Sanderson,  chairman  of  the  Republican  State
Central  Committee,  came  to  Madison  at  the
oiganization  of  the  legislature,  got  to  gambling
and  drinking  and  went  to  bed  in  a  state  of
intoxication.  Feeling  some  one  trying  to  take
his  money,  he  aroused  himself  enough  to  make
an  outcry,  and  the  next  morning  the  story  was
all  over  town.  It  came  up  to  me  and  in  the
r^ular  course  of  my  duty  I  went  to  the  hotel
to  get  Sanderson  to  make  a  complaint.  He  was
insulting;  told  me  it  was  none  of  my  business.
40  FOUnCAL  BEGINNINGS

and  that  if  I  knew  where  my  political  interests

lay,  I  better  keep  d quiet.    I  told  him

plainly  that  we  did  not  permit  such  things  to
happen  in  Madison  without  prosecution  and
that  I  should  require  him  to  swear  out  a  warrant.
As  soon  as  I  left  he  set  the  wheels  to  moving,
and  before  I  could  get  the  papers  made  out  a
number  of  friends  came  to  me  advising  me  that
it  would  defeat  me  for  reelection  if  I  made
trouble  for  so  important  a  person.  Sanderson
got  out  of  IVIadison  by  the  first  train  and  tried
to  get  out  of  the  state,  but  I  caught  him  with  a
subpoena  at  Milwaukee.  I  also  got  the  fellow
who  was  charged  with  taking  the  money;  but
the  pressure  on  the  witnesses  was  so  great  that  I
could  not  convict  him.  However,  the  puipose
of  the  prosecution  —  to  make  the  law  supreme
in  Dane  County  —  was  well  served;  and  instead
of  injuring  my  chances  for  reelection,  the  case
decidedly  helped  me.
