The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, April 6, 1916, Page 28

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Nearly All the Farmers in Farge for Friday, Saturday or Goo The Saturday night ‘massmeeting was a fitting climax for the great series of gatherings. The auditorium . was packed, including quite a number of Fargo people. The meeting was ! opened after the great political par- It ad2 up and down Broadway. y Wood, one of the most widely known s farmers in North Dakota, vice presi- - dent and director of the League and active in the Equity and other far- mers’ organizations in North Dakota, was the first speaker. Mr, Wood was received by a great { ovation.. ‘Hats were thrown into the air and the building shook with ' JES cheers. There could be no doubt where Mr. Wood stood with the far- mers of Neorth Dakota. . In a brief talk, straight from the \ heart, he told of the League and its . meaning and his conmection with it. He modestly credited Mr. Townley <! with being responsible for most of A the success of the organization in the V) dark and disappeinting days of the first attempt at organization, but Mr. Townley, who sat on the ‘platform, wouldn’t hear, he ‘said, of such shift- ing of credit to him, when it was the i calm counsel of Mr. Woed, his splen- did optimism ‘and wision -and encour- ; agement as well as hard work which % had done so much for the League. | TOWNLEY EXPOSES MEN WHO ‘SEEK OWN INTEREST. Mr. Wood was followed by Presi- dent Townley, who was ‘again receiv- ’ ed in ‘unbounded enthusiasm by the L. dudience. The League president dis- ; cussed different types ‘of men who were defeated for the League’s in- "\ dorsement but who had put their e shoulder to the wheel and boosted those who had beaten them for in- dorsement -and who had gone out and got more members. These ‘were real men, he said, not self-seekers. Then he described the self-seeker, the man ~who wanted the indorsement, not be- cause he wanted to work unselfishly - for the farmers’ cause but for him- > self and what there was in it. He told how some such men ‘as these had At : sought indorsement of the League - and mentioned George J. Smith of Plaza, who wrote the now famous letter seeking the League indorse- ment. o, Then he told how the League had § exposed this self-seeker and how he had become, because the League would not indorse him, a bitter enemy instead of a friend of the organiza- tion. “He was nice to us till he saw he could not use this organization fer his personal benefit, but_he is making bitter attacks now when he finds he & can not use the League,” said Mr, Kisicir) g 5 Townley. ] SMITH'S BAD GUESSES Py . CONVULSE AUDIENCE. : Mr. Smith had sent newsboys to @& the convention with several thousand : copies of his Bismarck weekly paper containing attacks on the League and on Mr. Townley personally. They be- gan to be distributed at about the s time Mr. Towniey began to talk and N ; Mr, Townley was handed one of the papers, which he proceeded to read “to the audience, much to their merri- ment. Among other things Mr. Smith had published what he said was in- side information - ‘about whom ‘the ‘League would indorse for governor and other ‘state offices and the read- THE NONPARTISAN LEADER ) ™ TWENTY-NINE N early All of Them Wanted to See the Leader Office —Photo by Len‘der.Slnff Photographer the Big League Convention and Massmeectings Took Opportunity to Call ‘on the Leader at Its Offices on N. P. Avenue, Sunday. ack Goo Farmers, Undismayed by Attacks of Gangsters, Present United Front ing ‘of this convulsed the crowd, it was so wide of the maik. President Townley :also read a let- ter Smith is sending to bankers ask- ing them to support his Bismarck pa- per and subscribe for it, as it was going to go down the line against the League. The delegates to the state conven- tion elected by the membership of the League to inderse candidates oc- cupied seats on the stage with the candidates they had indorsed at the Saturday evening massmeeting. They were -asked to stand up that the aud- ience could see the men who had se- lected the League’s candidates. This was the occasion of a great outburst of enthusiasm. Here was probably one of the most substantial and representative bodies of farmers -ever .assembled. They were named by their neighbors to come down to Fargo and investigate candidates for office, indorse those they found good and true and to seek out others worthy as farmers’ can- ‘didates and ‘place them 'before the League and ‘the people of the state. How well they did their work the whole state now knows. How the League members looked upon these men and their indorsement of candi- dates was shown when they stood up on the platform amid applause and cheers. ‘OVATION IS GIVEN : TO LEAGUE CANDIDATES, President Townley then asked the candidates for state office to stand. The Cause Was the Thing the state convention chosen by the