Grand Rapids Herald-Review Newspaper, October 4, 1902, Page 5

+ ——— HUN. L.A. ROSING SKETCH OF THE CAREER OF THE DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR. FROM FARM TO LEADERSHIP IS LIFE RECORD FULL OF HARD STRUGGLES AND GREAT ACHIEVEMENTS. POPULAR IN HIS HOME TOWN HIS BEST FRIENDS THE MEN WHO HAVE KNOWN HIM FROM BOYHOOD DAYs. The following biographical sketch of Leonard A. Rosing, Democratic candi- date for governor of Minnesota, is reproduced from the St. Paul Globe: There is no truer guage of a man’s worth than the life which he lives in his home and the estimation in which he is held by the men and women who nown him from childhood, as neighbor and citizen. has a more delightful home held closer in the r of M sota. In > Hitle town, Cannon n is Leonard A. ne pie- Falls, , and his home, made brighter by a charming wife and three beautiful children, is the ideal American fireside. Mr. Rosing is in no sense a revolu- tio , and in every sense touc. affairs of men an _ evolu sistent and faithful in his beli His own career, leading from the station of the humble emigrant boy on an isolated frontier farm to the leader ship of a great political party and managerial successes unprecec nt his faith in the evolut: a strong man. In his veins the blood of strong nations. He he acts as a The German conservatism is balanced-with the Swe id coupled with an e y for policy's n a character cleaa, interesting, and ac counts in a Jar for his suc- cesses that accomplished by another would complete. Born in Air of Polit'cs. Leonard August R: Malmo, Sw th as a German; Swede. e ng was born at attache of the Swedis Bt n- ment and the grandson of a German citizen of Sweden. His mother was the daughter of the colonel command- ing one of the regiments of the impe- rial Swedish troo: a beautiful and accomplished lady. Leonard is the youngest of four children. Until he arrived at the ag years, the life of the ti family under the sunshine of government and family connections. foreshadowed none of the hardships its members were soon to undergo, pocr and alone in a strange land. Then came reverses. The sturdy, self-reliant father and the proud mother gathered their little fam- ily and what was left them from the wreck and set their faces toward free America, to build anew a home and to struggle on the strange frontier'for an independent, if sadly circumscribed life. They came directly to Minnesota, Settling on a rented farm in Bell creek, Goodhue county. Five years later they removed to the little forty-acre patch of grubs which has since been trans- formed into a typical Minnesota farm and which is still the home of Rosing senior. The Rosing children were in the dame schools in the fatherland and in their new home no privation was permitted to prevent them from receiv- ing the meager tutoring of the district schools. Leonard stayed on the farm until he was twentv vears of age. In 1892 he went to Cannon Falls, only five miles from the home farm, and secured em- ployment as a clerk in a general store. Four years later he married. Six years after or in 1888, he went into business for himself, at the stand which he now occupics as the senior member of the firm of Rosing & Kraft, dealers in boots, shoes and furnishings. Debut as a Politician. In 1890 he for the first time appeared on the political stage, as a supporter of O. M. Hall for congress. In 1894 he was a candidate for the state senate and made such a remarkable campaign that two’ years later he found himself called upon-to accomplish the seeming- ly impossible task—reorganize the Democratic party as the chairman of the state central committee. The work was done. In 1898 John Lind was elected governor. In 1902 Mr. Rosing is the unanimous choice of the Democ- racy of the state to succeed Governor Lind as the party standard bearer. Mr. Rosing’s political career, re- markable as it is, js marked at every step by the man and the indomitable courage to do what he believes is right, regardless of the personal sacrifice the exercise of his conscience may involve. He was reared a Republican by a fath- er who is still a Republican and whose just pride in his son is still slightly tinged with regret that the son ‘has broken away from the father’s politi- cal faith. It has been charged that Mr. Rosing has never made a political sacrifice. It is an unthinking and unjustified charge brought by those who know neither the man nor his career. His retirement from the Republican party under the existing conditions was a sacrifice, at that time considered suicidal and a sacrifice made solely for principle. In common with the Republicans of of nine ‘Minnesota, Mr. Rosing believed in tar- iff reform and in common with the ma- jority of the Republicans who have be as surprising as they are | ( sh ac- ; ¢ stinea principle ior tne SaKe or party, believed that the tariff reform which the Republican