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MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY. VOL. XII. PLATE XXXIII.

MEMORIAL ADDRESSES IN HONOR OF HARLAX PAGE HALL.

PRESENTED IN A MEETING OF THIS SOCIETY WITH THE MINNE- SOTA EDITORIAL ASSOCIATION, IN THE SENATE CHAMBER or THE OLD CAPITOL, ST. PAUL, ON MONDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 14, 1908.

GOVERNOR JOHN A. JOHNSON presided in this meeting, and spoke briefly of his personal acquaintance with Mr. Hall.

CAPTAIN HENRY A. CASTLE, of St. Paul, read the following address :

Minnesota has just celebrated, modestly but impressively, the fiftieth anniversary of her admission to the Union as a state. She has chosen to do this by some expansion of the splendid an- nual exhibit of her agricultural, manufacturing and mineral in- dustries. More attention might with propriety have been given to exploiting the development of her educational interests, not the least of which is the public press.

The journalism of a commonwealth is at once the inspiration, the record, and to some extent the beneficiary of its advancement. The true-hearted journalists of a new state are the advance agents of prosperity and civilization, too few of whom reap where they have sown.

True civilization and true journalism must be coexistent; as to which may be the major, which the minor premise, let fools contest. Freedom of the press must be a recognized principle of fundamental, constitutional law, in any real civilization. The free school, the open Bible, the unfettered press, are prime factors of the only progress that reaches and illumines the universal brotherhood of man. None other is genuine. The civilizations

732 MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLECTIONS.

which preceded newspapers were local; their blessings were for the smallest circles. Centuries elapsed before the common people of Europe knew that America had been discovered; ages rolled on while the simplest inventions were slowly breaking their way through crusts of ignorance and prejudice, to the hand and home of the toiler.

During the fifty years of Minnesota's statehood, her met- ropolitan journals have advanced from the 4-page, 5-column daily (Mondays excepted), with its intelligence from' Europe a month old and its acknowledgments to citizens returning from the East "for Xew York papers with the freshest of last week's general news." to seven issues a week of papers containing from 16 to 60 pages each, printed from stereotyped plates on perfecting presses, with cablegrams from London, Tokyo, Auckland, and Cape Town, all profusely illustrated, and the latest, choicest morsels of gossip and criticism. The weekly newspapers have increased in value at a corresponding ratio.

Marvel not that with this progress of the press, and largely because of it, Minnesota has increased in population during this half century from 150,000 to 2,000,000; that her magnificent resources have been developed in an equal proportion; that an enormous foreign immigration has been absorbed and American- ized ; and that her people are among the most intelligent, progres- sive and prosperous of the nation's 90,000,000 happy citizens.

That the press had its full share in promoting this progress, as it has had in promoting • all modern progress, is universally conceded. The wisest men of the past have been readiest in their ascriptions of honor to this agency. Thomas Jefferson asserted his preference to have newspapers without a government, rather than a government without newspapers. Thiers averred that national liberty and the freedom of the press cannot exist separ- ately. Lord Mansfield boasted that the courts of justice sit every day in the newspapers. Bulwer called them sleepless watchmen that report every danger which menaces the institutions of the country. Macaulay plaintively pronounced it the crowning mis- fortune of the English laborers in the days of the Stuarts that no newspapers pleaded their cause. De Tocqueville said that the news- paper is the intellectual familiar to all men, dropping the same

MEMORIAL ADDRESSES IN HONOR OF H. P. HALL. 733

thought into ten thousand minds at the same moment. Wendell Phillips calls it parent, school, college, theater, all in one; and says every drop of our blood is colored by it.

Minnesota, as a territory and as a state, early acquired a highly creditable reputation in Eastern political and financial centers for the quality of the men she sent to represent her. The polished and scholarly Kamsey, the Bices, Sibley, Wilkinson, Windom, and Donnelly, were in such marked contrast to the shirtsleeve senators and sod-corn representatives usually chosen in the be- ginning by Western constituencies, that a standard of presum- ably refined and cultivated citizenship behind them was established, which has been of inestimable benefit to their successors.

Contemporary with these broad, cultured and honored state- builders of the early days, was a galaxy of able editors, remark- able for the energy and success with which they spread abroad the glories of glorious Minnesota, while at the same time battling, according to their several lights, for good laws, honest govern- ment, and a square deal for all.

Their lines went out through all the earth; there was no speech nor language where their voice was not heard. Antiseptic thought and sterilized expression were not always available, but their real meaning was seldom misapprehended.

To mention the names of James M. Goodhue, Joseph R. Brown, Earle S. Goodrich, Thomas Foster, T. M. Newson, William R. Marshall, Joseph A. Wheelock, Daniel Sinclair, Frederick Driscoll, William S. King, D. S. B. Johnston, J. A. Leonard, W. B. Mitchell, and L.'E. Fisher, is to catalogue only a few of those who, with varying measures of ability and diverse standards of social and political ethics, rallied loyally around the state flag and worked strenuously in building up the moral, material, and educational interests of Minnesota.

No new state ever had better public men, better journalists, or better citizens. Let our fervent prayer be that their success- ors, with presumably better equipment and enlarged opportunities, may worthily carry on their noble work.

Academic discussion as to the real influence of the press on government and civilization is always fascinating. Whether jour- nalism is a sound or onlv the echo of a sound, whether the news-

734 MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLECTIONS.

papers run the world or the world runs the newspapers, are fruit- ful themes of controversy even among editors themselves. But as to the potency of Minnesota newspapers in developing the state, there is and there can be no dispute.

It is true that there have been notable historic examples of learning and refinement without newspaperas. Home, Athens, and Alexandria, with hundreds 6f lesser lights, each shed its radiance over a short radius, then went out in the darkness of barbarism. We cannot, even yet, equal their masterly achieve- ments, nor so much as conceive how they were accomplished, — literature most entrancing, sculpture in breathing beauty wrought, prodigies of architecture, classic and ideal all, thrilling the ages with a deathless wonder.

These phenomenal outbursts of noble culture were half miracu- lous episodes in history. But viewed from our long focal distance, how provincial, how isolated, how evanescent! They nourished without the press. Perhaps they faded through lack of it: who can tell ?

Without newspapers, the men of culture were so shelled in and shut off from the masses that no electric currents of sym- pathy or intelligence ever flashed between. Freedom and civiliza- tion starved because they thrust no rootlets into the popular in- tellect. Even the tidings of the glories and achievements of these epochs scarcely reached contemporaries beyond the walls of the constellation of cities which girt the Mediterranean with blazing stars.

We now enjoy an era of the diffusion of knowledge. Through the press and the school the best thought and the best solutions of life's problems are spread abroad among all the people in en- lightened lands. Hence the average man is better informed and more prosperous than his predecessors.

While journalism is an occupation but partially recognized as a profession, its pursuit requires a versatility and a devotion demanded of few others. Within the wide periphery of this calling are found all grades and conditions of men. The motives, the opportunities, and the rewards, attached to its different orders, are so infinitely varied that the amplest possible range of character and intellect will be found in its ranks. Between the inky but

MEMORIAL ADDRESSES IN HONOR OF H. P. HALL. 735

anxious oracle of the back settlements, half emerged from a mechanical chrysalis, also justice of the peace and postmaster, and the pampered dilettante of the metropolitan daily, "swimming with clogged wings through melted sugar of roses," whose dainty nostrils sniff with disdain the faintest aroma of perspiration, all intermediate species stand aligned.

But in a new state all who earnestly, honestly, fearlessly strive, within their several spheres, for the better things of life, deserve an equitable share in the grand aggregate of honor.

When the full history of Minnesota comes to be written, and a fair distribution of the individual honors is made, no small por- tion will be awarded to the zealous journalist, genial comrade and valued citizen, in commemoration of whose conspicuous services to the commonwealth, the Minnesota Historical Society and the Minnesota Editorial Association have specially dedicated this eve- ning's exercises.

Harlan Page Hall was born in Eaverina, Ohio, August 27, 1838, and died at Saint Paul, Minnesota, April 9, 1907, aged nearly sixty-nine years.

