ds in my mouth;
this was only natural to his kind heart, and he probably never
remembered it, but to me it was an act of great kindness, never to be
forgotten, especially not when more than twenty years after the little
incident he needed all his friends to rally for his return to the United
States senate, his most formidable opponent being the venerable and
beloved statesman, Alexander Ramsey.

My law practice lasted only a few months, as I was appointed county
auditor to fill a vacancy, and soon afterwards elected to fill the
regular term of office, and again re-elected two years later. Before
that time no Swedish-American had occupied such responsible civil office
in the United States. But I probably made a mistake in accepting this
office and thereby turning my back on a profession at which I would
undoubtedly have made more easy and rapid progress than by anything
else. But for the time being it produced great economical improvements
in our private life. Our little home, the narrow room which served as
bedroom, study, kitchen and parlor, was soon exchanged for a neat little
house, and a year later we moved into a larger and more comfortable
building, which was our own property.

Meanwhile the settlement at Vasa had prospered, and the population had
materially increased. The Scandinavian settlers had scattered over the
neighboring towns and counties with marvelous rapidity. The crisis of
1857 had been an excellent lesson to us all, for, although the price of
real estate had fallen to about one-fourth of its former value, the
people were better off now than formerly, owing to better management and
more prudent economy.

The Scandinavians had now commenced to take a lively interest in the
political discussions which were agitating the entire country at that
time. The all absorbing political question of the day was "slavery" or
"no slavery" in the new territories. It is unnecessary to say that the
Scandinavians were almost to a man in favor of liberty to all men, and
that they consequently joined the Republican party, which had just been
organized for the purpose of restricting slavery.

In the winter of 1861, while I was holding the office of auditor the
second term, the legislature of Minnesota appointed a committee to
revise the tax laws. This committee invited five county auditors, of
which number I had the honor to be one, to assist in its work. The tax
laws which were formulated by this general committee were