The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, July 6, 1916, Page 6

B _‘methods desir This is ‘a view of the station platfo! Frazier, the next governor of North Dakota. large crowd waiting to hear the farmers’ candidate. ETURNS from all over the state indicate a great victory for the farmers’ candidates in the primary electioxma fight that will go .down into history as one of the most epoch-making the state . ever:-has seen. : : : It has'been a battle between privilege and.the right of the people to rule, a battle of right against ) the people is a triumph, a triumph not so much for the people’s can- didates who have been nominated as for the people who have nominated them; and not for them alone, but for all the people of the state of North Dakota, those who live in it now and those who are to live in it hereafter.. . A st e : s * * * S 3 THE REAL ISSUES. Voo : En this hour of real victory it might well be conceived that the leaders of the League, and if not them, the members of the League, would feel a great sense of exultation. conquerors only, as mere victors in a political fight. They exult because of what this election means to the state of North. Dakota and- part they themselves have had in bringing about- not because of the the result. ** "The real reason for exultation is that this election has made it plain that the people of North Dakota have- determined to exercise . their right to rule their own state fof its own good, that they have " declared their independence of political bosses who have repeatedly be- . trayed their interests and that they have determined to use the power of state government to bring about their release from oppressive -bur- dens that have been forced upon them.| - - SRt : ‘The issues” in ‘the election: were greater. than -the program of the Nonpartisan League, greater than the individual merit of the can- ‘didates indorsed by the organized farmers of. the state, greater far than the question of the life and future of the organization itself. S The issue was the right of the people and the capacity of the people of a free.-state,-long -misled by self-serving: officers ‘and betrayed by false issues, 'to_assert:-their power and. to make the government of the - state once more representative.) . g ik Ja THE PRIMARY’S DEFECT. - - “Partisanship has been used .as the:instrument of oppressidn Ain : _North Dakota; By means of party divisions the false leaders of the ‘people have: ke : by the people themselves. - : oy ; -~ Arstate primary law, designed to give the people back:their rights, ~. ‘became a tool to. perpetuate misgovernment:. It offered no means for the people to select their own candidatcs. ~ A primary fight in the state ‘at harge is an expensive affair. No man could enter it with hope of ‘success without extensive resources at his command, A campaign well ‘backed with- money was more likely to be a successful capaign ‘than a Jcampaign with little funds. g : % " [ Primary contests becamé a rich man’s game or a game for a man ked by rich men or rich interests. ' of conventions, = <" people could not work out their; elections. They were :helpless: shom they: knew: they could rely tion and election. he Nonpartisan League, the people effect; ve was entrenched wrong. The decision of: They do exult, but not as. - 'This was _only hope of free and honest government in North Dakota. ~ split up the farmers’ vote and to defeat them. fas 4 menace to the state as great as the old. menace of . The main issue was whether the people of the state would support S rm at Belfield, Stark county, when the farmers and their families came to town to hear a talk from the train platform by Lynn J. At every station on the triumphgl route of the Frazier special train there was an audience ranging from a small group to a Enthusiasm was shown' at .every point 5 A Great Victory--What It Means absolutely: neceséary to make popular government more than -a name in North Dakota. - The basic plan was to form a Leagiie of voters, independent of tlie pohtlcla.l organizations: which had lent' themselves to corruption: and misrule. the one object 'of bringing gocd government to North Dakota. . ; " - The movement was among the farmeérs of the state, who cast: more than 60 per cent of per cent of.its taxe e state’s votes, produce all its wealth.and pay 5. + 1 was to be a League of voters of all political beliefs with : . The movement started among thé fai'mers b'ecause of the fact.. that the farmers of the state, whose welfare should be the first concern. of the state’s lawmakers and administrative officers, had seen . their wishes repeatedly flouted, their requests denied and their interests scorned by the men they had electd to office. The League movement quickly became. known as “the revolt of the farmers,” which in fact it was—a revolt against political conditions that had become intolerable and outrageous. - It swept like wildfire all over the state because there were overwhelming reasons for its origin . effective. : = * % % RESULTS JUSTIFY THE CLAIMS. and because its plan of operation was simple and promi~~1 5 he . The plan has been proved effective by the result. It was merely this, that the voters themselves, represented by the membership of the - League, shqu_ld choose their own men to run in the primary election, without waiting for the choice to be made in back-room, star—chamber_' _ gatherings of political-bosses. This ‘plan has worked out tos the letter. the precincts of: the state—thirty thousand North Dakota voters—met and named: delegates. These delegates met in districts and chose candidates for the legislature and a delegate to the state convention. This state convention chose & complete ticket of state officers, which later was ratified by the signature of thirty thou- : sand-men ‘on the nominating petitions of the candidates.- - "+ A REAL TICKET F THE PEOPLE method of selecting candidates by’ their vote: in-the primary election sition: ever put up against any‘set of ‘candidates, . . ~ .. FARMERS' PROVE TRUE BLUE. : j The farmers have stood by their organization because it offered the not' been -decéived by the tricks of the political” bosses, : h attempted to use innocent and well-meaning-candidates-in so; e .. This issue in this primary, the farmers well mndersto;drf w bigger than any questions of personality and bigger than the ‘claim: s°$ rival candidates. .. = : o e R R 4 movement, to restore the government of the state to the peor it to victory in the primary. T - citizens of the towns and cities of the sta ‘the farmers what was at stake. et - OTHERS NEED TO:LEARN TRUTH armers will ‘continue to stand by their ca ; ut' the cause of every hone; the' fall with them many - discerning election, a fight : a real ticket of the people, the first North Dakota ~ had. The people of the state have tesg:ified-theii- approval of this ‘:\::; League members in all : each of the legislative ' :just held. ' They have ‘proved it in spite-of-the most determined o X t ' themselves. in power ‘and refused.-ineas_ures and ¢ % ; T _They have - me cases to The farmers understood that issue, ' They went down the h:efor 4