He came of Puritan ancestry, long settled in New England. His forefathers there were military officers, from the time of the Colonial wars. The family has preserved a commission issued March 24, 1760, by Governor Fitch to Jabez Hall as "first lieuten- ant of the fourth company of a regiment of foot," enrolled to invade Canada and "reduce Montreal." Another commission,, signed by John Hancock, "Governour of Massachusetts," dated 1788, gives to "Lyman Hall, gentleman," who was a son of Jabez Hall, the rank of captain in the Kevolutionary army. The son of Lyman Hall was a lieutenant in the same company, and his son, in turn, the grandfather of Harlan P. Hall, took part in the war of 1812, and in the line of duty contracted the illness of which he died.

A prominent member of the family during the Kevolutionary period was another Lyman Hall, a Yale graduate, who was gover- nor of Georgia and a member of the Continental Congress.

Lyman Walcott Hall, the father of H. P. Hall, devoted him- self to a civil career which became conspicuous. He was a lawyer and an editor, like his son. He was strongly antislavery; he

736 MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLECTIONS.

helped to form the Kepublican party, and he first brought James A. -Garfield into political prominence.

Lyman Walcott Hall was born at Lanesborp, Mass., in 1808, and removed to the "Western Reserve" of northern Ohio in 1830. He began there his newspaper work in 1836, and for more than forty years was an influential journalist in that region, notable for its uncompromising antislavery sentiment which he was largely instrumental in awakening and directing. Among his contem- poraries and political associates were Salmon P. Chase, Joshua R. Giddings, Joseph Medill, and Benjamin F. Wade. Having retired from his editorial duties, he removed to Saint Paul in 1878, and died here at his son's home in 1897.

Harlan P. Hall was thus, as it were, a born newspaper man. Heredity, -environment, and inclination, all combined to shape his destiny. As early as his eighth year he began, as a recreation, to learn type-setting in his father's office. Until his seventeenth year he performed various duties around the printing office, when not attending school.

After going through the local schools at Ravenna, he entered the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, where he graduated in 1861. Returning from college he worked as a printer and writer in his father's office, devoting his evenings to the study of law. He was admitted to the bar and formed a partnership with 0. P. Brown, then a leading lawyer at Ravenna.

While at college Mr. Hall met his future wife, Harriet G. Lamb, daughter of Ezra Lamb, a promient citizen of Phillipston, Massachusetts. On April 9, 1862, Mr. Hall and Miss Lamb were married at the First Congregational church in Cleveland. One sister of Miss Lamb married John X. Davidson, another James H. Davidson, — the three sisters becoming residents of Saint Paul.

The delicate health of Mrs. Hall induced the young lawyer to give up the legal profession, temporarily, as he supposed, and to seek a more salubrious climate. By the advice of Governor Swift of Minnesota, who was also a native of Ravenna, they came tc this state, with the gratifying result that the invalid wife re- covered and survived fortv-three vears. or until 1905.

MEMORIAL ADDRESSES IN HONOR OF H. P. HALL. 737

They arrived in St. Paul in October, 1862. Finding a prospect of more immediate returns in a newspaper office than at the bar, Mr. Hall obtained work as a compositor on the St. Paul Press, a daily morning paper. The business records of the office, still extant, show that he served "at the case" four days, when he was transferred to the staff of the newly established St. Paul Union, as a reporter. Frederick Driscoll, publisher of the Union, an- other morning daily, became state printer; Mr. Hall reported the proceedings of the Legislative session of 1863, thus getting his first taste of state politics, and he remained with the paper as reporter and editorial writer, until it was merged with the Press, thereafter conducted by Wheelock and Driscoll. Both papers were always staunchly Republican, and loyal supporters of Lincoln's war policy.

Mr. Hall served some time on the staff of the Press, during which period he wrote and printed on February 22, the famous satirical editorial on George Washington which he delighted in reproducing in the Dispatch or Globe years later, on the recur- rence of the anniversary, jocosely attributing it to Mr. J. A. Wheelock, the responsible editor of the Press, who was born a subject of the King of Great Britain.

While performing various and simultaneous duties, including that of night editor of the Union and the Press, Mr. Hall con- tracted the habit of all-night work, keeping the forms open until four or five o'clock in the morning, and often carrying the papers to the stage office on his way home to an early breakfast. He was thus able, on several occasions, to execute brilliant journalistic "scoops" on the Democratic rival sheet, the Pioneer, whose force had a less voracious appetite for prolonged exertion.

In 1864, "Commodore" William F. Davidson, the steamboat king of the time, quarreled with the Press people over some ques- tions of river navigation, and purchased the Daily Pioneer, plac- ing his nephew, John X. Davidson, and H. P. Hall in charge of it, the latter as editor. All concerned in the purchase and manage- ment were Republicans.

H8-47

738 MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLECTIONS.

But the Democrats of the city and state were lost without their organ, and within a few months the Pioneer again changed ownership and its politics, at a greatly advanced figure. The two young men retired with a fair capital.

With his share, Mr. Hall entered into a partnership with David Eamaley as job printers and publishers of a weekly com- mercial paper in St. Paul, the firm doing a prosperous business.

On the basis of this printing plant and with little other capital beyond their individual or joint experience, energy, and genuine newpaper talent, Ramaley and Hall began, February 29, 1868, the publication of the St. Paul Daily Dispatch, which has not missed an issue for forty years and has grown to be one of the leading journals of the state and nation. At first the Dis- patch was small, but it was always lively; it did not get the as- sociated press news? but it made up with its local enterprise and its editorial pith and point for its deficiencies in this respect. It sprang, at once, into a merited popularity.

I first met Harian P. Hall in February, 1867, at the gathering in St. Paul which organized the Minnesota Editors' and Publishers' Association. He represented, with his partner, Mr. Ramaley, their weekly St. Paul Commercial, then issued in this city, while I represented the Anoka Union. Mr. Hall was noticeably busy and helpful, as he was during forty annual meetings thereafter, in the proceedings of the session, and especially in the entertainment of visiting editors. I then formed an acquaintance with him, which ripened into a close personal friendship that, in spite of occasional sharp political antagonisms, endured uninterrupted during the remainder of his life.

When the Dispatch was founded, I naturally watched its development with much interest, was gratified with its success, and occasionally contributed to its columns, having, early in 1868, become a permanent resident of St. Paul. Mr. Hall soon pur- chased Mr. Ram aley 's interest in the paper, separating it from the job printing office which the latter retained. A little later, the exclusive right to the day service of the associated press was se- cured, which placed the paper on a secure footing and constitutes a highly valuable franchise retained by the Dispatch to this day.

MEMORIAL ADDRESSES IN HONOR OF H. P. HALL. 739

Mr. Hall was among the first conductors of city newspapers to recognize and give effect to the power of the so-called country press. As truly as that all men are wiser than any man, so truly the collective democracy of the profession is more potent than its autocracy. As long as the landslide in the morning is the states- man's warning will the "opinions of the press," gathered from a score of a hundred local publications which stand with finger tips on the nation's pulse, be the keynote to the coming diapason of cheer or fury. They constitute the concentrated impact of projectiles multitudinous. It is always safe to suspect the man who sneers at newspapers. And he who underestimates the merits or the influence of the humblest of honest, intelligent, country editors, betrays incapacity to compass the dynamics of destiny.

Early in his connection with the Dispatch an esteemed con- temporary attributed to Mr. Hall the assertion that his chief mission in life was "to raise hell and sell newspapers." It is probable that our subject never spoke thus of himself, but it is certain that he cheerfully accepted the characterization as a neat if crude tribute to his concept of live journalism.

The Dispatch was the most successful of H. P. HalPs numer- ous ventures in the journalistic field, and in a peculiar sense he was the Dispatch, or, rather, the Dispatch was Hall incarnate. It bristled all over with his peculiarities. It was avowedly Repub- lican, but was signally independent. It led in what was called the "Donnelly bolt" of 1868; supported Austin for governor in 1869, with some misgivings, and, more earnestly, Averill for Con- gress in 1870. In 1872 it advocated the election of Horace G-reeley for President as a Liberal Republican. It first proposed Gush- man K. Davis as a candidate for Governor in 1873, and opposed the election of Alexander Ramsey to the United States Senate for a third term in 1875. The incidents of these contests have been picturesquely portrayed in Mr. HalPs permanent record. It is enough to say that he not only wrote and printed his unmistakable views on these campaigns, but he personally went to the front in many caucuses and conventions, marshalling his cohorts to vic- tory or leading a forlorn hope, with equal hilarity and enthusiasm.

740 MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLECTIONS.

Great assemblages were his newspaper specialty, and he de- lighted in them as political incidents. It is said that he person- all}' attended, and reported for his various papers, sixteen nation- al conventions of different parties between 1872 and 1900. His reports were always graphic and accurate.

