MR. CHRISLOCK, whose Contributions to History won him the society's Solon J. Buck Award in 1957 and 1958, is currently at work on a book-length .study of foreign policy issues and Minnesota politics from 1914 to World War II.

A Cycle in the History of Minnesota Republicanism

CARL H. CHRISLOCK

ON THE evening of October 12, 1896, an gation of reciprocity arrangements, thereby immense throng packed the Exposition prejudicing the export trade in flour. Wash­ Auditorium for the principal Minneapohs burn requested Bryan to clarify his position rally of 's presiden­ on tariff protection and reciprocity.^ tial campaign. According to the next day's Bryan ignored this request in favor of an Minneapolis Journal Bryan's appearance be­ attack on his correspondent at a point of fore his audience evoked "one overwhelm­ apparent vulnerability. Four years earlier, ing human roar of the kind that is seldom on July II, 1892, Senator Washburn had de­ seen outside of national conventions.'' The livered an impassioned address to the Sen­ Journal, which was no free organ, ad­ ate in support of his antioption bill, a ded an observation reassuring to its own measure calling for strict federal regulation partisans: "The memory of such a scene will of trading in grain futures. In this speech doubtless go far toward softening the bitter­ the Senator had used an idiom strikingly ness of defeat." similar to that of Bryan campaigners in 1896. In his Minneapolis speech Bryan acknowl­ He had been "startled . . . when the state­ edged an open letter received earlier from ment was made . . . that one-half of the vol­ ex-Senator William D. Washburn, Minne­ ume of wealth .of this country is owned by apolis industrialist and a leader of the Mc­ thirty-six thousand persons." The methods Kinley campaign in Minnesota. Among other used to effect this concentration of riches things this communication charged that heightened his alarm: "The millionaires, and Congressman Bryan of Nebraska had sup­ the tens of miUionaires, and the hundreds of ported measures inimical to Minnesota. He millionaires have never created nor earned had voted for free trade in lumber which their wealth, and the royal road to wealth favored Canadian timber at the expense of has been through illegitimate speculation, Minnesota, and he had supported the abro- stock exchanges and grain gambling, rail­ road wrecking and trusts, and the whole vol­ '• Minneapolis Journal, October 12, 1896; Wilum­ e of iniquities that have developed in the ham J. Bryan, The First Battle, 538-547 (, nefarious methods of the stock exchanges."^ 1896). ^ Bryan, The First Battle, 542; Congressional After quoting several such passages, Bry­ Record, 52 Congress, 1 session, p. 5991. an helped his listeners draw the proper in-

Fall 1964 93 ferences: "Ought the Senator to be surprised develop. Popufism sometimes invited charg­ if we are alarmed now at the same thing es of excessive radicalism and irresponsibili­ which scared him four years ago?" It also ty, and disorders like the Pullman boycott seems that Bryan accused Washburn of re­ and the march of Coxey's "army," both in versing himself. In 1892 the Senator had 1894, aroused fears for the safety of the so­ championed the oppressed agrarian West; cial order as well as the security of property. now he supported the oppressors.^ The silver movement complicated mat­ Bryan had a point, though perhaps not as ters. At first free silver attracted many mod­ strong a one as he hoped. While worry about erates, and in 1896 it promised to unite the concentration of wealth and support of Minnesota's reform groups into an unbeat­ tightened regulation of the grain trade did able coalition. But this did not materialize. A not equal commitment to free silver, it was well-conceived Republican campaign which nevertheless true that a perceptible gap linked free silver with the destruction of separated Washburn's position in 1892 from both moral and property values convinced the cause he served in 1896. Federal regula­ a majority of voters that "Bryanism" was tion of grain speculation and McKinley more dangerous than Wall Street. Contrary Republicanism were not theoretically anti­ to expectations, McKinley carried Minnesota thetical, but Republican orators in 1896 by landslide proportions. stressed the theme that the national welfare Defeat of free silver and the decline of required encouragement rather than re­ following 1896 created a new sit­ straint of corporate . If this sug­ uation. The radical danger had lost potency, gests inconsistency on Washburn's part, but the trend toward economic consolida­ many of his contemporaries are open to the tion accelerated. As popular consciousness same accusation. In the 1890s property-con­ of this altered pattern developed, the so- scious citizens of the Middle West displayed called "interests" again came under sus­ extreme sensitivity to perils from two oppos­ tained attack. Following the formation in ing fronts: the eastern financial and indus­ 1901 of the Northern Securities Company, trial community which allegedly aspired to which brought the principal railroads of the control the nation's economic life, and the region under a single management, the agrarian radical movement which seemed to anti-big business ethos dominated state endanger property values and to threaten politics. Minnesota had moved into the Pro­ the continued flow of capital into the region. gressive era. Fear of these two "enemies" and a disposi­ tion to react against the one which at the IN JULY, 1892, while Senator Washburn moment seemed more dangerous may well remained in Washington working for pas­ explain the wide swings from "conserva­ sage of his antioption bill, his Republican tism" to "radicahsm" which historians have associates in Minnesota prepared for the fall perceived in the politics of Minnesota.* At campaign with a sense of real urgency. Two any rate, this thesis can be used as a valuable years earlier the party had suffered near tool in interpreting the state's political de­ disaster. Republican Governor William R. velopment in the 1890s. Merriam had narrowly won re-election, but Early in the decade, when concern over the Democratic-Alliance opposition had outside threats to local economic independ­ captured the legislature and four of the ence ran high, most politicians found it ex­ state's five Congressional seats.^ Several cir- pedient to crusade against "the interests." A " Bryan, The First Battle, 541. potentially strong Popuhst party emerged, *See, for example, Donald F. Warner, "Prelude and both Republicans and Democrats wrote to Popuhsm," in Minnesota History, 32:129 (Sep­ political platforms advocating "reform." Be­ tember, 1951). ° Minnesota, Legislative Manual, 1891, p. 554- fore long a reaction against this line began to 559, 574-576, 560-571.

