The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, February 24, 1916, Page 4

FOUR THE NONPARTISAN LEADER The Big Political Boss Gets Squarely Up Against It Gloom hung in heavy, black clouds around Crafty’s headquarters on Feb- ruary 23. Never before in the event- ful life of the big boss had the heavy cross of discouragement rested so ‘weightily upon him. For once in his life the unbeatable, unpertursble Will B. Crafty felt that he was, at least, temporarily outgeneralted. It was the day after the League Pprecinct conventions. Slipry and Dodger had arrived the right before to report results of their efforts to “see” and “fix” the spies that were to betray the farmers. ‘Their reports had been most disconcerting and dis- couraging. Not only so but tele- grams wereé pouring in and long dis- tance calls were constant. Fixers Had Don« Their Duty From the number of these calls and telegrams it was evident. that the “boys” sent out the week before had done their duty. They had “seen” hundreds of wovld-be spies and had “fixed” them the best they could. But it ended there. Crafty, Slipry, Dodger and Sub were all gathered in the boss’ head- quarters. Taey had the appearance of a lot of young crows after a drench- ing rain—edraggled, drooping, flab- bergasted and downcast. L A pile of telegrams lay on the table and Crafty vainly searched through them for one ray of hope. The tele- phone gave a short, snappy jangle. Crafty’s eyes brightened as he took down the receiver. “Hello!” he shouted with a snap. A pause followed. “Bang!” went the receiver into its place again, as Crafty sank back into his chair, while a deathly pallor crept over his bloated face. More Messages Arrive A footstep was heard in the hall, followed by a tap, tap, tap at the door. “Come,” growled Crafty. A messenger boy stralled in-and pitched five telegrams on the table. Crafty scribbled his' name on the re- ceipt book five times and the whistl- ing messenger boy departed without a tip ‘and gave thé door an unusual slam. Crafty nervously opened an en- An Army of Farmers Shields Enterprise: During the one year’s existence of the League an army of farmers have become mem- bers and it is stated that about 80 per cent of the farmers of the state are now members of the organization. = Will Be Keenly Felt % Crosby Eagle: In North Dakota the farmers will play an important part, as they should. They have been organizing a -Farmers’ Nonpartisan League and frem reports have over 50,000 members. The membership is camposed of voters and their influence will be keenly felt. May Affect County Offices . Powers Lake Echo: As an organ- izatio, the Nonpartisan League may not take any active part in the county elections this year, but its influence will be felt in practically every county in the state, for at their meetings the farmers will naturally discuss the merits and demerits of every candi- ;j%tl:etwhose_,names appears on the i B No Need of “Cold Shivers” Fargo Blade: There is no oceasion for aspirants for political office to ° have a case of “cold shivers” over the Nonpartisan League’s proposed action if' the new: organization is on' the square” with itself and the people: The tentative plan of the League is (if the Blade understands its policy) to _support those candidates best fit- ted for the offices for whieh they as- pire. * * * If the League is to be wmade a means of purification of the - political atmosphere no- harm and much good can come of its organiz- ation. If it falls into .the hands of a political gang it wont last long. Not Newpartisan Litchville = Bulletin: Many people still have ‘the erroneous impression - that the Farmers’ Nonpartisan Lea- gue is a new political party. - It is mothing of the kind. Even the very mame Implies the opposite. It is non- Dartisan and not “newpartisan” to <coin a new word. The idea is to work -through’ the old parties for a certain -definite line of legislation, and if the leaders of this movement continue “to show as much political sagacity -in the future, as they have in the past, party lines will be closely ob- Served. It would evidently be a tact- ical mistake to try to force democratic deague members to vote for repub- Crafty’s Move to Control League Meetings Strikes a Bi_g Snag---The “Fixers” Failed to “Fix” the Membership of the League Even Though They Did “See” the Spies ---Crafty Has More Cards Up His Sleve. BY N. P. DICTAGRAPH velope. “Just listen to this,” he ex- claimed with a snarl: -, “Didn’t get to first base; ne'chance.” Crafty pitched it aside‘and picked up another. “Nothing doing; struck a dozen snags the first move.”—R. O. T. The telephone rang. “Hel-lo,” said Crafty. Gets Nose Smashed : Ker-slam went the receiver back® in, its place and the phone fell over and rolled off the desk. Crafty paid. no atention to it and Slipry plckgq it up and placed it on the table. “-- The big boss ri&)ped open the third telegram. It read: “Struck a stone wall; got hooted oft the place.”—D. A. M. =~ The next one brought this hopeful message: a2 “Tried to follow instructions; got my nose smashed; you’ll pay the damages.”