The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, September 30, 1915, Page 7

THE NONPARTISAN LEADER Some Practzcal Uses of Poisoned News _ By Charles Edward Russell —m Jonesvxlle, Wis., Dct &—Senator LaFollette spoke here. tonight to an - audience of fourteen-persons. His tour of the state has proved to be such [ a total failure that it is said among his friends he will abandon it and cancel all his remaining dates. =Tt is conceded among” his followers that ‘. he_has lost: all-his. former strength in Wisconsin. “Smithburg, Wis., Oct. 9.—Senator Robert M. -LaFoliette, making a . campaign tour of the state, spoke here _tonight to one of the smallest - political meetings ever known in this Town. His speech was wandering " and so plainly indicated a complete collapse of his health that no one was surprised to hear that he had cancelled all his remaining dates in the state. It is understood that his mind is affected and he will be obliged to retlre for-a long time from public activities of any kind. These two dispatches appeared in a New York newspaper in October, 1914. \ =+~ Two days later an old friend of Senator LaFollettes said | to me: | “Poor old Bob! What a plty—what a pity!” “What’s a pity?” said L “AH gone—all in. No more of Bob. Must have gone dotty, i suppose. We'll never hear old Bob again.. Just look at this,” and he put the paper into my hand. That is what thousands of La FoTlettef's admirers were say- ing all about the country.. “Poor LaFollette! He’s done for. Good old scout, and now he’s all in. : chance to learn that I was right. Senator LaFollette’s speaking tour of Wisconsin last year was not a failure but one of the most -successful he had ‘ever made. At the place where he was said to " have addressed an audience of fourteen persons he spoke to 1400. At the place where he was said to have addressed one of the smallest meetings ever held there he spoke to one of the largest. B S . There was never a thought that he would canecel his dates. (e His health throughout was excellent. There was not the slightest ASH G indication of any breakdown, whether physical or mental. Neither | he nor his :friends dreamed of his retirement. At every meet- ing he spoke with all his accustomed force; vigor,and earnest- 5 ness. e : RS " But the lies about him stuck in the public mind; the truth about him was not reported. Thus an impression was formed about his condition and work that has persisted to the present , day. Even warm and intimate friends have been fooled by it. : .~ . Theysaw it in a newspaper. w then, how. tremendous is this power, how illimitable, how _irresistable ‘unless we are always on our- guard. - ‘These lying{’ ‘dispatches about Senator LaFellette had every appearance of » '»bonest recitals of actual fact. ‘Who was to suspect that they --were absolute falsehoods’ -And if such fakes can be. set in circu- X Jation about one man, s0 adroitly concocted that they are receiv- B .ed-everywhere-as truth, who is safe? What reputation cannot S e undermined? What reputation cannot be manufactured? good man is bad and any badman good. They can make us be- m “_srx DOLLAR GRAFT-’ : | — thing. Cooperatar’s Herald: The * nystem newspapers, of w}nch the Fargo Cou- rier-News is one of the bright and -shining lights, are having a series ‘of conniption fits over the fact that a non-partisan organization of farmers is being built up in North Dakota and are seriously concerned over the . facts that the farmers who are join- ; "‘ing are psymg $6.00. for membership, .. receiving in addition . to. membership in the Ieme a popular radical mag- | azine “and “other literature” as the *fkept” Conner-fNews refm“to it. it what the farmer does with his money? - Who, appointed men like guardians of the people of North Da- kota? - Must the farmers of North Dakota ask the organ of the Hanna bunch and the N. P. R. R. what they shall do politically or where.they shall’ spend their money? self -agsurance that is laughable Gnild tells the readers of ‘his “kepi” sheet state to keep out of _the “six-dollar lieve what they please about any cause, man or question. They . good for.us. . Without any claims to the gift of the seer or the clair-| voyant, I nicked the story, for a fake. Some weeks after I had a| e Themampuhtom ‘of this power can make us believe that any|labor under may be fastened upon you. come at once a patmotlc