The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, February 15, 1917, Page 3

onparfigan Tader In the interest of a square deal for the farmer A magazine that dares to print the truth National Paper of the Farmers’ Nonpartisan Political League VOL. 4, NO. 7 FARGO, NORTH DAKOTA, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1917 WHOLE NO. 74 A Case of Not Being Able to See Beyond One’s Nose \ \\\\\\\\b@‘? i ”704’/ | Ee—— This is not a picture of most city folks. It is a picture of a few of them. They oppose the farmers’ program-because they can not see beyond their noses or through the cloud of prejudice the old political gang keeps before them. In the particular case the cartoonist has illustrated it is also a case of smoking the wrong brand. ‘When Enemies Desire to “Help” You tracks—to protect themselves against the wrath of constituents. ‘When they defeat a popular people’s measure and go on record in the rolleall against it, they usually plan some fake legislation, pur- porting to do the same thing'in a different way, so they can vote for it and show constituents by the rolleall on the fake measure that they really are for what the people demand. The North Dakota senators who defeated House Bill 44 are no exception to this rule. They are the same senators, elected in 1914, who repealed the tax to build terminal elevators in the 1915 session. To protect themselves on that rollcall they passed a fake measure, after repealing the tax, providing for an ‘‘investigation’’ of the propo- sition of terminal elevators. They thought that successfully covered up their vote ‘against terminal elevators. After defeating House Bill 44 in the present session, the bill providing the kind of constitutional amendment the people demanded through the Nonpartisan League, these same senators passed a series of fake bills purporting to amend the constitution to make state-owned mills, elevators and cold storage plants possible. They hoped this would cover up their tracks on House Bill 44, the real bill for carrying out the people’s wishes, framed by the farmer senators and repre- sentatives. POLITICAL crooks in legislatures always try to cover up their THEIR CONTEMPTIBLE TRICK EXPOSED HE senators who helped kill terminal elevators in 1915 and I who, in 1917, voted down real and speedy constitutional amend- s ment to carry out the farmers’ program, have passed bills pro- viding for a procedure of from five to eighteen years before the peo- ple could start to build state-owned industries, if they could ever get them at all under these fake measures. House Bill 44 provided for sub- mitting to the people in June, 1917, constitutional amendments that would permit the legislature of 1919, or a special session before that time, to authorize the necessary bond issues and make a start on the construction of state-owned industries. This procedure occupied tw years at most. 2 , : " The fake senate measures passed after the defeat of ¢‘44’’ and intended to cover up the tracks of the senators and throw dust in the eyes of the people, provide for the following procedure: Passage by the 1919 legislature of the amendments passed by the 1917 legislature; vote by the people on the amendments in 1920; * necessary legislation to carry out the amendments to be passed by the legislature of 1921; tax levy (not bond issues against the industries, as planned by the League) to be authorized in August, 1921; tax col- lected and available to spend on start of work, June, 1922. Even with this involved and delaying procedure gone through ~ with, only $140,000 would be available under this senate fake for state industries in 1922—not enough to even make a good start. To raise $5,000,000, something more like the amount needed to make a good start on two or three state-owned industries, it would take, under the senate’s bills, something like 18 years. Surely this is carrying out the people’s will in fine style! We are proud of you, senators! \ * * * SENATORS LET CAT OUT OF BAG HE entire trick was inadvertently exposed by some of these 7 I gang senators themselves during the debate on the fake mea- sures. Senators Hyland and Paulson, who voted against ‘44"’ in this session and against terminal elevators in 1915, said they were personally opposed to state-owned industries and never expected to hold any other views. Yet they said they were going to vote for these senate bills, and they did. Now, isn’t that rather funny? Here are open opponents of state industries voting for bills pre- tending to establish state industries. Do you think opponents of state industries would vote for bills that were really intended to make such things possible and successful? Yet Paulson and Hyland and the rest of the senate gang opposed to state-ownership in all forms were satis- fied with these senate bills and voted for them. Why? Because they knew they were jokes and that, under them, the people would never get state industries, or, if they did, they would get them under condi- tions that would make them a failure, g The people are for the farmers’ program for state-owned flour mills, cold storage plants, packing plants and elevators. Their repre- sentatives at Bismarck drew up House Bill 44, a genuine measure providing for the adoption of a constitution next summer to make this program possible. The people wanted that bill passed by the senate, because they knew it was drawn up by friends of the farmers’ program and because they knew it would enable the carrying out of that pro- gram. The gang senators knew these things also, and that is why they defeated House Bill 44. Now, these enemies of the farmers’ program —they admitted it in the debate—propose and pass bills ‘“to carry out the people’s wishes.”” They propose to take 18 years to do it. Are you for bills framed by your enemies purporting to give you what you want, or for bills framed by your friends, anxious and willing to give you what you want? That is the whole question in a nutshell. THREE SRS