The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, March 16, 1916, Page 9

THE NONPARTISAN LEADER SUPREME TEST SOON TO BEGIN NINE So far all is well with your League. All is well because you members of thé League are alive to your great opportunity. When called to action on Washington’s birthday, you startled the state. Practically every man of you responded. In almost every case the delegate you selected is a real patriot. Very few peliticians got themselves elected delegates. And - those are being weeded out at the Legislative conventions. Your success must be very gratifying to you all. You could hardly have done your work any better than you did. If at every election you move in a body and vote as one man, as you did February 22, the success of the Farniers’ Nonpartisan League is certain. . But a greater test approaches and you must be prepared for it. This will not be so easy. The enemy is about ta get busy. Remember we told you in a former issue of the Leader that the politicians’ first effort would be to control your conventions and get the indorsement of the League. And that when they failed . to get your indorsement they would attack the League. Soon the men your conventions indorsed will be announced.. The political tricksters will know that you left them out.. Then the fireworks will begin. You have already seen an example of two of these. They will work night and day to confuse and defeat you. All the machinery of political trickery will be brought into action. They will spend any amount of money to divide you again into factions. You can expect anything and everything.. Right now the gang politicians, backed by big business are raising a large campaign fund. They cannot fight too openly. They will put hundreds of spies to work. Secretly they will go about poisoning the minds of the voters. Their agents will follow every -organizer and every League official. ) The career of every prominent League'worker will be sifted ard combed. If they find any incident in the lives of these men There Is Still Time to Defeat Hollis Bill to Your Congressman Write a Protest HOW TO REGISTER. HE League headquarters is receiving many inquiries from | members as to how they shall register for the primaries (G when the assessor comes around. : i As we said some weeks ago, the position of the Leader iz this: The League is a strictly NONPARTISAN organization, and in no sense does it aim to disturb the political party affiliation »f any member. - : g So our reply to these inquiries is: That each member register with the assessor just as he-has been doing in the past years or as ite desires to. ; st The indorsements of the Nonpartisan League will be made in gonventions of the League and the members will vote for those in- dorsed- So register as you have always done in the past and then prepare to vote for the candidates as YOU INDORSE them no mat- .- ter what political party ticket these candidates :may appear on. e Of course.you cannot. r,egisteiya,s a Ndn'partisa;l, as there is no - . such political party. Just register as you have heretofore registered. THE GOLDEN VALLEY AFFAIR. O WEEKS ago the Leader warned members of the League against a convention to be held at Golden Valley on Mareh 7, for the reason that the meeting was announced as a “convention of the -Grange, Equity and Nonpartisan League of Oliver, Mercer and Dunn counties,” and a number of po- litical speakers were advertised to speak. : The League headquarters had not participated in calling any such convention, and the Leader assumed that some persons interested in furthering the political interests of certain political candidates had ealled a convention of farmers and used the name " of the League without authority. Several such attempts to fool the farmers in the matter of League meetings had been brought to our attention and we feared that this gathering at Golden Valley was part of this program. : We had not sufficient time before the Leader went to press that week to make a full investigation of thé meeting, so we hurried ~ to warn our members against being led off by others using the . .name of the League. R e RS Tk . We have learned since, however, that the convention called was - that can in any way be criticised, these tricksters will make it look like a mountain. They will wring and twist and warp the facts; and when they find nothing they can use they will make something out of the whole cloth that will serve their purpose. Though the gangster who seeks the office may never have per- formed an honest public act, Big Business will still support him, and though the men you have indorsed have always been on the square with you, they will oppose them bitterly. And all the time they profess to be seeking honest men for - office. ‘ They wifi do anything to get you to fighting among yourselves; to trick you and fool you. If.they can make noise enough to mislead and confuse you they will win. If they cannot mislead and confuse you thén yeu will win. When the politicians start their noise, remember that your delegates have used their best judgment in indorsing men for office. They have indorsed the best men they could find. Not office seekers, but men 2ble and willing—when you ask them—to do the work you want done. v Remember these candidates will not ask you to indorse them —you asked them to receive your indorsement. This isn’t the fight of your candidates—it is your fight! . If they are not elected you are defeated. If they win you win, because they will do what you want done for the best interests of the state and all its people. Whether your League wins or leses depends now on whether you can withstand the political sterm that is brewing or whether the politicians can confuse you, divide you, scatter you and so defeat you and elect themselves. . Be prepared. We believe you can stand together as you did on Washington’s birthday. g you can your reward will be very ; &—\ great. A ) President. | ~ and those ‘calling it and having for an honest and sincere purpose, <charge of it were imbued with the best motives to enhance the welfare of the farmers in those counties, and they simply made the mistake of announcing it as a joint convention of the Grange, Equity and Nonpartisan League. Had we been in possession of the circumstances we would not have issued the warning we did, but would have still stated that the League had nothing to do with the holding of the convention at that time and place. We make this statement in fairness to the men who called and participated in the Golden Valley convention. CONTEST ANSWERS SHOW THOUGHT. O BETTER evidence of the high quality of political think- ing that is being done by the farmers of North Dakota could be found than the mass of replies to the questions in the politician contest run by The Nonpartisan Leader, results of ‘which are given elsewhere in this issue. Intelligent self interest is manifested throughout, coupled with careful thinking, and a broadminded regard for the general welfare of the state. There were few flippant answers, although there were many terse almost to the point of proverbs. : A remarkable feature of the letters was that there was so little radicalism. The point of view reflected by the great mass of . the correspondence, (572 letters in the contest, besides many that arrived too late) was that the farming interests, so vastly over- topping all other interests in the state, were entitled to helpful legislative attention, but had not received it in the past. Deter- mination to rectify this injustice was clear in many of the letters. The contest has served to concentrate attention upon some vital matters, and has shown the unanimity of opinion regarding them that exists everywhere in North Dakota. Women and boys and girls entered the contest, as well as men, and some of the best answers were given by women, there being some winning ones besides others that missed winning by a narrow margin. The answers of boys and girls ranging from 9 to 14 years .were a surprise and may form the subject of some future matter in the Leader, 2 SR : = it i i pac TR R R R A G