94 MINNESOTA History RED Riuer Valley farmers listening to William Jennings Bryan at Fargo, North Dakota, in 1896

cumstances had contributed to this reverse: doctrine at a time when the agricultural discontent; the unpopularity of Supreme Court was limiting the police pow­ President Benjamin Harrison's administra­ er of the states. Still another plank con­ tion; ethnic — particularly Scandinavian — demned as "un-American" the employment discontent; internal bickering over the boss­ of "armed forces . . . other than the proper ism issue; and a vague suspicion among the authorities of the state'' when strike dis­ electorate that organized wealth ruled the orders threatened. This obviously referred Grand Old Party. Although in 1892 the op­ to the private army employed by Andrew position was handicapped by its unimpres­ Carnegie to crush the . The sive record in the legislature of 1891, the platform also pledged a state reform pro­ Republican situation still remained critical, gram. One plank promised legislation to and party leaders worked hard to devise a guarantee universal access to elevator and strategy for dealing with it.^ transportation facilities "without discrimina­ This they managed to do. A reasonably tion, at fair and reasonable rates." Another harmonious state convention indicated the called for measures to protect "the health, containment, if not the resolution, of internal life and limb of all employes of transporta­ tensions. To the extent that official declara­ tion, mining and manufacturing compa- tions can commit a party, the platform nies. ' ranged Repubhcanism on the side of re­ More than the platform, the nomination of form. 'Trusts and combinations," pro­ Knute Nelson for governor seemed an ear­ claimed one plank, were "a great evil" vAth nest of Republican intentions. Few politi­ which government must cope. Another as­ cians appeared better equipped than Nelson serted that all "corporations or individuals to preside over a reform administration. As charged with . . . pubhc service or employ­ state legislator and Congressman, he had ment" were clearly amenable "to public con­ practiced the kind of "" re­ trol"— a ringing affirmation of Granger assuring to suspicious agrarians. In 1875 he had won election to the Minnesota senate " Cad H. Chrislock, "The Alliance Party and the without party endorsement after Republi­ Minnesota Legislature of 1891," in Minnesota His­ can leaders in Douglas County had denied tory, 35: 297-312 (September, 1957). him the nomination. In 1887, during the last ' Journal, July 28, 29, 1892; Legislative Manual, term of his six-year tenure in Congress, he 1893, p. 367. Fall 1964 95 had supported tariff reduction by voting for heavily for Sidney M. Owen, the Alfiance the Mills bill, a Democratic measure. In 1890 party candidate. Fortunately for Nelson, the the newly organized Alliance party had of­ Republican party recaptured the state house fered him its nomination for governor, an of representatives by a wide margin. The honor he had declined in favor of remaining hold-over senate, which along with the with the Republicans.* house had been organized by a Democratic- Nelson had other assets befitting a reform­ Alliance party coalition in 1891, also came er. A resident of Douglas County, where he under Republican control in January, 1893, combined farming and the practice of law, when two incumbent third-party senators he lived near the geographic center of politi­ SNvitched to the Republican caucus.^^ cal protest; presumably this endowed him After the election an embittered Donnelly with an understanding of agricultural dis­ attributed his own poor showing to the in­ content denied to Twin City politicians. As jection of religion and nationality into the a native of Norway he symbolized the Scan­ campaign by the Lutheran and Catholic dinavian drive for political recognition. In clergy — a charge difficult to prove or dis­ 1890, as Nelson himself pointedly observed, prove. Whatever part these factors played, Scandinavian defections from Republican­ however, the 1892 situation did not permit ism had contributed to the large Alliance the shunting aside of economic issues. Rec­ party vote in northwestern Minnesota.^ ognizing this, Nelson and Lawler (an Irish Despite identification with the insurgent Roman Catholic) combined ethnic and re­ tendencies of his time. Nelson did not fit the ligious appeal with promises to bring the Bryan-LaFoUette reformer pattern. The moneyed interests under effective control. nomination for governor came to him •with For Nelson this strategy worked, with one the assent, not over the opposition, of the so- significant exception—northwestern Minne­ called Merriam machine^" If his speeches sota, the state's most depressed region. are self-revelatory, he conceived the func­ Despite their large Norwegian-American tion of pohtics to be the reconciliation of di­ populations, the counties of Polk and Mar­ vergent interests rather than the promotion shall registered pluralities for Donnelly.^^ of righteousness. In 1892 this meant ac­ knowledging the justice of many current IF REFORM can be measured by extension complaints and accepting the reform pro­ of state police power, the 1893 legislature gram laid down in the Republican platform. deserves the "progressive" label. Its delib­ It also meant avoiding policies which unnec­ erations added several important statutes to essarily alarmed investors. the raihoad and grain codes. The most im­ The realities of 1892 being what they portant of the railroad laws effectively guar­ were, Repubhcans stressed the reformist anteed access to elevator and warehouse side of their candidate's "conservative lib- sites along railroad right-of-ways by pro­ erahsm," and the election returns confirmed viding for condemnation proceedings where their wisdom. Notwithstanding a national necessary. The session also significantly Democratic tide which engulfed neighbor­ broadened regulation of the grain ttade. The ing Wisconsin, Nelson's vote exceeded Dem­ ocrat Daniel W. Lawler's by about 15,000 ' Martin W. Odland, The Life of Knute Nelson, and Populist Ignatius Donnelly's by approx­ 78-82, 142, 151-153 (Minneapolis, 1926). imately 70,000. Compared to 1890, the " Sf. Paul Dady Globe, October 2, 1890. Republicans materially improved their posi­ "Robert C. Dunn to Knute Nelson, May 19, 1892, Knute Nelson Papers, in the Minnesota His­ tion, the Democrats held their own, and the torical Society. Populist tide receded. Nelson's excess over '^Legislative Manual, 1893, p. 462-477; Globe, Merriam's 1890 vote was gained largely in January 3, 1893. western Minnesota, which in 1890 had gone '^The Representative (St. Paul), October 4, 1894; Legislative Manual, 1893, p. 462.