ard bemgn. ‘And, by the way— -whose busmess it Guild, the system-serving ex-preacher;’ “With aj that he has advised the people of the ‘the collar 6wned by themselves for can fool us into going to the polls and voting for the thing that will injure us and benefit them, and make us believe that it i They can make us vote them into power and then make us keep them there. e Unless we are always on our guard. Why did this New York paper print these monstrous fabrlca« tions about Senator LaFollette? For two reasons. In the first place, it is owned in Wall street - 9 and by the predatory interests, and he had mortally offended those interests. How? Why, when he was- governor of Wis~ s consin, he had put through measures that the railroad companies did not like and then in the senate he had ma.de a speech reveal- ing the extent to which the two great groups of capitalists have : : 5 absorbed the wealth of the country. . VR o ' After that he was a marked man to the interests and their ; e valets. 3 hrei On the top of these offenses he had made a speech revealing the Kept Press as it really is, and this was part of the Kept Press’s revenge. In some such way as this pr1v11ege will assassinate or try tQ . assassinate every man that offends it and every cause.or move- ment that threatens it. These things should be clearly understood at the outset of your new movement in North Dakota. You are’attacking privii ege in one of its strongest and most ancient' citadels of graft. For years and years the corporations and commission men and elevator combines and the railroads have had the farmer of the northwest roped while they plundered him at their leisure. Go through the finest residence regions of Chicago, Minneapolis, St. Paul and Evanston. How many of these great and beautiful man- sions have been built out of graft extorted from the farmer? The mma.tes live in luxury and happiness. Your movement threatens to take away from them some of the enormous advantages they ] have hitherto.enjoyed at your expense. Do ypu suppose they will s s give up without a fight? ; They will be at you with all their power and all their re- sources and all their weapons. They will try to drive mines under your entrenchments, ambush you, trick you and fool you. - - 1 But the thing they will most try to do is to array you agamst ; : 4 yourselves by the use of their Controlled Press : ) Don’t let them do it. , : e You seek nothing that is not just, fair and righteous. If . o they were to attack you with force in'the open daylight you would e il i meet them with force and have no fear. They will not attack you : ik with force, in the open daylight, but with spies.and tricks and~ . w2l 3 lies and fakes and'stabs in the dark ‘and machinations and at< =~ . tempts to detach you from loyalty to your own cause, that they, | i may continue to enjoy their graft and that the disadyantages you a2 Don’t be deceived. war fund, the farmers and workers jnow propose to take a hand in the game themselves. ' The Non-partisan Pohtual League in the opinion of the Co-Operators’ ‘Herald, will make some of the plun- der-bund newspapers dook like thirty cents when it gets into action. They are very wisely afraid of it; there will be ‘something doing in the po- litical game in North Dakota. ;whnt it--pays -for .and.we have gole - ten only what ‘we_ paid for in the past. . Now let us boost the Leagus nndthel*afiw&'wflll‘tfll' 5 per.centqftbevoteofthestlteil— - cast ‘by. farmers “andd ¥ Con't ‘think it is-asking too much toexpect soms " legislation in our interests. § ; "Yours fer better eonditions For m e farmers. A. .C. Tslbott. To The Leader: In localities’ where the voters have cut party lines in) : pohtws and: seratching tickets we find ptofessnonal politicians domg the same and ‘boosting for “good men” who' wear the machine .collar, 3 The Nonpartisan League will séé that good men are secured who wear . DON'T FAIL TO WRITE. We want .the farmers of North Da« | kota to: get ‘mequainted. We want qoutogetmton:hwitbead:othn. i We want you to encourage each i ‘other. To that end .wé invite yo® to 'write short letters for the Leader. 13 you have ‘& boosting idea that wilk ' - | encourage “your fellow farmer write | it down and send it in. We will not ~beabletopubhshallo!thembu‘i of will use many of them. Don’t forgefi . . to boost. The. other fellow will dot he knoc‘kmg £