The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, May 11, 1916, Page 5

FEW of the papers in the state recently printed a statement A. to the effect that James E. Robinson, one of the League’s , three-candidates for judge of the supreme court, is to be e itched by the League for Judge E.T. Burke. This statement entirely without foundation, 3 3 $ -The League stands squarely-back of its own candidates, Robin- on, Birdzell and Grace. It stands squarely back of each and all of e candidates indorsed in its convention by its delegates represent- b the entire state. These candidates are going to be nominated &2 d elected. The people are getting tired of cheap politicians. it obinson, Birdzell and Grace were indorsed by the League’s dele- tes. They were indorsed because the delegates kmew that they Would stand for fundamental justice. They knew that they would not misconstrue the plain English language in writing decisions. They knew that these men would consider the right and the wrong every case, rather. than blindly follow precedent—or what some old fogy said on the bench a hundred or a thousand years ago. They knew that these men would no longer permit justice to be R made a mockery, of clothed in antiquated garments, but would bring | B2 et it down to the living present. Robinson, Birdzell and Grace—these 1 mthe League’s candidates. The League knows ho others. “The | d of Douglass is his own.” ~ . e . 3 Mr. Robinson has been a pioneer in judicial reform and for and again when these delegates chose men to represent them at the state convention you have covered the terri- tory quite thoroughly. ! Now just a word as to the procedure The_ following letter answering- the charges of H. C. Harty, a banker and former member of the legislature, was The Performer is Going to Strike e erald or the ormanden I dmt'l&n wonder he anltsl :;g-t tter posted on purpose of our League, : For Mr. Harty’s information. I want state that the officers of the L g were duly elected by its members uneandyasneu'aslcanfindcnt.tho present membership is well satisfied with them. Now if we want to anywhere in an ¢ g:oposition we should attack the is-- es instead of the individual. Let us see what the organization has done and what it proposes to do for its Up to the present writing it has been as successful as jts most ardent supporters could hope for, as through ts instrumentality it has succeeded indorsing the and most capable men ever brought before the voters of this state. Our purpose is to nominate and elect them. ‘When Mr. Harty refers to the old . ‘ convention system of years gone: by Bl e is thinking about a program en- i3 'l “ tirely different from the one we car- T ™ ried out in the indorsement of our ol '~ pandidates. Mr. Harty must know < N ~that we did not nominate these men, bie Vbut indorsed them for the voters of iR the state tanominabe at the primary & election in June. : To my mind the method of choosig‘n'g - e $ delegates at the precinct caucus wi . B fufiaatbendance of the electors is the i most representative body you can send to a county or legislative convention * & > A Sy O e A e . o i N ENTIRE North Daketa town that ‘has never paid any taxes “ 7 tag been discovered.. The 10 acres of land and the buildings on it . whi onstitute the town of Hesper, s ; gggnc%ounty, was founded in u_aoé 3 and since then never taxed, according i ' _ %o a report made to the tax commis- sion by C. R. Kositzky, secretary of the commission, whose business is to is not a very Wh. : lsgm Esmond branch of the Nor- thern Pacific. Thm:h H:gg;r_: . hotel, a store, a ] 1 *This Town Pays No -l Kositzky Finds Astonishing Oversight On Part of Benson County Officials agreed upon with the tax commission: Ve, Z Secretary Kosi last week visit- ed Hesper again and found the town- / taxed, and he has so reported to the tax commission. It is expected the commission will take some..vigorous m to see that these taxes are col- lected, not only for the current”year but for back years. Mr. Kositzky reported that the only thing done to- ‘ mla taxing Hesper since 1913 has matter of: to list the town lots and bujld- in the various no valua- ~ , ~ The Supreme Court Situation The Poor Farmer—“Yes; I'll GE site and the buildings ion it still un- - th years he stood alone in this state. The North Dakota Bar Associaf - tion recently advocated a few of Mr. Robinson’s reforms. The judiciary, however, will never be reformed by the lawyerisg as the majority generally hesitate to openly oppose a judge who up for election, and in many cases there is good reason for hesitats ing, because from a judge’s wrath there is no appeal. Four yea ago the legislature passed an act attempting to do away with th expense of printing briefs. The supreme court virtually annulle “this part of the act by a court rule holding that either party may, print his brief, and if he prevails, charge the cost of printing to th other side: . : ; - _Mr, Robinson has had many cases before the supreme courts > of North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and th United States supreme court. He has had over a thousand cas in the district courts of this state, and has the enviable record of having won over ninety-five per cent of his cases. He has for many years fearlessly and courageously advocated a change of the court rules so as to give justice to all with absolute- fairness, and without sale, denial or delay, and in utter disregard ta the social, financial or political affiliation of the parties. ; We know that a vigorous campaign of slander and misrepresens tation will be made against Mr. Robinson-and the other two Leagu i candidates for the supreme court, but the fact that big business an special privilege object to these men is the very reason why they, should and will be nominated.and elected. e the office of governor. These men were all thoroughly discussed and voted on by secret ballot by the deles gates, not the officers of the League, le there were not as many pro- posed for the other offices there was plenty of good material in evidence and the same procedure was carried on all the way through as stated before. Now if it is the purpose of the officers of the League to control, M: Harty, it seems, should agree with that at this convention was the time ! -and place for them to show a disposis b ! tion to do so, which was not the case. { k On the contrary they took no part ‘ whatever in the proceedings of the convention. . In conclusion I want to quote a few senténces -of the beginning of Ex« i president Worst’s speech to the mass i convention to show that he believes there is a necessity for our organiza« tion. Mr. Harty surely will agree with me that Mr. Worst’s position § for 20 years as president of the agrie l cultural college should qualify him to Hi know the needs of the farmers of | North 'Dakota. il Dr.-Worst said “I am sorry so many, | A farmers of North Dakota find it nece | RS essary to come down here to a meeting like this. I am sorry conditions are such you find it mecessary to have this League' through, which to make this protest and seek your rights. “There never can be a genuine spirit of patriotism in a 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 meeting. > We have worked along the ‘more pro- duction’ 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.” L. A. KNOKE. they show the county auditor neglect ed to call it to the board'sattegtion, -as he was. ordered to do by the tax commission, ! 2 - “I have called it to the at i commission found in 1918 that certain the tax. commission that ifint;ggeg corporation property along the rail- made in 1913 have not been observed road in-Benson county was escapi by ‘the county officials,” assessment. Many leased sites nfi Kositzky to the Leader. le right of way containing Standard officials failed to make any attempt Oil property, coal sheds, warehouses, to put the escaped leased sites on t]laje etc., were not listed for taxation. roll either for the cunrrent year or back ' years. While they listed the ° town lots and buildings at Hesper fo; taxation after the matter was callea. to their attention, no valuations were fi:: on the property and hence no tax been paid. But no effort what- ‘ever was made to put the escaped - . property at Hesper on for the back years, as ordered, - -’ i . “I don’t know what action the tag ,.commission will take, but I suppose . mhxed,—notonlyforthecunmty_e(r- ; . -mits when escaped property is found; adopted at the convention in the in- dorsement of our candidates. We had a big blackboard on which were writ- ten the names as they were proposed, and there were no less than eight for VAR T BUSY in a minute” The state commission therefore order- ed these put on the rolls, not only for 1913 but for prior years'in which they had not been taxed. - LEASED SITES ALSO ESCAPE Recently Mr, Kositzky, checking up ! ission, found that these