96 MINNESOTA History "governor's grain bill" placed all country ele­ apparent co-operation, the 1893 legislature vators under the jurisdiction of the railroad also launched two wide-ranging investiga­ and warehouse commission and established tions. One of these sought to determine how procedures designed to assure fair grading much timber on state school lands had been of grain. Another law provided for the con­ improperly harvested by private lumber­ struction of a state-owned terminal elevator men; the other probed monopoly in . at Duluth, but the Minnesota Supreme Court The sponsors of these investigations hoped declared this statute unconstitutional, and for the prosecution of timber thieves and the elevator never materialized.^^ coal monopolists, plus legislation to safe­ The labor laws of the session substantially guard timber resources and protect tbe con­ redeemed 1892 Republican platform pledg­ sumer from price gouging.^^ es. One measure converted the office of com­ After adjournment, the legislature of 1893 missioner of labor statistics into the bureau received editorial praise from reform papers, of labor and endowed it with increased pow­ and Governor Nelson's prestige stood high er and expanded personnel. Another pre­ because many of his inaugural recommenda­ scribed minimal standards of safety for tions had been enacted into law. Nonethe­ industrial plants and created the post of less, the follow-up disappointed those who factory inspector within the bureau of labor wanted new departures in public policy.^'' to enforce them. Still another forbade man­ The timber investigation culminated in the agement to require as a condition of employ­ settlement of claims against offending lum­ ment tbe relinquishment of "any lawful right bermen at a fraction of the original esti­ or privilege of citizenship, public or private, mates, and the legislatures of 1895 and 1897 political or social, moral or religious." ^* effected relatively modest changes in forest With State Senator Ignatius Donnelly's ac­ policy.^'^ The coal investigation led Gover­ tive participation and Governor Nelson's nor Nelson to call a national antitrust con­ vention which met in Chicago in June, 1893. This gathering directed public attention to "Minnesota, General Laws, 1893, p. 178-180, 131-138, 140-143; Rippe v. Becker et al, 56 Minne­ the monopoly problem but left no identifi­ sota Supreme Court Reports 100-118 (1895). able mark on either state or national anti­ " General Laws, 1893, p. 96-106, 128. trust pohcy. ^^ William W. Folwell, A History of Minnesota, 3:500-518 (St. Paul, 1926); Martin Ridge, Ignatius The labor and grain legislation of the 1893 Donnelly: The Portrait of a Politician, 312-315 session — along witb that enacted previous­ (Chicago, 1962). ly — also failed to rectify the abuses which " Scholars disagree on Knute Nelson's effective­ ness as a reform governor. Donald F. Warner calls led to its passage. On December 19, 1902, Nelson's election in 1892 "a triumph for the Alexander G. Bainbridge, a Minneapolis la­ farmers, for his administration was marked by as bor leader, remarked in the Mill City Union much reform as could have been accomphshed by Owen or Donnelly." (Warner, in Minnesota His­ that Minnesota had good labor laws on tory, 32:146.) Theodore Saloutos and John D. paper but complained that statutes prohibit­ Hicks, on the other hand, deny "genuine progress" ing the "iron-clad agreement" could not be toward reform in Minnesota until the election of John A. Johnson in 1904. See Saloutos and Hicks, enforced. An investigation of alleged incom­ Agricultural Discontent in the Middle West, 47 petence and corruption in the state depart­ (Madison, Wisconsin, 1951). A case can be made ment of grain inspection, instigated in 1899 for either viewpoint. Statute book evidence sup­ ports Warner; administrative follow-up vindicates by Governor John Lind, disclosed the charg­ Hicks and Saloutos. es to be well founded. And Governor John A. "Leola Blade (Leola, ), quoted in Johnson, soon after taking office in 1905, be­ The Representative, September 20, 1893; Folwell, came convinced that the Minnesota railroad Minnesota, 3:511-514. "George M. Stephenson, John Lind of Minne­ and warehouse commission displayed a sad sota, 170 (Minneapolis, 1935); Winifred G. Helmes, lack of determination to use its statutory au­ John A. Johnson: The People's Governor, 175, 206 thority." (Minneapolis, 1949).

Fall 1964 97 To some extent, these difficulties were un­ could forge impressive business unity in avoidable. The lack of trained administra­ support of the status quo, as the campaign tive personnel in the late nineteenth century of 1896 demonstrated, but more often intra- made it difficult for state regulatory agencies business conflict led threatened segments of to remain abreast of their responsibilities. commerce or industry to condemn excessive But in Minnesota political circumstances concentration of private economic power also conspired against consolidation and ex­ and to call for redress from government.^^ pansion of Nelson's program. Nelson himself So it was in the early nineties. In 1889 an resigned the governorship in January, 1895, English syndicate acquired control of a sub­ to become United States Senator, a post he stantial part of Minneapolis' milling capaci­ won after a bruising battle with incumbent ty. This evoked cries of alarm from Twin Senator Washburn. The Nelson-Washburn City businessmen. "Henceforth," editorial­ contest shattered the unity of the Republi­ ized the Northwestern Miller, "the develop­ can party, rendering it incapable of the ment of Minneapolis as a milling city may teamwork which had helped enact Nelson's mean not the healthy expanding of individ­ program in 1893." David M. Clough, the ual effort, but the dropsical overgrowth of new governor, although closely associated a mammoth institution listed in the London with Nelson politically, lacked both the in- stock exchange, the profits of which will go chnation and leadership required to push largely into foreign coffers." ^^ The Farmers' his predecessor's program toward comple- Alliance shared this concern. In early 1890 tion.2o several county Alliance organizations passed Nevertheless, this legislation provided a resolutions viewing with alarm tbe acquisi­ starting point for more ambitious reform ef­ tion by foreign capital of "our mills, eleva­ forts after 1900. Nor would it be correct to tors, and other industries . . . for the benefit say that all of it remained ineffective. The of foreigners" who did not understand "our substantial growth after 1895 of the farmers' free institutions." ^* elevator movement was possible because Threats to Twin City economic indepen­ state legislation outlawing railroad discrim­ dence did not come solely from abroad. The ination bad finally become effective.^^ " Robert E. Cushman, The Independent Regula­ ALLIANCE-POPULISM could plausibly tory Commission, 28 (New York, 1941); Folwell, claim some credit for Republican ffirtation Minnesota, 3:489-499; H. P. Hall, Observations: Being More or Less a History of Political Contests with reform. Elections in the early nineties in Minnesota From 1849 to 1904, 242-245 (St. had warned that unless tbe Repubhcans re­ Paul, 1904). sponded to demands for change, their su­ '^ Clough vetoed a bill establishing a merit sys­ premacy in Minnesota might end. Party tem in the department of grain inspection. (Journal, April 26, 1895.) In dealing with failure of the 1895 politicians did not relish this prospect; nei­ legislature to push the pine land investigation ther did the inffuential business community, further, Folwell comments: "Governor Clough which dreaded the possibility that irrespon­ naturally did not enjoin the legislature to pursue the inquest." (Minnesota, 3:512.) Clough was a sible radicalism might gain control of the lumberman. state government. If change had to come, -'' Henrietta M. Larson, The Wheat and they argued, let it be supervised by pohti- the Farmer in Minnesota: 1858-1900, 245 (New York, 1926). cians friendly to business needs and values. '•" Robert H. Wiebe, "Business Disunity and the So far as it goes, this explanation is cor­ Progressive Movement, 1901-1914," in Mississippi rect, but it fails to interpret fully the politics 'Valley Historical Review, 44:664-685 (March, 1958). See also Wiebe, Businessmen and Reform: of the business community. In the late nine­ A Study of the Progressive Movement {Cambridge, teenth and early twentieth centuries, mid- , 1962). western business was not an organized ""Quoted in William C. Edgar, The Medal of , 140 (Minneapohs, 1925). monohth. A real or fancied crisis situation '-'Great West (St. Paul), January 24, 1890.

