Life of John Albert Johnson : three times governor of Minnesota . er thought of it thetime had not yet come. Finally, after the Watterson placed him in the public eye as apossible Democratic candidate for president, I againurged him to lecture, and asked for a personal in-terview and not another positive refusal. I wasdelighted to be summoned to St. Paul by wire andmet Governor Johnson for the first time, in his office,in early February, 1908. We covered the lyceumfield thoroughly in our conversation for about anhour and I tried to prove to him its great possibili-ties from every vie
Life of John Albert Johnson : three times governor of Minnesota . er thought of it thetime had not yet come. Finally, after the Watterson placed him in the public eye as apossible Democratic candidate for president, I againurged him to lecture, and asked for a personal in-terview and not another positive refusal. I wasdelighted to be summoned to St. Paul by wire andmet Governor Johnson for the first time, in his office,in early February, 1908. We covered the lyceumfield thoroughly in our conversation for about anhour and I tried to prove to him its great possibili-ties from every view point. The pubHc believedMinnesota had a great governor and the publicwanted to hear him. Naturally I believed in satis-fying the public. Incidentally I told him of a re-mark Senator Tillman once made to me; that apublic man could not live honestly on his salaryalone, and hence was forced to do something elseunless he had a competence to live upon or someother source of revenue beside his salary as a publicservant. Lecturing, at this time, was the easiest 206. Copyright by Sweet GOVEHNOR JOHNSON AND PRIVATE SECTtETARY DAYIN CONSULTATION AS A PUBLIC SPEAKER and best way to make money enough to enable aman of ideals, and of high purpose, to serve hispeople honestly and creditably. I felt I must haveGovernor Johnson for the season of 1908 and 1909and I presume I grew somewhat enthusiastic overthe prospects both political and financial. He sat athis desk for fully five minutes in apparent deepthought, then arose, walked around and sat on theedge of his desk, a favorite position of his, as Ilearned during later visits. With a smile fairlyilluminating his sad face, he said: Well, I guessits up to me — I must either lecture or never getrid of you. We discussed terms and I told himI felt he was worth the highest price that was beingpaid, $ a lecture. This was entirely satis-factory. In fact, he seemed to care less about thefinancial side of it than any other public man I hade
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