The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, May 3, 1917, Page 9

i s e IS The League “Herd” in the Legislature The Old Political Gang Refuses Help in “Carrying the Truth to the People” tleman, which has been running a serits of articles about the Nonpartisan League. These articles pleased the Old Gang in North Dakota so much that they suceeeded in SUPPRESSING THE SALE of the magazines in several towns of the state. What do you think of that, for a bunch that adopts as its metto: ‘‘Carry the Truth to the People’’t The ‘“truth’’ has to be of their particular brand, or fhey will have none of it. This is not the position of the League. Itis willing to have BOTH BIDES told. That’s why we advertise this issue of the Country Gen- tleman, though it contains the side of the OPPOSITION to the Non- partisan League. This cartoon here shown is made for the benefit of the opposition. It tells THEIR. 5 : SIDE of the story of what hap- pened at Bismarek. So does tha story that goes with it. It con- | tains an interview with one of the | Old Gang senators, containing his COMPLAINT that the farmers in- sisted on STICKING TOGETHER and would not pay any attention to the old politicians. And here is the complimentary way. in which this Old Gangster talked about the men whom the people of the state had elected to represent them: s . ‘‘They were the greenest bunch of lawmakers that ever emerged from the thistle patch to take office. They - had to go to kindergarten to learn the first principles of parliamentary procedure and .tactics: They were just a herd and League leaders were wise . eflough to see that and ride herd ¢n ‘them. So the honor- ‘able. League representatives . were corralled and locked up in a paddock -and broken to ®* % THE FARMERS WERE “‘A . HERD” ‘BRE you get a clear, H bright light on the opin- fon’ of ' the politician about the farmer and his repre- sentatives. As a rule when ithey speak for publication they tell . : ' you that THE FARMER IS ALL RIGHT, but all the trouble is with those WICKED LEADERS. Now here you see him speaking his real sentiments. These intellicent, representative, able farmers who as- sembled at Bismarck were a ‘‘ HERD”’, for whom the smooth and well-- groomed peliticians who make RULING THE PEOPLE their business have the GREATEST CONTEMPT. According to the professional politician, the man who doesn’t know all the tricks of parliamentary proeedure is a fool, needing someone to ‘‘ride herd’’ on him. He needs to have the politician tell him what to do. ; Also, notice that when they speak their real senmtiments the Old Gangsters haven'’t much criticism to make of the wisdom and good generalship of President Townley and his helpers. They content themselves with insulting the FARMERS OF THE STATE for not let- ting the SAME OLD POLITICAL GANG continues to run their affairs. Now, what is the truth about all this? The truth is just this: In the past too many legislatures HAVE BEEN JUST ‘‘HERDS’’, men who did not know what way they were going or what they wanted to do. It was easy for the slick and scheming political hoss to LEAD THEM IN WHATEVER DIRECTION HE WANTED. It angered the political bosses that they could not do the same with this legislature. * * * ) - THEY STUCK TOGETHER 3 ND why couldn’t they do it? -Simply beeause this crowd of HERE is another of these good cartoons from the Country Gen- i ‘‘simple hayseeds’’ preferred to STICK TOGETHER. They HAD CONFIDENCE in THEMSELVES and in their united wisdom and good purpose. They DID NOT have confidence in the bunch that wanted to SEPARATE THEM and to give them ‘‘good advice’’. ' > i They preferred to get advice somewhere else. So they got together - in their caucus, and they sought the opinions of men who had some experience in legislative matters, and they sought the opinions of - NiNE ‘‘As it appeared to the opposition.”’ President Townley and other leaders of the League, so that they could work out THEIR PURPOSE to the best advantage. Notice the great difference between what happened at Rismarck this year and what has happened in other years. The Old Gang and AGENTS OF THE CORPORATIONS have BOSSED many legislatures and made them do what the AGENTS OF PRIVILEGE WANTED DONE. The individual legislator didn’t know WHAT DIRECTION HE WAS GOING-. But the League “herd”” in this legislature were different. They acted as a UNIT, and they had a PROGRAM. They acted together beeduse they WANTED TO ACT TOGETHER. They moved straight toward a DEFINITE OBJECT. They didn’t have any WOOL PULL- —From The Country Geut{eman. ED OVER THEIR EYES. They had nothing to be ashamed of when they got through. They worked for JUST WHAT THEY WERE SENT TO WORK FOR and they worked for it INTELLIGENTLY AND EFFECTIVELY. Even the enemies have found nothing to criti- cize about the greater part of the bills prepared and acted upon by the ‘‘ignorant farmers’’. No legislature has ever passed less freak legis- lation. No legislature has ever handled its affairs in a cleaner or more business-like way. 5 | | And yet they have the nerve to criticize the League conferences, which resulted in making capable and efficient statesmen out of men who had never before had a part in such a body. * * » DO YOU SEE A DIFFERENCE? DO YOU see any difference between a legislature which is bossed by eorporations, where the members do thingg they had never thought of doing before they got there, and one in which the majority works fer a DEFINITE PROGRAM OF THEIR OWN CHOOSING, and moreover, a program APPROVED BY THE PEO- PLE OF THE STATE? 7 But the opposition spoke of the League members as a ‘‘herd’’ which had to be ‘“broken to harmess’’. But it was THE PEOPLE’S HARNESS—NOT A CORPORATION HARNESS NOR AN OLD GANG HARNESS—that they put on. They made fun of the farmers, but the farmers can laugh, because the joke was on the Old Gang, not on them. The farmers can laugh at this cartoon, which shows plainly the grief of the Old Gangsters because they got fooled. They thought it was going to be easy to SPLIT UP THE FAMRERS AND CONFUSE THEM AND LEAD THEM IN DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS. Now they complain that the farmers were a lot of SHEEP, because they STUCK TOGETHER. ““We'll stick”’, they said; and they did! | e = | | E e