompt or correct him during 
 the entire delivery. He told me afterwards he was very sorry he 
 had been reported, as his speech referred to local issues, and he 
 could not well change it. 
 
OBSERVATION FIFTEEN. 
 
 Donnelly's Resurrection as a Republican. 
 
 One of the anomalies of the campaign of 1869 in Min- 
 nesota was the bringing out of Ignatius Donnelly as a Repub- 
 lican candidate for governor by the St. Paul Press. The Press 
 had been a prominent factor in 1868 in forcing a split in the party, 
 and, by securing a Republican candidate against Donnelly, had 
 elected a Democrat to Congress, and retired Ignatius to private 
 life. Donnelly had brought the battle to its logical conclusion 
 by endeavoring to defeat Ramsey for re-election to the senate 
 in the winter of 1869, and had failed. The defeat of Donnelly 
 for the house was secured to prevent his defeating Ramsey for 
 the senate. The Press was a thick and thin Ramsey organ, and 
 during both the congressional and senatorial fight had excoriated 
 Donnelly, and he, in turn, had on the stump flayed the editor 
 and proprietor of the Press alive. It had been war to the knife 
 and knife to the hilt, and then they removed the hilt so that the 
 knife could go farther toward the vitals. 
 
 The Republican state convention was called for Sept. 9, 1869, 
 and the public were edified on September 4th by an elaborate 
 editorial in the Press, urging the nomination of Donnelly for 
 governor. In view of what had previously occurred between 
 Mr. D. and that party organ, the following extract from that edi- 
 torial will be found of amusing interest: 
 
 "Aside from Donnelly's brilliant personal qualities, and the 
 distinguished claim which a long course of useful public service 
 gives him to honorable recognition by the state convention, there 
 can be no doubt in view of his position as the leader of a power- 
 ful wing of the Republican party in this district, whose enthu- 
 siastic wishes were so disappointed in his defeat, his nomination 
 at the head of the state ticket, with the cordial concurrence of 
 
 (93) 
 
94 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 those heretofore opposed to him, would do more than anything 
 else to extinguish the factious animosities and disaffections occa- 
 sioned by the events of last fall." 
 
 I am not prepared to say that this was not "good politics" — 
 if the scheme had worked. But it didn't, and that's different. 
 
 The convention duly assembled September 9th, and Dana E. 
 King of Meeker county was called to preside over its destinies. 
 There had not been the usual preliminary scrimmages for offices. 
 Judge Horace Austin, of the Sixth Judicial district, residing at 
 St. Peter, was a prominent but not aggressive candidate for gov- 
 ernor. John McKusick of Stillwater was in the field, and at the 
 eleventh hour Donnelly had appeared. After the usual prelimi- 
 naries the candidates were very tamely named by the orators. 
 It was, in fact, a convention especially conspicuous for its dull- 
 ness. It only took one ballot to settle the governorship, the vote 
 standing Austin 147, Donnelly 64, McKusick 17. The support 
 of the Press, under the circumstances, was too magnanimous 
 for human credulity. The delegates concluded to take no 
 chances, and nominated the other man. 
 
 There was really more contest for the lieutenant governor 
 than for governor. A. J. Edgerton of Dodge county, Jared 
 Benson of Anoka, W. H. Yale of Winona, W. R. Kinyon of 
 Steele and H. L. Gordon of Wright being the candidates. Yale, 
 Benson and Gordon were the only candidates polling many votes. 
 The first ballot stood Yale 83, Gordon 63 and Benson 50. The 
 third and last ballot stood Yale 139, Gordon 57 and Benson 29. 
 Aside from Austin and Yale the rest of the ticket made by the 
 convention without much contest was: 
 
 Secretary of State — Hans Mattson of Meeker county. 
 
 State Auditor — Charles Mcllrath of Nicollet. 
 
 State Treasurer — Emil Munch of Pine. 
 
 Attorney General — F. R. E. Cornell of Hennepin. 
 
 Chief Justice — C. C. Ripley of Fillmore. 
 
 Clerk of Supreme Court — Sherwood Hough of Ramsey. 
 
 The campaign which followed was as dull and lifeless as the 
 convention itself. The next morning after the convention the 
 Press expressed regret over Donnelly's defeat, and promised to 
 give a cordial support to the ticket, but it did not do so. The 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 95 
 
 result was the ticket received the smallest majority any Repub- 
 lican state ticket has had in the history of the state, having but 
 183 majority over the Democrats and Prohibition, and but 1,947 
 plurality over the Democratic nominee. 
 
 There was one incident of the convention which subsequently 
 became of considerable importance. W. D. Washburn of Min- 
 neapolis was a member of the committee on platform, and when 
 the platform was reported he announced that two members of the 
 committee desired to have a resolution included, but were over- 
 ruled by the majority. It was accordingly agreed that the reso- 
 lution should be reported separately. It was as follows : 
 
 Resolved, That the Republican party of the state insist that 
 the 500,000 acres of land granted to the state for internal improve- 
 ments be set apart for the liquidation of the Minnesota state 
 railroad bonds, and that they be held for that purpose solely; 
 that when the holders of said bonds shall agree to take these 
 lands and fully and finally surrender all the bonds to the state 
 that said lands be made over to said holders or their assigns or 
 trustees as they may elect. 
 
 The resolution, after some debate, was voted down by 79 to 
 47. At that time the so-called repudiated Minnesota state bonds 
 were a nightmare. The time was when the 500,000 acres of land 
 could have settled the whole bill, which subsequently was adjusted 
 by an expenditure of between $4,000,000 and $5,000,000. 
 
 On the very threshold of statehood Minnesota had by legis- 
 lative and popular vote decided to guarantee an issue of $5,000,- 
 000 in bonds to secure railroad development. After $2,275,000 
 had been issued and floated the inevitable crash came, and the 
 state not only refused to issue more, but declined to pay those 
 already outstanding. Mr. Washburn's resolution was a propo- 
 sition to make an ,even trade of the lands for the bonds, and after 
 ranking in the category of the states with dishonest credit for 
 over 25 years, by a semi-legerdemain enactment we gave the 
 lands and several millions in money besides. 
 
 Moral — Sometimes it pays, as a financial investment, to be 
 just a little bit honest. In noting the small majority secured by 
 General Austin it is also worthy of note that the only person 
 really alarmed was Austin's Democratic opponent who, for a 
 time, feared he was elected. 
 
96 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 The late George L. Otis, at that time one of the prominent 
 attorneys of the state and a resident of St. Paul, had been pre- 
 vailed upon to take the Democratic nomination for governor. 
 It was supposed to be only a matter of form without the remotest 
 chance of an election. Otherwise Mr. Otis would not have 
 accepted the nomination. Mr. Otis had just two aims in life — the 
 enjoyment of the society of his family, and the practice of his 
 profession. Public life was entirely distasteful, and, though he 
 was forced to mingle some in public affairs, it was always under 
 protest. 
 
 Horace Austin of St. Peter, then on the district bench, was 
 the Republican nominee for governor. The party at that time, 
 and for several years after, could scarcely be called the Repub- 
 lican party, as it more properly should be termed the Ramsey 
 and anti-Ramsey factions. The terms I name for the elements 
 of the party simply indicated that if Senator Ramsey's friends 
 won, all the public pickings went to them, and it was necessary 
 to keep up a serried front at all times. If an occasional break 
 was allowed it would be dangerous, and hence, woe to the anti- 
 Ramsey man who got a nomination. The Ramsey men were 
 the shrewdest politicians in the state, and when they lost in a con- 
 vention they generally administered a lesson to the successful 
 nominee. They did not really want to turn the state over to the 
 Democrats, but wished to sufficiently frighten the recalcitrant 
 candidate to bring him into the fold as a repentant sinner, feel- 
 ing that he must rely upon their gracious favor for his future 
 political life. That was the discipline which the Ramseyites 
 endeavored to administer to Horace Austin in 1869, with the. 
 view of forcing him into the Ramsey camp. 
 
 The election returns came in very slowly. Only a small por- 
 tion of the state could be reached by telegraph, and a great deal 
 of territory was dependent upon semi-weekly, tri-weekly and 
 even weekly stage coaches. As the returns first came in from 
 the more accessible cities and towns, Mr. Otis' election seemed 
 almost certain. The first real interest he had shown in the cam- 
 paign was when these returns were being received. His prac- 
 tice was worth at least five times the beggarly salary then allowed 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 97 
 
 the governor, and this, added to his distaste for office, caused 
 his alarm. It was, perhaps, ten days or two weeks before the 
 result was absolutely known, and Mr. Otis would come to my 
 office every day, before my paper was issued, hoping to obtain 
 news favorable to his defeat. I never saw a candidate hoping 
 for success have more anxiety than he did hoping for defeat. 
 
 That was the first campaign when the Prohibitionists put a 
 state ticket in the field. The official canvass gave Austin 27,348, 
 Otis 25,401, Cobb (Prohibitionist) 1,764. This left Austin only 
 183 majority, and his plurality over Otis was but 1,947. That 
 was an exceedingly small margin for the Republicans in those 
 days. 
 
 In spite of the intended castigation by the Ramseyites, it did 
 not conquer Governor Austin, and his gubernatorial career of 
 two terms was in the anti-Ramsey interest, and led up to the final 
 overthrow of the Ramsey dynasty, when Senator C. K. Davis 
 came into his kingdom. 
 
 Horace Austin made an excellent governor, albeit his term 
 from 1870 to 1874 was less eventful than many, with the excep- 
 tion of one incident, but that one exception stamped it with an 
 importance which many other governors of the state have not 
 obtained for their records.- The state had half a million acres of 
 land which had been given by the general government for inter- 
 nal improvements. There was considerable controversy as to 
 the latitude of the term "internal improvements," those who 
 desired the lands being very liberal in their construction. Grow- 
 ing out of this liberality of thought during a session of the legis- 
 lature in 1 87 1 a combination was gotten up to run railroads all 
 about the state, and divide up the lands with the various roads. 
 More attention was given during the session to this land combine 
 than all other legislation considered. The following parceling 
 out of the lands to projected roads shows the ingenuity and the 
 strength the scheme had, as it appealed to nearly every section 
 of the state, and every member could feel that he was getting a 
 slice for his constituents. 
 
98 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 Lines Proposed — Acres. 
 
 Dubuque & St. Paul, from Austin via Mantorville 50,000 
 
 Davenport & St. Paul railroad, from the southern line of the 
 
 state via Fountain and Rochester to a point of junction with the 
 
 Dubuque & St. Paul at Pine Island 5<>>500 
 
 To a common track of these two roads to be given to the one 
 
 reaching Pine Island first 32,000 
 
 Minneapolis & St. Louis 65,000 
 
 Minneapolis & Watertown 10,000 
 
 Minnesota & Northwestern, from Mankato via New Ulm and Big 
 
 Stone Lake 80,000 
 
 Farmington to state line 15,000 
 
 Mankato to St. Cloud 75,ooo 
 
 From St. Cloud up Sauk Valley 47.000 
 
 Winona to La Crescent 25,000 
 
 Lake Pepin & Omaha 50,000 
 
 Total 500,000 
 
 The bill was introduced in the senate on the 17th of Febru- 
 ary and passed on the 18th by a vote of 12 to 8. The combina- 
 tion was not quite so strong in the house. It took 24 votes to 
 pass a bill in the house at that time, and on most of the prelimi- 
 nary votes the forces stood 24 to 23. But it finally got through 
 the house on February 28th by 26 to 21. The bill had been 
 incubating six weeks before it was introduced, and the combine 
 was ready for work when it came in. 
 
 And now came the tug of war. Would or would not Gov- 
 ernor Austin veto the measure? was the great problem. Proba- 
 bly as great pressure was brought to bear upon him to sign the 
 bill as any governor of the state has ever felt. The opponents, 
 to a moderate degree, also urged a veto, but it was the friends" 
 of the bill who made life a burden, and according to the reports 
 of the others there were offers to furnish substantial reasons 
 why the bill should be signed. Governor Austin, however, was 
 firm, and at 11 o'clock on March 3d, the last night of the session, 
 he sent in a strong veto message. One of the reasons he gave 
 for the veto was the belief that the passage had been secured by 
 the desire of members to obtain other legislation, and they found 
 it necessary to come into the land combine in order to secure 
 their local bills. He very forcibly showed that the division of the 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 99 
 
 lands as proposed would amount to nothing for anyone in secur- 
 ing railroads, in this forcible paragraph: 
 
 "Within the past 14 years the general government has granted 
 in the aid of railroads in the state (not including deficiencies 
 not to be realized) 15,500,000 acres of the public domain and the 
 state about 1,700,000 acres, making a total of 17,200,000 acres, 
 worth at least $43,000,000, but held by the companies at from 
 $5 to $10 per acre, and there has been given by our people as 
 local aid, including right of way, bonds issued and other legal 
 obligations to the amount in the aggregate of at least $3,000,000 
 more, and within these 14 years, with $46,000,000 of subsidies, 
 there has been completed about 1,000 miles of road. This bill 
 contemplates aiding in the construction of an established length 
 of 1,022 miles of road, giving an average of 488 acres per mile. 
 The lands here granted lie on the frontier, and are less valuable 
 per acre than the grants to the old roads. The friends of the bill 
 estimate this grant as worth $1,000,000. Comment is unneces- 
 sary." 
 
 To secure the necessary votes to carry the measure, the man- 
 agers had been compelled to make too liberal a division. When 
 the veto message had been read to the senate there was the usual 
 motion to pass it over the governor's veto, and it was lost by a 
 vote of 12 to 10, two-thirds being necessary. The only Repub- 
 lican senators who voted to sustain the governor were Farmer 
 Petit, Pillsbury and Sabin. 
 
 I think it is no exaggeration to say that no matter of pure 
 legislation has ever created so much interest and excitement in 
 the state as that proposition to divide the 500,000 acres. There 
 have been others which brought more ducats to the front, for 
 I do not think any cold cash was used on this occasion. There 
 was an immense amount of swapping legislation. I had learned 
 that the veto was coming, and on the pledge that I would not 
 use it prematurely, had obtained an advance copy of the mes- 
 sage. I put it in type and printed a Dispatch extra containing 
 it. In order to be sure that no mistake occurred by circulating 
 in advance of the governor, after the extras were printed I 
 secured about 25 newsboys and locked up the whole outfit in my 
 pressroom, ready to rush to the capitol the moment the proper 
 
 L.ofC. 
 
100 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 time arrived. The telephone had not arrived at that time, and 
 a mounted messenger was kept in waiting at the capitol, while 
 I stood guard at the executive office. The moment the messen- 
 ger from the governor started to carry the veto to the senate, 
 my messenger started to the Dispatch office, and by the time 
 the secretary of the senate was ready to announce the message 
 the 1 1 p m. extra of the Dispatch was on sale in the capitol. The 
 senators obtained them, and the reading of the secretary, which 
 was slow, was merely nominal, as all over the senate chamber the 
 senators were perusing the printed extra during the official read- 
 ing and one senator interrupted the reading to complain that the 
 text as read, varied in some verbal manner from the printed copy. 
 It was an error in reading made by the secretary. A veto is only 
 sent to the branch of the legislature where the bill originates, 
 and this, being a senate bill, the manuscript copy of the veto was 
 only sent to that branch. The message created so much interest 
 that while the original copy was being read to the senate, the 
 clerk of the house read it to the representatives from a Dispatch 
 extra The house, in fact, began debating and offering josh 
 resolutions on the message before the secretary had completed 
 the reading in the senate. Between the attraction of the last night 
 of the session and the excitement over the land bill, there were 
 several hundred people at the capitol, and the night extra was 
 as eagerly sought by the crowd as if the fate of the nation hung 
 upon it. ' It was the only time, in Minnesota at least, where a 
 veto message has been simultaneously read in both branches of 
 the legislature. 
 
 One thing which smoothed Governor Austin's official pathway 
 was his excellent choice of private secretary in the person of Hon. 
 A. R. McGill. Mr. McGill was a fellow townsrhan of the govern- 
 or's and the editor of the St. Peter Tribune at the time of his 
 appointment. Newspaper men, as a rule, can guide an official 
 correctly and meet the public in a satisfactory manner. Regu- 
 lating things and assuming to know everything is right in their 
 line of business. Mr. McGill was so good an exemplification of 
 this that he graduated from private secretary to insurance com- 
 missioner, and 13 years after he had retired from the governor's 
 office as a subordinate he re-entered as the chief executive of the 
 state. 
 
OBSERVATION SIXTEEN. 
 
 The Second Election of Alexander Ramsey to the Senate with- 
 out a Vote to Spare. 
 
 It must not be supposed that the great political fight of 1868 
 ended the contest between Donnelly and the Ramsey crowd. It 
 was continued for years, and, like the Kentucky feuds, only ended 
 when most of the active participants were securely planted under- 
 ground. An election for Ramsey's successor in the senate was 
 due in January, 1869, only two months after the disastrous elec- 
 tion of 1868, and the Donnelly forces kept their armor right on 
 and duly burnished. Ramsey was, of course, a candidate to suc- 
 ceed himself. Donnelly had been accused of being a candidate 
 for the senate all through the campaign, and after his defeat for 
 the house he openly became one. The smart thing for the Ram- 
 sey men to have done would have been to elect Donnelly to the 
 house instead of bolting, and placing him under obligations. 
 Then, by promising him the earth (in the future), they might have 
 kept him out of the race and had plain sailing. As it was, Don- 
 nelly had reached that desperate state in politics where he had 
 nothing to lose, because it was already lost, and everything to 
 gain. A man in that position is a hard hitter and a desperate 
 fighter. To add interest to the occasion, ex-Senator Morton S. 
 Wilkinson, who had been shelved by Norton, entered the lists, 
 and there was a triangular fight on hand, which bid fair to make 
 Mr. Ramsey serious trouble. 
 
 From the time the legislature met until the result, nothing 
 but the senatorial fight was talked of. All of the candidates were 
 present in person, the Ramsey headquarters being at the Inter- 
 national Hotel (since burned), at the corner of Seventh and 
 
 (101) 
 
102 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 Jackson, and Donnelly and Wilkinson being located at the Mer- 
 chants. The two last named were in complete accord, albeit each 
 one was a little suspicious that the other might not tote fair. 
 They were at least a unit in their desire to defeat Ramsey, and 
 only divided as to who should be the lucky man. There were 
 54 Republicans in the legislature, and it required 28 to secure 
 the caucus nomination. Perhaps nothing so well illustrates 
 how wrought up Mr. Donnelly was as to state that, becom- 
 ing satisfied he could not secure more than 26 votes at the outset, 
 he decided not to have his name presented at the caucus. I was 
 always in doubt whether or not it was a put-up job, but, at all 
 events, two or three of Wilkinson's staunch supporters vehe- 
 mently declared that they would never support Mr. Donnelly. 
 They declared themselves in readiness to vote for Ramsey rather 
 than for Donnelly. As Ramsey personally had been hostile to 
 Donnelly, and Ramsey's friends had been his undoing, Donnelly 
 was ready to sacrifice anything to even the account. Conse- 
 quently he made the sacrifice, believing that he could give every 
 one of his friends to Wilkinson, though the sequel proved that 
 that was a delusion. 
 
 Mr. Donnelly's withdrawal was not made public until the 
 night of the caucus, which was held on the evening of Jan. 14, 
 1869. A few hours before the legislative caucus the Ramsey 
 men held a caucus at the International, and made each one pres- 
 ent not only arise and be counted, but called on them, individu- 
 ally, to publicly pledge themselves to Ramsey's cause by some 
 utterance. I doubt whether there has ever been such another 
 iron-clad caucus as that held in the state. I was in the anti-Ram- 
 sey ranks, but we were not at all disturbed by the report that the 
 Ramsey caucus had more than 28 present or accounted for. We 
 had more than that pledged against Ramsey. Of course, both 
 sides knew that in the outcome some one would get cheated, but 
 with that sanguineness peculiar to politics each side thought 
 that the double dealers would cheat the other fellow. 
 
 The Ramsey men, however, were more suspicious of their 
 forces than the Donnellyites. They accordingly got a red card 
 printed, bearing Ramsey's name, so that they could spot anyone 
 who did not keep faith. This red card scheme was kept secret, 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 103 
 
 save to a very few in the holy of holies of Ramsey's temple. 
 Late in the afternoon of the day of the caucus I obtained one oi 
 the red cards (how it is not necessary to explain, as some people 
 are still alive), and immediately set about printing similar cards 
 bearing- Wilkinson's name. The Press people had used a pecu- 
 liar tint of red which it was not easy to match. General Averill 
 was at the head of the only wholesale paper house in town, and 
 his store was closed for the night before I got there, in search 
 of the cardboard. Time was precious, and I went to General 
 Averill's house for aid. As he was with the antis, he readily 
 left his half-finished supper, and, hastening to the store, we were 
 rewarded by finding an exact match for the Ramsey cardboard. 
 As a result the Donnelly-Wilkinson forces were supplied, half 
 an hour before the caucus, with tickets bearing Wilkinson's 
 name, which would pass muster as the simon pure Ramsey arti- 
 cle when dropped in the box before the eyes of the tellers. A 
 number of Wilkinson red tickets were actually voted, and the 
 Press the next morning said that Ramsey's vote was eight less 
 than his positive pledges. And still there was the promised num- 
 ber of red cardboards in the hat. 
 
 The first move of the Ramseyites in the caucus was a master 
 stroke and proved a winner. It was to refuse an informal ballot. 
 They were absolutely certain that a large number of their 
 pledged men would never vote twice for Ramsey, and it was 
 do or die on the first ballot. The Ramsey men elected Dana 
 E. King, brother of Wm. S. King, chairman of the caucus, and 
 two tellers, John Hobart of Goodhue and Augustus Armstrong 
 of Albert Lea, while Dr. S. B. Sheardown was the Wilkinson 
 teller. The Ramsey forces had the majority publicly pledged 
 and on open vote they stuck to their text. The hope and prom- 
 ise the Wilkinson men had was that on the secret ballot they 
 would prove false to their Ramsey promise^. The motion to 
 make the first vote formal was viva voce, and the pledged 
 men carried it. This was an unheard of procedure in politics, 
 and the Wilkinson men did not have wit enough to make it 
 informal by dropping in one or two extra ballots, showing more 
 votes in the hat than there were in the caucus. There were 54 
 persons present. Necessary to a choice 28. The first and only 
 
104 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS, 
 
 ballot stood: Ramsey 28, Wilkinson 22, McMillan I, Windom 
 1, W. H. C. Folsom 1, blank 1. And the light went out in the 
 Wilkinson-Donnelly camp. 
 
 There is no shadow of doubt that if there had been a second 
 ballot there would have been no second term for Ramsey. The 
 anti-Ramsey forces were not prepared for the tactics of making 
 the first ballot formal, and were taken off their feet. Charley 
 Clarke of Minneapolis engineered the making of the first ballot 
 formal, and he showed good generalship. I think such a thing 
 as making the first ballot formal when there was a contest has 
 never been known, before or since, in any political caucus or 
 convention in the state. And, after all, when it was too late it 
 was discovered that the winning ballot should have been informal, 
 because 55 votes were cast while only 54 men were present. W. 
 D. Washburn was sufficiently a candidate to get some pasters 
 printed bearing his name, and somebody had taken one of the 
 Ramsey red cards and pasted Washburn's name over it. The 
 red tickets were not distributed until the ballot was ordered, and 
 no one had a chance to "fix" his Ramsey ticket save under the 
 lynx-eyed gaze of Clarke, King and others. The member "fix- 
 ing" that ticket, in his haste and nervousness, had not well 
 secured the paster, and it came off in the hat. It was found, 
 curled up in the pile of tickets, and was legible. The Ramsey 
 ticket showed that it had had a paster on its surface. In spite of 
 this, the tellers threw the slip away bearing Washburn's name 
 and counted the ticket upon which it had been placed for Ram- 
 sey. That one vote gave Ramsey 28, the exact number neces- 
 sary, and no more. Both ballots should have been counted. 
 That would have made one too many votes and forced another 
 ballot in spite of the Ramsey tactics. Dr. Sheardown, the Wil- 
 kinson teller, was a most faithful and honest friend, but he was 
 not shrewd in politics or he would have insisted on counting 
 both paster and red ticket. 
 
 The two pivotal men who gave the nomination to Ramsey 
 were Senator W. W. Prindle and Representative George Bry- 
 ant, both of Wabasha county. That county was intensely strong 
 for Donnelly, and these men excused themselves by saying that 
 so long as Donnelly was in the field they would stand by him, 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 105 
 
 but on his withdrawal they were at liberty to go for Ramsey. 
 It made such a storm that they held a pocket meeting at Waba- 
 sha, which resolved that they did right. 
 
 The election in the legislature took place January 19th, and 
 resulted in Ramsey receiving 52 votes, one Republican being 
 absent and one excused. The Democrats, 13 in number, voted 
 for C. W. Nash. 
 
 One of the poetic gems of that campaign was this: 
 
 The combat deepens — on ye brave, 
 Who rush to Ramsey, "stamps" to save. 
 Wave, Aleck, all your greenbacks, wave, 
 And charge it to the treasury. 
 
 It was this campaign which gave birth to the "seed wheat" 
 term, which has been handed down in Minnesota politics ever 
 since. One of Donnelly's ardent supporters was discovered 
 coming out of the Ramsey headquarters at the International 
 and a friend said to him: 
 
 "What are you doing there — you are not going to vote for 
 Ramsey, are you?" 
 
 "Oh, no, no," was the reply. "I just went in to see a man 
 who wants to sell some seed wheat." 
 
 His vote was duly recorded for Ramsey at the caucus. 
 
 The St. Paul Press claimed, the next morning after the cau- 
 cus in 1869, had nominated Senator Ramsey for re-election, that 
 Ramsey received eight votes less than were positively pledged 
 to him. This was an undoubted fact, and forcibly demonstrates 
 the dilemma in which politicians are placed. I happen to be able 
 to give an account of how one of the eight became minus to 
 Ramsey, and it will illustrate a very common situation in politics. 
 
 One of the prominent and active members of the legislature 
 was indebted to Wilkinson for a valuable federal office, bestowed 
 when he (Wilkinson) was United States senator. The legislator 
 still had future favors to ask, and, prior to knowing that Wil- 
 kinson would be a candidate for the senate against Ramsey, 
 had pledged himself to Ramsey. Wilkinson's candidacy threw 
 the legislator into a cold perspiration. Wilk had come on earth 
 again by being elected to the house from the First district, and 
 
10G H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 was due to take his seat with the incoming administration of 
 General Grant in March, 1869. Consequently, whether Wilkinson 
 lost or won the senatorship, he would still be in the political 
 saddle, prepared to render good or evil to those who had votes 
 in the legislature. On the other hand, if Ramsey lost, he would 
 be politically dead, and could neither reward his friends nor pun- 
 ish his enemies. As politics go, it is not surprising that the 
 man with a vote in the legislature was on both sides. 
 
 This dual politician was taken in hand by a friend of Wil- 
 kinson's, and the obligations of the past, as well as the hopes 
 of the future (especially the latter), were pleaded with such force 
 that he gave his positive promise to vote for Wilkinson in the 
 caucus. He was, however, so conspicuous in the Ramsey camp 
 that he was obliged to attend the secret Ramsey meetings, and 
 was present at the last one, held a few hours before the caucus, 
 and renewed his pledge of loyalty to Ramsey. But for the fact 
 that the Wilkinson forces secured red tickets, similar to the 
 Ramsey document, he would probably have kept his Ramsey 
 pledge, as that was public, while the other was very private. The 
 avowed Wilkinson men voted plain white tickets, and he could 
 not use such a ticket without being detected. It was for the very 
 purpose of preventing such detection that the red ticket was 
 devised by the Ramsey people, and the importance of meeting 
 red with red could not be overestimated by the anti-Ramsey fac- 
 tion. 
 
 A short time before the caucus Wilkinson's friend went to the 
 legislator and gave him a red ticket bearing Wilkinson's name. 
 In doing so he said: 
 
 "How will I know that you actually vote this ticket?" 
 
 "I will put a pinhole in it," was the quick-witted reply of the 
 legislator. 
 
 When the battle was over, the Wilkinson manipulator 
 inspected the ballots, and, sure enough, Wilkinson was there in 
 red, with a pinhole through him. 
 
 The Ramsey men were shrewd enough to inspect the Wil- 
 kinson reds very closely, and they, too, discovered the pinhole, 
 and knew it was "given as a sign." They made strenuous efforts 
 to ascertain who the pinhole traitor in their ranks was, in order 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 107 
 
 to administer political punishment, but the secret was kept, and 
 no revenge was ever taken. This dual politician went to his 
 grave many years ago, and I think but one person now living 
 besides myself knows his name. I am sure that many of the 
 old-time politicians would be glad to know who he was, even at 
 this distant day, as it would explain what was a great mystery 
 at the time. But he averaged well with the politicians of that 
 day and this, and I will not disturb his present rest by specific 
 identification. One of the "eight shrinkage" is thus accounted 
 for, and the other seven I may reach in a later edition. 
 
OBSERVATION SEVENTEEN. 
 
 The Liberal Republicans of 1872. 
 
 While a thousand men will leave their homes, pay railroad 
 fare to the city and hotel bills, not to mention cigars, drinks and 
 treats thrown in, for the purpose of selecting four delegates to 
 a national convention, it is refreshing to note that there was once 
 a prominent national convention where there was no scramble 
 to be on the delegation from Minnesota. As illustrative of a 
 thousand men coming together for practically nothing, and as 
 proof positive that such an event will happen, I cite the Repub- 
 lican convention held in Minneapolis the current year, 1904, to 
 select four delegates at large to attend the national convention at 
 Chicago which nominated President Roosevelt. 
 
 A month before the convention met the names of the four 
 delegates were printed in the newspapers as having been selected 
 by the managers of the party, and consequently the state con- 
 vention at Minneapolis was composed of a mere set of auto- 
 matons. They came down, as stated, perspired, drank and 
 smoked in the interest of their party, and named the identical 
 four delegates whose names had been printed in the papers for 
 weeks previously. 
 
 Now let us look at the convention where there was no scram- 
 ble to be a delegate. In 1872 there was a violent outbreak in the 
 Republican party against President Grant. This was largely 
 due to the fact that the rugged old soldier had selected a set of 
 friends and stuck by them through thick and thin. No presi- 
 dent ever pleased everybody, and the fact that Grant must of 
 necessity favor some crowd rendered it morally certain that he 
 would offend some other crowd. 
 
 (108) 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 109 
 
 This was the situation in 1872, and the Republican party 
 was never so near its disruption as at that eventful period. I 
 had been in revolt against pretty much everything since the dis- 
 astrous Donnelly campaign of 1868, only waiting to see an 
 opportunity to produce an everlasting smash in anything which 
 came up ; and when I could not absolutely find a head to hit I 
 would endeavor to manufacture one, trusting to have the head 
 bob up serenely and justify the violent action. 
 
 The so-called liberal Republicans of 1872 had no state, dis- 
 trict or national organization. Everything was crude, and the 
 call for the convention to be held at Cincinnati was for a mass 
 convention. But the times were ripe for mischief. Carl Schurz, 
 Samuel Bowles of the Springfield (Mass.) Republican, Murat 
 Halstead of-the Cincinnati Commercial and other quite conspicu- 
 ous national characters were leaders in the revolt. Consequently, 
 when I appeared in the role of a volunteer John the Baptist for 
 the crusade I had a small but immediate following. The Dis- 
 patch rallied Minnesota to the front with unceasing energy. The 
 more General Grant was assailed the more he stood by his 
 friends, and the so-called liberal Republicans, but in reality 
 illiberal, came into existence in quite a formidable manner. 
 Without some newspaper to lead the way no progress could 
 have been made, as there was no way for the malcontents to be 
 brought together, but the newspaper afforded the nucleus. The 
 result was that by great effort we secured enough recalcitrant 
 Republicans in Minnesota to go to Cincinnati to make up a 
 delegation, when it was decided later to make it a delegate 
 instead of a mass convention. 
 
 I do not think any state conventions were held. At all 
 events, most of the states did like Minnesota, and held no con- 
 vention, trusting to those who might volunteer to go. There 
 was such a revolt and restlessness in the Republican ranks that 
 thousands gathered at Cincinnati in an informal manner. It 
 was a mass, or, perhaps, I might say, a mob convention, as it 
 was unwieldy and impossible to manage in its original form. 
 The result was, after the crowd had gathered, the manipulators 
 decided to make it a delegate convention, giving each state the 
 representation usually accorded, of delegates to double the num- 
 
110 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 ber of the members of the senate and house from the respective 
 states. That gave Minnesota the cabalistic number "10," which 
 figured quite prominently in our political history eight years 
 later. When we came to count noses a few days before the con- 
 vention was to convene, we found there were 1 1 Minnesotans at 
 Cincinnati, and, as I was entitled to a newspaper seat, the remain- 
 ing "10" were declared delegates, and everybody was as happy 
 as a clam at high tide. 
 
 The delegation thus auspiciously made up was composed of 
 M. S. Wilkinson and J. B. Hubbell of Mankato, Aaron Good- 
 rich, Samuel Mayall, John X. Davidson and Theodore Heilscher 
 of St. Paul, W. W. Mayo of Rochester, Thomas Wilson of 
 Winona, C. D. Sherwood of Fillmore county and H. Williams, 
 who seems to have been unidentified at the time. The honors 
 were further divided, making Wilkinson chairman or president 
 of the delegation, Goodrich vice president, Heilscher member 
 of the platform committee, and so on until everyone had a peg 
 to hang on. W. L. Ames of St. Paul and F. Schulenberg oi 
 Stillwater appeared the second day and were given seats as alter- 
 nates. The delegation was far from harmonious as to the selec- 
 tion of a candidate. Goodrich thought the whole movement 
 would be sent to the dogs if David Davis of Illinois was not 
 made the nominee for president. Wilkinson pinned his faith 
 to ex-Senator Trumbull of Illinois. Mayall was sure that Charles 
 Francis Adams of Massachusetts was the man for the move- 
 ment. I do not recall that Greeley had a single supporter in 
 the delegation. This Minnesota sentiment was a fair representa- 
 tion of the whole convention. It was anybody to beat Grant, 
 but a multitude of counsels as to who the leader should be. 
 Whitelaw Reid, the managing editor of the New, York Tribune, 
 was present, leading a forlorn hope for Greeley — evidently fore- 
 seeing that the promotion of his chief to the presidency would 
 make him (Reid) editor of the Tribune. At first the candidacy 
 of Greeley was almost regarded as a joke. The city was 
 thronged with visitors, and the talk of the streets and hotels 
 at the outset was divided between Adams, Trumbull and Davis. 
 Adams was the decided favorite. This was partly due to the 
 vigorous campaign made by the Cincinnati Commercial (Rep.) 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. Ill 
 
 in Adams' behalf. Murat Halsted edited the Commercial at that 
 time, and Samuel Bowles, Sr., of the Springfield (Mass.) Repub- 
 lican joined him in writing for the Commercial in support of 
 Adams. The Commercial bristled all over with Adams enthu- 
 siasm. The Enquirer (Dem.) held up the forlorn Greeley hope, 
 and, as it was hoped the Democrats would ratify the nominee, 
 the action of the Enquirer was quite a bracer for Greeley. The 
 staid old Gazette stood by Grant and the straight Republican 
 faith. 
 
 The platform gave about as much trouble as the ticket. The 
 tariff was a much mooted question, and how any Republican 
 could stand on a tariff platform which Democrats could endorse 
 was one of the "little joker" problems of politics. The strong 
 argument urged against Greeley was that he had always bitterly 
 fought the Democrats on the tariff, favoring high protection, 
 and his nomination, it was claimed, would render a Democratic 
 endorsement impossible. The versatility of the platform maker 
 is something to be admired, even if the platform is not. When 
 the platform came out of the committee it relegated the tariff 
 to the congressional districts as a "local issue." After this the 
 road for Greeley's success was apparently easy. Balloting was 
 begun at noon of the third day, and the first ballot stood: Adams 
 203, Greeley 160, Trumbull no, Davis 92^2. The sixth and 
 last ballot stood: Greeley 338, Adams 321. When it was seen 
 that Greeley was the nominee, changes poured in, and the official 
 record of the last ballot was Greeley 482, Adams 147. The con- 
 vention went wild, as usual, over the result, and, while there 
 was sore disappointment, to have heard the yells and seen the 
 hats tossed high in the air, one might be pardoned for thinking 
 every man in the convention had secured his first choice. It was 
 a deal with the friends of Gratz Brown of Missouri to give 
 Brown the nomination for vice president, which pulled Greeley 
 through. The Democrats, with much dissension in their ranks, 
 held a national convention in Baltimore, in July, and ratified the 
 Cincinnati ticket, declaring on the tariff: 
 
 "We remit the discussion of the subject to the people in the 
 congressional districts, and to the decision of the congress there- 
 on, wholly free from executive interference or dictation." 
 
112 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 Greeley made a most brilliant campaign, making 40 able 
 speeches, in which he never repeated himself, but proved he had 
 mastered the art of political diplomacy. But September and 
 October were fatal to his prospects, and he only secured 66 elec- 
 toral votes to 286 for Grant. In the popular vote Grant received 
 3>597 >°7° votes and Greeley 2,841,097. In Minnesota Grant 
 had 55,117 to 34,423 for Greeley. The only states Greeley car- 
 ried were Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, South Caro- 
 lina and Tennessee. Even New Jersey failed to go Democratic. 
 
 The campaign killed Greeley. The second day after the 
 election he published a card, saying that he had resumed control 
 of the Tribune, but he had not. The crafty Whitelaw Reid, who 
 had so ardently supported him at Cincinnati, was in the saddle 
 in the Tribune office and excluded Greeley's editorials when he 
 saw fit. This was the finishing blow, his mind tottered, and 
 November 29th, but a trifle over three weeks after his defeat, 
 he was dead. 
 
 Greeley could have survived political adversity, but the New 
 York Tribune was his heart and soul, his very life blood, and 
 after his defeat, and it dawned upon him that he was no longer 
 the Tribune, but that Whitelaw Reid was in the saddle and could 
 absolutely exclude his (Greeley's) editorials, he could no longer 
 endure the strain, and his mind gave way. It was a moral mur- 
 der to dethrone him from the Tribune, but human ambition stops 
 at nothing. Greeley's death in a madhouse three weeks after 
 election was a pitiful tragedy. Whitelaw Reid's marriage to 
 the daughter of D. O. Mills, the California millionaire, enabled 
 him to become the owner of the Tribune as well as the editor. 
 But the halo of Horace Greeley's fame will cling to the Tribune- 
 for many generations. Some day his name and fame, and even 
 his existence, will not even be a memory, only a chapter of for- 
 gotten history. I am pleased to say that that period has not 
 yet been reached, though I do not anticipate it is very far dis- 
 tant. 
 
OBSERVATION EIGHTEEN. 
 
 How I Was Appointed Pension Agent but Failed to Get Con- 
 firmation — The Results. 
 
 In presenting this observation to the public, I wish to say in 
 a prefatory way that the story herein told was, a few years ago, 
 narrated by myself in, substantially, its present form, at a gath- 
 ering of 25 or 30 gentlemen at a private residence in St. Paul 
 for a political evening. At that gathering both Governor Ram- 
 sey and Senator Davis were present, and so far as what I said 
 referred to them personally they conceded that the statements 
 were correct. 
 
 About 4 o'clock one morning, in tae early summer of 1870, 
 there was a tapping on the outside window of my sleeping apart- 
 ment, which awoke me. A newspaper friend on his way home 
 had called to tell me that the Associated Press to the morning 
 paper which he represented had brought the news that I was 
 appointed pension agent for the State of Minnesota. Having 
 anticipated nothing of the kind, the information came to me as 
 a matter of great surprise, and I may add, as well, as a matter 
 of great pleasure. 
 
 At that time the pension office was considered one of the 
 choicest plums in the state, though there were probably others 
 with larger compensation. It carried with it a net revenue of 
 $6,000 per annum, which is not an uncomfortable revenue to 
 add to any man's business. 
 
 My first effort, when I arose, was to ascertain how it hap- 
 pened. I ultimately learned that I was indebted to General Gar- 
 field (later president of the United States) for the position. My 
 father and brother, being located in the home county of Gen- 
 eral Garfield in Ohio had given him his first start in political 
 
 (113) 
 
 8 
 
114 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 life by making it certain that he could go to the state senate of 
 Ohio. My brother happened to visit Washington a little pre- 
 viously to this appointment, and, meeting General Garfield, the 
 matter came up. 
 
 Hon. J. D. Cox of Toledo, Ohio, was a warm personal friend 
 of General Garfield ; he was also secretary of the interior, and 
 a word from Garfield secured the pension agency appointment. 
 
 Looking back at the incident after the lapse of over thirty 
 years, it is positively amusing to me to recall the almost blanched 
 cheeks of my political opponents as I met them on the street 
 that day. 
 
 I had been publishing the Dispatch for two or three years, 
 and during nearly all the time was involved in a bitter factional 
 controversy inside of the Republican party. As I had not 
 learned at that time to spare anyone who seemed to me to deserve 
 criticism, I fancy that I had obtained about as sincere and bitter 
 political enemies as any man can secure in politics. The result 
 was that there were numerous conferences that day among my 
 enemies to determine what could be done to prevent Hail from 
 being pension agent. Unfortunately, the Atlantic cable had been 
 laid a short time previous to this episode, and that was my undo- 
 ing. Senator Ramsey was in Paris at the time negotiating a 
 new postal treaty with France and the waters of the ocean siz- 
 zled that day with messages from St. Paul to Paris protesting 
 against this appointment. 
 
 The result was that Senator Ramsey promptly cabled Gen- 
 eral Grant asking that the appointment should be held up until he 
 returned. President Grant was at Long Branch, but he sus- 
 pended the festivities of the hour long enough to wire Secre- 
 tary Cox to hold me up, which, of course, was done. 
 
 Before this telegraphic correspondence took place, however, 
 the formal appointment had been made out and forwarded to me, 
 accompanied by a bond for $250,000. There were no surety 
 companies in those days ; but that commission, notwithstanding 
 the large bond, looked very good to me when it reached me, 
 and I think I read it over till I could repeat it as readily as if it 
 had been the Lord's prayer. 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 115 
 
 Inspired by its language I also went out, and in a few days 
 called on my political friends, who were as warm in their friend- 
 ships as the other fellows were in their enmities, and made up 
 my bond, which I duly forwarded to Washington. It was not 
 a great while before I found that there was a cog loose some- 
 where, as no response came beyond the mere formal acknowl- 
 edgment relative to the bond. Of course, I continued investi- 
 gating to see what the trouble was, and finally ascertained the 
 action Senator Ramsey had taken, inspired by his St. Paul 
 friends. In fact, the atmosphere about St. Paul for a time indi- 
 cated that some great calamity had fallen or was about to fall 
 upon the community or the world at large. 
 
 In due time Senator Ramsey returned to the United States, 
 but did not come to St. Paul. As the mountain would not come 
 to Mahomet, I concluded that it was better for Mahomet to 
 go to the mountain, and so I went down to Washington to see 
 what could be done in the matter. 
 
 Judge R. F. Crowell was Senator Ramsey's private secretary. 
 It so happened that Judge Crowell was greatly indebted to me 
 for political favors and felt very kindly toward me personally. 
 He was especially anxious to help me secure the appointment, 
 and I thought the alpha and omega of life depended on my 
 obtaining that $6,000 per annum. 
 
 I was publishing an independent newspaper whose chief 
 occupation during the then short period of its existence was to 
 make mischief for the Republican party ; and I argued to myself 
 that possibly it would be a good thing for the harmony of the 
 party if I came into the fold, as I was and always had been up 
 to that time a straight and strenuous Republican. I worked 
 the problem out in my own mind before calling upon Senator 
 Ramsey, and thought I would put the case to him in what 
 seemed to me a manly way. I went with Judge Crowell to call 
 upon Senator Ramsey and said to him, in substance, "Senator, 
 I do not claim that I have any reason to ask you for a favor. I 
 have done my best to oppose your election as senator. I repre- 
 sented an element in the party which was opposed to you, and 
 represented it as vigorously as I knew how. I have simply one 
 suggestion to submit to you. You are familiar with the situa- 
 
116 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 tion ; you are familiar with the stormy times we have had and 
 the dissensions in the party. I want to ask you if you do not 
 think it would be advisable and good politics under all the cir- 
 cumstances, as you are in no wise responsible for my appoint- 
 ment, to allow me to hold the position. I recognize that I can- 
 not retain it without confirmation by the senate and that you 
 absolutely control that, so that it is entirely in your hands 
 whether I shall be allowed to retain the position which General 
 Garfield has kindly secured for me." 
 
 This argument, in my youthful verdancy, seemed to me to 
 make an impression upon Senator Ramsey. Perhaps nothing 
 could better illustrate how little I knew of men and affairs at 
 that time than the thought I had that I had made an impression 
 upon him. His life-long political friends were my enemies, and 
 were loading the mails as well as the wires with demands, threats 
 and all kinds of incendiary documents against my holding the 
 position ; and anyone of mature years or any experience in polit- 
 ical life might have known that no influence whatever could 
 have ever induced Senator Ramsey to allow my confirmation. 
 In fact, he would have written his political death warrant if he 
 had allowed it, though, as the sequel proved, he wrote his polit- 
 ical death warrant by turning me down. 
 
 In calmer and wiser moments I long since came to the con- 
 clusion that Senator Ramsey did exactly what he ought to have 
 done when he refused me. It was before the consolidation of 
 The Pioneer and The Press. 
 
 The Press had in reality been started by Governor Marshall 
 in i860 with the view of supporting Ramsey and his faction. It 
 had consistently been his friend through storm and sunshine. 
 The Press demanded my scalp, and it would not have been 
 decent for him to have turned down his old friends simply upon 
 the vague idea that a former political enemy transformed into a 
 friend by selfish motives might possibly at some vague and 
 indefinite period be "good." For twenty-five years the propri- 
 etors of the Press and myself were speechless, though we met 
 frequently, and that their demands upon Ramsey should have 
 been regarded in view of the state of feelings existing between 
 us, both as citizens and as editors, was the most natural thing in 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 117 
 
 the world. I am glad to say that in later years Senator Ramsey 
 and myself became excellent friends. We used to talk it over 
 and have a good friendly laugh, especially over the bushels of 
 oysters which Judge Crowell and myself managed to conceal 
 that memorable night when what I thought the destiny of the 
 world was hanging in the balance. But time brings its revenges, 
 and it did in this case. 
 
 After my argument Senator Ramsey assured me in his suave 
 way that he would be very glad to comply with my request if he 
 possibly could. I saw him two or three times while in Wash- 
 ington, and left the city thoroughly under the impression that I 
 was going to win ; in fact, Judge Crowell, who was really my 
 friend, was under the same impression, so that I w r as not the 
 only "vealy" personage in the matter. 
 
 I remember very well the memorable night when I had it out 
 with Ramsey, calling upon him two or three times the same 
 evening. Between our calls Judge Crowell and myself went out 
 to Harvey's and braced up with a bushel or two of steamed oys- 
 ters. When we rounded up the evening festivities, about half 
 past two in the morning, we found that between us we had eaten 
 four bushels and a half of steamed oysters. That incident shows 
 the strenuousness of the situation. 
 
 As a matter of fact, my argument with Senator Ramsey im- 
 plied, without absolutely saying so, that I would publish a "good" 
 and straight Republican newspaper if my request was granted. 
 In other words, I was ready to sell my soul for a mess of pottage. 
 As I look at it now I am free to say I am ashamed of it. But 
 those were strenuous times, and I think I would have sold souls 
 "short" at that time and gone "long" on salvation if I could 
 have gotten that office. But, of course, I didn't get it, and never 
 had the remotest chance of getting it outside of my own imagina- 
 tion. 
 
 In due time Colonel Rogers, a crippled officer in the Union 
 service, was appointed to the office, and my bond was returned 
 to me, and years ago consigned to the waste-paper basket. 
 
 The whole object of telling this story, as I told it at the meet- 
 ing of the gentlemen before mentioned, is to show what large 
 results grow out of what really was a small affair in the body 
 politic, though it was an immense affair to me personally. 
 
US H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 My overtures for peace having been spurned by Senator 
 Ramsey, I simply considered that my ambition in life was to be 
 more obstreperous than ever, and felt there was nothing for me 
 to do but to make mischief. The consequence was I was con- 
 tinually looking for heads with a view of hitting them, and I 
 generally found some. 
 
 A little later the question of Senator Ramsey having a third 
 term in the senate was coming up ; and, of course, for all these 
 great events there must be slates made up. The Ramsey slate 
 was accordingly fixed up, with W. D. Washburn of Minneapolis 
 as the candidate for governor. If that slate had gone through 
 Senator Ramsey would have easily been re-elected for his third 
 term, but unfortunately for him I was still on earth and ren- 
 dered absolutely reckless by the fatal mistake he had made in 
 turning me down. It was not a very high motive, I admit, but 
 it was a motive nevertheless of evening up the deal. And I also 
 admit that I took a great deal of satisfaction in doing it. 
 
 In casting about to see what I could do to disrupt the slate, 
 I hit upon the plan of bringing out another candidate for gov- 
 ernor against Washburn, knowing that everything was set up 
 for Washburn. 
 
 Hon. C. K. Davis was at that time United States district 
 attorney, appointed by Ramsey. He had gained some fame and 
 prestige in the state by his lecture on "Modern Feudalism." I 
 shall treat in another chapter more in detail of the manner in 
 which I brought Mr. Davis to the front. I only wish to state 
 here briefly and bluntly the facts. I had very little acquaintance 
 with Davis at that time, excepting that the town was so small 
 that everybody knew everybody else. We were not intimate, 
 and there was no particular reason why I should present his 
 name for governor, except with the deliberate intention of defeat- 
 ing Washburn and so knock one of the main props out from 
 under Ramsey's desire for a third term in the United States sen- 
 ate. Without prolonging I can state what everyone now knows, 
 that the move was successful. 
 
 After a bitter contest in an all-day convention, Mr. Davis 
 was nominated for governor over Washburn by one vote, and 
 the face of Minnesota politics has worn a different hue ever 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 119 
 
 since. Davis was elected governor by a small majority. 1 
 always felt that it was really the intention of the Republican 
 forces to defeat him because it was well understood that if he 
 was elected governor he would also be a candidate for the sen- 
 ate ; in fact one of the strongest arguments I used in his behalf 
 in my newspaper was that if Davis was elected governor he 
 would oppose Ramsey for the senate. There was no conceal- 
 ment about it. In fact I think I could have made at times a 
 greater political success by being a little more wary and secre- 
 tive, but I generally followed the rule, when I had anything to 
 say, to say it very plainly and with no concealment, leaving God 
 and the other members of the Republican party to determine 
 the results. 
 
 To be brief, Davis was elected. The celebrated senatorial 
 contest ensued in which Davis and his friends came in as a dis- 
 turbing, factor. The Ramsey caucus was bolted, Ramsey was 
 defeated for the third term, and Judge McMillan elected in his 
 place. 
 
 Mr. Washburn has attained high honors since then, but he 
 never has been governor of Minnesota as yet, and Senator Ram- 
 sey went to his grave deprived of his third term as senator. All 
 of this grew out of the little incident I have narrated, where for 
 the disgraceful sop of a $6,000 office I was ready to be "good.'' 
 
 Looking back at it calmly and dispassionately after the lapse 
 of years, I feel grateful to Senator Ramsey and my political 
 enemies for guarding against any such accident as might have 
 happened to me if I really had been "good." 
 
 In writing this chapter I do not assume that it will interest the 
 public at all, but it interests me immensely, and I am a good 
 deal more desirous of interesting myself than I am my readers. 
 It does, however, show that important political results sometimes 
 flow from very trivial affairs ; and I am perfectly willing to 
 frankly state that no event in the entire fifty years of the political 
 history of Minnesota has been fraught with as momentous con- 
 sequences to the Republican party, to the state, and to the per- 
 sons in immediate interest as was the petty little pension agency 
 matter. 
 
 Senator Davis might at some time, and undoubtedly would, 
 have gained great political prominence, but his absolute begin- 
 
120 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 ning was due much more to the desire on my part for revenge 
 on somebody else than love for him, and his future much 
 depended on his beginning and how well he began. 
 
 The details of the memorable gubernatorial contest, as well 
 as the senatorial contest which relegated Senator Ramsey to 
 private life, will be found recorded in other observations. I pre- 
 fer to concentrate my modesty in this one chapter, and conse- 
 quently do not prolong it, and feel that to absolutely forcibly 
 present it, it should be diagramed: 
 
 CAUSE. 
 The loss of a petty government office. 
 
 EFFECT. 
 
 Hon. W. D. Washburn lost the opportunity of his life to be 
 Governor of Minnesota. 
 
 Hon. Alexander Ramsey lost the opportunity of his life to secure 
 a third term as United States Senator. 
 
 Hon. C. K. Davis found the opportunity of his life to be, con- 
 secutively, Governor, United States Senator, and 
 achieve world-wide fame. 
 
 Little rivulets make the mighty ocean — when there are enough 
 of them. 
 
c&jfrh^ 
 
OBSERVATION NINETEEN. 
 
 How I Discovered Hon. C. K. Davis — The Campaign In- 
 augurated for Him in 1873, Which Elected Him Governor. 
 
 For many years after Governor Davis' rise to prominence, 
 prominent newspapers in the state would give me the credit for 
 having discovered him and brought him to the front. This was 
 unquestionably a credit to which I was entitled, and I modestly 
 admit it. At the same time it is only just to say that if I had 
 not, by a fortuitous accident, selected an able man, one who 
 would in every way fill the bill as a politician and rising states- 
 man, the movement would not have been a success. But I pur- 
 pose demonstrating in this volume the absolute fact as to what 
 I did, and do it so completely and forcibly that neither this nor 
 any future generation will ever dispute it. 
 
 With this idea in mind I give somewhat in detail the way 
 the affair was managed, and many extracts from my paper, The 
 Dispatch, showing the persistency with which I pressed Gov- 
 ernor Davis to the front. 
 
 Governor Davis was elected as a representative to the legis- 
 lature from St. Paul in 1866. He had also written and deliv- 
 ered many times his famous lecture, "Modern Feudalism," which 
 was an argument in favor of placing railroads under legislative 
 control. And, by the way, this doctrine originated in the courts 
 of Minnesota. The citizens of Rochester, Minn., through Mr. 
 Blake, one of their merchants, brought suit against the Winona 
 & St. Peter Railroad to regulate rates. Colonel W. P. Clough, 
 a young attorney at Rochester, took charge of the suit, and, 
 after years of work won his contention in the supreme court at 
 Washington. The interstate commerce and other national and 
 state legislation followed. Colonel Clough was only given a 
 
 (121) 
 
122 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 pittance for his great work, as it was raised from the people in 
 town meeting style. He removed to St. Paul before the liti- 
 gation ended, and after he had won was selected as attorney 
 for the Northern Pacific Railroad at a handsome salary. He 
 left that place to accept a higher salary as attorney for and second 
 vice president of the Great Northern road. He is now a resident 
 of New York City and vice president of the Northern Securities 
 Company. Evidently, Colonel Clough is too valuable a man 
 to have lying around loose. 
 
 I might allude in passing to an incident which really had no 
 especial bearing on what I did at the time of presenting Mr. 
 Davis for the consideration of the young Republicans. In the 
 winter of 1872-73 Hon. George P. Wilson, afterwards attorney 
 general, was a member of the legislature. He was chairman of 
 the judiciary committee, and, among other things, made a very 
 able report on the "Color of Title'' bill. When he had com- 
 pleted presenting it before the legislature and retired to the 
 lobby, Penock Pusey, a gentleman who had occupied positions 
 of prominence at the state capitol, though of a subordinate char- 
 acter, was standing there, and said to Mr. Wilson, "We will have 
 to make you attorney general of the state." That little remark 
 in reality bore a good deal of fruit. Later in the session there 
 was a conference between C. K. Davis, George P. Wilson and 
 Alphonso Barto of Sauk Center, at which it was suggested and 
 agreed among the three that Davis should become a candidate 
 for governor, Barto for lieutenant governor and Mr. Wilson a 
 candidate for attorney general. 
 
 Mr. Wilson had been a schoolmate of mine in the East prior 
 to either one of us coming to Minnesota, and our relations were 
 very close and friendly. The result of that conference was that 
 Wilson was delegated by the other gentlemen who were party 
 to it to come and see me as a precautionary measure and advise 
 me of the program. I am free to say that the fact of that confer- 
 ence and the advice had passed from my mind entirely when I 
 began the Davis boom, but being friendly to all the parties in 
 interest I was nothing loth to aid in carrying it out, and the plan 
 was literally executed. Davis became governor, Barto lieuten- 
 ant governor and Wilson attorney general. 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 123 
 
 Perhaps if the slate had been absolutely known, it would 
 have been smashed, but it was not, and with the success of Davis 
 it was not very difficult to carry Barto and Wilson through on 
 the same boom. 
 
 With this explanation the story of the beginning of the Davis 
 boom and its being carried to a successful conclusion becomes 
 a matter of historical fact, as well as of general interest to the 
 public. 
 
 In 1873 there was a campaign for state offices and inci- 
 dentally for the United States senator, who was to be elected 
 in the winter of 1875. Horace Austin was serving his second 
 term as governor, and Alexander Ramsey his second term as 
 United States senator. Both were considered candidates to suc- 
 ceed themselves. Austin disclaimed this, but his name was voted 
 on in the convention. He had never really affiliated with the Ram- 
 sey wing in politics and the Ramsey men cast about for someone 
 else upon whom they could rely to succeed him. W. D. Wash- 
 burn, of Minneapolis, was agreed upon, and while he desired the 
 office for himself rather than as a stool pigeon for Ramsey, he 
 was nevertheless allied with the senator's supporters, and the two 
 campaigns of Washburn and Ramsey were thus blended. This 
 left Austin on his own mettle and, to add to the complications, 
 Thomas H. Armstrong of Albert Lea was also an aspirant for 
 governor. That was the situation in the early part of the year 
 
 1873- 
 
 I was publishing the St. Paul Dispatch at the time, as an inde- 
 pendent newspaper, and not at all averse to making mischief and 
 smashing slates. I readily saw that Washburn was the strong 
 candidate for governor and would win against the candidates 
 then in the field, which would mean the election of Ramsey for 
 six years more. Here was a double-headed opportunity to smash 
 something, which I could not resist. No one was consulted or 
 even any formal plan outlined in my own mind. C. K. Davis 
 was United States district attorney and recognized as an able 
 young man. He had been delivering his lecture on "Modern 
 Feudalism" about the state, winning a good deal of reputation, 
 and he appeared to me to be the most available candidate to turn 
 the politics of the state topsy turvey. The first allusion I made 
 
124 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 to Davis in the matter was merely incidental. On the 3rd of 
 March, 1873, an editorial appeared in the Dispatch headed "Can- 
 didates for State Offices." It named all the known Republican 
 candidates and incidentally said this : 
 
 C. K. Davis (Modern Feudalism) of St Paul is also an aspirant, 
 not so much with the expectation of getting the nomination this year, as 
 with the idea of being in training for the future, and also to afford an 
 opportunity for a compromise candidate in case the triangular Austin- 
 Washburn-Armstrong fight should become too hot. 
 
 It was early in the campaign and there was really no occasion 
 for much comment. The Dispatch did not again allude to Davis 
 until April 19th. The initial article was then printed which bore 
 the fruit of Senator Davis' political future. I offset the double- 
 headed campaign of Washburn and Ramsey by presenting Davis 
 at one fell swoop as a candidate for governor and senator, and 
 I believe that plump proposition had much to do with securing 
 the first step — the governorship. Here is the original article 
 nominating Davis, and it might be marked for future reference 
 "Exhibit I. B." (initial boom). 
 
 [St. Paul Dispatch, April 19, 1873.] 
 
 ANOTHER RICHMOND. 
 
 For years immemorial (almost) a set of old fogies have been man- 
 aging the Republican party in this state. No one outside the sacred 
 circle of the charmed ring is allowed to rise or receive any consideration 
 whatever, and the young men in the party are held down or kept in the 
 background, lest they might supplant the venerable relics of the past in 
 the affections of the people. 
 
 This thraldom has become so grievous that a coterie of young and 
 brilliant members of the party have resolved to at least endeavor to 
 break the chains that bind them. The program has, as yet, taken no 
 definite shape, but the more prominent ones desire to center upon 
 Hon. C. K. Davis, of this city, and present his name as a candidate for 
 governor. He has not positively consented, but the prospect seems to 
 be fair that during the blooming month of May he may blossom out 
 as a full grown candidate. In case this should be successful, the young 
 and vigorous element in the party will then push Mr. Davis for the 
 senatorial chair in order to give more of their number chance of pro- 
 motion. 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 125 
 
 To what extent the revolt will be carried, or how successful it will 
 prove, are problems for the future to solve, but the moss-covered fossils 
 are alarmed, and it is among the possibilities that they may endeavor 
 to appease the impending storm by taking Mr. Davis up themselves, on 
 condition that he will not stand in Ramsey's way for the senate. This 
 would be a shrewd movement, that would be likely to win, though such 
 discretion on the part of the treasury leeches would be remarkable. 
 
 There was in the mild suggestion that the Ramsey men had 
 better drop Washburn and join hands with Davis a mere political 
 pointer, but I was too much a political outlaw to have my sug- 
 gestion heeded by the Ramsey crowd even if they knew it to be 
 good — as they certainly did afterwards. 
 
 Mr. Davis was at Brainerd, Minn., when this article appeared, 
 engaged with the late S. M. Flint of St. Paul in trying a murder 
 case. Mr. Flint told me on his return that when the paper 
 reached Brainerd, Davis was dumfounded, and his first impulse 
 was to telegraph me very positively that he would not be a can- 
 didate. Flint dissuaded him from doing this on the ground that 
 he was not responsible for the utterances of the Dispatch. I have 
 no doubt he regarded the prospect as hopeless and only inclined 
 to weaken his hold on the United States district attorneyship, 
 which Ramsey could control. The murder trial was quite pro- 
 tracted, but Davis was sufficiently exercised to come down the 
 next Sunday to look into the matter. At that time there was 
 no railroad direct from St. Paul to Brainerd, and the journey had 
 to be made via the St. Paul & Duluth to Carleton Junction and 
 thence via the Northern Pacific road to Brainerd. Whatever 
 determination to decline Davis may have started with, when he 
 had taken his long ride and met friends in St. Paul he concluded 
 to return in silence. I am not sure that I even met him — at all 
 events, there was no consultation or plan talked or thought of 
 between us. The Dispatch simply fired away and allowed results 
 to take care of themselves. It was not until April 30th, 1 1 days 
 later, after the "initial boom," that the trial ended, and Davis 
 came home to remain. By noting dates the reader can trace the 
 progress of his boom before his return, which is significant as 
 showing he was not at that time a party to it. 
 
 The Dispatch of April 22d contained this editorial para- 
 graph : 
 
126 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 The third term fellows are both alarmed and excited by the pro- 
 spective gubernatorial candidacy of the Hon. C. K. Davis. * * * The 
 young Republicans argue that they will have no geographical trouble, 
 for if they succeed in making Hon. C. K. Davis governor they will then 
 make him senator, and the gubernatorial chair will then go outside of 
 St. Paul. 
 
 In order to relieve Davis of any responsibility and at the same 
 time give him the opportunity to enter the race gracefully, the 
 following paragraph appeared in the Dispatch April 23d: 
 
 The movement of the young Republicans, with the Hon. C. K. Davis 
 at their head, is becoming more and more formidable, and the young 
 Republicans find words of cheer coming from unexpected quarters. Mr. 
 Davis is now absent from the city upon professional business, but upon 
 his return it is confidently predicted he will enter the lists as a guber- 
 natorial candidate. The situation grows interesting. 
 
 Not being at all sure that my candidate would stick, I hedged 
 a little with this paragraph on April 24th : 
 
 When the Hon. C. K. Davis returns a strong effort will be made 
 to induce him to decline, but the young Republicans are so much in 
 earnest that it is not believed he will desert them. 
 
 Here was a bracer which the Dispatch gave him on April 
 26th : 
 
 From all parts of the state we hear commendations of the young 
 Republican movement and the gubernatorial candidacy of Hon. C. K. 
 Davis. There is no question but the feeling is widespread against the 
 fossil managers of the Republican party in Minnesota. They gobble all 
 the fat, and use the young Republicans to keep them in office. The 
 candidacy of the brilliant Hon. C. K. Davis means a new deal all 
 around. 
 
 Davis returned on the evening of April 30th, and this was the 
 welcome the Dispatch supplied him that day, though his coming 
 was unheralded : 
 
 The flames which light up the hills these beautiful evenings are the 
 watchfires on the tower of Zion which are lighting the Hon. C. K. Davis 
 in a blaze of glory on his pathway to the gubernatorial and senatorial 
 chairs. Let the young Republicans rally and send the old fogies to 
 eternal smash. 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 127 
 
 On May ist, the first day after his return, the Dispatch gave 
 him encouragement in these words : 
 
 The Hon. C. K. Davis has the gubernatorial game in his own hands. 
 Rarely has the candidacy of a man been received with such favor. The 
 young Republicans call; he must obey. 
 
 What I have quoted thus far has been from the editorial utter- 
 ances of the Dispatch, but that was not all. The "I. B." had 
 begun to work in the country and every day I quoted comments 
 of state papers, printing approvals and disapprovals as well. The 
 recognition that it was a Dispatch movement was borne out by 
 these comments. In the Dispatch of April 25th the following quo- 
 tations appeared : 
 
 Lake City Sentinel— The Dispatch announces C. K. Davis as a can- 
 didate for the future gubernatorial honors, supported by the young 
 Republicans, who are about to revolt from the old leadership. 
 
 Owatonna Journal— The St. Paul Dispatch intimates that an effort 
 is being made to bring C. K. Davis into the field as a candidate for the 
 office of governor. 
 
 Minneapolis Times— The St. Paul Dispatch announces that the young 
 Republicans of that city have determined upon Hon. C. K. Davis as a 
 candidate for governor. * * * It is no use. Washburn is the com- 
 ing man, and the sooner the "young Republicans" make up their minds 
 to submit, the sooner they will be happy. 
 
 On April 26th this was reproduced in the Dispatch : 
 
 Litchfield News Ledger— Hon. C. K. Davis of St. Paul is spoken 
 of as a candidate for governor. There are lots of folks who could vote 
 for "Cush" with a hearty unction. 
 
 In order to keep on a full head of steam the Dispatch of April 
 29th contained these quoted comments : 
 
 Minneapolis News— The St. Paul Dispatch is making a feeble effort 
 to imitate the New York Herald in a small way by proposing and advo- 
 cating various candidates for official honors. The Dispatch is trying to 
 get up a reputation for journalistic "enterprise" by pursuing the same 
 policy in regard to our state politics. Just now it is presenting the 
 claims of Hon. C. K. Davis of St. Paul to the Republican nomination 
 for governor, putting him forward as the representative of the "young 
 Republicans," whatever that may mean. 
 
128 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 Rochester Post— Hon. C. K. Davis of St. Paul is said by the Dis- 
 patch to be a candidate for governor. He is the most brilliant intellect 
 in the Republican party of the state, and would honor any position he 
 would accept, but there is nothing decisive about a Republican nomina- 
 tion made by the Dispatch. 
 
 Le Sueur Sentinel — The Dispatch of St. Paul has started consider- 
 able of a movement in favor of Cush. K. Davis for governor, and though 
 we suspect that the Dispatch influence in this instance will not greatly 
 exceed its influence two years ago in favor of "the man with hayseed 
 in his hair," it may succeed in exciting Davis' ambition to such an extent 
 as to cause something of a row in the Republican camp. 
 
 What I have quoted thus far shows the persistence rather 
 than the method with which the boom was worked ; the quick 
 response to the suggestion and the general and irrefutable 
 acknowledgment that the entire affair originated in the Dispatch 
 and had no other support at the outset. Mr. Davis was not in 
 the city. I had not exchanged a word with him in advance on 
 the subject, and he was as much astonished as Washburn and 
 Ramsey to see the work of the Dispatch. With the exception 
 of the item of May ist, all that has been quoted above appeared 
 before Mr. Davis' return, and, in addition, he found numerous 
 letters awaiting him urging him to be a candidate. And then he 
 began to seriously think it would be good politics to accept the 
 situation. And he did. 
 
 Possibly some would suppose that when Davis formally took 
 the field he would have done so through the Dispatch. The fact 
 wa3 I only had a moderate personal acquaintance with Davis, and 
 he was evidently afraid that his recognition of an independent 
 paper would injure his party standing. No interview or author- 
 ized original statement from Davis on the subject of his candi- 
 dacy appeared in the Dispatch during the entire campaign. The 
 St. Paul Press was so bound up in Ramsey that he could not have 
 a hearing there, and he accordingly selected the Winona Repub- 
 lican in which to make his official announcement. That paper 
 had not even printed his name as a candidate, but on May 9, 1873, 
 the following appeared in its columns, which, for convenience, 
 can be marked "Exhibit D. O. B." (Davis' Own Boom): 
 
 Winona Republican, May 9, 1873 — In presenting a list of the various 
 candidates for the Republican nomination for governor the other day we 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 129 
 
 omitted the name of C. K. Davis, Esq., of St. Paul, upon the strength 
 of information which led us to believe that he did not seek the nomina- 
 tion, and that the use of his name in that connection was made without 
 his authority. We now learn, however, in a very direct manner, that 
 Mr. Davis does desire to be considered a candidate, and that he form- 
 ally places himself before the public in that attitude. 
 