By 1876, the Dispatch, through a combination of circum- stances, had become nominally, at least, Democratic, and was sup- porting Samuel J. Tilden for President. Mr. Hall had prospered. In addition to his profitable newspaper, he had built up a lucra- tive "patent inside" business. But his ambition was not satis- fied. Ho yearned to enter the "morning field/7 to himself own and control a model morning newspaper, affording, he believed, a wider scope than that he now had, for his tireless energies. Politics was a minor consideration; real, live, aggressive, successful jour- nalism was his objective point. He looked over the situation care- fully and thought he now saw his opportunit}r.

The Eepublican Press and the Democratic Pioneer had been consolidated into the Pioneer Press, conducted by Wheelock and Driscoll on a platform of independent politics. This left one morning associated press franchise vacant, and it left the Repub- licans of Minnesota without an avowed organ at the state capital. The Republicans wanted such an organ at once, and H. P. Hall wanted, in the near future, to establish a morning paper.

Accordingly an association of active Republicans was formed in September, 1876, which purchased the Dispatch of Mr. Hall and on September 13, less than two months before the election, changed its politics "between two days," to the consternation of one set of partisans and the jubilant joy of another.

I was a party to this purchase and to the negotiations which brought it about. At the request of my associates, I left my law practice to assume, temporarily, the editorship of the paper, a position which I continued to hold almost continuously until 1885, adding to it in 1881 that of publisher and sole owner of the Dis- patch.

In the course of the business transactions connected with this purchase, and in many complicated matters of settlement, as well as other financial adjustments extending through a series of yearsr

MEMORIAL ADDRESSES IN HONOR OF H. P. HALL. 741

I found Mr. Hall, as others always found him, the soul of in- tegrity and honor, ever prompt, reliable and trustworthy.

Time and effort were expended, diplomacy and pressure were brought to bear, in securing the morning franchise for Mr. Hall's new venture, and it was not until January 15, 1878, that the first issue of his St. Paul Globe made its appearance. It was Democratic in politics. It brought the innovation of seven papers a week. It was in other respects notable, but it never fully realized the hope of its too optimistic founder. In 1885, the Globe was sold to Lewis Baker. A few years later when the property was in the custody of the court, Mr. Hall held the management for a time, under the receivership.

For several years, in the political course of both the Dispatch and the Globe, Mr. Hall seemed to follow the fortunes of Hon. Ignatius Donnelly, one of the ablest, most eloquent, most mag- netic, and easily the most uniformly unsuccessful, of the public men this state has developed.

As to which of the two was the actual leader in promoting candidacies and shaping policies, it is difficult to determine. But from 1870 to 1882, I believe the devoted editor loyally and enthu- siastically supported the perennial aspirant in all his races, under different party designations, for Congressman, senator, and gov- ernor, each race ending in defeat, but none quenching the ardor of contestant or backer.

In one of these contests Mr. Hall introduced a characteristic newspaper novelty. In 1878 Mr. Donnelly was the Democratic candidate for Congress against Hon. W. D. Washburn, in the district then embracing St. Paul, Minneapolis, and all the coun- ties north and west, which now send six representatives to Wash- ington. It was toward the close of the "grasshopper" era, and a burning state issue was grain inspection, having no relevancy whatever to Congressional politics, but that was of little conse- quence.

One morning the Globe came out with its party slogan "Down with Washburn and his Little Brass Kettle" (the instrument used for grading wheat), printed at the end of every telegram, editorial, news item, and advertisement in the entire sheet. The sentence was thus repeated hundreds of times, and no reader could

742 MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLECTIONS.

escape it. The result was ludicrous but effective. The amazed Globe subscriber read: "Mr. Jones died last night; down with Washburn and his little brass kettle." "Miss Smith and Mr. Brown were married yesterday; down with Washburn and his little brass kettle." "Wanted — a competent cook; down with Washburn and his little brass kettle." And so on, up one column and down the next, — everywhere. Nevertheless, Donnelly was defeated, as usual.

The Globe, although a Democratic organ, being the only Demo- cratic daily in the State, did not hesitate to play an active part in the internal feuds of the Eepublican party, then securely domi- nant. This course was adopted in pursuance of Mr. Hall's par- tisan policy, to stimulate dissensions among his opponents, and of his journalistic policy, to publish a live, readable newspaper. It opposed the nomination of Governor John S. Pillsbury for a third term in 1879, which he succeeded in getting, and for a fourth term in 1881, wherein he failed. It opposed the re-election of William Windom as United States senator in 1883, and was the first to propose the name of D. M. Sabin, who was finally chosen by the Legislature as Windom's successor, through a com- bination of Democrats with anti- Windom Republicans.

Mr. Hall, in the Globe and by outside influence, ardently ad- vocated the election of Grover Cleveland to the Presidency in 1884. Minnesota cast her electoral vote for Elaine, but Cleveland triumphed. Thus, the oft-baffled editor had at least one oppor- tunity of celebrating a great victory, — which victory doubtless more fully satisfied him by the subsequent splendid record of the victor, than by any sympathy with certain planks of the party platform.

At this period Harlan P. Hall's activities were incessant and his power of endurance was marvelous. He was, to the Globe, owner, editor, business manager, financier, advertising solicitor, and mechanical expert, all in one. He habitually attended at the office from 9 A. M. until the paper went to press, often until it went to the carriers and the mails at 5 o'clock the next morning, — and this seven days in the week. At times, for man}' days in succession, his five or six hours of sleep were taken on a lounge in his sanctum.

MEMORIAL ADDRESSES IN HONOR OF H. P. HALL. 743

The building had no elevator, but he made the trip from the editorial rooms on the third floor to the business office on the first floor and to the press room in the basement scores of times every day, climbing the stairs with nervous celerity 'two steps at a time, and often, it was facetiously said, sliding down the banisters in his resistless haste to descend.

He watched every detail of his business, editorial, reportorial, financial and mechanical. He had served an apprenticeship in each specialty, and he appeared at unlooked-for times in un- expected places, to see for himself if all was going well.

On his frequent flying trips to Chicago, he would spend the day in business negotiations; browse around in the morning news- paper offices all night, picking up new ideas in mechanism, man- agement, and politics; leave for St. Paul by special permit on the fast mail train at 3 A. M. ; catch a little sleep on the mail bags in the postal car, and show up at the office at 2 p. M., fresh and ready for the responsibilities that had accumulated during his absence.

The Globe was always issued promptly, in spite of unreliable helpers at times in different departments, who were retained through his abundant good nature. He would do the work of any one or more missing employees, from editorial writer to mailing clerk or messenger boy, in addition to his own.

These practices are not held up for imitation. 'He could not do so much and do all things well. He was certain to fail at some point or break down his health, — and he did both. But he kept up the whirlwind pace of exertion longer, and he met with more success, than one in a thousand of his contemporaries could have done under the same conditions.

Besides, nobody could imitate him. He was unique, sui generis, inimitable. Few would care to imitate or emulate him.

Nevertheless, his ubiquitous presence and encyclopedic knowl- edge of men and events made the Globe more valuable, and its readers reaped the benefits. Mr. Hall saw every news item and every local report in manuscript. He would make quick, terse editorial comment on the former, or "touch up" the latter with some timely personal allusion, which would give it added color and point. He was "editor" in fact, as well as in name.

744 MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLECTIONS.

He never tried to make language bore deeper by twisting it into a corkscrew. But he often straightened the corkscrew of another writer into a brad-awl, and pierced home with it.

After selling the Globe, Mr. Hall embarked in a daily evening enterprise in this city, The News. Within three years he sold it and became connected with a telegraphic news company with head- quarters in Chicago, but retained his family residence in St. Paul. He established in this city the Morning Call, which had a brief career in the early "nineties." Having engaged in various branches of newspaper work until 1897, he then purchased the St. Paul Trade Journal, which he published successfully until 1903, giving to it much of his old-time vigor. His last important contribution to journalism was a series of "Reminiscences," printed during the winter of 1906-7 in the Dispatch, and widely complimented.

