The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, April 6, 1916, Page 26

Parade Forming Fridfiy at Postoffice. It Was Two Blocks Long, Four Abreast. THE NONPARTISAN 4.‘LEADER..‘ i TWENTY-SEVEN of F argo on Farmers’ Independence Day —Photo by Leader Staff Photographer - The Call to Freedom Heard Striking Ovation Given to President Townley at First Big Mass Meeting 4 The first of the c'onvention mass- meetings was held Friday morning, March 31. It was called to order at .10 o’clock by D. C. Coates, managing editor of the Nonpartisan Leader, who presided throughout the meetings. The Conway concert band and Fargo band furnished music. Mayor E. F Emery of Fargo welcomed the League members on hehalf of the city, which had contributed the use oi the audi- torium. President A. C. Townley of the League responded. The introduc- tion of Mr. Townley was the occasion of ‘an outhurst of applause and cheer- ing which lasted several minutes. It was impossible, on account of the enthusiactic din, for him to start. Somebody arose down in the audience -and proposed three cheers for the leader of the League, They were giv- en amid waving of hats and in deafen- ing volume. PRESIDENT TOWNLEY SPEAKS IN MASS MEETING “T can not tell you,” said President Townley, “how deeply and sincerely I _appreciate the evidence I see and hear today of the loyalty of you farmers of North Dakota to your cause. I am sure that I speak for all of you when in behalf of the Farmers’ Nonpartisan League I thank Mayor Emery of Fargo for his kind words of welcome to this assembly of the men of North Dakota. : “We all appreciate, I am certain, the kind words of the mayor of this city and the spirit of cooperation shown by its citizens, including its business men. “Our purpose here is to work for the mutual good, not merely of the members of this League, not merely of the farmers of the state of North Dakota, but of all the people of the state of North Dakota. ; “I regret to say that not all the business men here in the past have been willing to work with the farmers for the common good.. Some have been willing to exploit the farmer and to pass their profits on to their mas- ters in other states. P “Yes, the farmers are willing to co- operate with the business man." They have been’ cooperating in the past and they are not happy over the result. They are willing to go on cooperating in the future, but they want a little different plan of cooperation. i “I sat here in this hall a short time ago and heard Former President orst”of the A%J.:icultural college, an expert on the subj the farmers of North Dakota through unfair grading rules . for grain, “through failure of the farmers to gat the benefits of the byproducts of their . grain and use it in North Dakota. _ RIGHT WAY TO BUILD “DIFFERENT FEELING” * y tell the farmers - of this state that fifty-five million - dollars was being lost every year to . en‘, o apolis, should be retained in the pockets of the farmers of the state there would: be quite a little different feeling between the business men-and the farmers. e “But out of this $55,000,000 the farmers of North Dakota have decid- ed to retain $6 each. They have re- tained this $6 apiece to build for themselves the foundation of a demo- cratic government in North Dakota.” This statement was received by continued cheers. Mr. Townley said that contrary to reports there is nothing secret or diabolical about the Nonpartisan League—“from the viewpoint of the farmers. But,” continued the speak- er, “it is diabolical to those business men who have taken out of the hands of the farmers of the state of North Dakota, $55,000,000 a year. “When you go away from this con- vention I want you to take away a feeling that you are going to take bet- ter care of these business men than they have been taking care of you.” Addresses by Edward Wood, H. E. Behrens and N. S. Randall, organizers and speakers of the League; kept the audience interested during the bal- ance of the morning. Much amuse- ment was furnished. when, during the morning, President Townley from the platform read a handbill which had been printed to circulate among . mem- bers of the League during the Fargo meetings.. It was printed in large type and unsigned. It advised mem- bers of the League to insist on know- ing what had become of the $6 each they had contributed to become members. A copy of the handbill had come to League headquarters before they-were put in circulation with the explanation they had been shipped to Fargo from Minneapolis for distribu- tion. It was reported several thous- and of them were on hand. “They want to know what has be- " come of that $6,” said President Townley, “but they do not ask what has become of the millions of dollars - annually out of which they rob the farmers of this state.” ANONYMOUS HANDBILLS SOUGHT AS SOUVENIRS. ~ “While some of the handbills were afterwards circulated, the exposure of the plan and their source made it hard work to work them off among the - common people for years. [ o 8 5 e -~ = () =, ) g ”\ - o = ® =2 ® z H g ....