party promised, meant tariff reduction. Instead of tariff re- duction came the McKinley bill and true to principle Rosing left the party and affiliated with the Democrats. Leaves Republican Party. He was a delegate to the Goodhue Republican county convention in 1890 and his last act as a Republican was the introduction and passage at that convention of a resolution indorsing Senator Davis’ bill putting binding twine on the free list. From that con- vention he walked out a Democrat to what seemed inevitable political ob- livion but held cheap at the price of persenal freedom. Mr. Rosing took the stump for O. M. Hall, the Democratic congressivnal candidate, who was re-elected. Again in 1892 he stumped the county for Hall who was re-elected and in 1894 he ac- cepted the Democratic nomination for the state senate to assist Hall. Out of 7,000 votes in Goodhue county only 1,200 were Democratic, yet Mr. Rosing polled 1,855, which was little short of remarkable considering the discontent among Democrats over the Cleveland administration. His services on the congressional committee in 1892 and 1894 and his stirring, logical tariff speeches in the latter campaign made him a marked man in the Deraocracy of the state. He was invited to address the Jeffer- son banquet and left a profound im- pression. Early in August, 1896, the Democrat. ic state ticket was nominated. Two weeks later the young Goodhue county leader was elected chairman of the state committee and confronted with the task of organizing a party popular- ly supposed to be disrupted beyond re- pair. There was absolutely no state party organization. What little there had been in the preceding years had disappeared like dew before the sun in the strife of hcnest differenves which divided the party between gold and silver. The election was only ten weeks dis- tant. There was no money. Rosing wes mnknown in many counties and in fully as many knew no one in whom he covld trust or to whom he could look for advice. With the most popu- lar candidate ever nominated at the head of a Minnesota ticket .and his own indcmitable pluck, he bezan the work of organization. The oreanizi tien cculd be only sunerficial but the results achieved startled the Repub- licans not alone of Minnesota but of the United States, First Great Work. Democrats in every county {n Min- nesota responded loyally to the call of the magnetic leader at the helm. They were loaded with’ responsibility and worked as they had never before reamed of working in the apathetic as of the canceded Repnblican suc- ses. ‘Mey worked against a normal Republican majority of 40,000 and without money sufficient to defray the postage bills of some of the Repub- lican campaigns. It was a presidential year. Mr. Me- Kinley carried the state by 58,000. On the face of the returns Governor cugh was elected but by only 3,300 55,000 behind his ticket. Republic ans were astounded, Democrats Ge. lighted and their faith in their new leader established sa:e from any at- in the spring of the following y Mr. Resing began the work of organization for the campaign of 1898. In January, 1898, he had perfected or- ganizations in every county in the state headed by capable, énergetic men backed up by the loyel and intel- ligent co-operation of subordinate workers in every precinct. The actual workers were invited to the annual banquet and the largest political af- fair of the kind ever given in Minne- sota was the result. The ensuing campaign will be ever memorable in the annals of Minneso- ta’s political history. Without money, indeed with funds barely sufficient to maintain a well equipped working force at the state headquarters, Chair- man Rosing put thousands of men to work. Every man was given his part. His share of the campaign was turned over to him and he was not only made to feel but to realize that the chief of the great campaign organization was with him in every effort and had # watchful eye on every movement. Ad- vice, suggestion, help, words of good cheer were constantly theirs and in St. Paul the silent man from Goodhue county, working eighteen or twenty hours every day, kept always in per- sonal touch with them and their re spective trials. ° Complete Mastery of Details. In the latter days of the campaign, the Republicans resting secure in what they believed an overwhelming defeat of the Fusion candidate, laughed to scorn the confident claims of the man from Goodhue. He was not talking for publication or effect but when ques- tioned touching the result of the cam- paign consistently claimed Mr. Lind would be elected. The day preceding the election he placed Mr. Lind’s plu- rality at 20,000 and advised his friends inclined* to speculate that it was en- tirely safe to place their bets on a plurality of that size. The Republic- ans laughed and took the bets. The result is history. Mr. Lind was elected. His plurality was within 200 