Mr. Hall aspired to> few or none of the public positions he was so prolific and useful in helping others to attain. He was nominated by President Grant as United States pension agent at St. Paul, a very desirable office, about 1870. But the appointment was politically obnoxious to Senator Ramsey, and on his protest it was cancelled before taking effect,— to the serious impairment of Ramsey's subsequent career. He served as commissioner from Minnesota at the Buffalo Exposition of 1901. He was at one time influentially proposed as a Democratic candidate for governor, but declined. He was an ex-president of the Minnesota Editorial Association ; a life member of the Minnesota Historical So- ciety; and a member of the Sons of the American Revolution, the Elks, the Commercial Club, the Ohio Society, and other organiza- tions.

At the time of his death, he was clerk of the State Senate Committee on general legislation, and the Senate placed on its records a Memorial, which contained the following tribute:

In the course of a long and unusually active career, unselfishly devoted to the interests of this State, he left a lasting impression on its political and commercial history. The story of his life is a les- son of unselfish devotion to the public good, with little thought of self-advancement or self-interest.

Mr. Hall died suddenly of heart failure, while sitting in a chair in the waiting room of his physician, whom he desired to consult in regard to his increasing bodilv infirmities. His life

MEMORIAL ADDRESSES IN HONOR OF H. P. HALL. 745

of ceaseless industry and of unsparing drafts on the vital forces, while pursuing his beloved occupation, had vanquished an inherited longevity by finally breaking down his exceptionally rugged consti- tution.

The funeral was held under the auspices of the Order of Elks, religious services being conducted by Dr. Samuel G. Smith, of the People's Church, a friend of many years' standing. The interment was at Oakland cemetery, St. Paul.

His honorary pall-bearers, all of whom had been for a long period co-workers with him in the ranks of journalism, were: Governor John A. Johnson, David Kamaley, Webster Wheelock, J. H. Lewis, Conde Hamlin, E. A. Paradis, George Thompson, and C. P. Stine, St. Paul; W. B. Mitchell and Alvah Eastman, St. Cloud; B. B. Herbert, Chicago; H. S. Halstead, Brainerd; Joseph Leicht, Winona; C. S. Mitchell, Duluth; G. S. Pease, Anoka; C. C. Whitney, Marshall; P. J. Meyst, Minneapolis; and John C. Wise, Mankato.

The immediate surviving relatives of Mr. Hall were his daughters, Miss Elizabeth Hall and Mrs. Eobert Gardner; his son, Harlan W. Hall; his sisters, Mrs. Hattie Vance and Miss Laura W. Hall; and his brother, H. E. W. Hall.

About four years ago Mr. Hall published a book under the title of "Observations/' which contained a series of disconnected reminiscences of his experiences with the leading men of Minne- sota and the stirring events of her political history. It is a readable and valuable volume, throwing instructive side-lights on many spectacular occurrences, giving much previously unwritten history, yet necessarily omitting, as the writer naively confesses. much that would be still more interesting. This he does avowedly out of respect to the feelings of some who are living and the memory of many who are dead. He does not spare admissions of his party prejudices and inconsistencies; in fact, he is often unjust to himself in failing to give due explanation of some matters that seem to reflect on his own steadiness of purpose and sincerity.

His success in this, his only venture in authorship, inspires a regret that he did not see fit to write more in book form, and to present what he did write more systematically. Of this pro- duction one of his eulogists says: "There has been no man in

746 MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLECTIONS.

the Northwest, we doubt if there have been many men in this country, who had so abundantly the charming gossipy quality of the old Chronicles of Froissart. The history of Minnesota would have been less interesting if Mr. Hall had not taken a hand in it; it certainly would have been less at hand if he had not written down his knowledge and his reflections."

The personality of H. P. Hall, on first acquaintance, was scarcely prepossessing. Below medium height, he was thin and wiry, and probably never weighed over 120 pounds. He had muscles of iron and nerves of steel, yet he displayed none of the physical impressiveness and corporeal dignity which come of bodily height, breadth, and thickness.

But he had what is perhaps better, that smile of the eye and illumination of countenance which beams a welcome to friends and glows with comradely good fellowship. Men who are doing practical righteousness need never regret the lack of angelic features.

We have been told, by one of those near poets the world would willingly forget, that all his ancestry prayed and felt gleams in the glance of Eoosevelt, or words to that effect. Mr. HalPs personal traits showed many traces of his New England ancestors,— the- shrewdness, frankness, industry, and independence, born of genera- tions of struggles for the survival of the fittest, together with a bodily make-up that would have been proof against the ordinary wear and tear of that placid modern existence which he did not permit himself to indulge in.

And all that his forefathers thought and fought and felt and prayed, was by no means fully exemplified in his variegated career. He must have often amused himself with imagining what their reflections would have been could they have foreknown some of his excursions into by and forbidden political paths, and their consternation at the reprehensible political associates whom he was often forced by circumstances to accept.

A man with Harlan P. Hall's traits and characteristics was- necessarily widely popular. He had hosts of devoted friends in all walks of life, from highest to lowest. But he was especially entrenched in the confidence, esteem, and affection of substantially

MEMORIAL ADDRESSES IN HONOR OF H. P. HALL. 747

the entire body of the printers, publishers, editors, and newspaper employees of Minnesota and the Northwest.

He had an irrepressible sense of humor that made him easily the life and leader of any company of congenial spirits into which he was thrown. He was quite fertile in originating unexpected and enjoyable episodes at the meetings of editors and on their excursions. At the Chicago Exposition of 1893, the Minnesota Editorial Association., at the suggestion and under the direction of H. P. Hall, dedicated the State's building on the fair grounds a day in advance of that set by the Governor and officials for that important ceremony. The function was elaborately performed by the editors, with at least outward decorum, with impromptu speeches and patriotic songs, and was so conspicuously successsful that the formal exercises planned for the following day were wisely abandoned.

Mr. Hall was a journalist in every aspiration and every attribute of his being. He rejoiced from his youth in that peculiar charm of the newspaper calling which asserts itself on every level and in every sphere. "The poor space-rater, the unrecognized slave of assignment, the lowly interviewer," feels this charm as vividly as the proud writer of leaders, the untrammeled special correspondent, or the editor-in-chief.

This charm of journalism, born of a consciousness of being in the center of things, of dwelling among the secrets of the world and helping to exploit them, he keenly felt and unreservedly enjoyed to his latest hour. All the journals issued under his exclusive management were sensational but healthy. His idea of a good and successful newspaper was that it must be bright, con- densed, independent, honest and clean.

A live, wholesome newspaper, such as he tried to produce, educates the entire community through each of its departments. Its columns scatter profuse treasures of information and inspire to local enterprise and improvement. Its comments on public questions,, whether voiced in metropolitan thunder, or in the still, small utterance of village oracles, stimulate thought, discussion, and wise action. Even its advertisements bring the reader in contact with all the rushing activities of the race. A live, vile newspaper may do more in a week to corrupt the people through

748 MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLECTIONS.

prurient sensations and contaminating advertisements, than the glittering homiletics of its hypocritical editor can antidote in a century. Mr. Hall hated such sheets as he did a pestilence.

Pitiless exposures of official dereliction; wide publicity to infamous crime, that its perpetrators may be detected and pun- ished; raw rasps of merited criticisms; withering denunciations of vicious schemes; remorseless puncture of pompous fraud and sham. — none of these are intrinsically degrading. But a Zolaesque revel in realistic garbage and the abominations of mephitic detail is unprofessional, unscientific, corrupting, and altogether execrable. Nature would not conceal the viscera and their functions, if a view of them could be either instructive, elevating, or edifying. Patrons are entitled to protection from enforced contact with vice and companionship with the profligate, through the columns of the sleepless, necessary newspaper.

While the reader has a right to know of certain disasters, crimes, vices and immoralities, as incidents of civilization, it is the function of the editor to defend him from the fascination, the contagion, and the taint, which an improper presentation necessarily involves. The presentation should stimulate reflection and not the riot of sensual feeling. All this Harlan P. Hall steadfastly believed.

He was not himself a noisy thinker, but if there had been no such thing as thunder he would have invented it. for strictly news- paper use. He liked the explosions which attract attention by their luridity and resonance rather than by their putrescent odor. It is always better to set a man thinking, than to give him thoughts.

Too often, perhaps, he affected an inability to take himself. or anybody else, seriously. But when an emergency arose he could be terribly in earnest, so desperately bent on attaining a desired object as to inspire his followers with confidence and strike dismay to his adversaries.

He never claimed anything unless he thought he had a right to it. Having settled that point, he never failed to get it through lack of assurance and persistence in seeking it.