 Mr. Davis had written a personal letter to Mr. Sinclair, editor 
 of the Republican, telling him he had decided to be a candidate 
 for governor. He had written Sinclair because he was afraid to 
 recognize me as his supporter. But at that time I was after 
 larger game than C. K. Davis and to me he was only a means 
 to an end. 
 
 The Winona Republican was entirely correct in its informa- 
 tion "that the use of his (Davis') name in that connection was 
 made without his authority." He certainly never authorized me 
 to use it. And still it seemed to have been used prior to the 
 article of May 9th. 
 
 One plan I had of attracting attention to the matter was to 
 print all the adverse comments I could find, the more personal 
 they were to the Dispatch the better. On the 5th of May the 
 Dispatch quoted this from the Blue Earth City Post: 
 
 "The St. Paul Dispatch is trying to get up a division over C. 
 K. Davis, but it won't amount to much." 
 
 On the 9th day of May, 1873, the same date the authoritative 
 announcement was printed in Winona, the Dispatch contained a 
 broadside on Davis, for and against. I quote some of the latter, 
 the headline in every case being the one I made: 
 
 SOUND ADVICE FOR C K. DAVIS. 
 
 (Willmar Republican.) 
 If Hon. C. K. Davis has any real idea of running for governor, the 
 first hard work he ought to do is to get the Dispatch to cease support- 
 ing him. He couldn't otherwise win. 
 
 "poisoned eulogiums" oe the dispatch. 
 (Waseca News.) 
 What horrid crime has the Hon. C. K. Davis committed that he 
 should be pursued with the poisoned eulogiums of the bastard St. Paul 
 Dispatch. 
 
130 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 THE MEDDLING DISPATCH VERY PROPERLY REBUKED. 
 
 (Minneapolis News.) 
 We cannot exactly understand on what principle the St. Paul Dis- 
 patch is attempting to meddle, dictate or advise in regard to the Repub- 
 lican nomination next fall. The editor of that paper last fall was a dele- 
 gate to the Cincinnati convention, and formally took himself out of the 
 Republican party. We now, however, find him mixing # as heartily in 
 the discussion within the Republican party in regard to its candidates 
 as if he were a member of the party in good standing. The Dispatch 
 can have, legitimately, no more to say about the Republican nomination 
 than Capt. Jack of the Modocs can have to say about the arrangement 
 of the campaign against him. If the Dispatch comes into our camp it 
 comes as an enemy. 
 
 A LIVELY STIR AMONG THE REPUBLICAN MONKEYS. 
 
 (Le Sueur Sentinel.) 
 The St. Paul Dispatch may not have the prescience to name the 
 candidate who will receive the nomination for governor at the next 
 Republican state convention, but it has sufficient influence to make a 
 lively stir among the Republican monkeys. 
 
 These extracts show that both friends and foes attributed the 
 whole movement to the Dispatch, and also explain why Davis, 
 while he appreciated the work of the paper, as he had not sought 
 or asked its support, feared to be too closely identified with it, 
 lest his Republicanism be questioned. As a matter of fact while all 
 this comment was going on Davis was almost afraid to be seen 
 talking with me in public lest his party loyalty should be ques- 
 tioned. This is politics. Just about the date of his official 
 announcement in Winona he dropped into my office one morning 
 and said, "Hall, don't you think you had better treat this matter 
 a little more seriously. I can hardly understand you myself." 
 I assured him that that was the beauty of the campaign, that no 
 one else understood it either but it could not harm him to let the 
 molasses run. I do not recall any other suggestion coming 
 from him during the entire contest. It was a "go as you please." 
 
 The allusion of the Le Sueur Sentinel, in quotation given 
 above, to "the man with the hayseed in his hair," referred to a 
 campaign I had run two years previous, advising the Democrats 
 to nominate Amos Coggswell of Owatonna for governor. It 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 131 
 
 did not result as the Sentinel slurringly indicated. The Dispatch 
 made Coggswell known far and near as "the man with hayseed 
 in his hair," and the Democratic convention took the advice 
 and nominated him. He positively declined, but the triumph of 
 the independent newspaper was just as marked. To success- 
 fully conduct the campaigns for nominations of two hostile 
 parties is something of an achievement. That is what the Dis- 
 patch did, at that time, within the space of two years. 
 
 THE CONVENTION WHICH DID THE WORK. 
 
 The Republican state convention to nominate candidates for 
 state offices in 1873 met in St. Paul on July 16th. All interest 
 centered in the nomination for governor. The selection of the 
 next United States senator was considered to largely depend 
 upon the gubernatorial result. Prior to C. K. Davis entering 
 the lists, the general feeling was that W. D. Washburn had a 
 walkover. Davis' candidacy haa at least modified this sentiment 
 tor, while the Washburn men were very confident, even on the 
 day of the convention, they admitted misgivings and feared that 
 something untoward might happen. They could not reallv 
 believe that the young Republicans would come to the front but 
 would have felt better if they had not appeared with a candidate. 
 1 he Davis forces were hopeful rather than confident. The Dis- 
 patch of that date, which was issued before the convention had 
 nominated, showed this by printing the following editorial para- 
 graph : 
 
 Min^? VCr r the I CSUlt ° f thC conventio " to-day, the coming man in 
 Minnesota politics bears the initials of Cushman K. Davis. 
 
 It proved to be a case of politicians proposing and the con- 
 vention disposing. 
 
 The convention met in the old Grand Opera House, and the 
 usual contest for chairman occurred. W. H. Yale of Winona 
 was nominated as the Washburn representative by D. M. Sabin 
 
 w ^k Q ' I™ 61 " ° f Fi,lm ° re COUnt y was Presented by the anti- 
 Washburn element. The result showed Yale 166, Farmer 138. 
 This carried great joy to the Washburn camp. The Washburn 
 
132 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 men felt that they had a complete and easy victory and their final 
 defeat was in part due to relaxing their efforts, owing to over 
 confidence. The Davis forces presented a bold front, but it was 
 evident that the loss of the chairman had a depressing effect. 
 
 After the usual preliminaries, which were quite long, the con- 
 vention, at the afternoon session, reached the naming of candi- 
 dates. Gen. L. F. Hubbard took the floor and read a letter from 
 Governor Austin, which was in part as follows : 
 
 I have not been a candidate for re-election, and there is not a dele- 
 gate that is here at my instance. I desire that the controversy be con- 
 fined to the three candidates aspiring to the office, and that I may not 
 be antagonized with them. 
 
 Following this, the late F. R. E. Cornell of Minneapolis pre- 
 sented Washburn's name, Governor Marshall of St. Paul naming 
 Davis, and C. T. Benedict of Olmsted county made a speech in 
 behalf of Thomas H. Armstrong of Albert Lea. At the close a 
 delegate arose and nominated Governor Austin in spite of his 
 letter. This was in reality to give some delegates a chance to 
 have a candidate on the side, until they saw how the two leaders, 
 Davis and Washburn, stood. Balloting was then ordered, with 
 R. B. Langdon, John B. Sanborn and T. G. Jonsrud as tellers. 
 
 On the informal ballot 306 votes were cast, Washburn having 
 119, Davis yy, Austin JJ, and Armstrong 33. The first formal 
 ballot showed 305 votes, Washburn having 128, Davis 78, Austin 
 68 and Armstrong 30. The next ballot every member of the 
 convention, 308, voted, and it was the only ballot where every 
 vote was cast. Washburn had 144, Davis 106, Austin 26 and 
 Armstrong 32. 
 
 The day was warm and the excitement intense as the conven- 
 tion proceeded. Half the delegates stripped off their coats and 
 log-rolling was decidedly animated. The third formal ballot was 
 startling in its clearness, standing Washburn 153, Davis 149, 
 Austin 1, scattering 4. The fourth was the final and decisive 
 ballot. There were 307 votes cast. Necessary to choice, 154. 
 Davis had 155 and Washburn 152. Before the chair could 
 announce the result a wrangle ensued led by Charley Clarke of 
 Minneapolis, and participated in by Maj. Geo. A. Camp. Clarke 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 133 
 
 claimed that there were only 304 delegates and that there had 
 been too many votes cast. General Sanborn contended that Davis 
 had a majority, whether there were 304 or 308, and Clarke, being 
 assured by the secretaries counting the report of the credentials 
 committee and finding 308 and being satisfied that, besides, there 
 had already been 308 votes cast on a previous ballot, Major Camp 
 moved to make Davis' nomination unanimous. The ballot had 
 been challenged once before and the secretaries had reported 
 only 304 in the convention. 
 
 The triumph of the young Republicans was so complete, and 
 in a sense better than they expected, that they went fairly wild 
 and when Davis appeared a few minutes later to accept, it was 
 many minutes before the applause could be sufficiently repressed 
 to allow him to proceed. The Washburn supporters were very 
 sore because they had felt sure of success. Besides they were 
 so near victory on the third ballot that defeat was especially hard. 
 It was a great surprise and the fourth ballot changed the face of 
 Minnesota politics from that day to this. A story was circulated 
 that Major Camp had found a Washburn ballot in the lining of his 
 hat, which had been used by the tellers to receive the ballots, and 
 there was talk of re-opening the contest, but a moment's thought 
 showed that it would merely have brought the total up to 308, 
 and Davis would still have one majority over Washburn. 
 
 At the evening session A. Barto of Sauk Center was nomi- 
 nated for lieutenant governor, S. P. Jennison of Red Wing for 
 secretary of state, Mons Grinager of Freeborn for treasurer and 
 Geo. P. Wilson of Winona for attorney general. 
 
 The Democrats nominated Ara Barton of Fairbault, and the 
 vote at the election was Davis 40,741, Barton 35,245, S. Mayall, 
 prohibition, 1,036. Davis' plurality over Barton was 5,496 and 
 his majority over both was 4,460. This was far below the normal 
 Republican majority in the state which at that time ranged from 
 twenty to thirty thousand. The old regime could not forgive 
 Davis for entering the race and there was the fear that his suc- 
 cess for governor would be fatal to Ramsey for senator. I have 
 always believed that the mossbacks intended to defeat him out- 
 right or make his margin so small that he would come into their 
 camp to protect his political future. 
 
134 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 For the first time in the history of the state a governor was 
 contented with one term. Governor Davis positively refused to 
 be a candidate again. He was a poor man and his position at the 
 bar gave him an income many times in excess of the governor's 
 salary. His real ambition was to go to the senate, and he could 
 not well make that fight in the winter of 1875, and in the summer, 
 a few months later, ask the nomination for the second term as 
 governor. He accordingly threw his lance into the senatorial 
 target, while serving the second year of his first and only term as 
 governor. His lance was shivered in that onset but Ramsey was 
 defeated as well, and twelve years later Davis reached the sena- 
 torial goal. 
 
OBSERVATION TWENTY 
 
 The Attempt to Re-elect Alexander Ramsey to the Senate for 
 a Third Term. 
 
 The senatorial election in Minnesota in 1875 was the sequel 
 of the candidacy and election of C. K. Davis to the position of 
 governor in 1873. The statement made by the Dispatch in 1873 
 that Davis was a dual candidate for governor and senator proved 
 a very literal fact, as Senator Ramsey and his friends subsequently 
 learned. As the time for the senatorial contest approached four 
 candidates were developed, to-wit: Senator Ramsey, candidate 
 for a third term ; Governor Davis, ex-Governor Austin and W. D. 
 Washburn. There were 83 Republicans in the legislature, and the 
 Ramsey forces thought they had 42 secured, which was just 
 enough, and no more, to give Ramsey the nomination. The 
 Davis men claimed to have 29 positively pledged, and the 
 remainder were supposed to be divided between Washburn and 
 Austin. 
 
 The Republican caucus was called to be held in the senate 
 chamber at the capitol on the evening of Jan. 14, 1875. I was 
 exercising a sort of guardian angel care over the Republican 
 party at that time, and vehemently advised the Davis forces, 
 through the columns of the independent Dispatch, not to enter 
 the caucus. They were told that Ramsey men were sent to them 
 to pledge themselves to Davis, for the purpose of getting the 
 Davis forces into the caucus on a false assumption of strength, 
 and that the one way to avoid defeat, or being stigmatized as 
 bolters, was to go into the open legislature and vote, instead of 
 trusting their fortunes to the tricks of the caucus. Good 
 advice is often rejected, and this was one of the cases, as the 
 
 (135) 
 
136 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 Davis men afterwards learned to their sorrow. The Davis men 
 decided that they would avoid being tricked by demanding a 
 viva voce vote in the caucus, thus making the 29 pledged men 
 go on record, either as true or false to their promises. The 
 Ramsey forces were in high glee when .they found the Davis 
 forces would come into the caucus, and while it did not work 
 just as they expected, by nominating Ramsey, it took 12 years 
 out of the political life of C. K. Davis and by just so much time 
 delayed his reaching the senate. 
 
 The eventful caucus night came and every Republican mem- 
 ber of the legislature appeared. All of the candidates were on 
 hand to advise with their supporters. Governor Davis occupied his 
 executive office ; Senator Ramsey was in the state auditor's office ; 
 ex-Governor Austin was in the insurance commissioner's room, 
 and Mr. Washburn made his headquarters in the railroad com- 
 missioner's office. The respective headquarters were thronged 
 with friends of each of the candidates and the corridors were 
 packed with interested spectators. The caucus assembled in 
 the senate chamber, with closed doors. J. W. Furber of Wash- 
 ington county was chosen chairman, C. B. Bosworth of Goodhue 
 and W. R. Kenyon of Steele were elected clerks with Milo 
 White (Ramsey) of Olmsted, Charles H. Clarke (Washburn) 
 of Hennepin, C. W. Crosby (Davis) of Rock, and S. N. Tread- 
 well (Austin) of Nicollet were tellers. Every candidate had 
 to have a teller, for in a real nice caucus the tellers determine 
 who gets the nomination, instead of the men who cast the 
 votes. On this occasion, in order to be entirely fair, a trans- 
 parent glass ballot box had been secured besides. 
 
 As soon as the organization was completed, Senator E. F. 
 Drake of St. Paul sprung the Ramsey scheme.' He offered reso- 
 lutions providing ; First, that the voting for the nomination 
 should be by secret ballot ; second, that there should be five bal- 
 lots, unless a nomination was sooner reached, before the chair 
 should entertain a motion to adjourn, though motions to adjourn, 
 under parliamentary rules, are always in order; third, that the 
 vote on the motion to adjourn should be viva voce by yea and nay 
 roll call. 
 
 "Wasn't that a dainty dish to set before a king?" 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 137 
 
 I call the scheme clever politics. By having a secret ballot 
 for the nomination, men who had promised Davis could vote for 
 Ramsey and not be detected. And then if the Davis men should 
 want to adjourn, while the Ramsey men did not, there would be 
 plenty of grounds for differences of opinion on that point to 
 excuse the bogus Davis supporters for voting against adjourn- 
 ment, while the Ramsey men, by the roll call on adjourn- 
 ment, would have a chance to spot every one of their pledges. 
 The resolutions or rules offered by Mr. Drake were debated and 
 the Davis men were very strenuous in opposing a secret ballot, 
 some even going so far as to declare they would not remain if 
 the ballot was not viva voce. In spite of this loud talk the reso- 
 lutions finally prevailed and the Davis men had, in real life, 
 accepted the invitation : 
 
 "Will you walk into my parlor, said the spider to the fly, 
 'Tis the prettiest little parlor that ever you did spy." 
 
 The Ramsey men, having played their big hand and won, 
 were in high glee. When the caucus to nominate Ramsey for 
 the second term was held six years previous, they would not per- 
 mit an informal ballot, but this time there was greater liberality 
 and it was agreed that the first ballot should be informal. It 
 resulted in giving Ramsey 36, Davis 21, Washburn 15 and Austin 
 11. Then there was excitement in the Davis ranks. His vote 
 was eight below the promised schedule. They could have kept 
 out of the trap by staying out of the caucus, but they didn't. 
 So there was nothing to do but to proceed to the first formal bal- 
 lot. That resulted : Ramsey 36, Davis 21, Washburn 14, Aus- 
 tin 12. 
 
 Then there was the usual consultation with the chieftains, 
 between ballots, and the second formal ballot was given out: 
 Ramsey 38, Davis 22 , Washburn 14, Austin 9. 
 
 It was evident that Austin was out of the race, as his vote was 
 disintegrating. Ramsey's gain of two was alarming. He only 
 lacked four votes of a nomination and Austin still had nine shots 
 in his locker to go somewhere. The third formal ballot was 
 then taken amid great excitement and resulted : 
 
 Ramsey 40, Davis 20, Washburn 14, Austin 9. 
 
138 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 And then the volcano burst. Davis had started eight shy of 
 his promises and after gaining one had lost two to Ramsey. 
 Davis needed 22 to nominate and Ramsey only needed 2. There 
 was the hand-writing of defeat on the wall for Davis and the rain- 
 bow of hope in the sky for Ramsey. The Davis men felt like 
 the man who, after making a bad break at a fashionable party, 
 exclaimed: "Where's my hat? I wish I WAS in hell!" They 
 were already in a "bad fix," as they had become parties to a 
 rule not to adjourn until five ballots had been taken and only 
 three, formal, were yet recorded. 
 
 To any one familiar with such contests, it was apparent that 
 if two more ballots were taken Ramsey would win the prize. 
 Heroic measures were demanded and with almost riotous vehem- 
 ence what was left of the Davis, Washburn and Austin forces 
 (inspired by advice from the outside) demanded an adjourn- 
 ment in spite of the rule adopted. The roll was called under 
 the rule adopted and the motion to adjourn was lost. This 
 demonstrated that the Ramsey forces would get the needed 
 two votes if the caucus held together. And here the Ramsey 
 men blundered. Instead of forcing the fight when the motion 
 to adjourn was defeated, they gave the Davis men a recess of 
 10 minutes for consultation. It was always my belief that 
 that recess cost Ramsey the senatorship. After consulting 
 with outside friends, the opposition to Ramsey came into the 
 caucus foaming at the mouth. They demanded a viva voce 
 vote or an adjournment and declared that with or without an 
 adjourment they would walk out if another secret ballot was 
 attempted. The Ramsey men knew that with a viva voce vote 
 they could not hold their 40 secret supporters, and rather than 
 concede that and expose their hand, they' reluctantly con- 
 sented to an adjournment until the next night. It was that or 
 the absolute disruption of the caucus. The 10 minutes' recess 
 had given the Davis men a chance to gather their wits and 
 now the Ramsey camp was in gloom. 
 
 Just before the informal ballot was taken, a very amusing 
 incident occurred. The caucus being secret, the only tidings 
 the newspapers or outsiders could secure was the mere record 
 of the ballots handed out by the doorkeeper. It was prior to 
 the burning of the old capitol and there were large ventilators in 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 139 
 
 the ceiling of the senate chamber. By going up into the house 
 gallery an entrance could be effected above the ceiling, and by 
 crawling over the joists the ventilators in the senate chamber 
 were reached, from which, with some difficulty, a fair report of 
 the proceedings could be secured. I had two reporters up there, 
 one to hold a candle and identify the speakers while the other 
 took notes, and in this way gave a four or five-column report 
 of the caucus, (much of it verbatim) in the next issue of the Dis- 
 patch. Prior to the informal ballot the occupant of the senate 
 chamber were startled by a shower of plastering and the sight 
 of a big foot piercing through the ceiling. There were 
 two sergeants-at-arms at the door, the senate sergeant on 
 the inside and the house sergeant on the outside. Members 
 of the caucus rushed to the door and gave hasty instructions 
 to the outside sergeant to arrest the eavesdropper. The ser- 
 geant's name was Washington Pierce and as he hailed from 
 Minneapolis he was bound to do or die in the attempt, though 
 "he had only a dazed idea of where to find the culprit. 
 
 Governor Davis was not excessively pious in those days, and, 
 in order to make sure of something truly good in his administra- 
 tion, he had selected W. L. Wilson of St. Paul as his private sec- 
 retary. Mr. Wilson was a most exemplary citizen, a pillar in the 
 House of Hope and whether actually a deacon in the church at 
 the time or not, he was styled "Deacon Wilson," especially by 
 the irreverent reporters. Just what the good Deacon was doing 
 in the house gallery at that time I never knew, though I believe 
 "he claimed that he, too, was looking for interlopers. At all 
 events, Pierce rushed up to the house gallery and, hearing some- 
 one within, ordered him to come out, and in response out stepped 
 Deacon Wilson in utter ignorance of the footprint and the attend- 
 ant excitement. If Pierce had not been so excited he would 
 have known it would take 15 minutes to crawl over the joists in 
 the darkness and reach the senate ventilators and that the culprits 
 could not possibly have returned to the gallery of the house by 
 the time he (Pierce) reached there. Evidently this was not 
 thought of, for he placed the good Deacon unde^ arrest and had 
 dragged him half way down stairs toward the senate chamber 
 before the Deacon could recover from his astonishment to 
 
140 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 expostulate. The zealous official was trying to drag him into 
 the caucus to show his feat ! ! Deacon Wilson finally shook off 
 Pierce's embrace with great indignation and but for his religious 
 scruples would probably have advised him to seek the new rail- 
 road station at Jerusalem. Friends quickly came to vouch for 
 and rescue the Deacon and Pierce was told he would be arrested 
 for assault if he persisted, as the caucus had no authority to 
 order anyone's arrest. Meantime the real offender escaped. He 
 was a clerk in the adjutant general's office, and his foot had 
 slipped between the joists and perforated the plastering. But 
 the newspapers did not tell this at the time and it went into his- 
 tory as "Deacon Wilson's footprint." A favorite parody about 
 the capitol the next day ran : 
 
 Lives of Deacons all remind us, 
 
 We can make our lives sublime, 
 And departing leave behind us, 
 
 Footprints on the laths of time. 
 
 THE NEXT CAUCUS. 
 
 When the Republican caucus to nominate a United States 
 senator adjourned on the evening of Jan. 14, 1875, the party was 
 all at sea, and when the caucus reassembled on the next even- 
 ing — the 15th — there was no improvement. The caucus was 
 held, as before, in the senate chamber, with closed doors. "Dea- 
 con Wilson's footprint" on the ceiling had given the overhead 
 reporters a point of vantage, as they could look through the "foot- 
 print" and recognize the speakers easier than by the use of the 
 ventilators. The morning papers contented themselves with what 
 they could pick up on the outside, but the Dispatch had two 
 reporters stationed at the "footprint" and had even a more elab- 
 orate report than the night of the first caucus. This was really 
 very fortunate for history, as the only record kept by the secre- 
 taries was the actual ballots, while the Dispatch gave a running 
 account of the debates. It was hardly fair to compel reporters 
 to secure valuable history under such difficulties. 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 141 
 
 Fifteen had nerved themselves up to the point of remaining 
 absent from the caucus and the Ramsey men were nervous when 
 the roll call developed that the following good Republicans were 
 not present : 
 
 Senators — T. H. Armstrong of Freeborn county, L. F. Hub- 
 bard of Goodhue, R. B. Langdon of Hennepin, A. Nelson of 
 Meeker, Knute Nelson of Douglas (present United States sen- 
 ator), A. E. Rice of Kandiyohi. 
 
 Representatives — David Benson of Renville county, George 
 A. Camp of Hennepin, W. P. Dunnington of Wabasha, R. Fitz- 
 gerald of Freeborn, J. A. Jackson of Wabasha, N. J. Ottun of 
 Goodhue, L. K. Stone of Swift, Henry Tunnell of Freeborn and 
 J. G. Whittemore of Pope. 
 
 Thirteen of these absentees were Davis men and two were 
 supporters of Washburn. When it came to the balloting, from 
 14 to 17 more who were present refused to vote, making it 
 decidedly a rump caucus. That was just what the opposition to 
 Ramsey proposed it should be. 
 
 The first impulse of many was to abandon the caucus after the 
 roll call disclosed the absentees, but Charles A. Gilman of Stearns 
 and E. F. Drake of St. Paul made strong speeches in favor of 
 proceeding as though all was lovely. 
 
 Senator C. H. Pettit of Minneapolis (chairman of the state 
 central committee) said if Senator Ramsey's friends insisted on 
 proceeding he was personally prepared to commit political sui- 
 cide as gracefully as he knew how. He wanted to stand by the 
 caucus, but the nomination of Ramsey would kill the party in 
 Minnesota. To preserve the party organization intact, though 
 desiring the nomination of Washburn, he would consent to take 
 up a new man. 
 
 Levi Butler of Minneapolis, another Washburn man, opposed 
 proceeding with the caucus, and C. F. Crosby of Rock county, a 
 Davis supporter, spoke in the same vein. 
 
 A 10-minute recess followed, for consultation with outsiders, 
 all of which made a bad matter worse. 
 
 After the recess, E. P. Freeman of Mankato said he came 
 into the caucus with the full knowledge and consent of Governor 
 Davis, and those who were absent were acting on their own 
 
142 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 responsibility. Six years ago Senator Ramsey said, in accept- 
 ing his second term, that he had asked the office for the last 
 time, and he thought the word of a United States senator 
 should be sacredly observed. 
 
 Charley Clarke, a Ramsey man, and Ingerson, opposition, 
 both of Hennepin county, favored proceeding, but declared that 
 this would be the last caucus they would attend. 
 
 The Ramsey men did not do much talking. It was not neces- 
 sary. In that rump caucus they could carry a vote to adjourn or 
 to go on, as they pleased, and it was only a question as to what 
 they thought was the best policy for them to pursue. They 
 decided to go ahead, but in order to make a showing of fairness 
 proposed to make the first vote informal, though the caucus was 
 taking formal ballots when the adjournment occurred the night 
 before. The informal ballot stood: 
 
 Ramsey 37, Washburn 8, McMillan 3, Davis 2, Drake 1. 
 
 This showed 51 votes or 32 less than the number of Repub- 
 licans in the legislature, and as but 15 were reported absent 17 
 who were present refused to vote, among them being Messrs. 
 Freeman, Crosby and Berry. Then the broken thread of the 
 previous evening was taken up and the fourth formal ballot 
 called for. There were consultations but no open debate, and 
 the fourth formal ballot stood: 
 
 Ramsey 38, Washburn 12, Davis I, McMillan 1, blank 1. 
 
 The fifth and last ballot stood: Ramsey 42, Washburn 12; 
 total 54. 
 
 If Ramsey could have scored 42 with 83 men in the caucus 
 he would have been a victor, but 42 under the circumstances 
 was like one of Rip Van Winkle's reform drinks, which didn't- 
 count that time. Of course it was made unanimous by the 54, 
 the 14 others who were present, but did not vote on the last 
 ballot, sitting in sullen silence. 
 
 Senator Ramsey was brought in and returned thanks in a 
 perfunctory manner, but there was neither hilarity nor enthu- 
 siasm. The Ramsey men did not know what kind of a prize 
 they had gotten and the Davis men did not know where they 
 were at, while Washburn and Austin had gone a-glimmering. 
 The capitol that night was a reflex of the joy which pervaded 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 143 
 
 Mudville the day when "mighty Casey struck out.'' To add to 
 the ominous character of the occasion these proceedings occurred 
 on Friday. 
 
 The Democrats and liberal Republicans had been watching 
 the Republican diversion and doing a good deal of thinking, 
 without committing an overt act. It may surprise those who 
 have become accustomed to consider Minnesota a Republican 
 state to learn that at that time there were 64 members of the 
 legislature who did not subscribe to the Republican faith, and as 
 1875 was a good deal of an independent year in electing senators 
 in other states, particularly in Wisconsin and Michigan, they 
 were hopeful. A caucus was accordingly called of the opposi- 
 tion to the Republicans to meet in the Merchants' hotel dining 
 room on Monday evening, January 18th, the night before the 
 first vote in the legislature. It was held with closed doors, and 
 a burly policeman was placed at the door in order to have some- 
 one authorized to arrest if any one came through the skylight. 
 When the caucus was called to order, I. M. Westfall of Olmsted 
 was elected chairman and E. W. Durant of Stillwater secretary. 
 It was a little odd that in a caucus largely composed of Demo- 
 crats, the officers should both be Liberal Republicans who had 
 Horace Greeleyized themselves into the Democratic party in 1872. 
 The first move was to order the ballot for a candidate to be viva 
 voce. There was considerable opposition to this, but it finally 
 prevailed. Senator Doughty of Lake City then offered the fol- 
 lowing resolution: 
 
 Resolved, That the members of this caucus pledge themselves in- 
 dividually and collectively, to support said nominee as long as he shall 
 remain the nominee of the party. 
 
 Surprising as it may seem, this resolution created a storm. 
 The old line Democrats feared that Ignatius Donnelly might be 
 the nominee and they did not want to pledge themselves to him. 
 Donnelly was a member of the senate and present at the caucus, 
 and this resolution had been offered by a liberal Republican 
 friend of his. Senator Michael Doran of Le Sueur, J. L. Mac- 
 Donald of Shakopee, L. L. Baxter of Fergus Falls, and others 
 favored the resolution, while Senator W. P. Murray of St. Paul, 
 Berry and a good many others declared they did not want to be 
 
1U H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 bound by the caucus. After a long and bitter debate the resolu- 
 tion was voted down, which made the caucus an anomaly. No 
 one was in the least degree bound to abide by the decision. There 
 were 51 present out of a possible 64, and Senator Murray pro- 
 posed that for the purposes of the caucus the opposition to the 
 Republicans be placed at 58 and that 30 nominate a candidate. 
 This peculiar motion was carried, though in the balloting in the 
 legislature 64 votes were uniformly cast against the Republicans. 
 
 When it came to nominating candidates, Messrs. Murray, 
 Baxter and Berry advocated nominating no one but an old- 
 line Democrat, while Westfall, the chairman, thought the liberal 
 Republicans ought to have a chance, and paralyzed the caucus 
 by declaring that he never voted a Democratic ticket in his life 
 up to that date. Donnelly was among those named in the 
 speeches and the informal ballot was thus recorded: 
 
 Donnelly 21, Wm. Lochren of Minneapolis 8, Edmund Rice 
 of St. Paul 7, E. M: Wilson of Minneapolis 4, M. J. Severance 
 of Le Sueur 3, H. H. Sibley of St. Paul 2, H. M. Rice of St. 
 Paul 1. Only 46 of the 51 present had voted. 
 
 On the first formal ballot Donnelly received 27, and on the 
 second (and last) formal ballot the vote was : Donnelly 30, E. 
 Rice 6, Lochren 8, Wilson 1 . 
 
 Mr. Murray's accommodating resolution of allowing 30 to 
 nominate had accomplished just what he wanted to prevent, the 
 nomination of Donnelly. If Donnelly had needed a majority of 
 64, with only 46 voting, he might have failed. It was evidently 
 Murray's fear, when he made his motion, that a majority of all 
 those present would be allowed to nominate, and as there were 
 only 51 present by extending it to a majority of 58 he thought 
 he would thus place it beyond Donnelly's reach. But he didn't. 
 It was made unanimous, and Donnelly, who had retired during 
 the balloting, was brought in and made the usual acceptance 
 speech, declaring if all the opposition would stand by him he 
 could be elected. The whole fight of the old mossback Demo- 
 crats had been directed at Donnelly, and they were enraged at 
 his success. The failure to pass Doughty's resolution left them 
 free to swear, and they did in a manner which would have made 
 "our army in Flanders" turn green with envy. The Pioneer, 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 145 
 
 then a Democratic organ, came out with a column editorial the 
 next morning blistering and denouncing Donnelly. 
 
 Thus the two great parties were drawn up in battle array on 
 the morning of Jan. 19, 1875, the day the real fight was to begin 
 by a vote in the legislature. Instead of each presenting an 
 unbroken front, neither one could be said to have a reliable 
 skirmish line. 
 
 THE REAL THING. 
 
 The 19th of January, 1875, was the date when the Minne- 
 sota legislature was required to vote for a senator in the separate 
 branches of the legislature. In compliance with this Hie senate 
 cast this vote: 
 
 Ramsey 18 Buckham ,. I 
 
 Donnelly 12 
 
 Davis 8 Total 41 
 
 Washburn 1 
 
 In explaining his vote Senator Knute Nelson said he was for 
 Davis, but having gone into the caucus he felt bound by it and 
 would vote for Ramsey. 1 think Senator Nelson must have 
 referred to the first caucus night, as all three of the daily papers 
 agree in reporting him absent the night of the second or 
 adjourned caucus. Senators Freeman, Hubbard and Rice voted 
 for Davis, as did Coggswell (Dem.) and McGovern (Dem.). 
 
 In the house the vote stood: 
 
 Ramsey 42 Lochren I 
 
 Donnelly 41 Washburn I 
 
 Davis 16 Sibley 1 
 
 Gilman 3 
 
 Andrews 1 Total 106 
 
 Aggregating the votes of the two houses, Ramsey received 
 60, Davis 24, Donnelly 53, and the remainder scattering. That 
 was the intial day in the legislature, and few foresaw the pro- 
 tracted struggle which was to follow. 
 
 10 
 
146 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 The next day, January 20th, the second vote, but the first in 
 joint session, was taken. It was: 
 
 Ramsey 61 Sibley 3 
 
 Donnelly 51 Austin 1 
 
 Davis 24 Scattering 7 
 
 Total vote cast, 147; necessary to a choice, 74. The joint 
 convention was content with one ballot and speedily adjourned. 
 
 On the next day, January 21st, an event of interest occurred, 
 when the third ballot was taken. There was some absenteeism 
 and Ramsey had 58, Donnelly 52, Davis 24, Washburn 4, and 
 remainder scattering. 
 
 When Senator Petit's name was called he arose to explain 
 his vote. He said he had heretofore supported the regular nom- 
 inee of the Republican caucus, but for reasons that it was 
 unnecessary to publicly explain, he no longer felt in duty bound 
 to vote for that person, and therefore named for his choice S. J. 
 R. McMillan. This was the first presentation of McMillan's 
 name, and with the exception of the next day McMillan was 
 voted for upon every ballot until the contest closed. Loren 
 Fletcher of Minneapolis had voted for C. C. Andrews from the 
 start up to that time, but his boom did not materialize. 
 
 Mr. Petit's speech and vote attracted a good deal of atten- 
 tion and created no end of questions as to what had happened 
 to move such a stalwart party man. The matter was not 
 helped or cleared up in the least when the Press, Ramsey's 
 organ, came out the next morning with an onslaught on Petit, 
 which was in part as follows : 
 
 "It is sufficient to say that a gentleman who left the city yes- 
 terday has been urgently telegraphed for by Senator Ramsey and 
 his friends, to make his appearance to-day and explain his con- 
 nection with an accommodating arrangement to supply Mr. 
 Petit with a pretext for opposing Senator Ramsey, for which 
 the chairman of the state central committee has long been 
 keenly searching, and for kindly volunteering to place the pre- 
 tended evidence of corruption, for which he has been so long 
 on the lookout, right under Mr. Petit's inquisitive nose." 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 147 
 
 In the joint session of the 22d Mr. Petit arose to a question 
 of personal privilege and replied to the Press, concluding by vot- 
 ing for Washburn. But still he did not explain what all the talk 
 was about. The ballot was an exact counterpart of the day pre- 
 vious, save in some changes among the scattering. An adjourn- 
 ment over Sunday and until the 26th of January followed. 
 
 When the joint convention re-assembled on the 26th, the 
 explosion came, and the mystery was divulged. Senator Hub- 
 bard, referring to reports of attempted bribery which had, by 
 innuendo, at least, crept into print, called for the facts. 
 
 In response Representative Ingerson of Maple Plaine, Hen- 
 nepin county, said the position was one very embarrassing to him. 
 He could now only say that the reports which have appeared in 
 the papers have some basis in fact. A bribe of $500 to vote for 
 Senator Ramsey was offered him in the billiard room of the 
 Metropolitan Hotel, and the offer was subsequently repeated to 
 him on the street. 
 
 W. P. Murray — Will the gentleman state the name of the 
 person who attempted to bribe him? 
 
 Mr. Ingerson — I do not know, except I was told his name 
 was Dike. 
 
 On the vote which followed Ramsey dropped to 50 from 58 
 the day before and Donnelly also had 50. McMillan had two 
 votes on the fifth ballot, which were cast by Finseth and Berg. 
 Thereafter there was no ballot without his (McMillan's) name 
 appearing with a few votes. 
 
 On the next day, January 27th, Ingerson moved the appoint- 
 ment of an investigating committee to ascerain the truth of his 
 charges, and J. W. Furber of Washington county, C. F. Crosby 
 of Rock county, both Republicans, and Frank L. Morse, Demo- 
 crat, of Mineapolis, were appointed. The story was that Major 
 W. H. Dike of Faribault had made the offer to Mr. Ingerson of 
 $500 if he would vote for Ramsey. Ingerson testified that Dike 
 proposed putting the money under a stone on Third street, 
 where he could go and find it, but said the major did not spec- 
 ify the stone. The major was greatly exercised over the charge 
 and employed Judge Flandrau to appear as his attorney be- 
 fore the committee. Dike's story was that he said to Ingerson 
 
148 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 in the hotel that he would give $500 if Ramsey was elected, 
 so that he could go home, but not intending to inti- 
 mate that he would pay Ingerson for his vote. Later 
 Dike and General Le Due were going across the street 
 to get a glass of beer, and Ingerson happened to come 
 along and was invited to join them, which he did. In the beer 
 hall the major repeated that he would give $500 if he could go 
 home, knowing that Ramsey was safely elected. General LeDuc 
 corroborated Major Dike in his statement, declaring no offer of 
 money was made. There was no evidence to connect Ramsey, 
 personally, with the matter, and to read the evidence calmly, 
 after the lapse of 30 years, it looks like a very thin charge. But 
 things were sizzling hot at that time, and the two Republican 
 members of the committee brought in a report on February 4th, 
 submitting the testimony without giving an opinion or making 
 any recommendation, while the Democratic member, Frank 
 Morse, submitted a minority report, declaring that Ingerson had 
 sustained his charges. A peculiar feature of the affair was that, 
 following the double report, Crosby, who had joined in the 
 majority report, submitted a resolution that the charges were 
 sustained by the evidence, and asked to have the resolution made 
 the special order for the afternoon of the 9th of February. The 
 house adjourned over that day, and the whole matter appears to 
 have been dropped by common consent. There were two other 
 alleged attempts at bribery referred to the same committee, one 
 being the promise of an office and the other of $1,000, but the 
 committee reported that the charges were not sustained, and, 
 as usual, the cases were soon forgotten. One of the charges 
 was that Sumner Chase had offered Representative Bosworth 
 money to vote for Davis. This was gotten up as a counter 
 irritant for the Ingerson-Dike affair, but the committee unan- 
 imously and emphatically declared that there was no evidence 
 of such an occurrence. 
 
 On Jan. 28th the Democrats changed front. The hardshells 
 in and out of the legislature had persistently kicked against 
 Donnelly's candidacy because he was not ushered into the world 
 with a Democratic birthmark branded on his forehead. They 
 held a caucus every evening at the Merchants, chiefly to see how 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 149 
 
 to get rid of Donnelly, rather than to determine how to elect a 
 senator. Donnelly had been voted for six times, but at no time 
 received over 53 votes out of the 64 opposition members. At 
 the caucus on the evening of the 27th he sent a letter withdraw- 
 ing his name, saying that five Democrats had voted steadily for 
 Davis, one for Ramsey, and the others had changed about simply 
 to throw away their votes. He stated that if he could have secured 
 his 64 party votes, he thought the remaining 10 would have been 
 found and he would have been elected. His declination was 
 accepted quick, and an informal ballot taken for his suc- 
 cessor, which resulted in William Lochren (now U. S. 
 district judge) of Minneapolis, having 19 votes and Ed- 
 mund Rice of St. Paul 17. At this point Donnelly put 
 on his war paint. He held Rice, or his friends, responsible 
 for his own defeat, and he served notice on the Democrats that 
 he would oppose Rice openly in the legislature. The result was 
 on the next and formal ballot Lochren had 41 to 3 for Rice. Pre- 
 vious to this a proposition to turn in and elect Davis had been 
 made, but met with no favor. Consequently, on the 28th, the 
 Democrats voted for Lochren, but he only received 55 votes, 
 and Ramsey had the same. 
 
 On January 29th Knute Nelson left Ramsey and voted for 
 McMillan. On the 1st of February Ingerson came over to Mc- 
 Millan, and on the 4th of February McMillan had 6. This did 
 not attract any particular attention, as the members were merely 
 throwing away their votes to kill time, being compelled to take 
 at least one ballot every day. One day Sam Nichols, the clerk 
 of the house, received six votes. Ramsey's vote ran down to 44, 
 and Davis ran up 32. In this dilemma the Ramsey men 
 appointed Messrs. McKusick, Drake, Bosworth, Anderson and 
 Egan a committee to confer with the Davis forces, and the Davis 
 men appointed Messrs. Freeman, Hubbard and Armstrong to act 
 for them. On February 4th the Ramsey men submitted two 
 propositions. The first was : 
 
 Resolved, That all Republican members of the legislature meet 
 for consultation to see if we can agree upon a candidate for United 
 States senator in case it shall hereafter be decided to withdraw both 
 Mr. Ramsey and Governor Davis from the canvass as candidates by 
 their respective friends. 
 
150 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 If this was rejected the Ramsey committee offered the follow- 
 ing: 
 
 Resolved, That both Senator Ramsey and Governor Davis shall 
 be simultaneously withdrawn from the canvass as candidates for the 
 United States senate and all the Republican members of the legislature 
 shall vote in joint convention for Republican candidates other than 
 Ramsey and Davis until we elect a Republican. 
 
 These propositions were plump acknowledgment of Ramsey's 
 defeat, while the Davis men still had hope, though, at that time, 
 there was not much reason for hope. The Davis men at first 
 made no reply, and on February ioth the Ramsey committee 
 renewed the same propositions, the Davis committee replying 
 that they would accept the first resolution. 
 
 As a result of the committee correspondence, another Repub- 
 lican caucus was held at the Metropolitan hotel on the night of 
 February nth, with Levi Butler of Minneapolis as chairman 
 and C. F. Crosby secretary. Having gotten the caucus together 
 on the first proposition, the Ramsey people endeavored to spring 
 the second on the same theory as the fox, who lost his tail in a 
 trap wanted all the foxes to amputate their caudal appendages. 
 Ramsey was defeated sure, and they wanted to be certain his 
 antagonist was buried with him in a common grave. The motion 
 to withdraw both Ramsey and Davis was lost by two votes, and 
 then the caucus proceeded to act on the first proposition by tak- 
 ing three ballots, just for fun, to see who they would favor if the 
 two leaders were out of the way. To show the hopeless diversity 
 of opinion, and also to show that McMillan was not seriously 
 considered up to that time, I give the "three ballots for fun," 
 which were as follows: 
 
 ist 2d 3d 
 
 Ballot. Ballot. Ballot. 
 
 W. D. Washburn 14 20 26 
 
 G. E. Cole 10 20 26 
 
 T. S. Buckham 6 3 1 
 
 H. C. Wait 4 7 3 
 
 J. S. Pillsbury 5 6 5 
 
 Horace Austin 3 2 3 
 
 S. J. R. McMillan 4 2 1 
 
 E. F. Drake o 3 3 
 
 C. A. Gilman 00 5 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 151 
 
 While this caucus adjourned without immediate results, it 
 bore fruit, for two days later, on February 13th, L. F. Hubbard 
 withdrew the name of Davis, and E. F. Drake withdrew the name 
 of Ramsey. This result was inevitable from the time the Ram- 
 sey men gave the Davis men 10 minutes' recess the night of the 
 first caucus, but it took them nearly a month to find it out. The 
 Republicans brought out Washburn and Austin again, but Gor- 
 don E. Cole of Faribault divided the honors with them. Pre- 
 vious to February 13th there had only been one ballot taken each 
 day, but on that date and the two successive days there were 
 three ballots each day. They were trying to "get together." The 
 ballots on the 13th, which followed the withdrawal of Ramsey 
 and Davis, were: 
 
 1 st 2d 3d 
 Ballot. Ballot. Ballot. 
 
 Lochren (Dem.) 64 64 63 
 
 Cole (Rep.) 29 28 35 
 
 Washburn (Rep.) 27 27 31 
 
 Austin (Rep.) 10 8 4 
 
 McMillan (Rep.) 9 7 2 
 
 S. P. Child (Rep.) 6 o 
 
 Scattering 12 7 
 
 The balloting ran along in this scattering manner for four 
 days more, and on February 17th, the day before his boom began, 
 McMillan had but two votes on the twenty-seventh ballot, though 
 he had had as high as nine on a ballot some days previous. 
 When the joint convention met February 18th Colonel Graves 
 of Duluth withdrew Washburn's name and started a boom for 
 McMillan. Four ballots were taken that day, McMillan having 
 30, 45, 48 and 57 votes in the order named. During the adjourn- 
 ment the Republicans kissed and made up, and on the first and 
 only ballot, on Feb. 19, 1875, McMillan received 82 votes, and 
 was declared elected United States senator for six years. 
 
 Representative Finseth of Goodhue county has been given 
 the credit of discovering McMillan, and constantly adhering to 
 his fortunes until election. The truth of history compels the 
 statement that this is an error. C. H. Petit of Minneapolis devel- 
 oped McMillan on the third ballot. Finseth did not vote for 
 him until the fifth ballot, and, while on every ballot thereafter 
 
152 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 McMillan had one or more votes until the boom came, Finseth 
 voted for Washburn and Hubbard a number of times, and was 
 by no means a steadfast adherent to the successful man. And 
 still he was lionized at the time as the man who made the senator. 
 
 The first ballot was taken on January 19th and the last on 
 February 19th. The legislature was in session during this time 
 23 days, and in all 32 ballots were taken. On three days there 
 were three ballots each day and one day four. All the other 
 days only one ballot was taken. Ramsey and Davis were in the 
 field for 17 ballots, and this is the record of their votes: 
 
 Ramsey— 60, 61, 58, 58, 50, 55, 55, 47, 44, 46, 44, 44, 43, 42, 
 44, 44, 52. 
 
 Davis — 24, 24, 24, 24, 22, 23, 23, 22, 23, 23, 27, 28, 32, 30, 29, 
 33, 33- 
 
 There was evidently a lingering hope that Ramsey might be 
 resuscitated, for on three of the ballots on the 18th of February 
 he was voted for, receiving 4, 6 and 5 votes, respectively. 
 
 McMillan was voted for on 29 ballots, his record being: 
 
 McMillan — 1, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 6, 5, 7, 8, 8, 5, 9, 7, 2, 5, 4, 
 3, 3, 3, 3, 2, 30, 45, 48, 57, 82. 
 
 Donnelly was voted for 16 times, receiving 53, 51, 52, 52, 50 
 and 49. 
 
 Lochren was voted for on 26 ballots, starting at 55, running 
 as low as 45, and only receiving 64 votes, the full strength of his 
 party, on six ballots. On the final ballot he had but 61. 
 
 Of the 60 who voted for Ramsey on the first ballot 59 voted 
 for McMillan and one for Cole on the last ballot. That accounts 
 for the one shortage, as 83 was the full Republican strength. 
 Every Republican who voted for Davis on the first ballot voted 
 for McMillan on the last. Some prophetic soul cast one vote 
 for Knute Nelson on February 15th. He can be classed as hav- 
 ing jumped Governor Clough's claim as the original Nelson 
 boomer. 
 
 While Governor Davis was then recognized as a brilliant and 
 coming man, it was not either his or Ramsey's personality which 
 caused the bitter fight. The Ramsey men were the ones who 
 had taken charge of the party affairs from the time the Repub- 
 lican party was organized in Minnesota. The Davis men were 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 153 
 
 composed of the younger working men of the party, and, while 
 admirers of Davis, they fought for him as they did for the pur- 
 pose of overturning a factional and tyrannical dynasty in the 
 party. And, though Davis personally lost, his cause won. 
 
 On Feb. 19, 1875, the morning after Judge S. J. R. McMillan 
 was elected to the United States senate, the St. Paul Press, which 
 was an ardent friend of Senator Ramsey's, made this comment: 
 
 The Republican party is to all intents and purposes dead — so dead 
 as to be unable to preserve even the forms of organization — and this 
 being the case, we don't see but that Judge McMillan will do as well 
 as any one who can be chosen to bury the corpse and administer the 
 estate. 
 
 Mr. Wheelock, editor of the Press, was postmaster of St. Paul 
 at this time by the grace of Ramsey, and I do not blame him for 
 thinking the Republican party was dead. There have been times 
 when I have had that opinion, or at least have been in doubt 
 whether it was the Republican party or myself that was dead. 
 
 Senator McMillan took his seat March 6, 1875, and on March 
 17, 1875, the following special telegram was sent from Washing- 
 ton to the Minneapolis Tribune : 
 
 The question of a change of postmaster at St. Paul was left to 
 Senator McMillan's decision, although both the president and the post- 
 master general strongly advised against any change. McMillan has rec- 
 ommended Dr. Day for Wheelock's place, and will probably insist on 
 his appointment. 
 
 Mr. Wheelock, the editor of the Press, took the position of 
 postmaster May 17, 1870, and at the expiration of four years 
 was reappointed. He had consequently served less than a year 
 on his second term when he announced the death of the Repub- 
 lican party, because Ramsey was defeated, and appointed Senator 
 McMillan administrator. Later Mr. Wheelock wrote the presi- 
 dent a very able letter advocating civil service, but that dogma 
 had not taken very deep root, and in discharging his duties as 
 administrator Senator McMillan still insisted on Wheelock's 
 removal. The result was that July 1, 1875, Dr. Day, who had 
 been appointed in June, became postmaster of St. Paul and held 
 
154 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 the office 123/2 years, which was six months longer than Senator 
 McMillan's two terms. Mr. Wheefock's item of Feb. 19, 1875, 
 and Dr. Day's commission as postmaster July 1, 1875, might be 
 handed down to history as an object lesson entitled, "Results 
 from natural causes." 
 
 In taking this action Senator McMillan proved himself a 
 poor politician. A good many people have differed with Mr. 
 Wheelock during his long editorial career, but no one who ever 
 knew him would expect he would be influenced in his editorial 
 work by a postoffice. And still it would be only human for him 
 to be a little more tender towards Senator McMillan if he (Whee- 
 lock) had been made his (McMillan's) appointee as postmaster. 
 I must admit that I helped the cause along by almost daily tan- 
 talizing the senator in the Dispatch, with the assurance that the 
 Republican party, being dead, he could not infuse sufficient life 
 into the corpse to remove Wheelock. But he did and made a 
 political mistake in so doing. 
 
OBSERVATION TWENTY-ONE. 
 
 A Bad Mistake Which Bore Fruit. 
 
 It pains me to be compelled, in the interest of morality, to 
 say that I have heard of lies being told during political cam- 
 paigns — yes, absolute lies. I suppose that this is due to the 
 excited and animated condition of the cerebellum, which causes 
 the lymphatic nerves to engage in entangling alliances, out of 
 which obfuscation, the generating element of prevarication, is 
 stimulated into being. I should regret if this explanation should 
 produce unhappiness, but it really is the part of prudence to know 
 the worst and be prepared for the best. 
 
 A literal illustration of this peculiar phenomena came to ex- 
 Lieutenant Governor Rice of Willmar, a few years ago, and inci- 
 dentally it reached ex-Senator Ramsey, and, striking that por- 
 tion of the anatomy known as the neck, aided in making him an 
 ex. It was in 1874 when Mr. Rice was nominated for state sen- 
 ator in the district composed of Chippewa, Swift and Kandiyohi 
 counties. Mr. Rice was ill with typhoid fever and came to Min- 
 neapolis for treatment. While in his sick bed he received a letter 
 from J. W. Burdick of Willmar, one of his warm friends, saying 
 that Senator Ramsey, who was a candidate for re-election at the 
 next session of the legislature, had sent a man named Farns- 
 worth up into the district to bring out a Republican candidate 
 against him. This was rendered the more emphatic by the 
 statement that the Ramsey emissary declared his readiness and 
 ability to expend $2,000 if necessary to defeat Rice. This news 
 made Rice almost mad enough to get well, but, in spite of his 
 wrath, his recovery was delayed, and he remained at Minneapolis 
 during the canvass. He was wholly at a loss to account for this 
 
 (155) 
 
15G H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 Ramsey hostility, and too ill to investigate. He was gratified 
 to find, in the end, that neither Republican nor Democrat ap- 
 peared against him, and his election was unanimous. But he did 
 not feel grateful just because the Ramsey men, as he supposed, 
 could find no one to take the field. 
 
 When Mr. Rice came down to St. Paul in January, 1875, the 
 senatorial fight was on. One of his early acquaintances was 
 Judge R. F. Crowell, a Chesterfieldian politician of the suaviter 
 in modo school. The judge was Ramsey's private secretary, and, 
 naturally, in the center of the Ramsey camp. He approached 
 Mr. Rice with the grace for which he was so distinguished, and 
 invited him to drop in at the Ramsey headquarters. Rice was 
 boiling over with indignation over the attempt of Ramsey to 
 bring out a candidate against him, and the supposed fact that he 
 also desired to expend $2,000 to secure his defeat. It was an 
 insult, he thought, for Ramsey to expect any aid from him. He 
 could scarcely be civil to the judge, and assured him, in language 
 which had no uncertain meaning, that he (Rice) did not propose 
 to have anything to do with Ramsey, but would work most 
 earnestly to elect another man. Judge Crowell, who was a quiet 
 and one of the best natured men in the world and a thorough 
 gentleman, expressed his sorrow at Rice's attitude, but made no 
 further effort to secure his vote. Rice went into the camp of the 
 hostiles, was one of the warmest supporters of C. K. Davis while 
 he was a candidate, and one of the most unrelenting foes of Ram- 
 sey until the crown was placed on Judge McMillan's head. 
 
 At this time Rice had not explained his grievance, but simply 
 nursed his wrath. When it was all over, and Ramsey was de- 
 feated, he chanced to meet Farnsworth and took him to task for 
 aiding the Ramsey scheme to defeat him. It almost paralyzed 
 him to be informed by Farnsworth that that was the first he 
 (Farnsworth) had heard of the matter ; that he had not been sent 
 or gone into the district to disturb him in the least. It was now 
 Rice's turn to be a little sorry for having fought a man under 
 a misapprehension. He took his friend Burdick to task, but 
 without satisfaction, and no reason was ever developed to show 
 why he set afloat that tale of woe. Ramsey and Rice were mem- 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 157 
 
 bers of the centennial commission in charge of Minnesota's 
 exhibit at the Centennial at Philadelphia in 1876, and Rice, hav- 
 ing done what he could to transform the senator into a political 
 cadaver, thought he ought to explain, which he did. The result 
 was he also learned from the ex-senator's own lips that the story 
 was a romance from start to finish. The mistake could never be 
 rectified. The explanations came too late. Politically, "Ramsey 
 had fought his last battle, and no sound could awake him to 
 glory again." The cerebellum was out of whack in 1874, and the 
 climate at Willmar was too frigid to propagate cherry trees. 
 
OBSERVATION TWENTY-TWO. 
 
 John S. Pillsbury's First Election as Governor. 
 
 John S. Pillsbury's original selection as a candidate for gov- 
 ernor came easy. He is the only man who thus far has held the 
 office for three terms. It was July 28, 1875, when the Republican 
 state convention met in St. Paul which named him. The era of 
 big conventions had not dawned, and the delegation was based 
 on one for each organized county and one for every 400 Repub- 
 lican votes. This made a convention of 194. The late Dr. J. 
 H. Stewart of St. Paul and ex-Gov. Horace Austin were also 
 candidates, and the contest developed one of the most peculiar 
 combinations ever seen in the state. Dr. Stewart had been 
 the life-long supporter of Ramsey and had been in position, while 
 mayor of St. Paul, to render some especially valuable services, 
 but still Ramsey (then ex-senator) supported Pillsbury in that 
 contest. Stranger still, Senator McMillan, who had defeated 
 Ramsey a few months previous and had not been backward in 
 going forward into the anti-Ramsey camp, was also a supporter 
 of Pillsbury. Mr. Windom, who was then senator, also sup- 
 ported Pillsbury, but this was not surprising, as Windom and 
 Pillsbury had always worked in harmony. But the whole com- 
 bination was an illustration that oil and water will sometimes 
 mix. H. B. Strait and M. H. Dunnell, both members of Con- 
 gress at that time, supported Austin, while Dr. Stewart was 
 ''backed by the delegates from 16 counties," as Col. C. H. Graves 
 of Duluth eloquently announced when presenting his name, but 
 his own (Ramsey) county was not one of the 16, though it was 
 claimed for him. The county convention refused to instruct for 
 him, and the delegation was apparently organized on the modern 
 
 (168) 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 159 
 
 plan by being in favor of Stewart when it became certain that 
 Pillsbury could not get it. 
 
 The convention was not exciting, and easily organized with 
 Hon. D. M. Sabin for chairman. Ramsey county had six votes 
 and Henenpin u, which seems small now. But county conven- 
 tions are now larger in point of numbers than was that state 
 gathering. There was very little eloquence wasted in nominating 
 speeches. W. H. Yale of Winona presented Pillsbury's name, 
 William Knight of St. Peter presented Austin's, and Colonel 
 Graves of Duluth Dr. Stewart's. The entire presentation speeches 
 did not occupy more than ten minutes. Pillsbury was also nomi- 
 nated on the informal ballot, the vote standing: Pillsbury 96, 
 Austin 58, Stewart 41. The first formal ballot did the business 
 by giving Pillsbury 107 to 55 for Austin and 34 for Stewart. 
 Colonel Graves announced that the "sixteen counties" had 
 changed their minds, and were now ready to make it unanimous. 
 Three terms followed for John S. Pillsbury, and there was even 
 talk of a fourth, but lest there should be too much of a good 
 thing, that was not pressed. 
 
 The most notable thing about this 1875 convention was the 
 general new deal which was inaugurated. Lieutenant Governor 
 Barto had served but one term, but J. B. Wakefield of Faribault 
 county was named to succeed him. E. W. Dike had had only 
 one term and a fraction, as state treasurer, but he was turned 
 down in favor of the Germans, and William Pfaender of New 
 Ulm was chosen. J. S. Irgens of Mower county kept up the 
 Scandinavian succession and followed General Jennison as secre- 
 tary of state, but Jennison had held two terms. Sam Nichols of 
 Fergus Falls appeared on earth for the first time, supplanting 
 Sherwood Hough as clerk of the supreme court. Sam remained 
 on earth quite prominently in the Republican councils until he 
 went West to grow up with the country. George P. Wilson, as 
 attorney general, and O. P. Whitcomb, as auditor, were the only 
 ones allowed to succeed themselves, and in each case it was the 
 conventional second term which was granted. The election was 
 merely the usual ratification meeting. 
 
OBSERVATION TWENTY-THREE. 
 
 Donnelly's Campaign for Congress as a Democrat. 
 
 The change of men and measures in politics is something 
 past finding out. The Second District congressional campaign 
 in Minnesota in 1870 affords an apt illustration of this statement. 
 In 1868 there had been a split in the Republican party in the dis- 
 trict, Ignatius Donnelly being one of the Republican nominees, 
 and Gen. C. C. Andrews the other, the result being the elec- 
 tion of a Democrat to Congress. In that campaign Gen. John 
 T. Averill was the fast friend and ardent supporter of Donnelly ; 
 in fact one of the very foremost leaders in that branch of the 
 campaign. In the early summer of 1870 there was a good deal 
 of tariff agitation, and Mr. Donnelly made a speech at St. Paul 
 and also at Farmington favoring a tariff for revenue only. While 
 this may sound a little Democratic at the present time, it was 
 really in accord with the Republican sentiment then existing. 
 At first Mr. Donnelly planned to be a candidate before the 
 Republican convention for the congressional nomination on his 
 tariff platform. General Averill had taken the field for the nomi- 
 nation, and felt that, in view of his effort in i8()8 for Donnelly, 
 he should have Donnelly's support. This was utterly out of the 
 question, however, and for a time the only question was whether 
 Averill should measure swords with Donnelly in the convention 
 itself or at the polls. Mr. Donnelly finally decided not to enter 
 the Republican convention, and, consequently, when that assem- 
 bled on the 1st of September, no name but General Averill's was 
 offered, and he was unanimously nominated. 
 
 The great point of the Republican convention was to beat 
 Donnelly at his own game on the tariff question, and the follow- 
 
 (160) 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 1GI 
 
 ing excerpts from the platform were relied upon to do the busi- 
 ness: 
 
 Resolved, That we expect and demand the cordial co-operation of 
 Congress and the executive in all measures for a still further retrench- 
 ment and reform in every branch of the public service, and for the reduc- 
 tion of taxation and the tariff to the lowest limits consistent with the 
 imperative revenue necessities of the government. 
 
 Resolved, That, as the revenues necessary to the support of the gov- 
 ernment and the maintenance of the public credit must be largely derived 
 from duties on foreign fabrics, a justly discriminating tariff for revenue 
 should satisfy the legitimate demands of the business and industrial inter- 
 ests of the country, and that duties should not be imposed to the detri- 
 ment of the people for the benefit of private interests or monopolies, 
 and we demand that, so far as possible, the necessaries of life and indus- 
 try be placed upon the free list. 
 
 I was publishing the St. Paul Dispatch at that time, and, in 
 order to show that the Republicans were more opposed to pro- 
 tection than the Democrats, quoted the tariff planks in parallel 
 columns, with the tariff plank of the national Democratic plat- 
 form of 1866. This was the Democratic plank: 
 
 Tariff for revenue and such equal taxation under the internal revenue 
 laws as will afford incidental protection to domestic manufacturers as 
 well, without impairing the revenue and impose the least burden upon 
 and best promote and encourage the great interests of the country. 
 
 The words differed but little in the platforms, and the prin- 
 ciples were identical, if such a term as principle can be applied to 
 any political platform. 
 
 It is interesting to quote these old platforms as showing the 
 changes, progressive and retrograde, which political parties have 
 made in the past quarter of a century ; in fact, tariff planks and 
 all other planks in party conventions are made to catch the votes 
 at the time, so that but little reliance can be placed upon them or 
 their sincerity. 
 
 When the Democratic congressional convention was called 
 to meet in St. Paul, September 15th, Mr. Donnelly decided, at 
 the request of some of his old-time Republican supporters of '68, 
 to be a candidate for Congress against General Averill. There 
 
 11 
 
162 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 probably was never a greater display of political ingratitude than 
 this act, but that cuts no figure when a man is out for an office. 
 
 The critical point now was to prevent the Democrats making 
 any nomination. It was not regarded prudent to make Donnelly 
 the absolute Democratic nominee lest it should alienate Republi- 
 can votes, and so the plan was devised of endorsing his inde- 
 pendent candidacy without formally nominating him. In this 
 scheme Samuel Mayall, who had been so important a factor in 
 defeating Donnelly in '68, took the lead, and probably it was 
 owing more to his efforts than to those of any other man that 
 the scheme succeeded. 
 
 The Democratic convention was called to order bv William 
 Lochren, now judge of the United States District Court. W. 
 W. Phelps of Red Wing was made temporary chairman, suc- 
 ceeded later by General Sibley as permanent presiding officer. 
 Eugene Wilson, Democrat, who had slipped in through the 
 split in 1868, wrote a letter declining to be a candidate for the 
 second term, and Mayall's platform worked to perfection. The 
 Democrats resolved that in view of the overwhelming majority 
 in the district they would recommend their party to support Mr. 
 Donnelly's independent candidacy because he was "sound on that 
 tariff." This, too, in the face of the claim of the Republican Dis- 
 patch that Averill was a lower tariff man than Donnelly. 
 
 The evening of the day of the Democratic convention a mass 
 meeting was held in Ingersoll hall, St. Paul, to ratify Mr. Don- 
 nelly's candidacy. To avoid giving it the air of a Democratic 
 gathering, Samuel Mayall, Republican, presided, and a long list 
 of Republican vice presidents was made up. Donnelly made 
 his usual entertaining speech. Here is one passage: 
 
 I ask you to give me your endorsement to say to the world that 
 Elihu Washburn is a liar and a knave. I plant myself on the platform 
 of Ignatius Donnelly. I appeal to the grand jury of the people, and the 
 6,000 majority I expect in this district will justify that appeal. 
 
 Here is another passage : 
 
 The issue in this canvass is Bill King, and the question to solve is 
 whether the people own the state, or whether Bill King owns it. 
 
 Donnelly evidently felt that some explanation was due, owing 
 to his being in opposition to his former friend, General Averill, 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 163 
 
 and he stated that Averill had opposed him when he wanted to 
 be governor the year previous, and they had not since been 
 friends. 
 
 John M. Gilman and ex-Governor Gorman, simon pure 
 Democrats, made the concluding speeches, giving a Democratic 
 tinge to the meeting. The Pioneer was at that time the Demo- 
 cratic organ of the state, and, while it did not absolutely oppose 
 Donnelly, it damned him with faint praise. In fact the greater 
 portion of the campaign it ignored him altogether, and devoted 
 its energies to an occasional shot at Averill, but chiefly to a war 
 on Windom, who was supposed to be a candidate for the senate. 
 
 The St. Anthony Democrat was especially rock-rooted in its 
 political faith, and Ovid Pinney, the editor, was so overcome 
 with the situation that he published a three-column paragraph 
 valedictory and retired from the paper. This was a sentence in 
 his paragraph : 
 
 Donnelly is to be buried so deep that no resurrection trump will 
 ever reach him, and the Democracy of the district will enjoy the poor 
 satisfaction of shedding their fruitless tears over his dishonored grave. 
 
 As the only claim Donnelly had for Republican votes was 
 that he was anti-protection, while Averill could beat him on this 
 issue and prove it by the Republican platform, there seemed no 
 reason for a Republican defection, and still there was considera- 
 ble probability of that, owing to the previous brilliant campaign 
 made by Donnelly. 
 
 Donnelly had been especially strong in Ramsey county, but 
 even with the aid of the Democratic vote he only carried it by 152 
 majority. There were at that time but two congressional dis- 
 tricts in the state, and the Second district contained 34 counties, 
 making an enormous territory to cover in a canvass. At the con- 
 clusion the official figures stood : 
 
 Averill 17,183 
 
 Donnelly 14.491 
 
 Averill's majority 2.692 
 
 Two years later Averill was re-elected by over 6,000 majority 
 over George L. Becker, straight Democratic candidate, which 
 shows that Donnelly made some break in the Republican ranks. 
 
OBSERVATION TWENTY-FOUR. 
 
 Putting on the Garb of Statehood. 
 
 When the opportunity for statehood came, Minnesota was 
 not slow in her movements to accelerate the event. The consti- 
 tution proposed for the state was adopted in October, 1857, and 
 the legislature and state officers were elected at the same time. 
 It was absolutely impossible for the territory to undergo the tran- 
 sition process without the act of admission by Congress, although 
 the preliminary steps had been duly authorized. As that body 
 did not meet until in December, nothing could be hoped for 
 before that period. The assumed state legislature met on Dec. 
 2 1857, which was in advance of the session of Congress, and 
 consequently it was not in reality a state legislature, and its acts 
 were in no sense legal or obligatory, except by the common con- 
 sent of the people. H. H. Sibley and Alexander Ramsey had 
 been voted for for governor at the time the constitution was 
 adopted, but the election was close and slow in being returned, 
 and when the legislature met the board provided by the constitu- 
 tion had not canvassed the votes. Samuel Medary was the ter- 
 ritorial governor, and somebody else was the governor-elect of 
 the expected state. The territorial legislature had passed out of 
 existence, and here was an assumed state legislature undertaking 
 to do business in a territory with a non-determined state gov- 
 ernor elected and a territorial governor actually in office. Min- 
 nesota was literally in the condition of "What is it?" and it was 
 only due to the ambition of her citizens to put on statehood, that 
 serious legal complication did not arise. One of the early acts 
 of the legislature was the recognition of Governor Medary by 
 permitting him to send his message to the law-making body. 
 The Republicans protested violently that he was not the governor 
 
 (164) 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 165 
 
 of the state and had nothing to do with the legislature and should 
 not be recognized, but the Democrats were in the ascendancy, 
 and his message was duly received and delivered. 
 
 The Republicans in both branches entered into a formal pro- 
 test against this action by signing it and spreading it on the jour- 
 nals, where it remained as one of the permanent state records. 
 The Republicans in the house even went so far as to protest 
 against the entire legislature, but the triumphant Democracy 
 wont right along with business just as though the state had been 
 admitted, and before the session was many days old James Star- 
 key of St. Paul introduced a bill providing for the election of two 
 L'nited States senators on the 23d of December. As a matter 
 of form, two days were occupied in passing the bill through the 
 house, and when it reached the senate it was amended to make 
 the election on the 19th and put through in a single day. The 
 house promptly concurred, and, whether state or not, arrange- 
 ments for the senatorial election were pushed rapidly forward. 
 
 The legislature stood: Senate, 21 Democrats, 17 Republi- 
 cans ; the house, 43 Democrats, 37 Republicans. This gave the 
 Democrats a majority of 10 on joint ballot; and under the state 
 law just passed, approved by the territorial government, there 
 was no voting of the separate bodies on the question. All inter- 
 est, therefore, centered in the Democratic caucus. It was held 
 on the evening of December 17th at the Fuller House in St. Paul, 
 a hotel which was later called the International, and finally 
 destroyed by fire. Sixty-one were present, making 32 necessary 
 for a choice. The first ballot bore fruit by one nomination, the 
 vote standing as follows: 
 
 H. M. Rice of St. Paul 56 
 
 James Shields of Rice county 25 
 
 Frank Steele of Mendota 17 
 
 Willis A. Gorman of St. Paul 15 
 
 Joseph R. Gorman of St. Paul 8 
 
 It required three more ballots to make the second selection, 
 the vote standing as follows: 
 
 2d Ballot. 3d Ballot. 4th Ballot. 
 