98 MINNESOTA History A Democratic view of Republican reform promises in 1892

Chicago Board of Trade "wind" dealers explanation the editor, Everett W. Fish, allegedly rigged the wheat market to the dis­ firmly stated that he was neither forgetting advantage of Minnesota farmers, grain trad­ nor forgiving the "enormous iniquities" of ers, and millers. It was to end this evil that grain traders and millers. Opposition to Senator Washburn introduced his antiop­ Chicago "rascality," however, demanded re­ tion bill, which proposed to tax the more gional solidarity. speculative transactions out of existence. Along with monopoly and grain specula­ Washburn's measure did not command uni­ tion, transportation problems aroused the versal backing within either the grain trade concern of Twin City businessmen in the or the Alliance movement, but enough sup­ early nineties. In 1891 the millers of the port came from both camps to create a tem­ Northwest initiated a campaign for tighter porary, fragile community of interest regulation of steamship companies to allevi­ between tbe two.^" To enlighten its readers ate discrimination against overseas shippers. on the practices of the Chicago Board of With major help from John Lind, then a Trade, the Great West, spokesman for the member of Congress, they secured passage radical wing of tbe Alliance movement, pub­ in 1893 of the Harter act, which embodied lished an interview with Charles A. Pflls­ their major recommendations. In apprecia­ bury, prominent Minneapolis miller, in its tion of Lind's efforts, the millers tendered issue of July 31, 1891. In an accompanying him a comphmentary dinner.^*' Twin City shippers, large and small, also ^Larson, The Wheat Market and the Farmer, complained about railroad discrimination. 215. "Wind" was the popular term for futures or In the nineties, large Minneapohs shippers options. appealed to the Interstate Commerce Com- -° Stephenson, John Lind, 70,

Fall 1964 99 mission for a redress of grievances, and as pushed the Minnesota People's party in the early as 1885, the Minneapohs Chamber of same direction. In addition, Donnelly's chief Commerce had "requested that state legisla­ lieutenant. Fish of the Great West, was an tive action be taken against the transit tyran­ uncompromising dogmatist who during the ny and discrimination in delivery, buying campaign assailed both "deviationist" Popu­ and shipping of gi'ain as enforced by [James lists and conservative Republicans with fury J.] Hill's road, the Manitoba." ^^ and stridency.^^ Following DonneUy's defeat. Fish's tactics SENATOR Washburn's "Populistic" attack drew a chorus of denunciation from mem­ on the Chicago Board of Trade, business bers of his own party. As the case against support of Nelson's reform program, occa­ the Great West editor unfolded, he was ac­ sional miller-farmer accord in support of cused not only of indiscretion but of venality. regional interests, and demands from ship­ His intemperate attacks on fellow Pop­ pers that the government regulate transpor­ ulists, his lurid charges against the old-party tation, did not mean the Minnesota business opposition, and his preoccupation in the community had shed its deep suspicion of closing days of the campaign with dynamite "radicalism." The story of usury legislation plots in Kansas, allegedly were prompted, in 1891 illustrates how easily the reform not by excessive zeal for the cause, but by impulse could be inhibited by a fear of dis­ Republican money in return for burdening turbing the business climate. When the legis­ the Populists with a reputation for extreme lature of 1891 assembled, no one seriously radicalism. Officially the case against Fish disputed that interest rates, particularly in could not be established, but certainly he the western counties, approached usurious symbolized tbe mistakes of the 1892 Popu­ levels. Early in the session a number of bills list campaign.^" setting an eight per cent ceiling on interest Realizing this. Populist leaders in prepar­ rates were introduced. Immediately a cry ing for 1894 sought to establish a responsi­ went up that such legislation would slow ble, respectable image. For a time it down — or dry up — the flow of capital into appeared that they might succeed. A har­ the state. Members of the Alliance party monious state convention, meeting in early delegation who had come to St. Paul pledged July, 1894, nominated a moderate state ticket to impose statutory discipline on the "money beaded by Owen. Old-party newspapers re- changers" were impressed, and the 1891 ses­ sion failed to enact an interest law. Even ^ Journal, July 5, 1892; St. Paul Pioneer Press, so, some writers blamed the legislature for January 6, 1893; Larson, The Wheat Market and agitating a dehcate issue.^® the Farmer, 172. ""Pioneer Press, February 24, 28, 1891; Globe, Entry of tbe Populist party into Minnesota February 27, March 18, 1891; Great West, March state politics in 1892 heightened the fear of 6, 1891. The state bureau of labor statistics attrib­ radicalism. Prior to the campaign of that uted the high foreclosure rate in northwestern Min­ nesota "mainly to the agitation concerning the year the "nonpolitical" Minnesota Farmers' legal rate of interest and the usury laws by the Alliance shifted affiliation from its own crea­ legislature of 1891." See "Mortgage Foreclosures ture, the Minnesota Alliance party, to the and Land Values in Minnesota in the Years 1881 and 1891," in Minnesota, Executive Documents, recently founded People's party, and Igna­ 1892, vol. 2, p. 380. tius Donnelly, who had been barred from . -"Warner, in Minnesota History, 32:141-145; top leadership in 1890, assumed control of Ridge, Ignatius Donnelly, 283-288. See also issues the new third-party organization. Both de­ of Great West during the campaign of 1892. •"Ridge, Ignatius Donnelly, 310, 319; Carl H. velopments tended to "radicalize" the third- Chrislock, "Sidney M. Owen: An Editor in Politics," party movement. DonneUy was farther to the in Minnesota History, 36:116 (December, 1958); left than the leaders whom he displaced, and The Representative, May 10, June 14, July 12, 1893; January 3, 17, 1894; Freeborn County Standard pressure from the national organization (Albert Lea), January 11, 1893.

100 MINNESOTA HistOTy marked that the convention had steered the votes. The Republicans also elected all seven party toward moderation.'^ Congressmen, displacing one Populist and But 1894 was not a normal political year. two Democrats, and achieved top-heavy ma­ Midsummer brought tbe Pullman stiike in jorities in the state legislature.^* Chicago, and the nation was gripped by an intense fear that revolution was imminent. "DEMOCRATIC news in Minnesota is a Since the Minnesota Populist convention scarce article this year," reported W. W. had backed the Jermane, the Minneapolis Journal's able po­ (in a resolution which also condemned re­ htical writer, on April 3, 1896. Some Demo­ sort to violence), and since Owen subse­ crats, wrote Jermane, doubted whether quently refused to repudiate this stand, it party prospects justifled holding a state con­ followed, as one Republican paper put it, vention, and it seemed improbable that a that "Populism and anarchy . . . [were] full state ticket would be nominated. Repub­ getting to be very nearly synonymous lican confidence matched Democratic terms." ^^ With variations this became the gloom. Tbe Populists, who had worked at old-party keynote. "Popuhsm is disloyal to reorganization since 1894, obviously would the government of the United States," as­ contest the election. Rut the narrow Populist serted the Minneapolis Journal on July 20. base, consisting of a small legislative dele­ On October 25 the Minneapolis Tribune gation without a single Congressman or state characterized the promise of Populism as official, held small promise of victory. "Ruined credit, paralyzed commerce, inter­ The apparent certainty of their party's nal war and hopeless poverty." triumph in the fall encouraged factional While firing these barrages Republican strife among the Republicans. Still smarting campaigners occasionally recalled Nelson's from their defeat in the Senatorial battle of reputation as a reform governor, and Nelson the previous year, a group of Minneapolis himself delivered a sober public policy business and civic leaders, including ex-Sen­ speech at Argyle, in the heartland of Popu­ ator Washburn, issued a manifesto in late lism. But the major emphasis in both Repub­ January announcing formation of a "Com­ hcan and Democratic campaigns remained mittee of 100" to oppose the renomination of the identification of Poptdism with anarch­ Governor Clough. For eight years, they ism.' charged, a "Clough-Merriam-Pioneer Press The election yielded the Republicans their combine" supported and directed by the most decisive triumph since the early . Great Northern Railroad bad successfully True, Owen's 88,000 votes exceeded Donnel­ conspired to dominate Repubhcan and ly's 1892 total by nearly 50,000, while Nelson state politics. According to the antimacbine gained less than 40,000 over his own 1892 group. Nelson's election to the Senate had vote. But this reflected Owen's personal been one stage of a long-range plan, com­ strength and the weakness of the Democratic pletion of which was scheduled for 1899 candidate, George L. Becker, rather than a when ex-Governor Merriam would replace gain in Populist support. Moreover, the Senator Cushman K. Davis. In the mean­ spread between Nelson and Owen — who time the statehouse was to be occupied by ran second — was an impressive 60,000 Clough, a man totally unfit for the office.^^ In his famous Observations, Harlan P. "^Freeborn County Standard, July 18, 25, 1894; Hall, a veteran St. Paul newspaperman and Globe, July 12, 1894. intimate of Minnesota politicians for nearly ""Martin County Sentinel (Fairmont), August 31, 1894. fifty years, characterized the anti-Clough ""/oMrnaZ, July 30, 1894. drive as "just an ebullition of 'goodness' on "'Legislative Manual, 1895, p. 462, 480. general principles," going on to say that "'' Journal, January 30, March 2, May 21, June 20, 1896. "There are more "good' people to the square