MEMORIAL ADDRESSES IN HONOR OF H. P. HALL. 749

He was a model of domestic virtues, affectionate and considerate in all the relations of life. As a son,, brother, husband, and father, his conduct was irreproachable.

He was a steadfast and devoted friend to those who had proved worthy of his confidence, and to some, indeed, who had proved unworthy.

Notwithstanding frequent temptations, Mr. Hall held firmly to high ideals as to correct journalism. The coward's plea of ig- norance or inadvertance found no recognition with him. The journalist who adopts a low ideal deliberately assassinates heaven's holy truth, crucifies his own manhood, scarifies his own conscience, perjures his own soul, repulses the beckoning seraphs who would anoint his eyelids with balm and bathe his brow in the spray of the beautiful river.

Like others in all walks of life, Mr. Hall often failed to reach the standards set for himself, but no one can truthfully say that he willfully lowered the tone of his profession.

He was unique among newspaper managers in his intelligent recognition of his reportorial force. The toil-blanched reporter., who develops the news of the passing day out of his primal protozoa, moulds it into shape, and breathes into it the animating spark that makes it fly screaming around the planet, is possibly the grand tycoon of the craft. His quota of product is the deter- minate element of success, the vital necessity which makes jour- nalism possible. Good reporters are as scarce as good poets, and much more to be desired. On the reporter's local gleanings the telegrams are founded, that whisper across the nations and under the seas. Unseen and unacknowledged factor in the resplendent totality, wiser generations than ours will rejoice to crown him with chaplets of honor.

Mr. Hall was especially appreciative of good service rendered in collecting and presenting the local news of the day. He had none of the executive ability which grinds the maximum of work out of poorly paid subordinates, but he had that chivalrous con- sideration which commands faithful service and loyal devotion from fellow toilers. Hands mav be hired, but not hearts.

750 MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLECTIONS.

He was full of public spirit, always ready to talk, or write, or fight, for the interests of the city of his home and his pride. For many years he was a director of the St. Paul Chamber of Commerce, when that body was the special champion of all measures looking to the growth and prosperity of the community. He was versatile on the floor and active on committees; his judg- ment was usually sound, and his policy ever aggressive. He saw from the beginning the vision of this great Northwest as it was to be, and he never lost faith or ceased to work, even when other men faltered or his own good fortune faltered.

As a speaker on public occasions, and also in conversation and in writing, he was prone to assume an air of cynicism and to indulge in bitter sarcasm, all foreign to his real nature, which was one of rare cheerfulness, optimism, and geniality. This amiable affectation in style, however, was very efficacious in com- manding attention to his utterances and increasing their force.

Mr. Hall was a born iconoclast, a smasher of graven images. He had no toleration for pretentious frauds and humbugs. Yet there was a method in his selections and a system in his assaults which were discernible.

He had no respect for old age unless it was respectable. He had no use for the rich unless the}' were useful. He had no friendship for his friends unless they were friendly, nor hatred toward his enemies unless they were hateful.

He professed no adulation for political loot, lungs, larceny, and lunacy. He was somewhat skeptical as to the prevalence of plain living and high thinking among the active partisans with whom -he co-operated. He praised some bad men with manifest reservations; he denounced some good men with transparent re- luctance. He crooked no supple knee to a de-facto Governor: he stood in no awe of the immaculate sages of the Senate and the infallible patriots of the House, whether in St. Paul or Washington.

Mr. Hall did not maintain, at least in his later years, connection with any religious sect. He found little time in his phenomenally busy life for hearing sermons or studying creeds. But he was a man of deep religious convictions. Often mercilessly ridiculing hypocrisy, he had a profound respect for true piety. His moral character was free from reproach or suspicion. With him, the

MEMORIAL ADDRESSES IN HONOR OF H. P. HALL. 751

secret of consecration was simply concentration on some high service. His life was one long and ceaseless benefaction to others, frequently going beyond the just limit of his resources, and always tending to soften affliction and relieve distress. In the saving graces of human kindness and loyalty and helpfulness, he was full to overflowing. The world was brighter, the state and nation were better, and his fellow men were happier, through the life and work of Harlan P. Hall.

As to the permanent influence of that life and work, — who can formulate it ? If each printed sheet of every public journal stamps some impress on an immortal soul, who can comprehend the responsibility and the far-flying outreach of the unwearying editor ? Future generations will reap the benefit, and

"Though they may forget the singer, They will not forget the song."

The St. Paul Dispatch, which was founded by him but which passed out of his hands thirty years ago, said at the time of his death: "We should call Mr. Hall not only a successful historian and a successful maker of history, but a successful man. A man's success, his career, is not to be measured by what he amassed of this world's goods, for there is a reaction in such success; it takes a man's energy to look after the mere mass of such success. But Mr. Hall was, instead of continually taking, continually giving of himself to the city and the state. And few men have given their services so spontaneously, so whole-heartedly."

There was no taint or trace of avarice in his make-up. He seemed to care little for financial prosperity or the amassing of wealth. He lived in an atmosphere apart from sordid schemes and money-makers. A friend has said of him: "He was the same plain, unpretentious man all his life. He was always in touch and in sympathy with struggling humanity — himself a struggler. Hence his memory will be cherished as one who lived a successful life."

He arrogated to himself no undue meed of praise for his achievements. He keenly realized that, after all, the best of successful journals is only a reflection of prevalent, intelligent public opinion.

752 MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLECTIONS.

Since only beneath the rule of men entirely great is the pen mightier than its foremost competitor, our millennial anthems must still lie tethered in abeyance. The newspaper ready to assume a position so far above the average, either of writers or readers, as to incur the suspicion of superior virtue and wisdom, courts a renown that is inevitably fatal. Xot always the "ablest" journals survive — simply those ablest to achieve survival.

There is a popular instinct of right which no perversion or faithlessness of guidance can long lead astray. The dismantled hulks of a thousand newspaper wrecks, shivered and sunk by the petards of self conceit, should teach ambitious fledglings that the press, as a rule, has only led the people where they desired to go. While they desire to go right, but neither too rapidly, nor too radically, he who aspires to leadership must time his pace to reasonable moderation, and must pilot his course by the pole star of Truth, or he will vainly yearn for the wages of fame and the sweets of power.

The public press is the supremest human authority only when and solely because it is the ultimate register of a sovereign public opinion, before which all lesser sovereigns bend and abdicate and vanish.

An alleged philosopher has said that the brain secretes thought as the liver secretes bile. If that be true, we fear that much of our newsgathering is the by-product of thoughtlessness and that too many of our editorials are problems in the unthinkable.

We cannot expect perfection, and if we found it, we would not appreciate it. If editors were supernal in mind and motive, readers would nevertheless remain as now, earthy, sensual, unsanc- tified; and the shrunken mail lists would mutely plead for a reinstatement of hydrostatic paradox. Vastly superior is this age to its predecessors; superior, not perhaps in frostwork and veneer- ing, but in solid values, in morals, in practical culture, in oppor- tunity, in the diffusion of life's joys and blessings. But the average man is only average still; his growing wings, mere bud and prophecy.

So long as a sparse or full attendance in the pews modifies the theology of the pulpit; so long as dicta that are vehemently urged and successfully maintained by paid attorneys at the bar

MEMORIAL ADDRESSES IN HONOR OF H. P. HALL. 753

become good law for the bench; so long as the surgeon's skill and care are intensified by the magnitude of the prospective fee; so long as science, through our patent laws, remains tied to the cash register, — so long will the subscription list and the advertising pages influence " the editorial column, and so long will the able editor find a remunerative market for his occasional silence.

Only of late has the ideal newspaper become possible, and it has not yet become actual. Journalism, rich fruitage of the riper times, could neither be, nor be imagined, in the eras which have perished to produce these culminating years that welcome it so royally. The discovery of the art of printing opened vistas of hope in the world; and the public press is the latest, perhaps the last, certainly the most significant of its developments.

Books were printed profusely in Europe during two hundred years before newspapers were thought of ; newspapers were printed two hundred years before even the crude journalism of today be- came possible. The functions must not be confused. Books are the solid specie basis of literature. Newspapers are the circulating medium, the instrument which necessity has devised for increasing the thought currency of mankind. Journalism is the coming science which will in due time preside over the adjustment of the proper relations of this currency to its basis and the demand for its issue.

But Hawthorne truly says that the most ephemeral local jour- nals become, if preserved, the most valuable historical documents of their period. He intimates that one mutilated volume of a quaint New England newspaper of the eighteenth century contains for us more of vivid human interest than all the musty books of theology and polemics that have come down from that remark- able era.