 Shields 24 26 33 
 
 Steele 25 24 28 
 
 Gorman 12 11 
 
1GG H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 This gave Shields the nomination for the second senator. 
 Though the Republicans knew their case was hopeless, they 
 nominated David Cooper of St. Paul and Henry D. Huff of 
 Winona. At the election on December 19th Rice was first 
 elected, receiving 66 votes to 50 for Cooper, two Democrats 
 being absent and four Republicans voting for Rice. 
 
 For the second senatorship the vote stood Shields 61, Huff 
 54. That night, which was Saturday, the Democrats jubilated 
 over the victory very heavily. One hotel did not afford suffi- 
 cient facilities for their superabundance of joy. They first had 
 a spread at the old American House, on the corner of Third and 
 Exchange streets, where Col. D. A. Robertson, ex-Governor Gor- 
 man, W. W. Phelps and others made congratulatory speeches. 
 From there they adjourned to the Fuller House, which was the 
 swell hotel of the town, where a formal banquet was given, and 
 Senators Rice and Shields, Governors Medary and Gorman, 
 George L. Becker and a host of lesser lights "made Rome howl." 
 
 No record has been preserved and handed down of any church 
 services in the town the next day, but it is fair to presume that 
 the Republicans were sufficiently mad and disconsolate in their 
 defeat to attend divine worship. It is pretty certain that the 
 other fellows were not particular whether church kept open or 
 not, so long as the other places were open. 
 
 While the so-called state legislature could go ahead and elect 
 senators, it could not seat them at Washington, and, though the 
 action stood, it was five months later, May 12, 1858. before the 
 state was actually admitted and they became senators. There 
 was a long and short term, and Rice and Shields cast lots as to 
 who should serve the respective terms. Rice won the long term 
 and served until March 3. 1863, while Shields retired March 3, 
 1859, with less than ten months' service. It was quite appro- 
 priate that he should have the short period, as he was a recent 
 comer to the state, while Mr. Rice had settled here in 1849 anc * 
 served as a delegate from the territory in Congress from Dec. 5, 
 1853, to March 4, 1857. 
 
 Shields had one of the most multitudinous military and polit- 
 ical careers of any man that this country has ever known. 
 Reaching the United States from Ireland when 16 years of age, 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 167 
 
 he settled in Illinois, where he served in the legislature, was state 
 auditor and judge of the supreme court, and later commissioner 
 of the general land office. After serving in the Mexican war he 
 was appointed governor of Oregon, but before he could take his 
 seat Illinois elected him to the United States senate, and he aban- 
 doned the governorship. Here occurred a very peculiar circum- 
 stance. He took his seat in the United States senate March 6. 
 1849, but discovered that he was ineligible from lack of citizen- 
 ship, and a few days later resigned. An extra session of the Illi- 
 nois legislature was called in the fall when the defect had been 
 removed, when he was again elected, this time serving until the 
 3d of March, 1855. 
 
 His next move was to Minnesota, where he founded Shields- 
 ville in Rice county, and was sent to the senate from this state 
 as already recorded. When his short term had about expired 
 he moved to California, served in the War of the Rebellion to 
 1863, when he retired from the army and settled in Missouri. 
 His usual fortune seemed to follow him to that state, as Louis 
 \ . Bogy, one of the senators from Missouri, conveniently died; 
 and, while the governor placed another man in line of promo- 
 tion by a temporary appointment, when the legislature met 
 Shields was chosen to fill the vacancy and served in the senate 
 from Missouri from January 27th to March 3, 1879. This ended 
 his public career, and June 1st of the same year he died at 
 Ottumwa, Iowa. A United States senator from three different 
 states, with a double election from one of them, for a single 
 term, a general in two wars, is a record which, I believe, no other 
 man has made but James Shields, one of the first senators from 
 Minnesota. 
 
OBSERVATION TWENTY-FIVE. 
 
 The First Republican Senator, Morton S. Wilkinson. 
 
 The first Republican United States senator elected from Min- 
 nesota was Morton S. Wilkinson of Mankato. He was elected 
 on Dec. 16, 1859. The legislature was overwhelmingly Repub- 
 lican. Though the Democrats at the preceding legislature had 
 elected two United States senators, their cause was hopeless in 
 the second legislature, and, Senator Shields' short term expiring, 
 the Republicans took their innings. The great contest was, as 
 usual, in the Republican caucus. David Cooper of St. Paul was 
 the candidate of Northern Minnesota; in fact St. Paul and St. 
 Anthony (now Minneapolis East) pretty nearly comprised the 
 northern line of the state so far as population was concerned. 
 Southern Minnesota had Daniel S. Norton of Winona and Mor- 
 ton S. Wilkinson of Mankato as candidates, while Charles 
 McClure of Red Wing might be counted as representing the 
 central portion of the state. The St. Croix region of the state 
 was especially zealous for Cooper, Hennepin county moderately 
 so, although there was a little chill in their affections, owing to 
 Cooper's residence in St. Paul. It took two evenings to deter- 
 mine the nominee. The first night, December 14th, there were 
 some 10 or 12 ballots in the caucus, which was held in the house 
 of representatives. Wilkinson led, with Cooper, Norton and 
 McClure following in the order named. The votes were so divided 
 that no one had a majority, and. after a long time spent in bal- 
 loting, an adjournment was effected until the next night. A 
 deadlock resulted in bringing three aspirants to the front. Gen. 
 John B. Sanborn, who was a member of the house, was urged 
 by Ins friends to take the field, and said that if he could secure 
 
 (168) 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 109 
 
 the Hennepin delegation he would do so, but wished to ascertain 
 that fact before he decided. A caucus of the Hennepin dele- 
 gation was therefore called. On the morning after the first 
 caucus an agreement was made that when their votes would turn 
 the scale for Sanborn he should have them. Under these circum- 
 tances Sanborn entered the race. Amos Coggswell of Steele 
 county, who was speaker of the house, took charge of Sanborn's 
 campaign, and the next night Sanborn took Cooper's place as 
 the leading competitor of Wilkinson. Norton and McClure 
 still stayed in the race, the former having some 10 or 12 votes, 
 but never enough to be very formidable. The southern part of 
 the state was greatly interested in the Winona & St. Peter Rail- 
 road, and as the northern portion had a railroad scheme inimical 
 to the Winona & St. Peter project it made the two sections of 
 the state arrayed against each other. There were ten more bal- 
 lots the second night, and 44 votes were declared necessary for 
 a choice. This was a majority of all the Republican members of 
 the legislature, and while there were several absentees from the 
 caucus it was agreed that the successful man must have a major- 
 ity of all to elect. When Sanborn began moving up near the 
 danger point of success, Southern Minnesota took the alarm, 
 and Winona, which had been supporting Norton, turned to Wil- 
 kinson, and on the last ballot Wilkinson received 45 to 30 for 
 Sanborn. If the Hennepin delegation had kept to their caucus 
 agreement the result might have been different, but when their 
 votes could have settled the matter for Sanborn one of the dele- 
 gation refused to abide by the caucus and stirred up sufficient 
 ill-feeling to prevent the vote going for him. 
 
 Another distinguishing element, so far as Sanborn's candi- 
 dacy was concerned, was that Coggswell, the leader of his forces, 
 became impressed with the idea that the deadlock might be con- 
 tinued until he (Coggswell) could be thrown into the breach. 
 He accordingly advised Sanborn against consulting and if pos- 
 sible making an alliance with William Mitchell of Winona, 
 who was a member of the house and a leader of the Norton 
 forces. Mitchell was especially looking after the railroad in- 
 terests of Southern Minnesota, and as Northern Minnesota 
 made no overtures he naturally stood by the locality from 
 whence he hailed. 
 
170 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 An amusing story told at the time was that about the only 
 man in town who had any ready cash thought the senatorship 
 might come into the open market. He accordingly put $7,000 
 in currency in his safe and gave the key to a friend, with 
 instructions to put the money where it would do the most good 
 if the opportunity arose. The man took the key to the safe, but 
 never mentioned the candidacy of his friend, so that his name 
 was unknown in the race. For a few hours the wealthy citizen 
 labored under the delusion that he had played the winning card. 
 He was considerably chagrined after the affair was over to ascer- 
 tain that his friend had a lightning rod up for himself ; but he 
 evened the deal to some extent by saying, "He (the friend) 
 thought he was pretty smart, but I gave him the wrong key." 
 
 In those days the use of money on such an occasion had not 
 been dreamed of, and I doubt whether any sum could have pur- 
 chased a senatorship at that time. Still there was absolutely 
 no money in circulation. The members of the legislature only 
 received $3 per day, and that was paid in state warrants which 
 brought but 65 cents on the dollar when placed on the market. A 
 friend of the iate Senator Wilkinson, who is still living, then a 
 resident of Mankato, tells me that he bought Wilkinson a suit 
 of clothes to wear when he came to the legislature, and that the 
 entire wealth of the Mankota crowd when it started for St. Paul 
 to capture the senatorship only amounted to $45. The man 
 who had bought Wilk's suit had exhausted his own resources 
 and had to remain home. It is hardly surprising that in the 
 midst of such financial destitution it should have seemed that 
 the prize might have a financial determination. At least it does 
 not seem surprising in the light of these modern days. But 1859 
 was a good while ago. And still at the present' time $7,000 would 
 be considered a very meager sum for a United States senatorship, 
 even if the man had the right key. 
 
 The election took place in joint session of the legislature 
 Dec. 16, 1859, and resulted in Wilkinson receiving 79 votes, 
 James Shields (Democrat) 33, and ex-Gov. W. A. Gorman 
 (Democrat) 1. And thus the first Republican senator from Min- 
 nesota came into being. At the end of his six years' term Mr. 
 Wilkinson was succeeded by Daniel S. Norton of Winona whose 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 171 
 
 friends had come to him in 1859. He subsequently served a 
 term in the house from 1869 to 1871, and still later he was state 
 senator, but his marked public career ended with the United 
 States senatorship. 
 
 As showing what results may follow from a man being a 
 member of the legislature which elects a United States senator, 
 it can be recorded that in the legislature which elected Wilkin- 
 son, J. H. Stewart and John T. Averill, who were in that legis- 
 lature, became members of congress; R. N. McLaren was for 
 many years assessor of internal revenue and United States mar- 
 shal ; C. D. Sherwood became lieutenant governor ; John B. 
 Sanborn a general in the army ; A. J. Van Vorhes clerk of the 
 state supreme court ; William Pfaender, state treasurer ; F. A. 
 Renz, treasurer of the city of St. Paul for many years ; A. J. 
 Edgerton, United States senator from Minnesota and United 
 States district judge for Dakota; William Mitchell, judge of the 
 supreme court of this state ; C. C. Andrews, minister to Sweden 
 12 years and consul to Rio Janeiro 4 years; Henry C. Rogers, 
 United States pension agent ; L. K. Aker, register of a land office. 
 And if the laws of nature had not compelled a good many to go 
 under the ground, probably all the rest of the members of that 
 legislature would have been reached in due season with a fat 
 thing. As an incentive to humble citizens to secure seats in a 
 legislature which elects United States senators this history is 
 worth the price. 
 
OBSERVATION TWENTY-SIX. 
 
 Wm. S. King's Election to Congress and the Pacific Mail 
 Scandal. 
 
 The congressional campaign in the Third district, in 1S74. 
 was notable for several reasons, but more especially from the fact 
 that William S. King, one of the most stahvart characters, who 
 ever appeared in Minnesota polities, was a candidate to succeed 
 Gen. John T. Averill, who had served two terms. 
 
 King had been postmaster of the house of representatives in 
 Washington and was credited with having made large sums of 
 money. Whether that was true or not he expended large sums 
 of money in the canvass. I was then publishing the Dispatch, 
 and of course in opposition to King — not on any personal 
 grounds, but he was part of the Ramsey dynasty, and as Ramsey 
 was due to come up in the winter of 1875 as a candidate for his 
 third term as United States senator, it would be a great assist- 
 ance to him to have the members of Congress in his favor. These 
 pages have already shown the selfish interest I had in defeating 
 the Ramsey dynasty ; and still events transpired which affected 
 Mr. King which I little dreamed of when the contest began. 
 
 In 1867 Congress granted an annual subsidy- of $500,000 to 
 the Pacific Mail Steamship Line as a bonus for carrying the gov- 
 ernment mails. In 1872 an effort was made to increase this sub- 
 sidy to a million dollars per annum, and it passed the house of 
 representatives by [10 to 87. There were very plump charges 
 of corruption in the purchase of votes to secure the passage of 
 the bill, etc. Samuel Randall of Pennsylvania, then a Demo- 
 cratic leader in Congress, and very influential, was quite emphatic 
 in making these charges. He was a national character, and 
 charges from such a source could scarcely be ignored. The con- 
 (172) 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 173 
 
 sequence was that the committee of ways and means, with Dawes 
 of Massachusetts as chairman, was directed to investigate the 
 subject of bribery in connection with the Pacific Mail subsidy bill. 
 At the outset this, seemingly, had nothing to do with Mr. King, 
 but as time wore on stories began to appear in some Eastern 
 papers that the Pacific Mail fund had been largely disbursed 
 through Mr. King, postmaster of the house of representatives. 
 These stories did not become public until he had been elected and 
 was a member of Congress elect from the Third district in Min- 
 nesota, due to take his seat on the 4th of March, 1875. 
 
 While I had incidentally noted some of these charges, it was 
 not until the issue of the Dispatch of Monday, Dec. 21, 1874, 
 that I really got into the matter. 
 
 Mr. R. B. Irwin was credited with being the man that 
 handled the Pacific Mail affairs in Washington, and there had 
 already been traced to him a sum of $750,000, but at the same 
 time he was accused of having pocketed most of it himself. He 
 had already testified before the ways and means committee, and 
 of course exonerated all members of Congress and everybody 
 else, though he did not deny that he had received large sums for 
 the purpose of promoting the interests of the bill. He finallv 
 refused to answer any more questions and was in contempt or 
 in prison. On the date mentioned at this stage of the investiga- 
 tion I published the following article in the Dispatch : 
 
 As the Ways and Means Committee at Washington appear to be 
 baffled by Irwin's refusal on Saturday to tell to whom he paid the im- 
 mense Pacific Mail corruption fund, the Dispatch finds it necessary to 
 come to the rescue and supply the missing link. 
 
 A prominent gentleman in this city, whose name will be furnished 
 to the Ways and Means Committee, if they desire, relates an incident 
 which he obtained about the time of the occurence from first hands in 
 New York. 
 
 In the spring of 1872, Irwin, the lobby agent of the Pacific Mail, 
 kept a small personal account at the Metropolitan Bank of New York. 
 It was unusual for him to have over $1,000 on deposit at a time. One 
 morning as the president of the bank came in, he noticed Irwin doing 
 some business with the receiving teller. In a few minutes the teller 
 appeared in the president's room to inform him that Irwin had just 
 deposited a check or draft for $500,000. 
 
 "But you didn't receive it?" said the astonished president. 
 
174 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 ''Certainly, I did," said the teller. "He is a regular customer, and I 
 didn't suppose I had any right to refuse." 
 
 "There is something wrong about that," said the president; "that 
 money will be called for to-morrow before we have time to make the 
 collection. You never should have accepted such a check from him." 
 
 The next day came, but no demand was made for the money. 
 Several days followed, but still the half-million deposit remained good. 
 Finally a stranger entered the bank with a check for $125,000 of the 
 deposit drawn to Irwin's order, and endorsed by Irwin. 
 
 "What name?" said the paying teller, as the stranger handed in the 
 check. 
 
 "No name is necessary," replied the stranger 'Don't you recognize 
 the signature and endorsement?" 
 
 "Yes, sir," replied the teller, "but I cannot pay so large a check 
 without knowing to whom I am making payment." 
 
 "Isn't the check good for the amount?" asked the stranger. 
 
 "Yes. sir," replied the teller. 
 
 "Then, I want the money on it." said the stranger, "and I won't 
 give my name either." 
 
 The teller still declined to pay without a name, and referred the 
 stranger to the higher bank officers. The stranger entered the presi- 
 dent's office and called his attention to the conduct of the teller. The 
 president examined the check and declared that the teller was right, 
 and that though the check was good, so large a sum could not be paid 
 without the name of the party presenting it. The stranger persisted in 
 remaining incog, and, notifying the president that he would give him 
 until the next day to pay the check, retired. 
 
 A bank messenger was sent to follow the stranger and ascertain if 
 possible who he was. The messenger followed him to the Pacific Mail 
 office, but returned without ascertaining his name, and reported progress. 
 
 The next morning the stranger appeared in the president's office 
 and demanded payment again. 
 
 "Do you want currency, or will a check of the bank answer?" asked 
 the president. 
 
 The stranger said that as he was going to deposit it in a bank where 
 he had an account, a check would be satisfactory. 
 
 The president of the Metropolitan Bank then drew the desired 
 check, and the stranger departed without giving his name. 
 
 Again the bank messenger followed, and this time traced the 
 stranger to the Park Bank where he made the deposit. The messenger, 
 taking one of the Park Bank officers aside, asked: 
 
 "Do you know who that gentleman is making the deposit?" 
 "Oh, yes," was the reply; "that is Mr. King, postmaster of the 
 House of Representatives." 
 
 The Dispatch gives the story without adornment, simply as it was 
 related by one of the parties interested in the matter to a reliable and 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 175 
 
 trustworthy gentleman now a resident of St. Paul. There is a possi- 
 bility that one of the banks is incorrectly named, but aside from that the 
 story is as originally told. 
 
 The ways and means committee here have a clew which they 
 can work up if they choose and obtain the information which 
 Irwin refused to divulge. 
 
 It perhaps should be mentioned in this connection that the 
 Saturday previous to the publication of this article, which was 
 on Monday, Irwin had suffered an attack of nervous prostra- 
 tion while before the ways and means committee and could not 
 go on with his testimony. 
 
 The article in the Dispatch was duly telegraphed to the New 
 York Sun, and when the Sun reached Washington it was the 
 most sought-for paper in all the city, and created a veritable sen- 
 sation. 
 
 Mr. Dawes, the chairman of the i,ays and means committee, 
 rose in his seat and presented a medical certificate stating that 
 Richard B. Irwin, a witness in the Pacific Mail investigation, 
 was in no physical condition to present himself at the bar of the 
 house or to be subjected to any mental excitement. 
 
 This was in response to an effort to bring Irwin to the bar 
 of the house in contempt for refusing to answer questions. 
 
 Mr. Dawes, the chairman of the ways and means committee, 
 tee on ways and means to hold sessions in New York in connec- 
 tion with the investigation. The investigation proceeded, the 
 committee went to New York, and in their published report duly 
 verified the original story of the Dispatch, which was the first 
 publicity given to that occurrence. Mr. King claimed that he 
 had favored the Pacific Mail scheme in order to get aid for the 
 Northern Pacific Railroad, in which all the Northwest was greatly 
 interested at that time. .He also conceded that he bad received 
 money from the Pacific Mail Company for services, but denied 
 very emphatically that he had given a dollar to any member of 
 Congress. He had given this testimony before the ways and 
 means committee prior to the publication of the article in the 
 Dispatch, but after that article Mr. King suddenly disappeared 
 and could not be found. No process could be served upon him 
 summoning him as a witness because he could not be found. It 
 
176 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 was reported in the New York papers that he had gone to 
 Europe and would not return until spring, after Congress had 
 adjourned. Subsequent developments showed that he had not 
 gone to Europe, but that he went to Canada instead, where he 
 spent the winter selecting fancy live stock for his farm in Min- 
 neapolis. 
 
 There were loud and insistent demands on the part of the 
 Minnesota people that their member-of-congress-elect should 
 appear and purge himself of what seemed to be pretty strong 
 evidence against him, but William was impervious and preferred 
 life in Canada to being under the protection of the American 
 flag. 
 
 The legislature was in session that winter, and on the 29th of 
 January Mr. Wm. S. Crooks arose in the house and offered the 
 following preamble and resolution : 
 
 Whereas, The proceedings now pending at Washington in the 
 matter known as the Pacific Mail corruption investigation, point to the 
 Hon. William S. King as one who, as an officer of the National House 
 of Representatives, accepted money as a consideration for his services 
 in aiding the passage of the subsidy bill to the Pacific Mail Steamship 
 Company; and, 
 
 Whereas, Mr. King, having been elected a member of the Forty- 
 fourth Congress from the Third District of this state, the people feel 
 that his usefulness will be greatly impaired and dishonor cast upon the 
 escutcheon of Minnesota unless he at once rectifies his position; 
 
 Therefore, be it Resolved, That the people of Minnesota in legisla- 
 ture assembled demand of Mr. King his immediate appearance before the 
 investigating committee in Washington City, and that he there state 
 to said committee what has been his connection with this great national 
 scandal, and thereby vindicate himself; or, failing therein, to place his 
 resignation as representative of this commonwealth in the hands of the 
 governor. 
 
 The resolution went over until the next day on notice of 
 debate. The next day Mr. Burchard moved the adoption of the 
 resolution. Loren Fletcher of Minneapolis moved to indefinitely 
 postpone. This was refused, Messrs. Fletcher and Listoe being 
 the only members who voted to indefinitely postpone. The 
 resolution was then adopted. 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 177 
 
 Mr. King had designed to spend the winter, or a portion of 
 it, in St. Paul, working for the re-election of Senator Ramsey for 
 the third term. He had secured headquarters at the Metropol- 
 itan Hotel, but he did not occupy them. Regardless of what 
 might come from the investigation, I considered that I had scored 
 a great hit by keeping King out of the senatorial canvass and 
 thus taken a long step towards nailing down the lid on my 
 friend Ramsey, and I took much more interest in this than I 
 did in the exposure of King, as I had no personal desire to make 
 him any trouble or discomfiture. But as it was subsequent to 
 the pension agency episode it all came in along the line of my 
 general life policy, as it made sure-enough mischief I was con- 
 tent. 
 
 Of course no one supposed that King would resign, and 
 instead of complying with the requests of the legislature he sent 
 them in due time a letter, which read as follows : 
 
 To the Legislature of Minnesota: 
 
 Gentlemen Senators and Representatives: It has been my good 
 fortune to come into possession of a copy of certain "Joint Resolutions" 
 relating to myself, which resolutions are said to have been passed by 
 the House of Representatives on the 30th day of January last, and by the 
 Senate on the 5th day of February, 1875. 
 
 Aside from any bearing these Joint Resolutions may have upon 
 myself, they are, as coming from your body, very extraordinary in their 
 character. They are, gentlemen, very extraordinary in so far as they 
 so correctly illustrate your lack of knowledge of the common proprieties 
 and decencies of official position, of your painful disregard of truth, in 
 your official action, and of your false and hypocritical pretenses of 
 virtuous regard for the "honor of the State of Minnesota." In dealing 
 with you and your joint resolutions, therefore, I shall, gentlemen, speak 
 of you as I know and understand you, paying no regard whatever to 
 that official greatness you so pompously assume during the brief sixty 
 days allotted you, wherein to fit and complete yourselves for that under- 
 lying political fame and immortality which each of you. no doubt, sup- 
 poses himself to have been born to. 
 
 As for your joint resolution, gentlemen, in which you so indecently 
 assume the falsehood that I "accepted money as a consideration for his 
 
 12 
 
ITS H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 (my) services in aiding the passage of the subsidy bill to the Pacific 
 Mail Steamship Company," they are, interpreted in other and more 
 common language, legislative lies. They are lies in a double sense, inas- 
 much as they not only charge me, by the broadest implication, with 
 having "accepted money for my services," etc., but in asserting, also, 
 by that same broad implication, that I have refused to appear before the 
 Committee of Ways and Means to testify as to my connection with and 
 knowledge of the passage of the Pacific Mail subsidy bill. For I now 
 again assert what I two years ago truthfully stated under oath, that I 
 never "accepted" or received one dollar as "consideration for my 
 services in aiding the passage" of that bill, while I took great pleasure 
 in appearing before the committee, at the very opening of this investi- 
 gation, and testifying fully as to all I know concerning the matter. 
 
 Therefore, it is, gentlemen of the legislature, that I thus distinctly 
 charge you with having spread upon the records of your respective 
 houses flagrant and audacious falsehoods concerning myself, an act 
 which, to use your own language, is calculated to "cast dishonor upon the 
 escutcheon of Minnesota," unless you shall have the decency to "at once 
 rectify your positions" by expunging these disgraceful falsehoods from 
 your journals. 
 
 But, gentlemen, who are you, and what are you, that you thus 
 pompously set yourselves up as my masters and assume to instruct me, 
 a private citizen (for I am only such, as yet), in this or any other mat- 
 ter? Who constituted you either my masters or my judges, that you 
 thus impudently presume to issue instructions to me. and impose penal- 
 ties for non-compliance with your insolent demands? Make hasty 
 answer, I pray you, for almost before this letter can reach you; you will 
 have disappeared into that position of "nothingness" from which you 
 were only lifted by one of those political accidents of annual occurrence 
 in our state. And the only reply I have to make to the impudent de- 
 mands of your joint resolution is, that in this, as in all other matters, 
 my action will be governed by my own sense of duty, of right, and of 
 propriety. 
 
 Under what arrangement / did receive a large sum of money, about 
 the time of the passage of the Pacific Mail subsidy bill, is a matter which 
 I do not propose to disclose to the world except in my own good time, 
 nor until evidence which I am unable to reach now can be secured, to the 
 end that the exact facts in the case can be presented to the public, 
 which will meet the fullest and most complete vindication against the 
 falsehoods which you have spread upon your respective journals. Until 
 that time, which I trust is not far distant, I have only to say that not 
 one dollar of the money received by me, of which so much has been 
 talked and written, was ever intended for or applied to the influencing 
 of a vote upon the Pacific Mail subsidy, and no word or line of all the 
 evidence that has been taken during this long and most searching 
 investigation even "points" to any such conclusion. And so. conscious 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 179 
 
 of my own rectitude in this matter, and pausing here to tender to that 
 one representative who was just enough towards me to refuse his 
 assent to your lying declarations my grateful thanks, I pass on to some 
 other points, which I propose to present to your and the public's con- 
 sideration. 
 
 In perusing the proceedings of your very distinguished body (and 
 the farther away from home its name goes the more "distinguished" 
 it becomes) upon this matter, I notice that in the presentation, discus- 
 sion and adoption of these "Joint Resolutions" very many of you spoke 
 and voted as my "friends." Even the gentleman who introduced the 
 resolutions into the house and demanded such hasty and immediate 
 action upon them, though a political opponent, professed to speak and 
 act "in no partizan spirit" but "as a personal friend." Let me not be so 
 ungrateful as to intimate that this statement was not more false or 
 "crooked" than are the resolutions themselves. For the sake of argu- 
 ment I will concede that it was not. And so of others; they spoke 
 "as friends." May God make me sufficiently grateful to my "friends." 
 
 I observe, gentlemen of the legislature, that in presenting and 
 adopting these joint resolutions, you express the fear that my "future 
 usefulness will be greatly impaired and dishonor cast upon the escut- 
 cheon of Minnesota" unless I shall at once comply with the demands 
 you make upon me. That seems to be the fear that oppresses you; the 
 nightmare which disturbs your slumbers; the sense of danger which 
 haunts your waking and sleeping hours, and plunges your virtuous 
 souls into the very depths of despair. Well, gentlemen, from what I 
 know of your politicial lives and characters, I should have expected 
 nothing else. Taking your "representative men" and your leaders as 
 fair samples of the present virtuous "legislature of Minnesota" and I 
 can readily imagine the anguish of heart which would pervade your 
 whole body upon the disclosures of my assumed wickedness. There is 
 by old-time "friend" Morton S. Wilkinson, for instance, who adorns 
 by his life and virtues one branch of your body. What a teacher and 
 exemplar of official honesty and purity he is. How he weeps and wails 
 over the danger to the "escutcheon" from unworthy representatives. 
 And how carefully he guarded the "escutcheon" when a senator and 
 representative in congress. How nobly he stood for public virtue and 
 honesty when he so stoutly insisted on a "fair divide" in those Indian 
 transactions, so well known and understood by so many in our state. 
 How earnestly he insisted that "something handsome should be made'' 
 out of the confirmation of certain treaties with foreign powers where his 
 vote was needed. And with what touching devotion did he champion 
 the cause of public virtue and benevolence by so strenuously insisting 
 upon the broad and generous doctrine of "give and take," he always 
 playing the humble and virtuous part of "take." How bravely he ad- 
 vocated the cause of "Cuban independence" in the house, when Cuban 
 bonds were not worth one per cent on the dollar, and with what inde- 
 
180 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 pendence and vigor he denounced General Grant's first administration 
 for not adopting his suggestion as a member of the committee on for- 
 eign affairs, and going in for a policy which would have made those same 
 bonds worth 75 cents on the dollar, simply by our going to the trifling 
 expense of a war with Spain. But, gentlemen, "Wilk" did not care 
 anything about the "bonds." Bless your and his virtuous souls, no! 
 What did the insignificant amount of $50,000 of Cuban gold bonds mat- 
 ter to such a high-toned and hawkeyed sentinel of the "escutcheon" as 
 "Wilk." Gentlemen legislators, you only do yourselves and your own 
 characters simple injustice in following "Wilk" as a proper leader in 
 this crusade against official corruption. 
 
 And he — shall I name "him?" Need I name "him?" Doesn't every 
 legislative eye turn instinctively towards that proud champion of poli- 
 tical virtue and "reform" before whom fifty-three of you so recently 
 bowed in political adoration, without any resorting to the vulgar 
 necessity of uttering the name of — Donnelly? Donnelly ! ! ! a name 
 familiarized to the people of Minnesota by its close and intimate 
 association with all that is pure and good in politics, during the ten 
 years' service he rendered in guarding the "escutcheon;" a name 
 synonymous with the loftiest integrity, purity of character, exalted 
 patriotism, and unyielding devotion to the cause of public virtue and 
 the honor of the "escutcheon." And when I recall that fifty-three of you 
 gentlemen of the legislature, thoroughly acquainted with Mr. Donnelly 
 and his public record, recognize in him a fit and proper representative 
 of yours, and gave him your votes for United States Senator, I am 
 forced to admit that you performed one of the most proper political 
 acts of your lives. For Donnelly is worthy of you and your votes, and 
 you are worthy — but, no, I cannot say that. No, Mr. Donnelly is 
 worthy of more reputable followers than you, so far as I have the honor 
 of your personal acquaintance. For I here assert that I think him 
 just as honest as you who so recently kneeled before him and decorated 
 him with your votes for United States Senator, while the most com- 
 mon-headed man in the state, outside the present "Minnesota Legis- 
 lature" will at once admit that he has more brains than all of you. So. 
 extending to Donnelly my sympathy that he could rtot have been favored 
 with a more reputable class of supporters, I proceed to remark that, 
 after all. your mutual relations are, beyond doubt, the most fit and 
 proper that could have been established. For Donnelly's political "kite" 
 no more tasty and becoming "tail," with fifty-three joints, could possibly 
 have been constructed, even down to the very last little "Crook" at 
 the end. The combination of materials and character is most happily 
 blended from extreme to extreme, and I do not wonder that you are 
 sometimes vain and even pompous in view of the very satisfactory and 
 happy relations you sustain to your distinguished head and leader. 
 For Donnelly's kite is, fortunately for your ambition, different from 
 other articles of that kind, inasmuch as he can always furnish wind 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 181 
 
 enough to float it in any kind of political weather. This close political 
 "attachment" between yourselves and Donnelly, gentlemen, is* also 
 very fortunate for you in another respect: that it enables you to reach a 
 political altitude, which you could otherwise never have hoped to 
 attain. 
 
 But, gentlemen, interesting to you, as I know this somewhat digres- 
 sive branch of the subject must be, proud, as I know you must be, at 
 the exalted position which your "attachment" to Donnelly enables you 
 to reach, I must pass on to the more important points of this subject. 
 And as Mr. Donnelly is a member of your "joint" body, and as he 
 too, doubtless, considered my case "in no partizan spirit" but rather 
 "as a friend" I feel myself bound to make proper recognition of the 
 fact. As the sturdy foe of "political corruption" and the degrading 
 influence of the "lobbies," as the eloquent champion, both by pen and 
 voice, of "political reform," to say nothing of his having enjoyed the 
 somewhat questionable honor of having so recently been voted for by 
 you, "a man after your own hearts," I come to pay my tribute to his 
 public worth. 
 
 In entering upon this task, you will not, of course, expect me to 
 do it anything like full or complete justice. Neither time nor space will 
 admit of that, and so I must, of necessity, omit much which would, if 
 disclosed to you, exalt Mr. Donnelly still more in your estimation. 
 But I pass by those comparatively trifling matters connected with his 
 thrifty transactions at the "Leech Lake" and "Bayfield" Indian agencies; 
 the "meat-y" little jobs picked up from the Pacific railroads when a 
 member of the railroad committee of the House of Representatives; 
 the bold and dashing "business" propositions made by him during the 
 senatorial contest of some six years ago; and proceed to call your 
 attention to the following "high testimonial" as to Mr. Donnelly's 
 honesty and virtue, those two prominent traits of character which so 
 strongly commended him to your sympathies, your votes, and your 
 "moral" support. This testimonial is dated at the rooms of the execu- 
 tive committee of the Memphis, El Paso & Pacific Railroad Com- 
 pany, April 10, 1869, and is an extract from the proceedings of that 
 committee, as follows: 
 
 "The committee also approve of a transfer of $200,000 of stock, 
 made by W. Schmoele to Ignatius Donnelly, and authorize W. Schmoele 
 to pay said Donnelly a due bill of $50,000 out of the proceeds of the 
 loan in Paris as fast as convenient, said due bill being signed by J. 
 C. Fremont and B. H. Epperson, and dated February, 1869, and to be 
 considered as a retaining fee for said Donnelly as counsel for this 
 company, required to effect a connection of this company with the 
 Northern Pacific Railroad Company, for united action to obtain sub- 
 sidies." 
 
 It will be observed, gentlemen, that while these proceedings bear 
 date of April 10, 1869, the transaction with your candidate and leader, 
 
182 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 Mr. Donnelly, seems to have been completed some two months pre- 
 vious* the fifty thousand dollars due bill being dated February, 1869, 
 while you will remember Mr. Donnelly was a member of the House of 
 Representatives, and guarding so vigilantly then, as he is now, the 
 "honor" and the "escutcheon" of Minnesota. 
 
 I do not wish to be understood as charging that, by reason of the 
 above recited transactions, Mr. Donnelly's vigilance in guarding the 
 "escutcheon" was in any way relaxed; for it may be — and I give Mr. 
 Donnelly the benefit of the suggestion — that he "pinned" the stock 
 and the "due bill" fast to the "escutcheon" so that he could con- 
 veniently keep his eye upon both at the same time. 
 
 God forbid, gentlemen, that I should be so uncharitable as to 
 insinuate that any knowledge that you may have possessed of the facts 
 upon which this "high testimonial" is based, or the generous figures 
 it contains, had anything to do with the adoption of Mr. Donnelly as 
 your recognized leader and senatorial candidate. No, no. I know 
 you too well for that. Memphis & El Paso R. R. stock is not the 
 kind of assets which would quicken your regard for or commend any 
 candidate to your favor. No, it was Donnelly's principles you loved. 
 It was "his way" of guarding the "escutcheon." It was his style of 
 political purity and virtue which excited your patriotic pride, and made 
 him the master of your hearts and votes. 
 
 Gentlemen of the Minnesota Legislature, Mr. Donnelly is with 
 you and of you still. He "moves, breathes and has his being" within 
 your highly virtuous body. He is subject to your call and to your 
 jurisdiction. But he is, also — I do not say this to flatter him, but 
 simply "as a friend" — the principal part, the "butt-end" of the present 
 very pretentious "Legislature of Minnesota." He rules and "runs" 
 two of the three parties who make up your distinguished body, and 
 seems to inspire the fatal and destructive policy of the other. There- 
 fore, there will be no exhibition of your superior virtue and honesty 
 in the case of either "Wilk" or Donnelly. There will be no investi- 
 gations asked by you into Mr. Donnelly's transactions with the Mem- 
 phis, El Paso & Pacific Railroad Company, unless it be to "inquire" 
 of Mr. Donnelly why in the name of all the Prophets he did not 
 compel the company to make his payments "all cash," instead of taking 
 so much railroad stock. Ah, gentlemen, had he only have done that, 
 what rich "pickings" you would have had, and how the "fifty-three 
 jointed tail" would have shaken and quivered with delight, clear down 
 to the last little "Crooks" at the end. Yes, gentlemen, you would have 
 had Mr. Donnelly elected senator long before this, and would doubtless 
 have added still another to your series of "joint resolutions" upon 
 the importance of protecting the "honor" and the "escutcheon" of 
 Minnesota. But, as it is. you have fulfilled your mission. You have, 
 peacock-like, made a public "spread" and exhibition of your virtue by 
 placing a falsehood against me upon your journals, and there you 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 183 
 
 will "rest." Now you will go on with your corrupt bargains and in- 
 trigues in senatorial matters. Your buying and selling of each other 
 may now be resumed with perfect impunity. Even as I write a tele- 
 graphic statement from St. Paul, which I found in the public journals, 
 informs me that "active negotiations are now in progress'' upon the 
 senatorship, of which I have no doubt. 
 
 I might, gentlemen of the Legislature, pursue this branch of my 
 subject almost indefinitely. Your pure and virtuous tastes do not, it is 
 true, all run in the same direction, but they "run." With some of you 
 they travel in the line of railroad schemes. With some they lead into 
 the rich domain of swindling government and Indian contracts; some 
 into the delightful pursuit of manufacturing and dealing in bogus half- 
 breed scrip; while others of you prefer the more quiet and shady path- 
 ways of "pine land rings." But all of you are equally honest and 
 virtuous. Your characters in that respect you have founded upon your 
 lying joint resolutions, and when your sixty days of legislative life 
 have expired, you can all go home and put your biographers at work 
 upon the rich material to be found therein. 
 
 One more point, Gentlemen of the Legislature, and I am done — tor 
 the present. Others there are who, though not members of your illus- 
 trious body, are equally honest and virtuous as yourselves, and who, 
 equally solicitous for the "escutcheon," may lay claim to consideration 
 at your hands as your outside pillars and "moral" supporters. 
 
 They, too, have suffered by reason of my assumed wickedness. 
 Their hearts have bled as freely as yours at the fearful picture of my 
 wrong-doing. There is the late chairman of the Democratic congres- 
 sional committee, who mourned so deeply and roared so loudly over 
 his own lying statements of the expenditure of money in the canvass 
 last fall, but who was finally detected in fingering and disbursing the 
 thousand dollar checks of my opponent. And there was "another one," 
 if possible a still more virtuous one, who, having once attempted to 
 bribe me, when an officer of the House of Representatives, to betray 
 the community in which I live, and whose bribes having been spurned 
 by me, was very loud and emphatic in his expressions of my unfitness 
 for representative in Congress — as for all such as he I most certainly 
 am. And then, gentlemen, there is your very proper "organ," the St. 
 Paul Dispatch, the editor and proprietor of which, while trying to 
 blackmail me out of a large sum of money after my nomination last 
 fall upon the promise of supporting me, was not only willing I should 
 be elected to the house, but strongly insisted that I should be a 
 candidate for United States Senator; but who, when I peremptorily 
 refused to "come down" as demanded by him, suddenly discovered, to 
 his virtuous horror, that he had been vainly trying to sell himself and 
 his paper to one of the most corrupt and dangerous men of the age. 
 Gentlemen of the Legislature, I beg for these, your virtuous com- 
 patriots in the sacred cause of guarding the "honor" and "escutcheon" 
 
184 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 of our state, the privilege of consigning themselves to immortal honor 
 by joining with you in this solemn "joint resolution" ceremonial as 
 "subscribing witnesses." In your common efforts for a great cause 
 you should not be divided by the mere lines of position, but hand 
 in hand, in united brotherhood of spirit, you should walk together to 
 the end. 
 
 Then, upon your brave and manly act in engraving upon the legis- 
 lative records of our state a slander and a falsehood against a private 
 citizen, whose life for seventeen years past has been unselfishly and 
 honorably devoted to the advancement of the best interests and the 
 honor of our young commonwealth, let there be a benediction pro- 
 nounced by some "fine type of an old school statesman," whose official 
 record, truthfully written, would be the fit "companion-piece" of that 
 of Ignatius Donnelly, and your actions in this matter of your "joint 
 resolutions" will be complete and harmonious in all their parts. 
 
 With as much respect, Gentlemen, and as little contempt as possible 
 for me to feel towards you under the circumstances, 
 I remain, unresigningly yours, 
 
 WILLIAM S. KING. 
 February nth, 1875. 
 
 As a counter irritant and diverting attention by accusing 
 others, Mr. King's letter was quite a success at the time, and after 
 the lapse of 30 years makes interesting reading. Some years 
 later, when other men had come upon the scene but while King 
 was still living, the resolutions were formally expunged by 
 another legislature. This was, of course, only a matter of form, 
 as the offending resolutions still stand in the journals and will 
 there remain while the archives of the state exist. Both the 
 original and the expunging resolutions are so buried and for- 
 gotten that they would never be known but for this history. 
 Unfortunately, King's letter never got into the journals, so that 
 up to date the legislature would seem to be several laps ahead. 
 
OBSERVATION TWENTY-SEVEN. 
 
 Senator Davis' Election for the Second Term by a Scratch. 
 
 When the eulogiums on the late Senator C. K. Davis are 
 recalled, which were pronounced at the time of his death, it 
 seems almost a matter of surprise that a few years before he nar- 
 rowly escaped being defeated for a re-election to the senate. Ii 
 seems as if a statesman with his record would have been the 
 unanimous choice of a young state like Minnesota, as he reflected 
 more credit on the state than the state did upon him. 
 
 In January, 1893, Davis was elected to the senate for the sec- 
 ond time, but it was by a scratch. In 1899, he was elected for the 
 third term without a shadow of opposition. He had been 
 endorsed in the campaign prior to the meeting of the legislature 
 of 1893, and everybody supposed he would have easy sailing ; but 
 there was a cloud upon the horizon. The caucus was called 
 almost as soon as the legislature met, and it was held on the 4th 
 of January. This showed nervousness on the part of Davis and 
 his friends, or they would not have been so anxious to get the 
 senatorial nomination out of the way before the members of the 
 legislature had had time to think it over and collect their wits. In 
 the caucus there were present 21 senators out of 25 Republicans, 
 and 71 Republican representatives, with eight absentees, making 
 64 absolutely present from the house. There was no especial 
 excitement or lack of harmony in the caucus. O. B. Turell of 
 Redwood Falls was chosen to preside, without opposition, and 
 the vote was not by secret ballot but viva voce by roll call. H. F. 
 Stevens, then senator from St. Paul, made the speech nominating 
 Davis. As the result of the roll call, Davis received the votes of 
 22 senators and 64 representatives, a total of 86. One of the sen- 
 
L86 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 ators was a member of the Farmers' Alliance and not a Repub- 
 lican, but he was allowed to participate in the caucus, so that 
 Davis really had 85 Republican votes in the caucus. Three of 
 the absentees sent word that they were for Davis, and his strength 
 was counted as 88 reliable. 
 
 After this caucus nomination Senator Davis was brought in 
 to make a speech, and thanked the caucus quite briefly. It is 
 notable as showing the mutations of politics that John Lind was 
 a member of that caucus as a Republican, though he has since 
 served a term as Democratic governor of the state. He too was 
 called upon to make a speech after Davis' nomination, and 
 responded as follows : 
 
 I won't make any speech, but no act of yours will send such a 
 greeting to every Republican heart in the land as this which you have 
 just done. 
 
 In view of this declaration, Lind can truthfully say that 
 "things are not as they used to be." 
 
 This was the 4th of January, and the mischief afloat was 
 thus exposed in an editorial in the Pioneer Press on the 13th of 
 January : 
 
 Sinister rumors have been afloat for some days that a persistent 
 attempt was being made to buy off enough Republican members of the 
 legislature to defeat the election of the Republican caucus nominee 
 for United States senator. The Pioneer Press is informed that abun- 
 dant proofs are at hand that these rumors have substantial foundation. 
 It is intimated that sums as high as $2,500 have been offered to Repub- 
 lican members if they would absent themselves from the legislature 
 during next Tuesday, when the two houses will vote separately for a 
 United States senator, and on the next Wednesday, or, if necessary, 
 on subsequent days, when the two houses will meet in joint convention 
 to consummate the election. The same parties, we are told, have been 
 offered much larger sums if they would stay in their seats on the sena- 
 torial election days and vote against Senator Davis. The Democrats 
 and their clandestine Republican co-conspirators would not seem to 
 have an easy task before them in seeking to undermine the- solid foun- 
 dation on which the nomination of Mr. Davis rests, even by such 
 potent and insidious forces as the resort to bribery and corruption. 
 
 As the Republicans had 26 majority in joint convention in 
 the legislature it really did seem as if the conspirators had under- 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 187 
 
 taken a large contract. Nevertheless, it came very nearly win- 
 ning. The Pioneer Press, being a partizan newspaper, of course 
 charges the matter up to the Democrats, but "co-conspirators" 
 is a good word to use. The plan was not to elect a Democrat to 
 the senate, but to elect another Republican. The Democrats 
 and Populists were sufficiently numerous in the legislature to 
 enable this to be done if they could unite on one man and buy 14 
 Republican votes for him, so that it was a clear and plain business 
 proposition. The money was to be furnished by Republicans, 
 and the votes were to be purchased by Democratic leaders; they, 
 in turn, getting their own party in line without purchase. So 
 that if there is any question of which was the more reputable of 
 the two parties it would be very difficult to absolutely determine. 
 The whole thing was a piece of rascality, conceived in corrup- 
 tion, and endeavored to be brought to success by the basest 
 means knowjn politics. The vote in the respective houses of the 
 legislature took place on January 17th. In the house, Davis 
 received 67 out of 114; D. W. Lawler, the Democratic nominee, 
 31; S. M. Owens, the Farmers' Alliance candidate, 12; Moses 
 E. Clapp, 1 ; Albert Scheffer, 1 ; C. M. Start, 1. In the senate 
 Davis received 20, Lawler 17, Owens 1, Merriam 2, Start 1, 
 Scheffer 1, Lind 1, D. A. Dickinson 1. 
 
 So far the plot was working all right. Davis had a majority 
 in the house, and if he had had a majority in the senate it would 
 only have been necessary to read the journals of the respective 
 bodies in the joint convention the next day, and the election 
 would be over. But as the conspirators planned he did not ha iT e 
 a majority in the senate, and consequently it was necessary to 
 take a vote in joint convention the next day, January 18th. 
 
 As showing that the scheme for purchasing the election was 
 a hard proposition, I quote the following editorial paragraph 
 from the Pioneer Press of June 16th, two days prior to the vote 
 in the legislature: 
 
 The boodlers have apparently given up the fight. The scheme 
 they undertook to work under Democratic inspiration was not lacking 
 in audacity or even in impudence, whatever may be said of the sagacity, 
 to say nothing of the honesty of those who inspired it. They proposed 
 to select as against Davis some other Republican if they could find 
 
188 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 one who would accept the doubtful honor by a combination of the 
 Democratic and Populist cohorts, reinforced by the purchased individ- 
 ual treachery of 14 Republicans. 
 
 The Pioneer was still harping upon the Democratic inspira- 
 tion, but the real inspiration was the money of the men (Republi- 
 cans) who hoped to profit by the defeat of Senator Davis. 
 
 Money will inspire more deviltry than all the politicians and 
 political theories in the world combined ; in fact the deviltry in 
 politics would not exist if it was not backed up by cash. 
 
 The joint convention met on January 18th, and as soon as it 
 was called to order Speaker Lee announced that, as the vote in 
 the houses separately the day previous showed that no one per- 
 son had received a majority in each house, it would be necessary 
 to cail the roll and take a ballot for United States senator. 
 There were 168 members of the legislature present, and it was 
 pretty well known how 167 of them would vote. .Mr. Holler, 
 Republican representative from Wright county, had been absent 
 from the original caucus and also absent from the house the pre- 
 ceding day when the first official vote was taken. He was the 
 pivotal man. Davis' fate rested in his hands, as it was believed 
 if an election could be prevented that day the plot to defeat him 
 could then be developed and carried to success. All of the 
 spectators were anxious to take a look at Holler, and he was the 
 cynosure of all eyes while the roll was being called. When his 
 name was about to be reached the Davis men held their, breath ; 
 in fact it was a case of suspended animation for a moment ; but 
 when in response to his name he voted for Davis, Bob Dunn, 
 the present candidate for governor on the Republican ticket, who 
 was a member of the legislature from Mille Lacs county, let out 
 a yell worthy of a Sioux Indian on the war path and led the 
 cheering for Davis, which was loud, long and vociferous. 
 
 Winning by an eye-lash made the victory all the more sweet; 
 and when the record was made up it was found that Davis had 
 85 votes, the exact number necessary and no more ; Lawler 49, 
 Owen 23, Merriam 2, Lind 2, Scheffer 2, Clapp 3, Start 1, Dick- 
 inson 1. Seven Republican senators had voted against Davis, 
 but he had enough without them. 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 189 
 
 There was a good deal of talk at the time of political death 
 awaiting those seven senators, and still it can be said, as show- 
 ing the forgetfulness and forgiving spirit of the American people, 
 that one of the senators was re-elected, and one has since been 
 sent to Congress. The whirligig of politics brings strange 
 results. At this time there probably is not a man living who is 
 proud of having voted against Davis if he was a member of the 
 Republican party at that time. But Davis and his friends suf- 
 fered the scare of their lives, and it took them a long time to 
 recover from the effects of the terror they experienced. It was 
 like a person having his hair turn white in a night by excessive 
 fright. At that time those who were bald-headed were con- 
 gratulating themselves. 
 
OBSERVATION TWENTY-EIGHT. 
 
 McGill's Nomination for Governor. 
 
 There have been a great many notable contests in Minnesota,. 
 but they have largely been confined to congressional and sena- 
 torial matters. Perhaps the gubernatorial contest of 1886 was 
 the one, involving the whole state, which attracted the most 
 interest up to the one in this current year, which is considered in 
 a later chapter. 
 
 In the campaign of 1886 there was a quadrangular contest 
 for the Republican nomination for governor. The candidates 
 were A. R. McGill, who was credited to Nicollet county, C. A. 
 Gilman of Stearns, J. L. Gibbs of Freeborn, and Albert Scheffer 
 of St. Paul. Mr. Scheffer did not remain in the field as a formal 
 candidate though he was voted for in the convention, and the 
 leading competitors were McGill and Gilman, with Gibbs nearly 
 up to Gilman's figures. 
 
 McGill had been private secretary to Governor Austin for 
 two terms, and also state insurance commissioner, which involved 
 his residing in St. Paul, and consequently his political oppo- 
 nents tried the usually fatal claim that he lived in the city, though 
 it did not prove successful at this time. At first the St. Paul Dis- 
 patch supported Scheffer, but after he withdrew it advocated Gil- 
 man, while the Pioneer Press championed McGill. The Dis- 
 patch endeavored to show that St. Paul was more likely to 
 secure the United States senator with Gilman in the chair of state 
 than McGill. Five or six weeks before the state convention the 
 Dispatch said : 
 
 In our opinion the candidacy of Mr. Davis for United States 
 senator should be made paramount to every other consideration. If 
 
 (ISO) 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. L91 
 
 anybody's candidacy for any other office stands in Mr. Davis' way he 
 should be promptly dropped by Ramsey County Republicans. We 
 should fix our eyes on a senatorial seat for C. K. Davis and subordi- 
 nate every other minor consideration to that end. 
 
 To offset this, McGill's friends insisted that he really belonged 
 in St. Peter, which was his home, and where he owned a news- 
 paper ; that he had only been brought to St. Paul temporarily 
 for political purposes, and it should not be counted as an unpar- 
 donable political sin that he lived in the city for a few years, as 
 a necessary adjunct to drawing his salary. 
 
 The Republican state convention having the matter in charge 
 met in St. Paul, September 23rd, with 361 delegates. Capt. H. 
 A. Castle was then chairman of the state central committee, and 
 called the convention to order. M. J. Daniels of Rochester 
 promptly nominated A. C. Wedge of Albert Lea for chairman. 
 This produced a storm. Knute Nelson* (now Senator Nelson) 
 sprang to his feet and made a fiery protest. Nelson was sup- 
 porting Gilman, and he claimed that this chairmanship selection 
 was a Gibbs move, aided by McGill, and warned the Republicans 
 that the Fifth Congressional District, where Gilman lived, was 
 where they would have to look for their votes if they carried the 
 state. Loren Fletcher of Minneapolis and John A. Lovely of 
 Albert Lea made speeches in reply to Nelson, disclaiming any 
 effort to take advantage, even going so far as to offer to with- 
 draw Wedge, but he was evidently an entering "wedge," for this, 
 which was only a bluff, was not done, and in spite of Nelson's 
 fusillade Wedge was elected chairman with only three opposing 
 votes. 
 
 It was nearly 4 o'clock when the afternoon session of the con- 
 vention began, and Knute Nelson was again on deck. He moved 
 to have the platform reported before the nominations. H. G. 
 Hicks of Minneapolis and Fletcher then united in a little parlia- 
 mentary by-play which rather got the better of Nelson. Hicks 
 moved to table Nelson's resolution, and just then Fletcher 
 claimed attention from the chair. Nelson sought to interrupt, 
 when Fletcher said : "J have the floor, Mr. Nelson. We are not 
 here to be defeated by any chicanery, sharp practice, or trickery." 
 Nelson then raised the point that a motion to lay on the table 
 
L92 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 was not debatable, but Hicks came to Fletcher's rescue by 
 withdrawing the motion while Fletcher was still on his feet. 
 Fletcher then added, "I know my rights, Mr. Nelson. I have 
 the floor. The opposition want delay. Their purposes are 
 neither manly nor creditable to a convention like this." Hav- 
 ing thus relieved himself, Fletcher sat down, while Hicks im- 
 mediately renewed his motion to lay Nelson's motion on the 
 table, and as such a motion was not debatable Nelson's wind 
 was shut off, though he attempted to reply. 
 
 Fletcher's rebuke of "sharp practices" under these circum- 
 stances was pretty good, and almost suggestive of Satan in the 
 pulpit. The motion to lay on the table prevailed and balloting 
 for governor was then in order. The chair called for nomina- 
 tions, but there was no response. He then asked dircetly if any 
 one wanted to name McGill ; but even this broad hint did not 
 bring a nominating speech, and the convention went into informal 
 ballot without a candidate being named. The whole number of 
 votes cast were 361, necessary to a choice 181. An informal 
 and two formal ballots were taken, with the following results: 
 
 Informal. 1st Formal. 2nd Formal. 
 
 McGill 156 163 168 
 
 Gilman 103 100 102 
 
 Gibbs 98 96 88 
 
 Scheffer 1 1 2 
 
 Scattering 3 ... 2 
 
 At this stage of the proceedings the excitement was intense, 
 and the opponents of McGill wanted time to think about it and 
 see what combinations could be made. A recess was accord- 
 ingly taken with a view of having an evening session. At the 
 adjourned evening session balloting was immediately resumed, 
 but it only took two ballots to settle the contest. They were as 
 follows : 
 
 Third Ballot. Fourth Ballot. 
 
 McGill 175 100 
 
 Gilman 95 60 
 
 Gibbs 75 42 
 
 Scheffer 16 66 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 193 
 
 The Gilman and Gibbs men had undertaken to make a dark- 
 horse candidate of Scheffer, and while they ran his vote up they 
 could not control their own forces, and in the break enough 
 went to McGill to nominate him. Possibly if the combination 
 had been attempted earlier it would have won, but Gilman and 
 Gibbs each lived in hopes a little too long. The Dispatch had 
 been supporting H. A. Castle for lieutenant governor, but when 
 it came to ballot A. E. Rice of Kandiyohi county had 237 to 103 
 for Castle. 
 
 About the only other notable thing about the ticket was the 
 defeat of Sam Nichols for clerk of the supreme court. He had 
 held the office continually from 1876, and began to feel that there 
 was a sort of life tenure in the position. His chief competitor 
 was J. D. Jones of Long Prairie, though there were three other 
 candidates. It required three ballots to determine the result. 
 But after the second ballot two of the candidates withdrew in 
 favor of Jones, which gave him the victory. Nichols received 
 in, 124, and 107 votes, while Jones had 70, 102, and 234 votes on 
 the respective ballots. It was at this convention that Hon. 
 Moses E. Clapp, now U. S. senator, first came into prominence 
 by securing the position of attorney general. There were four 
 candidates in the field, with Dean Pattee, now of the state uni- 
 versity, Clapp's chief competitor. There were two ballots, 
 Clapp receiving 142 and 182 votes, while Pattee had 98 and 69. 
 While Clapp won he had only one vote to spare, as 181 were 
 necessary for a choice, the other votes being cast for Kellogg and 
 Burlingame. As evidence that newspaper predictions are not 
 always reliable, I quote the following which appeared at the 
 head of the editorial columns of Captain Castle's Dispatch August 
 nth, the day preceding the convention: 
 
 From a careful perusal of the state press the following seems to be 
 the complexion of the state ticket: 
 Governor— C. A. Gilman. 
 Lieutenant Governor — H. A. Castle. 
 Secretary of State— H. G. Stordock. 
 Treasurer— Joseph Bobleter. 
 Auditor — W. W. Braden. 
 Attorney General — In doubt. 
 
 13 
 
194 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 As the first three officers really selected were McGill, Rice and 
 Hans Mattson, and the last was not named in the prophesy, it 
 left the Dispatch right in two instances out of six, which might 
 be termed close prognostication if a person was reckless as to 
 facts. 
 
 The Dispatch was very sore over the result, and especially 
 berated R. B. Langdon and Loren Fletcher of Minneapolis for 
 McGill's nomination. Just a week after the nomination, in 
 reply to tantalization by the Pioneer Press, the Dispatch said: 
 
 When it comes to a choice of two evils, choose the least. The 
 editor of the Dispatch expects to vote the Republican ticket, McGill 
 and all, but that is only because that, bad as are the influences that 
 nominated and will control McGill, they are preferable to the influences 
 that will control Ames." 
 
 Per contra, the Pioneer Press, the morning after the nomina- 
 tion, said this: 
 
 There is no member of the party who can find cause for dissatisfac- 
 tion in the ticket presented for his support. McGill is a strong man, 
 a clean man, an honest man. He is a man about whom there lingers 
 no odor of jobbery, no smells from the fumes of a political pit. Against 
 him neither public nor private scandal has ever raised a whistper. 
 
 The canvass before the people was vigorous and exciting. 
 Dr. A. A. Ames of Minneapolis was the Democratic candidate 
 for governor, and struck a popular chord with the laboring 
 classes, the result being that he gave Governor McGill a close 
 run. The vote at the election stood: 
 
 McGill 106.966 
 
 Ames 104,483 
 
 James E. Child (Prohibition) 9,030 
 
 •Child's vote came very largely from the Republican ranks, 
 but so far as practical results were concerned McGill only had 
 2,483 plurality over Ames. 
 
 An exciting county-seat contest had quite a bearing on the 
 result. In fact Ames claimed that he would have been elected 
 but for the county-seat contest in Becker county, and went so 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 195 
 
 far as to come down to St. Paul and take the oath of office as 
 governor before a magistrate. 
 
 It was Ames' intention to make a formal contest with McGill, 
 but he never pressed the matter, and consequently McGill took 
 his seat in due time. It is quite possible that the result might 
 have been different if it had not been for a riot in Minneapolis 
 the night preceding the election. The Republicans had a torch- 
 light street parade, and as excitement ran high the leading citi- 
 zens of the city — men like Chas. A. Pillsbury, ex-Gov. John S. 
 Pillsbury, Thomas Lowry and others — marched in the proces- 
 sion. The Democrats lost their heads and assaulted them, some 
 of the conspicuous Republican leaders being considerably 
 bruised. The result was that a storm of local indignation was 
 aroused at this ruffianism, which unquestionably cost Ames 
 many votes. In view of subsequent developments just what 
 might have happened if A. A. Ames had been elected governor 
 of Minnesota is a chapter of history which it is now entirely 
 unnecessary to write. 
 
OBSERVATION TWENTY-NINE. 
 
 W. R. Merriam's Election as Governor. 
 
 After the lapse of a few years people forget political contests. 
 The great majority of the delegates to the Republican state con- 
 vention in 1904 which nominated a state ticket, were in the habit 
 of saying to themselves and each other : "There never has been 
 any such contest as this before in the state." As a matter of 
 fact, with the exception that the convention was much smaller, 
 there was a contest for the gubernatorial nomination between A. 
 R. McGill, Albert Scheffer and W. R. Merriam, with Charles A. 
 Gilman of St. Cloud on the side as a sort of "Barkis is willin'," 
 which was as bitter and exciting as the convention of 1904. 
 
 This was September 5 and 6, 1888. Scheffer and Merriam 
 were residents of St. Paul, while McGill was credited to Nicollet 
 county, though he almost ranked as a St. Paulite, as his duties 
 as private secretary to Governor Austin and insurance commis- 
 sioner had made him reside in St. Paul since 1870. 
 
 Governor McGill was serving his first term, and by the 
 unwritten political law of the party was entitled to the endorse- 
 ment of a second term. He had made an acceptable official and, 
 furthermore, had gone through his first campaign as the cham- 
 pion of high license, which his party had made an issue. Upon 
 this issue he narrowly escaped defeat. He was as conspicuous in 
 the state as the party representative of that issue as McKinley 
 became later the party representative of the tariff. 
 
 After McGill was elected he urged high license in his mes- 
 sage, presided and spoke at public meetings held to advocate the 
 measure while the legislature was considering the bill, and in 
 every way stood as its champion. Everyone is now in favor of 
 
 (196) 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 197 
 
 high license, the saloon men as well as the temperance advocates, 
 outside of absolute prohibitionists. But it was a different matter 
 then. The proposed measure lifted $25 licenses to $500, and 
 $50 and $100 licenses to $1,000, according to the population of 
 the town. St. Paul had over 800 saloons, with a license revenue 
 of only $80,000, while now with about 300 saloons the revenue is 
 $300,000. The high license law was really a peaceable revolution, 
 and Governor McGill, owing to his official position, stood as the 
 party leader for the measure. 
 
 W. R. Merriam had been speaker of the house in 1887, and 
 evidently regarded that as a stepping stone to the governorship, 
 just as speakers of the national house aim to go from that posi- 
 tion to the presidency. Waiting two years to give Governor 
 McGill his second term seemed too long a period for Merriam, 
 and he accordingly decided to enter the race in 1888. 
 
 Seeing that Governor McGill was to have competition, Albert 
 Scheffer concluded to join in the exercises, and thus a contest 
 was engendered which proved to be very bitter before it was 
 concluded. 
 
 Scheffer was first launched by a Farmers' Alliance meeting. 
 This was done to beat Merriam on his own ground, as he had 
 been especially coquetting with that element of the people. After 
 the Farmers' Alliance movement Mr. Scheffer opened formal 
 headquarters at the Merchants hotel in St. Paul, in charge of C. 
 D. Baker of Fergus Falls, who with a corps of assistants worked 
 several months in the Scheffer cause prior to the convention. 
 The state was deluged with literature in all languages, and up to 
 that date the most active preliminary campaign ever seen in the 
 state was conducted by Mr. Scheffer and his friends. 
 
 Mr. Merriam conducted his campaign from his banking 
 house, literally and emphatically, and relied very largely upon 
 personal agents who visited nearly and perhaps every county in 
 the state. His campaign was not so much on the town-meeting 
 order as Scheffer's, but of a character to reach the right spot and 
 put the investment where it would do the most good, which was 
 more effective in the end. 
 
 Governor McGill had his headquarters in the saddle, or, to be 
 more exact, in the executive offices at the capitol. 
 
198 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 The fact that Governor McGill was in office really handi- 
 capped the activity of his campaign, as it was beneath the dignity 
 of his position to make efforts for himself which otherwise would 
 have been entirely becoming and permissible. 
 
 C. A. Gilman of St. Cloud, thinking that the trio might 
 need a compromise candidate, let it be known that he could be 
 made a sacrifice, although he did not go to any excessive labor 
 or expenditure in his preliminary work. 
 
 And so the merry war went on until the convention assembled 
 in St. Paul on September 5th. 
 
 Hennepin county, with Loren Fletcher in the lead, was the 
 especial champion of McGill, while the 20 votes of Ramsey 
 county stood 16 for Scheffer and 4 for McGill. Merriam was 
 without any home support, which to a man without finan- 
 cial resources would have presaged defeat. Scheffer had 
 only a broken delegation. John S. Pillsbury, as chairman 
 of the state central committee, called the convention to order, 
 and William Hodgson of Dakota county, a Scheffer man, nomi- 
 nated J. L. Gibbs for temporary chairman. Fred Hooker of 
 Minneapolis, a McGill man, seconded the nomination, and Gibbs 
 was chosen unanimously. 
 
 Gibbs was seated in the rear of the hall, wearing his usual 
 rural and unsophisticated look, so that perhaps it is not surpris- 
 ing that when he started to go to the platform a policeman, who 
 had been employed to preserve order, grabbed him by the arm 
 and told him to keep away and not to disturb the convention. 
 He was finally introduced to the policeman, after which he was 
 permitted to take his seat as temporary chairman, and subse- 
 quently was chosen as permanent chairman' without being 
 arrested a second time. 
 
 One of the first episodes was a resolution excluding proxies 
 unless the party resided in the county which was represented. 
 This resolution passed, but it cut both ways. C. B. Buckman of 
 Little Falls, who was supporting Merriam, had a proxy from 
 Wadena county, while Frank Davis of Minneapolis was due to 
 represent Olmstead county, and Freeman P. Lane, also of Minne- 
 apolis, was due to come from Wright county. But all were 
 excluded. It took but a few minutes to appoint the usual com- 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 199 
 
 mittees, after which oratory from Frank Davis and Ignatius Don- 
 nelly was in order. Donnelly did not assume to be a full-fledged 
 Republican at that time, but advised the convention to stand in 
 with the Farmers' Alliance. 
 
 A recess until 3 o'clock p. m. then followed. 
 
 When the convention assembled in the afternoon the commit- 
 tee on credentials was unable to report owing to the large num- 
 ber of contests, which among the multitude of candidates required 
 great care in settling. Chairman Gibbs, with commendable 
 impartiality, had given McGill, Scheffer and Merriam each five 
 men on the credentials committee, which rendered it still more 
 difficult to come to a determination. A recess was accordingly 
 taken till evening, at which time the committee reported the 
 names of 450 delegates, and for a wonder the report was adopted 
 without a fight on the floor of the convention. 
 
 Then the platform committee was not ready. The late Gor- 
 don E. Cole was the head of that committee, and he was in favor 
 of a tariff for revenue only, which, while it might be heresy in 
 the Republican party at this time, was at that time accepted by 
 a great many as the proper thing. 
 
 Ex-Governor Pillsbury wanted to proceed and nominte the 
 ticket without the platform, but this produced strenuous oppo- 
 sition, and the motion was voted down by 268 to 160. Evidently 
 with a view of having time enough the next day, the convention 
 then adjourned its evening session until 9 a. m. The first busi- 
 ness of the second day was the report of the platform, which was 
 very weak on the tariff question. The unique feature of the plat- 
 form was couched in these words : 
 
 It points with pride to the pure and clean administration of Gov. 
 A. R. McGill. 
 
 Notwithstanding this declaration in the platform the conven- 
 tion turned about and cut McGill's throat from ear to ear. 
 
 Balloting for governor was then in order, and the first ballot 
 was voted to be informal. There were 448 votes cast, 225 being 
 necessary for a choice, the ballot standing : 
 
200 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 Merriam 158 
 
 McGill 149 
 
 Scheffer 116 
 
 Gilman 17 
 
 T. B. Clement 8 
 
 The second ballot was designed to be formal, but there was 
 so much confusion that General Jennison declared it should be 
 made informal and carried his point. The only change it showed 
 was 4 of McGill's vote going to Merriam. 
 
 There then followed four formal ballots, which tell the story 
 of the convention and can better be described in the condensed 
 form of the following table. 
 
 First. Second. Third. Fourth. 
 
 Merriam 169 178 212 270 
 
 McGill 138 114 24 
 
 Scheffer 106 78 96 72 
 
 Gilman 28 53 no 101 
 
 On the first ballot Clement received 8 and on the third 1. W. 
 W. Braden received 4 votes on the second and third formal bal- 
 lots ; with these exceptions all the votes are recorded in the table 
 above. After the second ballot the Hennepin county delegation 
 tried the dangerous experiment of swapping horses while cross- 
 ing the stream. Fletcher gave the signal to change from McGill 
 to Gilman, which accounted for Gilman's vote springing up so 
 rapidly and McGill's disappearing. The only result of this was 
 to hasten Merriam's nomination. His success was inevitable from 
 the start unless McGill and Scheffer could combine their forces, 
 and when the McGill men broke to Gilman instead of to Scheffer 
 it was equivalent to saying to Merriam, "Come and take it," and 
 he did. 
 
 When the third ballot showed Merriam only needed 12 more 
 votes to secure the nomination his adherents went wild with joy, 
 and wilder still when the fourth and last formal ballot did the 
 business. 
 
 As the methods resorted to to secure that nomination were a 
 matter of such common notoriety at the time, and not only pub- 
 licly talked of but publicly criticised in the newspapers, it does 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 201 
 
 not seem improper to any of the parties in interest to allude to 
 them here. 
 
