556 



MINNESOTA. 



stitutional the act of 1889 requiring all fresh 

 meat sold in the State to be cut from animals 

 that were inspected within the State within 

 twenty-four hours before being slaughtered. 

 These* provisions were held to be a plain inter- 

 ference with interstate commerce in dressed 

 meat, and therefore invalid. 



Political. The first State ticket in the field 

 this year was nominated at St. Paul by the Pro- 

 hibition party on June 26. It contained the 

 following names : For Governor, J. P. Pinkham ; 

 for Lieutenant-Governor, J. (). Barrett; for Sec- 

 retary of State, H. S. Hilleboe ; for Auditor, Ole 

 Kron ; for Treasurer, N. R. Frost ; for Attorney- 

 General, Robert Taylor; for Clerk of the Su- 

 preme Court, N. G. Dean. The platform, in 

 addition to the usual declarations on the liquor 

 question, contains planks favoring various re- 

 forms demanded by the Farmers' Alliance. 



Some days prior to these nominations the ex- 

 ecutive committee of the Alliance had issued a 

 call for a State convention of that order, to be 

 held at St. Paul on July 16, for the purpose of 

 taking independent political action. This call 

 was ijsued in response to instructions from a 

 large number of local Alliances, and met with 

 the approval of the order throughout the State. 

 The convention was well attended, and the fol- 

 lowing nominations were made : For Governor, 

 S. M. Owen; for Lieutenant-Governor, J. 0. 

 Barrett (the Prohibition candidate); for Secre- 

 tary of State, M. Wesenberg ; for Auditor, P. H. 

 Rahilly ; for Treasurer, Eric Mathison ; for At- 

 torney-General, J. M. Burlingame ; for Clerk of 

 Supreme Court, Frank W. Kolars. Messrs. Ra- 

 hilly and Burlingame later withdrew. Adolf 

 Bierman, the Democratic candidate for Auditor, 

 and Robert Taylor, the Prohibition candidate 

 for Attorney-General, were then adopted as the 

 party candidates for these offices. The platform 

 included the following : 



As producers we demand free and open markets for 

 our grain, and that the railways shall receive and ship 

 grain, as they receive and ship other commodities, for 

 the owner to its destination. That the grading of 

 wheat at country stations be abolished ; that the 

 right to establish side tracks to connect grain ware- 

 houses and the equal use of cars shall in no manner 

 be abridged. 



That in the adjustment of a schedule of rates for this 

 State we believe the railroad commissioners should be 

 guided mainly by the schedule of rates now in force 

 in Iowa. But if the interstate railways leading to 

 Chicago shall make a less rate than the Iowa rates, 

 we demand that the rates to Duluth shall be no great- 

 er per ton per mile than the rate per ton per mile to 

 Chicago, reasonable terminal and transfer charges be- 

 ing added to the mileage charges as provided for by 

 the freedom of traffic law now on our statutes. 



That we demand the maintenance of the present 

 freedom of traffic law, the present grain laws, and the 

 law for the distribution of cars, and the erection by 

 the State of public warehouses, where the producer 

 shall store his grain unmixed in a special car at actual 

 cost at Duluth and the agricultural fair grounds. 



That we hold that mortgage indebtedness should 

 be deducted from the tax upon realty, whether such 

 mortgage is held at home or abroad. 



That we favor a material reduction of interest on 

 money, and demand that severe penalties be attached 

 to the practice of usury. 



We ask the next Legislature to establish the Aus- 

 tralian system of voting for the whole State. 



That all public offices which directly affect the in- 



terests of the people should be made elective, and for 

 this reason we hold that United States Senators and 

 railroad commissioners should be made elective by 

 popular vote. 



On July 24 the Republican State Convention 

 met at St. Paul, and renominated Gov. Merri- 

 am, Treasurer Bobleter, and Attorney-General 

 Clapp. For Lieutenant-Governor, Gideon S. 1 v>s 

 was nominated ; for Secretary of State, Fred P. 

 Brown ; for Auditor, Peter J. McGuire ; for Clerk 

 of the Supreme Court, Charles P. Holcomb. The 

 following declarations appear in the platform : 



The Republican party claims that in its high-license 

 policy in regard to the liquor traffic it has inaugurated 

 the best and most efficient method of dealing with the 

 evils attendant upon such traffic which has yet been 

 devised, as shown in the results which have followed. 



It favors a reduction of the lepal rate of interest 

 permitted by written contract, and the vigilant en- 

 forcement of all enactments passed for the punish- 

 ment of usury. 



It indorses the introduction of the binding-twine 

 industry into the State's prison, and the supply there- 

 of to the citizens of the State engaged in agriculture 

 and other pursuits at the prime cost of manufacture 

 and sale. 



It favors the regulation of the tolls of common car- 

 riers by interstate commerce laws, or, if solely within 

 the State, by the legislation of the State, in such a 

 manner as to prevent the watering of stock, with a 

 view to illegitimate exactions of interest thereon, or 

 oppression or discrimination between different indi- 

 viduals or localities, and at the same time to secure 

 to the employe 4 of such carriers a just return for his 

 labor. It pledges itself to the endeavor to secure the 

 passage of such laws as will guarantee to the people 

 of the State the free disposition and transportation of 

 their products, unimpeded by the vexatious exactions 

 of rings and monopolies, or the unjust exercise of cor- 

 porate franchises, and particularly to secure the re- 

 duction of rates on grain, lumber, and coal. 



It approves of the Australian system of voting, and 

 recommends its adoption by the next Legislature for 

 the entire State. 



The Democratic State Convention met at St. 

 Paul on Sept. 10, and nominated the follow- 

 ing ticket : For Governor, Thomas Wilson ; for 

 Lieutenant-Governor, E. G. Pahl; for Secre- 

 tary of State, Andrew T. Lindholm ; for Treas- 

 urer, Charles M. Foote; for Auditor, Adolf 

 Bierman; for Attorney-General, David T. Cal- 

 houn ; for Clerk of the Supreme Court, T. F. 

 O'Hair. The platform contains the following : 



We denounce the marked growth of corruption in 

 our Legislature. We instance the infamous House 

 File 157," which, under the deceitful pretense of re- 

 lieving settlers " and others," remitted to a land- 

 grant railroad company the taxes on its land amount- 

 ing to nearly one million dollars. We instance the 

 debauchery of legislators in the election of Senators, 

 which, in the latest, was so widespread that the in- 

 vestigation was quickly withdrawn and the testimony 

 taken was suppressed '' to save the party from the dis- 

 grace" which would follow its publication. We re- 

 fer to the indubitable fact that there lias grown up in 

 the Legislature a gang of professional strikers who 

 introduce measures injurious to legitimate private and 

 corporate interests, making them the basis of demands 

 for money. It is well known that meritorious meas- 

 ures are 'hindered and obstructed by them until they 

 ascertain "how much there is in it" for them, and 

 we appeal to the conscience of the honest voters of 

 the State to aid us in suppressing this venality which 

 is sapping the foundations of the State. 



We again impeach the Kepublican party for inca- 

 pacity to deal with the problem of a " free and open " 