votes of the estimate given by Mr. Rosing and the difference was on the safe side. Mr. Rosing went with Gov- ernor Lind to the executive office as private secretary. There is no gainsay- ' ing that Mr. Lind was governor every minute of his incumbency, but that his private secretary was close to the gov- ernor is equally true. Governor Lind, free from the practice of anything like policy for policy’s sake, the governor who did things because he believed them right and allowed the advocates of policy to do the worrying, found a worthy and esteemed lieutenant in the man who managed his wonderful cam- paign. Mr. Rosing was the governor's @onfident helper and with his immense eapacity for detail acquired a compre- hensive. knowledge of the state and its government as great, if not greater, than any man ever connected with an administration. |. Natural Choice of Party. ' ‘The campaign of 1900 which can only » be considered in the light of a triumph for both Governor Lind and Chairman Rosing was in many respects a repeti- tion of the campaign of 1898. The Re publican success was not of a kind that carries large credit with it and after 20600 imnpronerly — marked _ ballots. terest in the } . oe a through tne grace or waius orkvy una his Social-Democrat candidate were thrown out, Van Sant was declared elected by only a bare 2,000. ‘When John Lind declined to again make the race at the head of the Democracy of Minnescta, the party’s choice naturally enough fell unani- mously on his trusted friend and tried lieutenant. Democrats know and like all men who know him place the most implicit trust in Leonard A. Rosing. Without any of the much flaunted peace conferences of other states and harmony meetings which have resulted | only,in wider breaches, the Democracy | of Minnesota is united. No man is re- sponsible in so large a degree as Leon- ard A. Rosing and ro man is more de- serving of the loyal party support which he will receive, than he. No sacrifice for the party’s good has been too great for this leader. His business, his home and all his personal interests have been relegated to sec- ondary places when the party was in need of his services or his money. The party has been able to give him no substantial compensation for his years of toil. He stepped from his country store to the helm of the cam- paign. His business was neglected to give his party and the state the bene- fit of his trained mind as secretary to the governor and when his services were no longer réquired he stepped back to the country store, a poorer man, repaid only by the thought that his services had been well rendered. Faith Stronger Than Self Interest. Now that the party again calls for his leadership, this time as a candi- date for the executive bead of the state, he again accepts the cail and again at a heavy personal sacrifice. Again his home and his business must ‘ be neglected. He responds cheerfully notwithstanding the fact that he can ill afford it for Mr. Rosing is not a rich man. Keen business man that he is his Cevotion to his party and his open handed generosity have kept him | poor, but his faith in conservative re- form, his large views of life and his loyalty to the Democracy are stronger than self interest. Mr. Rosing is not a great orator yet there are few better campaign speak- ers or more interesting and convincing argumentative conversationalists. He is a thinker. His heart works with his brain. He knows what he wishes | to say and he says it in a manner at once clear, convincing, comprehen- sive. His manners are simple. His smile genial, genuine. The grasp of his hand is warm, earnest. He is a men. Contact with him leaves no other impressict1. His success and as cendency over men is easily under- stood when the man himself is known, but those successes mark innumerable battles against circumstances under which a weaker man would succumb. Interesting as Mr. Rosing’s career as a politician in the broader accept- ance of the term politician is, his pri- vate career has a deeper interest. He is a fine type of the self-made, self- educated American and American he is always. Few men have reached the pinnacle of political success attained by Mr. Rosing with the handicaps he | has successfully carried. And fewer men have successfully withstood the ravages of temptation practical poli- tics present in hundreds of forms, as has the simple farmer boy, country merchant and great but simple party header. He has come through all his battles with a reputation and a con- science unsullied. His disposition is no less*sunny than when he was only the simple farmer boy and his faith in mean is unabridged. arly Life of Privation. Only the older residents of Goodhue county, or those similarly situated in those strenuous frontier days can fully realize the hardships endured by the Rosing family. The father, a land- owner, a gentleman of the court of Sweden. The