 While at this late day it might be difficult to prove a great 
 many things, at the time when that convention was held proof 
 was abundant and most publicly stated that delegates directly sold 
 their votes by counties. Some of the developments were due to 
 the fact that the chairman of a county delegation would repre- 
 sent the bunch and make the trade and then fail to tote fair in the 
 dividend, which caused almost endless quarrels in the delegations 
 when the dividends came to be declared. 
 
 This was a lesson in Minnesota politics which certainly ought 
 to be a warning. If Governor Merriam could have quietly 
 waited two years longer until McGill had had his second term, he 
 could have become governor almost without opposition. There 
 is probably no character who has ever been prominent in Min- 
 nesota politics who better illustrates the maxim that "haste makes 
 waste" than that of ex-Gov. William R. Merriam. 
 
 I have only very briefly and incidentally touched upon this 
 matter because I do not wish to revive so disgracefully an un- 
 pleasant affair, but it would be difficult to write anything approxi- 
 mating a truthful history of Minnesota politics without allusion 
 to the newspaper comments and the developments of that cam- 
 paign, and I make the allusion absolutely as a matter of duty 
 and without the elaboration which the reports elicited at the time. 
 
 The vote at the fall election stood : 
 
 Merriam (Republican) 134-355 
 
 E. M. Wilson (Democrat) 110,251 
 
 Harrison (Prohibitionist) 17,026 
 
 Mr. Merriam's majority over both 7,078 
 
 Up to that date this was the most interesting convention ever 
 held in the state, and especially startling owing to the methods 
 resorted to for success. 
 
OBSERVATION THIRTY. 
 
 C. K. Davis' First Election to the Senate. 
 
 After Senator McMillan's election to the United States 
 senate, in 1875, Gov. C. K. Davis, who was one of the defeated 
 candidates, quietly served out his gubernatorial term and retired 
 from office Jan. 7, 1876. He could have had a renomination 
 and re-election for governor, but he positively declined, and at 
 the end of his single term resumed his lucrative law practice, and 
 apparently laid aside political ambition. He was prominent in 
 political campaigns, in speaking for his party, but aside from that 
 gave no sign that he was in politics. With a patience which few 
 men have who possess political ambition, he bided his time, and 
 knowing that St. Paul could not have two senators made no 
 effort to secure the place which became vacant by Windom's 
 resignation to enter Garfield's cabinet. McMillan was granted 
 a re-election without serious opposition, albeit there was oppo- 
 sition as will appear elsewhere, though it did not prove to be 
 very serious. 
 
 When McMillan's twelve years in the senate was approach- 
 ing its completion, Ex-Governor Davis again appeared in the 
 political arena. In the state campaign of 1886 it was well 
 understood that the senatorial question was one of the issues, 
 and the unanimity in behalf of Davis was remarkable. Almost 
 every Republican paper in the state was in his favor, and while 
 United States senators cannot be elected by the people, as they 
 ought to be, Mr. Davis' selection came about as near an expres- 
 sion of the popular choice at that time as can be expected under 
 the present system of choosing senators. 
 
 (202) 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 203 
 
 The legislature met on the 4th of January, 1887, and on the 
 evening of the 6th the Republican caucus was held to nominate a 
 candidate for senator. The caucus was called to order by M. 
 D. Daniels of Olmstead, and S. G. Comstock of Moorhead was 
 selected chairman. Senator McMillan had come out from 
 Washington and was in the city, probably with a lingering hope 
 that there might be an opportunity for a third term, but he had 
 the sagacity to discover that it was useless to make the contest. 
 Consequently, as soon as the caucus was organized the following 
 letter was read : 
 
 St. Paul, January 6. 
 A. K. Finseth: 
 
 My dear Senator: My name having been mentioned as a candidate 
 for re-election to the United States senate, I desire to thank you for 
 your earnest support, and beg to request you at the caucus of Repub- 
 lican senators and representatives to be held to-night to withdraw my 
 name from the consideration of that body. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 s. j. r. McMillan. 
 
 There was really no doubt of the result before, but this made 
 the success of Davis very easy. There were 94 Republicans pres- 
 ent in the caucus and 9 absent. M. J. Daniels nominated 
 Davis, and he received 93 votes to one for Gordon E. Cole, cast 
 by C. S. Crandall of Owatonna. 
 
 The event of the evening was the speech of Ignatius Don- 
 nelly, which followed the nomination. Donnelly had been wan- 
 dering after strange gods since his defeat for Congress in 1868, 
 had run for Congress on the Democratic and People's tickets in 
 1878, had affiliated with the Farmers' Alliance, and there was 
 great rejoicing in the Republican camp over his supposed return 
 to the fold. It is not surprising, therefore, that there were loud 
 calls for Donnelly, partly from a desire to hear him, as he was 
 always an entertaining speaker, but perhaps still more largely 
 from a desire to publicly commit him to the party. Mr. Don- 
 nelly responded with a very entertaining speech, in which he 
 endorsed Davis cordially, and there the caucus ended. Twelve 
 days intervened between the caucus and the election, but this 
 time there was no talk of bringing a new candidate into the 
 
204 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS 
 
 field, and Davis was as secure in the place when the caucus 
 adjourned as when the vote was taken in the legislature. The 
 ballot was taken in the respective branches of the legislature on 
 the 18th. In the senate the vote stood Davis 33, Michael Doran 
 14; in the house it was Davis 70, Doran 26, Ara Barton 2. 
 
 On the 19th the legislature met in joint session to hear the 
 reading of the votes cast in the branches separately the day before, 
 and Davis was then formally declared elected to the senate for 
 the term of six years, beginning March 4, 1887. 
 
 After this had been done a committee was appointed to wait 
 on Senator Davis and notify him of the result. He soon 
 appeared and made a very graceful acceptance speech, during 
 which he took occasion to publicly recognize the service the state 
 press had rendered him — a service which I have reason to know 
 he appreciated to the day of his death. 
 
 "I cannot let this occasion pass," he said, "without acknowledging 
 my obligation to my friends, and especially to the press of the state. 
 That the people's voice spoke through this oracle of popular opinion 
 makes my obligation to it none the less, and I here tender my thanks 
 for an advocacy which is so often spoken in the language of personal 
 affection as to touch my heart and establish a lasting resting place in my 
 memory." 
 
 In view of the present sentiment of the Republican party on 
 protection, it is peculiar that the slight opposition there was to 
 Davis' election was due to his having made protection speeches 
 during the campaign. Senator Daniel alluded to this in a semi- 
 apologetic manner when he nominated Davis in the caucus, 
 declaring that his speeches during the campaign had not been 
 objectionable or outside of party lines. 
 
 On Nov. 20, 1886, which was some days after the election, 
 the Pioneer Press made this comment: 
 
 "The disposition manifested everywhere throughout the state to 
 hold Governor Davis to a strict accountability for the high tariff bias 
 apparently revealed in his speeches during the late campaign is grati- 
 fying evidence of an awakened public opinion on that subject. 
 
 We have reached a pass in Minnesota where high tariff opinions 
 are heresy in the view of the mass of thoughtful and intelligent voters. 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 205 
 
 "High tariff bias" being- a sin, "high tariff opinion," heresy 
 in the Republican party sounds quite odd in the light of to-day ; 
 but I record the time when it was permissible, as a matter of 
 history. 
 
 Senator Davis was given his second term by a re-election in 
 1893, when he narrowly escaped defeat. He was elected for the 
 third time in 1899 with absolute unanimity, but death cut short 
 his brilliant career in November, 1900. Up to date no other Min- 
 nesota senator has been three times elected, but Knute Nelson is 
 yet to be heard from. 
 
OBSERVATION THIRTY-ONE. 
 
 The Defeat of Hon. Wm. Windom for the Senate by Hon. 
 D. M. Sabin. 
 
 In the winter of 1883, Senator William Windom was a can- 
 didate for re-election to the senate. He had served one term 
 previously, had been a member of President Garfield's cabinet 
 and was serving out a sub-term in the senate, which would 
 expire the 4th of March, 1883. He and his friends were very con- 
 fident of success. Windom himself felt that he was doing the 
 state a favor in allowing them to elect him again. He accord- 
 ingly decided that he would remain in his seat in the senate and 
 let the legislature do the work. The Pioneer Press, which was 
 his especial champion, came out and commended him in the 
 highest terms for the dignity of his position in declining to come 
 on and engage in the scramble. In the same article that paper 
 berated Congressman Mark H. Dunnell of the First district 
 because he was in the field, with headquarters at one of the 
 hotels, as a candidate. 
 
 It was really Windom's controversy with Dunnell which led 
 to Windom's defeat, though Dunnell did not loom up formid- 
 ably as a candidate himself. As politics go, no one could blame 
 Dunnell for taking a hand in the fight. He lived in the first 
 congressional district and had served four terms in Congress, 
 and began to feel that he had a life tenure on the office, when 
 Senator Windom, who also lived in the first district, went out 
 of his way, in the summer of 1882, to defeat Dunnell for renom- 
 ination for Congress. He did this on the theory that Dunnell 
 had senatorial aspirations, and he thought to kill him off. But 
 it proved to be a case of a man "hoist by his own petard," or 
 that of 
 
 "A gun well aimed at duck or plover, 
 Kicked back and knocked the owner over." 
 
 (206) 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 207 
 
 Windom succeeded in defeating Dunnell for the renomina- 
 tion, and gave the nomination to Milo White. As the sequel 
 proved, Dunnell's term and Windom's term both expired the 
 same day, March 4, 1883. 
 
 Windom had done some impolitic things. He had sold his 
 residence in Winona and built him a fine house in Washington, — 
 which to the rural mind gave the impression that he was get- 
 ting rich on a salary of $5,000 a year. In fact it had been given 
 out that he never intended to return to the state when he retired 
 from public life, and this, too, did not aid him any. 
 
 While Dunnell was by no means all of the opposition to 
 Windom, he was the central figure around which Windom's 
 opponents rallied, meeting at Dunnell's headquarters for their 
 conferences and for the formation of their plots. The first move 
 of the opposition to Windom was to keep as many Republicans 
 from going into caucus as possible. This proved quite a suc- 
 cess. There were no Republicans in the legislature, and only 
 62 went into the caucus. So that while the legislature was 
 overwhelmingly Republican, less than a majority of the legisla- 
 ture were bound to support Windom. The caucus to nominate 
 a senator was held on the evening of Jan. n, 1883. At first there 
 were 20 senators present and 39 representatives, a total of 59; 
 but two or three more drifted in, so that the real strength of the 
 caucus was 62. Everything was very harmonious in that cau- 
 cus, for the anti-Windom men all remained away. Hon. J. B. 
 Gilfillan of Minneapolis nominated Mr. Windom in the caucus, 
 and he received 60 votes, after which the nomination was made 
 unanimous, and the caucus adjourned. 
 
 The first vote in the legislature was January 17th. On that 
 vote, in the senate Windom received 23, Gordon E. Cole 5, Dun- 
 nell 4, and Thomas Wilson, nominee of the Democratic caucus, 
 2. There were scattering 6. In the house Windom received 46, 
 Wilson 25, Cole 5, Kindred 4, Dunnell 6, D. A. Dickinson 3, 
 C. K. Davis 2, Hubbard 2, scattering 4, absent or not voting 6. 
 This was not a very auspicious opening for Windom, and, to 
 those who understand politics, presaged his defeat. Of course, 
 as he had not received a majority in either branch of the legis- 
 lature, there was nothing to do but to go into joint session the 
 
20S H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 next day and resume the balloting. On January 18th two bal- 
 lots were taken in joint session, Windom receiving 65 and 61, 
 Wilson 37 and 34, the remainder of the votes being scattered 
 among the various names already mentioned, and others. 
 
 On January 18th there were three ballots, Windom receiving 
 58, 57 and 55, showing that his strength was gradually being dis- 
 sipated. On the 19th there were four ballots, Windom receiv- 
 ing 58, 51, 51 and 50. The decline in Windom's vote was 
 ominous, and his rural friends saw that he was defeated, though 
 it was some time later before they absolutely admitted it. A 
 secret meeting of his friends was held that evening at the Mer- 
 chants hotel, and an effort was made to bring out John S. 
 Pillsbury as a compromise candidate. But this movement failed, 
 and it was decided instead to telegraph to Windom to come to 
 St. Paul. In spite of the dignity so loudly praised by the Pio- 
 neer Press he took the first train, and was in St. Paul on the 
 22nd. But his presence did not seem to help, for the first day 
 after his arrival his vote fell to 45. 
 
 For a partizan newspaper, the Pioneer Press can enact the 
 role of all kinds of a bull in a china shop as well as any paper I 
 have ever known. On January 18th this was illustrated by an 
 editorial which it published. Bear in mind this was the time 
 when it was important that W r indom should hold every friend 
 he had, and get a good many more, if he would win. Here is an 
 extract from that editorial: 
 
 The choice of the United States senator is committed by law largely 
 to the petty, feeble-minded creatures who usually contribute a large sec- 
 tion, and sometimes a majority, of their party in the legislature. 
 
 That was enticing for the Windom men. To make it more 
 binding the same editorial followed up with this paragraph : 
 
 The results of senatorial elections are largely determined by the 
 success of the action on either side in playing upon the weaknesses, the 
 foibles, the prejudices, the credulities, imbecility or the mercenary little- 
 ness of this class of small-potato fools and knaves. 
 
 The conciliatory policy of the Pioneer Press was grand. 
 If this was not enough to induce the recalcitrant friends of 
 Windom to come back to the fold, this paragraph was added : 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 209 
 
 If Mr. Windom's friends have the firmness and tenacity of purpose 
 to hold together to the number of 50, or even 45, votes, there is still a 
 good fighting chance to win. There are probably some one or two dozen 
 of these ineffably dirty creatures in the legislature who have been wait- 
 ing to be bought. 
 
 Harmony with a big "H" was evidently abroad. 
 
 The balloting went on day by day, and in the joint convention 
 of January 25th, W. H. Grimshaw, who was a member of the 
 legislature, read this pronunciamento signed by himself and seven 
 others : 
 
 All Republican members of the legislature who believe the election 
 of Senator Windom undesirable are requested to meet at the Metro- 
 politan this evening for the purpose of concerting a plan of action in the 
 interests of the Republican party during the present senatorial contest. 
 
 W. H. GRIMSHAW, 
 EVER SAMPSON, 
 H. A. FINCH, 
 G. G. HARTLEY, 
 J. VAN DYKE, 
 W. P. SERGEANT, 
 T. PAULSON, 
 H. ANDERSON. 
 
 Jn response to this call 45 assembled, and others in sympathy 
 were accounted for up to the number of 52. The caucus was 
 chiefly devoted to rejoicing over Windom's defeat, which all 
 saw was inevitable, and every man in that caucus was opposed to 
 him. No plan was evolved, and probably it was not expected 
 that any plan would be. I was not permitted to enter the caucus, 
 but I was on the outskirts, and the only official report that I 
 could get of what they did was a facetious one, stating that they 
 passed the following resolution: 
 
 Resolved, That we are the best crowd of stayers that ever struck 
 St. Paul. 
 
 There was not much change in the balloting, Windom hold- 
 ing between 40 and 50 votes right along. 
 
 Meantime there were rumors of Sabin being brought into the 
 field. On the 4th of January, before the legislature met, I had 
 mentioned the fact in the Globe, which I was then publishing, 
 that Sabin might be a possible contingency. This was the first 
 
 14 
 
210 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 public mention of his name in this connection. On the 14th of 
 January I quoted in the Globe this sentence from the Minne- 
 apolis Journal: 
 
 The Democrats are said to be agreeable to the election of D. M. 
 Sabin. 
 
 And to this I added : 
 
 And a good many others are agreeable besides the Democrats. 
 
 Still there was no formal movement to bring a dark horse into 
 the race at that time. 
 
 As the days ran on I foresaw that the only safety and suc- 
 cess of the anti-Windom movement was to hurry it up, and the 
 consequence was, as I was liberal minded, ready to advise any- 
 body and everybody, I published in the Globe of January 29th 
 a ten-line editorial under the head of "Concentrate," which read 
 as follows: 
 
 The Globe has been able to supply Mr. Windom with some good 
 advice, and it is now willing to supply his opponents with some wise 
 counsel. 
 
 The advice of the Globe to the antis is to concentrate at once. 
 Delays are dangerous. There should and can be an election tomorrow. 
 
 As the election actually did take place within three days, I 
 think I can claim that my advice bore some fruits I reported 
 the joint sessions of the legislature for my own paper, and on 
 January 31st there was an unusually large attendance of visitors. 
 In my preface to the proceedings I said this : 
 
 The renewal of interest resulted from the announcement by the 
 Globe that Hon. D. M. Sabin, whose name had been frequently men- 
 tioned as a prospective dark horse in the scramble for the prize, was to 
 be brought out and voted for, thus antagonizing and disrupting the Win- 
 dom forces. The confidence expressed by thus organizing the break for 
 Sabin had created an impression in many quarters that it was very possi- 
 ble an election would result, and it is the weakness of human nature to 
 wish to be on hand to speed the rising king and spurn the defeated. 
 
 Bear in mind that all that I have quoted was prior to Sabin's 
 name having been mentioned in the legislature in the ballot, 
 though there were plenty of scattering votes for others. 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 211 
 
 The plan of the Sabin men was to get the Democratic votes 
 to add to the recalcitrant Republicans who refused to support 
 Windom, and thus elect him, the object being not so much to 
 promote Sabin as to defeat Windom. 
 
 The Democrats held a caucus on the evening of the day my 
 comments appeared, and decided that they would support a 
 Republican as against Windom when their vote would elect. 
 They fixed the figure at 35, and voted that when any Republican 
 got 35 votes as against Windom, the Democrats should be 
 released from the caucus obligations to go as they pleased. 
 
 On the 31st of January, two days after my brief "Concen- 
 trate"' editorial, Sabin's name was presented without any form- 
 ality in the ballot in the joint convention. He was voted for on 
 two ballots, receiving 17 on the first ballot and 22 on the sec- 
 ond. 
 
 In my paper the next day I had an elaborate review of the 
 situation which perhaps is most briefly told by the head-lines, 
 which were as follows : 
 
 Sable Sabin— The Honorable Member from Washington County 
 Looms Up in Formidable Shape— The New Deal Developed. 
 
 The next day there were 7 ballots, Sabin receiving on the 
 first 4 ballots, 29, 22, 32 and 33. J. N. Castle of Stillwater was 
 a Democratic senator, but he was a townsman and warm personal 
 friend of Mr. Sabin and anxious for an opportunity to go to him. 
 When, therefore, Sabin had 33 votes on the fourth ballot, it 
 became evident that he would have 35 or more on the next bal- 
 lot. When Mr. Castle's name was reached on the roll-call on the 
 fifth ballot, he explained his vote in the following speech : 
 
 The Democratic caucus adopted a resolution pledging the individual 
 members of their party to stand by their candidate, Hon. Thomas Wilson, 
 until some Republican other than Mr. Windom should receive 35 votes, 
 when such alliance should end, and each member be allowed to vote as 
 to him seemed best under the existing circumstances, and the Hon. D. M. 
 Sabin having received more than 35 votes I now avail myself of the privi- 
 lege conferred by the caucus and change my vote from Wilson to Sabin. 
 
 Castle had been delegated as the Democratic leader to deter- 
 mine when the Democrats should change, and as Sabin had over 
 35 when Castle's name was reached he gave the signal for Sabin. 
 The fifth ballot showed 55, and then more of the Democrats came 
 
212 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 dropping into line. The sixth ballot gave Sabin 63, and the 
 seventh and last ballot 81, the exact number to give him the 
 election. 
 
 Of course there was the usual turbulence and applause, both 
 on account of the joy of those who wished to defeat Windom 
 and the pleasure of all to think that the great contest was over. 
 
 Hon. Loren Fletcher of Minneapolis was speaker of the house 
 at the time, and in the roll call his name came last as "Mr. 
 Speaker." He had been one of Windom's most stalwart and 
 pronounced supporters, voting for him every ballot without fail. 
 It is related of Fletcher that when the roll call was in progress 
 on the last ballot he watched it with great intensity, as he was at 
 that moment, whatever he might have been before, at heart a 
 Sabin man, knowing that Windom's cause was hopeless. Before 
 his name was reached, the last one upon the roll, he is said to 
 have leaned over to the clerk of the convention and asked for 
 Sabin's vote. The clerk told him it was 81. Then the next 
 utterance of the clerk was "Mr. Speaker," to which Mr. Fletcher 
 promptly responded, "William Windom." He had found that 
 Sabin was elected without him, and he remained loyal to Win- 
 dom to the last — on the record. I do not say this to intimate that 
 Fletcher was in the least disloyal to his friend Windom. He had 
 nothing to do with bringing Sabin out, but if Sabin had had 
 only 80 votes when his name was reached, I think his would 
 have been the 81 st. 
 
 The balloting consumed a period of sixteen days, during 
 which time 30 ballots in all were cast. 
 
 Mr. Windom was, perhaps, the most mortified man ever 
 within the boundaries of Minnesota. When the fifth ballot on 
 the last day showed that Sabin's nomination was inevitable, 
 Senators Mart Chandler of Red Wing and J. B. Gilfillan of 
 Minneapolis sent a special messenger with a note to Mr. Win- 
 dom at his hotel, asking him to come to the capitol and accept 
 the defeat gracefully. They had been his most stalwart friends 
 during the entire fight. Windom never even replied to the note, 
 but immediately packed his grip, and by the time the legislature 
 had adjourned he had taken a train out of town. By accident, 
 Capt. T. J. Sheehan of Albert Lea walked with him to the depot, 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 213 
 
 but other than that he had no companion. He had not thanked 
 his loyal friends or bade anybody good-bye. Air. Windom liter- 
 ally shook the dust of Minnesota from his feet, and never 
 returned to the state as a resident thereafter, meeting with a 
 tragic death at a banquet in New York City on Jan. 29, 1890. He 
 was secretary of the treasury, and had just made a speech at the 
 banquet when he sat down and in a few minutes his earthly 
 career was ended. 
 
 On February 2nd, the day after Windom's defeat, the Pio- 
 neer Press made this very truthful comment: 
 
 The one fatal blunder of Mr. Windom's campaign was committed by 
 himself in his gratuitous persecution of Mr. Dunnell, and he has no one 
 else to blame that he reaped the whirlwind which he had sown. 
 
 That was eminently true. 
 
 At the time and since there has been a good deal of talk 
 about Sabin having betrayed Mr. Windom in his own interests. 
 Mr. Sabin has passed beyond the reach of men, but I believe it 
 only just to his memory to say that as a somewhat active partici- 
 pant, and certainly an exceedingly active observer of the events, 
 this does injustice to Mr. Sabin. Mr. Sabin was taken sick the 
 last week of the contest, and it was alleged that his sickness was 
 a sham. I called upon him personally several times during his 
 illness, and believe I am not mistaken in saying that his sickness 
 was absolutely real. If he was simulating he was certainly an 
 expert in that line. He was a member of the legislature at the 
 time and elected as a friend of Mr. Windom. So far as any 
 public act of his is concerned he was his friend. The Pioneer 
 Press which had strongly supported Windom and bitterly 
 assailed his opponents came out the day after the election with 
 an elaborate statement of Mr. Sabin's position, stating that he 
 had conferred with Mr. Windom and talked the matter over of 
 his (Sabin's) being a candidate, assuring Mr. Windom that so 
 long as there was a possible chance for Windom, he (Sabin) 
 would not allow his name to be used, and he did not. The 
 Pioneer Press admitted it, and commended Sabin ; and I think 
 I can say, between what I knew and the Pioneer Press com- 
 bined, if there had been any underhanded plotting on the part 
 
214 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 of Sabin against his friend Windom, one or the other of us would 
 have known it. I am sure the Pioneer Press would have told it 
 if it had known it, because it was so vindictive towards Win- 
 dom's opponents, and as I was a law unto myself, telling any- 
 thing I could find out — and more — I do not think I should have 
 hesitated to make it public either, as I was under no obligation to 
 either side, but simply enjoying the fight immensely. I say this 
 in justice to the memory of a man who has gone beyond, 
 because for years afterwards I heard slighting remarks made of 
 Mr. Sabin, and as time goes on they are likely to become per- 
 manently fixed in the minds of the public. 
 
 While Sabin made his business mistakes, for which he was 
 very severely and perhaps properly criticised. I want to put it on 
 record in cold print that I do not believe the man lives who can 
 prove that he betrayed Mr. Windom in that great contest. 
 Neither do I believe that anyone lives who would not have done 
 exactly as Mr. Sabin did. Windom was hopelessly beaten. 
 Several days before the Pioneer Press had published an editorial 
 which began with these words : "Windom is hopelessly beaten," 
 and if Mr. Sabin had never been born someone other than Mr. 
 Windom would have elected senator at that time. Mr. Dunnell 
 had certainly evened the deal. No one blamed him, for he was 
 pursuing the legitimate course in politics of cutting the throat 
 of a man who had cut his throat. 
 
 During the progress of the contest, caucuses Were held 
 nightly at Mr. Dunnell's headquarters at the Merchants hotel, 
 and also at General Sanborn's office. A caucus was held at 
 General Sanborn's office the evening before the regular caucus 
 which demonstrated Windom was beaten, the only trouble was 
 to decide to whom the prize should be given. The whole issue 
 at these caucuses was simply to brace up the anti-Windom men, 
 and make them renew their pledges that under no circumstances 
 and at no time would they ever support Mr. Windom. It was 
 that sort of a combination which defeated Senator Wilkinson in 
 1865, and it was the same which defeated Senator Windom in 
 1883. But Mr. Windom had a new lease of political life in spite 
 of the defeat, as is shown by other chapters in this book. 
 
OBSERVATION THIRTY-TWO. 
 
 Donnelly's Contest in Congress for Washburn's Seat. 
 
 It is a great undertaking to contest a seat in Congress 
 with a man who holds the certificate — a statement which, I am 
 sure, Ignatius Donnelly would verify if he was living. Donnelly 
 and W. D. Washburn had been opponents in the congressional 
 election of 1878. Washburn, on the face of the returns, had 
 3,013 majority over Donnelly, and, of course, received the cer- 
 tificate of election. Donnelly employed O'Brien & Eller of 
 St. Paul, as his attorneys, and gave notice of a contest; Wash- 
 burn employed Bigelow, Flandrau & Clark, Judge Flandrau 
 being the one actively in charge of the case. There were the 
 usual charges of fraudulent voting, intimidation, bribery, etc., 
 and a big volume of evidence was taken. One special point 
 made by Donnelly was that in seven precincts in Minneapolis 
 the ballots were numbered. The legislature had passed a law 
 the previous winter providing that the election judges should, in 
 recording the voter's name, number it and put a corresponding 
 number on the ballot. This practically destroyed the secrecy 
 of the ballot, as it would only be necessary to compare the num- 
 ber of the voter and the number of the ballot to ascertain how 
 every man voted. At the spring election in St. Paul John B. 
 Brisbin had brought suit to prevent the numbering of ballots, 
 and just before the fall election in 1878 Judge Brill had decided 
 the law unconstitutional. The matter was still pending in the 
 supreme court, but until that decision the finding of the lower 
 court stood. There was no numbering of ballots in St. Paul 
 and none in Minneapolis, except in the seven precincts. The 
 seven precincts were largely occupied by working men, and 
 
 (215) 
 
216 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 Donnelly assumed that the numbering of the ballots was to 
 intimidate them from voting for him. They gave, in the aggre- 
 gate, 1,760 majority for Washburn. If Donnelly had lost in 
 the contest outside of Hennepin he would not have had the 
 temerity to contest, but as in the great Republican district of 
 37 counties he had come into Hennepin county with 472 major- 
 ity, he could not resist the temptation to contest, especially as 
 his case would come before a Democratic Congress. 
 
 The contest was a long process. The Congress to which 
 Washburn was elected did not meet until December, 1879, a year 
 after the election. Testimony had been taken throughout the 
 district, and the next move was to get it before Congress. Will- 
 iam M. Springer, a Democrat of Illinois, was chairman of the 
 committee on elections, and Van H. Manning of Mississippi the 
 next in order of rank. The testimony was referred to a sub- 
 committee, of which Manning was chairman. The matter 
 dragged along slowly, but in March, 1880, the majority of the 
 sub-committee, headed by Manning, voted to report to the main 
 committee that Donnelly was elected by 230, though the official 
 canvass had given Washburn 3,013. The minority of the sub- 
 committee, headed by J. Warren Keifer of Ohio reported in 
 favor of Washburn. Manning's report was accompanied by 
 two resolutions, one ousting Washburn and one seating Don- 
 nelly. Keifer also had two resolutions, one retaining Washburn 
 and the other rejecting Donnelly. On April 1, 1880, two votes 
 were taken in the full committee, the committee consisting of 15 
 members. When the first vote was taken there were two pairs, 
 and only 11 votes actually cast. These stood six to unseat Wash- 
 burn to five against. Without the pairs it would have stood 
 eight to seven for unseating. On the second resolution to seat 
 Donnelly there was one pair and one absentee, and the vote 
 stood eight for seating Donnelly to four against. So far the 
 skies were bright for Donnelly, but there was a cloud in the sky. 
 While the matter had not been made public, it seemed that early 
 in March an anonymous letter had been sent to Mr. Springer 
 offering to pay his wife $5,000 if he would support Washburn. 
 Springer was absent in New York when the letter came and his 
 wife opened it. It read as follows: 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 217 
 
 Washington, March 4th. 
 Sir: If you will keep Washburn in his seat in spite of the Demo- 
 crats, we will pay Mrs. S. $5,000. Get the thing quashed at once. 
 
 Respectfully, 
 When Springer returned from New York he not only found 
 the anonymous letter, but also a lengthy letter from H. H. Fin- 
 ley, a friend of and attorney for Donnelly. The opening sen- 
 tences of Finley's letter, dated two days after the anonymous 
 epistle, were as follows : 
 
 Washington, March 6, 1880. 
 I have heard with a great deal of chagrin that you have some doubts 
 as to the expediency of adopting the report of the sub-committee. 
 Not to do this will, I know, leave you open to the severest criticism, 
 and give color of truth to reports which Washburn's friends have most 
 unguardedly set afloat. 
 
 Finley was a lawyer who formerly resided in St. Paul, but 
 had left there with an unsavory record. The weakest spot in 
 Donnelly's armour was that he had Finley for his friend. 
 Springer compared the handwriting of the anonymous letter 
 with that of Finley's, and concluded that Finley wrote them 
 both. The theory was that Finley sought by the anonymous let- 
 ter to cast the imputation that Washburn was trying to bribe him 
 in order to use it as a club, as intimated in his letter of the 6th, to 
 keep him (Springer) from voting against Donnelly. Naturally, 
 Springer was mad. He had intended to keep his own counsel, 
 but before his return Mrs. Springer had shown the anonymous 
 letter to an intimate friend, George W. Julian of Indiana, and 
 he, being a friend of Mr. Donnelly, had informed him. In this 
 manner the existence of the fatal letter became known to Man- 
 ning, who was pushing Donnelly's cause in the committee. 
 Springer turned against Donnelly, and bad blood grew up 
 between him and Manning, until finally Springer told the story 
 in the house, and accused Finley of writing the anonymous letter. 
 He did not ask for an investigating committee, but he placed 
 Donnelly, because Finley was his friend, in a very unpleasant 
 position. 
 
 On the 8th day of April Donnelly wrote the committee of 
 elections asking to have the authorship of the anonymous letter 
 
218 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 investigated. On the 17th of April the house ordered a com- 
 mittee of seven, with John G. Carlisle of Kentucky, chairman, to 
 investigate the anonymous letter. Donnelly declared that he 
 thought William S. King, whom old settlers will always recog- 
 nize as plain "Bill" King, or C. W. Johnson, Washburn's secre- 
 tary, had written the letter. He telegraphed to St. Paul for sam- 
 ples of their handwriting, but soon dropped the matter, so far 
 as Johnson was concerned, to follow it up with King. In order 
 to supply the committee with some of his handwritng King fur- 
 nished them with this characteristic letter: 
 
 Minneapolis, May 4th. 
 Hon. J. G. Carlisle, 
 
 Dear Sir: Your telegraphic offer to permit me to appear before 
 the investigating committee of which you are chairman, to testify in 
 the matter of Mr. Donnelly's anonymous letter to Mr. Springer is 
 received. Thanking you for the courtesy thus extended, I respectfully 
 decline to avail myself of this privilege you offer me. I have in the 
 course of my life had many hard things said against me, but I thank 
 God for the sincere hope I yet entertain that I have not sunk to so 
 great depth that it is necessary for me to deny anything that Ignatius 
 Donnelly may say concerning me, even though he may be reinforced 
 by the opinions of a thousand paid or expert asses, who are so quick 
 to discover in Donnelly's letter to Springer a fac-simile of my hand- 
 writing. 
 
 As I have just telegraphed you, I shall with great respect and 
 alacrity respond to any official summons your committee may be pleased 
 to send me. 
 
 Again thanking you for the courtesy extended me, I remain, 
 
 Very respectfully yours, 
 
 WILLIAM S. KING. 
 
 This was not all the handwriting which King furnished. He 
 wrote Donnelly a seven-page document, letter-sheet size, which 
 was exceedingly lively reading, and suggested that he supply 
 that letter to the committee. Mr. Donnelly complied with this 
 suggestion, which, considering the extreme personality of the 
 epistle, was very surprising. Though that letter was printed 
 at the time, when the Pioneer Press unwittingly reproduced it, 
 12 or 13 years later, Donnelly promptly sued them for $100,000 
 libel, and obtained a verdict for $t. His views had evidently 
 changed concerning it with the lapse of years. 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 219 
 
 All interest in the election contest was submerged by the 
 momentous one as to who wrote the Springer letter. Finley 
 went on the stand and swore point blank that he knew nothing- 
 whatever of the matter. He produced eight witnesses to testify 
 that they thought he did not write it, but none of them were 
 experts. The preponderance of expert testimony was very 
 decidedly against Finley, and none of them implicated King. 
 The investigation was most elaborate and exhaustive, making a 
 volume of 279 pages, besides 26 pages of fac-simile writing. The 
 26 pages included the anonymous letter of March 4th, Finley's 
 letter of March 6th, King's letter which Donnelly supplied the 
 committee, and several pages analyzing letter by letter the 
 anonymous production as contrasted with similar letters of the 
 alphabet in Finley's effusion of March 6th. It would be difficult 
 to conceive of anything more searching. 
 
 Though King declined to go voluntarily, which he was justi- 
 fied in doing, as it would have been at his own expense, he was 
 duly subpoenaed and promptly responded. The crossfire 
 between King and Donnelly when he was on the witness stand 
 would be about as racy a chapter as Minnesotans could have 
 supplied to them. 
 
 On the 16th of June, 1880, the last day of that session of Con- 
 gress, Mr. Carlisle arose in the house and submitted the following 
 statement from the committee appointed to investigate the anony- 
 mous letter: 
 
 I am authorized to say that the committee, after considering all 
 the testimony given by experts and others, has unanimously come to 
 the conclusion that the weight of testimony shows that the anonymous 
 letter was written and sent by H. H. Finley. So far as the majority 
 is concerned, it does not find that Donnelly had any connection, person- 
 ally or otherwise, in sending or writing the anonymous letter. Mr. 
 Finley was the attorney and friend of Mr. Donnelly, but the committee 
 does not find that Donnelly had any knowledge of the anonymous 
 letter. 
 
 Mr. Manning, from the committee on elections, followed Car- 
 lisle with a report saying that five of the committee favored 
 unseating Washburn and seating Donnelly. Mr. Keifer from 
 the same committee reported that seven out of 15 favored the 
 
220 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 retention of Washburn, and 10 out of 15 were opposed to giving 
 Donnelly the seat. The whole matter was re-committed to the 
 committee without debate, and the house adjourned sine die. 
 
 The anonymous letter episode had very materially changed 
 the situation in the committee on elections as it existed April 
 1st. If Donnelly had any previous chance it was ruined. Don- 
 nelly put in a bill for $5,000 for his expenses, and Washburn 
 asked for $4,000. The next report of the committee allowed 
 Donnelly $3,500, and Washburn $2,500. As Washburn held 
 the seat and salary, he had the advantage financially. The report 
 of the election committee made 278 pages, and the reports of the 
 two committees aggregated 557 pages, besides the 26 pages 
 of fac-simile. If the contest had no other result it aided in 
 increasing the national debt. 
 
OBSERVATION THIRTY-THREE. 
 
 W. R. Merriam's Election as Speaker. 
 
 While Ex-Gov. William R. Merriam was elected to the 
 lower branch of the State Legislature in 1882, and served in 
 the one of 1883, he was then but a tyro in politics, and really 
 did not appear as any particular factor in affairs. In 1886 
 he was again elected to the house, and this time he set his 
 mark for the speakership, possibly thinking it was due him 
 by inheritance, as his father had been speaker in 1870 and 
 1871. At all events, when the legislature met in January, 
 1887, there was a big ruction on the speakership. Ignatius 
 Donnelly was a member of the house, and though he pro- 
 fessed to be in sympathy with the Farmers' Alliance, he was 
 recognized as a Republican, and Merriam's great stake was 
 to secure the support of Donnelly. While Donnelly, when 
 living, was violently assailed by political enemies, there was 
 undoubtedly much injustice done him. He loved political 
 power, and was always ready to use his position to secure 
 that when he would spurn the offer of anything else. When, 
 therefore, Merriam informed him that he could have such com- 
 mittee positions as he wished, if he (Merriam) was chosen 
 speaker, Mr. Donnelly did what many another man would 
 have done, and what is repeated every session of the legis- 
 lature, supported the man who would give him the desired 
 committee positions. This was shrewd tactics on the part of 
 Merriam, and bore fruit. The legislature was due to meet on 
 January 4th, and Donnelly called a Farmers' Alliance caucus at 
 10:30 a. m., January 3d. Samuel Reese of Kandiyohi county 
 
 (221) 
 
222 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 presided, and when the caucus had been organized it devel- 
 oped that its object was to call the candidates for speaker be- 
 fore them to have them define their positions relative to the 
 treatment which should be accorded to the farmers. George 
 W. Buffum, of Steele County, William Lee, of Todd County, 
 and William R. Merriam, of St. Paul, were the candidates. 
 Buffum was first brought in, and, after a very ungracious in- 
 troduction, said : 
 
 If I am elected speaker I will endeavor to treat everybody fairly 
 and satisfy the members that I am in sympathy with them. 
 
 Merriam was next introduced, and his sauviter in modo, 
 fortiter in re was at once apparent. He made the audience 
 happy immediately by saying, "I feel more than grateful for 
 the opportunity of being here," and added several more sen- 
 tences indicating that he was rejoiced at meeting his long- 
 lost brothers. Having thus made the farmers of the legisla- 
 lature feel that he was delighted to meet them on an equal- 
 ity, he added: 
 
 I am aware that the warehouse and grain laws will secure much 
 consideration, and I am free to say that if you select me as your pre- 
 siding officer I will see that you are fairly and equitably represented on 
 the committees. 
 
 Mr. Lee followed, stating that he was a Republican and did 
 not exactly see why he should explain, but finally vouchsafed 
 to say: 
 
 If I am elected, I will give the farmers a fair representation on the 
 committees. 
 
 This ended the catechism, and Merriam had caught the 
 crowd. 
 
 The call for the Republican caucus was not limited to po- 
 litical parties, all the farmers in the legislature being invited. 
 
 Tom Lucas, of Minneapolis, who used to farm a good deal 
 — with his mouth — was there, and by asking a question he 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 223 
 
 gave Mr. Donnelly an opportunity to say that Farmers' Alli- 
 ance men could properly go into the Republican caucus. That 
 was the whole meat of the meeting, and Tom unwittingly 
 brought it out. It was to keep the farmers from bolting that 
 the "Farmers' Caucus" had been invented. The conclusion of 
 the meeting was thus reported in the Pioneer Press of Jan- 
 uary 4th : 
 
 "John M. Powers of Rice then made a violent speech, in 
 which he charged that in the caucus now going on for speak- 
 ership, members were being bought up. He was called down 
 by a member, and the chair decided that Mr. Powers was out 
 of order, and he subsided." 
 
 The same evening the Republicans held their caucus, with 
 D. A. Morrison, of Olmstead, chairman, and Leo Lum, of 
 Crow Wing, secretary. E. Mattson, of Wilkin, nominated 
 Merriam for speaker, and H. F. Barker, of Isanti, and E. G. 
 Rogers, of St. Paul, seconded. 
 
 At this stage of the proceedings William E. Lee arose and 
 said : 
 
 My name has been mentioned in connection with the speakership. 
 The time has come when any man's ambition must be a secondary 
 consideration. The time has come when our 40,000 Republican majority 
 is reduced to a beggarly 2,500. I am here to say, that this result has 
 been brought about by bad management. I believe that to elect any 
 man speaker who in the past has shown no sympathy with the great 
 questions of the day, would be a mistake. I desire to withdraw my 
 name and to present the name of George W. Buffum of Steele county. 
 
 Then followed the vote. There were 66 present, neces- 
 sary to choice, 34. Merriam received 47, Buffum 17, scatter- 
 ing 2. Of course, that was equivalent to an election. The 
 next day in the house Merriam received 71 votes, to 30 cast 
 for E. T. Champion, of Blue Earth County. 
 
 The St. Paul Dispatch of that date, Jan, 4, 1887, under 
 the same ownership as at present, had this to say of the re- 
 sult: 
 
 William R. Merriam is elected speaker. He has been elected 
 against the opposition of the Dispatch, as he has been against the 
 clearly expressed will of not only the Republicans of this state, but as 
 
224 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 against the wishes of seven-eights of the men who cast their ballots 
 in our election last fall. 
 
 The influences and interests which Mr. Merriam represents in public 
 life have been spurned by the people of Minnesota. 
 
 There is nothing which the Dispatch has said either against Mr. 
 Merriam's fitness, against the wisdom of his selection, or in favor of 
 any of his competitors, that we do not repeat and reiterate. 
 
 When the speaker announced his committees, Mr. Don- 
 nelly appeared as chairman of the committee on railroads, and 
 as a member of the judiciary, educational, and grain and ware- 
 house inspection committees. He was entitled to the posi- 
 tions for services rendered the speaker in advance, and, as 
 politics goes, had secured them legitimately; but his commit- 
 tee positions enabled him to prove such a "bull in a china 
 shop" that so long as he lived the Republicans never there- 
 after permitted him to be ranked as one of them lest he might 
 hold another caucus. 
 
 It can truly be said of him, however, that he gave the 
 subsequent Gov. Merriam his start in political life, as it 
 was the speakership, combined with other influences not nec- 
 essary to recount at this stage of my book, which gave him the 
 governorship a little later. 
 
OBSERVATION THIRTY-FOUR. 
 
 The Brass Kettle Campaign. 
 
 "The Brass Kettle Campaign" of 1878 was one of the great 
 historical events of the state. Dr. J. H. Stewart, of St. Paul, 
 had been elected to Congress in 1876 by the Republicans, to 
 represent the Third Congressional District. By party usage 
 which had become so fixed as to be an unwritten law, he was 
 entitled to a second term. W. D. Washburn, of Minneapolis, 
 who was first a candidate for Congress in 1868, but withdrew 
 when the split in the party occurred, had been patiently wait- 
 ing for the next opportunity, and ten years in a man's life is 
 a good while. He accordingly decided to enter the race to 
 succeed Dr. Stewart, and this venture had the cordial co- 
 operation of Loren Fletcher, who was the chairman of the 
 Republican district committee. It was Mr. Fletcher's serv- 
 ices, which his position enabled him to render, that largely 
 determined the result, and it was the failure of Mr. Washburn 
 to reciprocate when Fletcher wanted to run for Congress in 
 1884, which led to a coldness between these prominent citizens 
 which continued for a number of years. 
 
 In accordance with the custom well known in politics, 
 where a competitor is to be "done up," Mr. Fletcher called an 
 early convention, while Congress was still in session, and Dr. 
 Stewart absent in Washington. Possibly there would have 
 been no different result if the convention had been held later, 
 but certainly it gave Mr. Washburn an advantage at the start, 
 and was a serious handicap to Stewart. The convention was 
 called in June, to be held at the Academy of Music, in Minne- 
 apolis, on the 10th of July. The apportionment provided 
 
 225 
 
 15 
 
226 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 that there should be one delegate at large from each county, 
 and one for each 250 votes cast for President Hayes in 1876. 
 The state convention and the other districts made their basis 
 of apportionment of delegates on the vote for Governor Pills- 
 bury in 1877, instead of the vote for Hayes in 1876. There 
 was, of course, the usual row between St. Paul and Minne- 
 apolis, which was intensified by the fact that a Minneapolis 
 man was trying to defeat a St. Paul man when the St. Paul 
 man had had but one term. St. Paul, accordingly, set up two 
 grounds of complaint : one was what they termed a "snap" 
 call, and the other objecting to basing the apportionment on 
 1876 instead of on 1877. The Pioneer Press, which has 
 thrown a good many firebrands into its party ranks in years 
 gone by, belabored Fletcher and incidentally Washburn over 
 Fletcher's shoulders. Under the district call Ramsey County 
 was entitled to 12 delegates and Hennepin to 24. When the 
 Ramsey County convention met there was blood on the moon, 
 and after vigorous speeches and strong resolutions they de- 
 cided to put the matter to a test by making it a tie and send- 
 ing 24 delegates of their own. Ramsey county knew, of 
 course, that it was not entitled to so many, even if it deserved 
 more than 12; but the St. Paul Republicans, if they were to 
 lose the Congressman, were bound to have the fun of a fight. 
 They accordingly went to Minneapolis on the 10th of July, 
 waving their battle-flag. Things looked rather ominous. 
 Knute Nelson of Alexandria was chosen chairman of the 
 convention, and after the usual preliminaries a recess was 
 taken to see if some compromise could not be patched up be- 
 tween the warring factions. It was conceded, that Washburn 
 had the convention, and he having lost ten years of his po- 
 litical career owing to one split in the party, neither he nor 
 his friends desired to have any further trouble. Congress had 
 adjourned, and Dr. Stewart had returned home, by this time, 
 but it was too late for him to recoup his shattered political 
 fortunes, even if he ever could have done so. He was very 
 indignant, but this did no particular harm as long as Wash- 
 burn had the delegates. The Washburn men proposed a con- 
 ference between the delegations from the two counties, Ram- 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 227 
 
 sey and Hennepin. This was held without results, but later 
 a second conference of a portion of each conference brought 
 order out of chaos. This sub-committee consisted on the part 
 of Ramsey County of W. R. Marshall, C. K. Davis, E. F. 
 Drake, R. Barden, and F. Driscoll ; on the part of Hennepin 
 County, the committee was R. B. Langdon, C. H. Pettit, J. 
 B. Gilfillan, J. M. Shaw and George H. Keith. The first offer 
 made by Hennepin County was to allow each county to have 
 18 votes. That was reducing Hennepin 6 and increasing Ram- 
 sey 6. The Ramsey County men knew that Stewart was lost, 
 and they also knew that Ramsey was not entitled to as large 
 a vote as Hennepin. They had professed all the time to be 
 fighting for the principle of apportionment rather than to get 
 more delegates, and so they refused this proposition. It was 
 finally agreed that Ramsey county should have 12 votes and 
 Hennepin 16, and that in the future all apportionments of 
 delegates should be based on the vote of the previous year. 
 The Hennepin delegates were delighted at the settlement, as it 
 prevented trouble after the nomination. 
 
 When the report of the sub-committee was made to the con- 
 vention after the recess, it was quickly adopted, and there was 
 nothing further to do but to go through the motions of the 
 nomination. J. B. Gilfillan presented the name of Mr. Wash- 
 burn. Capt. Russell Blakely, of St. Paul, while regretting 
 that Dr. Stewart could not be his own successor, said that 
 he (Stewart) declined to have his name presented, and he ac- 
 cordingly moved that Washburn be nominated unanimously. 
 This was done, though it was not a pleasant dose for St. Paul. 
 
 The nomination of Washburn at once brought forward in 
 the public mind the antagonism between Ignatius Donnelly 
 and the Washburn family, and as the district was strongly 
 Republican, none of the dyed-in-the-wool Democrats were anx- 
 ious to make the race. The Democratic convention was held 
 on the 6th of September, with W. M. Campbell, of Meeker,, 
 for chairman, and W. L. Kelly, of St. Paul, as secretary. 
 There was no occasion for quarreling in this convention, as 
 prospects for success were not dangerous. The result of the 
 informal ballot was Donnelly 55, Eugene M. Wilson, of Min- 
 
228 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 neapolis 24, H. H. Sibley of St. Paul 7, and W. W. McNair 
 of Minneapolis 5 — a total of 91. Mr. McNair promptly with- 
 drew his name, and the first formal ballot stood Donnelly 60, 
 Wilson 18. Thirteen of the hardshells had declined to vote at 
 all rather than vote for Donnelly, because he was not born in the 
 Democratic faith. 
 
 Following the nomination of Donnelly, the famous and excit- 
 ing "brass kettle" campaign occurred. The "brass kettle" was 
 a two-quart brass measure used by buyers for grading wheat. 
 It was claimed that the buyers systematically swindled the farm- 
 ers by the manipulation of the kettle. This was done in the 
 interest of the millers, as alleged, and Mr. Washburn was a 
 miller. It was claimed that by filling the kettle rapidly, by the 
 stroke, and by the manipulation of the scale beam, an adept could 
 make a difference of one or two grades in a load of wheat. In 
 other words, wheat which should grade No. 1 would be graded 
 No. 2 or No. 3, or even worse, according to the conscience of the 
 man who handled the brass kettle. 
 
 Of course, I could not see the chance for a fight proceeding 
 without being in it, and there was no contest which has ever 
 occurred in the state in which I ever took a more active part than 
 in the brass kettle affair. 
 
 W. L. Banning was chairman of the Donnelly district com- 
 mittee, and I was a member of that committee, as well 
 as the publisher of the Globe at the time. The hard 
 shell Democrats were very much opposed to Donnelly, and 
 with all our efforts the total campaign fund that we could raise 
 was $600. Even with that small sum it was the most spirited 
 campaign ever seen in the state. The farmers were aroused 
 almost to a riotous pitch, and they had reason to be. Our 
 charges of swindling by the use of the brass kettle were abso- 
 lutely true, and every farmer who sold a load of wheat that year 
 knew they were true, and voted accordingly. Perhaps no better 
 evidence of their truth can be cited than the fact that the legis- 
 lature, at its next session, passed a law regulating the use of the 
 brass kettle and so curtailing it that it could no longer be used 
 as a means of swindling the farmers. 
 
 The Third district was then enormous in its proportions, 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 229 
 
 embracing the greater part of all the wheat-growing counties in 
 the state. There were 27 counties, as follows : Aitkin, Anoka, 
 Becker, Benton, Big Stone, Carlton, Cass, Chisago, Clay, Crow 
 Wing, Douglas, Grant, Hennepin, Isanti, Kanabec, Kittson, Lac 
 qui Parle, Lake, Meeker, Mille Lacs, Morrison, Otter Tail, Pine, 
 Polk, Pope, Ramsey, St. Louis, Sherburne, Stearns, Stevens, 
 Todd, Traverse, Wadena, Washington, Wilkin, Wright, Yellow 
 Medicine. 
 
 The district was not only immense geographically, but it con- 
 tained the great bulk of the Republican vote in the state. 
 
 It was a tremendous task to make the canvass, especially as 
 Donnelly did not have the cordial support of the Democrats. 
 Comparatively few took the stump for him, but he made as 
 thorough a canvass as the physical strength of one able-bodied 
 man could do. 
 
 In a foolish outburst of zeal I gave my daily paper for the 
 campaign for 25 cents, and sent a canvasser with Donnelly. 
 Every one of his meetings concluded with a speech by my can- 
 vasser, calling for subscriptions at the 25-cent rate, and the more 
 I got the worse off I was. They rolled in by the thousand, and I 
 question whether any daily paper up to this date has as many 
 subscribers in those counties as I had at that time. The conse- 
 quence was that the brass kettle side of the campaign was very 
 thoroughly aired; the farmers took up the cry, and when the 
 votes were counted it was found that, leaving out Hennepin 
 county, Donnelly had carried the district by 472. When it was 
 considered that the Republican majority in the district was over- 
 whelming, the work done is absolutely wonderful, and it was 
 very materially aided by my 25-cent newspaper. That move- 
 ment, however, involved an expenditure which I would not again 
 incur to elect an angel from heaven to Congress or to defeat a 
 fiend incarnate. And in using these terms I do not intend to 
 apostrophize Donnelly or stigmatize Washburn. One is already 
 waiting for the other at the meeting place, and I will leave them 
 to fight out the rest of the battle themselves, only saying in pass- . 
 ing that if I had to do it over again it wouldn't be done. I never 
 took the trouble to figure my loss, but I know it was a good 
 many thousand dollars. 
 
230 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 In St. Paul many Democrats voted for Washburn, and 
 between 400 and 500 ballots were cast with Donnelly's name 
 erased and no one substituted. The vote in Hennepin county 
 was somewhat startling. Washburn received 6,284 and Don- 
 nelly 2,799, giving Washburn 3,485 majority in that county, 
 and 3,013 in the district. The country had pitted itself against 
 the city, and the city had won. 
 
 As one of the results, however, the next legislature passed 
 a bill making the half-bushel measure the standard to be used 
 in grading, instead of the obnoxious brass kettle. It was pro- 
 vided that by mutual consent a two-quart measure could be 
 used, with such device for filling as might be adopted by the 
 Farmers' Board of Trade. This resulted in placing what was 
 termed the Stacey filler on the market, which was an attachment 
 to the brass kettle, which compelled the filling of the small meas- 
 ure slowly and made the stroke equable. 
 
 In 1885, by revision of the warehouse and grain laws, the 
 law of 1879 was repealed, and the brass kettle is still in use simply 
 by mutual consent, though it has never been manipulated since 
 1878 as it was during that year. 
 
 I have always congratulated myself that the "brass kettle 
 campaign"' made a good many millions of dollars difference to 
 the farmers of Minnesota as the years rolled on ; and at the 
 same time I am free to say that my philanthropy is not of such a 
 thrilling and violent nature that I would make another campaign 
 of the kind for the farmers or anybody else. It is an illustra- 
 tion of doing good by accident and being sorry for it afterwards. 
 
 The election contest covered in another chapter grew out of 
 the campaign of 1878. 
 
OBSERVATION THIRTY-FIVE. 
 
 Pillsbury's Defeat for the Fourth Term and the Dawning of 
 Gov. Hubbard. 
 
 The contest for the Republican nomination for governor in 
 1881 was an echo of the passing of the Ramsey dynasty in the 
 politics of Minnesota. In speaking of Ramsey I do not refer 
 to him personally, but only as a representative of a powerful 
 faction in the Republican party which made him their leader, 
 and around whose standard they loyally and successfully rallied 
 for many years. 
 
 Ramsey, personally, was neither very active nor offensive 
 during all these years, but he stood by his friends— an element 
 in his character which was highly commendatory. 
 
 Hon. John S. Pillsbury of Minneapolis was, in 1881, serving 
 his third term as governor. He had made a very acceptable 
 official, and had given the state a good business administration. 
 He had, withal, made many strong friends in St. Paul by his 
 action at the time of the burning of the capitol in the spring of 
 1881. The plan was- to delay the rebuilding of the capitol, thus 
 giving an opportunity for some possible change in its location. 
 The fact that Governor Pillsbury, a resident of Minneapolis, 
 took issue with Fletcher, another resident of the same city, and 
 by his influence largely aided in securing an immediate appro- 
 priation from the legislature for another building, had given him 
 a strength in St. Paul which otherwise it would have been impos- 
 sible for him to secure. 
 
 The movement in favor of Minneapolis at the time of the 
 burning of the capitol in 1881 was largely led by Hon. Loren 
 Fletcher, member of the legislature from Minneapolis. It in 
 
 (231) 
 
232 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 reality delayed Fletcher going to Congress some eight years, 
 for later, when he was a candidate for Congress and Hennepin 
 and Ramsey counties were in the same district, Ramsey county 
 had a candidate and Hennepin sprang another candidate in the 
 person of Hon. J. B. Gilfillan, which would not have been done 
 if Ramsey county had not been so unalterably opposed to Mr. 
 Fletcher. So that Mr. Fletcher's loyalty to his own city proved 
 for him a disastrous political move, though subsequently he 
 obtained the coveted prize and went to Congress for a term of 
 years. It was rather ungrateful for Minneapolis to have elected 
 Lind to Congress over Fletcher in 1902. 
 
 Mr. Pillsbury had been in the Ramsey coterie of politicians, 
 and his administration to a greater or less degree retained in 
 official position many of the henchmen of the dethroned leader. 
 The Pioneer Press, always the champion of Ramsey, was at this 
 time specially zealous in urging the party to give Pillsbury a 
 fourth term, though third terms are not even yet popular. If 
 there had been only that which, the newspaper champion was 
 seeking for Pillsbury the claim would have been well nigh irre- 
 sistible, but when it came to asking a fourth term that was the 
 vulnerable spot in the Pillsbury armour which was easily found 
 and pierced by the shafts of the opposing forces. 
 
 Gen. L. F. Hubbard of Red Wing, was the candidate of the 
 opposition to Pillsbury. In the eyes of the old Ramsey dynasty 
 General Hubbard had committed two unpardonable sins which 
 could neither be forgiven nor forgotten. In 1868, when the 
 split in the Third Congressional district occurred, General Hub- 
 bard was given the nomination for Congress by the Ramsey 
 wing of the party in opposition to Donnelly. After a brief 
 period he threw consternation and almost defeat into the Ram- 
 sey ranks by withdrawing from the canvass. Again, in 1873, 
 he was a member of the state senate in the memorable contest 
 between Governor Davis and Senator Ramsey, which finally 
 resulted in McMillan being selected as Ramsey's successor. 
 General Hubbard was one of the leaders in the Davis movement, 
 and the advocacy of Pillsbury on the part of the Pioneer Press 
 was not animated so much by love for him as by hatred of 
 Hubbard. Weeks before the state convention was held that 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 233 
 
 paper was pouring hot shot into the ranks of the Hubbard fac- 
 tion. It denounced him as the candidate of the prison ring, 
 censured his friend H. B. Wilson of Red Wing, who was work- 
 ing for him, claiming that he (Wilson) was animated solely by a 
 desire to be superintendent of public instruction. 
 
 'Another element of objection to Hubbard was that Davis, 
 and possibly Washburn, favored him. The party machinery 
 was really in the hands of the Hubbard forces, and the state con- 
 vention was not called until September 28th, an unusually late 
 period. The Pioneer Press denounced this, and said it must have 
 been done on the ground that the state was so strongly Repub- 
 lican that it was not necessary to make any canvass for the 
 ticket — which was not far from the truth. Capt. H. A. Castle 
 was chairman of the Ramsey county committee. He was an 
 ardent supporter of Hubbard, and when the call for the Ramsey 
 county convention was issued on a few days' notice, fixing the 
 primaries on Saturday, September nth and the convention for 
 Monday, September 13th, the rage of the Ramsey organ knew 
 no bounds. 
 
 On September 7th it had a double-leaded column editorial 
 for Pillsbury, denouncing the Ramsey county Republicans for 
 bringing out the call, claiming that it was done by the Davis 
 men to influence the state for Hubbard, and calling on Pills- 
 bury's friends to capture the convention. 
 
 On September 8th it contained this drive at Capt. Castle: 
 
 There is universal indignation among the Republicans of St. Paul 
 at the action of the county committee, not only in precipitating the 
 primaries three weeks, relatively, before the usual time, but more 
 especially at the gross and palpable trick which Captain Castle has 
 attempted to play on the Republicans of St. Paul, by calling the prim- 
 aries by wards, instead of by precincts, according to the usual custom 
 in such cases. 
 
 The morning before the primaries the Pioneer Press had a 
 foaming editorial, declaring that "St. Paul owes a debt of grati- 
 tude to John S. Pillsbury." And in answer to the oft-repeated 
 charge that Pillsbury was not a candidate said: 
 
234 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 If nominated by the unasked-for suffrages of the people of Minne- 
 sota he will not decline. 
 
 The Ramsey county convention was a mixed Pillsbury 
 victory. The anti-Hubbardites had induced Hon. A. R. MeGill 
 of St. Peter to be a candidate, and between the MeGill and Pills- 
 bury forces they had carried the convention by a narrow margin. 
 
 When the Ramsey county convention was called to order 
 there was an immediate test of strength. The Hubbard forces 
 nominated C. K. Davis for chairman, and the anti-Hubbard men 
 selected Capt. Russel Blakely as their leader. The votes stood 
 Blakely 28, Davis 25. 
 
 The delegates to the convention were divided between friends 
 of Pillsbury and MeGill, but Hubbard was not allowed to have 
 a friend in the list. In view of changes which have since 
 occurred the names of those sent to the state convention from 
 Ramsey county are worthy of record. They were : R. Blakely, 
 H. P. Upham, J. C. Haupt, Stanford Newell, J. P. Jacobson, 
 George Watson, F. Driscoll, S. S. Taylor, C. M. Bell, R. C. 
 Wiley, William Bickel and M. D. Flower. 
 
 The Hubbard forces were much demoralized, but sprung 
 quite a disorganizing movement on the convention just before 
 the adjournment. C. D. Gilfillan, who had from the early his- 
 tory of state politics, been hostile to the Ramsey wing of the 
 party, offered a resolution instructing the delegates to support 
 Pillsbury for governor in the state convention. He .stated that 
 he was not in favor of Pillsbury, and did not think the convention 
 was, but he wanted the matter tested. Capt. Castle followed 
 with a resolution instructing the delegates to support MeGill in 
 the state convention. Personally he was for Hubbard. These 
 resolutions were firebrands. The Pillsbury and MeGill men 
 combined were in control of the convention, but neither faction 
 was strong enough to instruct for its particular candidate. To 
 vote both resolutions down would be bad, and to vote either one 
 up was impossible. In this dilemma the not unusual course was 
 adopted of having a row, and amid yells and speeches and cat- 
 calls the chairman recognized a motion to adjourn and declared 
 it carried regardless of how the vote stood. 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 235 
 
 The Dispatch was in something- of a transition state at this 
 time, having been in charge of Governor Marshall and Gen. C. 
 C. Andrews until a short time previous. Gen. S. P. Jennison 
 of Red Wing was temporarily in editorial charge, and very 
 warmly advocated Hubbard's cause. In that paper, on the 
 evening of September 14th, General Jennison made this com- 
 ment, evidently based upon the riotous adjournment of the 
 county convention without instructions : 
 
 It shows that the end of the impudent, corrupt, venal domination of 
 the Pioneer Press ring of slick, smooth-tongued, canting hypocrites is 
 approaching. It took all the power of the corporations and the help 
 of the McGill victims to save a lean majority in the county where the 
 fourth term is the strongest. The candidate of the Pioneer Press, if 
 lie goes into the convention at all, will thrive under its blasting support, 
 as did Alexander Ramsey in his candidacy for the senate. 
 
 This was the last shot fired from the Jennison locker. Three 
 days later, September 17th, Capt. H. A. Castle published an 
 announcement that, after 14 months' retirement, he had again 
 resumed editorial charge of the paper. The succeeding numbers 
 of the Dispatch verified the correctness of the statement, for 
 every issue was a broadside of grape and cannister fired into the 
 Ramsey-Pillsbury-P. P. crowd. Prior to Capt. Castle's taking 
 charge of the paper the Pioneer Press had abused him very liber- 
 ally, owing to his advocacy of Hubbard. This had been con- 
 tinued day after day without any sparing of adjectives. Neces- 
 sarily, Capt. Castle was a little behind in the contest of exple- 
 tives, but he caught up with the procession with notable prompt- 
 ness, and on the 22d of September had gained sufficient bravery 
 to print a tribute to his esteemed contemporary, almost too 
 personal for history. 
 
 Mr. Wheelock had previously expressed equally compliment- 
 ary views of Capt. Castle. It was still six days before the 
 state convention when this was printed. Apparently things 
 were hot and still a-heating. 
 
 Up to a certain point the effort to place Hon. John S. Pills- 
 "bury in the governor's chair for the fourth time was tried under 
 .as favorable circumstances as could be expected to exist. He 
 
236 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 had strong political friends in both of the leading cities of the 
 state, was strong in the country and had given what was recog- 
 nized as a good administration for the state. 
 
 But on Sept. 15, 1881, just two weeks before the Republican 
 state convention was to be held, he sent the following letter to 
 the Pioneer Press : 
 
 The action which you have taken in placing my name before the 
 people for further gubernatorial honors was, as you are aware, without 
 my knowledge or consent. While I am gratified with the very high 
 compliment paid me by the citizens of Ramsey county and other per- 
 sons in the state, as well as by the friendly sentiments frequently ex- 
 pressed by yourself, I am constrained to adhere to my former deter- 
 mination to retire from political life at the close of this term of office, 
 and this card is to inform you of my purpose. 
 
 Yours respectfully, 
 
 J. S. PILLSBURY. 
 
 This letter was all the more significant of Governor Pills- 
 bury's sincerity from the fact that Ramsey county had already 
 been carried against Hubbard and practically for Pillsbury, 
 although there were some McGill men on the delegation to the 
 state convention. 
 
 He was, of course, assured of his own county of Hennepin 
 if he was a candidate, and with these two prominent counties in 
 his favor would have been a formidable competitor in the con- 
 vention. 
 
 This letter was a sad blow to the faction that was hoping to 
 defeat General Hubbard by the use of Pillsbury's name. The 
 Pioneer Press braced up as well as could be expected under the 
 circumstances and declared that the people were so uproarious 
 for Pillsbury that he would not be permitted to retire. This 
 attempted bold front was not a success, and the ordinary polit- 
 ical tactics were resorted to, that is, the bringing out of favored 
 sons from the various portions of the state. Everyone, of course, 
 understands that this is done with no especial love for the can- 
 didates trotted out, but with a view of making up a field strong 
 enough to prevent the leading candidate from winning. McGill 
 was already in the field, and in the few days which intervened 
 prior to the state convention, T. B. Clement of Faribault, Rice 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 237 
 
 county, Clark W. Thompson of Wells, Faribault county, and 
 J: C. Stoever of Henderson, Sibley county, were presented to the 
 public. It will be noticed that all of these candidates were so 
 situated geographically as to conflict with Hubbard; but the 
 scheme worked sufficiently to have them all come up to the 
 cdnvention with their own county delegates and some scattering 
 votes besides. The Pioneer Press had a good word for each one 
 of these candidates, while in the same breath it was insisting 
 that Pillsbury was the only man who ought to receive the nomi- 
 nation. 
 
 The war between the Dispatch and the Pioneer Press was 
 continual, lively and bitter every day, but in spite of this the 
 28th of September, the date of the state convention, arrived just 
 as if no trouble existed. It was Hubbard against the field, and 
 the confidence that was felt in his defeat was voiced by the fol- 
 lowing utterance in the Pioneer Press on the morning of the 
 convention : 
 
 That Hubbard is badly beaten there is no doubt, if the sentiment 
 of the convention should not be utterly perverted by the trading com- 
 binations by which his friends were endeavoring last night to recruit 
 his strength. 
 
 It will be noticed that there was a little anchor thrown to 
 windward for defeat in the statement quoted, and that was relied 
 upon to explain how it happened when defeat finally came. 
 
 There were no contesting delegations, and consequently the 
 temporary chairman was not a bone of contention. Gen. James 
 H. Baker of Mankato was selected for the honor of chairman, 
 and was easily chosen. General Baker was for Clark Thompson 
 for governor, but he was also in favor of General Baker for rail- 
 road commissioner, and consequently was in a frame of mind to 
 be very impartial in his decisions. 
 
 The first motion of any significance in the convention was 
 to change the order laid down in the call and nominate the judges 
 for the supreme bench prior to selecting the rest of the state 
 ticket. 
 
 The object of this motion appears later in the story. By a 
 vote of 180 to 113 it was laid upon the table, and that vote was 
 
238 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 a test which demonstrated that General Hubbard was strong- 
 enough to down the field. There was not a great amount of 
 time nor much oratory wasted in presenting the respective can- 
 didates for governor. C. Amundson of St. Peter presented 
 McGilPs name, and O. B. Gould of Winona seconded it. Gen- 
 eral Jennison of Red Wing nominated Hubbard, and Col. T. J. 
 Sheehan of Albert Lea and J. A. Thatcher of Zumbrota, Good- 
 hue county, seconded it. In spite of Pillsbury's letter already 
 quoted, Captain Russell Blakely of St. Paul nominated him. 
 J. B. Wakefield of Blue Earth City named Clark W. Thompson, 
 and General Baker seconded the nomination. Gordon E. Cole 
 of Rice county named T. B. Clement and Jacob Franken- 
 field of Henderson closed the oratory by asking the convention 
 to select J. C. Stoever. Here was a field with a vengeance. In 
 spite of this formidable array of talent it only took two ballots 
 to settle the contest, and, in fact, but one formal ballot. Here 
 is the official record : 
 
 Informal Ballot. Formal Ballot. 
 
 Hubbard 140 160 
 
 Pillsbury 57 Si 
 
 McGill 41 47 
 
 Thompson 30 20 
 
 Clement 29 18 
 
 Stoever 8 
 
 Scattering 16 
 
 Total 305 306 
 
 Necessary to choice 153 *54 
 
 There were the usual huzzas by the victors and the gloomy 
 faces of the defeated, but the world at large moved on as of 
 yore. 
 