League membership in the 43rd legislative district, says the convention at which men were indorsed for governor and state offices was “the fairest and squarest meeting” he ever attended. * “All the delegates present had epportunity to put up for consideration every man they believed worthy ef consideration by the convention,” he said. “The men suggested were discus- sed at length and everyone present had full opportunity, and most of them took it, to express his epinion freely concerning those names placed before the convention. Each delegate was given a fair hearing. "“] :did not realize that a.state convention could be -con- ducted so :absolutely free of dictatorship, without prearrange- ment. G. Patterson of Donnybrook, Renville county, delegate to i Nething was prearranged and nobody knew who the other fellew was :going to put up. We were able to agree on candidates for all offices without friction of any kind. It was a marvel to ine, explained only by the singleness ‘of purpose and absolute lack of desire for personal honers by all present. The cause was the thing. “I want to say that those delegates present conducted that convention amd mobody but them had anything to say about it.” Oroce More About Crafty | Dictagraph Postscript ] Dodger and Slipry attended the Nonpartisan League convention at Fargo. On Saturday night just as the big parade marched into the audi- torium Slipry called up Crafty at Bis- marck. In a few terse sentences he described the situation. When he had ‘completed his description of the meetings and the parade he heard a loud thud, like ‘a bale of wool falling out of the ;gallery. “Hello! hello!! hello!!!” :said Slipry, excitedly. No answer came. He jingled the phone hook 'and yelled, “Hello Craft, hello Craft,” but no answer came. After several minutes of waiting and hellowing, central eperator from Bismarck interrupted ‘Slipry and in- formed him that Crafty was in a. dangerous ocondition. That he had fallen in a dead faint, that three physicians were working over him - and that he had yet shown no signs of life. . Twelve hours later the dictapraph reported that Crafty had come -out of the unconscious state but once and then only for a few moments. That he mumbled something about d—— fool ‘farmers ‘and -sank again into dead stupor. His condition, however, is not.considered ‘dangerous. ; This Photo Shows a Crowd of League Members Snapped in Front -of the Leader’s Office. Men 1l They mose from their .chairs on the platform. The :audience tried to out- do its previous ‘ovabions. Lynn Frazier, candidaste for governor, delivered a brief and dignified -address, cvery word of which was heard with close at- tention by the entire audience. He pledged those present that if clected governor he would do his best to render ‘faithful service to the peeple -of the whole state and that especially ‘he would throw his influence toward righting the wrongs which have handicapped and burdened the farmers of the state. This pledge was received with a storm ‘of applause from all over the house. The crowd then heard brief talks from others who had been indorsed for office. HWach was enthusiastically received. This was followed by ‘the gpegir’lg of subscriptions te the “war und.” - CITIZENS OF FARGO ENTERTAIN LEAGUE MEMBERS The Saturday night meeting was.a fitting climax of the great demonstra- tions to which Fargo had been treat- ed. The meeting lasted till after mid- night and enthusiasm was at a high pitch until the lights were turned out. One of the speakers it was hoped to have in Fargo to address the mass- meetings was Frank P. Walsh of Kansas City, chairman of the Indus- trial Relations commission, whose work is known throughout the United State. Mr. Walsh intended to come but found he could net ‘do so at the last moment. His telegram of regret was read to the convention, It said: “Matters of ‘extreme importance preclude possibility of my absenting myself during the period of the con- vention. 1T regret this beyond expres- sion and assure-you I would not al- low affairs ©f ordinary moment to koep me Trom waiding your worthy cause.” Members of the League on Friday night were :ontertained :at the :expense of ithe Fange Commercizal «club :at the various theaters ©of the city. ‘Cem- limentary tickets to all these the- dters were given out o every farmer in the city who desired them and the theaters were packed at all perform- amoes. The Fargo Commercial club otherwise :assisted in entertaining the «delegates, as «@did merchants :and citi- zens «of Faygo generally. The League members who -subscribed to ‘the For- um, the Fargo--evening paper, re- ceived fair amd exhaustive reports of the meetings and read all the import- ant mews of the conwention first in that paper. The Torum editorially welcomed ithe delegates o the city in a ‘warm-hearted way. Paid _Advertisement Government ; ! [

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