The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, June 22, 1916, Page 11

. CITY OF BEACH 'J. W. BRINTON, Mayor Beach, N. D.,, J\me 3, 1918. Bert €. Brown, Halliday, N. D. My Dear Mr. Brown: I have your letter of May 24, which I not receive promptly on account of my being away from home at the time. I bhave carefully noted your inquiries - regarding Mr. Townley, formerly of this place, who is now president of the Non- partisan League, and I am glad- to have the opportunity of giving you the infor- - - mation desired. IcametoBeaehml!}OSandhaveper " somally lmown Mr. Townley since that fime, he bemg one of the first homestead- ers in what is now Golden Valley county. During that time Mr. Townley’s integ- rity and honesty of purpose have never been questioned in this community by thosewhoknowhm,ndlmgladofm opportunity to make a statement in refa- tation of the charges that he is a “dead beat” and “crook,” charges that have been made for pohtwalpurposes,by men who do not know him, and who have had no business dealings with him. The men whe are interested in attack- ing Mr. Townley just now are the poli- ticians who are desirous of defeating the farmers’ Nonpartisan tieket, and those business coneerns within and witheut the state which bave been profiting at the expenseofthefarmersafthsstateby unjust lmshtmn and lack of 1egsl’atmn. Mr. Townley is not an issue in this campaign, He is not running for office and the only excuse for the unwarranted attack on him is to discredit the Non- partisan League by attacking the men at the head of it and in this way defeat the objects of the organization to which practically all of the farmers of the state have subscribed. COWARDS ATTACK TOWNLEY INSTEAD OF THE LEAGUE attacking Mr. Townley are too cowardly to come out openly ‘and attack the . farmers who have made the League pos- sible and the program which these . farmers are supporting, but instead are attempting to defeat the farmers in a round-about, underhanded way by attack- ing the honesty and integrity of the men at the head of the organization, just as™ the attempt was made in a like manuer to destroy the Equity movement in this state. You ask for my opinion of the League and in reply I want to say that it is in my opinion the greatest movement that the farmers in this or any other state ever inaugurated. There iz no reason why the farmers should not have an organization the same as the laboring classes in the cities, the bankers, the - Jawyers, the doctors, the merchants, the newspaper men, and in fact évery other recognized occupation down to the boot- . blacks. The Nonpartisan League is a farmers’ organization, its program is for the bene- fit of the farmers and any farmer who expects to continue to make his livelihood on the farm should ecertainly stand by _ this organization. AstoMr.Townley’shistory,Iwzishto say that Mr. Townley is a man who is not content to do little things when he ean do big things. But is that a crime? He was not content to farm on a small scale when there were such inducements in the Golden Valley to farm on a big scale—and others had made a success of - it. Sohzextendedthescapedhxsopu ations, like -others, and with new whom Lbenonally know, backed him— backed him with theusands' of dollars.” They- backed him because they-believed - in him and in the suecess of his efforts,. and the Iegitimacy of his mezbods. Rl BUSINESS MEN WILLING TO “PLUNGE" WITH: TOWNLEY H ‘there was any plunging done, or 2 any erooked methods used, the business” i men who: backed Mr. prnley, they, and not he, were the plungers or cro ‘They furnished “the money, machinery e ‘.and other necessaries incident to large.. power’ farming undertakings, and ff Mr. i s e R e O S 08 Naean e L DS S SR Former Mayor Answering Inquiry Writes of League LeaderasNeighborsKnew Him A LEAGUE MEMBER’S QUESTIONS Halliday, N. D., May 24, 1916. - Mr. J. W. Brinton, Beach, N. D. * Dear Sir: Pardon me' for taking the pnvnlege of wnt:mg you on this subject. My object in writing to you at-this time is to find out something about Mr. Townley, the president of the Nonpartisan League of North Dakota. I understand that Mr. Townley lived at Beach and thought you might have been acquainted 'with him. You no doubt have noticed that there has been several vicious attacks made on Mr. Townley through some of the newspapers over the state.. I am:'a member of the League and haye been gored several times by mouthpxeces of these attacking papers as being a- six-dollar_sueker. I feel ‘that it is time to - ‘know whether or not Mr. Townley i is or is not a grafter as he is condemned to be. Canyou tell me some of Mr. Townley’s past lusbory" What is ywr opmnnithe League, Mr. Brinton? I desire the opinion of some one thnt has . had the acqnam‘kxnu of Mr. Tmlcy, henec my lette.t to you. AR BER’!’ G. B’RDWN Balfhday, Dm Cmfiy, N' D. oo M mutm, of Beach. “N. D, better kiown threughout the state as the “Fighting Editer,” “Fighting Mayer.” He was formerly edrtm of the vamqwfllwtw.mmucdm 7 Tmley had: made good, they, and not heume they had ftnth in Mr. Townley he, would first have received the benefits, and had hopes of reaping a big reward. w:thmterestandpmfit. Tbeyd‘rdflns Andthlsmmcme Theyha.da : : THEY ARE ALL FOR THE LEAGVE : H.S‘m.'hofamseightnfihsmthofhtchmfle cflledatthe Leader office in Fargo recently to gwewordofenmncementandhomporta { sohdLetgnevofieeommgfmmhsneaghborhmdforfle League June 28. ; " “We are all ging to vote the League ticket up our way,” he said. “Even - its program and its candidates. The farmers -will get a big vote also from voters who are not’ !umers—m £nct a hg majorty of non—fnnner votes up our “way will-be for the ; “We think the Leader is the best paper that was ever aotten out in North 7 Dakota." RIS IF THE FARMERS over the whole state wxll vote as they g-we promise’ of ‘doing in this district it is no question' but: that ‘we will elect our candldates.—- : JOHN ROGSTAD thnsefewfarmerswhohsvenotaheu}ygomedthelmareforthe League, A L s S SIERe perfect right to make the effort and take: the chance—and they did. But. the - season was against them. The flax crop mshght,mbfrosgandmthmm farme ers lost out in the Golden Valley also—= and elsewhere. But did these by crooked dealing? If there crooked work it was on the part of the grain gamblers who manipulated the price of flax on the market. And this evil does not exist at Beach or in the Golden Valley. Neither is Mty Townley responsible for this marketing’ condition which the farmers are up against. Farmers have gone broke all over the state, but does that mean that: they are deadbeats and crooks? b chemphadbeengoodandflxepnee. 9 high Mr. Townley would have been called/ the Flax King of the state. Other men in North Dakota, and Yright in the Golden Valley, have won that reputation by the same methods that Mr. Townley, and his busimess associates employed. HE FAILED HONESTLY AND LEFT VALLEY POOR As a further evidence of Mr.. Towne ley’s honesty, I wish to say that when failure came upon him, he had in his possession thousands of dollars worth of property that had been sold to him om time. He had land, but he told his | backers and associates to come and help; themselves. And they did. They tookl all. His wife told them to come andi: take the furniture. And they did. Mra, and Mrs. Townley left the Golden Valleyg with a few personal effects in suit casess | They did not seek protection under the: | i exemption er bankruptey laws. They; gave their al. They had “failed.”-. But |! they failed honestly. That is no erime.| - .More than twe thousand business men, ! including Jlarge corporations, in the‘_ United States failed Iast year. ' More than half the railreads ef -theUnifed g" States are now in the hands of a receiver. ). They have “failed.” Are they Mcedf as crooks and deadbeats? They.are note ! LITTLE’S PAPER FAILED; - . SCUTTLED TO COVER The Bismarek Tribune, the paper that has made the most vietous attacks : agamst Mr. Tewnley, has “failed” and is now in the hands of a recexver, Can’t pay its debts. Are Mr. C.-5 Little or Alex McKenzie, the owners, referred to : in .that newspaper as deadbeats and ' crooks? = Did they tell their creditors,i as Mr. Townley did, to come and help ' themselves to their property? No. i Although they have property and money, enough t6 pay that paper's debts many, times over, they sought the pretection of the laws made to protect corporations controlled by Big Business men, and the' ereditors will only get a few cemts on' the dollar. Is that henest? - Mr. Townley, however, did not do as, most business men do that fail—take! advantage of the bankruptey law. His! creditors ean grab anything that he may accumulate in the future abeve his legal exemptions. 1 closing I wish to have you beur in mind that Mr. Townley, although he failed a number of years ago, was not denounced as a crook or a deadbeat until he started an organization to eliminate one of the elements of chance which helped to cause his failure—that of market, manipulation or price-making by grain gamblers. This is fikely to inter- fere with the profits of certain interests ‘and they seek therefore to. discredit the ,man 50°as te prevent the' ‘work thathe has set about to do. - i i Ry Townleys Record at Beach;l