 There was a moderate contest for the attorney generalship 
 between W. J. Hahn of Wabasha and Fayette Marsh of Still- 
 water, though the ballot, which was 186 for Hahn to 106 for 
 Marsh, did not indicate the closeness which was anticipated. 
 
 At that time the railroad commissioners were elected by the 
 people. Ex-Governor Marshall had been one of the commis- 
 sioners for two terms, and was a candidate for the third. 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 239 
 
 Gen. James H. Baker was a contestant for this emolument, 
 and won by a scratch, receiving 155 votes, as against 144 for 
 Marshall. 
 
 The redoubtable Sam Nichols had been clerk of the supreme 
 court for two terms, and was a candidate for a third term. Sam 
 came from Fergus Falls, Otter Tail county, but the necessity of 
 his business requiring him to live in St. Paul, he was counted 
 in his old home as a non-resident. As the most certain method 
 of defeating him his enemies presented the name of J. C. Hill 
 of Otter Tail county as chief competitor, making it something 
 of a "home run." George P. Johnson of Madelia was a candi- 
 date on the side, hoping to slide in between the chief contestants. 
 The informal ballot resulted: 
 
 Nichols 123, Hill 124, Johnson 28. When this was announced 
 Sam for the first time in his political life turned pale. The first 
 formal ballot resulted: Nichols 143, Hill 141. After this was 
 announced it was discovered that two votes had been pasted 
 together and the tellers had thrown them both out. These two 
 votes, if counted, would make the candidates a tie, and so another 
 ballot was ordered. Sam's experience in calling the roll as clerk 
 'in the legislature and other political bodies warned him that it 
 was often easier to win in a convention by having the tellers in 
 one's favor rather than relying on the whims of the delegates. 
 Hence, while the third ballot was in progress, he was giving his 
 attention to the tellers. Under his shrewd manipulation the 
 third ballot was interrupted by the announcement that the tellers 
 had discovered that one of the ballots pasted together was for 
 Nichols and the other for Hill. That would make the votes 
 stand 144 to 142. No inquiry was made to ascertain whether 
 that double vote was cast by some one person who had promised 
 both candidates, and Mr. Hill's friends were not shrewd enough 
 to ask the question how two ballots could become pasted together 
 when they had been dropepd singly into a hat and not into a 
 mucilage bottle. Consequently Sam's work with the tellers 
 stood, and he not only got the office for the third time, but con- 
 tinued right along until he had held it for five successive terms. 
 Thanks to the tellers, Sam beat the record in the length of time, 
 that position has ever been held by anyone. 
 
240 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 Charles A. Gilman of St. Cloud was lieutenant governor, 
 Charles Kittleson of Albert Lea treasurer, and Fred Von Baum- 
 bach of Alexandria secretary of state, and all were renominated 
 for their respective positions. W. W. Braden of Preston was 
 the first new man placed upon the ticket aside from Hubbard, 
 and he was nominated for state auditor. D. A. Dickinson of 
 Mankato and William Mitchell of Winona were already asso- 
 ciate justices of the supreme court, and they were nominated by 
 Gilman. The third associate justice was Greenleaf Clark of St. 
 Paul, who had been appointed the previous March, when the 
 supreme court had been enlarged from three to five members. 
 And here came a fight resulting in C. E. Vanderburgh of Min- 
 neapolis being nominated by 218 to 97 for Clark. That com- 
 pleted the ticket. The Democrats undertook to make a little 
 diversion when their convention met October 6th by endorsing 
 Mitchell, Dickinson and Clark. On October 13th Judge Clark 
 printed a letter declining the honor on the ground that he had 
 allowed his name to be used in the Republican convention and 
 ought not to figure in both. The Democrats kept him on their 
 ticket notwithstanding. 
 
 The disappointment, owing to the defeat of Pillsbury, was so 
 great that it was necessary to wreak vengeance upon someone, 
 and Judge Vanderburgh and Hennepin county were the vic- 
 tims. The Pioneer Press editorial on September 29th was 
 headed, "A Judgeship Bought." This was the opening sen- 
 tence : ^ 
 
 No such shameful spectacle was ever witnessed in a Republican 
 state convention in this state as that which was exhibited at the 
 Atheneum in St. Paul yesterday, when a seat on, the supreme court 
 bench of Minnesota was openly put up for sale. 
 
 The editorial proceeded to denounce the Minneapolis dele- 
 gation as "unprincipled trading politicians," claiming that they 
 had voted for Hubbard in return for the nomination of Vander- 
 burgh, and that was why the anti-Hubbard men endeavored to 
 nominate the judges prior to the nominations for governor. 
 
 The following gentlemen composed the Minneapolis delega- 
 tion in that convention : R. B. Langdon, C. H. Pettit, A. C. 
 Haugan, J. B. Gilfillan, R. C. Benton, C. W. Johnson, F. Hooker, 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 241 
 
 George A. Camp, F. P. Lane, H. G. Hicks, W. E. Hale, J. 
 Barge, A. Jugenson, D. A. Lydeau, H. L. Gordon, G. F. John- 
 son, J. C. Whitney, W. M. Burrows, W. Hayden, Lee Hahn, E. 
 Nash. These names comprise some of the best known citizens 
 and most prominent members of the Republican party in Min- 
 neapolis, but still they were the men who were being denounced 
 by the Pioneer Press. 
 
 I was publishing the Globe at that time, and in the interests 
 of harmony advised the Pillsbury men to bolt, in the following 
 paragraph : 
 
 If the Pillsbury men have a particle of spunk they will bolt. They 
 have been spit upon, kicked, had their eyes blackened, their noses 
 punched, their ears wrung, and a knife plunged under their fifth rib 
 and turned around in their intestines. Are they men to suffer such 
 dishonor and not resent it? Dare they bolt, or will they consider the 
 saliva which was yesterday planted between their eyes and is now 
 streaming down their cheeks as a new patent face cosmetic designed 
 for beautifying the complexion? 
 
 In spite of the advice I gave them they did not bolt. The 
 Democrats, as a matter of form, nominated Gen. R. W. John- 
 son of St. Paul for governor. Brief as was the campaign, it 
 was long enough to have the vote in November stand : Hub- 
 bard 65,025, Johnson 37,168, and another one of the frequent 
 and memorable Republican fights in Minnesota passed into his- 
 torv. Let it be recorded. 
 
 16 
 
OBSERVATION THIRTY-SIX. 
 
 W. D. Washburn's Defeat for the Senate by Gov. Knute 
 Nelson. 
 
 "As ye sow so shall ye reap." I do not know that a senti- 
 ment of this kind has anything to do with politics, but it seems 
 to me that when Senator Washburn relegated Senator Sabin to 
 private life after one term, he laid the ground work for having 
 Governor Nelson serve him in the same manner when the proper 
 time came. When Washburn defeated Sabin in the winter of 
 1888 he established a one-term precedent which Governor Nel- 
 son and his friends were not slow to profit by. The consequence 
 was that in the winter of 1895, when Washburn's term was about 
 to expire, he received a hypodermic injection in the neck, of his 
 own medicine, and it proved fatal. Senator Nelson was then 
 governor, and in the fall election preceding the senatorial elec- 
 tion was a candidate for re-election, succeeding, as a matter of 
 course, as nothing but success has marked Senator Nelson's 
 career from the initiative. 
 
 There were rumors all through the gubernatorial campaign 
 that he would blossom out as a candidate for a senator in Janu- 
 ary, and he did. Washburn and his friends laid great stress 
 upon the speech Governor Nelson made at Albert Lea on the 
 same platform with Senator Washburn, in which he was reported 
 as saying this : 
 
 It has been reported that I am a candidate for United States 
 senator, but this is not so. I am not a candidate and do not expect to 
 be. I am a candidate for governor and want to be elected governor, 
 and if elected, expect to serve out my term as governor. But elect 
 your Republican legislative ticket, so as to send my friend Washburn 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 243 
 
 back to the United States senate, or if you do not like him, send some 
 other good Republican. 
 
 I do not say personally that Governor Nelson was correctly 
 quoted, but the words which I have given above were alleged to 
 have been uttered by him, and a committee of Washburn's 
 friends signed a statement to that effect and printed it in the 
 newspapers. I accordingly record it on that authority and not 
 my own. 
 
 When he really became a candidate it was urged that his 
 Albert Lea speech was entirely consistent with his candidacy for 
 the senate, the argument being made that senators are not 
 elected by the people, and consequently he was not in the 
 direct sense a candidate for the senate at that time, and also 
 the very county where he was making the speech subsequently 
 elected representatives to the legislature in favor of Nelson, and, 
 of course, in opposition to Washburn. 
 
 Along about the time the legislature was meeting petitions 
 sprang up from all over the state to Governor Nelson, asking 
 him to be a candidate. A public meeting was held at Frazee 
 City on Jan. 10, 1895, devoted to bringing Nelson out as a can- 
 didate for the senate. He would certainly have been less than 
 human if he had refused the prize, which was seemingly offered 
 him on a silver platter; and still it was almost up to the last 
 moment before Washburn and his friends could really believe 
 that they were to have Governor Nelson for a competitor. Sen- 
 ator Washburn was credited with having the Canadian Pacific 
 Railroad at his back, which was really no particular advantage 
 to him, for, as a matter of fact, there was no evidence near or 
 remote that they expended a dollar to aid Mr. Washburn in his 
 campaign. It is perhaps no discredit to Mr. Washburn to say 
 that he possesses aristocratic tendencies, and consequently was 
 not as popular personally as the bluff farmer, Governor Nelson. 
 I do not consider it any discredit to a man to be aristocratic if 
 he has the money and brains upon which to rest his cause, but 
 if you are in politics it is not advisable to let anybody know 
 it, and Washburn did not make any special concealment of this 
 fact, though he was courteous and polite to his humblest con- 
 
244 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 stituent. especially if that constituent was in any danger of getting 
 into the legislature. 
 
 As the time approached for a caucus there was a great deal of 
 discussion about having an open caucus with a viva voce vote, 
 and practically this is what was done. The caucus was open to 
 the reporters, and the roll was called for each man to give his 
 choice publicly. The galleries were thrown open to the news- 
 paper men from the country ; and, as the State Editorial Asso- 
 ciation was just then convening in St. Paul, the country news- 
 paper men filled the galleries to overflowing. The caucus met 
 at 8 p. m. January i8th. There was no contest for chairman, 
 John L. Gibbs of Albert Lea being selected to preside. Gilbert 
 Gutterson of Blue Earth county was chosen secretary, and Chris 
 Ellingson of Hennepin county assistant secretary. Governor 
 Nelson had scored by having two of his countrymen in a posi- 
 tion to count the votes, which, at times, determines the result. 
 The roll call showed 141 present at the caucus out of a possible 
 142, and the first question which agitated the body was to deter- 
 mine whether J2, a majority of all the Republicans in the legis- 
 lature, should nominate, or whether 71, a majority of all those 
 present, should be allowed to nominate. It was finally decided 
 that the successful man must have 72 votes. Senator Wyman 
 of Minneapolis nominated Mr. Washburn, and Senator E. T. 
 Young of Appleton, Swift county, nominated Mr. Nelson. Mr. 
 Douglas of Moorhead nominated S. G. Comstock of that city, 
 and Mr. Lockwood nominated Congressman McCleary. Those 
 were all the entries in the race. Six ballots were taken that 
 night, without nominating anybody, but they settled the ques- 
 tion that Senator Washburn was defeated. The ballots were as 
 follows : 
 
 1 st. 2nd. 3rd. 4th. 5th. 6th. 
 
 Washburn 61 59 60 60 57 55 
 
 Nelson 45 55 57 5§ 58 60 
 
 Comstock 14 10 9 10 14 M 
 
 McCleary n n 10 11 9 8 
 
 Scattering 7 6 5 2 3 3 
 
 It is notable that Washburn polled his entire strength the 
 first ballot; then he lost two, regained his loss, then lost three, 
 and closed up the last ballot with six votes less than he began 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 245 
 
 with. Nelson, on the other hand, gained 10 on the second bal- 
 lot, two more on the third, and still one more on the fourth, and 
 closed on the sixth ballot with 15 more than he began with. The 
 handwriting was on the wall large enough for a bill-board. The 
 Nelson men were anxious to continue the caucus, but Wash- 
 burn's friends were strong enough to secure an adjournment 
 after the sixth ballot. They had something to think about. The 
 caucus did not adjourn to any fixed time, and for the next two 
 or three days almost the entire talk of the city was, will there 
 be another caucus? The Nelson men were anxious for another 
 caucus, but the Washburn men were not, and Nelson and his 
 friends did not press the caucus matter, but went into the open 
 legislature to finish the contest. When the first vote was taken 
 in the legislature Nelson had 27 in the senate and 75 in the 
 house — a total of 102, 98 of whom were Republicans. Four 
 Democrats had also voted for Nelson, notably among them being 
 Hon. P. H. Kelly of St. Paul. Washburn had 16 in the senate 
 and 20 in the house, a total of 36 ; Comstock 3 in the senate and 
 6 in the house, a total of 9; McCleary had 2 in the house and 
 none in the senate ; Lind had 1 in the senate and none in the 
 house ; Donnelly had 5 in the senate and 8 in the house, a total 
 of 13. Judge William Mitchell received 2 in the senate and 2 
 in the house, a total of 4. There was 1 absentee. 
 
 There was the usual joy and jubilation of the victors, though 
 it was not as pronounced as it sometimes is, because the result 
 was not reached in a caucus, and there is a trifle more restraint 
 in the open legislature than there is in the caucus. Still, every- 
 body seemed to be happy except the Minneapolis newspapers. 
 They raved violently for a day or two ; but as it is useless to tear 
 your hair after the other fellow has taken your scalp, their agony 
 was not long prolonged, and the state settled down to the view 
 that Governor Nelson was thoroughly competent to take care 
 of our public interests at Washington — a statement which his 
 career there has more than verified, as he has now become one 
 of the leading senators of the country. 
 
OBSERVATION THIRTY-SEVEN. 
 
 The Issue of Five Million Railroad Bonds and Their Final 
 Payment. 
 
 Like all new commonwealths, Minnesota early realized that 
 railroads were a positive necessity, and that no material 
 development could be hoped for without them. When Min- 
 nesota was admitted the country was in a state of financial 
 depression. The panic of 1857 and the general distress which 
 followed had left everything prostrate. While there were about 
 150,000 people in Minnesota they were widely scattered, pro- 
 duction was comparatively small, and there was little inducement 
 for capitalists to build railroads where population was so small 
 and traffic sure to be light for many years to come. Land grants 
 had been bestowed upon the state by Congress for railroad pur- 
 poses, and the state had in turn enacted laws granting them to 
 private corporations. But this was not enough to induce capital 
 to come to the rescue. The consequence was that on the 8th 
 day of March, 1858, the legislature passed an amendment to the 
 Constitution authorizing the issue of $5,000,000 of bonds of the 
 state, to be granted under restrictions specified, to railroad com- 
 panies as rapidly as they constructed ten miles of road ready for 
 the superstructure. This was submitted to the people at a 
 special election on April 15, 1858, and was carried by a vote of 
 27,023 yes to 733 no. The unanimity of this vote shows the 
 great desire of the people then in Minnesota to secure this 
 improvement. But, as usual with such things, politics cropped 
 up. The railroad companies went ahead and graded and pre- 
 pared for the superstructure 250 miles. Governor Sibley was 
 governor of the state, and he placed even more restrictions 
 
 (246) 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 247 
 
 about the issuance of the bonds than the law required, but finally 
 did issue 2,275 bonds of the denomination of $1,000 each. The 
 railroads were to pay the interest on these bonds, but, as usual 
 in such enterprises, they defaulted. The bonds were to run 25 
 years, and the interest, seven per cent, was to be paid semi-annu- 
 ally in New York. With the default of the companies in paying 
 the interest a great furor arose and the outcry was made that 
 the state had been swindled. The bonds had really been issued 
 under Democratic auspices, but the Republican politicians saw 
 an opportunity of making capital against the Democrats by a hue 
 and cry against the bonds. The result was that in i860 a 
 Republican legislature enacted the following: 
 
 No law leving a tax or making other provision for the payment 
 of interest or principal of the bonds denominated Minnesota State Rail- 
 road Bonds shall take effect or be in force until such law shall have 
 been submitted to a vote of the people of the state and adopted by a 
 majority of the electors of the state voting upon the same. 
 
 To make sure that the state would not pay the bonds, the 
 legislature also proposed another amendment to the Constitution, 
 which read as follows: 
 
 The credit of this state shall never be given or loaned in aid of 
 any individual, association or corporation, nor shall there be any 
 further issue of bonds denominated Minnesota State Railroad Bonds 
 under what purports to be an amendment to section 10 of Article IX, 
 of the Constitution, adopted April 15, 1858, which is hereby expunged 
 from the Constitution, saving and excepting and reserving to the state, 
 nevertheless, all rights, remedies and forfeiture accruing under said 
 amendment. 
 
 This proposed amendment to the Constitution was adopted 
 November 6, i860, almost with as great unanimity as the original 
 amendment authorizing the loan was adopted in 1858. The 
 default of the railroads in meeting the interest on these bonds 
 was largely due to our own people. The political controversy 
 led to violent agitation, public meetings were held denouncing 
 the bonds, and the Republican newspapers were insistent that 
 they would never be paid. The railroad corporations which had 
 
248 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 received them naturally supposed when they took them that they 
 would be a good collateral upon which to borrow money; and 
 the general impression would be, laying politics aside, that when 
 a great state gave its note it was pretty good collateral security. 
 Marked copies of St. Paul and other papers berating the bonds 
 and declaring they never would be paid were sent to financial 
 men in New York, and tied the hands of the railroad contractors 
 very tightly. So that it is not surprising that the default in pay- 
 ment of interest occurred. The railroad contractors had paid 
 out all the money they could raise for labor, ties, right-of-way, 
 etc., and were absolutely at a standstill. The result was that 
 Minnesota had about 250 miles of graded road, without a single 
 mile of rails laid. Then on top of this, when the expunging 
 amendment was adopted, the railroad bonds were for a time abso- 
 lutely worthless, so far as use in the business world was con- 
 cerned. The constitutional amendment authorizing the bonds 
 had of course been adopted irrespective of party lines, as shown 
 by the small negative vote , but the great effort of the Republican 
 party was to demonstrate that the Democratic party was 
 responsible for the issue of the bonds, and that they — the Repub- 
 lican party — as a friend of the people would stand by the public 
 and see that they were never paid ; in other words, the politicians 
 were ready to sanction and did sanction rank repudiation for the 
 purpose of making political capital. In the early history of the. 
 state this controversy was one of the leading factors. , Over and 
 over again propositions were made for a compromise, but as 
 promptly rejected. And still the matter of repudiation would 
 not down. 
 
 An act was passed by the legislature March 6, 1871, provid- 
 ing for a commission to determine whether the bonds were a 
 legal liability or not. This commission was also authorized to 
 provide for a new issuance of 30-year bonds to take those 
 already issued up if they were found to be a legal liability. This 
 was submitted to a vote of the people at a special election in 
 May, 1871, and of course voted down as usual. By this time 
 the bondholders became convinced that the people of Minnesota 
 would never, by their votes, declare in favor of paying the bonds. 
 Still the stake of $2,275,000 was too great not to be worked for. 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 249 
 
 The next movement was to both create a popular and a legal 
 sentiment that the bonds could be paid without a vote of the 
 people, in spite of the legislation and expunging amendment. 
 Great attorneys, like W. M. Evarts of New York, were employed, 
 who gave elaborate and carefully prepared opinions, setting forth 
 that the expunging act of the State of Minnesota was in violation 
 of the United States Constitution which forbids states from 
 impairing contracts. There were public meetings, discussions 
 in the newspapers, in the legislatures, in the pulpits, and all over 
 the state on the subject, and the business public was thoroughly 
 aroused to the desire of relieving the state from the stigma of 
 repudiation. Still, the population had by this time largely 
 increased and new men had come to the state, many of them 
 from foreign lands, and the question of repudiation was not as 
 near and dear to their hearts as the question of increasing their 
 taxes. So the more time that elapsed the more hopeless became 
 the situation. 
 
 Governor after governor in his annual message urged that 
 something be done to adjust these bonds. Scarcely anyone had 
 the temerity to propose to pay them in full, but the air was full 
 of compromise talk, as that was about as far as it was worth 
 while for anyone to attempt to go. Feeling in the matter ran 
 high, and the political controversies which have been noted in 
 this book were no more severe than was the controversy as to 
 whether the state should care for its obligations. At this stage 
 of the world it is possible that Minnesota would not deliberately 
 vote to repudiate ; but things were different in the earlier days. 
 Everything was crude, and the people were crude as well. 
 
 In 1877 a proposition setting aside the proceeds from the sale 
 of the 500,000 acres of internal improvement lands granted the 
 state by Congress to pay the bonds was submitted to the peo- 
 ple, but on the 12th of June this was voted down, 59,176 no, to 
 17,324 yes. 
 
 The agitation was like Banquo's ghost, "it would not down." 
 
 The regular session of the legislature in 1881 passed an act 
 proposing a tribunal to be made up of the governor, state auditor 
 and attorney general, to investigate and escertain what was abso- 
 lutely due on the bonds, providing for settlement at 50 cents on 
 
250 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 the dollar to those who were willing to accept that amount for 
 principal and interest. This tribunal went to work, and Gover- 
 nor Pillsbury, who was an ardent advocate for the honor of the 
 state, called a special session of the legislature, which met Octo- 
 ber n, 1881, and adjourned November 13th. The first act passed 
 at this special session was an act creating an internal improve- 
 ment land fund, to be devoted to the payment of the Minnesota 
 Railroad Adjustment Bonds, the question to be submitted to a 
 vote of the people unless upon argument before the supreme 
 court, the supreme court should decide it did not have to go 
 before the people. This act was finally approved and acted 
 upon, and provided for the payment of the 50 cents proposed in 
 the act at the regular session of 1881. 500,000 acres of Internal 
 Improvement lands granted to the state by Congress at an early 
 period were religiously set aside to meet the indebtedness thus 
 incurred. The question of using these lands for this purpose 
 was submitted to the people in 1881 and received 82,438 yes to 
 24,526 no. 
 
 The road was thus made smooth for settling the whole mat- 
 ter. While the 500,000 acres of land were set apart to meet the 
 bonds, it was found that the new indebtedness created by the 
 state, principal and interest, amounted to $4,301,000, though the 
 original face of the bonds issued was $2,275,000, but they drew 
 seven per cent and had been issued over 20 years. The sum of 
 :$4,30i,ooo was 50 per cent of the original issue of bonds with the 
 interest added. 
 
 It was arranged that new bonds should be issued to take up 
 the old ones. They were to be dated July I, 1881, payable after 
 ten years, and not more than 30 years at the option of the state. 
 They were to draw 4^2 per cent interest. In 1891, ten years 
 after the issue, the state exercised its option of taking them up, 
 and made a new issue of bonds for that purpose, the governor, 
 auditor and treasurer being the funding commission. 
 
 At this date $1,974,000 of those bonds are still outstanding, 
 and the state auditor estimates that the gradual redemption of 
 them through the funding process of the Internal Improvement 
 fund will be completed by 1910, leaving the state without a dol- 
 lar of bonded indebtedness. That is all the bonded indebtedness 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 251 
 
 the state now has, and it is prohibited by the Constitution from 
 creating any more. 
 
 All through the legislation on this subject the state was 
 specially guarded in declining to admit that it had repudiated 
 any obligation. The act under which the settlement was made 
 was entitled, "An act for the adjustment of certain alleged 
 claims.'* and the term "controverted claims" was used in the act 
 itself. All through the law it was stated that the state disputed 
 the validity of the indebtedness and did not then admit it. I 
 suppose as they were willing to pay 50 cents on the dollar, they 
 did not like to place themselves under suspicion of compromis- 
 ing something that they owed at par. 
 
 The bondholders were very willing to accept this settlement, 
 and as their original bonds drew what now seems an enormous 
 rate of interest — seven per cent — it is probably fair to say that 
 they received all they were entitled to, as the state really paid 
 almost double the amount of the original issue of its bonds. 
 
 At all events, the stain of repudiation was wiped from the 
 escutcheon of the state, and ever since then the business public 
 has breathed easier. It certainly was a stigma upon Minnesota 
 for nearly a quarter of a century, and the men who were manly 
 enough to stand up and continue the agitation year after year in 
 the face of what seemed a hopeless contest are entitled to the 
 utmost credit. 
 
OBSERVATION THIRTY-EIGHT. 
 
 The Great State Treasury Defalcation in 1872-3. 
 
 An interesting event in Minnesota politics, and one which 
 would have dethroned any political party which was not so thor- 
 oughly entrenched in the confidence of the people as the Repub- 
 lican party was in those days, was the great state treasury 
 defalcation, which was developed in the winter of 1873. 
 
 Emil Munch had held the office of state treasurer for two 
 terms, and was succeeded by his father-in-law, William Seeger. 
 During Mr. Munch's term, as subsequent events and investiga- 
 tions disclosed, he had engaged largely in the purchase of timber- 
 lands and saw-mill operations, and doubtless had the usual 
 expectation that his profits would enable him to restore any 
 enforced loan he made from the treasury. As usual, there is 
 generally a limit to such affairs, and this was no exception to 
 the rule. 
 
 In January, 1873, someone came to me with the intimation 
 that it would be well to have the state treasury overhauled. I 
 do not now recall who the party was, but he was in a position to 
 have his suggestion receive attention. Consequently, on the 31st 
 of January, 1873, I wrote and published conspicuously in the 
 Dispatch the following editorial, headed, 
 
 "WHERE IS THE MONEY?" Governor Austin's message gives 
 this very satisfactory statement of the condition of the state treasury 
 on the 1st of last September: 
 
 "The balance in the treasury on the 30th of November, 1871, was 
 $196,180.37; the receipts during the last fiscal year were $783,481.28, 
 making the total amount of available funds in the treasury during the 
 year $919,661.65. The disbursements within the same time were $736,- 
 361.59, leaving a balance in the treasury at the close of the fiscal year 
 of $243,300." 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. . 253 
 
 The people, not expecting so large a surplus as $243,300 in the 
 treasury, voted last fall to issue a quarter of a million bonds to enlarge 
 our public institutions. There is now great haste manifested to secure 
 this $250,000 and place it in the treasury with the $243,000 that the 
 governor reports. Of course in the construction of buildings, the 
 money will only be paid out as the work progresses, and the balance of 
 the quarter of a million building fund must remain for a long time in the 
 treasury. It would be a good idea for the legislature to investigate 
 and ascertain whether the balance reported by the governor is in the 
 vault at the capitol, or whether it is loaned to banks and individuals, and 
 if loaned ascertain the rate of interest the state is receiving on it; or 
 if, as astonishing as is the supposition, the state is not receiving the 
 interest it might be well to inquire who is. There are some laws on the 
 statute books that would aid a committee in prosecuting this inquiry; 
 and as the legislature is the guardian of the people it would not be 
 out of place to look into the way in which this business is being done. 
 The salary of the state treasurer is but one thousand dollars per year, 
 but for some unaccountable reason it is regarded as the best office in 
 the state. Is it possible that this interest question has anything to do 
 with the matter? 
 
 On the face of it this was a very innocent editorial, and seems 
 to have been eminently fair; but the consternation it created 
 probably never will be known, as most of the individuals who 
 were especially hit by the article have long since passed from 
 earth. Nevertheless, temperate as the article was, it bore very 
 extensive fruit. It appeared on Friday afternoon, and Saturday 
 morning Senator W. G. Ward of Waseca county offered the fol- 
 lowing resolution in the senate : 
 
 Resolved, That a committee of three be appointed to investigate 
 and ascertain whether the surplus funds reported in the governor's 
 message are in the vaults of the state treasury at the capitol, or loaned 
 to banks and individuals, and if so loaned, at what rate of interest, and 
 whether said interest is paid into the state treasury, and if not into the 
 state treasury to whom paid, and what disposition has been made of the 
 funds during the last fiscal year, and report the result of such investi- 
 gation to the senate at an early day. 
 
 Of course no one could object to such a resolution, and the 
 common notice of debate was not even given, out it was imme- 
 diately passed, and Senators Ward, R. B. Langdon of Minne- 
 apolis, and L. F. Hubbard of Red Wing were duly appointed 
 as the investigating committee. 
 
254 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 When the investigation began, Mr. Seeger was inclined to be 
 very obstreperous, and declined to give much information ; but 
 as it proceeded it began to develop that the money was not in 
 the vault of the state treasury to the extent of about $180,000. 
 
 It was nearly a month after the investigation began when the 
 house passed a resolution asking Seeger to resign, and on the 
 4th of March Mr. Charles Clarke of Minneapolis offered the 
 following preamble and resolution in the house : 
 
 Whereas, On Thursday last, the 27th ult, the House did. by an 
 emphatic majority, pass resolutions censuring and condemning the 
 conduct and management of the state treasury; and, 
 
 Whereas, The House has delayed further information in the prem- 
 ises in order that the treasurer of the state might recognize in the 
 sentiment of said resolution an imperative demand upon him for the 
 tender of his resignation of public trusts, and that in the opinion of the 
 House a sufficient and reasonable time has expired without any com- 
 munication having been received of any intention on his part so to do, 
 be it therefore 
 
 Resolved, That William Seeger, the present state treasurer, be and 
 he hereby is requested to answer the imperative demands of the people 
 in an immediate tender to the governor of the state of his resignation 
 of the trusts placed in his hands. 
 
 Resolved, That the chief clerk of the House serve a copy of the 
 foregoing resolution upon said William Seeger forthwith. 
 
 After some debate the resolutions were adopted. 
 The next day this brought the following response from Mr. 
 Seeger : 
 
 I am in receipt of the resolution passed by your honorable body 
 on March 4th, 1873. I must decline to comply with the demand em- 
 bodied in the resolution. I most respectfully decline to stigmatize my 
 administration of the treasury by resigning my office under the circum- 
 stances which have transpired. It is not pretended that I have ever 
 perverted one cent of the moneys of the state to my own use. Every 
 dollar which has ever come into my hands has been faithfuly accounted 
 for. I found when I came into office the state treasury depleted by a 
 large deficit, and that deficit has been made good during the first year 
 of my term. My successor will receive it all. If this were simply a 
 question of giving up the office, I would not hesitate one moment; 
 but my reputation as a public man has been impugned and I have had 
 no opportunity to be heard. 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 255. 
 
 I am conscious of no wrong done by me. What I have done may 
 be made the subject of judicial inquiry, and I am ready to meet that 
 inquiry and its consequences before any tribunal. 
 
 (Signed) WILLIAM SEEGER. 
 
 Seeger's attorneys were Hon. C. K. Davis, Grcenleaf Clark, 
 John M. Gilman of St. Paul, and Gordon E. Cole of Faribault. 
 This letter was, of course, prepared by his attorneys, and was 
 really a very manly statement of the situation. It was eminently 
 true, and created a great deal of sympathy for Mr. Seeger. It 
 never was proven that he personally profited a dollar by the 
 defalcation, in fact it was conceded he did not. He was simply 
 used as a cover for a relative, and the bondsmen had, as he said, 
 made up the deficit, so that in the outcome the state did not lose 
 a dollar, and at the time he wrote this letter the money which was 
 not in the treasury vaults when my article was printed and the 
 investigation began, was actually there, but it was raised and 
 placed there by the bondsmen. 
 
 The leading and most responsible bondsmen were Horace 
 Thompson, president of the First National Bank of St. Paul, 
 Charles Scheffer of St. Paul, but president of the First National 
 Bank of Stillwater, and Maurice Auerbach, of the wholesale dry 
 goods firm of Auerbach, Finch & Scheffer. As a matter of fact 
 Munch and Seeger had been fair enough to advise their bonds- 
 men of the deficit prior to the publication of my article in the 
 Dispatch, and they, the bondsmen, had aided in placing the 
 necessary money in the treasury at critical periods when legis- 
 lative committees were counting the funds, hoping in this man- 
 ner to postpone the evil day, and also inspired by the hope that 
 Munch would recuperate his shattered business fortunes and 
 restore the missing funds. When the investigation was ordered, 
 showing that the exposure must come, they met their responsi- 
 bilities like brave and honorable men. They all proved them- 
 selves the souls of honor, and the state recovered every dollar, 
 principal and interest, without having to bring suit, which is 
 almost unparalleled in defalcations of such magnitude. 
 
 Mr. Thompson called the bondsmen together and told them 
 they must raise every dollar that was due the state. Of course 
 some were better able to pay their proportion than others, but it 
 
256 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 was undoubtedly a great burden on every one. Mr. Thompson 
 never faltered, and not only paid his share, but aided others less 
 able in raising the necessary funds to recoup the state. 
 
 Emil Munch, who had originated the deficit, and his brother 
 Adolph Munch were also on Seeger's bonds, but were unable to 
 do much towards making good and the brunt of the burden fell 
 upon the three men first named. Mr. Munch turned all his 
 property over to the bondsmen but considerable of it was in liti- 
 gation which the bondsmen assumed with heavy legal expenses 
 so that but little was realized. Mr. Auerbach, the only one of the 
 unfortunate bondsmen now living, tells me that before they were 
 through it cost him personally nearly $100,000. Large sums 
 were paid the state for interest, which increased the original 
 deficit very materially. Mr. Seeger told the legislative commit- 
 tee than when he took the treasury he accepted Emil Munch's 
 note for $112,000 as cash and the remainder was carried in a pri- 
 vate memorandum book and on loose slips which really made it 
 very difficult to trace. 
 
 Mr. Seeger's letter was laid on the table and a resolution 
 ordering his impeachment was immediately passed. The 
 impeachment proceedings were duly conducted by the senate, 
 according to law. While they were in progress Mr. Seeger con- 
 cluded it was best to resign, and accordingly sent his resignation 
 to Governor Austin. Governor Austin accepted the resignation, 
 though he was considerably criticised at the time for doing so. 
 No one, however, felt any desire to persecute or prosecute Mr. 
 Seeger, though the legislature refused to entertain the acceptance 
 of the resignation and went ahead with the impeachment pro- 
 ceedings, convicting him and removing him from office. 
 
 E. W. Dike of Faribault was appointed treasurer for the 
 remainder of Seeger's term, and the result of the exposure was 
 that the salary of the treasurer was immediately raised to $4,000. 
 
 No attempt was made to criminally prosecute anyone in the 
 matter. 
 
 It was remarkable that the Democrats made but little fuss 
 about all this, they had become so calloused by repeated defeats 
 that they did not seem to think it worth while. 
 
 In the 50's Ohio had a somewhat similar experience. John 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 257 
 
 G. Breslin (Democrat) was a defaulting state treasurer, but 
 secured the election of his brother-in-law, W. H. Gibson, Repub- 
 lican, as his successor. The exposure came while Gibson was in 
 office. Breslin fled to Canada, and one of the hottest campaigns 
 Ohio ever saw was waged between the Democrats and Repub- 
 liticians as to which political party was responsible. Gibson was 
 finally exonerated, entered the army, serving with distinction 
 during the war, and was elected to Congress as a reward for his 
 military services. 
 
 In Minnesota the Republicans were the whole thing, there 
 being no Democrats allowed to have a chance by holding an 
 office. So the whole onus was upon the Republican party. The 
 bondsmen were also all Republicans and their manly and honor- 
 able course prevented the defalcation making scarcely a political 
 ripple. Instead of suffering the Republicans went right ahead 
 with their political prosperity, but Republican legislatures hedged 
 the state treasury about with such legislation that such an event 
 could not happen again. But little absolute cash is now carried 
 over night in the vaults of the state treasury. 
 
 17 
 
OBSERVATION THIRTY-NINE. 
 
 Senator McMillan's Re-Election in 1881. 
 
 While it can be said that Senator McMillan did not have seri- 
 ous opposition to his re-election in 1881 it should not be sup- 
 posed then he was entirely unopposed. 
 
 It will be remembered that his first election, in 1875, was as 
 a successor to Alexander Ramsey, and that he was chosen as a 
 compromise candidate — a veritable dark horse. His luck was 
 due to the split in the Republican party, and can be charged up 
 to the account of a political intrigue. Senator McMillan himself 
 never was a politician. He had been for many years, and still 
 was when elected senator, on the bench, and this gave him an 
 excuse for keeping aloof from politics, an excuse which I am 
 sure was desired, for it is to ex-Senator McMillan's credit that 
 he was never enamored of professional politics. 
 
 During the canvass for the election of the legislature no can- 
 didate was talked of in opposition to Senator McMillan, and, 
 while his candidacy was not formally an issue in the campaign, 
 it was the general impression that, according to the usual custom, 
 he would be given a second term without a contest. There 
 was, therefore, a good deal of surprise when on the 226. of 
 December, 1880, some six or seven weeks after the election of the 
 legislature, the Pioneer Press came out with a double leaded 
 editorial, placing ex-Senator Ramsey in the field. Ramsey was 
 then secretary of war in Hayes' cabinet, having been appointed 
 to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of McCrary of 
 Iowa, who had been elected to the senate from that state. Gar- 
 field was president-elect, and, of course, Ramsey's term in the 
 cabinet would expire with the termination of the Hayes admin- 
 
 (258) 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 259 
 
 istration, on the 4th of March, 1881. That would also be the 
 date for the beginning of the term of the senator to be elected 
 in January, 1881, by the Minnesota legislature. To say that this 
 announcement created consternation in the McMillan ranks, is 
 to state the situation mildly. It was a regular thunder clap. 
 The McMillan men could not believe that Ramsey was a party 
 to the scheme, as they had regarded his cabinet position only a 
 temporary resurrection and thought, at his age, he would not 
 again be in the field for an office where a contest was necessary. 
 A delegation of McMillan's friends posted off to Washington, 
 confident that they would secure Ramsey's refusal to be a can- 
 didate, but they found he was made of sterner stuff. While he 
 did not blame McMillan personally, he felt that he (McMillan) 
 had profited by his (Ramsey's) defeat in 1875, an< 3 the tempo- 
 rary residence in Washington as a member of the cabinet made 
 him desirous for the old position in the senate, which he had 
 already held for twelve years, but which would be nicely rounded 
 out if the figure was raised to eighteen. There was trouble in 
 the air and dejection in that committee's ranks when they 
 returned to St. Paul with several fleas in their ears. 
 
 It is due the Pioneer Press to say that it made a splendidly 
 aggressive campaign in behalf of Ramsey, albeit it was bitterly 
 personal. For downright bluff and continuous proclamation of 
 certain success, it has rarely been equaled. While its heavy work 
 was for Ramsey, it incidentally boomed C. K. Davis and Gen. 
 John B. Sanborn. They were neither of them actual candidates, 
 any more than when a man is prominently mentioned for such 
 a position as United States senator, it usually inspires a hope 
 that the mention may grow into a reality. Of course, the 
 Pioneer Press motive was to disintegrate McMillan's strength 
 by setting the senatorial bee buzzing in the bonnet of Davis and 
 Sanborn, on the theory that some members of the legislature 
 might vote for them who could not, at least at the outset, be 
 induced to go for Ramsey, and otherwise would support McMil- 
 lan. In reality, I do not think Senator McMillan could blame 
 the Pioneer Press, for when he was elected to the senate, the 
 editor of that paper (Mr. Wheelock) was just beginning his sec- 
 ond term as postmaster of St. Paul, but the senator, almost as 
 
260 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 his first official act, recommended the late Dr. David Day, who 
 was his brother-in-law, for that position, and he was duly 
 appointed. Dr. Day was one of the targets at which the Pioneer 
 Press constantly shot, the favorite epithet being, "Brother-in-law 
 Postmaster Day." While as politics go, this made the Pioneer 
 Press' opposition to McMillan natural, it at the same time weak- 
 ened its cause, and probably was the greatest factor in making 
 the fight unsuccessful, as the state at large, which had not suff- 
 ered, took no interest in inflicting revenge. 
 
 The legislature stood 118 straight Republicans to 26 Demo- 
 crats, with three greenbackers, who were also Republicans. The 
 contest was consequently a purely family fight, without enough 
 Democratic opposition to be of the slighest interest.. The Mc- 
 Millan men evidently feared holding an early caucus, and, of 
 course, the Ramsey men were glad of delay. Where a candi- 
 date feels confident of success, he rushes the caucus within a 
 day or two after the legislature meets, but in this case it was 
 postponed until Jan. 13, 1881, which was only five days prior 
 to the date fixed by the Congressional act for the election. 
 Every day from the 22d of December to the morning of the 
 caucus, the Pioneer Press contained a fusilade on the subject, 
 nearly always concluding with the assertion that McMillan's 
 chances were hopeless. Some of the other Republican papers 
 argued that McMillan was entitled to the usual precedent of the 
 second term, to which the P. P. replied that as his election was 
 an accident, and the result of a dead-lock, he had no further claim 
 to the consideration of the party. The caucus met on the even- 
 ing of the 13th with 114 present, making 58 necessary to a choice. 
 Contrary to usual custom, no nominating speeches were made, 
 and as soon as the caucus was organized, an informal ballot was 
 ordered, which resulted: McMillan 64, Ramsey 26, Davis 16, 
 Sanborn 7, Mons Grinager I. The formal ballot stood: Mc- 
 Millan 78, Ramsey 26, Davis 10. Dr. Day had won his spurs, 
 though he was far from being alone in the canvas for McMillan. 
 The religious element of the Republican party was a strong 
 adjunct to the doctor's campaign, but the following announce- 
 ment in the P. P. the next morning after the caucus, I think, 
 referred to the doctor's branch of the subject: 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 261 
 
 "At the Merchants Hotel the victors celebrated their victory 
 by a convivial gathering- over a dozen quarts of champagne, and 
 the boys had a good time in number 18." 
 
 "Editorially, the Pioneer Press the morning after the caucus, 
 reviewed the situation, I presume very truthfully. While that 
 review is of no consequence at this date, so far as the result is 
 concerned, it is really of historical value, as, showing how mem- 
 bers of the legislature double up on their promises, and can be 
 used as a pointer for those who may engage in the future in 
 similar contests. Here is the salient portion of the editorial : 
 
 "At one time and another during the progress of the canvass 
 between 50 and 60 of the Republican senators and representatives 
 had positively and cordially agreed to support Ramsey for sen- 
 ator. Of these there remained, up to the time of the caucus, 46 
 Republican senators and representatives who had agreed over 
 and over again to vote for Ramsey on the first and subsequent 
 ballots, and had given no notice to his friends of any change of 
 intention, and a large number in addition who had agreed to 
 support him after the first, second or third ballot. If the accu- 
 racy of this statement is challenged by any responsible McMillan 
 man, the names of these 46 men, whose personal assurances were 
 given that they would vote for Ramsey, will be published in the 
 Pioneer Press. When the first informal ballot was taken but 
 23 of these men voted for Ramsey — just half the number who 
 had assured his friends that he was their first choice, and that 
 they would vote and work for his election, and who failed to give 
 notice of any change in their intentions. If these 46 men had 
 voted for Ramsey, as they had promised to do, McMillan's vote 
 on the first ballot would have been reduced to 44." 
 
 On the 1 8th of January, when the senate and house voted 
 separately, the vote stood in the senate, McMillan 29, Daniel 
 Buck of Mankato (Dem.) 5, Davis 1, Judge M. J. Severance 1. 
 Senator William Campbell, a Democrat, was the one who voted 
 for Davis, while Daniel Buck, who was in the senate, voted for 
 Severance. In the house the vote stood McMillan 92, H. H. 
 Sibley (Dem.) 4, C. H. Roberts 2. Senators Beeman, Langdon 
 and Mealey, Republicans, and Simmons, Democrat, were absent. 
 The joint session the next day was merely a ratification meeting 
 
262 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 by the reading of the journals of the respective houses. After 
 Ramsey had been originally brought out as a candidate, the 
 secretary of the navy died, and President Hayes had (though 
 he was secretary of war) appointed him to that position for ten 
 days, which he was at liberty to do under the law without send- 
 ing his name to the senate. When the first ten days had expired 
 he reappointed him for another ten days, and so on. But while 
 our distinguished fellow citizen was holding two cabinet posi- 
 tions, there were only 26 members of the legislature to do him 
 reverence. 
 
 As I have already alluded to the religious element participat- 
 ing in that campaign, it seems only fair to quote from the Pioneer 
 Press of Sunday, January 16th, the following tribute to that inno- 
 vation in politics : 
 
 No one who knows Loren Fletcher and D. M. Sabin and C. D. 
 Gilfillan and Wilder and Merriam and N. P. Clarke can doubt for a 
 moment that they were working throughout the canvass with an eye 
 single to the promotion of the cause of Christianity. The zeal dis- 
 played by these gentlemen in spreading the gospel of Christ and extend- 
 ing the walls of Zion cannot be too highly commended. 
 
 Perhaps I should add, as a counter religious irritant, that 
 Col. William S. King of Minneapolis was one of Ramsey's stal- 
 wart supporters. "Wilder and Merriam,'' referred to in the 
 above, were the late A. H. Wilder and John L. Merriam, uncle 
 and father, respectively, of ex-Governor Merriam] They had 
 always previously been Ramsey's most devoted supporters, and 
 to my personal knowledge his (Ramsey's) second election to the 
 senate was absolutely secured by aid which they were able to 
 render at an opportune but desperate moment in the contest of 
 1869. Evidently in 1881 things were not as they used to be. 
 
OBSERVATION FORTY. 
 
 The Nomination and Election of Hon. J. B. Gilfillan to 
 Congress. 
 
 One of the notable and perhaps the most peculiar contests for 
 congressional honor which ever occurred in the state took place 
 in the Fourth Congressional district in the spring of 1884. Hon. 
 W. D. Washburn was elected from the Third district in 1878; 
 and, after representing that district two terms, a new apportion- 
 men cut down the Third district, and out of a portion of it made 
 the Fourth district. This district consisted of the counties of 
 Anoka, Chisago, Hennepin, Isanti, Kanabec, Pine, Ramsey, 
 Sherburne, Washington and Wright. Mr. Washburn continued 
 in office from the Fourth district for one term, but he had in 
 reality served three terms in Congress ; and, while at the outset 
 he would not have been averse to continuing in the same posi- 
 tion to represent the Fourth district exclusively, as there were 
 other aspirants, he concluded not to be a candidate for a fourth 
 term. Hennepin county, however, claimed the congressman 
 by right of inheritance, and Loren Fletcher considered that he 
 was the natural successor of Washburn, as he had previously 
 subordinated his ambition in order to give his warm personal 
 and politcal friend Washburn the first chance. He entered the 
 lists early, and at first had W. R. Merriam of St. Paul (afterward 
 elected governor) as a competitor. A month before the nominat- 
 ing convention Merriam decided not to run, and Albert Scheffer 
 of St. Paul then entered the race. It was in reality the old, old 
 story of a contest between St. Paul and Minneapolis. 
 
 Scheffer had formerly lived in Washington county, and was 
 really selected for his supposed strength in that locality. It was 
 
264 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 thought with Washington and Ramsey counties in his favor he 
 could carry enough of the smaller counties to win. The chief 
 battle ground of the entire contest was, therefore, in Washing- 
 ton county. There were 13 towns in the county, and 11 of these 
 Scheffer carried without contest, and claimed to have carried 
 the other two, though the Fletcherites disputed it. 
 
 As showing how small matters often produce large results, 
 the contest in Lakeland, one of the towns in Washington county, 
 can be cited. Mr. B. K. Watson was chairman of the Repub- 
 lican town committee. His sympathies were rather with Scheffer 
 than Fletcher; but Scheffer, having drifted away from the 
 Republican party in the Greeley campaign of 1872, Watson did 
 not really feel as if he could allow his sympathies to prevail. 
 Elias McKean of Lakeland was a violently ardent Scheffer man. 
 He came to Mr. Watson one morning and asked him to call a 
 caucus the afternoon of that same day. Of course, it is cus- 
 tomary in sharp political work to steal a march on the enemy; 
 but in a spirit of fairness Watson declined, but promised to call 
 it the next day, giving 24 hours' notice instead of no notice at all. 
 Fayette Marsh of Stillwater was sent over to Lakeland by D. M. 
 Sabin to superintend the caucus for Fletcher. He came to Mr. 
 Watson, and, while Watson did not profess to be for Fletcher, 
 he explained how he felt towards Scheffer on account of the 
 Greeley wave, so that Marsh thought it safer to rely upon him 
 than McKean. He, accordingly, went down to the mill at Lake- 
 land and marshaled 62 men, telling them to go up to the caucus 
 and follow Watson's lead. The men went up as directed, and 
 promptly at the hour named in the call, McKean insisted on Wat- 
 son calling the caucus to order. As soon as it was called to 
 order someone nominated McKean as a delegate to the county 
 convention. The 62 men Marsh had sent up, thinking they were 
 obeying orders, as they saw Watson presiding, all voted for 
 McKean, and the most rabid Scheffer man in the whole county 
 was elected in a twinkling. In the meantime Marsh was down 
 at the lumber yard getting some more men together to come up 
 and follow Watson's lead. Before he returned, in addition to 
 McKean, Henry Vollmer, another Scheffer man, was duly elected 
 by the original 62. So that Marsh had succeeded in securing a 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 2G5 
 
 full delegation of Scheffer men from Lakeland to the county 
 convention. 
 
 Small as this circumstance was, it had a vital bearing upon 
 the general result. Scheffer had 23 votes from the country 
 towns to the county convention, while Stillwater was entitled 
 to five delegates from the First ward, ten from the Second ward 
 and nine from the Third ward, a total of 24. If the two votes 
 from Lakeland could have been added to the Fletcher column 
 it would have made Scheffer's cause almost hopeless. The cau- 
 cuses in Stillwater were held in the evening. The Seymour- 
 Sabin car shops were then in full blast, and employed a sufficient 
 number of men to carry the city in any direction desired. Sen- 
 ator D. M. Sabin issued orders for all the car-shop men to vote 
 the Fletcher delegate ticket. To make sure that they did so, 
 ballots printed on blood-red paper were secured for the Fletcher 
 delegates. Fayette Marsh, who was the generalissimo on the 
 Fletcher side, took the precaution of having ballots printed on 
 green paper as well, lest the Scheffer forces might get out red 
 tickets also. The Scheffer men did not find out about the col- 
 ored tickets in time, and voted ballots printed on plain white 
 paper, but tried to bring the red ballots into disrepute by styling 
 them the "blood vote." It early became evident to the Scheffer 
 men that the Fletcher forces could carry the First and Seco'nd 
 wards. They accordingly resorted to the usual political trick of 
 laying the groundwork for a contest, and devoted all their ener- 
 gies to the Third ward, with the result that Fletcher had 15 
 uncontested votes from Stillwater and nine contested votes. He 
 also had one vote from Stillwater town uncontested and one vote 
 from Baytown, a suburb of Stillwater. This gave him 17 uncon- 
 tested votes in the county convention to Scheffer's 23, and who- 
 ever got the nine votes from the Third ward of Stillwater con- 
 trolled the convention. When this situation dawned both sides 
 deliberately determined to make a double-headed county conven- 
 tion. There was no concealment about the plan whatever. The 
 county convention was called to meet at 2 p. m. in the court 
 house, on Saturday, May 24th. I spent the forenoon in Still- 
 water prior to the convention, and the current talk was that there 
 was to be a fight physically, and one convention was to be 
 
266 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 thrown out of the windows literally, while the other went ahead 
 and did business. 
 
 E. S. Hospes, who was a Scheffer man, was chairman of the 
 county committee, and the duty would have devolved upon 
 him of calling the convention to order. He was out of town, 
 however, and gave his proxy to George F. Sabin, an equally 
 ardent Scheffer man. I went up to the court house about half 
 past i in order to get a safe and advantageous position where 
 I could witness the fight, which had been so vociferously 
 promised. As the town was full of lumber jacks who had 
 been carousing more or less, I anticipated a very enjoyable 
 afternoon. The great point at issue was regularity, and, of 
 course, the convention which got started first would have the 
 semblance of regularity. Sabin was rather inexperienced in 
 politics and very nervous. He really w r anted to be fair if 
 it did not interfere with Scheffer's chances, and unfair if it 
 did. About a quarter of 2 both sides filed in in force into 
 the little court room. Sabin was particularly nervous and 
 constantly consulting his watch. He finally proposed to 
 Marsh that as he (Sabin) was acting chairman of the coun- 
 ty committee they should compare watches, so that the con- 
 vention might be called to order at exactly 2 o'clock. Marsh 
 was a shrewder politician than Sabin, and treated the proposi- 
 tion contemptuously, but at the same time gave a preconcerted 
 signal which instantly called Stephen Danforth. a member of 
 the county committee, to the platform. Danforth began to read 
 the call, while Sabin was still looking at his watch. In about 
 three seconds it dawned on Sabin that he was getting left, and 
 he, too, jumped on the platform, but wasted valuable time by 
 stopping to read his proxy from Hospes, and then began to read 
 the call. Danforth was accordingly a few laps ahead, as he had 
 finished reading the call. He promptly nominated J. H. Town- 
 send, a Fletcher man, for chairman, and as promptly declared 
 him elected. Sabin had located himself in the judge's desk. By 
 this time Townsend immediately came to the platform and stood 
 up beside him to rally the Fletcher convention, while Sabin had 
 charge of the Scheffer convention. At this stage of the proceed- 
 ings Abe Hall, deputy warden in the state prison, who was a 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 267 
 
 powerful and something of a fighting man, ran up to Sabin and, 
 throwing his arms about him, pinning Sabin's arms to his side, 
 carried him out on the platform in front of the clerk's desk ; so 
 that the first blood for regularity was with the Fletcherites, as 
 their chairman was ensconsed upon the bench. By this time 
 Sabin had collected his wits and proceeded to read the call, and 
 went through the form of selecting A. F. Noyes of Forest Lake 
 for chairman of the Scheffer convention. Everything had been 
 cut and dried as a matter of course. Noyes instantly appointed 
 a committee on credentials, with George F. Sabin as chairman. 
 Sabin, just as promptly, pulled out of his pockets a report of the 
 committee on credentials, giving the names of the 23 Scheffer 
 delegates from the country, and the nine Scheffer delegates 
 from the Third ward in Stillwater, thus giving Scheffer an 
 overwhelming majority in the convention. 
 
 Sabin had no sooner read the last name on his list of creden- 
 tials than Sam Judd of Marine had his mouth open to report a 
 list of delegates to the district convention to be held at Minne- 
 apolis on the 28th. This is what would be termed rapid firing 
 in war, and is probably as permissible in political war as in 
 actual war. As quick as Sam Judd had read the names of seven 
 men to go to Minneapolis the chairman of the Scheffer conven- 
 tion declared them elected, and a second later a motion to 
 adjourn was put and carried, and the Scheffer men walked out 
 of the court house. 
 
 In spite of Sabin's frequent consultations of his watch, it was 
 exactly 2 p. m. when he read his credentials report, and four min- 
 utes after 2 p. m. when the Scheffer convention adjourned. 
 
 Having gotten rid of their surplusage, the Fletcher conven- 
 tion was more deliberate. Marsh sent out and got a stenogra- 
 pher and talked two columns of solid nonpareil, besides another 
 solid column of resolutions, all of which were devoted to the 
 question of regularity and denouncing Scheffer and his adher- 
 ent?. 
 
 The Fletcher convention only consisted of delegates from 
 the three wards of Stillwater and one from Stillwater Town and 
 one from Baytown ; 1 1 towns from the country were absolutely 
 unrepresented ; but seven delegates were sent to the district 
 convention at Minneapolis just the same. 
 
268 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 And now the war was transferred from Stillwater to Min- 
 neapolis. The district convention met in Market Hall, Minne- 
 apolis, at 12 noon May 28th. It was presumably composed of 
 the following delegates: Anoka 3, Kanabec 1, Ramsey 15, Chi- 
 sago 4, Pine 1, Wright 7, Isanti 2, Sherburne 1, Hennepin 17, 
 uncontested, and Washington county 7, contested. C. H. Pettit, 
 chairman of the district committee, called the convention to 
 order at ten minutes past 12, and the contest for temporary chair- 
 man was immediately inaugurated. J. H. Thompson nominated 
 George A. Camp of Minneapolis, while Governor Marshall nomi- 
 nated L. K. Stannard of Chisago as the Scheffer chairman. 
 Anoka, Chisago, Kanabec, Pine, Ramsey and. Sherburne coun- 
 ties voted solidly for Stannard, giving him 25, while Wright, 
 Hennepin and Isanti voted solidly for Camp, giving him 26. 
 George A. Camp was a great man in politics. I have seen him 
 in many political contests, and I never saw one who put up as 
 fine a bluff for being fair, without the slightest intention of carry- 
 ing it out, as he could. He would really convince both sides 
 that their destiny was absolutely safe in his hands, and it was — 
 for the side he was on. In taking the chair on this occasion, Mr. 
 Camp said: , 
 
 Gentlemen of the Convention: I thank you for this honor and 
 mark of confidence reposed in me by selecting me as your temporary 
 chairman. In all fairness and justice to every member I shall not in 
 any way abuse the confidence imposed in me. So far as my actions 
 shall go in furthering the temporary organization I shall endeavor to 
 give every member an equal and just opportunity to present his claims. 
 
 Colonel Benton immediately moved that a committee of one 
 be appointed from each senatorial district on credentials. 
 Governor Marshall moved to appoint one from each county. 
 Marshall's motion was lost by 24 for it and 27 against it, and 
 Benton's motion then prevailed. Both the Fletcher and the 
 Scheffer men had held caucuses the night previous and arranged 
 everything in advance as well as they could ; but it is not always 
 that quite as bald a performance is given as on this occasion. 
 Colonel Benton walked to the platform, and, taking from his 
 pocket a paper, handed the chairman a list of the committee on 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 269 
 
 credentials selected by the Fletcher caucus, and the chairman 
 who was publicly pledged to be eminently fair — to his side, 
 promptly announced that as the credentials committee. 
 
 Of course, if this credentials committee could have stood 
 and their report have been adopted, Mr. Fletcher would have 
 been the nominee beyond peradventure. Col. H. G. Hicks then 
 moved that the committee on credentials be instructed to report 
 the Washington county contest to the convention without rec- 
 ommendation. The chair very properly said that such a motion 
 was out of order, as it practically rendered a committee on cre- 
 dentials unnecessary. The chair, however, actually did have a 
 spasm of fairness, and said he would entertain the motion in the 
 interests of harmony, provided it was unanimous. And here 
 the Fletcher men seemed to have fallen asleep, for no one 
 objected, and Colonel Hicks' motion was unanimously carried. 
 If that motion had been lost Mr. Fletcher would undoubtedly 
 have been the nominee for Congress. The credentials committee 
 in reality had nothing to do, and in a short time submitted their 
 report, naming the delegates from all of the counties except 
 Washington. When they came to Washington, the committee 
 reported that Fayette Marsh had submitted one side of the case, 
 and George F. Sabin the other, and without stating what either 
 side was they left it to the convention to decide. 
 
 At this stage of the proceedings Mr. Wyncoop of Chisago 
 county wanted to withdraw both Fletcher and Scheffer. In 
 response Governor Marshall offered to withdraw Scheffer's name 
 if Hennepin county would withdraw Fletcher. This brought no 
 response from Hennepin county, and Colonel Benton moved to 
 proceed with the regular order of business. A motion was made 
 to give Marsh and Sabin 30 minutes each to present their case 
 to the convention. H. F. Barker of Isanti county moved to lay 
 that motion on the table. Messrs. H. G. Hicks and H. A. Cas- 
 tle, both Scheffer men, favored omitting Washington county 
 altogether. Barker's motion to lay on the table carried by 26 
 to 25. 
 
 The next motion was for a recess, but that was voted down 
 by 26 to 25. Then it began to dawn on Barker that he had some 
 power, and in fact as the sequel proved that he was the whole 
 convention. 
 
270 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 By some peculiar process, in spite of the tabling of the mo- 
 tion to allow the Washington county case to be presented, the 
 case was taken up without reconsidering that vote. A long 
 debate followed. Marsh, Sabin and half a dozen others partici- 
 pated in discussing the merits of the Washington county case. 
 Pettit made a motion to admit the Fletcher delegation from 
 Washington county. Governor Marshall as promptly made the 
 motion to admit the Scheffer delegates. Barker again appeared 
 and proposed to lay the whole thing on the table. It was already 
 on the table, but it went there for a second time by the cele- 
 brated vote of 26 to 25. 
 
 Up to the time these pages go to press Washington county is 
 still lying on the table. At this stage of the proceedings Mr. 
 Langdon moved that the convention proceed to ballot independ- 
 ent of Washington county. Perhaps Air. Langdon did not 
 realize at the time, in view of his subsequent attitude, that this 
 motion in reality gave up the whole question, and that he really 
 became a party to the result of the convention unwittingly. 
 
 The debate over Washington county had enabled Mr. Bar- 
 ker of Isanti to pull himself together and see just where he was 
 at. He discovered that omitting Washington county, there were 
 25 Fletcher men and 25 Scheffer men in the convention. It also 
 dawned on him that, besides these evenly divided forces, there 
 was Barker, and that if he could keep his wits about him he was 
 It with a capital "I." When he had gotten Washington county 
 buried on the table, Mr. Barker arose and said : 
 
 "On behalf of the Republicans of Isanti personally he wished 
 to make a nomination. He was aware that there were two can- 
 didates who had waged a hard and hot fight for the nomination. 
 He believed both were able, honorable men. As between the 
 two he had his choice. Owing to the strife he doubted if either 
 could be elected. In the interests of the party, he wished to 
 present a third name — a gentleman from the county of Henne- 
 pin, a man who was well qualified in every respect and deserving 
 the support of this convention. He said in conclusion : 
 
 "I have the honor and the pleasure of presenting the name 
 of the Hon. J. B. Gilfillan." 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 271 
 
 Mr. Fletcher's friends moved that the nomination be made 
 by a. majority of all the votes in the call. Mr. Barker amended 
 by moving that the majority of all those voting nominate. Bar- 
 ker's vote carried, as usual, by 26 to 25, and if he had any 
 doubt about it before, then he knew he was It. The chair 
 announced he had a protest from Washington county, but Bar- 
 ker objected to its being read. Hennepin county then endeav- 
 ored to get a recess, but Barker again objected, and 26 was a 
 greater number than 25. As a remarkable thing, both Fletcher 
 and Scheffer were on the floor consulting with their friends, and 
 Scheffer, though not a delegate, made a speech in behalf of Gil- 
 fillan. When the roll of counties was called, Hennepin and the 
 other Fletcher counties refused to vote. The following counties 
 voted for Gilfillan : Anoka 3, Ramsey 15, Isanti 1, Kanabec I, 
 Chisago 4, Pine 1, Sherburne 1 ; total 26. Besides Mr. Barker. 
 E. G. Clough was a delegate from Isanti county ; but, while Bar- 
 ker ruled the convention to a finish, he could not control Clough, 
 and Clough sulked in silence with the Fletcher men. The chair 
 was obliged to declare that the 26 votes nominated Gilfillan, as 
 there were no votes for any other candidate. A committee of 
 three, with Barker as chairman, was appointed to wait on Mr. 
 Gilfillan and inform him of the nomination. While the com- 
 mittee was absent I busied myself by mingling with the raving 
 Fletcherites, and, writing down their remarks, some of which 
 were as follows : 
 
 "He won't accept," said Mr. Fletcher. 
 
 "Of course he won't," added Colonel Benton. 
 
 "If he does he will be beaten at the polls," said Mr. Langdon. 
 
 "Washington county will give the Democratic nominee 1,500 
 majority," said Rock Hersey of Stillwater. 
 
 "If the Democrats will nominate Capt. Merriman, Hennepin 
 county will give him 3,000 majority," chimed in George K. Shaw 
 of the Journal. 
 
 "Mr. Gilfillan is a very good man, but I don't know whether 
 we will support him in Wright county, for he is not the legal 
 nominee," said J. N. Stacy. 
 
 "There is not any law to make us vote for him in November," 
 said Dr. Merrv of Stillwater. 
 
272 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 "I don't know what policy we shall pursue until we consult, 
 but this nomination does not bind anyone," said Colonel Benton. 
 
 "Wasn't it well managed ?" said Governor Marshall. 
 
 "Never fear about his accepting; it's all understood," said 
 Capt. Russell Blakely of St. Paul. 
 
 About this time there was a noise and bustle on the stairway 
 which presaged the return of the committee with Mr. Gilfillan. 
 The committee had found him quietly at work in his law office, 
 wholly unaware of the commotion which was going on over his 
 name. He told the committee that he wanted to consult with the 
 Hennepin delegation before he decided what to do ; that he 
 would go down to the convention with them and talk it over. 
 When he arrived at the convention hall there was a rush of the 
 17 Hennepin delegates to the ante room where Mr. Gilfillan was 
 esconsed in waiting. Nearly all of them were mad, but some of 
 them madder than others, notably R. B. Langdon, who demanded 
 in so many words that Mr. Gilfillan decline. Mr. Gilfillan is of 
 Scotch descent, and his Scotch blood began to boil over Lang- 
 don's fusillade. He appealed to Langdon to be a little more 
 considerate in his speech, and then ensued a general talk lasting 
 perhaps half an hour. The only member of the Hennepin dele- 
 gation who advised him to accept was C. H. Pettit, and he did 
 it in a whisper. Mr. Gilfillan is a strong party man and open to 
 reasonable argument, but he cannot be driven or bulldozed. If 
 he had been met with temperate argument results might have 
 been different, but the intemperate zeal of Fletcher's friends, and 
 particularly of Mr. Langdon, changed the situation entirely. 
 Mr. Fletcher himself was especially insistent that Mr. Gilfillan 
 should decline the honor which had come to ■him unsought. As 
 the conference was about to conclude, Mr. Langdon went to Mr. 
 Gilfillan again with the demand that he should refuse the nomi- 
 nation, accompanied by a threat of defeat at the polls if he insisted 
 upon accepting. This last assault seemed to have settled it, and 
 with Langdon still raging Mr. Gilfillan walked into the conven- 
 tion hall, where he was received with great applause by the Ram- 
 sey county delegates. There was no especial cordiality on Mr. 
 Camp's part when Mr. Camp introduced him as the nominee, 
 but Mr. Gilfillan is a calm and collected man and faced the audi- 
 ence, saying: 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 273 
 
 I have not been a disinterested spectator, though little did I dream 
 that I should be a participant in this convention nor in its proceedings. 
 I am not fully informed by what method this conclusion has been 
 reached. We want the utmost harmony to prevail. When I see before 
 me gentlemen whom I know to be patriarchs in the party, and also 
 younger men, bound to me by more recent ties, and this nomination 
 coming from a convention made up of these elements, it is certainly a 
 strong appeal to me not to flinch, but to accept the nomination. If it 
 shall appear in the future that there is any other standard-bearer who 
 can more solidly unite the opposing factions and lead the grand old 
 party to victory, I shall be willing to decline in his favor. Faithfulness 
 and integrity in office, a wholesome revision of the tariff, and estab- 
 lishing a sound currency constitutes about all there is in politics of to- 
 day; and should your choice be ratified at the polls I shall simply labor 
 with the hope with the aid of Providence that I may return among you 
 not ashamed to look any of you squarely in the face, but with the 
 consciousness that I have discharged the duties imposed by your trust 
 with honesty. This nomination coming from this convention affords 
 me a gratification and a pride which I cannot now find words to express. 
 In closing I wish to tender my expression of gratitude for this unsought- 
 for honor. 
 
 As soon as Mr. Gilfillan had concluded his speech and Ram- 
 sey county had duly applauded, Hennepin sitting in silence, Gov- 
 ernor Marshall moved that the convention adjourn. Mr. Marsh 
 still wanted to get in his Washington county protest, and the 
 chair said he would receive it, but simultaneously with that 
 announcement the convention adjourned, and the delegate con- 
 vention of 50 men and Barker passed into history. 
 
 It was generally supposed at the time — a supposition in 
 which I shared myself — that Washburn had inspired Barker to 
 his course, and Fletcher and his friends felt very indignant 
 because Fletcher had always supported Washburn. This largely 
 grew out of the fact that Washburn expressed himself, in an 
 interview in Washington, as very much pleased with the nomina- 
 tion of Gilfillan. 
 
 As a matter of fact, Mr. Barker and his brother were young 
 lawyers, one at Cambridge, Isanti county, and the other, who 
 was not in the convention, at Princeton, Mille Lacs county. 
 The Barker who resided at Princeton had been a student in Mr. 
 Gilfillan's office, and when the brothers set up in law business 
 for themselves they frequently came to Mr. Gilfillan for advice 
 
 18 
 
274 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 and assistance in preparing their legal papers. Mr. Gilfillan is 
 a very obliging gentleman, and took great pleasure in aiding 
 the young men, which he did without asking any compensation 
 whatever. The result was he made warm friends of the young 
 men, warmer perhaps than he even knew himself, and when Bar- 
 ker of Isanti county found his power he turned to the man who 
 had proven himself his friend in the past, Mr. Gilfillan, and con- 
 cluded to reciprocate, which he did in most elegant shape. 
 
 Later the threat, which I have already quoted, of carrying 
 Washington county against Gilfillan, was attempted to be put 
 into effect, but in reality he carried the county by nearly a thou- 
 sand majority. Hennepin county went against him by 22 votes, 
 while Ramsey county gave him nearly 500 majority. There was 
 a prohibition candidate in the field who received 978 votes. Gil- 
 fillan's total vote in the district was 28,930 and Merriman's 
 (Dem.) 24,496; Gilfillan's majority over Merriman being 4,434. 
 
 It may be interesting even at this late day to notice the result 
 in detail by counties, and I accordingly append the following 
 table : 
 
 Gilfillan. Merriman. Douglas. 
 