‘.'.. delegates to the convention. What few were distributed, however, after- wards became much-sought as souvenirs. Throughout the Friday afternoon session the interest and enthusiasm- gained in. intensity, By this time probably 3000 farmer members of the League were -in Fargo.. Hotels were long since filled and beds in private houses were at a premium. Through the Commercial Club hundreds of farmers were put in communication with private homes having rooms to let. At that many slept in chairs all night at the Y. M. C. A. and other p]aces. Friday afternoon the crowd in attendance comfortably filled the lower floor of the auditorium and half the gallery. The auditorium seats about 3000. Close to 2000 were in attendance and at none of the subse- quent meetings was jt less, reaching its maximum Saturday night. The Friday afternoon meeting was addressed by O. M. Thomason, author of the “Crafty” stories in the Leader. The dictagraph was working well and the crowd had a genuine half-hour’s treat. Mr. Thomason sang “On to Bismarck,” written to the tune of - “Marching Through Georgia,” much to the delight of the crowd. His talk was on “Cooperation” and he laid down the principal that cooperation between the business man and the farmer must not be for the benefit of the business man alone, but for the benefit of both. He showed that the farmers’ fight should be the business man’s fight, because the business man exists only because of the farmer and what helps the farmer helps the busi- ness man, He pointed out this kind of cooperation was not any too fre- quent in North Dakota. R. B. Martin, one of the League organizers, who was in North Dakota when the League was first organized and at once connected. himself with the movement, gave one of the best addresses of the sessions. Mr. Mart- in has been connected with similar movements in other states and has been on the lecture platform in the interests of organized labor and the His sub- ject was “The Farmer’s Best Crop,” a plea for better conditions on the farms that will help the boys and girls. He was roundly applauded. J. W. Brinton, mayor of Beach, who 0000000000000000000000¢000000000000000000000000000000 . The Leader Leads the Field has entertained and instructed scores of meetings of the League throughout the winter, gave a talk on news- papers, in which he separated the sheep from the goafs and explained how the farmer could know the paper that was favorable to his cause and not knifing him in the back. “SORRY YOU ARE HERE,” SAYS DR. WORST. The address of Dr. John H. Worst, former president of the Agricultural college, was a big feature of the afternoon. ‘ “I am sorry you are here,” said Dr. Worst in opening his address. “I am sorry so many farmers of North Da- kota find it necessary to come down here to a meeting like this. I am sorry conditions are such you find it necessary to have this .League through which to make this protest and seek your rights. “There never can be a genuine spirit of patriotism in 2 country not worth loving, and a country is not worth loving if it does not yield a reasonable remuneration to the tillers of the soil. Your great end is to help North Dakota to come into its own. She has not come into it yet or you would not be here today at this meet- ing. We have worked along the ‘more production’ line long enough and let the profit and business end go —we must now work for a fairer share of the wealth we produce. That, I understand, is the ultimate end of this organization and it is a worthy one. “Every business, when hard times come and prices soar, can hand the burden along to the other fellow. The manufacturer hands it down to the jobber, the jobber to the retailer. But the farmer can not hand it down to the one back of him in the process of distribution, He must carry the load. “You men at last are tired of going to the other fellow and asking him what he will give for your products. You want a hand in fixing those prices, just like every business has except that of farming, and you are going to get it. You want a reason- able remuneration and you want to have a say about what reasonable re- muneration is. And you have a right to organize as you have done for this - end. “Keep your heads cool; don’t get excited,” said the speaker in closing, “There is nothing to get excited about, This is not a revolution or a raid on any legitimate business—remember, I said legitimate business. You have simply come here to talk these things over and its your own business and nobody’s else business.” The work of the regularly elected ~ delegates of the League to the state “ convention for the - indorsement of candidates for governor and state of- ficers was xae})orted to the massmeet- cally -