Language preceded thought by many centuries. For other centuries, written language was employed to conceal thought or to obscure it. The treasures of Literature, the mandates of Law and Gospel, were locked up in dead or foreign tongues, to which only a fortunate fraction of mankind had the key.

All this is changed. Thought is flying on innumerable swift and tireless wings everywhere. All the people get the richest fruits of the highest culture in their own vernacular speech. The

HS-48

754 MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLECTIONS.

poorest man may become a priest in the temple of learning, a prince in the kingdom of glory.

The public press has done its full share to bring this about. As a tribute to one of its faithful servants during his long and industrious life, we are assembled tonight to honor the memory of Harlan P. Hall.

The perfected journalism of the future can only now be dimly discerned. But it will come, as other good things have come, with the onward march of the race toward the goal of its cloudless destiny. Our friend and associate helped to smooth the way. This perfected journalism will be a millennial harbinger. It will probe to festering abscesses in the body politic; will blot out old shapes of foul disease, and quench the narrowing lust for gold. It will be the spontaneous utterance of the human spirit, manifold in faculty and capacity, but one in beneficent purpose to disentangle the truth; to dissipate prejudice; to solve social problems and re- crystalize social forces; to elucidate political theorems; to defend the oppressed; to expose corruption; to mass all the red flaming artillery of its vengeance against the bastioned citadels of iniquity.

It will be the buttress and bulwark of liberty regulated by law. It will be to "pallid waste and labor stark" an evangel of hope. It will stand, unbought and unawed, robed in fire and splendor, proclaiming the everlasting Truth, in testimony whereof the canon- ized heroes and martyrs of the ages, men worthy to live but willing to die, have lived and died gloriously. It will be an exemplar in morals; to religion undefiled a messenger, with the dews of Eden on its lips and its voice attuned to the songs of cherubim.

DAVID RAMALEY, of St. Paul, in further commemoration of Mr. Hall, read the following paper, "The Progressive Steps in a Busy Life."

Harlan Page Hall, at ten years of age, had learned the type cases, and was permitted to set up miscellaneous copy and do chores abouf the printing office of his father. In connection with his common school education he had a four years course or appren- ticeship in the office as carrier boy, roller boy, compositor, job printer, local editor, and all other duties naturally following in

MEMORIAL ADDRESSES IN HONOR OF H. P. HALL. 755

the routine of a country printing office. In this apprenticeship he was treated in . the same manner as another boy would have been treated who had no relationship with the proprietor of the newspaper.

At the age of nineteen he entered the Ohio Wesley an Univer- sity, and graduated therefrom in the summer of 1861. He studied law for a year, and was admitted to the bar in Canton, Ohio, in the spring of 1862, and immediately entered into a law partner- ship with an established lawyer in his native town.

He was married on the 9th of April, 1862, apparently intend- ing to settle down as a country lawyer and' politician. The moving cause of his change of plans for his lifework was the delicate health of his wife and the advice of physicians that an immediate change of climate was necessary, and St. Paul was the Mecca of his pil- grimage, where he arrived on October 6, 1862. His necessity for work brought him to the Pioneer office, where the writer was then the foreman, and from this point began that personal friendship which lasted for forty-four years, many of them in close business connections, and all of them without a jar to mar the harmony of their business or social relations.

From this point we must start with the business and political history of our friend. The special session of the legislature called by Governor Ramsey on account of the Indian outbreak had ad- journed, and reporters were in demand; with the help of his coun- try newspaper experience, Mr. HalPs ability was at once utilized. Politics were running high, and Frederick Driscoll, then a country newspaper man from Belle Plaine and a state senator, was in- duced to start a daily newspaper in St. Paul, in the interest of one of the Republican factions. This was the starting point of the Daily Union, on the third day of November, 1862, with H. P. Hall as reporter, news editor, and editor-in-chief in the absence of Mr. Driscoll from his office.

The Daily Press having been established in 1860, for the pur- pose of uniting discordant elements in the Republican party, and having absorbed the Daily Times and the Minnesotian, was awarded the state printing, and was the avowed champion of the Ram- sey faction, and for the election of Governor Ramsey to the United States Senate. The opposition had concentrated on Hon. Cyrus

756 MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLECTIONS.

Aldrich, then a member of Congress: and it was in opposition to Governor Eamsey that the Daily Union was started. It may be reasonable to suppose that this first education was the dominating- influence during Mr. Hall's political career that brought him al- most invariably on the losing side of politics.

The election of Governor Eamsey as senator, by the legislature of 1863, made it necessary to close up the party breach, and by a master political move Mr. Driscoll was elected state printer, with the understanding that the two newspapers should be consolidated. This consolidation was accomplished in March, 1863, by Mr. Dris- coll purchasing a half interest in the Daily Press and discontinu- ing the Daily Union. Mr. Wheelock, who was the original editor of the Press, was retained as the political editor; and Mr. Hall was dignified as the exchange and telegraph editor, in which posi- tion he continued until November, 1865.

On the 8th day of that month the greatest strategy in news- paper history in the state of Minnesota was perpetrated by Mr. Hall in the purchase of the Daily Pioneer, the then Democratic paper of the city, and its immediate conversion into an independent Eepublican journal. The purchaser was the well-known steam- boat king, noted as Commodore W. F. Davidson, with H. P. Hall and John X. Davidson as proprietors. This is the starting point of Mr. Hall's career as a full-fledged political editor. He was then twenty-seven years of age. In announcing the change of proprietors, and the platform for the future conduct of the paper, he said :

The St. Paul Pioneer will hereafter be published as an Independent Union journal. Believing in exact justice to all men, we shall fear- lessly oppose what we believe to be wrong .... No politician owns or controls in any way a single dollar in this establishment, and no politician was consulted in reference to, or in any manner advised of the proposed transfer until it had become a fixed fact.

The Pioneer was continued under Mr. HalFs management un- til July 29, 1866. He then announced that he had disposed of his interest in the Pioneer. In a final editorial he states that $25,000 was paid for the paper in November, and the sale back to Democrats was made for $45,000. During the time that Mr. Hall had charge of the Pioneer, there was no indication of the future individuality of the man in running a daily newspaper.

MEMORIAL ADDRESSES IN HONOR OF H. P. HALL. 757

At tliis point Mr. Hall and the writer were brought into busi- ness relations. With a portion of the money received from the sale of the Pioneer, there was formed a copartnership under the firm name of Bamaley & Hall. During the greater part of the year 1867, Mr: Hall was in charge of the firm's business, Mr. Kamaley having undertaken the establishment of the Minneapolis Tribune. In the desire to enlarge business, Mr. Hall started a small commercial paper, hoping to establish a paper in the inter- est of the wholesale trade, which was just beginning to break away from the retail business. This was not continued for any length of time. In the meantime the writer withdrew from the Tribune, returning to St. Paul, and we were casting about for an increase in business. Both of us were competent to handle a daily news- paper, or at least we thought so, and I had ten years more ex- perience than Mr. Hall. W;e evolved the idea- of an afternoon daily. The name "Daily Evening Dispatch" was selected, because of a successful evening paper of that name in Pittsburgh, my native town. We expected opposition, and it came good and plenty from the Press, Mr. Hall's former employer. The original inten- tion was an afternoon newspaper, without ' politics, but the fight was so persistent against the paper receiving the afternoon as- sociated press . franchise, and particularly so on the part of the management of the Press, that there was no alternative but to fight back ; and thus the Dispatch became a factor in Republican politics.

It was the first year of the Dispatch when the Donnelly fight for renomination to Congress came up, with his determination to defeat Senator Eamsey for the second term as senator and to place the toga upon himself. Early in the game, the Dispatch neces- sarily took the Donnelly side. This fight resulted in the election of a Democrat, Eugene M. Wilson, of Minneapolis, to Congress, and the defeat of Donnelly's political aspirations.

It was in the summer of 1870 that the pension episode occurred, and this can be best told in Mr. Hall's own words :

About 4 o'clock one morning, in the early summer of 1870, there was a tapping on the outside window of my sleeping apartment, which awoke me. A newspaper friend, on his way home, had called to tell me that the Associated Press to the morning paper which he represented had brought the news that I was appointed pension agent for the state of Minnesota. Having anticipated nothing of the kind,

758 MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLECTIONS.

the information came to me as a matter of great surprise, and I may add, as well, as a matter of great pleasure.