 Anoka 1,186 784 78 
 
 Chisago 1,356 479 3 
 
 Hennepin 11,540 11,562 692 
 
 Isanti 1,054 297 2 
 
 Kanabec 276 44 
 
 Pine 319 365 
 
 Ramsey 7-598 7,119 68 
 
 Sherburne 581 4 12 8 
 
 Washington 2.675 1-743 20 
 
 Wright 2.345 1.691 107 
 
 Total 28.930 24,496 978 
 
 This affair delayed Mr. Fletcher's arrival in Congress eight 
 years, which is a good while in the lifetime of a man who had 
 reached the age of Fletcher. Mr. Gilfillan served his two years 
 in Congress, and probably made as acceptable and efficient a rep- 
 resentative as the district ever had. He was eminently fair to 
 both St. Paul and Minneapolis. Two years later he was defeated 
 by Edmund Rice of St. Paul, Democrat. This was perhaps due 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 275 
 
 more to the greater accomplishments of the Democrats in count- 
 ing the votes in St. Paul than they had two years previously. 
 The defeat was certainly no reflection upon Mr. Gilfillan person- 
 ally. After Rice had served his two years, Hon. S. P. Snider 
 (Rep.) of Minneapolis was elected to Congress without Fletcher 
 being a candidate. At the end of Snider's term J. N. Castle 
 (Dem.) of Stillwater served two years, then Fletcher again ap- 
 peared in the field. Time had seemingly eliminated all animos- 
 ity, and Fletcher won, serving three terms in Congress, until he, 
 in turn, was defeated by John Lind, Democrat. And thus time, 
 which is the greatest alleviator, smoothed the pathway of the 
 Fourth Congressional district, and Hennepin county became a 
 district by itself. 
 
 In the records of political strife in Minnesota it will go down 
 to history, because it is here recorded that there was never but 
 one convention in the state where one man was the whole thing, 
 and 50 other men were simply puppets in his hands. 
 His name was Barker. 
 
 Soon after the nomination it became quite apparent that there 
 was trouble in Washington county. Mr. Gilfillan, not having 
 devoted his attention to active politics, was not regarded by his 
 enemies as a skillful politician, but he handled Washington 
 county in a manner which demonstrated that he was much bet- 
 ter equipped for the game of politics than the Fletcher-Lang- 
 don-Sabin coterie had counted on. He visited Washington 
 county in person informally and by appointment, but was met 
 very coldly, in fact almost insultingly, and after spending an 
 afternoon and evening there he left Stillwater, with the decision 
 that he would not visit the county again during the canvass. 
 He employed, however, a bright newspaper man who practically 
 made himself a political detective, and sent him to Stillwater at 
 the time the county convention was to be held to nominate a 
 legislative and county ticket. The reporter or detective was met 
 with open arms and open mouths by the recalcitrant Repub- 
 licans of Stillwater. The first real developments he struck were 
 through Mr. G. M. Seymour of the firm of Seymour, Sabin & 
 Co. It developed from this conference that there was an organ- 
 ized scheme to carry Washington county, which was normally 
 
276 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 200 or 300 Republican, for Mr. O. C. Merriman of Minneapolis, 
 the Democratic nominee for Congress. 
 
 After leaving Mr. Seymour, the detective consulted with 
 Mr. E. G. Butts, postmaster of Stillwater, and the mine 
 grew richer the more it was worked. The plan, in brief, 
 was to secure $1,000 from Merriman, $500 of which 
 was to be used in securing the support of a Repub- 
 lican newspaper, and the remainder was to be used among 
 some of the Scandinavian politicians of the county who were in 
 a position to render valuable service. In the talk with the 
 detective Mr. Butts developed that in his opinion Mr. Seymour 
 was the most available man to handle the money and see that 
 it bore the most fruit, but before the detective had parted with 
 Butts he had consented to handle the money himself, of course 
 with the understanding that nothing should be known of his 
 connection with the matter. Fayette Marsh was also inter- 
 viewed, and, while he was not as garrulous as Seymour and Butts, 
 his talk fully confirmed all that had been previously ascertained. 
 
 The reporter-detective returned to Minneapolis and wrote 
 out in detail for Mr. Gilfillan the conversations he had, which 
 he had quietly taken down in shorthand as they occurred. To 
 this report he attached his affidavit setting forth the truth of his 
 report, and verified it before a notary, who was a friend of 
 Fletcher's. 
 
 Mr. Gilfillan adhered to his determination of not' again visit- 
 ing Stillwater, but he permitted the existence of this affidavit, 
 and a copy of the talk with Messrs. Seymour, Butts and Marsh 
 to make a visit to Stillwater through a local friend. At first 
 they stood "pat" and said Mr. Gilfillan could publish the report 
 if he wanted to. After consultations, however, it dawned upon 
 the Stillwater proposed bolters that they were on dangerous 
 ground. Butts was postmaster; Sabin was United States sen- 
 ator; Blaine was a candidate for the presidency, ardently sup- 
 ported by Senator Sabin, and at that time his election was 
 thought to be certain. Mr. Butts wished to retain his postmas- 
 tership, and Mr. Sabin wished to retain his political standing in 
 the party as well as with Mr. Blaine, who was supposed to be 
 the coming president. Consequently if Mr. Sabin's own county 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 277 
 
 went in favor of a Democratic member of Congress, when the 
 county was normally Republican he (Sabin) would be very 
 largely held responsible for results. Under such circumstances, 
 too, Mr. Butts could not have hoped for a reappointment as post- 
 master. When this situation had filtered through the minds of 
 that crowd they became very desirous of carrying Washington 
 county for Mr. Gilfillan, instead of for the Democratic nominee 
 Mr. Gilfillan assured them that the information he had obtained 
 would not be published in the campaign, but he also assured them 
 that if Washington county went against him at the election the 
 valuable information he had obtained would be published to the 
 world in the Pioneer Press the next day -after election. 
 
 It is questionable whether any shrewder political work was 
 ever done in the state, and withal there was not the least thing 
 improper m the whole transaction on the part of Mr Gilfillan 
 and his friends. Mr. Gilfillan had simply secured statements 
 from the mouths of the conspirators themselves which told of the 
 plot, and it was within their power to carry out the plot or to 
 abandon it. The latter course was what they vigorously decided 
 to do, and the result was that Washington county gave Mr Gil- 
 fillan nearly 1,000 majority, or, to be exact, 932. The fateful 
 document was accordingly never published, and the first real 
 publicity given to its ever having existed appears in these pa-es 
 
 With the exception of his last defeat for Congress, the politi- 
 cal world has been kind to Loren Fletcher. Personally I can- 
 not say that he is remarkably magnetic, though a verv'pleasant 
 gentleman to meet. But he has had in his time a very winnin- 
 way in politics. He had served five times in the legislature 
 when, at the session of 1881, he concluded to be candidate for 
 speaker. J. V. Daniels of Olmstead county and A. C. Dunn of 
 Faribault county were candidates against him. They were both 
 from the southern part of the state, and Fletcher and his friends 
 concluded they would so divide the strength from that section 
 that it would be an easy victory. Daniels and Dunn realized 
 the situation, and the Sunday preceding the caucus, which was 
 
278 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 held Monday night, Jan. 3, 1881, Daniels withdrew in favor of 
 Dunn. To almost anyone else save "your Uncle Loren" this 
 would have been an omen of sure defeat ; but in his case the 
 union of the opposition was only an inspiration for redoubled 
 effort. When the caucus met J. V. Daniels was selected as 
 chairman, S. B. Sheardown of Winona placed Dunn in 
 nomination. A. C. Hicks of Minneapolis performed a similar 
 office for Fletcher. While there were 89 straight and two 
 Greenback Republicans in the house, but 82 were present in the 
 caucus at the outset, making 42 necessary for a choice. On the 
 informal ballot Fletcher received 53 and Dunn 29. On the for- 
 mal ballot the vote was increased, Fletcher receiving 64 to 20 
 for Dunn. 
 
 As an indication of the worthlessness of political promises, I 
 quote the following comment from the Pioneer Press of the next 
 morning after the caucus : 
 
 Nothing better illustrates the uncertainty of political expectations, 
 than the result of the contest for speakership in the Republican legis- 
 lative caucus last night. There are 91 Republicans in the House, but 
 only 81 were at first present. The friends of Dunn claimed 47 pledged 
 votes, allowing 2.7 pledged to Fletcher and 17 to Daniels. Fletcher, 
 on the other hand, claimed 51 votes, giving Dunn 29. This was in fact 
 the actual result of the first informal ballot, except that an additional 
 member arrived, casting his vote for Fletcher. 
 
 Everyone understands that in all such contests the politicians 
 give two or three pledges. In fact, it is necessary to be a cheerful 
 and versatile liar if you are in politics to win. The rival candi- 
 dates understand this perfectly, and know that somebody will be 
 sold out ; but with the sanguine temperament which always 
 characterizes a candidate for office, each candidate thinks that 
 the promise will be kept to him and broken to the other fellows. 
 Of course, he is sometimes right, and then again sometimes he 
 is not. This accounts for many political results, and the heart- 
 burnings which follow out of these various contests. 
 
OBSERVATION FORTY-ONE. 
 
 The Election of Hon. W. D. Washburn to the Senate and 
 His Defeat of Hon. D. M. Sabin. 
 
 When the legislature met in 1889 there was a red-hot fight 
 on for the United States senatorship. D. M. Sabin's first term 
 was expiring, and W. D. Washburn was his principal com- 
 petitor. The contest began with the beginning of the session 
 by a fight on the speakership. C. H. Graves, of Duluth, was 
 the candidate for speaker of the Sabin forces, and D. F. Mor- 
 gan, of Albert Lea, the candidate for the Washburn forces. 
 Both candidates and their friends persistently denied that they 
 represented the senatorship, because they felt that they wished 
 to have their contest independent of the greater one. Neverthe- 
 less, that was the situation, and, deny it all they please, they 
 could not blind the eyes of the public. The night before the 
 legislature met, the Republicans held a caucus upon the speak- 
 ership. There were 86 present, necessary to a choice 44. 
 There was only one ballot, which resulted : Graves 50, Mor- 
 gan 36. 
 
 This added to the confidence of the Sabin forces, and corre- 
 spondingly depressed Washburn and his friends. Washburn 
 got up a caucus of his own, confined entirely to his friends, 
 at which he had 35 present. As there were 125 Republicans 
 in the Legislature, a caucus of 35 was not very encouraging. 
 Albeit among the 35 were many of the leading Republican 
 politicians in the state, so that that caucus really counted more 
 than it represented numerically. 
 
 Of course it would not do for Mr. Washburn to be a can- 
 didate for anything without having his old-time enemy, Mr. 
 Donnelly, in the field, and he was there. He announced him- 
 
 (279) 
 
280 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 self as the candidate for the Senate representing the Farm- 
 ers Alliance. I do not think Mr. Donnelly had the slightest 
 idea he could win, but he wanted to do something to defeat 
 Washburn. His wise policy would have been to make an 
 alliance with Sabin rather than have gone off as a candidate 
 for himself. But his desire for political life would not per- 
 mit this, and the consequence was that he was a full-fledged 
 candidate to the end. He hardly had a sufficient following 
 for a caucus, but he managed to have a State Farmers Alli- 
 ance annual meeting just at the opening of the session of 
 the Legislature, and that annual meeting unanimously en- 
 dorsed him for Senator. 
 
 There was the usual talk about caucus or no caucus. The 
 Pioneer Press was urgently advocating a caucus, and citing 
 the disruption of six years before, which had elected Sabin, 
 as a reason for holding a caucus this time to bring the party 
 together. 
 
 It was finally decided by the Washburn-Sabin forces to 
 have a caucus to nominate a Senator. The caucus was formal- 
 ly held on the evening of January 17th. By agreement among 
 the aspirants it was arranged that there should be no pre- 
 liminary contest for chairman. Neither side wished to show 
 its hand prematurely. By mutual agreement, Mr. M. J. Dan- 
 iels, a very fair man, was selected to preside. After the usual 
 preliminaries of organization, Hon. C. B. Buckman nominat- 
 ed Mr. Sabin, and A. T. Stebbins. of Rochester, and W. G. 
 Ward, of Waseca, seconded the nomination. D. F. Morgan, 
 of Albert Lea, nominated Mr. Washburn, and C. R. Davis, 
 Representatives Crossfield, Forbes and Smith, seconded the 
 nomination. Mr. Hompe, of Fergus Falls, brought up the 
 rear of the procession by nominating Donnelly. The vote 
 was a secret ballot by roll-call ; as each man's name was call- 
 ed he responded by dropping his ballot in a hat. Before the 
 roll-call began, Senator Daniels announced that 121 were pres- 
 ent, and that 61 would be necessary for a choice. The first 
 ballot was allowed to be informal, without any motion to that 
 effect, and it stood: Washburn 52, Sabin 43, Donnelly 15, 
 Nelson 7, Start, 2, Cole 1, Strait 1. That vote was quite de- 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 281 
 
 pressing to the Sabin forces, but the caucus went on and took 
 three more ballots. 
 
 First. Second Third. 
 
 Washburn 5§ 56 62 
 
 Sabin 46 55 54 
 
 Donnelly 10 5 4 
 
 Nelson 3 2 
 
 Start 2 3 2 
 
 Cole 2 1 
 
 When Washburn lost 2 on the second ballot and Sabin 
 gained 9 on the same ballot everybody thought Sabin was 
 the winner, and there was great jubilation among Sabin's 
 friends, both inside and outside of the caucus, but the third 
 and last ballot told another story. Both Washburn and Sabin 
 were present at the capitol where the caucus was held, and 
 both were brought into the caucus — Washburn to rejoice and 
 Sabin to mourn. Sabin made a very manly speech, showing 
 as little disappointment as it was possible for him to show 
 under the circumstances. He claimed that he ha'd 68 votes 
 positively pledged, and I personally know that this was true. 
 Still the highest vote he received was 13 less than was prom- 
 ised. But that is nothing unusual in politics. 
 
 Of course after the caucus adjourned there was the usual 
 jubilation. The Merchants Hotel, which was the headquart- 
 ers of both candidates at that time, was packed with a seeth- 
 ing mass of humanity, which almost made the walls of the 
 spacious corridors bulge outwards. But everybody was hap- 
 py — except those who were unhappy. 
 
 In the Senate the next day. Senator W. G. Ward sprung 
 quite a sensation by offering the following: 
 
 Whereas, Charges of wholesale bribery in a caucus contest for the 
 position of United States senator from the State of Minnesota are made 
 by divers citizens of said state; and, 
 
 Whereas, Evidence, voluntarily presented by members and citizens 
 indicate that large sums of money were corruptly used to influence 
 the votes of members of the legislature of Minnesota in the caucus for 
 United States senator, held on Thursday evening, January 17, 1889; 
 therefore. 
 
 Resolved, That a committee of three members of this senate be 
 appointed by the president of the senate to investigate the charges and 
 rumors of bribery and corruption. 
 
282 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 Xo notice of debate was given, and the preamble and reso- 
 lution were immediately passed. The chair appointed Sena- 
 tors Ward. Edwards and Pope as members of the committee. 
 
 Senator "Ward was an ardent Sabin man and a strong op- 
 ponent of Washburn, and his resolution was intended to be 
 aimed at Washburn. In interviews Sabin disclaimed having 
 any knowledge of or sympathy with the movement. There 
 was doubtless some ground for the charges, and while no one 
 supposes that either Washburn or Sabin personally did any 
 corrupt act in the matter, it is well understood in politics that 
 the principals do not do that kind of business themselves. If 
 was the general feeling at the time that if there had been any- 
 thing of that kind done, both candidates were tarred with the 
 same stick. 
 
 The next day the House passed a similar resolution order- 
 ing an investigation and appointed a committee of seven rep- 
 resentatives to investigate. Mr. Ward promptly called his 
 committee together, and employed W. W. Erwin. the famous 
 criminal lawyer, as counsel. Senator Edwards, who was one 
 of the Washburn leaders, refused to proceed without counsel 
 for his side as well, and after a good deal of controversy C. 
 D. O'Brien was employed by Senator Edw^ards to represent 
 the Washburn side of the matter. 
 
 The investigation proceeded but without developing much 
 more than the idle talk of the hotel lobbies, which as a rule is 
 largely falsehood, inspired by copious draughts of the flowing 
 bowl. 
 
 The object of the investigation was evidently to lay the 
 groundwork for a bolt from the caucus, and the question of 
 a bolt was openly discussed. It is to Senator Sabin's credit 
 to say that he did not encourage any such proceeding. If he 
 had it is quite likely there would have been a bolt. But he 
 was man enough to admit that he had been defeated and was 
 ready to submit. The result of the investigation brought 
 about one unusual matter. Under the law of Congress the 
 vote was to be taken in the respective houses the following 
 Tuesday, and it was quite a short time for the committee to 
 make its investigation and report. The consequence was that 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 283 
 
 •on Tuesday evening the Senate met in secret session and had 
 the official reporter, Mr. George N. Hillman, of St. Paul, read 
 the testimony from his stenographic notes, he not having had 
 time to transcribe them. This occupied all the evening, and 
 after the reading of the testimony a debate followed in the 
 Senate as to what should be done about it. The committee 
 made no recommendation, leaving each Senator to decide for 
 himself what he thought about it. The result of all this was 
 that the Senate decided, about midnight, to proceed to vote 
 for L T nited States senator. On that vote Washburn received 
 24 votes, E. M. Wilson 3:15 were present who refused to vote, 
 and 5 were absent. Of the 15 refusing to vote, Crandall, 
 Dodge and Truax were Republicans; the other 12 were Demo- 
 crats. C. B. Buckman, who had been Sabin's leader in the 
 Legislature, had been reflected on, not particularly in the tes- 
 timony, but in the common street talk ; and prior to taking the 
 vote the Senate passed the following resolution : 
 
 "Resolved, That the members of the senate hereby express their 
 ■confidence in the honor and integrity of our honored colleague, C. B. 
 Buckman, and resent all imputations growing out of the recent bribery 
 investigation reflecting upon his good name." 
 
 The House committee did business a little better than the 
 Senate, as they presented a formal report, which concluded as 
 follows : 
 
 We take pleasure in reporting that we find no evidence that any 
 member of the legislature has been connected with any attempt to bribe, 
 or corrupt any other member, or that any member has been paid or 
 received any consideration for his vote at said caucus. 
 
 (Signed) E. SEVATSON. 
 J. M. DIMENT, 
 A. T. STEBBINS. 
 F. C. STEVENS. 
 JOHN B. HOMPE, 
 JOHN DAY SMITH, 
 F. E. SEARLE. 
 
 The House then proceeded to vote, and their vote stood : 
 Washburn 80, Durant (Dem.) 9, Start 8, Wilson 2, Clapp 1. 
 While Mr. Washburn had received a majority of the votes 
 in the House he had not received a majority in the Senate, and 
 
284 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 consequently a vote in joint convention was required the next 
 day. At that time the vote stood as follows: Washburn 107, 
 Durant 20, Start 9, Wilson 2, Bowen 1, Clapp 1, J. P. Rea, 1. 
 Of course this settled the whole matter and Washburn was 
 declared duly elected. The bribery investigation blew over 
 in a short time, and has long since been entirely forgotten. I 
 only reproduce it now because it is history. 
 
 In an authorized interview after the election was completed, 
 Mr. Sabin said this : 
 
 I am entirely serene and not in the least soreheaded. The campaign 
 we have run against the combined interests of Minneapolis influences 
 and capital, with all of its ramifications, and the old Indian ring of St. 
 Paul, is to my mind one of the most vigorous and healthy ever con- 
 ducted. I am simply amazed at the close shave of success we had. 
 
 Speaking of Senator Buckman he said this : 
 
 "Senator Buckman is a high-toned gentleman and faithful adherent. 
 He is my friend and has been through this and other contests, and I 
 honor him for it. He has my most hearty thanks for his loyalty." 
 
 Washburn proved to be, like Senator Sabin, a one-term 
 Senator, as is more fully explained in another chapter. Mr. 
 Sabin's financial fortunes had become badly shattered, partly 
 by the attention which he gave to politics. He was, however, 
 a very resolute and hopeful man, and on retiring from the Sen- 
 ate took up the business end of existence with great hopes 
 of recuperating his fortune, and of at some time again enter- 
 ing political life. To some extent he recuperated in busi- 
 ness. . He had large iron mining operations and finally built 
 a logging railroad in Wisconsin, which bid fair at one time 
 to place him upon his business feet. But death came in the 
 midst of his plans ; and it always seemed to me that after the 
 political and business calamities which befel him death must 
 have been a rather welcome visitor. He died in Chicago, and 
 was buried at his old home, in Stillwater. 
 
 To show the mutations of human life, it can be said that 
 the attendance at his funeral was probably not one-fourth the 
 number of those who were daily gathered under his banner 
 at the Merchants Hotel for nearly a month prior to the Legis- 
 lative contest. Still, so wags the world — especially the po- 
 litical world. 
 
OBSERVATION FORTY-TWO. 
 
 Knute Nelson's Contest With Kindred and His Success. 
 
 The following is the opening paragraph of a telegram I 
 sent my paper, the St. Paul Globe, from Detroit, Minn., on 
 the 12th of July, 1882: 
 
 Hell reigneth. The Lord be praised. If the religious sentiments 
 of these phrases seem to be mixed I can assure you that it corresponds 
 to the political situation in the Fifth district. 
 
 That was the famous day when the double-headed conven- 
 tion was held at Detroit and evolved Knute Nelson and C. F. 
 Kindred as Republican candidates for Congress. The Fifth 
 district was a monster territorially and in number of counties, 
 having 28, as follows : 
 
 Aitkin, Benton, Becker, Beltrami, Big Stone, Carleton, Cass, Cook, 
 Crow Wing, Clay, Douglas, Grant, Itasca, Kittson, Lake, Marshall, 
 Morrison, Mille Lacs, Otter Tail, Pope, Polk, Stearns, Stevens, St. 
 Louis, Traverse, Todd, Wadena and Wilkin. 
 
 It was the first election since the Fifth district had been 
 constructed, and the rivalry for the nomination was intense. 
 The leading candidates were Knute Nelson, of Alexandria, 
 and C. F. Kindred, of Brainerd, though C. A. Gilman, of St. 
 Cloud, and C. H. Graves, of Duluth, were in the field as well. 
 Mr. Kindred was wealthy, and he spared no expense in ma- 
 terializing his boom. Kindred clubs were formed, brass bands 
 were hired, printed matter was sent out, and sufficient para- 
 phernalia gathered to run a national campaign. The Kindred 
 
 (285) 
 
280 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 forces went into the work with the enthusiasm born of youth 
 and inexperience, while the Nelson forces stolidly relied upon 
 his strength among his countrymen to carry him through. 
 
 At first the county conventions called to send delegates 
 to the district convention at Detroit were conducted with some 
 degree of fairness, though in every case the contest would be 
 a sharp one. After one or two county conventions had split 
 and sent double delegates, a spirit of recklessness broke out, 
 and whichever side rightfully had control of the county con- 
 vention the other proceeded to make an excuse for a split and 
 send a contending delegation. 
 
 There was absolutely no attempt to be fair in this contest 
 for the Congressional nomination. This statement applies to 
 both the Nelson and the Kindred forces, but a good deal more 
 to the Kindred than to the Nelson men, because Nelson was 
 really stronger, and had a more substantial backing than Kin- 
 dred. Kindred in reality had but little backing but his money, 
 and it was the deliberate plan whenever Nelson had carried 
 a county for the Kindred men to come in and hold another 
 convention, appointing a double delegation. Of course this 
 bore the usual fruit of a split in the convention, and if the 
 Scandinavian element had not been so enormously strong in 
 Northern Minnesota it would have resulted in Knute Nelson's 
 defeat, as well as Kindred's. As it was, Nelson proved invin- 
 cible, and not only won in that campaign, but went on to win 
 in the future, until he had achieved national renown. 
 
 In some cases an extra county convention was held with- 
 out any pretense of authority, and it was very evident that 
 Nelson and Kindred, or their friends, intended to make a 
 double district convention. The result was that when the dis- 
 trict convention was due to meet, there were only 18 out of 
 28 counties which could lay any claim to being "regular." 
 When the Nelson and Kindred forces separated and held two 
 conventions there were 20 counties represented in the Nelson 
 convention and 23 in the Kindred department. Here was an 
 aggregate of delegates from 43 counties in a district which 
 contained but 28. The contests made the excess. 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 287 
 
 The call for the convention directed it to assemble at Bow- 
 man's hall, in Detroit, Minn., at i p. m., on the 12th of July. 
 The interest and excitement was immense, and all signs point- 
 ed to a bloody riot as the result rather than to a harmonious 
 convention. The delegates and the contestants aggregated 
 125, and it is no exaggeration to say that there were between 
 three and four hundred outsiders present, as friends of the 
 respective candidates. The little town was fairly wild, and I 
 venture to say the five saloons never did so big a business be- 
 fore nor since. 
 
 As usual the contestants began sparring for "regularity." 
 The first point was to secure the temporary chairman, in or- 
 der to capture the committee on credentials. It is usual for 
 the chairman of the district committee to call the convention 
 to order. Geo. H. Johnson, of Detroit, was the chairman, and 
 though he professed friendship for Nelson, he was, in reality, 
 a Kindred man. There were nine members of the commit- 
 tee present, and finding that they could not agree on any plan 
 of organization, the Nelson men on the committee, by a vote 
 of five, removed Johnson as chairman and appointed Lieut.- 
 Gov. Barto, of Stearns, in his place. They considered three 
 plans of organization : Admitting only uncontested delegates, 
 admitting all and let them fight it out in convention, admitting 
 those from counties which the chairman of the county com- 
 mittee would certify were "regular." The Nelson men on 
 the committee insisted on absolutely naming the delegates 
 who should be allowed to enter the hall, but this Johnson 
 would not permit, and so it was a fight from the start. De- 
 troit was a red-hot Kindred town, and the sheriff swore in 
 30 deputies, mostly, perhaps all, favorable to Kindred. The 
 hall would not contain the crowd, and the sheriff and his dep- 
 uties were on hand to prevent any but delegates entering. 
 The Nelson men had erected a tent near the town, and there 
 they gathered to march to the hall. The Kindred men, to 
 guard against accidents, had smuggled a force into the hall at 
 11 a. m., and they had lunch sent in and camped there. When 
 the Nelson men marched in a body from the tent to the hall 
 they were astonished to find all the front seats occupied. 
 
288 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 There was great disturbance at the foot of the stairs. A good 
 many Kindred delegates were still on the outside and all of the 
 Nelson men. A Kindred and a Nelson man stood at the foot 
 of the stairs and identified their respective delegates, and the 
 sheriffs would only allow those to go up who were vouched 
 for. The early camping in the hall of the Kindred men gave 
 them a good many outsiders who had come to fight, if neces- 
 sary, and in a square battle, which was expected, the Nelson 
 men would have been thrashed. I think the fact that the Kin- 
 dred men had by their device, gotten their forces in the hall 
 in such numbers was a peace measure. There were probably 
 a hundred men present in the hall with pistols in their pock- 
 ets, and it was a wonder some one did not fire the first shot. 
 If any one had, it would have been gory before the last one 
 was fired. 
 
 Johnson refused to be deposed from the chairmanship be- 
 cause he was appointed by the State Central Committee, and 
 Capt. H. A. Castle, Secretary of the State Central Commit- 
 tee, was there to certify to the fact. It was 1:15 when John- 
 son struggled through the crowd to get to the platform, and 
 Barto was close behind. When they reached the platform 
 Johnson announced that they had decided to clear the hall, 
 and then he and Barto would issue tickets. Barto said they 
 would give Nelson and Kindred 100 each and Gilman and 
 Graves 26 each. The Kindred men objected on ^the ground 
 that Gilman and Graves were really for Nelson, and hence 
 it would give the Nelson men the largest number. The Kin- 
 dred men were satisfied as it was. While the controversy was 
 going on, a Kindred man nominated E. G. Holmes, of De- 
 troit, for chairman. Johnson put the motion and declared it 
 carried. Holmes bounded to the platform in a twinkling and 
 started his convention. The Nelson men were a little behind, 
 but not much. Some Nelson man made a motion to elect S. 
 G. Comstock, of Moorhead, temporary chairman, and Barto 
 put the motion so quickly that Comstock leaped to the plat- 
 form and began the Nelson convention only a few seconds 
 behind the Kindred. Then there was pandemonium let loose. 
 Every one seemed to be yelling at the same time. Holmes and 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 289 
 
 Comstock stood side by side and their respective adherents 
 would rush to the front and make motions which the chair- 
 man would declare carried. After about five minutes of this 
 scene, ex-Sheriff Mertz, of Brainerd, a very resolute man and 
 a warm friend of Kindred, jumped on the platform and, grab- 
 bing Comstock, tried to pull him off, saying, "You have no 
 business here." It was scarcely a second before 30 or 40 men 
 were on the stage to aid Comstock and Mertz respectively, 
 and they were a good deal hustled about. Comstock stood 
 his ground well and resisted being dragged off the platform, 
 but did not strike a blow. The crowd had overturned the 
 reporters' table and we had mounted an extemporized table 
 to get a view of the fight. As the excitement was at its high- 
 est, crash went our table and we were all tumbled promiscuous- 
 lv to the floor. I believe that little accident was providential. 
 It made a laugh, and laughter and anger are not close friends. 
 It also diverted attention for a moment and by the time we 
 had picked ourselves up from the floor, the sheriff, with 10 
 or 12 deputies, was on the platform commanding the peace 
 and hustling men off the stage. Partial quiet was secured, 
 when Johnson declared that he would recognize but one chair- 
 man, and that was Holmes. Barto, in reply, insisted that he 
 (Barto) was chairman of the district committee by a vote of 
 five out of nine. Capt. Castle's statement was then made, as 
 already mentioned, and the Kindred men yelled. 
 
 Johnson then proceeded to read the call for the conven- 
 tion, a proceeding which should have been done before the 
 chairman was selected. He was nearly through when it oc- 
 curred to Barto to read it also, and he began on the same docu- 
 ment. And then a fresh riot sprung up. Not a word of the 
 reading could be heard, and eight or ten were trying to make 
 speeches in the midst of the yells. Johnson finally shouted 
 an order to clear the stage of every one but the committee 
 and the reporters. That would have removed both Holmes 
 and Comstock. He said he had hired the hall and would have 
 it cleared. On this announcement a Nelson man shouted : 
 ""I move the convention adjourn to the tent on the prairie." 
 •Comstock put the motion and declared it carried. Johnson 
 
 19 
 
200 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 was shouting in the meantime that the "regular" convention 
 would be held in that hall and invited every one to remain. 
 Comstock, notwithstanding he had declared the convention 
 adjourned to the tent, did not want to lose any points on 
 "regularity." He declined to go unless he was put out, so 
 that he would have valid grounds for holding a convention 
 somewhere else. As all the deputy sheriffs were Kindred 
 men, one of them accommodated him by walking with him 
 to the head of the stairs. H. L. Gordon, of Minneapolis (not 
 a delegate or even a resident of the district) mounted a chair 
 and urged the Nelson. Graves and Gilman men to leave. A 
 deputy sheriff grabbed him and escorted him to the door as a 
 disturber of the peace. 
 
 The doors had been guarded both from inside and out to 
 keep the crowd from rushing in. and the stairway was so 
 packed the Nelson men had great difficulty in leaving. Fi- 
 nally Mr. Bowman, the owner of the hall, got the doors open 
 and spiked them, so that if there was another row upstairs 
 there would be a chance to run. But the Kindred men re- 
 mained in the hall, while the Nelson forces met at the tent, 
 and two love feasts were set in motion. 
 
 Nelson may be said to have entered prominent political 
 life direct from the tented field. The prairie breezes which 
 fanned his brow that sultry July afternoon have been a kind 
 harbinger to him and wafted him onward and upward un- 
 til he reached the Senate. The only object of holding the 
 convention in the tent must have been to put the crowd in a 
 hot box. for it was literally a case of "standing room only," 
 there being no seats or tables within, and it might as well have 
 been held on the open prairie. But there was harmony, be- 
 cause all of those who were opposed to Nelson were attending 
 the convention at Bowman's hall. 
 
 S. G. Comstock brought his right to be chairman at the 
 hall to the tent. It was a case where a man took up his rank 
 and walked. He accordingly called the tent convention to or- 
 der and proceeded at once to prove that that was the "regu- 
 lar" convention and any other would be a fraud. He pre- 
 sented the report of the district committee, which the chair- 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 291 
 
 man, Mr. Johnson, of Detroit, would not recognize. That re- 
 port disclosed that the district committee had acted as a com- 
 mittee of credentials as well, and had named delegates from 
 20 counties who were entitled to seats, leaving eight coun- 
 ties still to be heard from. This report was promptly adopted, 
 and a few minutes later the platform was reported. It was 
 about the usual style of platforms, except that it was bitter 
 in its denunciation of Kindred and his followers, accusing 
 them of corruption. Of course, it claimed to be the only orig- 
 inal, blown in the bottle, "regular" convention. 
 
 When it came to nominations, Halvor Steenerson, of Crook- 
 ston, sent up Nelson's balloon ; C. A. Gilman was inflated by 
 Gov. Barto, while Graves was depicted in glowing colors 
 by D. G. Cash, of Duluth. Gilman and Graves had been can- 
 didates on the theory that Nelson and Kindred would so di- 
 vide the delegates as to make a third man a necessity. They 
 had allied themselves to the Nelson wing in the hope that if 
 it proved that Nelson could not obtain it, his strength would 
 go to them. Gilman and Graves had antagonized Kindred 
 as sharply as had Nelson, and when the district convention 
 split their forces had no other recourse save adhering to the 
 Nelson wing. As a consequence, it was nonsense to present 
 their names at the tent convention, as that crowd was over- 
 whelmingly for Nelson. But they went through the motions 
 and took an informal ballot, which stood : Nelson, 44 ; Graves, 
 7; Gilman, 10. The formal ballot gave it to Nelson by 44 
 votes to 15 for the other two combined. Nelson responded 
 with an acceptance speech which pledged his loyalty and 
 "regularity" to the party, while insisting that the Kindred 
 crowd represented everything which was bad, corrupt and 
 "irregular." Gilman, Graves, H. L. Gordon, of Minneapolis, 
 and Albert Scheffer, of St. Paul, all made ratification meet- 
 ing speeches, and the Nelson campaign was launched. 
 
 While all this was going on in the tent, the Kindred men 
 were working right along with their convention at Bowman's 
 hall. The temporary chairman, Mr. Holmes, kept shouting, 
 while the Nelson men were leaving, that the only "regular" 
 convention would be in that hall, but blood was up and no one 
 
292 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 halted. When the Nelson supporters had vanished the Kin- 
 dred convention went ahead more harmoniously, if anything, 
 than the tent affair, because they did not have any other can- 
 didate than Kindred, even nominally. Geo. H. Johnson, the 
 chairman of the district committee, was made permanent 
 chairman. Johnson's speech on taking the chair was some- 
 thing unique. He declared that he had been a supporter of 
 Nelson and had prepared a speech in his favor. He then pro- 
 ceeded with quite a eulogy of Nelson as a soldier and citizen, 
 but now that Nelson had "bolted," as the speaker claimed, 
 his party loyalty compelled him to stand by Kindred. That 
 was cool, as he had been for Kindred all of the time. He 
 then proceeded to claim that he had prepared to so rule as to 
 admit 36 Kindred delegates and 42 for the field against him, 
 and that Comstock and Barto had originally agreed to this, 
 but had finally attempted to depose him from the chairman- 
 ship of the committee, because he would not consent to have 
 the committee pass upon the credentials of the delegates, and 
 actually name those entitled to seats. 
 
 Of course it took but a few minutes to have the commit- 
 tee on credentials report the Kindred delegates as contest- 
 ants and all were admitted, and if any delegation was not 
 full a proxy was supplied. The resolutions did not even take 
 the trouble to declare loyalty to the Republican party, as the 
 Nelson platform did. They were entirely devoted to claim- 
 ing "regularity" and denouncing the other side as "dishonora- 
 ble, despicable and most infamous." C. B. Sleeper, of Brain- 
 erd, named Kindred in a glowing speech, and no other name 
 was presented. The roll call gave him 64 votes — all that were 
 cast. Here were 64 votes in a convention which if full would 
 have had 78. Nelson had 61 in his convention, which gave 
 an aggregate of 125, or a surplus of 47 more than there would 
 have been if only one convention had been held. Kindred 
 was brought in and accepted, deprecating the trouble and the 
 bringing in of the nationality question. 
 
 The evening in that little town was quite a wild one. 
 Kindred had brought two or three brass bands, and they head- 
 ed a procession which marched about the streets yelling like 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 293 
 
 madmen. In fact, they were very mad men. In order to turn 
 an honest penny the ladies of Detroit had opened a hall to 
 give refreshments for the benefit of the village cemetery asso- 
 ciation. Kindred felt so good that he gave $100 outright to 
 the association, and the boys on his side said that they wanted 
 to finish up the cemetery to have a proper place for Nelson 
 when they got through with him in the fall. As Kindred fur- 
 nished the political corpse in November, he was wise in dedi- 
 cating a cemetery at the beginning of the campaign. 
 
 There were hot discussions between the partisans until 
 the trains left, but no absolute violence, though the air was fre- 
 quently split with yells and emphatic adjectives. 
 
 The question of which was the "regular" convention was 
 the great controversy throughout the campaign. It was very 
 hard to ascertain the truth, for both the Nelson and Kin- 
 dred men had resorted to all kinds of tricks known to the po- 
 litical trade to capture delegates. I am inclined to think, out- 
 side of leaving the hall at Detroit where the convention was 
 called to meet, Nelson had the best of the "regularity," but 
 with that thrown in Kindred's favor, it gave him the "regu- 
 lar" advantage. In 1868 almost the entire excuse for call- 
 ing Donnelly a bolter was because he was nominated for Con- 
 gress at a different place from the hall designated in the call. 
 The only way the Nelson men could have been more regu- 
 lar was to have remained and had a fight, but as a stray bul- 
 let might have hit a newspaper man I was always willing to 
 waive the irregularity of their departure from the hall. As 
 the Kindred men, by the coup d'etat of getting possession of 
 the hall at an early hour, had two to one on the inside of the 
 building, they could have thrown the Nelson men out bodily, 
 and that would have made it "regular" for them to have gone 
 to another place for their convention, on the ground that they 
 had been physically assaulted. I give this as a legal ruling on 
 political regularity and as an inducement to bring on a fight, 
 if such a condition of affairs ever exists again. The Repub- 
 lican state committee sat in judgment on the "regularity" and 
 decided that Nelson was the "regular" nominee. How circum- 
 stances alter cases and how worthless such decisions are was 
 
294 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 illustrated by the decision against Donnelly in 1868 (which I 
 have already noted) for doing exactly what was approved in 
 Nelson's case in 1882. 
 
 Next to the "regularity" problem, the point to be settled 
 was what would the Democrats do? The Nelson men did not 
 feel that they had much hope from the Democratic votes, and 
 were anxious to have a Democrat nominated. The Kindred 
 men thought they could secure a good many Democrats, and 
 were equally anxious to have no Democratic nominee. It 
 seemed almost certain that without a Democratic nominee, 
 Nelson would be defeated. The Democrats at first seemed 
 inclined to give Kindred the chance, but they finally held a 
 convention, Sept. 7, at Fergus Falls. E. P. Barnum, of 
 Stearns county, Robert Miller, of Otter Tail, and R. C. Moore, 
 of Stearns, were candidates. There was no excitement at the 
 convention, and the attendance was not large. One ballot did 
 the business, standing: Barnum, 49; Miller, 18; Moore, 9; 
 scattering, 10.. Strenuous efforts were made by the Kindred 
 people to get Barnum to withdraw. All of these efforts (and 
 some of these were very liberal) were unavailing, and Bar- 
 num remained his party standard bearer, though certain 
 of defeat. 
 
 The canvass was intensely personal and exciting. Kin- 
 dred spent money lavishly and the Nelson forces had a good 
 deal. Kindred had workers in every county, doing nothing 
 else from the time he was nominated, in July, until Novem- 
 ber. In many cases where newspapers were hostile he es- 
 tablished new ones. His army of clerks, and his literary 
 bureau were expensive. Brass bands, torchlight processions, 
 special trains, etc., were the common occurrence, and when 
 you come to spread this out over 28 big counties, many of 
 them having to be canvassed by private conveyance to make 
 up the poll of the district, the expense amounted to something 
 enormous. Well informed men claimed at the time that Kin- 
 dred expended $225,000. This may be too large, but I think 
 it is extremely conservative to say that he put in $150,000. 
 Minnesota is not likely to see the counterpart of that fight 
 again. Mr. Kindred is now a resident of Philadelphia. I hear 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 295 
 
 he has been lucky in some speculations and has largely, per- 
 haps entirely, recovered his fortune, which was so sadly shat- 
 tered by that campaign. He was the most liberal and ener- 
 getic political plunger the state has ever seen. 
 
 The vote in November, electing Nelson, stood: Nelson, 
 16,956; Kindred, 12,238; Barnum, 6,248. Two years before, 
 in the presidential campaign, which always brings out the 
 vote, those same counties gave Garfield (Rep.) 15,442, and 
 Hancock (Dem.) 8,405. In 1881, just one year previous, 
 the Republican vote in the district for governor was 13,831 
 and 6,595 Democratic. This shows that Barnum was strong 
 with the Democrats and held well up to his party vote, but 
 the Republicans exceeded their presidential vote of 1880 by 
 nearly 14,000, and their gubernatorial vote of 1881, the pre- 
 vious year, by nearly 16,000. As Barnum only fell behind 
 Hancock's vote about 2,000, and was only 347 below the 
 Democratic vote of '81, the great influx of voters must have 
 been Republicans. In John Hay's famous poem, "Little 
 Breeches," he tells of a little boy being transported from the 
 embrace of the deadly winter storms to the warm sheep fold, 
 and says : 
 
 "How did he get thar? Angels." 
 
 I am inclined to attribute the sudden irruption of Repub- 
 lican voters in that district to the same divine agency and 
 let it stand at that. But no one disputes that Knute Nelson's 
 original election to Congress was a wave from the North sea. 
 We used to sing, "In the North sea lived a whale." Things 
 have changed. He seems to have migrated to Minnesota 
 and brought his whole family. 
 
OBSERVATION FORTY-THREE. 
 
 The Great Contest in the First District in 1880. 
 
 Among the many exciting political scrimmages in the state, 
 one of the notable ones was the Congressional contest in the 
 First district in 1880. The district was both numerically and 
 territorially large, comprising the following counties: 
 
 Blue Earth, Cottonwood, Dodge, Faribault, Fillmore, Free- 
 born, Houston, Jackson, Martin, Mower, Murray, Nobles, Olm- 
 sted, Pipestone, Rock, Steele, Waseca, Watonwan and Winona. 
 
 These counties were the most populous of any in the state, 
 outside of the cities, and contained over 40,000 voters. Mark 
 H. Dunnell of Owatonna, was serving his fifth term and 10th 
 year in Congress, and a good many Republicans thought it 
 time that he gave way before old age had incapacitated many 
 able men in the district from filling the place. As usual with 
 such long terms of service, Dunnell had built up a machine, and 
 the outsiders considered it a good time to smash it. They made 
 a gallant fight in that direction. 
 
 The plan as deliberately formulated by the anti-Dunnell 
 forces was to spring as many "favorite sons" from different 
 counties as possible. It was only in this manner that some of the 
 counties could be carried against Dunnell. It was to this end 
 that Freeborn county instructed for J. A. Lovely, Fillmore for 
 H. S. Barrett, Houston for James O'Brien, Faribault for J. B. 
 Wakefield, Waseca for W. G. Ward and Blue Earth for E. P. 
 Freeman. It was the field against Dunnell, none of the candi- 
 dates being very anxious to secure the nomination personally 
 but all intensely interested in having a new deal. The conven- 
 tion which was due to consist of 125 delegates, was called to 
 (206) 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 297 
 
 meet, at Ward's Opera House, in Waseca, July 7, 1880, and it 
 was there in force. Both sides held caucuses the night before 
 the convention and hugged the delusive phantom of hope for a 
 ''regular majority" on their side. Each resolved to war to the 
 death. 
 
 With the usual tricks of the trade, both sides had indulged 
 in securing contesting delegations. The anti-Dunnell forces 
 had really been beaten in Jackson county, but they had a dele- 
 gation at Waseca from there, just the same. Mower county was 
 also a double-header, but there was a little basis for a contest in 
 that county. The Judge Sherman Page riot was at its zenith 
 and no convention could be held in that county without a row. 
 The Page forces were anti-Dunnell and, of course, the anti- 
 Page men were for Dunnell. Freeborn county was overwhelm- 
 ingly for Lovely, or anybody to beat Dunnell, but on the old 
 theory of fighting the devil with fire the Dunnell men deliber- 
 ately made up a bogus delegation from that county. They did 
 not pretend that it had any basis but it was simply presented to 
 shut Freeborn county out on any preliminary organization, on 
 the ground that the committee on credentials must first deter- 
 mine which were the legitimate delegates. When the conven- 
 tion split in twain the Dunnellites did not even have the cheek 
 to admit their bogus Freeborn delegates, though there was no 
 one to object. Laying aside Freeborn county and leaving only 
 Jackson and Mower contested, the anti-Dunnell forces had 56 
 to Dunnell's 54 on a preliminary organization. With Freeborn 
 excluded, on account of a contest, the Dunnell forces would 
 be in control, and get the preliminary machinery — which was 
 equivalent to success. 
 
 When the crucial hour arrived W. Holt, chairman of the dis- 
 trict committee, mounted the platform and called the conven- 
 tion to order. He announced that Freeborn, Mower and Tack- 
 son counties, having contested delegations, would not be allowed 
 to vote, until the committee on credentials had reported. He 
 also stated that the district committee had instructed him to 
 call Earle S. Youmans, of Winona, to the chair as temporary 
 presiding officer. Holt had scarcely begun to make his 
 announcement before S. P. Childs, of Faribault county, was 
 
298 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 standing on the floor in front of him, yelling "Mr. Chairman," 
 "Mr. Chairman," at the top of his voice. When Sam is in con- 
 dition he can yell "right smart" and he did his biggest on that 
 occasion. Holt was conveniently deaf and blind for the time, 
 and went right along as though Childs did not exist. In this 
 dilemma Childs mounted a chair and nominated W. W. Braden 
 of Filmore (afterwards state auditor) for temporary chairman, 
 put the vote, and amid the yells of both factions, declared it 
 carried. Braden and Youmans both reached the platform at 
 about the same moment and, amid the greatest excitement and 
 tumult, the two conventions, in one room, were inaugurated. 
 D. F. Morgan of Albert Lea was chosen secretary by the antis, 
 and E. C. Huntington of the Windom Reporter, secretary for 
 the Dunnellites. From this time on there was no attempt at 
 harmony, each side simply attempting to yell the loudest. The 
 antis had the most lung power and drowned out their own and 
 the Dunnell proceedings as well. It was an inspiring scene 
 which I much enjoyed at the time. The Dunnell forces ranged 
 themselves on the right hand side of the room, facing the plat- 
 form, and the anti-Dunnell forces took the left hand side. Bra- 
 den and Morgan captured the only table and chairs and both 
 sides went merrily along. The coolness and good nature of the 
 respective chairmen and especially of Youmans, probably pre- 
 vented a physical encounter, which many times seemed likely 
 to occur. One blow on either side would have resulted in 
 bloodshed, but they contented themselves with shaking their 
 firsts at and denouncing each other. 
 
 The Dunnell forces had no delegates from Blue Earth, 
 Fairbault, Freeborn and Houston counties, and only one from 
 Dodge, while the anti-Dunnell forces had no delegates from Cot- 
 tonwood, Martin, Murray, Nobles, Olmsted, Pipestone, Rock, 
 Steele, Watonwan and Winona. Each side had, of course, the 
 contested delegates of their own faction, except that the Dun- 
 nell men did not have the temerity to admit the Dunnell men 
 from Freeborn. D. F. Morgan nominated J. A. Lovely of Free- 
 born, J. W. Wheat nominated H. S. Barrett of Filmore, S. P. 
 Childs named J. B. Wakefield of Faribault, and W. D. L. Col- 
 lester presented W. G. Ward of Waseca. It took six ballots for 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 299 
 
 the anti-Dunnell men to agree. On the first ballot Barrett had 
 24, Lovely 15, Wakefield 27 and Ward 7. After the third ballot 
 Wakefield dropped out and the vote stood on the fifth ballot — 
 Barrett 2.J, Lovely 14 and Ward 34. On the sixth and last 
 ballot Ward received all the votes, 75 in number, and was 
 declared the nominee, amid cheers that seemed loud enough 
 to be heard throughout the county. 
 
 While this was going on the Dunnell people had also been 
 doing business. Ex-Governor Miller of Worthington, nominated 
 Dunnell in one of his whooping speeches. The informal ballot 
 stood : Dunnell 68, Bassett 3. The formal ballot was Dunnell 
 67, Wakefield 1. Mr. Youmans then announced that a ratifica- 
 tion meeting would be held at once on the street in front of the 
 hotel and the Dunnell forces marched out, leaving the Ward 
 men in possession of the opera house. They proceeded to ratify 
 in the hall, making bitter speeches, denouncing the Dunnell 
 forces as bolters, while on the street the Dunnell men were sing- 
 ing the same song relative to the Ward fores. Both factions 
 endeavored to excel each other by resolving in favor of the 
 Republican national ticket and pledging their loyal support to 
 the party in general. 
 
 The Ward forces at once began setting up the pins for 
 "regularity." They wired a card to the Pioneer Press that night 
 signed by W. W. Braden, J. H. Baker, S. P. Childs, H. S. 
 Bassett, G. C. Chamberlain, J. B. Wakefield, E. P. Freeman, E. 
 Thompson, G. C. Burt, J. A. Lovely and O. C. Peterson, setting 
 forth, among other things, that they had 71 regularly elected 
 delegates and 64 uncontested, which was a majority of the con- 
 vention. On the 18th of July, Ward wrote to Dunnell proposing 
 that they both withdraw and a new convention be held, called 
 by the Republican state central committee, or the two district 
 committees, the names of neither of them to be allowed to go 
 before the new convention. This would have accomplished all 
 the antis were playing for, the defeat of Dunnell, and though a 
 loud sentiment went up in favor of this plan it could not be 
 expected to meet DunnelPs approval. Dunnell replied to Ward 
 saying he had referred the matter to his committee. The com- 
 mittee met at Owatonna on the 27th of July and rejected Ward's 
 
300 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 proposal, but offered to submit the matter to the Republican 
 state central committee, to determine which one should remain 
 in the field. Ward in turn referred this to his committee. His 
 committee met at Albert Lea, August 5th and rejected the offer 
 of DunnelPs committee, renewing- Ward's original offer with the 
 proviso that the new convention be held not later than October 
 7th. They gave Dunnell ten days to accept. Dunnell replied 
 on August 1 6th rejecting all overtures, saying, "to the forum 
 of the people I will go." And the fight was on to a finish. 
 
 Meantime the Democrats had been quiet but interested 
 spectators. Here was their seeming opportunity. In 1878 Dun- 
 nell had received 18,613 votes in the district and Meighen (Peo- 
 ple's and Democratic) 12,845. It certainly looked as though, with 
 the natural increase of the presidential year, added to Meighen's 
 vote, the Democrats would win. They nominated Hon. H. R. 
 Wells of Preston, and went into the fight with vim. The Repub- 
 licans, outside of the district, and many in the district, thought 
 the fight was lost. While Ward made an active campaign, 
 Dunnell surpassed himself. It was the fight of his life and he 
 made it desperately and gallantly. He spoke night and day for 
 the remainder of the canvass and but for a vigorous constitution 
 would have gone to his grave instead of to Congress. He had 
 written a leter to Postmaster Harwood of Austin prior to the 
 convention asking him to "sound Jones" relative to his nomina- 
 tion, referring to Ira Jones, a prominent politician of the town. 
 An Austin paper also started the story that Dunnell was plan- 
 ning to build a residence at Owatonna and when the back pay 
 or so-called "salary grab" passed Congress, he telegraphed his 
 architect, "go to hauling sand." This was entirely untrue, but 
 is was "good enough Morgan" for the campaign and it is believed 
 by many to this day. "Sound Jones" and "go to hauling sand" 
 were the watchwords of the anti-Dunnell campaign. The result 
 absolutely surprised Dunnell himself, as the vote stood : 
 
 Dunnell 22,392 
 
 Ward 7.656 
 
 Wells 13.768 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 301 
 
 If the election had taken place in August instead of Novem- 
 ber I believe Ward would have polled a larger vote than Dun- 
 nell, but the last six weeks of the campaign he lost headway. 
 The state committee and all the machinery of the party was 
 thrown against him. As election day approached it became evi- 
 dent that it was Dunnell or a Democrat. This added to Bun- 
 nell's tremendous canvass, and the fact that Ward, though 
 one of the most generous, whole-souled and honorable of men, 
 was no match for Dunnell on the stump, made the result as it 
 was. But the next time it was Milo White and not Dunnell who 
 was the Republican nominee. The medicine of 1880 had worked. 
 I regret to say that since this book has been in the hands of the 
 printer Dunnell has been called to a higher tribunal than the 
 Republican party of the First district. Mr. Ward preceded him 
 some years ago and the First district is now harmonious under 
 Mr. Tawney's leadership. Time and death smoothes away the 
 animosities of political life and when it is all over we say "Cui 
 Bono." 
 
OBSERVATION FORTY-FOUR. 
 
 A Series of Gubernatorial Campaigns. 
 
 Hon. Knute Nelson had very plain sailing for the governor- 
 ship in 1892, ex-Lieut. Gov. G. S. Ives of St. Peter and ex-Gov. 
 A. R. McGill of St. Paul were talked of as candidates against 
 Nelson and both secured some delegates, but both withdrew 
 before the convention met. The convention met in St. Paul, 
 July 28, 1892, with 709 delegates. There was no contest over 
 preliminaries and no contest when it came to nomination for 
 governor. Hon. J. A. Tawney presented Knute Nelson's name 
 and Frank Davis of Minneapolis seconded it. No one else was 
 named and Nelson was nominated by rising vote by acclama- 
 tion. 
 
 The election of Governor Nelson to the United States senate 
 in 1893, promoted Hon. D. M. Clough to the governorship, he 
 being lieutenant governor at the time. Clough served through 
 the remainder of Governor Nelson's term, which was two years 
 lacking one month, and then was a candidate himself before the 
 convention in 1896 for governor. He had considerable opposi- 
 tion for the nomination, but it did not prove serious, and won 
 on the first ballot by 860 votes, the other candidates receiving 
 as follows : 
 
 Van Sant 158 
 
 J. L. Gibbs 95 
 
 Moses Clapp 30 
 
 Gibbs was placated by giving him the lieutenant-governor- 
 ship after he had been defeated for governor. 
 
 (302) 
 
^H^6^t^ 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 303 
 
 This was Van Sant's first appearance as a candidate for gov- 
 ernor. He was called upon for a speech after Clough was nom- 
 inated, and, among other things, said : 
 
 I feel it an honor to have been mentioned for governor in this con- 
 vention, but I beg to assure you I was not running for governor. I was 
 only walking. 
 
 During the campaign for the nomination Clough encoun- 
 tered strenuous opposition in his own city — Minneapolis. There 
 are more "good" people to the square inch in Minneapolis than 
 any town of its size I ever knew. These "good" people couldn't 
 approve the bluff ways of the rough and ready lumberman, Dave 
 Clough. Led by the Journal, a good deal of opposition was 
 organized. On January 30, 1896, the Journal published under 
 a large headline "Opposed to Clough" this pronunciamento. 
 
 "Believing that the best interests of the State of Minnesota 
 and of the Republican party demand that the governor of the 
 state shall be the choice of the people, and shall be selected out- 
 side of the political ring which has controlled our state politics 
 for the past eight years, and which now seeks to nominate for 
 that office one of its members ; 
 
 "We, the undersigned, agree to serve as members of a com- 
 mittee of one hundred to conduct a campaign in Hennepin 
 county to aid in defeating such nomination, and to accomplish 
 that end we will favor the nomination of any good Republican. 
 
 "We invite all Republicans who are opposed to the longer 
 continuance of machine rule in the state to join us with the under- 
 standing that this movement is not in the interest of any candi- 
 date." 
 
 This was followed by the fac-simile signatures of 107 citizens, 
 among whom were W. D. Washburn, W. D. Hale, Geo. A. Pills- 
 bury, E. G. Potter, E. E. Smith, D. F. Morgan, Gustave Thieden, 
 etc. 
 
 Manv of the signers were not very prominent in public or 
 political affairs, and the movement apparently fell through by 
 its own size and weight. No full meeting of the committee was 
 
.304 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 ever held. When the state convention met six months later 
 the committee of ioo were a minus quantity, but Hennepin 
 county was there with a solid delegation for Dave Clough. 
 
 It was just an ebullition of "goodness" on general principles 
 and proved that virtue does not always have its own reward. 
 
 John Lind was the Democratic nominee, and in spite of his 
 great strength among his own nationality, the Swedes, Clough 
 was elected, the vote in the state standing: Clough 165,906, 
 Lind 162,254. Clough not only carried the state, but carried 
 his own county in spite of the one hundred "good" people. His 
 majority was not large, but it was sufficient for all practical pur- 
 poses. 
 
 In 1898 Clough was through with political life, and William 
 H. Eustis, also of Minneapolis, took his place as a candidate for 
 the succession. The Republican convention met on the 30th 
 of June, 1898. There were 1,175 in the convention, and it took 
 two ballots to determine the result. Van Sant loomed up very 
 formidably, and Judge Collins also developed considerable 
 strength. The first ballot stood, Eustis 529, Van Sant 401, Col- 
 lins 248. The second ballot was, Eustis 555, Van Sant 205, Col- 
 lins 228. Eustis was introduced to the convention as the next 
 governor and received with great enthusiasm. Everyone con- 
 sidered his election absolutely sure at that time. After he had 
 made his acceptance speech, Van Sant, who was present, was 
 called upon to respond as one of the defeated candidates, and he 
 did so in a most manly way. I quote what he said as an object 
 lesson. These were his words on that occasion : 
 
 Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Convention: 
 
 As I sat on the platform listening to the speech of my successful rival, 
 the thought occurred to me that if it seemed "funeral-like" to him while 
 waiting at the Windsor for the result of your deliberations, just imagine 
 my feelings! He won! I lost! I had hoped to return to my home 
 occupying a front seat on the band wagon; instead, I go back in the 
 hearse. Again, imagine my embarrassment! I prepared a speech to 
 deliver to this convention, but alas, it would not be appropriate for this 
 occasion. Besides, I have been for six months talking to the Republi- 
 cans of Minnesota, and it does not seem to have done much good. Why 
 should I speak more. But, my friends and fellow-workers in the vine- 
 yard of the Republican party, I want to say right here and now that 
 from a full heart I thank the four hundred true and tried men who stood 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 305 
 
 by me through thick and thin and to the last, and have only the kindliest 
 feeling toward those who opposed my nomination. There was but one 
 trouble — I did not have soldiers enough. Let me assure you that there 
 are no sore spots on me. I most earnestly congratulate Mr. Eustis; he 
 fairly won the nomination. Like him I, too, thought I heard a voice two 
 years ago. I was mistaken. He heard the call; it remains with us to 
 make the election sure. We are all Republicans, but no Republican will 
 carry the flag farther into the enemy's camp during the coming fall than 
 I will unless he have a stronger constitution or greater ability. This will 
 be a Republican year, a glorious year of sunshine; already the warming 
 glow of prosperity is assured. The promise of McKinley and prosperity 
 is a fact, and business conditions are so rapidly and permanently improv- 
 ing that our country is destined soon to become and remain the greatest 
 on the face of the earth. 
 
 Again I congratulate you, Mr. Eustis, not only upon your nomina- 
 tion but upon the glorious victory that awaits you in November; and 
 to the end that it may be as nearly unanimous as possible let us all return 
 to our homes and go zealously to work burying our hatchets, if we have 
 any, so deeply that they will never again be resurrected. Personally, I 
 am satisfied, and am ready for the conflict. I have been carefully taking 
 account of my political assets; I find that all I have remaining is my post 
 office address. If you desire my services in the coming campaign all you 
 will have to do is to address me at Winona. I will fight just as hard as 
 a private soldier and in the trenches as if your leader and in command. 
 I believe in the grand old party, its success brings prosperity to all the 
 people. No disappointment, however great, can cause me to sulk in my 
 tent; I weigh two hundred pounds, and every ounce of it is for my party 
 and its candidates. 
 
 Gentlemen of the convention, in closing let me assure you that there 
 is some compensation even in defeat. I shall go home to family and 
 friends to rest and to quiet, while Mr. Eustis assumes the strenuous 
 duties of campaign and office. The happier man I. 
 
 This was as manly an acceptance of defeat as has ever 
 occurred in the state, and I give space to what Governor Van 
 Sant said in this book for the purpose of showing the younger 
 politicians the wise way of accepting their defeats. Do not 
 nurse a common boil and endeavor to enlarge it into a first-class 
 carbuncle. Take for your lesson the manly course of Governor 
 Van Sant on that occasion. A man cannot always win in poli- 
 tics, but if he allows defeat to sour and embitter him, he can 
 always be a sorehead and never again come to the front. It was 
 really Van Sant's speech at the time of his defeat which made 
 him, later, governor of the state. He received at that time 
 
 20 
 
306 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 scores of pledges of support in the future. Pledges are not 
 always honored, but in this case they were. As the result 
 proved, his defeat for the nomination was the greatest victory 
 which could have come to him. 
 
 Eustis had for his competitor John Lind, and for the first 
 time in forty years in this state the flag of the Republican party 
 went down to defeat, the vote standing: 
 
 Eustis 111,796 
 
 Lind 131,080 
 
 Higgins (Prohibitionist) 5-299 
 
 Hammond (Socialist) 1,685 
 
 If the two last votes had been added to Eustis' vote, it would 
 not have saved him, as Lind had a majority over all of 12,900. 
 
 This defeat of Eustis was not due to his personal unpopu- 
 larity, though it was partly due to bad management in the cam- 
 paign. He selected a state central committee composed of able 
 and loyal men, but largely inexperienced in politics, with the 
 result that his campaign was not conducted with as much 
 shrewdness as Republican campaigns usually have been. To 
 make a successful campaign a state central committee must not 
 be over-scrupulous as to their methods. They must simply 
 make up their minds that they are out for votes and follow the 
 advice of the father to his son: Get money if you can; get it 
 honorably if possible, but get money. The shibboleth of the 
 state central committee should be to get all the votes you can ; 
 get them honorably, as far as possible, but get the votes. 
 
 However, it was the Swede nationality which defeated Eustis. 
 
 One of the influences which aided in Eustis' defeat was the 
 open and strong opposition of Governor Clough. Governor 
 Clough was not a man who concealed his likes and dislikes, and 
 he demonstrated that his dislike for Eustis was very great. When 
 it was settled that Lind was elected governor, Clough promptly 
 sent him this telegram of congratulations : 
 
 Hon. John Lind. New Ulm; allow me to congratulate you from the 
 very bottom of my heart. There is still a God in heaven. 
 
 D. M. CLOUGH. 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 307 
 
 Mr. Eustis took his defeat very manfully and he too sent a 
 telegram to his successful rival, but it read different from 
 Clough's. It was thus : 
 
 To Hon. John Lind, New Ulm: 
 
 Personal congratulation. May your administration be just and wise 
 and in the highest interests of the state and its people. In the discharge 
 of these exalted duties, you will have my cordial support in everything 
 that makes for the public good. 
 
 W. H. EUSTIS. 
 
 The defeat of Eustis made the pathway clear for a new deal 
 in 1900. The Republican convention met in St. Paul on June 
 28th of that year, and then Van Sant was in his element. 
 Scarcely any other candidate was talked of, and when it came to 
 the selection of governor he was nominated by acclamation by a 
 rising vote. His speech of two years previous had not been for- 
 gotten. A young man entering politics had better turn back 
 and re-read this speech and take it to heart if he wishes to pros- 
 per in a political career. I regard it as a model method of 
 accepting defeat. In the campaign Van Sant had Lind for his 
 competitor, it being the third time Lind was a candidate. He 
 was elected by the narrow margin of 2,254 votes. 
 
 Governor Van Sant received the nomination for the second 
 term without any special opposition. This time Mr. Lind refused 
 to be a candidate, and Mr. L. A. Rosing, who had been private 
 secretary to Governor Lind, was substituted by the Democrats 
 as a candidate. The vote at the election stood : 
 
 Van Sant 158,878 
 
 Rosing 99,603 
 
 The Democrats had made such success with Lind as a candi- 
 date that they did not really expect to defeat Van Sant for a 
 second term, and they were neither surprised nor disappointed 
 with the result. 
 
OBSERVATION FORTY-FIVE. 
 
 Senator Clapp's Election After Senator Davis' Death — Tom 
 Lowry's Campaign. 
 
 The death of Senator C. K. Davis, in November, 1900, made it 
 necessary for the legislature to elect two United States senators. 
 Senator Nelson's term was about to expire, and he was, of 
 course, naturally a candidate for re-election, but without opposi- 
 tion. The unexpected vacancy caused by death made things 
 different for the short and unexpired term of Senator Davis. 
 Governor Lind, Democrat, had appointed Charles A. Tdwne of 
 Duluth, United States senator until such time as the legislature 
 could elect, and Mr. Towne took his seat in December, 1899, 
 pending the coming election. 
 
 Hon. Moses E. Clapp was early an avowed candidate for the 
 short term of the vacancy, and was very cordially supported by 
 a large number of the papers in the state. Robert G. Evans of 
 Minneapolis also took the field, and was the leading competitor 
 of Senator Clapp. There were constant rumors of others com- 
 ing into the field, notably Thomas Lowry, but there was nothing 
 absolutely definite concerning Mr. Lowry until January nth, 
 after the legislature was in session. He then published the fol- 
 lowing pronunciamento : 
 
 To the members of the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
 State of Minnesota: 
 
 I hereby announce myself as a candidate for United States senator 
 to succeed the late Cushman K. Davis. Prominent citizens of St. Paul 
 and Minneapolis and other parts of the state before and after the death 
 of Senator Davis, urged me to become a candidate to succeed him. I 
 declined to consider the matter until his death and burial. When this 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 309 
 
 occured I was in New York, and while there, on December 3, 1900, 
 I received the following telegram from R. G. Evans. 
 
 "If you have not already decided concerning the senatorship, I 
 should like to talk with you before you decide." 
 
 To this I replied at once: 
 
 "Telegram received on return trom Boston. Will see you early 
 next week." 
 
 Never having had any conversation with Mr. Evans on the subject, 
 and thinking we were both talked of as candidates, I concluded he 
 desired a conference with me and probably other citizens representing 
 the business interests of our city and state, as to who should be named 
 as the candidate from Minneapolis. I therefore postponed considera- 
 tion of the matter until my return. 
 
 The day of my arrival, Monday, December 10th, I called on Mr. 
 Evans, who assured me he had the pledges of 11 out of 19 Republican 
 members of the Hennepin county delegation to support him as their 
 candidate at a caucus to be held the following evening. Notwithstand- 
 ing I felt that Mr. Evans had misled me by his telegram and his active 
 work in securing the call for an early caucus during my absence, I told 
 my friends on the delegation I would not go before them as a candidate 
 at that time. 
 
 Mr. Evans assured me that none of our congressional delegates 
 would become candidates, and that he had the requisite support to 
 insure his election. I told him I would not exert myself in his behalf. 
 I also said to him that if at any time it seemed to me and my friends that 
 he could not succeed I should feel at liberty to take such action as 
 seemed best. 
 
 From a careful review of the situation, I am convinced Mr. Evans 
 cannot be elected. In this I may be mistaken; but believing it, and 
 being assured by many members and by various sources that I would 
 be acceptable in the interests of Minnesota, I offer myself as a candidate. 
 
 THOMAS LOWRY. 
 Minneapolis, January 11, 1901. 
 
 The same day Tarns Bixby came out as a candidate, and very 
 shortly thereafter Congressman James A. Tawney of Winona 
 shied his caster into the ring. 
 
 It always seemed to me that Mr. Lowry made a serious and 
 almost fatal mistake when he received Mr. Evans' original tele- 
 gram, that he did not promptly respond by stating that he was a 
 candidate, and also making the announcement through the news- 
 papers. It is no disgrace or discredit to a man to be a candidate 
 for the United States senate; and, while this may not always 
 
310 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 be the rule, in my judgment it is the best way in politics in the 
 end to be open and above board. It is true that Mr. Lowry was 
 a good ways from home, and did not absolutely know the local 
 situation. But he knew he wanted to be a candidate, and if he 
 had promptly declared himself he might have stood a better 
 show. Of course, the candidacy of Mr. Lowry really settled it 
 that Senator Clapp would be the winner, because the old rule of 
 "a house divided against itself must surely fall" has not yet 
 been abrogated, and the division by Minneapolis having two 
 candidates, rendered it practically certain in advance that both 
 would be defeated. There was great confusion and commo- 
 tion in the Evans ranks over Mr. Lowry's announcement. 
 