Fall 1964 101 inch in Minneapolis than any town of its cratic organization after another in the West size 1 ever knew. These 'good' people and South. According to the Journal of couldn't approve the bluff ways of the rough April 30, 1896, himself requested and ready lumberman, Dave Clough." ^^ James J. Hill to help the cause, particularly There was undoubtedly more to it than in Minnesota. Hill did perform one impor­ that, although given Clough's reputation as tant service: he purchased the St. Paul Daily a spoilsman, the "clean government" issue Globe, the state's leading Democratic news­ should not be underestimated. Rivalry be­ paper, to keep it safe for Cleveland Democ­ tween St. Paul and Minneapohs interests racy and the .^^ was probably involved also, as well as civic The president could also depend on his pride. Many Minneapolis people could not friend Michael Doran, long-time Minnesota forgive their fellow townsman, Clough, for Democratic leader, whose power had serving as a field marshal in Nelson's battle blocked Democratic-third-party fusion in against Washburn.^'^ preceding campaigns. Doran's organization But Hall was correct in one respect: at the dominated the state convention called to Repubhcan state convention the anti-Clough select delegates-at-large to the national con­ people "were a minus quantity." Even tbe vention. But the silver men captured a Hennepin County delegation supported the number of the Congressional district con­ machine. On the first ballot the incumbent ventions, and the Minnesota delegation as governor polled 868 votes to 178 for Samuel finaUy constituted included ten gold men R. Van Sant, his nearest rival. Immediately and seven free silver supporters.*" afterward the Minneapolis Journal refused Free silver capture of the national conven­ Clough the congratulations usually tendered tion shattered the Doran organization. Three by a defeated faction in an intraparty strug­ of the gold delegates deserted to Bryan on gle. Instead it charged the Republican party the decisive fourth ballot, two cast their with nominating a man "utterly unworthy votes for Adlai Stevenson, and five — the ... from the standpoint of ... personal quali­ hard-core gold men — did not vote at aU. fications . . . education . . . moral character Repercussions in Minnesota also came im­ . . . habits . . . and . . . manner of life."^^ mediately. The Doran men, too demorahzed Such bitterness usually presages a party to put up a fight, did not dispute control of bolt, but less than a week after Clough's re- the state nominating convention scheduled nomination, the national Democratic party, for early August.*^ meeting in Chicago, repudiated Cleveland, Before this convention met, Minnesota embraced free silver, and nominated Wil­ silver Democrats were relieved of another liam Jennings Bryan for the presidency. This anxiety: finding an acceptable candidate for momentous development promised to unite the fragmented anti-Republican forces in '''Hall, Observations, 303. Minnesota into a formidable coalition com­ "'In discussing the Nelson-Washburn contest, mitted to a radical program. Antimacbine Folwell says: "It was common knowledge that James J. Hill was not friendly to Washburn, who Repubhcans saw more peril in this than in had built the northwestern extension of the 'Soo' a renewal of Clough's statehouse lease, and Railroad between the two lines of the Great North- the party rift was hurriedly patched up. em. . . . Hill was also known to be an admirer of Clough." (Minnesota, 3:494.) "' Hall, Observations, 304; Journal, June 30, July MINNESOTA Democratic participation in 1,2,1896. the great decision taken by the national ™ Harry Barnard, Eagle Forgotten: The Life of John Peter Altgeld, 354 (New York, 1938); Ste­ party in Chicago was slight. Early in the phenson, John Lind, 147; Joseph G. Pyle, The Life spring Cleveland supporters had opened a of James J. Hill, 2:382-384 (New York, 1917). campaign against the massive free silver '"Penny Press (Minneapohs), June 12, 1896; threat which was capturing one state Demo­ Journal, June 11, July 6, 1896. '^Journal, July 10, 13, 1896.

102 MINNESOTA History CAPTURE of the Democratic party by the prosilver faction in July, 1896, as caricatured in the Republican Minneapolis Journal

governor. On July 2, before the Democrats cally welcomed the opportunity to back him. nominated Bryan, sixteen prominent Minne­ So did most Popuhsts, although a few third- sota Republicans, including ex-Congress­ party men grumbled about Lind's close as­ man John Lind and incumbent Congressman sociation with ex-Senator Washburn and the Charles A. Towne, publicly split with their miUing interests.*^ party on the currency question, and in mid- The Chicago convention of 1896 struck July the Swedish-born Lind accepted a Minnesota Populism with an impact rivahng silver Repubhcan draft to run against that felt by state Democrats. On July 11 the Clough.*^ This made him available for Progressive Age, edited by William R. Dob­ Democratic and Popuhst endorsements, byn, reported a tidal wave of Bryan support fusion being the order of the day. Lacking a within the state People's party. This re­ candidate of comparable stature vwthin their sponse was not engendered alone by the own ranks, Bryan Democrats enthusiasti- embrace of free silver. The Democratic plat­ form also called for curbs on court injunc­ ^ Stephenson, John Lind, 105, 107. *" Lind's "bolt" from the Republican party has tions in labor disputes, demanded an income been attributed to chagrin at Washburn's 1895 tax, and proclaimed tbe need for stricter defeat. (Ridge, Ignatius Donnelly, 358.) His regulation of transportation. Dobbyn, a New biographer, however, comments that Lind "was disappointed, not to say disgusted, over tiie out­ England-bred urban reformer who could come . . . but that it was the deciding factor take or leave free silver, hailed this platform which caused him to leave . . . cannot be proven as "a century in advance" of its Repubhcan by documentary evidence and is highly improb­ able." (Stephenson, John Lind, 101.) counterpart. Donnelly's exuberance did not

