The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, February 3, 1916, Page 6

THE NONPARTISAN LEADER PUBLISHED WEEKLY Official Paper of the Farmers Nonpartisan Political League of N. Dak. Entered as second-class matter September 8, 1915, at the post office at Fargo, North Dakota, under the Act of March 8, 1879. D. C. Coates, ) - - - - - o Managing Editor Advertising rates on application. @ Subscriptions, one year, in advance, $1.50. Communications intended for the paper should be addressed to the Non- partisan Leader, Box 919, Fargo, N..Dak., and not to any individual The Leader solicits advertisements of meritorious articles meeded by Zarmers. Quack, fraudulent and irresponsible firms are not knmowingly ad- vertised, and we will take it as a favor if any readers will advise us promptly should they have occasion to doubt or question the reliability of any firm which patronizes our advertising columns, Discriminating advertisers recognize The Nonpartisan Leader as the best medium in the state of North Dakota through which to reach the wide- nwake and up-to-date farmers. IMPORTANT TO LEAGUE MEMBERS HE League headquarters are receiving many in- quiries from members as to how they shall reg- ister for the primaries when the assessor comes around. The position of the League is this: The League is a strictly NONPARTISAN organization, and in no sense does it aim to disturb the political party affiliation of any member. : So our reply to these inquiries is: That each mem- ber register with the assessor just as he has been doing in the past years or as he desires to. The endorsement of the Nonpartisan League will be made in conventions of the League and the_members will vote for those endorsed. So register as you have always done in the ¥ast and then prepare to vote for the candidates as YOU ENDORSE them later. Further particulars and instructions will be given later, but as far as registration is concerned, follow the statement above and do not listen to any other kind of talk from outside sources. THOSE PRECINCT CONVENTIONS n N last week’s Leader appeared an announcement by 10 the president of the Nonpartisan League, setting the date for precinct conventions.” That date is February 22, 1916, at 2 o’clock p. m. Since the first issue of the Leader the League mem- bers have been repeatedly advised that the matter of se- lecting delegates and candidates would be entirely in their hands. It is proposed now to. carry out those pledges to " the letter. ‘This places the responsibility upon you members. This is your opportunity to begin to exercise your power and make your voice heard. To make your power effective you must have the controlling voice from the bottom up. The precinct convention is the beginning. Just how successful the League will be at the polls this fall and in the legislature next winter all depends upon how seriously you farmers start in with these pre- cinct conventions. If you leave the work to a few, what those few will do may not suit you in the end. For that reason it is imperative that every member of the League get out to the convention in his precinct. ; ; At these precinct conventions you will elect delegates to the legislative conventions to be held later. Read the notice in this week’s issue again. If there is further in- formation desired write to Campaign Secretary, Nonpar- tisan League, Box 919, Fargo, N. Dak. ; Get busy right now and see to it that every League member in your precinct knows of the meeting, that he don’t forget the date and gets to the precinct voting place promptly at 2 p. m. NOT A BUNCH OF OFFICE SEEKERS ROM various sources the charge has been made that the L Nonpartisan League is being built up by men who @W8) seck to land themselves in office at the next election. In order to set at rest any such rumor the Leader takes this opportunity to state with all clearness and positive- ness that the League was not built to grab official positions “for the men at the head of it—nor for anyone else in particular. The men who started and built this organization are at .-farmers against their own welfare. SIX ' THE NONPARTISAN LEADER work to place the government of North Dakota in the hands of the people of North Dakota—not to grab office for them- selves. ; : . The Leader is authorized by League officials to state in unmistakable terms that no one connected with the League in any official capacity or in any way connected with the Leader will be a candidate for any public office whatever. - The leaders of the League have a greater mission than that of simply chasing public office. Their mission is to b}*eak up the gang rule of this state and at the same time to build up a farmers’ organization which will enable the farmers to procure to themselves the legislation they desire. ~To this work t}}e leaders will confine themselves. 2 The farmers will select thel_r. own candidates from among themselves—not from League ofi'{- cials—and the farmers’ candidates will be the Leader’s candi- dates. : : Many papers throughout the state are saying that the League will be for this or that candidate. Our readers should pay no attention to such statments. The League or the Leader will not be for any candidate until members of the League have met in state convention and selected such candidates. SOME BANKERS STILL, AT DIRTY WORK HE attention of League members is called_again to the fact that there are still some bankers in North Dakota who are attempting to hamper the Nonpartisan League and the Leader in their work for the emancipation of - the farmers from the clutches of the big business interests which have held them in control so long to their serious detriment. In this issue of the Leader we are printing several letters which show that there are many bankers who are still carrying on the work of casting discredit on the organization. ; Let us again warn the farmers against such bankers, for the reason that they are attempting to advise and influence the What banker has ever held up a check of a farmer that was made out to pay for a mortgage, elevator, mill, railroad, usurous interest, or other service? None; that is all right ‘from the banker’s standpoint. But when the farmer by organization (and the banker is organized thoroughly) tries to get away from the clutches of “business” vultures, then the banker steps in, holds up his che(ik and tries to persuade the farmer that he is being robbed. It seems that the advice of such bankers should be taken just contrary. It seems the farmer should say to himself, “that this conduct on the part of the banker is wrong and against my best interest, and hereafter it would be wise for me to do just the opposite to what the banker wants me to do; this kind of banker is allied with the many interests which are bur- dening me to poverty while they roll in wealth and luxury, and I just guess I will discard this banker and his advice.” Let every member of the League send us the name of the bank and bank official who refuses to pay or holds up a check properly signed and drawn, where money is in the bank to pay it. We print a letter below which shows plainly the practice of one of the bankers: Cogswell, N. D., Jan. 26. Nonpartisan Leader: 1 attended the League meeting held at Cogswell and while there I stepped into the bank; one of the officials presented my check for $6 given to you, and, asked what I wanted to do about it. I told him to pay it at once. - His excuse to me for not paxing it was that HE} thought I might have changed my mind. queer thing that farmers can- not handle their own individual business without some one to intercede for them, isn’t it? ~ Just a word in behalf of the League and the Leader: The League, or the “$6 sucker club,” as our “barred” (caged up) business friends like to call it, is the kind of graft which every farmer in North Dakota had ought to be taken by. For through this co-called graft. organization lies. the on recourse for the farmers to gain their rights. Let’s all pul{ together and the people who have been “doing all the real grafting will have to stop. ; " The Leader, I think, is the most truthful, fair and square ° > paper_.ever put before the eyes of the farmers. e g e : Yours Truly, f A. E. Bean, Cogswell, N. D. IS THE COURIER-NEWS A SOCIALIST PAPER? FEW Sundays ago the editor of the Fargo Courier-News Nonpartisan League was a socialist movement. We quote from this editorial as follows: “The : principles beneath the editorial policy of the paper are socialist; Charles Edward Russell, its best known contributor, is now being voted for by the Socialists as a possible nominee for the presi- dency.” Not a definite fact given as to the socialism of the Leader, but the proof (?) is that one of its contributors is a ~ well known socialist. ; snaRele s P RS But horrors, upon horrors! Last Sunday the Courier-News had as its “best known contributor” this same' Charles Edward Now, surely, the Courier-News is a socialist paper. ‘labored arduously to convince its readers that the -