 Mr. Lowry opened liberal headquarters at the Windsor Hotel, 
 St. Paul, and the business men of Minneapolis rallied quite 
 loyally to his support. During the short time intervening before 
 the caucus they came down by the score every day to demon- 
 strate that Minneapolis was not all for Evans. The hotel lob- 
 bies, and all places where politicians do congregate, were swarm- 
 ing with Mr. Lowry's friends from Minneapolis. But unfortu- 
 nately for him they had no votes in the legislature, and the large 
 majority of the Hennepin county delegation in the legis- 
 lature were already pledged to Evans. The first caucus 
 was duly held on the evening of the 14th of January. 
 The first ballot stood Clapp 44, Evans 53, Tawney 27, 
 Bixby 11, Lowry 3, McCleary 1, Jepson 1. Fourteen ballots 
 were taken that evening, the caucus lasting till after midnight, 
 amid great excitement. There was very little change from the 
 original ballot, especially with the leading candidates. Clapp 
 gained three during the ballots, and closed with 47. Evans 
 gained one, coming up to 54, but finally lost two, and closed 
 with 52. The last ballot stood Clapp 47, Evans 52, Tawney 29, 
 Bixby 6, Lowry 3, McCleary 3. Lowry had held his strength 
 solid. After a good deal of contention it was decided to adjourn, 
 this being Friday night, and hold another caucus at 2 =30 Satur- 
 day afternoon. During the remainder of the night and all Sat- 
 urday forenoon nothing was thought of or talked of in the legis- 
 lature, on the streets, or in the hotels, except the senatorship. 
 There were 140 Republicans in the legislature, and at the Satur- 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 311 
 
 day afternoon caucus the roll call showed 138 present. A care- 
 fully concerted plot had been formed by the Evans men to create 
 a stampede from Tawney to Evans and thus secure him the 
 nomination. Tawney had been induced to notify his friends 
 that he would release them from further support, and this aided 
 the scheme. When the roll had been called in that Saturday 
 afternoon caucus the attempted stampede movement was sprung. 
 Senator Lord of Dodge arose and made a neat speech, conclud- 
 ing with the announcement that he wished to change from Taw- 
 ney to Evans. Senator Thompson of Fillmore followed with a 
 similar change, and Senator Knatvold of Freeborn county fol- 
 lowed with a similar announcement. These were three of the 
 leading senators in the legislature, and when to their changes 
 were added Representatives Anderson and Burns, making five in 
 all, it looked as if the stampede might be successful. The excite- 
 ment was something absolutely intense, so intense that the caucus 
 was really quiet. But during that quietude the Clapp men began 
 to get their second wind, and then breaks from Tawney to Clapp 
 began. One or two dropped into the Clapp band wagon from 
 Bixby, and in a very few minutes the thing was all over. As 
 soon as the failure to stampede for Evans became apparent, the 
 stampede for Clapp became more intense, and, while the roll 
 had been originally called and the ballot stood almost exactly 
 the same as the last ballot on the previous night, that ballot was 
 never announced. The band wagon was in motion, and the 
 members of the caucus could not get on board too fast. Speaker 
 Dowling was presiding. It required 71 to nominate. He had 
 been voting for McCleary, Jepson and others merely to scatter 
 his vote, but he kept close watch of the result as figured by the 
 tellers, with instructions to notify him when Clapp's vote had 
 reached 70. This happened very soon after the failure of the 
 attempted stampede for Evans, and when Clapp had 70 recorded 
 votes by the changes on the tellers' sheets, Speaker Dowling 
 arose and announced that he wished to change his vote to Clapp. 
 That gave the necessary 71, and then pandemonium broke out. 
 Everything was all over but the fun. Books and papers went 
 flying in the air, and men embraced each other, shook hands, 
 shouted, jumped on chairs and desks, and yelled like a pack of 
 
312 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 Indians on a massacre trip. Amid all the hubub Sherman Smith, 
 one of the leaders of the Evans Minneapolis forces, after repeated 
 efforts, caught the attention of the chair and moved to make 
 Senator Clapp's nomination unanimous. While this joyful ebuli- 
 tion was in progress I was seated at the reporters' table and 
 scribbled off the following little verse: 
 
 Moses, Moses, 
 We are all for Moses; 
 Out they go, in he goes, 
 On a bed of roses. 
 
 By the aid of the other reporters we scribbled off 25 or 30 
 copies of this little ditty and circulated them among the mem- 
 bers. I took one to Albert Berg, who has a voice like a bull 
 of Bashan (in fact he had to pay excess baggage on his voice 
 to bring it down to the legislature), and is something of a singer 
 withal, and requested him to lead in the exercises. I also went 
 to Speaker Dowling and asked him to call upon Berg to sing 
 the verse. It was a parody on the "Baby" song in "Wang," and 
 set to the music of one of the most catchy airs in that comic 
 opera. Dowling duly did his part by calling upon Berg to sing. 
 He essayed to do so, but didn't catch the air very well, and it was 
 not a success. 
 
 Dowling then insisted that I should lead the exercises myself, 
 and when I demurred, with my characteristic modesty, he 
 ordered the sergeant-at-arms to arrest me and bring me to the 
 bar of the house. Of course, I complied, and did my part as well 
 as I could by leading the vocal exercises for 10 or 15 minutes. 
 Perhaps the only reason I escaped being mobbed for attempting 
 to sing was because the audience knew that I was acting under 
 duress. So I feel under lasting obligations to Speaker Dowling 
 for having me formally arrested. There was nothing very 
 brilliant or original in this little episode, though it was somewhat 
 amusing. 
 
 At the national convention in Chicago, in 1892, which nomi- 
 nated Grover Cleveland for president, Samuel Josephs was a 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 313 
 
 member of the Philadelphia delegation. He was a little sawed- 
 off, rotund, fat, rosy-cheeked representative of Jerusalem, and 
 he, too, parodied the "Baby" song in "Wang." His verse ran as 
 follows : 
 
 Grover, Grover, 
 Four years more of Grover; 
 Out they go, in he goes, 
 Then we'll be in clover. 
 
 The convention took up his little ditty, much as the caucus 
 did, though on a great deal larger scale. The Philadelphia dele- 
 gation would pick Josephs up, and, after throwing him up in the 
 air three or four times, place him on a chair, give the signal to 
 the band to start the music, and Josephs would lead again and 
 again in singing the verse. After this began it was repeated 
 continually throughout the convention whenever there was a lull. 
 The next day after the matter originated, Josephs had thousands 
 of the verse printed, so that everybody in the convention had a 
 copy ; and that convention and audience, 10,000 strong, would 
 rise up, with a yell which almost lifted the roof, and sing this 
 verse. So that I neither claim wit nor originality for sitting at 
 Josephs' feet as a pupil. 
 
 After the election poor Josephs became a candidate for col- 
 lector of the port of Philadelphia. He seemed to have splendid 
 endorsements, and devoted months and months to the pursuit 
 of the office. He felt that he had sung himself into a fat berth, 
 and was exceedingly confident of success. But he never got 
 into the "clover." Grover, evidently, had no music in his soul, 
 and persistently refused to appoint Josephs to that or any other 
 position, and at last the poor man died absolutely and literally of 
 a broken heart at the base ingratitude of politics. His death was 
 a political tragedy. 
 
 In further emulation of my Chicago prototype, when the 
 absolute election of Senator Clapp took place in the legislature 
 the following Tuesday, I had several hundred copies of my little 
 verse printed, and hired an orchestra, placing them in the gal- 
 lery, with instructions to start the air on a signal from myself. 
 
314 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 When Senator Clapp had been declared duly elected in the joint 
 convention, I modestly took the speaker's chair, and, seizing 
 the gavel as a wand, gave the signal to the orchestra, and away 
 we went with the musical program. Everybody in the hall of 
 representatives had a printed copy of the verse, and everybody 
 apparently, members of the legislature, audience and all, joined 
 in the singing, so that the event was quite a success. While the 
 committee were out to find Senator Clapp to bring him in to 
 make his acceptance speech the singing was continued. It was 
 suspended when Senator Clapp arrived long enough to allow 
 him to speak, when I again gave the signal to the orchestra and 
 started the uproar. Senator Clapp held a half-hour reception 
 at the foot of the speaker's desk, during which time the singing 
 was continuous. It has sometimes been a question in my mind 
 which was the greater event on that particular day — the election 
 of Senator Clapp or the singing of "Moses." While it was a 
 nonsensical affair throughout, it literally impressed the public 
 with the idea that "Moses" was landed on a bed of roses, and 
 when a man reaches that stage in political life he has about 
 arrived at the limit. 
 
 The actual vote in the respective houses for senator stood : 
 In the senate, Clapp 43, Towne 17; in the house, Clapp 92, 
 Towne 21. The rest was a mere matter of form, reading the 
 journal of each house in the joint convention the following day, 
 January 23d, and it was duly recorded that Hon. Moses E. Clapp 
 was elected senator to fill the vacancy caused by the death of 
 Senator C. K. Davis. The vote for Senator Nelson's successor 
 was taken and recorded at the same time. The Democrats had 
 nominated Hon. R. R. Nelson, formerly United States district 
 judge, as their candidate, and the vote in the senate stood: 
 Knute Nelson 42, Judge Nelson 18; in the house, Knute Nelson 
 94, Judge Nelson 22. 
 
 There was no caucus to nominate Knute Nelson, as he had 
 no opposition whatever, and he, too, was "on a bed of roses" 
 without having gone through the hubbub and excitement which 
 had befallen Senator Clapp. As soon as Senator Clapp's cer- 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 315 
 
 tificate could be made out he proceeded to Washington and took 
 his seat at once, relegating - the pro tern Senator Towne to the 
 ranks of private life. 
 
 The three votes for Mr. Lowry were cast by Henry Lee of 
 Anoka, Frank S. Lane and J. W. Phillips of Minneapolis. It 
 was reported at the time, and believed by many, that Mr. Lowry 
 had in reserve about 40 votes, but the only ones that came out 
 from under cover were the three named, and he was the only 
 man who held his strength from first to last. They voted for 
 him just to keep his name in the caucus. The fact is, Mr. 
 Lowry was in that caucus in practically the position of the 
 heathen Chinee Ah Sin (so graphically described by Bret Harte), 
 who, in playing a game of cards which he did not under- 
 stand, had all high cards up his sleeve, and, when he 
 finally shook out his sleeve, his competitors in the game 
 were profoundly disgusted and went for that heathen Chinee in 
 rough-shod style. The difference was that "Tom" never shook 
 his sleeve. He was further handicapped by being a wealthy 
 man. While perhaps it is not creditable to the politics of the 
 present day to say, but it is, unfortunately, the truth that when a 
 wealthy man goes into politics he is expected to pay for all he 
 gets, and Tom Lowry is such a royal good fellow that it would 
 be almost a libel to assume that out of that large body of men 
 he only had three friends. But others were really afraid to declare 
 themselves for him lest they should place themselves under sus- 
 picion. As a matter of fact, Tom Lowry would make a most 
 excellent United States senator. I do not assume that he would 
 rank up beside such men as Senator Hoar and others of his 
 class, or with those dead statesmen senators, Sumner, Webster 
 and Conkling, but with such class of statesmen as Steve Elkins, 
 Matt Quay and Arthur Pue Gorman, Tom would be a whirl- 
 wind. He is a man of the world and understands the world 
 pretty thoroughly, and the world runs the United States senate 
 as it does most everything else. I would rather rely upon a 
 senator who is a man of the world to accomplish things than one 
 who is a theorist and orator. So if he had reached the senate 
 and taken time enough from cutting off his coupons to mingle 
 
31G 
 
 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 with his fellow senators he would have been a very popular mem- 
 ber, and anything within reason that Tom Lowry wanted for 
 his constituency he would probably get. I merely say this in 
 passing, because it seems too bad that a man like Mr. Lowry 
 should be relegated to history with only three men on earth who 
 think he is fit to go to the United States senate. 
 
OBSERVATION FORTY-SIX. 
 
 The Great Gubernatorial Contest of 1904. 
 
 On the 5th of November, 1903, Governor Van Sant gave 
 an interview to the evening papers, the excuse for which was 
 the November elections which had just taken place. He 
 gave his interview, however, an especially local application. 
 After commenting upon the elections in the East, this con- 
 venient question was asked him : 
 
 Will the contest in Minnesota over the make-up of the state ticket 
 have any relation to the presidential contest? 
 
 To this he replied: 
 
 I think it will. It is a little early to discuss state politics, but one 
 thing should be demanded by the people of Minnesota who are for Roose- 
 velt, and that is that the next governor should be a man who was and is 
 in sympathy with the Republican state platform of 1902 in its declaration 
 for the enforcement of the law against the "merger" or parallel and 
 competing railway lines. No man who was not in accord with the peo- 
 ple during the last state campaign should have the assurance to aspire 
 to the governorship. The anti-merger fight involves the welfare of the 
 state, and men who have expressed sympathy for those who organized 
 the "merger" and who have attempted at crucial times to ridicule the 
 state officers in their endeavor to enforce the law, should not now be 
 placed in a position where they might connive at violations of the law 
 and be helpful in undoing that which has already been accomplished. 
 This fight has been waged in the interests of our people, and will be 
 continued until the law has been vindicated and every interest thoroughly 
 safe-guarded. All the ingenuity and skill of able counsel will be em- 
 ployed to maintain the "merger" in some form and to carry out in some 
 manner the purposes of its organization. Our nominee should not be 
 on the defensive and required to explain. Promises and explanations 
 made necessary by one's candidacy, and which are inconsistent with 
 former words and actions will not suffice. No man who desires the 
 domination of interests inimical to the people and who has not stood 
 
 (817) 
 
318 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 squarely upon the anti-merger platform should ask under existing con- 
 ditions elevation to this responsible office, and to prevent the nomination 
 of such a man a most determined effort should be made. 
 
 With Theodore Roosevelt, who has been pronounced against the 
 merger, as our standard-bearer, what predicament would our party be in 
 if it nominated a merger sympathizer for governor? 
 
 There are various methods of construing the English lan- 
 guage, and consequently I take the liberty in this volume 
 to place my construction upon the interview which I have 
 just quoted. It was a formal and carefully prepared inter- 
 view, and, to my mind, bore the impress from start to finish 
 that there was just one man in the State of Minnesota who 
 filled the description, and that his name was Samuel R. Van 
 Sant. He had been the head and front of the anti-merger 
 fight, had inaugurated it in the first place, and in every way 
 had been in the foreground. Here was an interview stating 
 that the contest should be continued, and no one should 
 be nominated for Governor who had not been in the fight 
 against the "merger." 
 
 I invite the most critical person to analyze this interview 
 and show any sentence, any paragraph, or any word which 
 could be tortured into a declination of Governor Van Sant 
 to be a candidate for a third term as Governor. I am not at 
 all tenacious of my own views and give them merely for 
 what they are worth to the intelligent reader, and illus- 
 trate the different constructions which can be placed upon 
 the English language by stating that Judge L. W. Collins, 
 in November, saw in Governor Van Sant's interview a strong 
 and formal announcement that he would not again be a 
 candidate for Governor. Just five days after Governor Van 
 Sant's interview was made public, Judge Collins made an 
 announcement in his home papers at St. Cloud, explaining 
 that in view of Governor Van Sant's declaration he was a 
 candidate for Governor. Here is the statement which Judge 
 Collins published : 
 
 It has been well known that for several years I have aspired to the 
 position of governor in this state, to which I came in its territorial days, 
 and wherein I have lived for nearly 50 years. My friends say that the 
 time to announce and open an active candidacy has arrived. 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 319 
 
 My personal relations with Governor Van Sant and my convictions 
 that his earnest effort to prevent what his legal adviser, the attorney 
 general, pronounced a violation of our statutes, should be sustained by 
 every conscientious citizen, have prevented the taking of any steps by me 
 looking towards the nomination while the governor felt disposed to again 
 become a candidate. 
 
 I do not regard the recently published interview in which he an- 
 nounced his position as indicating that he is in the field; on the contrary, 
 I construe it as indicative of his determination to keep out and to be 
 considered a possibility no longer. 
 
 He is absent from the state, but I know that many of his friends 
 put the same construction upon the interview and assert that if he 
 proposed becoming a candidate he would have said so in no uncertain 
 way. 
 
 With this condition presenting itself I announce my candidacy, and 
 solicit the support of all Republicans who believe in and propose to 
 stand by the platform presented in 1902 and on which the party gained 
 its magnificent and unequalled victory. 
 
 My record is before the people of the state, and I hope still receives 
 their approval as it has on past occasions when before them for endorse- 
 ment. 
 
 This shows the different constructions which can be 
 placed upon language by different persons. 
 
 Judge Collins had twice been a candidate in Republican 
 state conventions for the office of Governor, and his desire 
 for the position was no secret. It always seemed to me that 
 his assumption that Governor Van Sant had declined was 
 forced, and that the haste with which he accepted the inter- 
 view with Van Sant as a declination, while the Governor 
 was absent from the state, indicated a fear that when the 
 Governor should be asked to place his own interpretation on 
 the interview, he would blossom out as a full-fledged candi- 
 date for the third term. Per contra, it is only fair to say 
 that Judge Jamison, Governor Van Sant's private secretary, 
 stated to Collins very plainly that the Governor was not a 
 candidate for re-nomination ; and the Governor himself has 
 told me, in discussing the point I have raised, since I be- 
 gan writing this book, that he really did not intend to be 
 a candidate for the third term. In reply to that I have only 
 to say that whatever the Governor's actual intentions were, 
 he certainly did not decline the nomination in the interview 
 which I have quoted; and it is altogether probable, if there 
 
320 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 had been any appearance of a popular uprising in his be- 
 half, he would have been willing to make the race. 
 
 With Judge Collins' interview the campaign of 1904 with- 
 in the Republican party began to formulate itself. Ex-State 
 Auditor R. C. Dunn, had really been a candidate for Gover- 
 nor for several years. He was so coy that he scarcely ad- 
 mitted it to himself — unless he was alone. But it was, never- 
 theless, known to his friends that that was his ambition. He 
 was much talked of as a candidate when Governor Van Sant 
 was nominated for the second term, but firmly refused to en- 
 ter the field against Van Sant. It has been alleged — but I 
 do not vouch for it — that there was an understanding that if 
 he would not enter the field against Van Sant in 1902 he would 
 have the field and Van Sant's support in 1904. This may or 
 may not be true. But stranger things in politics than that 
 have happened. 
 
 Of course after Judge Collins' interview came out, an- 
 nouncing his candidacy, Mr. Dunn was eargerly sought by 
 the reporters. Probably no man lives who talks more free- 
 ly, plumply and energetically than Bob Dunn, but he has 
 one characteristic : he does not talk until he gets ready. The 
 consequence was that he parried the efforts of the report- 
 ers to get an interview formally announcing his candidacy, 
 and in talking with friends would couple the possibilities of 
 the future by some qualifying statement such as, '-If I should 
 take the field for Governor," etc. I heard him make such a 
 qualification many times, and I well understood all of the time 
 that he was a full-fledged candidate all but saying so offi- 
 cially. When he got ready, however, to make the announce- 
 ment he did so in his own way. But it was the middle of 
 January before he did so, and then made use of his own 
 newspaper at Princeton, Minn., Jan, 12, 1904, the occasion 
 being a reception tendered him at his home in the Opera 
 house. His announcement to his friends at that time was as 
 follows : 
 
 I am a candidate for the Republican nomination for governor of 
 Minnesota and I respectfully solicit the support of all Republicans, and 
 my fellow citizens generally. 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 321 
 
 No man is big enough to dictate a platform for the Republican party 
 of Minnesota. The party through its representatives in convention 
 assembled will formulate a platform upon which I will squarely stand. 
 The combined wisdom of the Republican party of the state is better than 
 the judgment of any individual member of the party. 
 
 I heartly indorse and approve the platform adopted by the Repub- 
 lican state convention of 1902. 
 
 There are certain other things which I believe in and will practice, 
 advocate and recommend if I am chosen governor. 
 
 The state board of control should be absolutely divorced from politics 
 and the affairs of the board should be conducted on business principles, 
 on broad gauge lines, with due regard to humanitarian features; no nig- 
 gardly policy should be pursued. 
 
 One of my cardinal beliefs is non-interference of the executive with 
 the legislative branch of the government, and the appointive officers 
 should eschew politics and devote their energies to the performance of 
 their official duties. Those who serve the state best will serve me best. 
 
 The state should make liberal provisions for the reclamation of its 
 swamp lands. 
 
 I pledge myself to observe and enforce the law which gives to ex- 
 Union soldiers the preference to appointive offices. 
 
 I pledge myself to a fearless and impartial enforcement of the laws 
 upon our statute books, particularly those which guard the interests of 
 the people from the encroachments of corporate greed and aggression. 
 Every citizen is equal under the law and should enjoy equal privileges 
 and equally share the burdens. 
 
 In conclusion, I think my record in the legislature and in the state 
 auditor's office, which is an open book, should be a guarantee that I 
 will discharge the duties of the office of governor in an intelligent and 
 business-like manner. If nominated and elected I pledge myself to 
 devote my entire time and attention to the faithful performance of the 
 duties of the position. 
 
 It will be noted that Dunn, as well as Collins, announced 
 that he, too, supported the Republican state platform of 1902. 
 This platform especially insisted on the "merger" fight being 
 continued. Consequently, on the face of things there was the 
 utmost harmony between the two candidates, and the prac- 
 tical situation was that the only real local issue in Minne- 
 sota this fall was "merger" and "anti-merger," and that both 
 Dunn and Collins were red-hot anti-mergerites. 
 
 To a person not versed in the science of politics this would 
 seem to make a situation where there was not much to fight 
 about, both candidates standing pledged to the same prin- 
 
 21 
 
322 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 ciples. Nevertheless, the most bitter political and personal 
 controversy which the state has ever seen sprang up. The 
 entire ground for this controversy was the "merger" question, 
 which, on the face of it, had no business to be even mentioned 
 as long as the candidates were entirely agreed upon it. The 
 Collins men took as their stock in trade the statement that 
 Dunn was in favor of the "merger" of the Northern Pacific 
 and Great Northern railways. The Dunn men not only denied 
 this, but declared that Judge Collins had always been, on the 
 bench, practically a representative of the Great Northern, and 
 that the president of the road had contributed largely to Judge 
 Collins' election in 1894. 
 
 To show something of how this feeling ran, I quote the 
 following statement made by Mr. Dunn in a speech in Minne- 
 apolis on May 6th : 
 
 I have it upon the authority of James J. Hill that when Judge Col- 
 lins was running against Judge Willis for the supreme bench, the Great 
 Northern railway contributed between $30,000 and $40,000 to his cam- 
 paign fund; and I have it on the same authority that E. A. Nelson, state 
 librarian, went to the Great Northern railway to get $25,000 for Judge 
 Collins in the present campaign. I will withdraw from the gubernatorial 
 campaign right now if it can be proved that the Great Northern has been 
 asked or that money has been given by the road for me in this campaign. 
 
 Considering that the two candidates were both pledged to 
 fight the Great Northern road, this speech indicated that things 
 were getting a little warm. Judge Collins kept his end of the 
 fight up by sending the following letter to Mr. Dunn, referring 
 to the Minneapolis speech: 
 
 Did you use this language, or any other of like import? If you are 
 correctly reported you accuse Mr. Hill, as well as myself, of very serious 
 offences. You placed him in the attitude of furnishing funds to corrupt 
 the voters of this state, a common boodler, and I am accused of solicit- 
 ing a large sum of money from Mr. Hill for the purpose of corrupting 
 and boodling the voters. I simply want to know if you used this or 
 similar language. An early and direct reply is earnestly solicited. 
 
 Respectfully yours, 
 
 L. W. COLLINS. 
 
 Mr. Dunn never made any formal reply by letter to Judge 
 Collins' letter. In interviews with the newspapers he re- 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 323 
 
 iterated that he had been correctly reported, and that he did say 
 what was alleged. Judge Collins, however, was not content 
 with this, and he appealed to Mr. Hill for confirmation or de- 
 nial. The result was that on Friday, May 13, Judge Collins 
 gave out this statement to the newspapers : 
 
 JUDGE COLLINS' STATEMENT. 
 
 During my residence of fifty years in Minnesota, never before have 
 I been called upon to publicly resent an attack upon my personal charac- 
 ter. I cannot allow the recent attack of Mr. Dunn to go unnoticed. He 
 has a right to his own views upon public questions, and he may choose 
 his political associates, but he has no right to defame others who dif- 
 fer with him and his friends upon these questions. I judge him from 
 his own language and acts. 
 
 In the Pioneer Press of January 3, 1002, he is quoted as saying, 
 concerning the railroad merger, then the subject of heated dicussion in 
 this state: 
 
 "I believe that the fight against Mr. Hill is inspired by rival railway 
 companies, and I am heartily out of sympathy with it because of this 
 belief." 
 
 Mr. Dunn has never announced a change of mind upon this subject. 
 
 In fact, a short time since he caused this interview to be republished, 
 with a statement that he stood by it, and in his interview with Mr. Hill, 
 published in the Dispatch of the 7th inst, the latter, speaking of the 
 present campaign, assured Mr. Dunn that he had his (Mr. Hill's) best 
 wishes, and also that the figures to be obtained at the office "might help 
 Bob." Because many persons, including myself, have recognized and 
 seen fit to refer to this well known relationship and intimacy between 
 these gentlemen, which intimacy and exchange of sympathy Mr. Dunn 
 now publicly admits, he found provocation in a speech at Minneapolis 
 on May 6, to charge "calmly and deliberately" that in 1894, when a candi- 
 date for re-election to the supreme bench, I "solicited and secured the 
 support of James J. Hill to the extent of a contribution of from $30,000 
 to $40,000" to my campaign fund. This was a direct charge that I had 
 solicited from Mr. Hill the large sum of money mentioned for my per- 
 sonal use. In a letter dated May 7, I asked Mr. Dunn if he had used 
 this language, but to this letter I have received no reply, and I note 
 from statements in the public press that none will be made. Knowing 
 the utter falsity of this charge, and believing that Mr. Hill would refuse 
 to father it, I wrote to him, asking the following questions: 
 
 First — Did you contribute any sum whatsoever to my campaign fund 
 when I was a candidate against the Hon. John Willis, or have you ever 
 contributed to that fund in any other campaign? If so, when, where, 
 how much and to whom was the money paid? 
 
324 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 Second — Did I ever solicit or receive from you, or from anyone 
 connected with you in business or otherwise, any money whatsoever for 
 campaign purposes? If so when, where, how much, and to whom was 
 the money paid? Omitting the address, Mr. Hill's reply was as follows: 
 
 "Dear Sir: Your letter of even date was duly received. As the 
 same is rather ambiguous I would like to hear from you further as to 
 how far you wish me to go into details in connection with the matter 
 referred to herein. Yours very truly. 
 
 "JAMES J. HILL." 
 
 I did not regard my letter as ambiguous, but, waiving the point, I 
 immediately replied as follows: 
 
 "Hon. James J. Hill, city, Dear Sir — Referring to the letters which 
 have recently passed between us, let me say that Mr. Dunn explicitly 
 charged in his speech, if correctly reported, that I solicited and received 
 from you between $30,000 and $40,000 in the campaign of 1894. But one 
 construction can be placed on this language and but one meaning can 
 be attributed to it, which is, that at the time mentioned, I solicited from 
 you and that you furnished to me for my own private and individual 
 use in that campaign the large sum of money mentioned. It was this 
 construction and meaning I had in mind when writing my former 
 letter, and I therefore ask you, first: Did I solicit from you any con- 
 tributions of money in the campaign of 1894, or any other campaign? 
 If so, when, where and how much. 
 
 "Second — Did you contribute to me personally or for my personal 
 use any money in 1894, or at any other time for campaign purposes? 
 If so, when, where, how much and to whom was the money paid? These 
 questions are as pointed and direct as words can make them, and I 
 respectfully solicit an early reply. Respectfully yours, 
 
 "L. W. COLLINS. 1 ' 
 
 Mr. Hill's second reply. To this I received the following reply: 
 
 "Dear Sir: I am in receipt of your letter of the 10th inst., and if 
 you desire a personal interview on the subject of the letter I expect to be 
 at home all of this week and will see you at my office any time you 
 desire. 
 
 "No contribution was personally solicited by you or made to you 
 by me. 
 
 "By whom contributions were solicited and to whom made is a 
 proper subject for a personal interview rather than of correspondence. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 "JAMES J. HILL. 
 
 After submitting the above correspondence I leave it to any fair- 
 minded man to judge of Mr. Dunn's candor and fairness of statement 
 when making that charge. 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 325 
 
 Referring now to Mr. Hill's invitation to a personal interview as 
 to contributions made by him in the campaign of 1894, let rne say that 
 I have no desire to ascertain about contributions unless they were made 
 upon my solicitation or suggestion. If Mr. Hill's letters referred to 
 contributions made by him to the Republican state central committee it 
 will be seen that they have no bearing upon the charge made by Mr. 
 Dunn. In this event, it must be presumed that the committee used its 
 funds for the benefit of the entire ticket, including Mr. Dunn, who was 
 a candidate for state auditor, and Hon. J. P. Heatwole, a candidate for • 
 member of Congress. 
 
 I now state without equivocation, or reservation, that I never sug- 
 gested, and never requested, directly or indirectly, that money be solic- 
 ited or secured from Mr. Hill for that campaign, or for the present 
 contest, or for any other. 
 
 If such solicitation has been made it has been done without my 
 knowledge, authority or consent, and twice have I unsuccessfully en- 
 deavored to ascertain who did this soliciting, or secured the money— if 
 anybody. I want the names of these parties published to the world in a 
 letter from Mr. Hill, and then let the public judge whether or not I 
 countenanced or authorized their acts. 
 
 I have carefully refrained from making any attack on the character 
 of Mr. Dunn, or any other candidate, and cannot be justly accused of 
 any mud-slinging whatsoever, but a candidate's record, political associ- 
 ates, and attitude on public questions are fit subjects for discussion in a 
 contest like the present one. 
 
 I have not hesitated to say that the Republican party in this state 
 has been one of principle. In 1902 it took an unequivocal position on 
 the merger question, and with a clear voice indorsed the action of Presi- 
 dent Roosevelt and Governor Van Sant in bringing into the courts the 
 Northern Securities company to answer to the charge that it was guilty 
 of a flagrant violation of both the state and federal statutes. The charge 
 that it had violated the federal law stands substantiated. I believe that 
 the party meant precisely what it said upon this subject, and that it was 
 not trifling with the people at that time. I believe that it will not, at 
 the coming convention, repudiate its platform or stultify itself when 
 nominating its candidate for govenor. If it does, its indorsement of 
 President Roosevelt and Governor Van Sant was mere ceremony to be 
 disavowed at the first opportunity if demanded by the candidate. The 
 issue now before the party is not whether one of two or more men shall 
 be selected, but shall the party be consistent, or shall it go into the 
 campaign with a repudiation of the doctrine upon which it appealed to 
 the people in 1902. and which was upheld by the majority for Van Sant 
 of more than 60,000? 
 
 Those who have taken any interest in this subject cannot have 
 reached any other conclusion than that the fight against these interests 
 has just commenced. Not only Minnesota but the entire country is 
 
326 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 involved in a great struggle to determine whether such interests shall 
 be subservient to law. Our party will certainly take a decided stand upon 
 this subject, and an aspirant for the highest office in the gift of the 
 people who has openly declared himself out of sympathy with the party 
 on this important public question ought not to complain if he is criti- 
 cised. 
 
 L. W. COLLINS. 
 
 The same date Mr. Nelson, the librarian, published a card 
 explaining his interview with Mr. Hill and denying very em- 
 phatically that he solicited money for the Collins campaign. 
 
 I give space to these statements as a matter of history for 
 the double purpose of showing the trend of the most notable 
 ante-nomination campaign in the history of the state, and also 
 to show how good men, who start on the same platform, pledg- 
 ing themselves to the same things, can get at variance under 
 the stress of political strife. It is not my purpose to express 
 any opinion of my own upon the charge made by Mr. Dunn, 
 and its refutation by Judge Collins. The public has sufficient 
 intelligence to draw its own conclusions. I sometimes wonder, 
 however, what Minnesota politicians would have for a bone 
 of contention if J. J. Hill had never been born. 
 
 Another element of accusation against Mr. Dunn was that 
 he had been too lenient while State Auditor in settling with 
 big lumbermen for trespassing upon state timber ; and the 
 public examiner worked overtime during the campaign to find 
 out something which would reflect upon Mr. Dunn. Mr. Dunn 
 replied very vigorously and in no uncertain language to these 
 accusations ; and as they are largely devoted to assertions and 
 counter assertions it is not necessary to refer to them in de- 
 tail. 
 
 But as the date of the state convention approached the 
 partisans of these respective candidates grew more keenly bit- 
 ter, and it is safe to say that no such bitter feeling has ever 
 been developed between the Democrats and Republicans in 
 Minnesota as among the Republicans themselves during this 
 ante-nomination gubernatorial canvass of 1904. 
 
 When the Supreme Court, the highest tribunal in the land, 
 decided against the "merger" by a vote of five to four and 
 three-quarters the Dunn men claimed the merger fight was 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 327 
 
 over and taken out of politics, while the Collins men claimed 
 that it had only just begun. It would not do to lose their 
 stock in trade in the middle of the canvass. 
 
 When the county conventions began to be held the air 
 was full of vociferous claims on both sides. Honors were 
 easy in the matter of these claims. I would not like to say that 
 men intentionally lied relative to primary meetings and coun- 
 ty conventions in their reports of who had won the victories ; 
 but I think it is fair to say that they shunned telling the truth 
 with as great an effort as they would in avoiding a den of 
 rattlesnakes. But truth and politics never did mix well to- 
 gether, so that the truthful man had better engage in the min- 
 istry rather than participate in politics. 
 
 When the state convention assembled on June 30th there 
 was a great deal of excitement to the square inch in St. 
 Paul. The convention itself was one of the tamest affairs I 
 ever saw. An exciting canvass had just been concluded. 
 Everybody was mad, hopeful, and certain that his side would 
 win, and that all the rest of the fellows were scoundrels who 
 did not believe as he did. There was no middle ground, 
 though Ex-Congressman Frank Eddy offered himself as a 
 vicarious sacrifice if anybody wanted any middle ground. But 
 the feeling was that it was Dunn, Collins, or a funeral. The 
 hotel corridors and the adjacent bar-rooms were packed with 
 an excited mass of humanity, all acting as if their personal 
 eternal salvation depended upon the nomination of the candi- 
 date they individually championed. The candidates had head- 
 quarters at all the hotels, which were thronged with their par- 
 tisans at all hours of the day and night. Halls were hired and 
 public meetings were held every evening, at which vociferous 
 speeches were made in favor of the candidate who was paying 
 for the hall. Amidst all this the convention itself was almost 
 as quiet as a religious service; certainly as quiet as a camp- 
 meeting when the deacons are taking an outing. 
 
 The evening before the convention, the State Central Com- 
 mittee which had 17 Collins men out of 29, met at the Wind- 
 sor hotel. They decided that they would issue badges of ad- 
 mission to the main floor of the Opera House to those hav- 
 
328 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 ing credentials correct on their face, and tickets of admission 
 to the galleries for the contestants. 
 
 The delegates and contestants were swarming about the 
 committee headquarters to secure their badges and tickets, 
 so that before the committee adjourned it was about mid- 
 night. Word was brought to Judge Jamison, the chairman 
 of the committee, that there was a large crowd up at the 
 Governor's office, and he was invited to come up. Governor 
 Van Sant was also at the hotel, and the Judge and the Gov- 
 ernor walked up to the capitol, where they found about ioo 
 excited men. They had been talking over the situation with 
 a view of getting a ruling from the State Central Committee, 
 which would have produced the split in the party which they 
 really at heart desired. When the Judge and the Governor 
 arrived, several incendiary speeches were made, the purport 
 of which was that they asked the State Central Committee to 
 make up a roll of the convention which should be considered 
 as final and determining who should hold seats in the conven- 
 tion. The precedent at the Chicago National Convention was 
 cited to affirm this. The plan was to have Judge Jamison 
 call the convention to order and recognize a certain man who 
 would offer a resolution to that effect to be voted on in the 
 convention. Of course, Judge Jamison would have been ex- 
 pected to declare the resolution adopted no matter how the 
 vote stood. In the meantime the committee was to have the 
 roll all prepared, admitting the Collins delegates from Hen- 
 nepin and Ramsey counties arid all the other contested coun- 
 ties to permanent seats in the convention. After the speeches 
 had been made and the proposed resolution read, Judge Jami- 
 son arose and stated that some weeks previously the State 
 Central Committee had unanimously decided to invite Senator 
 Clapp to preside and he had courteously accepted and prepar- 
 ed a speech designed to be the opening of the campaign. He 
 thought it would be a matter of discourtesy to the Senator 
 for him to assume to take the convention out of his hands, 
 and that his duty would be discharged when he called the 
 convention to order and turned it over to Senator Clapp, to 
 meet this or any other emergencies which might arise. Judge 
 Jamison's pacificatory speech had no effect upon that excited 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 329 
 
 mob. Other speeches were made advocating the proposed 
 resolution, and finally someone moved that the resolution be 
 adopted, and the entire crowd voted unanimously that that 
 should be the course of procedure. The vote was taken about 
 i a. m. If the motion had been that there should be two con- 
 ventions and two candidates for Governor put in the field by 
 the Republican party, it could not have been more direct. It 
 is to the credit of Judge Jamison that when his crisis arose 
 he displayed more firmness and fairness than I supposed he 
 possessed, as he was a supporter of Collins himself. He sim- 
 ply and absolutely declined to carry out this incendiary pro- 
 gram ; and the fact that the party now presents an apparently 
 united front, with a sore flank, is due to his decision at that 
 critical time on the memorable night before the meeting of 
 the convention. The Judge declined to be a party to self-stul- 
 tification, and made a decision which probably the majority 
 of those who voted for the incendiary resolution will live to 
 thank him for. And still the machinery through the ma- 
 jority of the State Central Committee was in the hands of the 
 Collins forces, and it is not often that it has been surrendered 
 as a matter of policy. Those who were present at the con- 
 vention will recall that Senator Clapp repeatedly mentioned 
 that there was no temporary, or other, roll of the convention, 
 and he could not, therefore, determine who were members 
 of the convention in order to appoint certain committees. If 
 there had been even a temporary roll this history of the affair 
 would have read a good deal different. 
 
 The Collins men were evidently fearful of their strength, 
 and the usual political tactics, which have been so frequently 
 described in these pages, were evidently desired to be re- 
 sorted to, of making a split in the convention and two can- 
 didates for Governor. I assume, because I consider it fair 
 to do so, that in urging this action the Collins men knew that 
 they were in the minority. I only absolutely know that they 
 did urge such action, and I read their minds as the result of 
 their making such demands. While I do not think any in- 
 justice is done them by this assumption of mine, I feel that I 
 can fairly claim that the presumption and conclusion I have 
 
330 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 drawn has a logical basis to rest upon from the action which 
 they urged. 
 
 I by no means censure or criticise the Collins men for their 
 demands. They were simply apt pupils in the school of prac- 
 tical politics. They controlled the machine and wanted to 
 use it. The Dunn men would have done the same if their 
 positions had been reversed. When you are in a position 
 where you cannot do it, it is always safe to denounce the other 
 fellow for doing something you would like to do if you had 
 the power. 
 
 The convention assembled in the Metropolitan Opera 
 House during the forenoon of June 30, 1904. There was a 
 large police force and numerous sergeants-at-arms appointed 
 by the State Central Committee, on hand to preserve order 
 and inspect tickets and badges presented at the door. Sena- 
 tor Moses E. Clapp had been selected by common consent 
 as the temporary presiding officer. Senator Clapp had been 
 careful not to openly commit himself to either faction, though 
 it was generally understood that he favored Collins for Gov- 
 ernor. Still, owing to his high position and the feeling that 
 he would be fair in his rulings (as he was soon to be a candi- 
 date for re-election) both sides felt that he was the safest man 
 to select, and one who could be trusted. 
 
 It would have been almost fatal to have had a contest for 
 the temporary chairmanship thrust upon the convention at 
 the outset, in its heated mercurial state. 
 
 The calling of the convention to order by Senator Clapp 
 was delayed a considerable length of time by a conference up- 
 on the platform, at which I was present simply by the accident 
 of location, and consequently heard the conference without 
 any intention of intruding or being a party thereto. Messrs. 
 W. H. Grimshaw, U. S. Marshal, and Hon. R. B. Brower, 
 of St. Cloud, represented the Collins forces in the conference, 
 and W. G. Anderson, of Winona, who had been chosen as the 
 Dunn leader upon the floor, represented the Dunn faction. 
 Grimshaw was absolutely incendiary in his demands upon 
 Senator Clapp. He talked along the lines of the midnight 
 resolution passed in Governor Van Sant's chambers the night 
 before. He demanded full recognition of the Hennepin dele- 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 331 
 
 gation which had been allowed seats upon the floor, and the 
 utter ignoring of the contestants. He denounced the con- 
 testants as bolters, not entitled to recognition in any way what- 
 ever. Senator Clapp refused to comply with Mr. Grimshaw's 
 request, as Judge Jamison had, and finally turning to the 
 representatives of the factions, said : "You gentlemen must 
 agree among yourselves, and when you do I will decide what 
 I will do." Senator Clapp had previously suggested several 
 plans, one of which was to have an agreement as to the make- 
 up of the credentials committee, but this the representatives 
 of the candidates at first declined to consider. Mr. Brower 
 said but little, and was not especially insistent, but Grim- 
 shaw was aggressive, and open in his demands, while Ander- 
 son was quiet and resolute in refusing to accede to any of 
 Grimshaw's requests, though he favored Senator Clapp's plan 
 of an agreement upon the make-up of the committee on cre- 
 dentials, as that committee would hold the key to the situa- 
 tion. 
 
 The 1 175 delegates gathered were mere puppets to be 
 moved by the machinery of the managers. An agreement was 
 finally reached upon the basis of Senator Clapp's suggestion, 
 and Grimshaw reluctantly assented because he could not help 
 himself. Senator Clapp had told him in plain terms that he 
 proposed to rule absolutely fairly in presiding over the con- 
 vention. 
 
 While this delay was going on the convention was restless, 
 but was finally called to order by Judge Jamison, and the tem- 
 porary chairman named, as having been selected by the State 
 Central Committee. Before any active business was attempt- 
 ed the temporary chairman made what was designed to 
 be the opening speech of the campaign. The speech was 
 somewhat lengthy, and during the time of its delivery the dele- 
 gates who were ill-natured had time to think a little ; so that 
 when it came to the appointment of the committee on cre- 
 dentials the expected disturbance did not occur. 
 
 The arrangement finally settled upon was that seven men 
 selected by the Collins leaders and seven by the Dunn leaders, 
 with one from the supporters of Eddy, should compose a com- 
 mittee on credentials. The names agreed upon by each fac- 
 
332 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 tion were handed to Senator Clapp. This made a committee 
 of 15. The representative of Mr. Eddy selected was Senator 
 Ward, of Alexandria. Senator Ward was believed to be at 
 heart a supporter of Collins, but as he came from the home 
 city of Hon. Knute Nelson, United States Senator, he had 
 kept out of the heated part of the contest by being for Eddy. 
 This was believed to be shrewd politics on the part of Senator 
 Nelson ; because when a man of the prominence of Senator 
 Nelson and the political power he has is represented from his 
 own town by a politician having certain leanings, it is, right- 
 fully or wrongfully assumed that that politician represents the 
 sentiments of the Senator. No man in Alexandria can afford 
 to lock horns with Senator Nelson in a political contest and 
 longer remain in political life. I take it that Senator Ward 
 still has further ambitions, and consequently he was very 
 willing to be counted in the Eddy ranks and keep out of the 
 fight between the two leading candidates. This committee 
 in reality reminds one of the eight to seven Electoral Com- 
 mission. Both the Dunn and Collins men recognized that 
 while the committee had been made up on the surface with 
 a spirit of fairness, it actually stood eight to seven in favor of 
 Collins. The Collins men were accordingly jubilant, and the 
 Dunn men grew a little more beligerent, talking about taking 
 matters in their own hands if they were likely to be defeated 
 by an eight to seven decision. 
 
 Everybody who knew anything about politics understood 
 that the whole convention — the ticket and the future success 
 of the Republican party — rested with the credentials commit- 
 tee. The campaign had been too long, too bitter and too ex- 
 citing for either side to be willing to lose its grip if there was 
 the slightest chance for a scrimmage, with a reasonable basis 
 to stand upon. 
 
 The credentials committee was called to meet immediately 
 after the adjournment of the convention at the Ryan Hotel, 
 and a recess was taken until later in the day. When the con- 
 vention met in the afternoon the credentials committee, of 
 course, was not ready to report. A committee on platform 
 had also been appointed, but that too, was not ready to report, 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 333 
 
 and consequently an adjournment was taken until the next 
 day! The credentials committee remained in session until 
 2 130 in the morning, but when the convention met again they 
 were still unable to report. They had taken a large amount 
 of testimony and heard the statements of both sides with much 
 patience, but still had not reached an absolute conclusion. 
 
 The convention assembled at 9 o'clock on the morning of 
 July 1st with a very impatient and uneasy feeling. It was 
 generally understood that the credentials committee was not 
 ready to report, and there was quite a strong sentiment prev- 
 alent in favor of going ahead without any report from the 
 committee on credentials, which would have been another 
 fire-brand and resulted in two conventions. It is probably 
 due to Senator Clapp's finesse as a presiding officer that this 
 turbulent feeling was smothered. He suggested some little 
 matters of business which could be attended to, independent 
 of the great central work of the convention, and called for a 
 few speeches to briefly entertain the convention, at the same 
 time announcing that the credentials committee would be 
 ready to report at 2 p. m., and he thought a recess ought to 
 be taken until that time. His remarks were of a very pacifi- 
 catory character, and still no one proposed the recess which 
 he suggested. For perhaps half an hour the convention was 
 on the verge of an explosion, and it was a wonder to me, in 
 view of other similar situations I have seen, that someone did 
 not fire the bomb which would have resulted in disaster. 
 After the few matters of business which the chairman sug- 
 gested, and no one seeming willing to move a recess, Chair- 
 man Clapp was anxiously casting about for some method of 
 murdering a little more time to keep the convention quiet, 
 and, espying me on the platform, said he would like to call 
 upon me for a short speech. With the usual apologetic an- 
 nouncement to him that "this is so sudden" I told him I was 
 interested in saving the party and would help him out. He 
 accordingly introduced me, and I occupied a few minutes, 
 though the newspapers with fheir usual good judgment and 
 discrimination did not attempt a report of what I said. Con- 
 sequently, as the last and only opportunity of handing my 
 remarks down to posterity, as well as an opportunity which 
 
334 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 I cannot resist, of a "scoop," I inscribe them here. They were 
 substantially as follows: 
 
 A free and independent American citizen, acknowledging allegiance 
 to no one but God, I feel entirely at home in standing before a great 
 Republican convention. Born and reared upon the line of the "under- 
 ground railway," I early imbibed the principles of freedom which formed 
 the corner-stone of the foundation of the Republican party. In 1872, 
 following in the wake of eminent Republican leaders, I joined in the 
 revolt against the re-election of that great military chieftan, General 
 Grant, since which time I have been a sort of rudderless ship upon the 
 political sea. A year or so ago, I concluded to return to my first love, 
 though this has not been very generally known. During the past two 
 days I have watched with much interest the contest now in progress in 
 this convention, and I have said to my friends, "For God's sake, don't 
 smash the grand old party now; I've just got back. Hold it together a 
 little longer and give me a chance." 
 
 Up to this hour my advice seems to have been followed, and I 
 accordingly congratulate myself that, though an eleventh hour repen- 
 tant, I have succeeded in doing some penance by saving the party. I 
 congratulate the party upon my return, and I congratulate myself much 
 more than I do the party. I hope that in the remainder of your delibera- 
 tions you will exercise wisdom, prudence and discretion. Keep cool — 
 do not loose your heads — and all will be well in the end. 
 
 Now I know you are anxious to proceed with business, and I will 
 not longer detain you. I thank you, gentlemen of the convention, most 
 sincerely for the opportunity you have had to listen to me. 
 
 When I concluded, some good-natured delegate arose and 
 made the motion which Senator Clapp so much desired for a 
 recess until 2 p. m. While there were some negative votes, in 
 fact a good many, the chair did not hesitate, after a little de- 
 liberation, to announce that the motion had carried. The con- 
 vention had taken my advice. 
 
 At 2 p. m., when the convention re-assembled, there was 
 still delay, the credentials committee still being in session, but 
 the chair announced that they had concluded their taking of 
 the evidence and were now engaged in voting upon their de- 
 cisions, and in the course of an hour or less would be ready 
 to make their final report. The convention was quiet and or- 
 derly, but was on the verge of another explosion as the dele- 
 gates were tired of the delay, as well as excited over the prob- 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 335 
 
 able result of the nomination. They were anxious to con- 
 clude the convention with the second day and get home. 
 Some of them were short of funds, and it was not uncommon 
 to hear a delegate declare that if the convention did not pro- 
 ceed to business he would go home, convention or no conven- 
 tion. Senator Clapp managed to work in a few more pleas- 
 ant speeches, J. Adam Bede and W. I. Nolan responding, 
 and suggested one or two other motions which looked like 
 business, though they really were of no consequence, quiet- 
 ing down the delegates by an announcement every few min- 
 utes of reports from the credentials committee across the 
 street in the Ryan Hotel, stating how they were progress- 
 ing. The matter was growing critical, however, and it is 
 questionable whether, with all his suaveness, Senator Clapp 
 could have kept the convention quiet much longer. Judge 
 Jamison, chairman of the State Central Committee, was sent 
 as a messenger to the credentials committee to ascertain what 
 they were doing. This fact was announced, and in a short 
 time Judge Jamison reported to the effect that the commit- 
 tee would be ready in half an hour. There was a good deal 
 of talk at this time among the delegates of taking the bit in 
 their teeth and going ahead with the convention, but better 
 counsels prevailed and the afternoon dragged along, so that it 
 was nearly 4 o'clock before the credentials committee were 
 absolutely ready to report. 
 
 The report was exactly what everybody expected it would 
 be — an 8 to 7 report in favor of the Collins forces. Sena- 
 tor Ward had proved the Judge Bradley of the committee, 
 Judge Bradley having cast the decisive vote which made 
 Hayes President of the United States. And then the real fight 
 began. By a sort of common consent the contesting Dunn 
 delegates from Ramsey County abandoned the fight, and the 
 credentials committee had unanimously decided to admit the 
 Collins delegates from Ramsey County. 
 
 Everybody recognized that this decision was really just. 
 The Dunn delegates in Ramsey County had been too impetu- 
 ous in leaving the county convention to have solid ground 
 to stand upon. They should have stayed in the hall where 
 
336 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATION'S. 
 
 the Ramsey County convention was called to be held and 
 fought it out on the floor. Instead of this, however, they with- 
 drew early in the proceedings. The Collins men had con- 
 trol of the machinery of the Ramsey County convention, and 
 before it had concluded would have given abundant reason 
 for the withdrawal of the Dunn delegates. But the Dunn 
 faction, knowing they were beaten, lost their heads in anger 
 and withdrew from the Ramsey County convention before 
 the Collins delegates had had an opportunity to show their 
 arbitrary spirit, and their rule or ruin intentions. The conse- 
 quence was that when it became whispered about through 
 the convention that Ramsey County had been turned over to 
 Collins, even the unseated Dunn delegates did not murmur. 
 "Served them right" was the popular verdict. But when it 
 came to Hennepin County the situation was different. 
 
 The Dunn delegates in Hennepin County had remained 
 in the county convention and fought it out, and by political 
 rules had some basis to stand upon. The seven Dunn men 
 on the credentials committee had accordingly decided to make 
 their fight upon the Hennepin delegation of 113 members, and 
 allow Collins to take the 67 delegates from Ramsey County. 
 In order to seem real fair the Collins delegates on the cre- 
 dential committee allowed the Dunn members of the creden- 
 tials committee to take Anoka, Benton, Clearwater, Red 
 Lake, Sherburne and Traverse Counties, a total of 52 ; while 
 the eight Collins men on the credentials committee demand- 
 ed Beltrami, Cass, Hennepin and Ramsey, a total of 198, for 
 Collins. 
 
 Under these circumstances the only thing for the cre- 
 dentials committee to do was to submit a majority and a 
 minority report. No one cared much about the little coun- 
 ties, but the 113 delegates from Hennepin County was too 
 big a prize to be lost by either side if success was to be hoped 
 for. Senator Ward presented the majority report of the 
 committee seating the Collins delegation from Hennepin 
 County as well as the Collins delegation from Ramsey Coun- 
 ty. It was a sure enough 8 to 7 report, as everybody expected. 
 W. B. Anderson, of Winona, presented the minority report 
 which, like the majority, gave the 67 Ramsey men to Col- 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 337 
 
 lins, but took the 113 Hennepin County men for Dunn. And 
 now the crucial period of the convention had been reached. 
 The hot-heads among the Collins forces had wanted to allow 
 Hennepin County to vote on this majority report in favor 
 of seating themselves. To show how a little thing may carry 
 great results, some delegate arose and asked Senator Clapp 
 whether Hennepin County would be allowed to vote upon the 
 respective reports of the credentials committee. Senator 
 Clapp promptly replied, "Certainly NOT." There was a 
 sort of emphasis and decision in his very tone of voice, es- 
 pecially on the "not" which carried weight with it, and really 
 those two words probably had more to do with keeping the 
 convention from splitting and nominating two candidates 
 for Governor than all the other words uttered in that conven- 
 tion. If Clapp had arranged to be asked the question he 
 could not have done the part better. The decision was so emi- 
 nently just that the most impulsive man did not have the 
 cheek to rise and enter a protest. The result was that it 
 stood, and the Dunn men, of course, did not object because 
 they believed they had the strength to carry the minority 
 report independent of Hennepin County voting upon the ques- 
 tion. 
 
 There was first an attempt made to act upon the re- 
 spective reports of the committee on credentials by viva voce 
 vote, but in a body of 1,175 men, with each voter nerved up 
 to the point of yelling the loudest for the side he supported, 
 it was impossible to determine the result in that way. Forty 
 minutes were given to each side to present its case to the con- 
 vention. As it was nearly 4 o'clock when the committee 
 reported, it was nearly 6 when the speech-making was con- 
 cluded. Roll-calls and lead pencils were in active demand 
 to watch the vote on the motion of Mr. Anderson that the 
 minority report be adopted instead of the majority report 
 of the committee on credentials. That vote would determine 
 the whole case. Everyone understood this, and the tension 
 was something intense as the respective counties were called. 
 When the secretaries had the tally sheets completed, it show- 
 ed that the minority report unseating the Collins Henne- 
 
 22 
 
338 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 pin County delegation and seating the 113 Dunn men had 
 been adopted by 622^ to 450^2. A considerable time before 
 this was officially announced the delegates who had kept 
 tally knew the result, and the convention for a few minutes 
 went mad, at least the Dunn portion of it. They knew the 
 fight was over and that Dunn had won. The Collins men 
 were sufficiently paralyzed to keep quiet, and the Dunn men 
 had the shouting all to themselves, and only stopped when 
 the secretaries had the footings made to hear the official an- 
 nouncement. 
 
 Grimshaw, who was a member of the Collins delegation 
 from Hennepin County, was chairman of the committee on 
 permanent organization. But after the adoption of that re- 
 port he was no longer a member of the convention. There 
 was a sadness in his voice when he arose and announced 
 that, being no longer a member of the convention, he could 
 not make the report from the committee on permanent or- 
 ganization, but delegated it to Senator Horton, of Ramsey, 
 to present for the committee. He also made a graceful little 
 speech which won him much .sympathy, and caused him to 
 be forgiven for his previous impetuosity. He announced 
 that the Hennepin delegation bowed to the will of the ma- 
 jority and would now retire from the convention in favor 
 of the other delegation. And so the 113 Collins delegates 
 walked out into the street or gallery. 
 
 For three days and nights the Dunn delegation from Hen- 
 nepin County had been parading the streets, carrying a large 
 banner, "Hennepin County for Dunn," and headed by a 
 brass band. Just before each session of the convention this 
 procession, which looked more like strolling tatterdemalions 
 than real delegates, formed with their band at the Mer- 
 chants Hotel and marched up Jackson street past the Ryan 
 Hotel and the Metropolitan Opera House, where the conven- 
 tion was to meet, on up Sixth street to the Windsor Hotel, 
 which was inhabited by a large number of delegates, and then 
 back to the Opera House to take seats in the gallery. This 
 march was evidently for effect upon the country delegates. 
 Accordingly, when they were finally seated, their leader still 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 339 
 
 carried the big banner and walked from the gallery to the 
 floor of the convention with the placard announcing "Henne- 
 pin for Dunn." This time it really was, and the Dunn victors 
 greeted that banner with as vigorous a yell as they were able to 
 make in their somewhat exhausted condition. The applause 
 was even more vociferous than when the vote was announced 
 by which the minority report of the committee on credentials 
 was subsituted for the majority. After this the proceedings 
 were tame and uninteresting. The convention began the 
 speeches for candidates for supreme judges, but soon took a 
 recess until evening in order to liquidate their joy. A good 
 many were already thirsty, and those who were disappointed 
 wanted to get hold of something to drown their sorrow. Con- 
 sequently there was no objection to an adjournment this time. 
 At the evening session the continuation of the speeches 
 nominating supreme court judges was the first order of the 
 exercises. There were four judges to be nominated — three to 
 take their seats the first of January, 1906, and one to take his 
 seat the first of January, 1905. Judges Lovely, Brown and 
 Lewis were the incumbents, and they were all put into the 
 field for re-election for the term beginning January I, 1906. 
 Their only competitor was Charles B. Elliott, of Minneapolis, 
 who was entered in the same class. After a dull and tedious 
 roll call, it was whispered about the convention that all three 
 of the old judges had been nominated. The fact was that 
 Lovely had won on the first roll call by 11 votes, which was 
 very close in a convention of nearly 1,200 men. Unfortunate- 
 ly for Lovely there were 113 Hennepin County men ready to 
 trade for Elliott. The tellers were exasperatingly slow. They 
 could scarcely have been more stupid. The veriest school-boy 
 could have footed the columns of figures quicker than they 
 did. The result was that it gave Hennepin County ample 
 time to make its trades. Every little while a delegate would 
 bob up and change a few votes from Lovely to Elliott. When 
 the final vote was at last given out officially it stood : Lovely, 
 717; Brown, 1,099; Lewis, 974; Elliott, 739. Elliott had won 
 by only 22 votes after all. Lovely's defeat can be set down 
 as an accident rather than as intentional. 
 
340 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 On the judgeship to take his seat in January, 1905, there 
 were three candidates : Judge Douglas (formerly attorney 
 general), D. B. Searle. of St. Cloud, and E. A. Jaggard, of 
 St. Paul. There had been talk of Searle being a candidate 
 earlier in the canvass, but as he came from St. Cloud his can- 
 didacy was held in the back-ground lest it damage Judge Col- 
 lins, whose home was in the same city. The Collins men 
 charged the talk of Searles up to the Dunn men. After the 
 roll call and the long wait for the tellers, the official announce- 
 ment was made as follows : Jaggard, 637 ; Searles, 351 ; Doug- 
 las, 277. 
 
 The Dunn men offered Judge Douglas their support if he 
 would give them his home county, Clay, with its 13 votes. He 
 declined. They became so anxious that they renewed the 
 offer if he would give them one-half of the Clay County dele- 
 gation. Such an offer would indicate that the Dunn forces 
 did not feel quite as sure of their strength as they claimed. 
 It is to Judge Douglas' credit that he declined to buy a judge- 
 ship by a trade, and he went down to defeat with his colors 
 flying. He told me afterwards that it was the railroads which 
 defeated him. 
 
 Searle had made a remarkable run for a five-minute can- 
 didate. Douglas attributed his defeat to his hostility to the 
 "merger." He simply went down with the Van Sant ma- 
 chine, which was the natural and expected resubt of politics. 
 Van Sant and the officers at the State House had all been 
 ardent supporters of Judge Collins. Attorney General Dona- 
 hower, prior to his appointment to fill General Douglas' place, 
 was ranked as a Dunn man ; but as soon as he went into the 
 Van Sant official family he became a Collins supporter. It 
 was the most natural thing in the world when the administra- 
 tion machine had been smashed to wipe it entirely off the 
 earth. It was simply the personal misfortune of Douglas and 
 Donahower that at that time they were part of the machine. 
 When the convention met I would not have given a picayune 
 for the chances of Ed. Young, of Appleton, securing the at- 
 torney-generalship, but the turn of the wheel that downed the 
 administration machine was his good forune and Donahow- 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 341 
 
 er's misfortune, with the result that the vote stood for attor- 
 ney general : Donahower, 394 ; Young, 784. 
 
 Following the nomination of judges came the gubernatorial 
 nomination which was the great prize which had made all the 
 trouble for six months previously. When this climax was 
 absolutely reached in the convention there was no interest in 
 the matter whatever. Everybody knew after the credentials 
 committee report had been adopted that it was a mere mat- 
 ter of form. The consequence was that when James A. Peter- 
 son, of Minneapolis, arose to nominate Robert C. Dunn, for 
 Governor, which he did in a ringing speech, but little interest 
 was taken ; and before the roll could be called James A. Mar- 
 tin, of St. Cloud, who had been Judge Collins' manager 
 through the heated campaign, moved to make the nomination 
 by acclamation. Senator Reeves, of Glenwood, who was the 
 special representative of Congressman Eddy, seconded the mo- 
 tion of Martin, and in about a minute the thing was over, and 
 Mr. Dunn was nominated by acclamation, an event which he 
 and his friends predicted many months before, but without 
 imagining it would come just as it did. It was a close ques- 
 tion whether it would come at all for a good while. 
 
 Concluding the ticket was a very perfunctory matter. Ray 
 Jones, of Minneapolis, was nominated for Lieutenant Gover- 
 nor, and Peter E. Hanson, of Meeker County, for Secretary 
 of State, without opposition. State Treasurer Block had a 
 little fight on his hands, but scored nearly a thousand votes. 
 His opponents were simply in training for the future, and 
 wanted to have the prestige of being in the "also ran" class, 
 and defeated, to use in some other convention. It probably 
 pleased them, but delayed the convention a little. 
 
 The Railroad & Warehouse Commissioners, two of which 
 were to be nominated, caused the only remaining contest, Ira 
 B. Mills, of Clay County, and W. E. Young, of Blue Earth, 
 being nominated. Mr. Mills was already a member of the 
 commission, and it was given out in advance very decidely 
 that he was to be shelved. There are, however, but few men 
 in the state as well versed in the manipulation of politics as 
 Mr. Mills. The result, to the surprise of a great many people., 
 
342 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 was that he was one of the two successful men, though there 
 were seven candidates in the field. 
 
 Mr. Dunn was, of course, brought in to accept. There 
 were no fears that he would decline, so that there was no very 
 intense excitement when he was seen coming up the aisle to 
 the platform. His speech was quite brief, but in very good 
 taste and temper. The salient point, and the one that struck 
 the most responsive chord among the delegates was that he 
 "knew his friends, and would not forget them." Perhaps if 
 he had not stated that he knew his friends every delegate in 
 the convention would have claimed at that particular mo- 
 ment to be one of them. But he rather estopped eleventh 
 hour conversions by those words. 
 
 Senator Clapp had been made permanent chairman at an 
 early stage of the proceedings after the credentials commit- 
 tee reported, and took charge of the convention to the last, 
 which was until nearly 2 o'clock in the morning. It is due 
 him to say that he handled himself and the convention ad- 
 mirably and won hosts of friends in a very trying position. 
 If he had been arbitrary and unfair, the convention would have 
 been twins at an early stage of the proceedings, and Senator 
 Clapp's chances would have suffered with those of the rest 
 of the party, so that he was wise in his own interests. 
 
 After it was all over, there was, of course, the usual sore 
 spots, but it is rare that anything formidable comes from 
 after-convention soreness. I have been on the sore side of 
 politics nearly all my life, and I give it as my calm judgment 
 that "it don't pay." In a little while the only fellows who 
 know there is any soreness are those who sit around and rub 
 their sore spots just to feel them itch. It should be borne in 
 mind that there are six thousand local office-holders in Minne- 
 sota, everyone of whom is a local politician and is working 
 for his personal bread and butter. His success depends upon 
 keeping up the machinery of the party. He can not afford to 
 be sore, and he is not. He wants to be re-elected or grab a 
 new hold on the official teat if he has not yet obtained a grip. 
 He is bound by self interest to work for the party. So that 
 I summarize my advice to those who are sore, not only in this 
 but on any future similar occasion, thus : 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. ' 343 
 
 i. Let the canker of defeat gnaw your heart strings in 
 secret. 
 
 2. Do not wear your heart upon your sleeve for daws to 
 peck at. 
 
 3. Go to the gallows with a smile on your face. You will 
 look just as sweet as an angel. 
 
 The November sequel can, perhaps, easily be prophesied ; 
 but as I am a historian at this time rather than a prophet, I 
 will let that take care of itself. 
 
 It is not at all probable that when Judge Collins announced 
 his candidacy in November, 1903, he had the slightest inten- 
 tion of resigning from the Supreme bench where he still had 
 three years to serve at a salary of $5,000 per year. He had 
 twice before gone into State conventions as a gubernatorial 
 candidate without resigning his judicial position, but this time 
 his friends insisted on his resigning as a condition of their 
 support. They felt that his retention of the judgeship would 
 prove fatal, and did not care to attach themselves to a lost 
 cause. He accordingly tendered his resignation during the 
 winter to take effect March 31, 1904. He did his best, and 
 his ambitions are doubtless more tranquil than if he had not 
 had the experience. He can soliloquize, 'Tis better to have 
 fought and lost, than never to have fought at all. The fun of 
 the experience is a permanency, for him. 
 
 James A. Martin made a most admirable campaign man- 
 ager for Judge Collins. The near approach of Judge Collins 
 to success was largely due to Mr. Martin's management. He, 
 too, was a sufferer, as he was holding a $3,500 position on the 
 Board of Control, which he resigned to go into the fight. He 
 simply bet on the roulette wheel of politics, but picked the 
 wrong color. The wheel still goes around. 
 
 Governor Van Sant was an interested spectator from one 
 of the boxes during the session of the convention, and there 
 are those who confidently assert that he entertained a linger- 
 ing hope that in the hot fight in progress, he might again be 
 called to lead the party by a popular uprising of the conven- 
 tion. While I have no doubt he would have responded favor- 
 ably to such an uprising if it had come, I am also aware that 
 there were personal and altogether creditable reasons which 
 
344 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 prevented Governor Van Sant from being a formal aspirant 
 for a third term, and still I believe there was the "lingering 
 hope." With two such pledged and pronounced anti-merger 
 candidates as Dunn and Collins, Van Sant was crowded off the 
 earth, so to speak. 
 
 The sun has risen and set during every 24 hours since the 
 convention, and may continue to do so for several moons. 
 
 That convention was only an atom of temporary dust on 
 the fly wheel of a great and cold bloode4 world. 
 
 The delegates have to smell their own breath to know they 
 were ever in St. Paul. 
 
 Sic transit. 
 
OBSERVATION FORTY-SEVEN. 
 
 Resume of State Elections for 50 Years. 
 
 1857. 
 
 At the first election for governor there were cast 35,340 
 votes, of which H. H. Sibley (Dem.) received 17,790, and Alex. 
 Ramsey (Rep.) 17,550, a Democratic majority of 240. 
 
 This was the first and only governor of Minnesota the Demo- 
 crats elected until 1898, 41 years later, when John Lind (Dem.) 
 was chosen. 
 
 1859. 
 
 Two years later there had been an increase in poulation, and 
 38,917 votes were cast. Ramsey was again in the field for gov- 
 ernor and received 21,335 votes, while George L. Becker (Dem.) 
 had 17,582, giving Ramsey a majority of 3,753. 
 
 i860. 
 
 The first presidential election in this state was in i860, and 
 the total vote cast was 34,737. Nothing so marks the depression 
 in business, which followed the panic of 1857, as the contract of 
 the vote in the state election of 1859 and the presidential in i860. 
 It is proverbial that larger votes are cast presidential years than 
 any other, but in this case i860 showed 4,180 less than in 1859. 
 The state was young, and had been growing rapidly prior to the 
 financial panic, but it is evident by this vote that thousands 
 sought other homes. Of the i860 vote Abraham Lincoln (Rep.) 
 received 22,069, Stephen A. Douglas (Dem.) 11,920, and J. C. 
 Breckenridge (Southern Democrat) 748. Lincoln's plurality 
 over Douglas was 10,149 and majority over both 9,401. 
 
 (346) 
 
346 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 1861. 
 
 At the gubernatorial election this year only 26,722 votes 
 were cast, the smallest number polled since Minnesota was a 
 state. This indicates that the population continued to decrease 
 for at least four years after the panic of 1857. Ramsey was again 
 a candidate for governor, receiving 16,274 votes to 10,448 for E. 
 O. Hamblin (Dem.). Ramsey's majority was 5,726. 
 
 1863. 
 
 The era of recuperation had evidently begun, and 32,467 
 votes were cast for governor, Stephen Miller (Rep.) who received 
 19,628, and H. T. Wells (Dem.) 12,739. Miller's majority 6,889. 
 
 1864. 
 
 The second presidential election in which Minnesota partici- 
 pated 42,422 votes were cast. Though this was nearly 8,000 
 votes in excess of i860 the Republican majority was much smaller 
 than in that year. The vote stood, Lincoln 25,055 ; McClellan 
 (Dem.) 17,367. Lincoln's majority 7,688. 
 
 1865. 
 
 Only 31,160 votes were cast for governor in 1865, nearly 
 11,000 less than for president in 1864. W. R. Marshall (Rep.) 
 received 17,318. H. M. Rice (Dem.) 13,842. ' Marshall's 
 majority 3,476. 
 
