The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, April 13, 1916, Page 3

In the interest of a square deal for the farmer VOL. 2, NO. 15 HERE’S LIST OF THOSE PRESENT (By Leader Staff Correspondent) Minot; April 12.—The opposition forces to :the Nonpartisan League ticket held a conference in > e the Leland hotel in this city Wednesday evening' A of last week. The conference was called by Judge N. C. Young, counsel of the Northern : Pacific Railway company, at the suggestion of ’, Dr. L. T. Guild of the Courier-News. Invitations were extended to progressives, bull moosers and stalwarts. The object of the meeting was to eliminate all candidates except Usher L. Burdick and unite the bull moosers, progressives and stalwarts on_him. An invitation was extended to Colonel John H. Fraine, stalwart candidate for governor, but Colonel Fraine did not attend the meeting and the general inference is that he re- fuses to be pulled out of the race. Those present at the meeting were Judge N. C. Young of Fargo, s Frank Sprague, Grafton, chairman of the state republican committee, 5 - P. H. Thorson, editor of the Normanden, H. R. Turner, national committeeman of the North Dakota bull moosers organization, Dorr Carroll, of Minot, state chairman of the bull moosers association, 1 A Official Paper of the Farmers' Nonpartisan Political League llonparfisén Teader = R R e oo St Ut SO s b R FARGO, NORTH DAKOTA, THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 1916 Senqtor J. E. Davies, Goodrich, progressive republican, Fred Trainer, ex-representative and pro- gressive, Torger Sinness, Minnewaukan, Burdick’s cam- paign manager, Usher L. Burdick, candidate for republican nomination for governor, Henry J. Linde, attorney general of the state, stalwart, o Carl O. Jorgenson, state auditor, stalwart candidate for re-election, Steele, member of the North Dakota tax commission, an appointee of L. B. Hanna, and Peter Myrvold, late editor of the Fram, a Nor- wegian paper published at Fargo. It is not known to what extent the meeting was successful in pulling Colonel Fraine out of the fight, but it remains to be seen what success the conference will have in this direction, as it is extremely unlikely that they will take the public into their confidence, and nothing will be known of the results of the meeting until Colonel Fraine shows that he still is a candidate or pulls out entirely. . It is understood that George Smith will be gotten out of the way through financial support of his papers to fight the League. A newspaper that dares to print the truth of North Dakota - Behind the Scenes With the Old Gang Plotters “MAY ELIMINATE ONE CANDIDATE” (From the Ward County Independent, published at Minot) A meeting of a number of prominent republic- ans of the state was held in Minot Tuesday night. Among those present were Frank Sprague of Grafton, chairman of the republican state com- mittee; U. L. Burdick, of Williston, candidate for governor; T. . Welo, of Velva; Simon Westby, of Williston; Robert Fox, of Towner, and. others. There is every indication that Burdick and Fraine, two of the candidates for governor, will get together and that one of them will be elimin- ated. The Nonpartisan League has become so strong that it was thought advisable to join forces against the League candidate. Burdick is willing to do this, and it is reported that Fraine will agree to it. Burdick is willing to abide by the decision of 25 or 35 prominent republicans of the state and it is possible that one of the candidates will be eliminated by some method. . WHOLE NO. 30 _\th'e ‘Courier-News was fighting the Nonpartisan League, but you The old gang has laid its plan to fight the Nonpartisan League. It is planning to start the work through the Republican machine. Its scheme of campaign is to combine the “stalwart” and “pro- gressive” elements and to AGREE UPON A SINGLE CANDIDATE FOR EACH OF THE MORE IMPORTANT OFFICES, so as to con- centrate the opposition against the League. The leaders of the League movement have long been certain that this would be attempted. Their impression was strengthen- ed by suggestions to the same effect in the tainted news columns of ' several publications and they were awaiting. d%éi)?nents. £l This week the Leader, by virtue of its facilities for gathering the news, is enabled to report the- FACT OF WHAT IS BEING DONE. It is enabled also to report WHO IS AT WORK ON THE SCHEME. Herewith are printed- two news items, one from the Leader’s. own correspondent at Minot, another clipped from the Ward County Independent, a weekly newspaper printed at Minot— one, by the way, which is not interested in covering up the crooked trail of the political gangsters. As this is written, none of the daily publications ‘has told the full story of the doings at the meeting here reported, though, as you can see, one or two of them had ex- ceptional facilities for learning just what went on. Usher L. Burdick of Williston and Colonel John H. Fraine of Grafton were the two most prominent candidates for the Republic- an nomination for governor UNTIL THE NONPARTISAN LEAGUE HELD ITS CONVENTION AND INDORSED LYNN J. FRAZIER OF HOOPLE, THE FARMER CANDIDATE OF THE FARMERS. 