490 



MINNESOTA. 



It was also found that the surveyor general of 

 the district, as well as those of other parts of the 

 State, had been grossly negligent or dishonest. 

 In many cases the party cutting the timber se- 

 cure the appointment as State sealer of one of 

 the men in his employ, thus saving the surveyor 

 general his fees intact. One of the sealers " re- 

 ported 857,000 feet cut from one section, from 

 which 7,000,000 were actually taken, this, too, 

 after being told by one of the foremen that he, 

 the foreman, had cut 2,000,000 himself from that 

 section." 



Forest Fires. An appalling loss of life was 

 caused by the fires that swept through the pine 

 forests of eastern and central Minnesota in the 

 first days of September. Whole towns were de- 

 stroyed, and hundreds perished in the flames 

 that hemmed them in. The greatest loss of life 

 was at Hinckley, about half way between Duluth 

 and St. Paul ; 233 funerals were reported in the 

 town before the 5th, and it is probable that 

 many more had perished in the woods while try- 

 ing to escape. Other towns destroyed were 

 Sandstone, Sandstone Junction, Finlayson, Mill- 

 er, Pokegama, Partridge, and Mission Creek. 

 The loss of life was estimated at over 400, and a 

 large number were maimed for life. More than 

 2,000 were left destitute and over $1,000,000 

 worth of property was destroyed. The territory 

 burned over was about 400 square miles. A re- 

 lief committee was appointed by the Governor, 

 and nearly $25,000 was spent in the work of pro- 

 viding for those made needy by the fire. 



Destructive Cyclone. A cyclone passed over 

 southern Minnesota and northern Iowa Sept. 21. 

 The loss of life was not nearly so great in Min- 

 nesota as in Iowa, and there are no exact reports. 

 The whole number was estimated at 75, of whom 

 about 60 were in Iowa. The Minnesota towns 

 destroyed or badly damaged were Leroy, Spring 

 Valley, Dodge Center, Homer, and Lowther. The 

 strip of country laid waste was about 200 miles 

 long. 



Political. An election was held Nov. 6 for 

 State officers, including Chief Justice of the Su- 

 preme Court and 1 Associate Justice, and for 

 members of Congress in the 7 districts. 



The first State Convention to meet was that of 

 the Republicans, July 11, at St. Paul. On na- 

 tional affairs the resolutions declared in favor of 

 a protective tariff, measures to secure a free bal- 

 lot and a fair count throughout the country, re- 

 stricted immigration, and provision for arbitra- 

 tion in cases of trouble between employers and 

 employed ; also in favor of an amen ;ment mak- 

 ing the presidential term six years and forbid- 

 ding a second term; they condemned trusts seek- 

 ing to control prices and the pension policy of 

 the Administration, and included the following: 



The Kepublican party believes in the use of both 

 gold and silver as money, maintaining the substantial 

 parity of value of every dollar in circulation with that 

 of every other dollar. It believes in bimetallism, and 

 that the restoration of silver as ultimate money to the 

 currency of the world is absolutely necessary for busi- 

 ness prosperity, proper rates of wages, and the welfare 

 of the people. Holding these views, we believe it 

 should be the policy of the United States to do every- 

 thing in its power to promote the restoration of silver 

 to the world's currency. 



We are, and have been in favor of such legislation 

 as is requisite and essential to secure promptly and 



without discrimination and at reasonable rates, con- 

 venient and ample elevator and warehouse accommo- 

 dations and proper and speedy transportation to all 

 accessible and appropriate markets. 



Telegraph, telephone, railroad, and all other trans- 

 portation companies and all corporations or individu- 

 als performing any public service or employment, are 

 amenable and subject to public control : and we favor 

 the enactment and enforcement of such laws as will 

 compel them to render efficient and approved service 

 at fair and reasonable rates, without favor or discrimi- 

 nation as to persons or places. 



On matters pertaining to the State the reso- 

 lutions commended the administration of Go\ 

 Nelson and said : 



Whereas, There are now in this State about 4,000,- 

 000 acres of railroad lauds which are not held or used 

 for railroad purposes and do not contribute to the 

 gross earnings tax or to any other State or local tax, 

 we demand that said lands be taxed by the ordinary 

 method of direct taxation, and that such tax be in ad*- 

 dition to the present gross earnings tax upon railroad 

 property. 



The State ticket was : For Governor, Knute 

 Nelson ; Lieutenant-Governor. David M. Clough ; 

 Secretary of State, Albert Berg; Treasurer, Au- 

 gust T. Koerner; Auditor, Robert C.Dunn; At- 

 torney-General, H. W. Childs; Clerk of Supreme 

 Court, Darius F. Reese ; Chief Justice of Su- 

 preme Court, Charles M. Start ; Associate Jus- 

 tice of Supreme Court, Loren W. Collins. 



The People's party nominated the following 

 ticket, July 12, at St. Paul : For Governor, Sid- 

 ney M. Owen ; Lieutenant-Governor, E. E. Lom- 

 men : Auditor, A. L. Stromberg ; Secretary of 

 State, P. J. Seberger ; Treasurer, F. Borchert ; 

 Attorney-General, J. A. Keyes ; Clerk of Su- 

 preme Court, C. H. Johnson; Chief Justice, Sum- 

 ner Ladd ; Associate Justice, John W. Willis. 



The resolutions declared allegiance to the 

 Omaha platform of 1892, demanded enforcement 

 of all laws relating to corporations, and prohibi- 

 tion of trusts and other combinations and con- 

 spiracies against the public welfare; declared 

 opposition to centralization of government ; de- 

 manded taxation of mining lands in the Stale, 

 right of the people to veto by referendum, and 

 State management of the liquor traffic : favored 

 woman suffrage and opposed the use of public 

 funds for sectarian purposes : desired such man- 

 agement of forests as will prevent further mo- 

 nopolization of them, and said further : 



In the United States it is not a crime for the great 

 mass of the people to unite to improve their material 

 condition by peaceful and lawful means ; and we can 

 not but regard the arrest of Mr. Debs and his associ- 

 ates as an unwise and unjust step, and a dangerous 

 encroachment of the Federal judiciary upon the right! 

 and liberties of the people. 



The- Prohibition party placed the following 

 ticket in the field: For' Governor, II. S. Hille- 

 boe ; Lieutenant-Governor, C. M. Way : Secre- 

 tary of State, C. 0. Winger ; State Treasurer, I- 1 . 

 L. Hanson; State Auditor, S. S. Johnson: At- 





torney-General, J. E. Childs. 



The platform, besides demandin 



prohibition 



and declaring against license laws, declared that 

 duties should be levied only as a defense 1 again^. 

 foreign governments, revenue being incidental ; 

 demanded the remonetization of silver; declared 

 in favor of equal suffrage and equal wages for 

 women, restricted immigration, laws to prohibit 