At that time the pension office was considered one of the choicest plums in the state, though there were probably others with larger compensation. It carried with it a net revenue of $6,000 per annum, which is not an uncomfortable revenue to add to any man's business.

My first effort, when I arose, was to ascertain how it happened. I ultimately learned that I was indebted to General Garfield (later President of the United States) for the position

Looking back at the incident after the lapse of over thirty years, it is positively amusing to me to recall the almost blanched cheeks of my political opponents as I met them on the street that day.

I had been publishing the Dispatch for two or three years, and during nearly all the time was involved in a bitter factional con- troversy inside the Republican party. As I had not learned at that time to spare anyone who seemed to me to deserve criticism, I fancy that I had obtained about as sincere and bitter political enemies as any man can secure in politics. The result was that there were numerous conferences that day among my enemies to determine what could be done to prevent Hall from being pension agent. Unfortun- ately, the Atlantic cable had been laid a short time previous to this episode, and that was my undping. Senator Ramsey was in Paris at the time negotiating a new postal treaty with France, and the waters of the ocean sizzled that day with messages from St. Paul to Paris protesting against this appointment.

The result was that Senator Ramsey promptly cabled General Grant, asking that the appointment should be held up until he re- turned

In due time Senator Ramsey returned to the United States, but did not come to St. Paul. As the mountain would not come to Ma- homet, I concluded that it was better for Mahomet to go to the moun- tain, and so I went down to Washington to see what could be done in the matter

I was publishing an independent newspaper whose chief occupa- tion during the then short period of its existence was to make mis- chief for the Republican party; and I argued to myself that possibly it would be a good thing for the harmony of the party if I came into the fold, as I was and always had been up to that time a straight and strenuous Republican

As a matter of fact, my argument with Senator Ramsey implied, without absolutely saying so, that I would publish a good and straight

Republican newspaper if my request was granted But

of course I didn't get it, and never had the remotest chance of get- ting it outside of my own imagination.

MEMORIAL ADDRESSES IN HONOR OF H. P. HALL. 759

My overtures for peace having been spurned by Senator Ramsey, I simply considered that my ambition in life was to be more obstrep- erous than ever, and felt there was nothing for me to do but to make mischief. The consequence was, I was continually looking for heads with a view of hitting them, and I generally found some.

The far-reaching consequences of this contest for the pension office, were the defeat of Hon. W. D. Washburn for the nomina- tion of governor of Minnesota, and Hon. Alexander Eamsey for a third term as United States senator; and the bringing forward of Hon. C. K. Davis to be governor, and afterward to be a United States senator.

Sometime in 1870 the partnership of Ramaley & Hall was amicably dissolved, Mr. Hall taking entire control of the news- paper. In connection with the publication of the Dispatch, Mr. Hall established a ready-print plant, the object being to furnish one side of a country newspaper with prepared general matter of news and miscellany, so as to make it possible for the weekly newspaper men in small towns to issue a much better paper for their subscribers than they could do by printing both sides at home. This was a successful venture, but it did not interfere with the political hot water boiling up daily from the Dispatch caldron, creating trouble in both parties. In 1872, the Dispatch favored the liberal Republican party, and supported Horace Greeley for President. The natural trend of the editorial columns of the paper thereafter was toward the support of Democratic measures.

In 1875, the Pioneer and Press were consolidated and the name changed to Pioneer Press, and thereby the Democratic party was left without a party organ. The afternoon field at the time was handicapped, by. much of the telegraphic news being held over for the more influential morning papers; and the advertising patron- age was naturally doled out in larger measure to the morning press. Mr. HalFs ambition was aroused for the possible oppor- tunity of establishing a morning paper, to be recognized as an .out-and-out Democratic organ. The opportunity was here at hand.

On September 13, 1876, Mr. Hall announced the sale of the Dispatch "to an association of gentlemen who will hereafter con- duct it." And further he said :

760 MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLECTIONS.

To say that I part from an institution without regret, which I may perhaps be pardoned for claiming to have largely created, would be untrue, but sooner or later, like all else human, the separation must come; and I hereby hasten, by my voluntary act, an event cer- tain to ultimately transpire. I have no farewell homily to inflict upon the reader, but I wish to place in print one utterance, viz.: Xo matter how others have viewed the management of the Dispatch, I can retire from my journalistic labors, conscientiously saying that in support of, or opposition to, men and measures, I have been actuated solely by what I believed to be the best interests of the public, never knowingly allowing my columns to be used to do any man a wrong.

The sale of the Dispatch did not carry with it the ready-print plant, and Mr. Hall immediately commenced a fight for the As- sociated Press franchise, for the purpose of establishing a Dem- ocratic morning newspaper to take the place of the Pioneer. He was finally successful in securing the franchise, and issued tht- first number of the St. Paul Globe on the 15th day of January. 1878. This was probably the great business mistake of his life, because he had to part with the lucrative ready print business in 1882? to keep the Democratic Globe running. He continued the Globe until February 1, 1885, when it was sold to Lewis Baker, representing a syndicate of Democrats.

Presumably it was Mr. Hall's intention at this time to abandon the political field; for shortly afterward he established another ready-print business, which he conducted until November, 1887, when he sold out to the Kellogg Newspaper Co., ami the plant is still successfully running in Minneapolis. The following year was mainly spent in California, primarily for the health of his family: but, not having the success he expected, he returned to Minne- sota. In the spring of 1889, with other parties, he purchased the St. Paul Evening News, and continued as its manager until 1892. when he sold out in February, to take charge of a New York News Association, in opposition to the Associated Press, dividing his time between New York and Chicago.

On the announcement of his withdrawal from St. Paul jour- nalism, his many newspaper friends united to give him a public testimonial. The previous year he had served as the President of the Minnesota Editors' and Publishers' Association, for the second time, and at the close of the 1892 session it was unanimously voted to tender to Mr. Hall a testimonial of esteem, and a com-

MEMORIAL ADDRESSES IN HONOR OF H. P. HALL. 761

mittee was appointed for that purpose. This committee, Mr. Ed. A. Paradis, of the Midway News, Mr. H. Gr. Day, of the Albert Lea Standard, and Mr. C. P. Stine, now of the Commercial Club, united with the St. Paul Press Club in the tender of a banquet which was held 'at the Eyan hotel on April 2nd, and was presided over by Granville S. Pease, then president of the Association. This was a particularly happy love feast. Let me quote from the ad- dress of Captain Henry A. Castle, the chief orator of the occasion :

It is especially appropriate that the compliment should be ten- dered by the Press Club of St. Paul and the Editorial Association of the state of Minnesota, because those two organizations are com- posed of the two classes of men engaged in the newspaper business with whom Mr. Hall has always been especially identified, and from whom he has won, and honestly won, a full measure of personal popularity; and this popularity which he enjoys at their hands is a vivid illustration of a paraphrase which might be made of a saying by a distinguished American statesman, only a few years ago — "a man serves himself best who serves his profession best." There is a philosophy in this popularity which Mr. Hall enjoys from these two classes of journalistic workers. He has not gained that popular- ity because he has doted on the friendship of these men, because he has especially gone out of his way to seek their friendship, but sim- ply and solely because, from the pure standpoint of his profession and his business, he has recognized the reporters of the city press as being not only enthusiastic, earnest, energetic, intelligent, active, industrious young men, but as constituting the very element and the force which gives interest to the daily press. It is the reportorial work, it is the collection of the news for the daily press, which gives distinctive value to the press, and makes it of special interest to its home readers — who are, after all, its most legitimate and powerful constituency. And, as I say, Mr. Hall has from the beginning and throughout his entire career as a newspaper man in St. Paul and the proprietor, at different times, of every one of its existing daily newspapers published in the English language, I believe, appreciated this fact in the control of his papers. What has always made his newspaper a success as a local newspaper in the city, is the recog- nition of the value of the work of the reporters; and that recognition has made those reporters, for the last twenty or thirty years, every individual man of them, Mr. Hall's friends.