Fall 1964 103 match Dobbyn's, but even he conceded that Congressional and legislative districts party the Democratic commitment was "very close managers negotiated similar arrangements. to the Populist platform." ** These delicate operations were accom­ Dobbyn's enthusiasm for the Democratic plished despite a sordid quarrel which "revolution" in Chicago converted him into broke out inside the Minnesota delegation a passionate fusionist. A separate People's to the national Populist convention. Al­ party national ticket, asserted his paper on though Donnelly returned from St. Louis in July 18, would be "utterly absurd." Ex- an ugly mood, thoroughly convinced that Congressman Haldor E. Boen of Fergus the Owen faction had betrayed him, the Falls felt the same way. In musing about his party leaders managed to pacify him, and he responsibilities as a delegate to the na­ subsequently campaigned vigorously for tional Populist convention, Boen wondered Bryan and Lind. He bitterly opposed Owen's whether he would return from St. Louis "a bid for Congressional honors in the fifth Democrat or a Populist." But this was unim­ district, however.*^ portant: "What is there in a name?" he asked a week later. "Principles," he wrote, "are BRYAN PARTISANS in Minnesota could eternal." Donnelly and Thomas J. Meighan, easily persuade themselves that victory in Populist state chairman, worried more than the fall was inevitable. The Republicans Boen about preserving Popuhst organiza­ were deeply divided, thanks to the Nelson- tional identity, but confidence in Bryan and Washburn contest, while at the head of their belief in reform unity weakened their capac­ ticket they had the vulnerable Clough, ity to resist the powerful fusionist pres­ sures.*^ "Progressive Age (Minneapohs), July 11, 1896; In August the Minnesota Democratic and Ridge, Ignatius Donnelly, 352. Populist conventions ratified a slate of can­ '"Fergus Globe (Fergus Falls), July 18, 25, didates for state office agreed upon in ad­ 1896; Ridge, Ignatius Donnelly, 351. "'Journal, August 3, 4, 26, 27, 1896; Ridge, vance by party leaders, while in the Ig-^atius Donnelly, 353-363.

A Republican picture of fusion

104 MINNESOTA History seemingly no match for Lind, whose ethnic can gold plank. Jermane, reporting from tbe appeal rivaled that of Knute Nelson. More­ scene, commented that few politicians had over, in rejecting free silver they bad done experienced a more drastic reversal of what they had not dared in 1894 when their fortunes than Towne. In 1894 the Duluth platform satisfied the silver men. This alone, business community bad supported him it seemed, should alienate enough prosilver overwhelmingly. Now businessmen were Republicans to make up the 10,000 votes by opposing him almost unanimously, not from which the combined Democratic and Popu­ personal rancor, but because Duluth had to list totals had lagged in 1894. establish its credit in the money markets. Lind-Bryan prospects were not as bright One businessman told the Journal reporter as the fusionists imagined, however. Minne­ how officials of an eastern banking house sota was a Republican state, and party loy­ had coupled refusal of credit 'with the re­ alty in a presidential year minimized mark, "Why, Duluth is for free silver, isn't defections.*'' Also, the relationship between it?" Another bad been told, "Minnesota we silver and the entire complex of policy ques­ know is all right... but we don't know about tions had changed between 1894 and 1896. Duluth." A prominent civic leader said he In the former year silver had enjoyed sup­ believed "it would be the very worst thing port within all political camps; it had not Duluth could do this year to send a silver been firmly affiliated with either conserva­ man to Congress." In the city, wrote Jer­ tism or radicalism. There had been room for mane, the silver issue had "ceased to be a equivocation, too. The silver issue bad matter of sentiment" and become "a matter enough complexities to make it possible for of business." *^ politicians to appear prosilver without ac­ It was not only in Duluth that economic tually favoring its free and unlimited coin­ pressures were applied. The manager of a age at a ratio of sixteen to one. Even William Twin City wholesale firm predicted that a McKinley, campaigning in Minnesota in Bryan triumph would mean "a contraction October, 1894, had charged the incumbent in our business and hence in our forces." A Democratic Congress with having "given story announcing early suspension of boom silver the worst blow it ever received." He company operations hinted that a free silver was, however, condemning repeal of the victory would be followed by the discharge Sherman silver purchase act and not advo­ of hundreds of lumber industry employees.^" cating free silver.*^ Two years later tbe lines The grain trade, too, apparently faced dis­ were dravwi tighter. Apparently the leaders aster. On October 22, 1896, a front-page of the nation's financial community feared Journal story reported the refusal of eastern that compromise and evasion were strength­ bankers to extend the credit needed to move ening rather than stemming free silver senti­ the wheat crop through trade channels be­ ment and that only a frontal assault could cause "If Mr. Bryan is elected we have no eliminate the danger. guarantee of what the future of government A case study in tbe dynamics of this may be, and we must keep ourselves in assault appeared in Duluth following Con­ readiness for tbe worst." gressman Towne's rejection of the Republi- ALTHOUGH the issue remained in doubt " See Gilbert G. Fite, "Republican Strategy and through most of the campaign, the struggle the Farm Vote in the Presidential Campaign of for the state's nine electoral votes was hard­ 1896," in American Historical Review, 65:805 ly equal. Information on campaign finances (July, 1960). " Minneapolis Morning Tribune, October 8, 1894. is difficult to obtain, but the Republican ''Journal, June 25, 1896. In 1894 Towne, even treasury was certainly better supphed than then a militant silver supporter, had easily defeated the fusionist, although, thanks to the silver M. W. Baldwin, a gold Democrat. interests, the latter was not empty. The es- ''^ Journal, August 29, October 17, 1896.