sweetfaced mother, born in the lap of luxury; a lady in the highest sense, and their children, trans- ferred from the highest social circles and a life of ease and pleasure to the tiny log cabin among the Goodhue grubs and a fight for existence. It is to the good blood of his, for- bears and the culture of his parents that Mr. Rosing owes in the largest degree his succ Strong in the strength of good birth and clean hearts the parents never faltered in the long, weary struggle for a competency and children never enjoyed better precept. They were taught to labor and pray. Their home, humble as it was, was made the dearest place in the world and they were never allowed to forget that principle and clean hearts carry the highest honors/and are symbolical of the truest nobility. Leonard, the youngest of four chil- dren and least schooled in the mother country, received only the education of the country school, probably only typical of the backwoods school of thirty. years ago, and the instruction given by his mother. He worked as only the sons of settlers have worked. but he was a thinker and at the age of fourteen had commanded the’ at- tention of several of the professional men of the country, who were attracted to the humble Rosing home by tbe culture of the parents. The boy was a deep reader of ali the good literature that came in his way. Naturally enough his largest op- portunities for study were offered by the newspapers and they were few in those days. His interest in current events touching policies of government and vital questions of society was es- pecially deep. , -Broad and Deep Thinker. He first attracted the attention of the men who have since watched his career with the pardonable pride: of personal interest, by the discovery that the boy of thirteen was thoroughly conversant with a vigorous.war of rhetoric being waged by a prominent newspaper man and a leading divine of the Swedish church over a question of canonical practice which involved the funeral rites. © As a boy he was always able to bring other boys around to his way of think- ing. He went to the bottom of a ques- tion, probed every side of a problem and summed it up concisely, logically. ‘When he was twenty years old he left “the farm to enter the business world as clerk in a general store. His par ents were able to give him nothing but health and clean morals. He at once attracted the attention of the leading citizens of Cannon Falls, how- ever, by his gentlemanly manners and clean personal life and by the time he had attained his majority he was estab- lished as one of the recognized leaders of thought and promoters of civie in- little town, > | fn the slightest particular. ) of feeling and delicacy. 441s early mannooa ana pusiness ca- reer were marked by the dominant characteristics that have made him a power in politics. A careful student of the young man divided his promi- nent character marks under three heads. That was twenty years ago. Today he has not changed his estimate “ His chart of Rosing’s character is: First—Tenacity of purpcse; se-?-re- liance. oF Second—Large faith in. men, high ideals and unbounded good nature. Third—Indomitable courage and loy- alty to the point that knows no turn- ing back from a friend. ih The young clerk rose rapidly. In a few years he embarked in business for himself and as business man in the same degree as an employe he has enjoyed the fullest confidence of the entire community. In his business his remarkable abilities as a judge of hu- man nature is vividly shown. Loved as a Neighbor. Mr. Rosing is perhaps best known in Cannon Falis as a neighbor. Scores of stories are told of his open handed generosity always carefully guarded from the public and a kindly thought- fulness almost womanly in its depth This little story told by one of Cannon Fall’s lead- ing citizens is fully indicative of that side of his character. _A few years ago the little town was visited by an diphtheria epidemic. This gentleman saw two of his children car- ried away to the little city of the dead on the hillside, without benefit of clergy or attendance of sorrowing friends. .The attendance of the public at the funeral was forbidden by the health authorities nearby, frantic in their efforts to stop the epidemic. And then his little son, the apple of his eye, died. Friends were shut out. He was alone. with his wife in their sorrow, deepened by the chill of ni ee When the gentleman alone with the body of his child arrived at the burial place, he found that some one, unable to express his sympathy in another manner, had covered the frozen walls of the little grave with pure white cloth. The mounds of ugly clods were similarly hidden and knots of evergreen held the lining in place. It was an attention that the grief- stricken father will never forget but it was not until long after, when one who saw the grave draped and