35 The machine normally was for Fraine. It didn’t like Bur- dick any too well, BUT IT WOULD A THOUSAND TIMES RATHER HAVE BURDICK THAN TO LET THE FARMERS ELECT THEIR CANDIDATE. Therefore the conference, to dis- cuss matters “in a friendly way” and to ‘“agree” upon a candidate. ~ Are the voters of the state to have anything to say about this “gentlemen’s agreement”? - Not a word. They were not: even to be told about it. They were to be kept in the dark about what their political bosses are up to? S THIS ISN’T SECRECY, IS IT? THIS IS FAIR AND OPEN POLITICS; THIS IS DEMOCRACY ; THIS IS COMPLYING WITH "THE “SPIRIT OF THE PRIMARY LAW,” IS IT NOT? YES, IT - IS NOT. Now let’s see who’s behind the scenes: The meeting was cal- led by—Whom? What friend and representative of the common ‘people? What citizen of the state of North Dakota? / Why, none other than JUDGE N. C. YOUNG, COUNSEL OF THE NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILWAY COMPANY. Young is chief political agent of the Hill railroads in North Dakota. _lAll right for a starter—what do you think of that for a pgoject of the plain people ? e : Now, who next? Answer: It was called AT THE SUGGES- . _TION OF DR. L. T. GUILD OF THE COURIER-NEWS. - - Now you know something you didn’t know before. You knew weren’t just exactly sure at whose instance and with whose aid and istance. Now her thought the fact that he had once been a minister of the gospel 'should be in some part at least a guarantee that the man would be But let’s go a little deeper into the matter. : Dr. Guild and the publication he claims to have an interest in lately have made themselves the paper champions of the First National Bank of Fargo, commonly spoken of as “Governor Hanna’s bank.” 'This is the bank that was concerned in the Medina bank failure. Governor Hanna used to be its president. He was a director at the time of the Medina bank failure and the failure of the real estate firm of Wheelock & Wheelock, owners of the Medina - bank. “He was a member of the Weiser syndicate, which supported Wheelock & Wheelock by loans with such excellent success that Wheelock & Wheelock went into the hands of receiver and the bank failed. Two other officers of the First National, including the man now its president, were members of the Weiser syndicate. _ The Leader told the FACTS OF THE MEDINA BANK FAIL- URE—not a word more—as they appear in the court records. Has Hanna or any of his tools sought to correct the Leader on any statement it made in that narration? They have not. The best they can do is a clumsy sneer at the Leader in the Courier-News for “trying a case in the newspapers.” The Leader didn’t try any case in its columns. IT ONLY TOLD CERTAIN FACTS ABOUT WHAT HAD BEEN BROUGHT OUT IN OPEN COURT—A THING THAT NO DAILY NEWSPAPER IN THE STATE HAD DARED TO DO. We wonder why. The comment of the Courier-News on the Medina bank case is important ONLY BECAUSE IT SHOWS -WHY, IN WHOSE INTEREST AND BY WHOSE COMMAND THIS PUBLICATION IS ATTACKING THE NONPARTISAN LEAGUE. HANNA WORKS IN STRANGE WAYS TO ANSWER THE FACTS WHICH, UNEXPLAINED BY HIM, STAND AS AN AC- CUSATION AGAINST HIM. HE RESOLVES THAT THE LEAGUE MUST BE DESTROY- ED AND HE SETS HIS TOOLS AT WORK—HIS BIG AND POW- ERFUL TOOLS AND ALONG WITH THEM HIS PITIABLE LIT- TLE TOOLS LIKE THE COURIER-NEWS—HE SETS THEM ALL AT WORK TO UNDERMINE AND TO DEFEAT THE PEO- PLE OF THE STATE, WHOSE INTERESTS ALL ARE BOUND UP WITH THOSE OF THE FARMERS AND THEIR LEAGUE. The officers of the League and the editors:of the Leader did not know all these things a few weeks ago. They did not under- stand the motives and the powers which prompted and controlled Guild of the Courier-News when he came to them aping the fair face of friendship and seeking “inside facts” about the League. They did not know that he was only a monkey on a string. They thought he was decent and honest in politics. They re- ceived him as a friend. They were open and above board with him. They told him their whole plans and purposes. They gave him op- portunities which no-representative of any newspaper in the state enjoyed to watch the League in operation. He rewarded them by repeated distortion and misrepresentation of the facts. They were reluctant to believe that this was deliberate. They | = s S e e e B e Th,ey d notkn »w ther, but 'fl‘éy do now, and knowing what s