The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, July 27, 1916, Page 7

’ o R S B e The Man Who Made Others See Georsge S. Loftus a Light Bearer for the People of the Northwest HEN George S. Loftus died in St. Paul the evening of Sunday, - July 16, a remarkable career of service to the people of the nation, and especially the people of the Northwest, came to an end. . To those who had lived long in North or Minnesota the words “George :Loftus is-dead” were the tragic close of & wonderful story, a story that could ‘not be put into “words. Only those who .kmew Loftus could fully understand it, for Loftus was a power, a unique personality. The list of the accomplishments of this wonderful - human dynamo, this bundle of energy and magnetism and personal charm, great as it is, does not explain’ the man. ) Discussing him shortly after his funeral .on Wednesday of last week a few who had been close friends of George Loftus agreed that the sam of the qualities that had made him great was his ability to make other people see. HE FOUND THE FACTS AND TOLD THE PECPLE This ability was made up of many qualities which gave him a remarkable capacity for ferreting out the truth and a remarkable persuasive and enlighten- ing power to make the truth useful after he had found it. ‘“George was . a - natural detective,” said J. M. -Anderson, president of the Equity Co-operative Exchange, of which Loftus was sales manager from August, 1912, until ‘his death. “He seemed to know by instinct what people were up to, what they had been doing and how they had been daing it and he knew just how to go about to gather the facts. “A _great part of his success in this line, as in others, was the tremendous power and charm of his personality. This was one of his biggest assets and one of our biggest assets in the.fight against the grain combination. He was a regular father confessor to a host of people. Anybody who knew about any- thing crooked -that had been done by the Chamber ‘of Commerce, by any of its members or by the railroads, would come and tell it to George. J “Loftus used this power to the fullest extent ir the legislative investigation of 1913, which resulted in the first stag- gering blow to corruption in the Minne- apolis grain -market. The report of the house investlgating committee brought out proof of members of the Minne- apohs chamber having sold ~consigned grain to themselves, of illegal switching charges, of illegal demurrage charges on the part of the railroads, and of many other. abuses. “George Loftus supplied the com- mittee with the evidence which enabled them to make this report and for the first time brought to the attention of all ‘the northwest the truth about how the farmers were bemg*cheated “But Loftus was much more than a detective. His other great side was as a creator of public sentiment. He was a master leader of men. ‘He stirred men up. He made them think. No man conld be bored in any meeting of which Loftus had charge. There was some- thing - doing every minute. The audience did not simply sit and listen. Loftus wouldn’t let them. Every man had to take sides, elther for Loftus or against him. “Loftus had an enormous fund of wit and a bubbling humor. He was ready for every occasion. "“One of the characteristics that endeared him to the farmers was his habit of nicknaming men, both friends and opponents. One good old farmer, a loyal friend of Loftus, a strong Equity man and a devout churchman, he always spoke of as ‘Martin Luther’ At another time one of his statements was chal- lenged by another old farmer with a - patriarchal beard and a broad countenance. ° “ ‘Now Mr—; I don’t know what This pmtu"e is of the wife and children of George S. Loftus, the friend and champion of the farmers of North Dakota, who died Sunday, July 16. The three daughters are Grace, LaFollette Loftus, age 10. 18, Katherine, 17, Helen, 16, and the one son is Robert Friends of Mr. Loftus are continuing the effort to raise a fund for his family, who are left almost penniless at his death. . Loftus spoke. your name is, but I'll call you Oom Paul,’ began Loftus in replying to him. “There was always an argument when He wouldn’t have it any other way. The Chamber of Commerce men would come to his meetings,. like the scribes and pharisees of old, pre- pared to criticise and to seek openings for attack. Loftus would goad . them into. saying something. He would challenge them and lead them into a trap, to the intense delight of his audiences. “Loftus led men to fight with him and for him. This was his great service to the Equity cause. He aroused the farmers to a knowledge of their wrongs. EQUITY DIDN'T HAVE TROUBLES LIKE KAISER’S “His fighting spirit was never lost and he never lost his sense of humor. Even when we were being attacked by the Chamber of Commerce in the law suits two years ago and a concentrated ®ffort was being made to destroy our ‘credit and to down us, he was not despondent. “It was about the txme the German troops were attacking Liege, England had entered the war and the reports then coming in were all unfavorable to the Germans. “‘Cheer up, J. M.;’ said Loftus, ‘we're notso bad off; just think what the Kaiser is' up against.’ “My acquaintance = with Loftus covered a period of something over four years. I first became acquainted with him in March, 1912. The Exchange was then one year old. Like thousands of others I loved him from the start and in his death I have lost one of the best of friends: who was also a real friend to the people of ‘the northwest and the relentless enemy of injustice.” A Remarkable Record of Service for the People HEN he accepted the managership of the ‘Equity Co- operative exchange on the open- ing of the new farmers’ market in Min- neapolis- in August, 1912, Loftus was a veteran in the fight of the people against oppression by the big interests of the country. The catalogue of his achievements makes a wonderful record: He had been instrumental in securing convictions against rail- roads for unfair lnd illegal rebating. . He had fathered and secured the, . passage of the famous reciprodal demurrage law, which reguired rail-- roads to supply cars to shippers within a given time or pay a fine, " just as the railroads required ship- pers to load cars within a certain " time or pay fines. .~ He had secured an official inves- . tigation . in Minnesota of freight ~rates and gathered evidence that . caused a substantial reduction to be made: he had started the agitation against. the Pullman ‘company on “ account of high sleeping car rates, - secured a hearing and subsequently .a ruling forcmg the lowering . of " rates. ‘ These are only a few of hJS accom- _ plishments before' he cast his lot with ‘the farmers and entered upon the big- gest and ‘most successful work of his: : His ong . h:tehadbeenone'l rupt money power. hi sales’ that it included accomplishments of which 2 man with a strong party back- ing him, with newspaper approval and with unlimited funds ‘would have been .proud. But Loftus did it w1thout any organ- ized party backing, despite- the oppo- sition of corporations with billions of dollars of assets and in the face of public indifference and - unceasing . attacks fin the controllgd {newspapers. LOFTUS JOINS THE FIGHT TO HELP OUT FARMERS “With this experience- and record Mr. Loftus entered upon his greatest work in 1912—the work of getting the farm- ers of the northwest a:free and fair market for their grain. Prior to the establishment of the Equity Cooperative exchange .at Minneapolis there was only one market for the wheat of North Dakota and its neighboring states. This market was’ the Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce, a closed and . controlied market that was—and still is, in a less degree—taking its millions of = ~xnjust. tribute: annually from the pro- ducers of the northwest. “The Equity " exchange inaugui: “ed in the face of the bitterest oppositio: of the grain'trust, which con- trolled ‘the newspapersandotheravenues of publicity. . It was a new and risky venture: of few patnohc fa.rme‘rf with rk for the people hbefore ‘he “financial resources, had been -ings, letters a; open to him. <monopoly —of ' the ' Chamber -of Com- _ proceeded buck one’ of the most vicious insti- tutions of intrenched plivilege and monopoly, an institution of unlimited backed and sup- supported by prominent and influential men and the public press. Mr. Loftus’ first work was the educa- tion of the farmers in the abuses of the Chamber of Commerce and the oppor- tunities afforded for marketing grain in the new, independent and free market that tle. farmers had established for themselves. Possessing a. genius for organization and backed by facts, Mr. Loftus, branded as an “agitator” and a grafter by the controlled press, took up the work of malcmg the farmers see and understand, in which, almost from the start, he was. successful. He ' never rested; he never took off his fighting clothes Mr. Loftus brought to his work as- sales manager- of the Equity exchange his extensive knowledge of financial and commercial conditions and his keen per- ception: of abuses saddled on the people.. -With this he was a: peerless investi- gator, ‘a searcher after-facts and a finder of them. He'supplemented what he knew from past experience with new facts and he proceeded to ‘expoco the Chamber of Commerce and its worki.: g8: This he did in: speeches, personal mcet- in . the few newspapers: e laid the big, corrupt merce open to the public gaze, and he reforms, many of. in getting. to ‘b AlL to the new farmers’ market of which he was the sales manager.. MANY ABUSES OF GRAIN MARKET EXPOSED Space would not permlt a catalog of the many reforms in ‘the customs and regulations of the Chamber of Com- merce secured by Mr. Loftus in the few years he was the head and front of the independent farmers’ marketing move- ment. - One of the first things he got after was the socalled “switching” charge of - $1.50 per-car assessed against every car of grain sent to the Chamber of Com- merce for marketmg. This charge had been ‘a‘ custom since 1887. ‘It was’ exacted from the shippers on every car of grain, whether any swxh:hmg of the car took place or not or whether or not the railroad charged the grain buyer for switching. Mr. Loftus found that annually, under - this custom, shippers of grain _were paying from: $75,000 to $100,000: for switching that never was done. He: found that most other grain exchanges made the buyer instead of the seller of: grain pay this. He found that where it 'was assessed against the seller it was. assessed for ‘only actual switching charged by the :ailroads, and was’ not, as_at Minneapolis, ‘an arbitrary charge of $1.50 assessed against every car, i whether or ot that car was switched. Mr. Loftus attacked this pmchce. He branded it as graft pure and simple, _which 4§t was. He gent out letters to' farmers’ elevators, exposing the facts ~he armged_flebates ith ‘Cham 5. S £ & L b NN VAL |