dis- closed the identity of the samaritan, that he knew his comforter was Mr. Rosing. A Glimpse of the True Man. That is only one of many incidents which the citizens of Cannon Falls de- light to tell of their friend and neigh- bor but it illustrates the depth of his feeling and his keen appreciation of the sensibilities of the human heart. His civic pride is intense and the pretty little town where he has lived half of his forty years and which was his boyhood’s metropolis and its wel- fare are among his chief concerns and delights. He has never sought or held any localvoffice, but he is a leader in every public movement. And he is nev- er so deep in private or party business that he cannot lay it all aside to lend a helping hand for Cannon Falls. Now he is deep in a scheme to secure public title to a beautiful, natural park site within three minutes walx of the busi- ness center of the town, which he hopes will some not distant day be the suburban home of many St. Paul and Minneapolis men. His home life shows the best side of Mr. Rosing. In 1886 he was married to Miss May B. Season. His bride was @ native of Cannon Falls and a suc- cessful teacher in the public schools. She brought to the modest little home where they started, the graces of true nobility and the accomplishments of a cultured lady. They -live in a larger house now, and their unpretentious home is the embodiment of modest comfort and unmistakable refinement. The first thought of the guest at the Rosing home is the wonder that Mr. Rosing, surrounded by his charming wife and his three beautiful children, could be induced to give up any part of his enjoyment of the home life in which he takes such evident delight to fight the battles of a political party, His Family and His Home. His children, George Leonard, aged fourteen, a quiet, studious boy; Mar- guerita Ebba, twelve, a spirituelle lit- tle miss, and Willis Season, a lovable little fellow of six years just arrived at the dignity of knickerbockers, rev- erence their father not alone as a par- ent but as a friend and a companion. With his wife and children about him he is at his best and admits that then his life is full. An hour’s conversation with Mr. Rosing leaves the stranger in amaze- ment at the depth of his self-education. A peep in his compact little library and den explains it all and reveals the man. Close in his favorite coraer is his private bock case. Its shelves con- tain only a few dozen volumes but they furnish an index to the curricu- lum of his school, the school of men and conditions. At the top in the | place of honor are the complete writ- ings of Thomas Jefferson. Then the messages and paners of the presidents of the United States, World’s Best Orations, Encyclopedia Brittanica.com- plete bound sets of the Review of Re- views, Kerit’s Commentaries and kin- dred text books on various phases of the law. John Fisk, McCauley, Gib- bon, . Washington rving, Byron, Shakespeare, Milton. is the library of a busy man. It and the men in every day life have furnished the text books of an education as liberal as practical. G. A. VAN SMITH. COUNTY AND VILLAGE OFFICERS COUNTY. me Auditor... . Farrell Treasurer. ©. Miller Sheriff.. .W.C. Tyndall Attorney hester L. Pratt Register o! A. B. Clair Clerk of Court. ssmussen Judge of Probat 4. S. Huson Surveyoi James Murchie Coro r. Thomas lussell ner. Supt. of Schools rs, Hattie F. Booth COMMISSIONERS. District No. 1. (Chairman) District No. District No. Districu N District N A. D. Brooks ank S. Lang W. G. Moore H. Hennessy John lraser Presfdent ‘Trustees . Recorder. Treasurer, Attorney. Street Comm! Marshal... { weil a A ee ea Ree ae aE a ae a ate Me ee ate aE RE Re ate RE Me Dea’er ‘in REAL ESILATE Ipsurance written with some of the . largest companies in the world. Hill ‘City Lands a Specialty. Agent for desirable city property in Grand Rapids. FARMING GRAZING PINE AND MINERAL Lands Bought and Sold. Office on Fourth street east of Michigan House. Grand Rapids, Minnesota. “halter cyclen aceehhchceale eet G. C. SMITH DEALER IN Fruits, Confectionery, Ice Cream Soda, Ice Cream, Drinks, Tobaccos, - Choice Lines of Cigars Grand Rapids, - Minn. THIRD ST., Opp. Depot. SRE AE Re Ea ae a a a ae ae ae a ae ae a a ae a EEE Se aS ae ae ae ae aR ae ee ae a ae ae ae ae ate ae ae ate ae pea a HE Ee ee ae se eae ae ae eae ae ae ae ae aE a a tea Ee ea Se a AE ae AE aka ea ae eae ta ae a N. A . PAONAULT: ‘PROPRIFTOR Pioneer Barber Shop_ Your Patronage Solicited. fe LELAND AVENUE. SII Re Rete tenet Seat a Seat ge tee Re eRe ee ‘Se ARE aE EA Ae ae RE eA ae ee ea ae ae ae eae he ae a ee te REA Eee RE AE oS in ae RE a a a HE BRICK LIME CEMENT Geo. F. Kremer. Grand Rapids, Minn. F, P. SHELDON. Cashier ©. E. AIKEN, Asst. Cashier O. W. HasTINas. President. P. J. SAeLDON. Vice President. Lumbermen’s Bank Grand Rapids, Minn. 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