Fall 1964 105 Lind, it seems, should have been relative­ ly immune to this kind of attack; in accepting the Populist nomination for governor he had felt obliged to explain his close association with the miUing interests. On his extensive speaking tours he talked free silver, but by no means did he neglect state issues. A par­ ticularly effective one had been created by Clough, who, in defiance of a legislative mandate, had conveyed to the financier Russell Sage lands originally awarded a rail­ road company which never completed con­ struction.^- Nevertheless, speaking in Little Falls on September 19, Knute Nelson asserted that Lind's election would persuade eastern in­ vestors that Minnesota was "the abode of wild, long-haired Populists." ^^ And on Oc­ tober 31 the Minneapolis Journal published a full-page advertisement headed "Lind's Success vs. Minnesota's Credit," which con­ tained statements by spokesmen of more than forty local, eastern, and Chicago busi­ ness firms. Lee Higginson and Company of Boston voiced the consensus in stating: "Election of Populist governor of Minnesota BRYAN and Lind were again running mates would greatly injure credit and sale of Min­ in 1900, when this picture was taken. nesota securities here." tablished Twin City dailies, with the excep­ On the same date Minneapolis lumberman tion of the Minneapolis Times, which Charles A. Bovey made an interesting refer­ remained neutral, and the Penny Press, a ence to a concern which more important short-lived tabloid, supported McKinley. So matters had by this time pushed aside. "We did most smaU-town papers and virtually the feel that so much is at stake in the present entire business community. election," said Bovey, "that the wise thing to do is to vote for the entire state republican Through these channels the Republicans ticket. We will smash the machine later." managed to stress the dominance of one Two weeks earher Charles A. PUlsbury had simple theme: Bryanism, an evil compound made essentially the same point, saying: "I of free silver. Populism, "Altgeldism," and am particularly anxious for the success of anarchy, was morally and economically de­ the republican state ticket, because I believe structive. "The crisis is not less grave than that no matter how worthy the men may be that of I860," said one clergyman, quoted in who are running on the opposition ticket, if the Journal of September 5. He added: "The we should elect to the high offices of this pulpit . . . must make no apology for insist­ state any men who are pledged to . . . the ing upon national honor, patriotic duty and Chicago platform, it would give the credit religious obligation." With some exaggera­ tion, the Winona Republican maintained there was "not in Minnesota a single clergy­ " Quoted in the Journal, August 20, 1896. man of recognized standing... who does not "= Penny Press, October 2, 28, 1896; Stephenson, John Lind, 116. oppose the free coinage of silver." ^^ '"Stephenson, John Lind, 112.

106 MINNESOTA History of Minnesota a fearful blow." ^* Identifica­ sixth Congressional district race by a scant tion with sound money may have failed to 719 votes, polled 1,200 more than Bryan in rehabihtate Clough, but the grave threat to St. Louis County; and in Hennepin County Minnesota's credit made his shortcomings Sidney Owen ran ahead of the presidential and Lind's virtues equally irrelevant. ticket by 1,(X)0 votes. In the final analysis, The 1896 returns fully vindicated Repub­ then, Bryan, not his local supporters, lost the lican strategy. Far from a fusionist victory, election in Minnesota.^" the election was not even close, but a re­ sounding Republican triumph. McKinley's AS MIGHT BE expected, tbe Minneapolis 62,000 plurality exceeded Harrison's 1892 Journal rejoiced at the outcome. Bryanism margin by more than 45,000 votes. In other had been downed, and Clough's narrow races the Republicans also captured the hon­ margin vindicated the paper's judgment of ors. Even Clough won. His 3,552 plu- him without placing Minnesota's credit in rahty fell short of a personal triumph, but as peril. But its November 5 postelection edi­ Harlan Hall observed, "it was sufficient for torial also emphasized the responsibility of all practical purposes." The Republicans the victorious Republicans to remedy the made a clean sweep of Congressional seats legitimate grievances of the agrarian West, and maintained a top-heavy majority in the including an ineffective antitrust policy, in­ state legislature.^^ adequacies in the banking and currency In seeking explanations of this outcome, system, and extremes of tariff legislation. Minnesota fusionists could hardly blame The Jourrwl spoke prophetically. After weakness on the state and local level. Lind 1900 these three issues came to dominate ran ahead of Bryan by more than 30,000 national politics, and men who had battled votes, and the remainder of the state ticket one another bitterly on the issues of free sil­ polled about 10,000 more votes than the ver and Populism now joined hands to sup­ presidential ticket. Towne, who lost in the port regional interests against the menace of "Wall Street" monopoly as they once had "* Journal, October 17, 1896. fought for the Washburn antioption bill. •^Hall, Observations, 304; Legislative Manual, The transformation did not come immedi­ 1897, p. 416-498. ately, however. FoUowing the intensity of '^Legislative Manual, 1897, p. 104, 416-498.

THE Minneapolis Journal's view of "How Clough got through" in 1896

Fall 1964 107 1896, spent political energies needed re­ Scandinavians, and (according to some opin­ plenishment. TThe gradual return of prosperi­ ions) James J. HiU.'^'' ty made less acute the complaints which had These Eustis liabilities obviously helped sustained agitation earlier, and the Spanish- Lind, who also enjoyed other advantages, American War diverted public attention including some he had lacked in 1896. The from domestic issues. In March, 1898, John St. Paul Globe vigorously supported him; Lind, on a trip from his home at New Ulm, service with the Twelfth Minnesota Regi­ told Twin City newspaper reporters that ment in the Spanish-American conflict gave "out in the country there is no interest in him warrior status; and ethnic appeal politics now." Cuba and the Maine domi­ worked for him. Voter apathy may also have nated all conversation, reported Lind. Unlike helped Lind, since Eustis was less known in World War I, the Spanish-American conflict the state than his rival. The returns certainly did not divide midwestern opinion. Follow­ suggest apathy: the 1898 vote for governor ing American victory, however, annexation totaled 85,000 less than two years before, of the Philippine Islands became controver­ and despite his 20,000 plurality over Eustis, sial. Many conservatives who had been re­ Lind polled 30,000 fewer votes than in luctant to take up arms against Spain 1896.«i became ardent annexationists, while most Tbe election was not an unqualified agrarians, many of whom had clamored for reform victory nor a mandate against im­ war, strongly opposed overseas expansion.^''^ perialism. Neither was Lind's one-term ad­ This issue was debated in the 1898 Minne­ ministration a success by conventional sota campaign. Lind, who again beaded the standards. According to Minneapolis Journal fusion ticket, sounded the keynote of his calculations, the Republican legislature of campaign when he congratulated the con­ 1899 adopted only four of his twenty-one in­ vention for refusing to let tbe "shimmer of a augural recommendations.^^ Nonetheless, proposed imperial policy in distant lands . . . Lind's leadership helped to quicken revival blind the eyes of the people to existing of the reform spirit which was already stir­ abuses at bome." The Republicans, however, ring when he took office. courted identification with national pride by Although in his inaugural message he supporting expansion. Senator Nelson defied avoided radical Populist panaceas, he ad­ Lind with the somewhat irrelevant boast: vocated a thoroughgoing state reform pro­ "There ain't going to be any Spaniards gram. Among other things be called for elected... this year." ^^ the appointment of a commission to recom­ At their state convention the Republicans mend comprehensive changes in the tax "smashed the machine," dumped Clough, structure; immediate tax reforms, including and selected former Minneapolis mayor Wil­ an increase in the railroad gross earnings liam H. Eustis to run for governor. Although tax; a board of control to supervise the state's Eustis was "a man of ability and character" correctional and charitable institutions; re­ according to one historian, his difiiculties appraisal of trust regulation statutes; reser­ multiplied as the campaign got under way.^^ vation of mineral rights in state lands Some of the Clough men temporarily retired disposed of in the future; and exploration of from politics, and the governor barely con­ cealed a hope that Lind would vwn. The °' Stephenson, John Lind, 133; Richard Hof­ Eustis campaign also lacked managerial tal­ stadter, The Age of Reform: From Bryan to F.D.R., ent; some Republicans grumbled that hap­ 271 (New York, 1955). ^^ Stephenson, John Lind, 145, 151. less "amateurs" had been put in charge. In "" Stephenson, John Lind, 144. addition, Eustis had to cope with the dis­ "Stephenson, John Lind, 147; Hall, Observa­ pleasure of influential groups and individ­ tions, 306. "' Legislative Manual, 1899, p. 500. uals, including organized labor, organized "Journal, April 11, 18, 1899.

