354 AGRICULTURAL DISCONTENT 



Swedish accent, often posed for photographers in overalls, had a voice 

 that was "variously compared to a fog-horn and a radio 'loud speaker/ " 

 boasted that he would behave like a common man and never wear a dress 

 suit. Many had expected him to become a target for cartoonists and the 

 comic strips, but his friends assured critics that Johnson was "bombproof" 

 to such attacks. By his own admission big men in the Senate did not 

 frighten him in the least. On occasions he said that his experiences in 

 the state legislature had convinced him that the two most important words 

 in the English language for any legislator were "yes" and "no." It required 

 little intelligence for an honest representative to say " 'no' to the repeal of 

 the excess profits tax, 'no' to lowering taxes on millionaire incomes, and 

 'no' to turning back the railroads to private management with a guaranty 

 of earnings before we had passed through the reconstruction period." 26 



This special election was taken seriously by both sides. Governor Preus, 

 Johnson's opponent in this as well as in the previous year, felt that the time 

 was ripe for a test of sentiment, and put himself up as a candidate instead 

 of appointing a Republican to fill out the unexpired term in the Senate. 

 Preus, in this campaign, made a round-about-face from the Republican 

 stand on the tariff by repudiating the Fordney-McCumber Act of 1922, 

 and literally banned the national administration, including the President, 

 from taking an active role in the election. He also made a strong plea for 

 cooperative marketing. 27 



The supporters of Johnson felt that the future of the farmer-labor move- 

 ment was at stake. This was evident from the help that he received from 

 progressives from out-of-state. They included Frazier, Wheeler, and three 

 progressive congressmen from Wisconsin who were directed by Senator 

 La Follette, who was in a Battle Creek sanitarium at the time. Phil La Fol- 

 lette, his son, went along with the Wisconsin delegation to present a 

 personal plea to the Minnesotans from his father. 28 



The New Yorf( Times said that the Johnson victory was the result of a 

 real farmer-labor coalition. ". . . Johnson defeated Governor Preus in the 

 cities as well as on the farms. Thus both wings of the Farmer-Labor Party 



26. "Magnus, The Unbluffable, of Minnesota," Literary Digest, LXXVIII (Sep- 

 tember 8, 1923), pp. 50-53. 



27. New Yorf( Times, July 9, 15, 1923. 



28. Ibid., July 3, 9, 1923. 