—H. O. T. Once more the phone gave a short, sharp ring. Crafty paid no attention to it. Presently it rang again, a long, jangling, nerve-racking ring. Slipry reached over and lifted the receiver and placed it to his ear. Slipery Gets Stung “Hello,” he murmured. There was a shriek came through the instrument that could be heard all over the room. ' Slipry dropped the receiver and snort- ed a harsh laugh. Crafty bored him through with his gimlet eyes and Slipry wilted like a cabbage leaf on_ a hot stove. .The fifth telegrarfl was opened. . It read: “Get somebody else to do your dirty work; I'm through.”—D. U. N. Crafty shot a penetrating glance around the room. The others look- ed at him half sympathetwa.lly, half lican candidates, and vice versa, un- less the provocation was very great or unusual. There are enough cap- able men in each party, who are wil- ling to subscribe to the league pro- gram, and who would make good legislators, without drafting a candi- date from the “opposite trenches.” The story which went the rounds of the press a short time ago to the ef- fect that the League, in order to show its nonpartisan character, was to en- dorse Burke, a democrat, for senator, an Platou, a emocrat, for governor, gafl safely be set own as a political ake. . Trying to Squeeze In Carpio Free Press: The farmers organization is today one of the best organized parties in the state and many a man who is thinking of get- ting on the old party tickets as can- didates for office has voiced himself as undecided and trying someway to squeeze into the new nonpartisan League so as to stand a better chance of geting a fat office. The men who - make up the rank and file of the new party say it is no use for the poli- tieal offenders to try any skin game on them. Is It the Hand of Alex? =~ = "the Powers Lake Eeho: It is rumored that the Fargo Forum has been select- ed by McKenzie as the agent of the: : old machine to- seecure control of the Nonpartisan: League.. TR ~ Wailing and Gnashing of Teeth _ The Mott Spotlight: The biggest question confronting every . known éxo- litical organization in this state today is: “How much ice is the..Nonpar- !;ism?i g:hI..eagut_me going to eut in the eom- e problem has resolved itself into a waiting and watching game for the political leaders and it will not be in the least surprising to learn of much wailing and gnashing of teeth— for a time at least. 8 Nothing Irregular About It Bottineau Courant: That excellent - publication, the Fargo Courier-News, in a recent editorial refers to the pend-- ing township conventions of the Non- partisan League as a movement to . ignore the primary elections and a re- turn to the old-time convention sys- tem of nominating a ticket. The Courant does not speak with author- ity, but we are led to believe that the - members of the Leagqe will partici- “after disgustedly. “They’re all the same,” he said, waiving his hand over the confused pile of messages. Crafty Weakens The . “little boss” sat patiently training the curled up ends of his black mustache. Dodger reached over and took a cigar out of the box and almost dropped it when Crafty gave him a quick, menacing glance. Then Slipry tok one and the other . two followed suit. After lighting and- - puffing a few seconds the atmosphere “changed. A softened appearance came over Crafty’s face. It was. -plain that at last the famous big goss felt more helpless thar in all -his long career. For once in his life he felt that he needed advice; that he ~ was willing to listen to his subordin- ates; that he needed belstering up. He took several long pulls at his cigar, leaned back and smiled a weak, sickly smile and the expression of hate gave way to one of friendliness. He Seeks Advice “Well, what in thunder do you think about it?” he said, condecendingly, téur‘;xing his eyes to Slipry and then to u Slipry shrugged his shoulders. “Looks to me like the only thing we can do is to wait for new develop- ments,” he said. . “That is, unless we can develop something.” “It looks to me like we just as well take a lay-off,” said Sub, bitterly, tak- ing a final tweak at his mustache. Crafty’s eyes rested upon Dodger. Dodger had been considered cold-foot- ed and a quitter. - Indeed he had been sat on pretty h -several times by both Crafty and Shpry. Yet Dodger was known to have a pretty good in- ‘sight to things and always knew his ground well. 3 “What’s your verdict, Dodger?” pate in the primiaries in the regular way. The League, as we understand it, proposes to endorse candidates that it considers satisfdactory, regardless of party affiliations. Thére is noth- ing irregular about that. It has been done time and time again by the W. C. T. U., the State Enforéement Lea- gue and other organizations, and in no way interferes with the operations of the primary election law. .. The Object of -the League Bismark Tribune:. That the Lea- gue will not confine its atention to any single parti}zri and that it will not bring ferth a slate of its own candi- dates,; is generaly accepted. Instead the League will indorse a set of republican candidates, set of democratic candidates, and so on, and the Leage then will urge all its mem- bers—totalling over 36,000—to go into the primaries of their respective par- ties and vote for the men the eonven- tion endorses. 