108 MINNESOTA History such direct government devices as the pri­ with accounts of the formation of new rail­ mary and the initiative.^^ Newspapers road and industrial combinations." On the throughout the state voiced warm approval Minnesota iron ranges the Carnegie Com­ of the message. Apparently Lind was ar­ pany had acquired control of the Oliver ticulating and making coherent a gi'owing Company in 1896, and this combination reform consensus.®* along with the Federal Steel Company became part of the United States Steel Cor­ THIS NEW SPIRIT became more and more poration, founded in 1901. In the interven­ evident during 1898 and 1899, when "al­ ing years the Carnegie-Oliver concern "ac­ most every morning newspaper was filled quired, with a comparatively small capital, a large number of leaseholds and through them controUed an extensive reserve of ton­ "" See John Lind, Biennial Message to the Legis­ lature of Minnesota (St. Paul, 1899). Theodore C. nage." In 1898 the aspirations of Thomas A. Blegen and Philip D. Jordan selected Lind's in­ Mclntyre, a New York broker, to establish a augural address for inclusion in their collection of flour trust caused worry in the Twin Cities readings. With "Various Voices (St. Paul, 1949), because it is "an inventory of Minnesota life and business community. Mclntyre failed, but problems at the turn of the century." (P. 345.) his attempt heightened apprehension about "Stephenson, John Lind, 159; Journal, January the so-called trust evil. The actual and fan­ 7, 1899. ^ Herbert Croly, Marcus Alonzo Hanna: His Life cied expansionist operations of tbe Great and Work, 296 (New York, 1912); Folwell, Minne­ Northern Railroad also aroused suspicious sota, 4:31; Edgar, Medal of Gold, 199-204; North­ interest and tended to bring out the hostile western Agriculturist, 13:370 (December 15, 1898); 16:164 (May 1, 1901). side of the ambivalent public attitude to­ ward Hill.65 In 1899 the Northwestern Agriculturist, which shortly before had denounced Popu­ list radicalism in the strongest possible terms, was asserting that the trust "situation" contained "elements so momentous that the Civil War . . . becomes insignificant in com­ parison.'' With more restraint, the St. Paul

A midwestern consensus on the trust question is reflected in this 1902 cartoon.

..^- 109 Chamber of Commerce in early 1901 passed ing" into a single system the western a series of resolutions deploring monopoly railroads under their control. and urging elimination of import duties on This announcement "startled and alarmed articles that had become the subject of even conservative men in the country." ''*' monopoly.®^ In the affected region it produced an angry Linkage of the tariff issue with the trust reaction which may be difficult to compre­ e'vil helped discredit excessive protection­ hend in the 1960s, but which early in the ism. So did milling and grain trade realiza­ century went beyond the immediate issue tion that high tariffs encouraged retaliation and significantly fortified the anti-big busi­ abroad against American wheat and flour at ness crusade already in existence. The a time when competition for foreign markets "pro-merger" Commercial West hardly ex­ was becoming intense. Concern about the is­ aggerated when it complained that "Some of sue began to show as early as 1900, when the papers in Minnesota that cried out failure of the Minnesota delegation to sup­ against . . . populistic sentiment in Kansas port President McKinley's recommendation are today talking in about as populistic a that tariff barriers against Puerto Rico be vein ... as did the supporters of Kansas abohshed brought a storm of protest and law." " charges that Republican Congressmen were The Commercial West might well have submitting to tobacco and sugar interests.^^ said "in about as populistic a vein" as Sena­ Other concerns also moved into the realm tor Washburn when he attacked the stock of pubhc discussion. Sharper consciousness exchange millionaires on July 11, 1892. of timber depletion widened support for From 1892 to 1902 Minnesota Repubhcans conservation. Complaints that inability of had come full circle. banks to lend money on livestock made it impossible for many farmers to purchase '"Northwestern Agriculturist, 14:72,168 (March 1, June 1, 1899); James A. Tawney to Benjamin F. feeder cattle pointed up a gap in credit fa­ Beardsley, February 3, 1901, James A. Tawney cilities. And charges of railroad malpractice Papers, in the Minnesota Historical Society. and discrimination—that hardy midwestern "' Morton Rothstein, "America in the International Rivalry for the British Wheat Market, 1860-1914," perennial—became more insistent, coupled in Mississippi Valley Historical Review, 47:418 •with demands for government redress."^ (December, 1960); Northwestern Agriculturist, 15:82, 104 (March 15, April 1, 1900); Journal, May 21, 1900; John Peterson to Nelson, August 29, WHEN VAN SANT, the Repubhcan candi­ 1900, Nelson Papers; Tawney to R. E. Shepherd, date, captured the governorship in 1900, it March 8, 1900, Ta'wney Papers. was by an even narrower margin than that "^Journal, December 14, 1901; Northwestern Agriculturist, 16:204 (June 1, 1901); Commercial of Clough in 1896. Soon after he took office West, September 28, 1901, p. 8; Duluth Chamber the legislature of 1901 passed a measure of Commerce Committee to Nelson, March 5, 1898, which many people had despaired of ever Nelson Papers. ""For a dramatic account of this increase, see seeing enacted — the long-discussed in­ Charles Cheney, The Story of Minnesota Politics, crease in the railroad gross earnings tax from 14 (Minneapolis, 1947). three per cent to four per cent. Introduction ™ Helmes, John A. Johnson, 108. '"^Commercial West, January 4, 1902, p. 5. For and defeat of this bill had become part of the Twin City editorial comment, most of it hostile to ritual of each session.™ the Northern Securities Company, see Journal, Janu­ If this made 1901 a memorable year, more ary 20, 1902; Tribune, January 30, 1902; St. Paul Dispatch, January 22, 1902. was to come. In September an assassin's bul­ let put in the White THE PICTURES on pages 95 and 106 are from the Minnesota Historical Society's collection. Cartoons House. Two months later the nation learned from the Minneapolis Journal are on pages 103 that Hill, J. Pierpont Morgan, and Edward (July 16, 1896), 104 (October 11, 1892), 107 H. Harriman had organized the Northern Se­ (November 5, 1896), and 109 (May 24, 1902). That on page 99 is from the Si. Paul Globe, curities Company for the purpose of "merg­ October 6, 1892.

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