On a broader scale, as we might say, or a wider scale, the same fact is true of his appreciation and recognition of the work of the country editors, who comprise the membership of the State Editorial

Association. Mr. Hall has been one of the few with

only one or two exceptions, he has been the only man in control of a

762 MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLECTIONS.

daily newspaper in St. Paul who has recognized the fact that the editors of the country newspapers, the weekly newspapers of the state collectively, are the crowning and controlling influence in di- recting the political power of the state. This is as true as the fact that all men are wiser than one man; and yet there are men or

have heen men in this state who seemed to think and

act throughout their career as though their individual wisdom in the conduct of a newspaper was superior to the collective wisdom of all their contemporaries. Mr. Hall has not been that kind of a man. He has recognized the fact that the most powerful influence in the control of the political part of the functions of journalism has been the collection of the opinions, sentiments and views of the country editors of the state; and he has done that, not as some other edi- tors, I am afraid, have done it — for the sake of courting popularity with those men — but because it was practical politics and genuine journalistic enterprise. That is the reason he has done it; and he has made of his work a success by doing it; he has made his paper powerful by doing it; and, indirectly, that accounts for the affection, friendship and popularity in which he is held by the country editors of the state.

Following the address of Captain Castle was the presentation of an elegant gold watch and chain as the testimonial of the Min- nesota Editorial Association.

The 2^ew York business did not pan out to his satisfaction, and Mr. Hall returned to St. Paul in 1893. Finding that the Globe, which he had so fondly cradled in infancy, had died an early death and was about to be buried out of sight, he took charge of the obsequies, until the final decree of court placed its remains in charge of another set of men who were willing to undertake a resurrection.

Two months later, and his final act of newspaper exploitation. was the establishment of the Morning Call, which was independent in name, the first number being issued September 1, 1894. In the meantime the Globe had been brought to life, but again changed hands in 1895, and the first of their business exploits was the purchase of the Morning Call and its final extinguishment, on the first of June. 1895, and thus ends the political newspaper career of H. P. Hall. After this, in 1898, Mr. Hall became the pub- lisher of the St. Paul Trade Journal and secretary of the Jobbers Union of St. Paul. He sold this trade paper in June, 1902.

MEMORIAL ADDRESSES IN HONOR OF H. P. HALL. 763

While publisher of the Trade Journal, he was appointed by Governor Van Sant as one of the commissioners for the state of Minnesota to the Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo, and suc- ceeded in making a most creditable exhibition of Minnesota prod- ucts, considering the amount of money at the disposal of the com- missioners.

Aside from his editorial contributions to his various news- papers, he leaves no literary monument, except his one book, "H. P. Hall's Observations" (384 pages, published in 1904), which are in part a personal history of the inner machinery of the party leaders during the first thirty years of Minnesota statehood.

This paper has been prepared for the purpose of putting on record a concise statement of the various newspaper enterprises with which Mr. Hall was connected. During his whole career in running daily newspapers, he was financially handicapped, and was perhaps more or less influenced thereby in his political writ- ings. He was ambitious, but not to hold political office. He was brilliant in many ways, quick at repartee, and to see the humorous side of things. He was the first to suggest the organization of the Minnesota Editorial Association, served two terms as its pres- ident, and for many years was on its executive committee. His editorial course was an indirect factor in shaping the politics of the state for many years, but, notwithstanding all his energy to most of his friends the later years of his life were a disappoint- ment.

C. F. MCDONALD, of St. Cloud, read an address, "H. P. Hall and his Relations with the County Editor," as follows :

To speak of H. P. Hall is to recall an average lifetime of mutual respect, of disinterested friendship, aye of love between man and man, that extended back forty years to the date of the organization of the Minnesota Editors7 and Publishers7 Association, February 20, 1867. Harlan P. Hall was one of the three editors who united in the call for the initial meeting; he was present at the first meeting of editors and publishers, and was active in the formation of the Association. From that date until his sudden

764 MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLECTIONS.

death. April 9, 1907, lie was one of its most enthusistic, zealous and loyal members. He attended every meeting and participated in every summer outing or excursion of the editors and their wives. In 1900 this Association changed its name to the Minnesota Editor- ial Association.

At a few of the earlier meetings, the leading editors and pub- lishers of the Twin Cities took much interest in its success, such men as C. W. Nash,, of the Pioneer; Frederick Driscoll, of the Press : C. H. Lienau, of the Volkszeitung ; and Dr. Thomas Foster, of the Minnesotian. But. as the years went by and the metropolitan journals grew larger and demanded more of their constant daily attention, the editors and publishers at St. Paul and Minneapolis gradually ceased their attendance, until now not a single editor, publisher, or manager of a Twin City daily journal can be found upon the membership rolls of the Association. And so it gradually became, and is today, an organization of country editors, — as a rule, the really free, untrammeled and independent journalists of our day.

During all these years, H. P. Hall remained a zealous and loyal member. He took a deep interest in our meetings. His warm clasp of the hand, his cheery words of greeting, his friendly inquiries as to the business of "the paper, '' his many humorous as well as valuable addresses during our sessions, won for him a place in the hearts of the country editors of Minnesota which no other individual ever occupied, nor ever will attain. In some way they came to speak of him as "Old Hall," a designation which was intended to express the affection which they entertained for him, — it was the Minnesota editors' term of endearment for one they all truly admired and loved.

At our "smoke socials," banquets, outings, and annual excur- sions. Brother Hall was at his best. He was the very life of these occasions, and his happy disposition and never-ending good nature and jollity added greatly to their enjoyment. For years, as a mem- ber of the executive committee, it was his duty to aid in arranging these outings and excursions. In so doing he gave no heed to loss of valuable time, personal expense, or physical weariness. His sole object was the comfort and enjoyment of the members and their families. It is not strange, therefore, that the relations be-

MEMORIAL ADDRESSES IN HONOR OF H. P. HALL. 765

tween H. P. Hall and the country editor led to the strong per- sonal friendship and affection thus described. And when adver- sity overtook our friend, when death removed the wife who was the stay and comfort of his declining years, and when business re- verses came upon him, the country editor extended true-hearted and affectionate sympathy and comfort, and endeavored to lighten his burden of sorrow by kindly words, sympathetic hand clasp, and many acts of a tangible character.

Brother Hall's last meeting with the Association was in St. Paul on February 14 and 15, 1907, forty years from its organiza- tion. The legislature was in session, and he was employed as a committee clerk. He was with us on the first day. On the second I met him at the foot of the stairway, and he said he did not feel able to go up. He delegated me to say to the members that he could not be with them at that session. He hoped soon to leave for California, and thought it very probable that this was the last an- nual meeting he would ever be able to attend. I delivered the message, saying to the editors present : "Brother Hall bids you all a kind farewell, believing he may never meet with us again."

His premonition was well founded, for he died within two months. His death was universally mourned by the country ed- itors of Minnesota. Every paper in the state gave expression to sorrow at his demise, and paid touching tribute to his many ex- cellent and lovable qualities of mind and heart. I have examined hundreds of these articles, and have been profoundly impressed with the story they tell, in tender, heartfelt, loving words.

These editorial expressions would fill a volume, and their pub- lication in some such form for deposit in the Historical Society Library would be of value as a partial biography of one who for forty-five years was intimately connected with Minnesota history and Minnesota journalism. I submit a very few extracts from these editorial tributes, as samples of all :

There were few dry eyes in Minnesota printshops when the news was flashed over the wires that "Old Hall" was dead. His life was spent in working for others. His virtues were many, and even his vices were lovable.

He was known personally to every newspaper man in the state, and there is sadness in their hearts and homes by the death of this revered friend and well-wisher.

766 MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLECTIONS.

There will be sad hearts and a vacant place when next the boys assemble, and many will be the tributes offered to one who deserves them all.

He, without doubt, had more warm personal friends among the newspaper men of the state than any other man in Minnesota.

"Old Hall," as the boys loved to call him, was the life of every session of that body, and no truer friend of the newspaper men ever lived.

Hall was one of the early editors of Minnesota. He was kind and gentle, — a sort of man that children loved intuitively, and men and women reverence because of his great generosity and innate good- ness and unselfishness.

Never in the history of Minnesota has a man died who was so universally mourned as is H. P. Hall, and in every exchange comes the expression of deep sorrow.

I have endeavored to portray the feeling which the newspaper men of Minnesota entertained for Harlan P. Hall, yet I feel that I have given but a poor and imperfect insight into the lovable rela- tions that existed between him and the state's newspaper men.

Dear "Old Hall !" Long will his memory be cherished in fondest remembrance by the country editor. His name will be re- called at every annual meeting, and, not until the present genera- tion shall have joined him on the other shore, will he cease to be tenderly and lovingly remembered by the country editors of Minnesota.

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