3 Objects, sought to be accomplished by the League leaders in their move- ment are obvieus—for they are en- deavoaring te bring forth from the pri- maries of the two parties, a set of candidates that will be acceptable to them. Failure in one o;;&e g;her of the primaries in nominating the can- didates they endorse will be followed by an atempt to concentrate all the +League’s strength on the candidates they do succeed in nominating, neo matter to what party they may be- Gaining Ground ‘Rapidly Sykeston News: The Nenpartisan League is gaining ground very 1y all through the state and this or- ganization will have to be reconed with in the future elections of the state. The Nonpartisan Leader, the official organ- of the League, is hot “Louie’s” business ad~ ministration. 5 No Man Knows Who's Who Wildrose Plainsman: The plains- .man was in error some.weeks back in stating that the Nonpartisan League _had endorsed certain candidates for state offices, Instead of Nonpartisan the article should have read Equity. No authority can tell who’s who with the Nonpartisan people until after the state-wide ‘primaries in June. ‘All Will Share Benefits Carrington Record: If it can but “ accomplish a part of its program;:it _eertain. Now that’s asked Crafty. “I’'m of exactly of the same opinion I was a month age. That opinion is that we're down for the count. I mean so far as this scrap is concerned. At another time we may be able to come back alright, provided we don’t make asses of ourselves this time. The thing, in my judgement, that we should do, is to gracefully retreat in as good order as we can. If we k on going up against impossibilities we will make ourselves, not only-re- diculous in the eyes of the enemy, but disgusting in the eyes of our friends. There is no use of continually and persistently buting our heads against a stone wall. It’s the part of better judgment and tact to gracefully retire and wait until we catch ’em off guard.” “But you don’t think this thing will ~ last long do you?” asked Slipry. « Won’t Blow Over Soon - “Longer than you think. A lot of us have been consoling ourselves by . saying the storm would soon blow -over. Of course it will blow over but not as soon as we would like to de- ‘célve ourselves into thinking. Not in time to save this election—that’s ) my opinion. Take -it for what it’s worth. And I - think_youw’ll find, after its too late, that I'm right.” & ww:v'v More Cards to Play Crafty flipped the ashes from his ciga? and thoughtfully said: ' “Maybe you're right. I hope not ‘and -am- not goin’ to admit it, yet. I have a few more cards up my sleeve. I see that we are getting some little results from the press bureau. Sev- eral papers in the state have fallen for it. If they keep on we may turne the trick yet. It's a long time ’till election. Lots o” things can happen ’tween. now an’ then.” He paused several seconds. “Within a week, I hope to have . material results,” he went on. . Hang around town an’ we’ll just lay low for awhile. I'll let you know when I want you.” ; With a wave of his hand the meet- ing was over and the boys departed. ‘Newspapers Throughout State Express Opinions on Nonpartisan League will have made a great start toward the economic emancipation of the pro- ducing class of this state. * * * It will put the farmer on a good business footing and create a prosperity in which all of us cannot help but share. e X .Too. Good to be"l‘rue #; " ‘Hasting Times: Say, folks! It’s “almost too good to be true, to see the way the Nonpartisan Leader is showing up the fellows who have been . holding the political reins and pulling strings_to regulate and contrel the work of state and county offices, and thus evade the payment of taxes and _Teceive other favors. But once in a while they run up against an officer who will not be controlled by their methods. Perhaps' the people will learn after a while to elect men who can not be bought and sold like a sheep or a piece of machinery. PREPAREDNESS Carrington Record: The Record again wishes to call the attention of . its farmer readers to the necessity .of taking a paper that is published in the interests of the farmer, and one that can and will pnblisl; the: ,‘ state news of vital interest to the farmers. As an example the Non- partisan Leader is now calling the attention of its readers,; over of whom are actual farmers living on farms, that a new assessmient schedule is to be used this ‘spring . that works out most unjustly to_the farmer. not a subscriber to the Leader, write for a copy of last week’s issue and | see just what this scheme is that is being foisted upon you. beeause the weekly paper has not the room or the time, nor could it stand the expense, and your state daily paper_ will not give it you. But you should ' know about this assessment schedule before it is too late. Stormy Weather for Politicians' Yes, the Ground Hog day sure has shown ‘some remarkable forecast, for: it’s, sure stormy weather and if our competitory cannot get, to 'market with our politics any more than we: . - . can get to ‘market over our country . roads, there will -be some of th Ny out of coal"“E, WESTBERG. s you are a_farmer ‘and . A weekly paper cannot give these things no - matter how badly it might want to,