 1867. 
 
 There was a marked progress in population between 1865 and 
 1867, 64,376 votes being cast the latter year. Marshall was again 
 a candidate for governor, receiving 34,874 (which was more 
 than the entire vote of the state in 1865), while C. E. Flandrau 
 (Dem.) received 29,502. Marshall's majority 5,372. 
 
 1868. 
 
 In 1868, 71,818 votes were cast for president, General Grant, 
 (Rep.) receiving 43,722, and Horatio Seymour (Dem.) 28.096. 
 Grant's majority 15,626. 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 347 
 
 1869. 
 
 The Prohibitionists had their first gubernatorial candidate in 
 1869, and the Republicans had the smallest majority that year 
 of any recorded during their victorious career. There was a 
 marked falling off in the vote, only 54,513 being cast. Horace 
 Austin (Rep.) received 27,348, George L. Otis (Dem.) 25,401, 
 Daniel Cobb (Pro.) 1,764. Austin's plurality over Otis, 1,947, 
 and a majority over both 183. 
 
 1871. 
 
 A wonderful jump in two years is recorded by the vote of 
 1871, which was 78,172. Governor Austin was running for his 
 second term, and received 46,950, Winthrop Young (Dem.) 
 30,376, Samuel Mayall (Pro.) 846. Austin over Young, 6,574; 
 over both, 5,728. 
 
 1872. 
 
 The year 1872 was memorable for the Grant and Greeley 
 presidential campaign. 90,919 votes were cast, Grant receiving 
 55,708, Horace Greeley (Ind. Dem.) 35,211. Grant's majority 
 20,497, 
 
 1873- 
 
 There was the usual falling off from the presidential year in 
 1873, only 77,022 votes being cast. C. K. Davis (Rep.) had 
 40,741, Ara Barton (Dem.) 35,245, S. Mayall, (Pro.) 1,036. 
 Davis over Barton 5,496, over both 4,460. 
 
 i875- 
 
 The total vote for governor was 84,017, J. S. Pillsbury, 
 Republican gubernatorial nominee, receiving 47,073, D. L. Buell 
 (Dem.) 35,275, and R. F. Humiston (Pro.) 1,669. Pillsbury over 
 Buell 11,798, over both 10,129. 
 
 1876. 
 
 The presidential year brought out 123,931 votes. R. B. 
 Hayes (Rep.) receiving 72,955, S. J. Tilden (Dem.) 48,587, Peter 
 Cooper (Greenback) 2,389. Hayes over Tilden 24,368, over both 
 21,979. 
 
348 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 1877. 
 
 There were no side issues this year, only Republicans and 
 Democrats having candidates for governor in the field. The 
 vote, as usual, fell much below the presidential year, only 
 96,218 being cast. Governor Pillsbury, for his second term, 
 received 57,071, W. L. Banning (Dem.) 39,147. Pillsbury's 
 majority 17,924. 
 
 1879. 
 
 In addition to the two regular parties, the Prohibitionists 
 and Greenbackers had candidates for governor in the field in 
 1879. There were 106,500 votes cast, Pillsbury receiving for his 
 third term 57,524, Edmund Rice (Dem.) 41,844, William Meig- 
 hen (Greenback) 4,264, Satterlee (Pro.) 2,868. Pillsbury's 
 plurality over Rice, 15,680, his majority over all 8,548. 
 
 The presidential contest this year brought out what was 
 regarded as an enormous vote, the total being 150,484. James 
 A. Garfield (Rep.) received 93,902, W. S. Hancock (Dem.) 53,315, 
 J. B. Weaver (Greenback) 3,267. Garfield over Hancock 40,587, 
 over both 37,320. 
 
 1881. 
 
 There was a new deal in 1881, General Hubbard being the 
 Republican nominee for governor, after Pillsbury had served 
 three terms. The total vote cast was 102,193, Hubbard receiv- 
 ing 65,025, and Gen. R. W. Johnson (Dem.) 37,168. Hubbard's 
 majority 27,857. 
 
 1883. 
 
 In 1883 there were again only two candidates for governor. 
 The total vote cast was 130,713, Hubbard receiving for re-elec- 
 tion 72,462, and A. Bierman (Dem.) 58,251. Hubbard's majority 
 14,211. Governor Hubbard enjoys the distinction of being the 
 only governor who held office five years. The odd year was 
 produced by an amendment to the Constitution, adopted in 
 1883, which extended Hubbard's term one year. In the natural 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 349 
 
 order of things the next gubernatorial election would have been 
 in 1885, but some of the minor officers were then elected every 
 other year, so that there was no year without a state election of 
 some description. The Constitutional amendment accordingly 
 extended the term of the governor and several other state officers 
 one year, and the next state election for governor was held in 
 1886. This also resulted in making state elections every presi- 
 dential year, which had not been the case heretofore, and since 
 then we have only had a state election every two years. 
 
 In 1884 there were cast for presidential candidates 190,017 
 votes. James G. Blaine (Rep.) received 111,685, Grover Cleve- 
 land (Dem.) 70,065, St. John (Pro.) 4,684, B. F. Butler (Green- 
 back) 3,583. Blaine over Cleveland 41,620, over all 33,353. 
 
 1886. 
 
 The first state election under the amended Constitution, 
 already noted, occurred in 1886, and the 200,000 mark was 
 passed, 220,558 being the total vote. A. R. McGill (Rep.) 
 received 107,064, A. A. Ames (Dem.) 104,464, James E. Child 
 (Pro.) 9,030. McGill's plurality over Ames was 2,600, but he 
 lacked 6,430 of a majority of all the votes cast. 
 
 For the first time in the history of the state, Minnesota voted 
 for president and governor together, in 1888. For president 
 262,188 votes were cast, Benjamin Harrison (Rep.) receiving 
 142,492, Grover Cleveland (Dem.) 104,385, Fisk (Pro.) 15,311, 
 Harrison over Cleveland 38,107, over both, 22,896. It is worthy 
 of note that Cleveland lacked just 79 votes of the number cast 
 for Ames, the Democratic candidate for governor two years 
 previous. 
 
 For governor, 261,632 votes were cast. W. R. Merriam 
 (Rep.) had 134,355, Eugene M. Wilson (Dem.) 110,251, Hugh 
 Harrison (Pro.) 17,026. Merriam over Wilson 24,084, over 
 both 7,058. Merriam's majority was 14,023 less than President 
 
350 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 Harrison, and Hugh Harrison, the Prohibition candidate, polled 
 the highest vote that party has ever cast in the state. 
 
 1890. 
 
 A new factor was introduced into state politics in 1890, what 
 was then called the Farmers' Alliance, but now Populist party, 
 putting a ticket in the field for the first time. This ticket drew 
 from both of the old parties, and nearly gave the state to the 
 Democrats, but a little larger proportion of the Alliance men 
 came from the Democratic ranks, and hence the uniform Repub- 
 lican success remained unbroken. The total vote cast was 240,- 
 892, of which Governor Merriam, who was a candidate for 
 re-election, received 88,111; Thomas Wilson (Dem.) 85,844, S. 
 M. Owen (Alliance) 58,513, James P. Pinkham (Pro.) 8,424. 
 While the combined vote for the candidates other than Merriam 
 was 152,781 against him, he was, nevertheless, elected by a 
 plurality of 2,247 over Wilson. 
 
 1892. 
 
 In 1892, the People's or Populist party appeared for the first 
 time in national politics. The total presidential vote was 
 267,238, Cleveland (Dem.) receiving 100,920, Harrison (Rep.) 
 122,823, J. B. Weaver (People's) 29,313, John Bidwell (Pro.) 
 14,182. Harrison's plurality over Cleveland 21,903. 
 
 There were four candidates for governor in 1892/and 255,922 
 votes were cast, almost 12,000 less than for president. Knute 
 Nelson (Rep.) had 109,220, Daniel W. Lawler (Dem.) 94,600, 
 Ignatius Donnelly (People's) 39,862, W. J. Pean (Pro.) 12,239. 
 While the combined vote was 146,701 against Nelson, he still had 
 14,620 plurality over Lawler. 
 
 1894. 
 
 The total vote cast for governor in 1894 was 296,333, the 
 largest vote ever polled in the state up to that date. The Peo- 
 ple's party forged to the front with 34,352 more votes than the 
 Democrats. Nelson received for re-election 147,944, George 
 L. Becker (Dem.) 53,579, S. M. Owen (Populist) 87,931, Hilleboe 
 (Pro) 6,879. Nelson over Becker 94.365, over Owen, 60,013, 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 351 
 
 plurality over Becker and Owen combined 6,434. Nelson only 
 lacked 445 votes of obtaining a majority over all three of his 
 competitors combined. 
 
 1896, 
 
 There were 337,329 votes cast, Clough receiving for gover- 
 nor 169,906, Lind 162,244, Dean (Pro.) 5,184, Ames (Ind.) 
 2,890, Hammond (Socialist) 1,125. Clough over Lind 3,652. 
 
 Total vote cast for governor 252,562 of which Eustis (Rep.) 
 received 111,796, Lind (Dem.) 131,980, Higgins (Pro.) 5,269, 
 Hammond (Socialist Labor) 1,685, Seng (Pop.) 1,802. Lind 
 over Eustis 20,184, Lind over all 11,398. 
 
 1900. 
 
 Total vote cast for governor 314,181, of which Van Sant 
 (Rep.) received 162,905, Lind (Dem.) 150,651, Haugan (Pro.) 
 5,430, Fairchild (Pop.) 763, Lucas (Socialist Dem.) 3,546, Kritz 
 (Socialist Labor) 886. Van Sant over Lind 1,254. 
 
 1902. 
 
 Total vote cast for governor 271,129, of which Van Sant 
 (Rep.) received 155,849, Rosing (Dem.) 99,603, Meighen (Pop.) 
 4,821, Van Leuven (Labor) 2,570, Nash (Socialist) 2,521, Scan- 
 Ian (Pro.) 5,765. Van Sant over Rosing 57,246. 
 
 1904. 
 What ? 
 
OBSERVATION FORTY-EIGHT. 
 
 Windom's Candidacy for the Presidency. 
 
 In the political history of the state "Windom Ten" has been 
 written down as a burlesque incident. When the campaign for 
 the Republican nomination for president in 1880 was in progress, 
 Minnesota was an overwhelmingly enthusiastic Blaine state. 
 Senator Conkling's darling ambition was to defeat Blaine, and he 
 was shrewd enough to see that Minnesota could only be swerved 
 from Blaine by springing a "favorite son." Mr. Windom was 
 nattered by Conkling's suggestion, and the poison spread to his 
 friends, with the result that Minnesota went to Chicago solidly 
 instructed for Windom. At that time Minnesota only had 10 
 delegates to the national convention, and during the four day's 
 balloting the reading clerk would announce in stentorian tones, 
 "Windom, ten," and much of the time the announcement would 
 provoke derisive laughter. Blaine's friends always felt that if 
 Minnesota had been loyal, he would have been the nominee, and 
 in their estimation "Windom, ten," was a badge of tricky politics. 
 The delegation was undoubtedly sincere, but it seemed at the 
 time like grasping for a will-'o-the-wisp. 
 
 While Mr. Windom's candidacy was unquestionably sincere 
 on his part, and on the part of many of his most active friends, 
 it had its real origin, not from friendship for him or desire to see 
 him president, but from a desire to "help some one else. On the 
 20th day of May, 1880, the day after the Minnesota Republican 
 state convention had instructed for Windom, I wrote and printed 
 a criticism in the Globe, and after the lapse of nearly 25 years I 
 see no reason to modify the views I then entertained. I accord- 
 ingly quote it as pertinent in this review. I then said: 
 
 (362) 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 353 
 
 The fight in Minnesota is a double one. It was for Grant for presi- 
 dent and against C. K. Davis for the United States senate. The Grant 
 men were smart enough to see that it would be positively hopeless to 
 carry the state for him direct. They did not need the 10 votes for 
 Minnesota direct, but if the state could be, by any device, taken away 
 from Blaine, it broke the backbone of the chief opponent to General 
 Grant's success. Ex-Governor Davis was an open and avowed friend 
 of Blaine, and was also understood as being a candidate for the United 
 States senate. Hence his defeat as a delegate to Chicago broke the 
 Blaine backbone and severely wounded the senatorial spinal column. 
 We do not gainsay that many honestly supported Windom, who, at 
 heart, were opposed to Grant and the third term, but these were the 
 rank and file. The leaders know that the fight, as it stands, is between 
 Grant and Blaine. They were cunning enough to see that where votes 
 could not be secured direct for Grant, it was a two-thirds victory 'to 
 keep them from going to Blaine. 
 
 It is interesting at this time to trace the inception and rise 
 of the Windom boom. On January 19, 1880, the Pioneer Press 
 took a consensus of presidential preferences in Minneapolis and 
 St. Paul. In Minneapolis 79 opinions were thus classified: Grant 
 32, Blaine 15, E. B. Washburne 17, Sherman 10, Hayes 3, Gar- 
 field 2. In St. Paul 60 interviews were given showing, Grant 18. 
 Blaine 13, the nominee 7, Garfield 6, Sherman 5, Windom 3, 
 Ramsey, Hayes, Edmunds, and "any one to beat Grant," 2 each. 
 Mr. Windom's candidacy was then scarcely thought of, and not 
 a single Minneapolis man mentioned him. Wm. Bickel and the 
 late Dr. J. H. Stewart of St. Paul, and a third party unknown, 
 were the only ones to mention him in St. Paul. John Douglas, 
 Mr. Windom's brother-in-law, was among those quoted, and he 
 expressed a preference for Blaine. On the 26th of January, 
 1880, the Pioneer Press published interviews with 54 residents of 
 Winona, Mr. Windom's home, and Mr. Windom's name was not 
 recorded in the list of favorites, though W. H. Yale said that if 
 Windom should be a candidate he would be his (Yale's) first 
 choice. In February, 1880, Gen. J. H. Baker, then editing the 
 Mankato Free Press, expressed his preference, but qualified it 
 by adding: 
 
 If Mr. Windom enters the list, the delegates from this state will be 
 named for him. 
 
 23 
 
354 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 As late as March 28th, only about two months before the 
 Chicago convention, the Pioneer Press published a conjectural 
 table of the way the respective states would vote, and put Minne- 
 sota down for Blaine. 
 
 The Minnesota Republican state convention was held May 
 19th, and the real beginning of the Windom boom in earnest 
 can be said to date from April 29th, when the following appeared 
 in the Washington correspondence of the New York Sun: 
 
 Mr. Conkling says, seriously, that Windom is his second choice. 
 The senator from New York will not admit that, in the nature of things, 
 there can be a second choice, but if by some dispensation of providence 
 Grant should not be nominated, Conkling will labor earnestly for Win- 
 dom. 
 
 How great a matter a little fire kindleth. 
 
 On the 10th of May I published this in the Globe: 
 
 A week ago there was but little idea that Minnesota would go against 
 Blaine at the Chicago convention. The situation, however, is chang- 
 ing rapidly, and by the 19th it would not be surprising to see a whooping 
 Windom crowd in St. Paul. 
 
 On the same date the Pioneer Press had an article, which is 
 amusing to read in the light of the facts. It was arguing as to 
 the probable nominee (still ignoring Windom) and advising send- 
 ing an uninstructed delegation to Chicago. It wiped Grant out 
 in this manner: 
 
 The result of the county conventions in Illinois, especially the de- 
 cisive victory of the anti-third termers in Cook county on Saturday, 
 which ensures a large majority agaitist Grant in the state convention, 
 has taken him absolutely out of the canvass. His name will not go 
 before the convention. 
 
 There was a vigorous fight in Ramsey county between the 
 Windom and the Blaine forces. The primaries were held five 
 days and the county convention was held two days before 
 the state gathering. C. K. Davis desired to be a delcgate-at- 
 large to Chicago and it was important he should have his own 
 county. He was so pronounced for Blaine that he must neces- 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 355 
 
 sarily antagonize Windom's friends, but Windom was not 
 regarded as a very formidable candidate, and Davis carried the 
 county handsomely. 
 
 The Pioneer Press in commenting on the primaries the next 
 day said : 
 
 The question was no longer whether Blaine should be nominated, 
 but whether Cush Davis should be sent as a delegate to the national 
 convention. Cush it appears is one of the Blaine syndicate, and had 
 been determined on as one of the Blaine delegates to Chicago. The 
 Windom boom was therefore declared to be a personal war on Cush 
 and as Blaine stock declined the air was filled with vociferous personal 
 appeals for Cush. 
 
 When the county convention met on May i/th, Davis offered 
 the most peculiar "Windom resolutions" which were ever pre- 
 pared. They were adopted, because the county convention was 
 composed of Davis' friends, but I imagine Senator Davis had 
 more political sagacity than to think that a Windom state con- 
 vention would send him as a delegate, after declaring his first 
 choice to be for some one else. The resolutions are too amus- 
 ing to omit. They were : 
 
 Resolved, That while James G. Blaine is our first choice for nom- 
 ination at Chicago, we are in favor of the delegation from this state 
 giving its support to William Windom, in case there is a reasonable 
 prospect of his receiving the nomination for president. 
 
 Resolved, That the late contest in the county of Ramsey, had in it 
 no element of hostility to Mr. Windom; any supposition to that effect 
 is an error and any statement to that effect, if persisted in, is a mis- 
 representation. 
 
 In the state convention Davis offered slightly modified reso- 
 lutions in that he stated, what was true, that prior to Windom's 
 candidacy the state was for Blaine, and while now for Windom, 
 it would support Blaine if Windom could not secure the prize. 
 But though he eloquently advocated giving the delegation some 
 latitude, the Windom men argued that if they went to Chicago, 
 announcing, in advance, a second choice, they might as weil 
 omit having a first choice. As a result Davis' resolutions were 
 
356 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 not adopted and he was not selected as one of the illustrious 
 "Windom ten." 
 
 As a sort of historical formula it may be of interest to see 
 what the state convention of 1880 did after rejecting Davis' first 
 and second choice resolutions. This was the 1880 platform : 
 
 Resolved, That while we do not detract from the high qualifications 
 of the other distinguished candidates for the office of president, with 
 friendship for all and enmity toward none, we hold it to be the duty of 
 Minnesota Republicans first to be loyal to their own state, and as we 
 have an eminent senator, whose qualifications are such as to command 
 the wide and favorable attention of the whole country as an available 
 candidate, we who know him best take pleasure in adding our testimony 
 to his entire fitness for the high position. His ability, pureness of per- 
 sonal character, his unswerving fidelity to Republican principles through 
 20 years of honorable public service, and his trained and liberal states- 
 manship, have endeared him to the hearts of his constituents. 
 
 ' Resolved, Therefore, that it is with pride, that the Republican party 
 of Minnesota, in convention assembled, present the name of William 
 Windom as candidate for president, who would harmonize all factions 
 and sections of the country and insure Republican success in the contest 
 of 1880, and the delegation to Chicago, selected by this convention, is 
 hereby instructed to use all honorable efforts to secure his nomination 
 as the first choice of the Republicans of Minnesota. 
 
 The St. Paul Dispatch, edited at that time by Capt. H. A. 
 Castle, then as always a warm friend of Senator Davis, on the 
 afternoon of May 19th, while the convention was still in session, 
 very fairly diagnosed the situation in the following comment: 
 
 The fight is pretended to be made in the interests of Mr. Windom. 
 The pretense is false and shallow, so far as four-fifths of the manipula- 
 tors are concerned. There is practically no opposition to conceding 
 any reasonable demand of Mr. Windom's friends in the convention. The 
 only question is: Shall those intrusted with the advocacy of his claim 
 at Chicago be men with Blaine antecedents or men of Grant antecedents? 
 
 It is probably very rare that friends rally to bring out a 
 man for some high position or propose his promotion without 
 some selfish motive. The first talk of Windom for president and 
 the first talk of Senator Davis for the same position did not come 
 from personal regard or desire to advance their fortunes, save 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 357 
 
 as it would advance some one else, but they are not subject to 
 censure or charge of overweening ambition on that account. 
 Mr. Windom appreciated his position and did not propose to be 
 a stumbling block in the way of his party. He accordingly wrote 
 a letter to the gentleman in especial charge of his political for- 
 tunes at Chicago, which has never been printed, but which it is 
 due his memory, I should make public and I append it. It cer- 
 tainly shows that Mr. Windom was not a puppet in Conkling's 
 hands to advance General Grant: 
 
 United States Senate Chamber, Washington, May 29, 1880.— It is 
 possible that a contingency may occur when the vote of our delegation 
 may decide the result as between General Grant and Mr. Blaine. In 
 that event it is my earnest desire that they shall support Mr. Blaine, both 
 because he is the choice of our state as against General Grant, and 
 because I think his election would be more certain. Please urge this 
 upon the delegation at the proper time, as a duty to the party as well 
 as to our state. I do not consider such a contingency as at all probable, 
 but wish you to be prepared for it in case it should arise. 
 
 Hastily yours, 
 
 WM. WINDOM. 
 
 Years afterward I met a prominent Minnesota Republican 
 who said to me that he called on Windom in Washington some 
 time after the event, and Windom said to him : "Did you know 
 I came pretty near receiving the nomination for president?" 
 The visitor conceded that he did not understand how "Windom, 
 ten," was very near the goal, and Mr. W. then explained. He 
 said Postmaster General James of New York told him that the 
 Grant forces had decided to go to him, and have the credit of 
 nominating the president, even though it was not first choice. 
 This was thought to be better than to allow the Blaine forces 
 to win a semi-victory in a similar manner. Mr. James said that 
 Mr. Conkling actually left his seat to go over and notify the Min- 
 nesota delegation that they were going for Windom, and urged 
 them to do the rest, when some one halted him and advised 
 delaying one more ballot. He accepted the advice. This was 
 fatal. On that one ballot the stampede to Garfield began and 
 then it was too late. If the "Grant 306" had been added to 
 
358 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 "Windom, ten," it would have carried the stampede in the Win- 
 dom instead of the Garfield direction. 
 
 I can testify from personal knowledge that the convention, 
 wearied and torn by dissensions and a protracted siege, was like 
 a box of tinder, only needing to be ignited to go off like a 
 rocket. If this story is true, it has been well kept, for the Grant 
 forces always prided themselves upon their prestige of "never 
 surrender." "306" medals were struck off and presented to them 
 as the stalwarts of stalwarts. Here comes an apparently well- 
 authenticated story, showing that only an accident prevented 
 their striking their colors in the heat of the fray. The tale also 
 has an element of encouragement for "favorite sons," when the 
 big candidates are determined to win separately or die together. 
 
OBSERVATION FORTY-NINE. 
 
 General Reflections and Nuggets of Wisdom. 
 
 In reflecting upon the relative good and bad elements in 
 politics which I have observed in Minnesota, I summarize them 
 by saying that I believe Minnesota politics are no worse than 
 those of other states and better than some. 
 
 I do not assume that this is a very high standard of morality, 
 but it is something; a high standard would not be justified by 
 the facts. 
 
 There is always a great deal of loose talk about the expendi- 
 ture of money and corruption in politics. Much of this comes 
 from the large mouths of men who like to appear to be important 
 political factors and to assume that they can secure and handle 
 large sums of money. After the frequent repetition of their 
 stories they become nothing loth to assume that much of the 
 money is used in debauching the body politic. This idle talk, 
 and oftentimes simply vicious pipe-dreams, creates a wrong 
 impression. It is really very rare that a man goes into politics 
 with the deliberate intention of being corrupt and buying his way 
 to position, or of selling his vote outright, though it must be 
 admitted this sometimes happens. I believe the average politi- 
 cian prefers to be honest — if he can — because it is so much more 
 comfortable. It is true there are "hold-up" artists in politics just 
 as there are in the mountains of California and Montana, but 
 they are only a class and not the mass. 
 
 I have seen pathetic and even tearful sympathy displayed for 
 the villain by an audience in the play entitled "A Social High- 
 wayman." In politics my sympathy goes out, not to the polit- 
 ical highwaymen, but to their victims. The corruption in poli- 
 
360 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 tics is generally charged up to the victims. This is wrong. No 
 matter how wealthy men or corporations may be, they do not 
 desire to part with their wealth. They are in the situation of 
 Jeff Davis, president of the Confederacy, who, at a very critical 
 period of the Civil War, expressed a desire to be "let alone." 
 
 The trusts, corporations, and men of large business enter- 
 prises desire to be "let alone," and it has become the custom to 
 purchase immunity by great political contributions. The presi- 
 dent of a great railroad in Minnesota, not now a resident of the 
 state, told me that he contributed $25,000 for the election of 
 Hancock and $25,000 for the election of Garfield, his competitor. 
 It was Jay Gould who was first frank enough to say that the only 
 safe way for large business interests was to contribute to both 
 sides, and then whichever side won the interest had "a friend at 
 court" always under obligation. 
 
 There are, of course, political highwaymen who take advan- 
 tage of this situation and bleed the business interests, which 
 produces the large talk of corruption in politics. It is the sys- 
 tem itself which is wrong, and still if a man's property and busi- 
 ness is in peril he is quite likely to allow himself to be black- 
 mailed on the theory of securing protection. 
 
 I believe the average man intends to be honest, whether he is 
 a politician or plain semi-respectable citizen. When I see the 
 number of rascals who prosper, and prosper greatly, I admit 
 that my faith sometimes seems almost to have come in contact 
 with a live wire. But I prefer to believe that honor and decency 
 hold the surpremacy in this world. 
 
 I do not wish to go through life with the constant belief that 
 every man is a rascal. I would rather be mistaken, not once, 
 but many times, than to adhere to that belief as a rule. Every 
 business, every profession, every calling, is afflicted with bad 
 men ; but it does not follow that all so engaged are bad. Politics 
 is a business, and political parties are the promoters of the busi- 
 ness. The more political parties can blindfold and hoodwink 
 their followers, the better they thrive. I despise the man who 
 blindly follows party leadership and party names without the 
 intelligence or manliness to think and act for himself. It is just 
 that class of men, who are really like cattle being sold in the 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 361 
 
 shambles, who make corruption in politics possible so com- 
 mon. If the happy day should ever arrive when every man is 
 an independent voter, instead of a party slave ; when the voter 
 will take the right as God gives him to see the right, and the 
 welfare of his country as his guiding star, corruption in politics 
 would measureably cease to exist. So long as there are men 
 eager to be corrupt, and men equally eager to be protected, no 
 political millenium is likely. 
 
 The men most accused and censured for corruption in politics 
 are the men least to blame and the most to be pitied. I am not 
 sufficiently versed in theology to determine just when earth 
 will be transformed into heaven, but pending that supposititious 
 event the cultivation of the independent voter will do more to 
 purify public affairs than anything else. My comments do not 
 apply to any particular political party, because all are equally bad 
 in this respect, and will so continue until human nature is regen- 
 erated. 
 
 We open our great conventions in a perfunctory way with 
 prayer, and there are always clergymen sufficiently reckless of 
 their future state to plead with God for any kind of a conven- 
 tion, regardless of the political shibboleth. Still any convention 
 can prove to its own satisfaction that all of the others are not 
 worth praying for. 
 
 I imagine, however, that some time will elapse before it will 
 become the custom to close political conventions with the band 
 playing the air — 
 
 "Nearer My God to Thee." 
 
 Many men who have been and still are prominent in political 
 life in Minnesota are not even mentioned in this book. This 
 is not intended as ignoring or an affront but is because I have 
 sought to confine my work to a record of war, and those not 
 mentioned have had their lines cast in pleasant places, and their 
 pathway has been one of peace. Of those who have fought and 
 won, I can say as an encouragement to those wishing to emulate 
 their example, "Beyond the Alpine summits of great pain lieth 
 thy Italy." 
 
 I have not written this book as a politician. In fact, if I had 
 been a politician I would not have written it at all. The politician 
 
362 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 is one who listens well and talks little. I think I am a fairly 
 good listener, but when it comes to keeping still, it is different. 
 I believe in having an opinion at all times and expressing that 
 opinion freely. That precludes being a politician. I have 
 always taken a deep interest in politics and always expect to. I 
 remember well, as a six-year-old boy, of having my ears soundly 
 boxed for refusing the offer of a flag to hurrah for Henry Clay, 
 the Whig candidate for president, in 1844, against James K. 
 Polk, the Democratic candidate. I was "agin" both, as usual, 
 and when offered the flag hurrahed lustily instead for James G. 
 Birney, the Liberty Party candidate for president, who, in that 
 early day, with his associates was laying the foundation for a 
 republic of free men, a condition which, I thank God, I have 
 lived to see realized. 
 
 The boxing of my ears on that occasion was my entry into 
 political life as an independent thinker. 
 
 What I have written has been written from the standpoint 
 of an observer of the acts of politicians, and not as an actor 
 myself. I trust the reader will note the distinction between being 
 a politician and an observer. I do not mean by this to cast 
 reflection on the politicians. They are a very useful set of beings, 
 and very important to every community. The salvation of the 
 country really rests upon the contests of the politicians and their 
 exposures of each other. Without two strong political parties I 
 doubt whether this government could have held together as long 
 as it has. The work of a police force is far more effective by its 
 restraint than by its arrests. The feeling of the transgressor is 
 that if he does right the police will not interfere with him. The 
 same feeling applies to the politician, perhaps in a lesser degree ; 
 but the politician will be less open and careless about his wrong- 
 doing because he knows that his opponents are watching him. 
 The time has not yet arrived, however, when an independent 
 citizen and a successful politician are synonyms. But it will 
 come, and I can wait. Later I may conclude to bob up serenely, 
 and 
 
 S. Y. L. 
 
ADDENDA. 
 
OBSERVATION FIFTY. 
 
 The Trials and Tribulations of Building Transcontinental 
 Railroads — The Story of the Northern Pa- 
 cific and Great Northern. 
 
 Few people riding across the continent from St. Paul to 
 Puget Sound in the luxurious transcontinental trains of the 
 Great Northern and Northern Pacific roads stop to realize all 
 the vicissitudes which these great enterprises encountered in 
 their inception and construction. While the subject is largely 
 non-political, it is still a matter of historical interest to trace the 
 rise and growth and progress of these great enterprises. The 
 Northern Pacific was the pioneer in creating public sentiment 
 in favor of a northern transcontinental line, though it has not 
 been allowed by any means to occupy the field alone. Dr. S. B. 
 Barlow of Granville, Mass., began writing articles to the papers 
 on the subject in 1834. He estimated that a line could be built 
 which would carry a passenger from New York City to the 
 Columbia River in twelve and a half days, and that a round busi- 
 ness trip could be made in a month. This seemed wild and 
 chimerical at the time, though it has been much more than real- 
 ized in later years. 
 
 While Barlow wrote, Asa Whitney of New York, in 1844, was 
 the first to urge Congress to give a grant of lands for the North- 
 ern Pacific Railroad. He asked for 30 miles on each side of the 
 track, and so far succeeded that in 1847 he secured a favorable 
 report from the committee on public lands. It would be tedious 
 to follow all the ins and outs of the legislation and attempted 
 legislation in those early years. 
 
 Gov. Isaac N. Stephens of Washington Territory made an 
 exploration of the northern route (which was then supposed to 
 be impracticable on account of snow) in 1853. In 1857, the Ter- 
 
 (364) 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 365 
 
 ritpry of Washington incorporated the Northern Pacific com- 
 pany, and Alexander Ramsey and James Shields of Minnesota 
 were among the incorporators. In i860, when a bill was pend- 
 ing in Congress giving a 60-million subsidy to the Central 
 Pacific, and 36 million to the Southern Pacific, Senator Wilkin- 
 son of Minnesota tacked on a few millions, giving a 25-million 
 subsidy to the Northern Pacific and six sections of land per mile 
 in Minnesota, and ten sections per mile beyond our boundaries. 
 His amendment also named C. D. Gilfillan of St. Paul, N. P. 
 Banks of Massachusetts, and I. N. Stephens of Washington, to 
 form a company. All of these preliminary matters, however, 
 came to naught. The genius who might be said to have first 
 developed order out of chaos, without profit to himself, was Josiah 
 Perham, a native of Maine, but resident of Massachusetts. He 
 began his Pacific railroad work in 1853, but was entirely wedded 
 to the southern route, and only when that company was formed 
 and he was discarded did he turn his attention to the Northern 
 Pacific. His great scheme was to make a people's railroad across 
 the continent ; and, after failing in Massachusetts, he got, in 
 i860, from the State of Maine, a charter for his People's Pacific 
 Railroad, anticipating that he could find 1,000,000 people who 
 would take one share of $100 par value and pay $10 down upon 
 subscribing, to make a start in working capital. Of course, the 
 people didn't subscribe, but Perham stuck to his hobby, and 
 when the original Northern Pacific land grant bill was signed 
 by Abraham Lincoln, in July, 1864, it provided that people could 
 subscribe for the stock, but no bonds could be issued unless Con- 
 gress gave its consent. This provision was modified in 1869 by 
 a joint resolution, and still further abrogated in 1870, since which 
 time there have been no lack of Northern Pacific bonds, in fact 
 a surplus. 
 
 It was in September, 1864, that the company was formally 
 organized in Boston by the election of Joshua Perham as its first 
 president, and Willard Seers vice president. It was only a little 
 over a year before Perham, disheartened and discouraged, retired 
 from the presidency, and in December, 1865, J. Gregory Smith 
 of Vermont succeeded him. Perham died in 1868, and, like 
 many pioneers in business, died poor. 
 
366 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 Years of labor followed in the effort to secure means for 
 prosecuting the work. Exploring and surveying parties were 
 sent out, but it was not until the spring of 1870 that work was 
 actually begun. Jay Cook & Co. of Philadelphia, who had made 
 so great a success in floating the government bonds to meet the 
 civil war debt, were solicited to place the bonds of the Northern 
 Pacific on the market, and proceeded to do so in the most lavish 
 manner. The commission they charged the company was suffi- 
 ciently large to warrant this lavish expenditure, but it made the 
 net receipts to the company from the receipt of bonds very much 
 less than they should have been, and piled up a day of reckoning 
 which was sure to come. 
 
 Few of the present residents of Minnesota can realize the 
 situation here in 1873, when the banking house of Jay Cook & 
 Co. failed, and the Northern Pacific Railroad, which had been 
 built from Northern Pacific Junction, near Duluth, to Bismarck, 
 in turn collapsed. It was as near the end of the world as I expect 
 to see. Prior to the smash the Northern Pacific had purchased 
 the St. Paul & Pacific line, and was the controlling spirit in what 
 afterwards became the St. Paul & Duluth road. But these, prop- 
 erties were turned back to their former companies, and every- 
 thing was in statu quo. I question whether any circumstances 
 can ever again arise which will cast such a pall over the state 
 as that failure did — a pall which was many years in lifting. 
 
 Mr. Smith retired from the presidency in October) 1872, but 
 was succeeded by Gen. George W. Cass, who held the position 
 until 1874. It seems surprising that while Jay Cook failed in 
 1873, the railroad, which was really bankrupted at that one fell 
 swoop, did not go into the hands of a receiver until 1877, when 
 Mr. Cass resigned the presidency to become receiver. The 
 receivership was of short duration. A reorganization was effected 
 which, as usual, largely wiped out the indebtedness and left the 
 reorganized company with whatever had been constructed on 
 their hands in fairly good shape. The way to reorganize a rail- 
 road company is to decline to pay your debts and start with a 
 clean sheet, using what property you have to borrow money on. 
 Charles B. Wright of Philadelphia had succeeded Mr. Cass in 
 the presidency, and he retained that position until 1877, during 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 367 
 
 which time he contributed very largely to pushing the road for- 
 ward towards completion. Ill health compelled his retirement, 
 and Frederick Billings of Vermont followed him, holding the 
 presidency until June, 1881. 
 
 A new figure was now rising on the financial horizon of the 
 Northern Pacific Railroad in the person of Henry Villard. An 
 able newspaper man, a fascinating war and descriptive corre- 
 spondent, he had attracted much attention in his profession, but 
 until this time was unknown in the financial world. He was 
 the inventor of the famous $8,000,000 blind pool which began his 
 meteoric career. The blind pool consisted of Villard asking the 
 financial men of Wall street to place $8,000,000 in his hands 
 without any guaranty or explanation of what it was for. The 
 world stood still for a few minutes when they did it. When Mr. 
 Billings retired from the presidency Villard was not quite ready 
 to assume the reins, and A. H. Barney acted as president from 
 June until the middle of September, 1881, with Thomas F. Oakes 
 especially representing the so-called Villard interest in the road. 
 Mr. Villard then became president and remained until 1884. 
 
 It was in the summer of 1883 that the famous driving of the 
 golden spike occurred, and perhaps the most lavish excursion 
 this country has ever seen was brought from Europe and the 
 East to witness the driving of the last spike which connected the 
 Twin Cities by rail with Puget Sound. As a matter of actual 
 fact the railroad had been completed two weeks before and con- 
 struction and possibly other trains run over it. But, in order 
 not to mar the excursion before the party arrived at the desig- 
 nated spot for driving the last spike, some of the rails were taken 
 up, and the ceremony of relaying and completing the road duly 
 performed in the presence of the distinguished party. While 
 this was happening, Mr. Villard and his securities were being 
 raided in New York and abroad, and long before the excursion 
 was over he was a financially ruined man. The capitalists accom- 
 panying Mr. Villard rushed to the telegraph offices en route and 
 wired New York to sell their holdings. They thought the road 
 was utterly worthless. The whole affair was like making a gala 
 day of a funeral. When Villard retired in 1884, Robert Harris 
 succeeded him, and remained in the presidency until late in 1888. 
 
368 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 It had taken Mr. Villard four years to recuperate his shattered 
 fortunes. 
 
 No one supposed when Villard retired he would ever again be 
 at the head of that or any other great enterprise, but in 1888 
 Thomas F. Oakes was made president as his representative, while 
 he himself was chosen chairman of the board of directors, a posi- 
 tion even above the president. But more disasters were in store. 
 In September, 1893, another receivership came. When the 
 receivership occurred Brayton Ives became president, and for a 
 time he and Mr. Oakes were receivers, the latter remaining in a 
 sense as a representative of Mr. Villard. With Mr. Oakes' retire- 
 ment from the receivership, Mr. Villard's personality became 
 eliminated. It is possible, if he had lived, he would have again 
 showed his remarkable recuperative powers. But death is kind 
 in many cases, and with the termination of that receivership Mr. 
 Villard's mission in life seemed to have terminated, and he laid 
 down the burden of life. Following this last receivership, E. W. 
 Winter became president, and after a short time was succeeded 
 by C. S. Mellen, who served for five years as president. Upon 
 his resignation Howard Elliott, the present president, was chosen 
 in the fall of 1903. 
 
 While on paper and in the newspapers the Northern Pacific 
 was the first transcontinental railroad in the field, the first rail- 
 road really started to connect Minnesota with the Pacific Coast, 
 though not the first to be completed, was the Minnesota & 
 Pacific, which was incorporated by a territorial act, approved 
 May 22, 1857. Henry M. Rice, delegate to Congress from Min- 
 nesota Territory, had secured the passage of an act from Con- 
 gress in March, 1857, which granted to the Territory of Minne- 
 sota six sections of land to the mile for a railroad from Still- 
 water, by way of St. Paul and St. Anthony, to a point between 
 the foot of Big Stone Lake and the mouth of the Sioux Wood 
 river, with a branch from St. Anthony via St. Cloud and Crow 
 Wing to the navigable waters of the Red River of the North. 
 It was in view of this land grant, which was given to the territory 
 and not to individuals, that the territorial legislature passed a bill 
 turning it over to an association of our citizens. The incorpo- 
 rators named in that act were : F. R. Delano, William Willim 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 369 
 
 of Stillwater, Alexander Ramsey, Edmund Rice, R. R. Nelson, 
 William L. Ames and Charles H. Oakes of St. Paul, Richard 
 Chute and Henry T. Wells of St. Anthony, Daniel Bassett of 
 Minneapolis, A. M. Fridley and Dwight Woodbury of Anoka, 
 Franklin Steele of Fort Snelling and S. B. Lowry of St. Cloud. 
 As the name indicated they hoped it would in reality be a Pacific 
 Railway at some time, but I doubt whether any of them expected 
 it would be in their day. Nevertheless some of those I have 
 named are still living. The first officers chosen were as follows : 
 President, Edmund Rice ; vice president, R. R. Nelson ; secre- 
 tary, J. W. Taylor; treasurer, J. M. Stone. 
 
 While this company and its successors never built the line 
 from St. Paul to Stillwater, which was required by the land grant 
 act, it is notable that in the early days everything was planned 
 as beginning at Stillwater, making that the terminus of the road 
 and St. Paul a way station. The legislature passed an act in 
 February, 1864, giving the St. Paul & Pacific Railroad, which 
 had succeeded the Minnesota & Pacific, authority to issue pre- 
 ferred stock and make such grant as they might desire concern- 
 ing their land grant. In accordance with this act an agreement 
 was made in February, 1867, to give the Stillwater & St. Paul 
 Railroad the lands for the mileage between St. Paul and Still- 
 water, and this was ratified by the legislature. This subsequently 
 became the connecting link with the West Wisconsin Railroad 
 from Hudson to St. Paul, and later was fully merged into the 
 Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha system. Consequently, 
 while by the aid of subsequent legislation and the construction 
 of 20 miles of road the land grant was complied with and all the 
 lands legally earned, Stillwater is neither the terminus nor even 
 a station on the Pacific Railroad. 
 
 The vicissitudes of this early railroad enterprise were numer- 
 ous and decidedly discouraging. A contract -was made with 
 Selah Chamberlain, of Cleveland, Ohio, for building a railroad 
 from Stillwater to St. Anthony via St. Paul at $22,000 per mile, 
 and from St. Anthony to Crow Wing at $13,000 a mile. Work- 
 was begun in October, 1857, and a portion of the proposed line 
 between Stillwater and St. Paul was graded, as well as the por- 
 tion between St. Paul and St. Anthony. The contract called for 
 
 24 
 
370 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 the completion of the road to St. Anthony from St. Paul by 
 October, 1858, and from Stillwater to St. Paul by September, 
 1859. After much contest the state had voted to loan its credit 
 to the extent of $5,000,000 for the purpose of aiding this and 
 other railroad lines, the bonds being due to be issued, as the rail- 
 roads were constructed. On a portion of Chamberlain's contract 
 he was to receive $20,000 per mile in state railroad bonds, and 
 for his entire work very little cash was required. The financial 
 crash of 1857 and 1858 sadly interfered with those arrangements, 
 and the result was that Mr. Chamberlain was obliged to suspend 
 operations after grading 62 l / 2 miles and supplying ties sufficient 
 for a track between St. Paul and St. Anthony. In June, i860, 
 the state foreclosed and bid in the Minnesota & Pacific Railroad. 
 Later the state relented, and in March, 1861, the legislature gave 
 the railroad company back its property on condition that it 
 would go ahead with the construction. Parties were contracted 
 with to build from St. Paul to St. Anthony by the 1st of January, 
 1862. But when that period arrived only 1,400 feet of track 
 had been laid, the courts having enjoined the company from pro- 
 ceeding, owing to their not having secured the right of way. 
 
 In March, 1862, there was another turn of the wheel. The 
 Minnesota & Pacific was reorganized as the St. Paul & Pacific. 
 It was substantially the same men who were interested, and 
 Edmund Rice was chosen president, with William Crooks chief 
 engineer. The default in completing the road to £>t. Anthony 
 was overlooked, and the same contractors were given another 
 chance, actually completing the 10 miles from St. Paul to St. 
 Anthony, so that it was opened with a grand celebration in Octo- 
 ber, 1862. The first locomotive, named "William Crooks," had 
 arrived the year before the completion of this short line. No 
 other ten miles of railway in the state has been constructed with 
 such effort, disappointment and numerous failures. 
 
 A new factor now came in in the persons of E. B. and Will- 
 iam B. Litchfield, who took contracts for constructing the road, 
 taking their pay in stock of the same. In 1864 there was another 
 reorganization, and the First Division of the St. Paul & Pacific 
 Railroad came into existence. Edmund Rice remained presi- 
 dent of the St. Paul & Pacific, and George L. Becker was chosen 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 371 
 
 president of that portion known as the First Division of the St. 
 Paul & Pacific. 
 
 Litchfield & Co. built across the state to the Red River at 
 Breckenridge, reaching there in the fall of 1871. In the mean- 
 time the St. Paul & Pacific proper maintained an active exist- 
 ence; but in 1869 it began surveying, only to find that it was 
 paralleling the Northern Pacific. It was difficult enough to build 
 one railroad at that time, and consequently the St. Paul & Pacific 
 turned itself over to the Northern Pacific, thinking that com- 
 pany the better able to construct the line. If no further finan- 
 cial difficulty had been encountered the face of the railroad map 
 in the state might be considerably different, but the Jay Cook 
 smash of 1873 compelled the Northern Pacific to abandon the 
 St. Paul & Pacific, and soon after that company went into the 
 hands of a receiver. 
 
 In the meantime the First Division of the St. Paul & Pacific 
 was also in trouble, and, defaulting on its interest, the trustees 
 of the mortgages took possession, and J. P. Farley of Dubuque, 
 Iowa, who was the receiver of the St. Paul & Pacific, was also 
 placed in charge of the First Division. 
 
 A bonded indebtedness of 25,000,000 had been incurred with 
 a line of railroad constructed across the state far in advance of 
 the population. The glamor of the land grant had induced capi- 
 tal to build where there could be no hope for possible return for 
 many years, and, with the Northern Pacific crash and the kindred 
 disasters which that produced, nothing short of a miracle could 
 have floated the St. Paul & Pacific through the storm. 
 
 It has always been claimed that at the time of the most des- 
 perate emergency in civil, military or business affairs there is 
 always a man produced to take the helm ; and the railroad his- 
 tory of Minnesota demonstrates that this statement is correct. 
 It was after all these calamities that Mr. James J. Hill, the man 
 who has proved to be the master mind, overcoming all obstacles, 
 appeared on the scene. He planned another reorganization, and, 
 being already in partnership with Norman W. Kittson in a line 
 of steamboats on the Red River, very naturally went to him with 
 the scheme. It was in brief to form a syndicate and buy up the 
 bonds of the St. Paul & Pacific which were largely held in Hoi- 
 
372 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 land. One of Mr. Kittson's most intimate friends was Donald 
 A. Smith, then a resident of Winnipeg, now Lord Strathcona, 
 and the special representative of Canada in England. To him 
 Mr. Kittson in turn went, and through him George Stephen, 
 president of the Bank of Montreal (now Lord Mount Stephen), 
 became interested. A syndicate of great strength was thus 
 formed. With such means as they had at their own disposal, 
 and the backing of a great financial institution like the Bank 
 of Montreal, it was not so very difficult to purchase 'those bonds. 
 The Hollanders were discouraged, and with much reason, though 
 there was an immense land grant as the road then stood, and the 
 bonds were bought at a very low figure. It was probably all 
 they were worth at the time, however. 
 
 Pending this reorganization the syndicate named had filled in 
 several gaps in the system, and when final foreclosure came, in 
 June, 1879, there was an indebtedness of $33,000,000 outstanding, 
 as well as $6,000,000 of stock. When the syndicate made this 
 foreclosure purchase, the St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba 
 Railway Company was formed, with George Stephen as presi- 
 dent, R. B. Angus of Montreal, vice president, Edward Sawyer, 
 secretary, and James J. Hill, general manager. From this time 
 on Mr. Hill has been the generating motive power which pro- 
 pelled the machinery of this great railroad. Others have come 
 and others have gone, but Mr. Hill has remained the presiding 
 and directing genius. Of those who furnished the original 
 material for the last reorganization, Mr. Hill is the only one who 
 has always been active in the details of the development. 
 
 The work which he has done is not only part of the history 
 of Minnesota but of the entire Northwest. Few men would or 
 could have stood up under the discouragements and attempts to 
 defeat his enterprises, and especially the attempt to destroy him 
 for having done so much to develop the country. The time will 
 come when, instead of being held up to the public as an oppres- 
 sor to be avoided, Mr. J. J. Hill will be honored as the man who 
 accomplished more than any one man who has ever lived to 
 make the Northwest what it is to-day and what it is to be for 
 centuries to come. It is not likely to come during Mr. Hill's 
 lifetime. The more is the pity. It is a discredit that so many 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 373 
 
 obstacles have been placed in his pathway. But in spite of all 
 this he has resolutely kept on his course, and millions of people 
 are now prosperous and happy as the result of the efforts of this 
 single man. A shrewd and sagacious business man, the railroad 
 giant of the world, his only real offense seemed to be that he has 
 had some regard while passing through life for the personal 
 interests of James J. Hill. But if you will find me a man who 
 conducts large business enterprises as a matter of philanthropy 
 I will endeavor to arrange for his translation at an early period 
 to another and a better' world — he is certainly too good for this 
 one. 
 
 Mr. Hill, being desirous of making the road what it was 
 originally designed, an absolute Pacific railroad, planned a prac- 
 tical consolidation of all interests. The Great Northern was 
 accordingly incorporated under the state laws, with Mr. Hill as 
 its president, and the Manitoba and all the various branch lines 
 consolidated, so far as operation is concerned, by a 999-year 
 lease. The Minnesota & Pacific was entitled under the act of 
 1857 to six sections of land per mile, and in 1865 this was 
 increased by allowing its successor, the St. Paul & Pacific, ten 
 sections. The Manitoba system which fell heir to this was then 
 entitled to 3,847,376 acres. This, however, was entirely con- 
 fined to Minnesota, and the extension of the Great Northern 
 over the mountain ranges was, therefore, without subsidy of 
 land or money or local aid. In 1893 the climax was reached 
 by the completion of the Great Northern to the Pacific Coast. 
 
 In the face of all the financial distress which befell the North- 
 ern Pacific, with its enormous land grant, extending nearly its 
 entire length, the world almost stands aghast at the immensity 
 of the problem which was solved by Mr. Hill. When Mr. Hill 
 passes from earth he will need no monument, the erection of no 
 statues. He has erected them already in the most practical form 
 possible by the completion of a transcontinental railroad, with- 
 out public aid of any character beyond the confines of Minne- 
 sota. The life work of Mr. Hill casts in the shadow the story 
 of Aladdin and his wonderful lamp in the Arabian Nights. He 
 has taken the role of Aladdin in real life, lamp and all. 
 
OBSERVATION FIFTY-ONE. 
 
 The Two Men Elected President Who Never Served. 
 
 Persons familiar with politics do not have to have very long 
 memories to recall that on the eve of the presidential election 
 in 1884 the Rev. Dr. Burchard made a speech at a Blaine recep- 
 tion in New York, wherein he styled the Democratic party as 
 supporters of "Rum, Romanism and Rebellion." The reverend 
 attempt to be alliterative cost Mr. Blaine the presidency. In a 
 letter Mr. Blaine wrote twelve days after the election he said : 
 
 "I feel quite serene over the result." But his next sentence 
 did not show an air of entire serenity. He added: 
 
 As the Lord sent upon us an ass in, the shape of a preacher, and 
 a rainstorm to lessen our vote in New York, I am disposed to feel 
 resigned to the dispensation of defeat, which flowed directly from these 
 agencies. 
 
 While Rev. Burchard helped in Blaine's defeat, and, from a 
 political standpoint, is entitled to the patronymic bestowed, I 
 desire on behalf of fair play for the Lord to assign still another 
 reason for the result. I always felt that the New York law, 
 which at that time not only permitted but required the burning 
 of the ballots after the count, made Grover Cleveland president 
 in 1884. Blaine lost New York by 1,047, a »d a change of a trifle 
 more than 500 votes would have elected him. I claim, as a gen- 
 eral proposition, there is never a hotly-contested election in a 
 city of 400,000 population or upwards, when the party in power 
 in the city does not cast a good many more than 500 illegal votes, 
 or in other ways keep their opponents at a very considerably 
 larger disadvantage than that number. This axiom, as I might 
 
 (874) 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 375 
 
 almost term it, does not apply to any particular political party. 
 The sound of men's voices and their faces vary, but the ways of 
 the politician are much the same, whatever name he travels 
 under. My axiom will apply to Democratic New York or Repub- 
 lican Philadelphia. The ballots were burned, and there could 
 not be a recount. Nevertheless, in my judgment, Mr. Blaine was 
 elected in 1884 as clearly as was Mr. Tilden in 1876 — two presi- 
 dents-elect who never took the presidential chair. 
 
 The dispassionate historian of a later generation will place 
 Samuel J. Tilden and James G. Blaine in the very front rank of 
 American statesmen, owing to their behavior when elected to the 
 presidency. It needed great resolution and patriotism for Tilden 
 in 1876 to countenance and urge, in the interests of peace, a com- 
 mission which was foreordained to give the presidency to the 
 defeated candidate. The popular impulse was ripe for a revolt, 
 but Tilden put the crown aside, and the country was saved. In 
 a sense Blaine was also a victim of 1876. If Tilden had been 
 given the presidency in 1876, and Blaine on the first count had 
 only needed to find 524 fraudulent votes against him in the great 
 city and state of New York he would have been chosen in 1884. 
 While the crisis of 1876 was perilous, that of 1884 was absolutely 
 volcanic. For a few days the country was on the verge of a civil 
 war, which would have been most awful in its results. The Demo- 
 crats were wrought to the highest pitch by the recollection of the 
 8 to 7 commission of 1876, and if a change had been attempted 
 in the vote of New York, giving the state to Blaine, there would 
 have been an instantaneous riot in every town and city in the 
 country. It would have been the worst of all struggles, a hand- 
 to-hand contest, friend against friend, neighbor against neighbor. 
 We would have been South Americanized in a twinkling. The 
 daily newspapers in most of the cities ceased the issue of bulle- 
 tins and extras to prevent the gathering of the turbulent. In St. 
 Paul the third night after the election, the crowd in front of my 
 office was feeling in an ugly mood over the rumors that New 
 York was being counted for Blaine, and a visit of a cheering 
 Republican crowd from a neighboring newspaper had not added 
 to the sweetness of the occasion. Trouble was brewing, and 
 arrangements were being made to attack the other newspaper 
 
376 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 crowd. The authorities endeavored in vain to disperse the mul- 
 titude which packed the street in a solid mass from sidewalk to 
 sidewalk. By the advice of authorities and of friends, I flashed, 
 in this emergency, a bulletin declaring in the most positive terms 
 that a telegram just received from New York stated that the 
 state was counted for Cleveland, that the Republicans had given 
 it up, and that that was the last bulletin for the night. Very few 
 were in the secret, and, while the Democrats went wild, the news 
 soon spread to the Republican crowd further down the street and 
 correspondingly disheartened them. They had formidably bar- 
 ricaded the street with trucks, wagons, boxes and anything which 
 could be hastily secured, and were arming themselves with clubs 
 and stones for the expected attack. The discouraging news ena- 
 bled the mayor to persuade the Republicans to disperse, and a 
 fraction of the happy Democrats swept down the street and went 
 singing over the barricade which half an hour earlier would have 
 been held with desperation and bloodshed. 
 
 It was two days later before the result was absolutely known, 
 but by common consent no more bulletins were posted in St. 
 Paul after that night. It was the same in Minneapolis and every- 
 where in the land. The crisis the country passed through in 
 those few days was not realized in the excitement of the moment. 
 Blaine's friends were debating contesting the vote, but he was 
 willing to accept the result as due to "an ass in the shape of a 
 preacher" and the weather, and resolutely declined to allow the 
 contest to be made. This result, however, was not reached until 
 some days after the election. The election was on Tuesday, the 
 4th of November, and on Friday, the 7th, W. H.. Barnum, chair- 
 man of the Democratic national committee, issued a proclamation 
 declaring that, while Cleveland was elected, the Republicans were 
 trying to count New York for Blaine. He asked the Demo- 
 crats to fire salutes in every city in the land at noon on the 8th 
 to celebrate their victory and everywhere to meet in public 
 assemblages on the same evening, both to rejoice and to protest 
 against the attempt to give New York to Blaine. 
 
 Late on the night of the 8th, William Henry Smith, manager 
 of the Associated Press, sent out from New York over his sig- 
 nature the following message: 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 377 
 
 Our footings show that Cleveland has a plurality of 1,400. There 
 are 18 places to hear from officially, which may reduce this somewhat. 
 If Garfield's majorities in those places are accepted the plurality for 
 Cleveland will be 724, but it is doubtful if Blaine polls as large a vote 
 in those precincts as Garfield, hence Cleveland's plurality may be accepted 
 at about 1,000. 
 
 This telegram to the press of the country was sent after con- 
 sultation with Blaine and other leaders, and was in reality an 
 official Republican pronunciamento of defeat. 
 
 Time in its revenges had evened up 1876 for the Democrats, 
 and in its retributions had prevented the Republicans from obtain- 
 ing what, but for the '76 event, they might have secured in 1884. 
 
 It was better that both wrongs should have been borne than 
 that our form of government, which is a model for the world, 
 should have been destroyed. 
 
 The day will come (if it has not already) when time has soft- 
 ened asperities to such an extent that the American people will 
 recognize that to the uncrowned patriots, Samuel J. Tilden and 
 James G. Blaine, they are indebted for successfully demonstrating 
 their capacity for self-government. Others have done nobly, 
 grandly, for the country in the presidential chair, but no other 
 men save these two ever had the opportunity in their own per- 
 sonality and by their personal decision to peacefully preserve and 
 perpetuate a government of the people by the people. 
 
OBSERVATION FIFTY-TWO. 
 
 The Grant- Conkling-Garfield National Convention, 1880. 
 
 Of the many national conventions I have witnessed, I place 
 the Republican gathering of 1880 at Chicago as the most inter- 
 esting and exciting. It was a veritable battle of the giants, hav- 
 ing Conkling, Garfield, Arthur, Harrison, Hoar of Massachusetts, 
 Fry and Hale of Maine, Butterworth and a host of notable men 
 among the delegates. It was a war from the beginning to the 
 close, with the Grant column against the field. Grant had just 
 returned from the most triumphant tour of the world ever enjoyed 
 by any American citizen. Every honor which the kings, queens 
 and emperors of the old world could bestow had been lavishly 
 heaped upon the ex-president and soldier-citizen. It almost seems 
 surprising that his own fellow citizens did not catch the conta- 
 gion of adulation wafted from foreign shores, and with loud 
 acclaim call upon him once more to be the head of the nation. 
 It was undoubtedly Conkling's expectation that a wild enthu- 
 siasm would sweep the country, and there was a shade of bitter- 
 ness in this passage from his speech nominating Grant. 
 
 Standing in the highest eminence of human distinction and having 
 filled all lands with his renown; modest, firm, simple and self-poised, 
 he has seen not only the titled, but the poor and lowly in the uttermost 
 ends of the earth rise and uncover before him. Villified and reviled; 
 ruthlessly aspersed by numberless presses, not in other lands, but in his 
 own, assaults upon him have strenthened and seasoned his hold on the 
 public heart. The ammunition of calumny has all been exploded. The 
 powder has all been burned once. 
 
 (878) 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 379 
 
 The convention assembled on the 2d of June, 1880, and, while 
 Grant was in the lead, the ambitions of Blaine, Sherman and 
 others and their friends were encountered at the outset. It is 
 a noteworthy fact that in all the preliminary skirmishes "the field" 
 defeated the Grant forces, and this was the forerunner of the final 
 defeat. It was of vital importance for the Grant forces to secure 
 the temporary chairmanship, as he would have great influence 
 in the formation of the committees on rules and credentials. The 
 committee on rules meant everything to the Grant forces. They 
 desired to compel the convention to accept the vote of states as 
 a unit where the states had so instructed. In New York such 
 instructions had been given, while the individual preferences of 
 the delegates stood 51 for Grant to 19 in opposition, 17 of the 19 
 being for Blaine, Mr. Conkling's most hated rival. The Blaine 
 men were bitterly fighting the unit rule and demanded that each 
 delegate should express his individual choice. In Illinois there 
 was a sharp contest over delegates, owing to the action of the 
 state convention. When the Illinois delegates met in state con- 
 vention at Springfield, the delegates from each congressional 
 district formed themselves into district conventions and selected 
 district delegates, which they reported to the state convention. 
 The state convention ignored this and appointed a committee 
 of one from each district to select the district delegates. A por- 
 tion of the delegates chosen by the improvised district conven- 
 tions were for Blaine, while the other crowd were for Grant. 
 Hence, upon the committee on rules and credentials rested th^ 
 fate of Grant and Blaine. 
 
 Don Cameron of Pennsylvania, an ardent Grant man, was 
 chairman of the national committee, and that body held session 
 after session to agree upon a temporary chairman. Gen. John 
 T. Averill was the Minnesota member of the national committee, 
 and his indignation over Cameron's course knew no bounds. He 
 would refuse to entertain any motion inimical to Grant, and for 
 a time rode rough shod over the dissenting portion of the com- 
 mittee. The fight became so bitter that the Blaine men pro- 
 posed to call the convention to order and depose Cameron. 
 Rather than have a fight precipitated in the open convention, the 
 Grant forces finally submitted to a compromise, and Senator 
 
380 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 George F. Hoar of Massachusetts, was chosen as temporary 
 chairman, with the understanding that the rules and contests 
 would be fought out in the convention. This was the first of a 
 continuous series of victories which "the field" secured over 
 Grant. 
 
 The convention awaited the reports of the two committees 
 named, and it was not until the third day that another issue was 
 sprung. Conkling offered a resolution on that day pledging 
 every delegate to support the nominee of the convention. 
 
 All of the convention, except three from West Virginia, voted 
 aye, and in the excitement of the moment Conkling offered a 
 resolution for their expulsion. For once it seemed as if the 
 Grant forces would triumph, as the motion of Conkling's was 
 greeted with loud acclaim. It seemed to be likely to carry almost 
 unanimously until Garfield turned the tide and again "the field" 
 were united against Grant, or his champion, Conkling. Rather 
 than risk an open defeat, Conkling withdrew the motion to expel, 
 on the ground that it might be unjust. No candidate ever had 
 an abler or more gallant leader than Grant had in Conkling, and 
 no man's personal following ever seemed stronger, but he was 
 the target of the combined opposition, and went down as the 
 result. 
 
 It was late Friday night, June 4th, when the committee on 
 credentials reported. The report excluded the Grant delegates 
 from Cook county (Chicago), who had been endorsed by the 
 state convention, and accepted the district delegates who were 
 favorable to Blaine. This report produced a wild scene of excite- 
 ment, and when a California delegate yelled "We are here to 
 nominate Blaine," the enthusiasm seemed to be unbounded. For 
 30 minutes there was a continuous roar of applause, the spec- 
 tators being largely for Blaine, owing to the work of the local 
 committee in their admissions. It was during this period of 
 applause that a woman on the platform became temporarily 
 insane, and, tearing down a flag, wrapped it about herself, hys- 
 terically screaming for Blaine until friends kindly removed her. 
 It was midnight when Emory A. Storrs took the platform to 
 speak against the report. That speech was the greatest effort 
 of his life, and concluded with a glowing eulogium of Grant and 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 381 
 
 a pledge of loyalty to the party, whatever the result. As a perora- 
 tion for Storrs the Grant forces yelled for three-quarters of an 
 hour, during which time Conkling sufficiently relaxed his dig- 
 nity to grasp the standard of New York, and headed a procession 
 of yelling enthusiasts in marching through the convention aisles. 
 The chair made no attempt to secure order, but when physical 
 exhaustion restored quiet, a vote was taken, and the eloquent 
 Storrs, Long John Wentworth and other prominent Grant men 
 were excluded. It was not a question of who was right or wrong, 
 but "the field" against Grant, and the report was adopted by 384 
 to 356. It was in keeping with the previous experience of the 
 Grant forces. The other contests were similarly decided. 
 
 On Saturday, June 5th, came the report of the committee on 
 rules, and this was the anti-unit rule reported from the committee : 
 
 In the record of the votes by states the vote of each state, territory 
 and the District of Columbia shall be announced by the chairman and, 
 in case the votes of any state, territory or the District of Columbia shall 
 be divided, the chairman shall announce the vote cast for any candidate, 
 or for or against any proposition; but, if exception is taken by any dele- 
 gate as to the correctness of such announcement by the chairman of his 
 delegation, the president of the convention shall direct the roll of 
 members of such delegation to be called, and the result recorded in 
 accordance with the votes individually given. 
 
 This rule was adopted by substantially the same vote as in 
 the case of the contested delegates. This rule gave Blaine 17 
 votes in New York, 23 in Pennsylvania and 10 in Illinois, a loss 
 of 50 votes for Grant — which might have saved him the day. 
 
 The platform committee report which followed the rule was 
 only noticeable for the "what-are-we-here-for" speech which 
 made Flannigan of Texas famous. And that was not on the 
 platform direct. Some delegate moved an additional plank, en- 
 dorsing President Hayes for his enforcement of the civil service 
 law, whereupon Flannigan fired this shot : 
 
 "Texas, sir, has had quite enough of the civil service. For 
 the last four years, for the 1,400 officers appointed by the presi- 
 rent of the United States in Texas, 140 represent the Republican 
 party. We are not here for the purpose of providing offices for 
 the Democracy. There is one plank in their platform that I 
 
382 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 have ever admired and that is 'to the victors belong the spoils.' 
 We have been ground underfoot by the present administration. 
 We expected this convention would nominate a stalwart, one 
 who, after we had won the race, as we will, will give to those 
 who are entitled to position, office. What are we here for? I 
 mean the members of the Republican party are entitled to offices, 
 and if we are victorious we will have them. We came here for 
 that purpose. I move to lay the amendment on the table." 
 
 Of course, after that speech, the convention could do nothing 
 but adopt the resolution. Flannigan may have expressed the 
 sentiments of a good many people, but it is not always wise, in 
 politics, to give yourself away so plumply. 
 
 That 1880 convention could very properly have hung up the 
 sign on Saturday, June 5th, "This is our busy day." The rules and 
 the platform were both adopted, and then an evening session 
 was held for the nominating speeches. Blaine was first nomi- 
 nated by James F. Joy of Michigan in a most bungling manner. 
 He even made a mistake in giving the initials of his candidate. 
 The contrast between Ingersoll in Cincinnati in 1876 and Joy 
 in Chicago in 1880 was so great that the Blaine men were too 
 mad to swear, and some of them actually shed tears of rage. 
 Frye of Maine helped out with his seconding speech. Next came 
 Conkling with his presentation of Grant in a speech which has 
 never had its superior, if its equal, on any similar occasion. He 
 took the platform and mounted one of the tables set apart for 
 the reporters. His commanding form and pale face looked fairly 
 majestic. Without uttering any of the conventional formalities, 
 such as "Mr. Chairman, and gentlemen of the convention," as 
 soon as the applause which his appearance inspired subsided, he 
 said : 
 
 When asked what state he hails from, 
 Our sole reply shall be: 
 "He comes from Appomattox— 
 And its famous apple tree." 
 
 His allusion to the third term was in these cutting words 
 
H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 383 
 
 There is no third term in the case, and the pretense will die with the 
 political dog days which gendered it. Nobody is really worried about 
 a third term except those hopelessly longing for a first term and the 
 dupes they have made. 
 
 i 
 
 Garfield followed Conkling in the presentation of Sherman, 
 
 and, while his candidate did not evoke much enthusiasm, the 
 speaker did. There was one passage in Garfield's speech that I 
 would like to commend to the political contestants and conven- 
 tion. It was as follows : 
 
 Not here, in this brilliant circle, where 15,000 men and women are 
 assembled, is the destiny of the Republican party to be decreed. Not 
 here, where I see the enthusiastic faces of 756 delegates waiting to cast 
 their votes into the urn and determine the choice of the republic, but 
 by 4,000,000 Republican firesides, where the thoughtful voters, with 
 wives and children about them, with the calm thoughts inspired by love 
 of country and love of home; with the history of the past, the hopes of 
 the future, and knowledge of the great men who have adorned and 
 blessed our nation in days gone by, there God prepares the verdict that 
 shall determine the wisdom of our work to-night. Not in Chicago, in 
 the heats of June, but in the sober quiet that comes to them between 
 now and November, in the silence of deliberate judgment, will this 
 great question be settled. 
 
 Both Conkling's and Garfield's utterances were rapturously 
 applauded. E. F. Drake of Minnesota presented Windom, Fred- 
 erick Billings of Vermont named Edmunds, and J. B. Cassidy of 
 Wisconsin nominated E. B. Washburne. Not until this was 
 done, and the Sabbath was already ushered in, was the conven- 
 tion ready to adjourn. 
 
 Monday, June 7th, was devoted to balloting pure and simple. 
 On the first ballot 755 votes were cast, making 378 necessary to a 
 choice. Grant received 304, Blaine 284, Sherman 93, Edmunds 
 34, Washburne 30, Windom 10. Nineteen ballots were taken 
 in quick succession, it being 4 p. m. before a recess was secured 
 until evening, when nine more were had, making a record of 28 
 for the day. Grant's vote ran as high as 309 that day and as low 
 as 302, but most of the time stood at 306. Blaine never gained 
 but one vote, starting at 284 and getting 285, and running as low 
 as 275. Sherman began at 93, but ranged from 88 to 97. It 
 
384 H. P. HALL'S OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 took eight ballots on Tuesday, June 8th, to finish the work. Five 
 ballots showed no material change save Wisconsin's vote for 
 Garfield on the thirty-third ballot, and the Garfield boom was 
 carried through in three ballots, the nomination occurring on the 
 thirty-sixth ballot. That ballot stood Garfield 399, Grant 306, 
 Blaine 42, Washburne 5, Sherman 3. "The field" had defeated 
 Grant without securing any of the other prominent candidates. 
 
 30 
 
SEP 24 1904