The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, June 14, 1917, Page 5

e el = s bl e IF THIS BE TREASON— Here is the Speech of President Townley That the Anti- He Should Be Shot or Hung For OLLOWING is a stenographic report of President A. C. Townley’s speech at James- town last Saturday. This is the speech that the gang hewspapers of North Dakota have chosen to call “treason” and “sedition,” in order to open an outrageous and un- principled attack on the League on the ground of patriotism. The newspapers that make these charges have used only excertps of this speech, distorted to make out a case against Mr. Townley. Here is the consecutive, stenographic report, . that League members may judge for themselves: PAYING TOO MUCH FOR NECESSITIES OF LIFE “What do you pay for a gang plow now? What are you going to pay for twine this summer? The price of producing a living is going up, up, faster than the elevator men can raise wheat in the elevator. “Well, we understand. I don’t need to discuss with you very long, the causes for the rise in the cost of liv- ing. ~We are paying too much for our living, not because the farmers are getting rich,. not because the workers in the factories are getting too much for producing your clothing and your shoes, but because a horde of un- necessary middlemen, a horde of gamblers in the product of your farms and the product of your factory are making millions upon millions out of your products. (Applause.) “They are using the war as a pretext for raising the price of everything you have to use. They have absolute con- trol of the price fixing machinery both coming and going. “I am going to read you some figures now, 40 show you that in time of war the gamblers in the necessaries of life, the price-fixers of plows, of binders, of flour, of clothing, of tobacce and whisky and everything else, are making profits undreamed of and im- possible before the war — something you never read in the Grand Forks Herald. “These are the reports of different corporations on their incomes for in- come tax purposes. These reports were made by these corporations over their sworn statements to the govern- ment of these United States. HOW THE WAR AFFECTS SOME BIG TRUSTS “Now yvou know the steel trust be- fore the war was doing pretty well, and the sugar trust before the war had been able-to pay expenses. We have some suspicion also that even before the war the owners of the beef trust had been fairly well able to clothe and feed their families out of the profits they nrade. We don’t hear very much holler about starvation on their part. I even suspect that they could buy an automobile most any time before the war—but since the war they have been doing very, very much better. “I will start in here anywhere. In 1913 Swift & Co. made a net profit of nine million dollars. In 1916, after the war got going in pretty good shape, Swift & Co. made the nice little com- fortable income of twenty million dol- lars. 5 ° “The Cuban-American Sugar Co. was almost broke before the war. They only made a profit of $356,000 in 1913, but thanks to the kaiser and his as- sociates, in 1916 they were able to push that up a bit so that in that year their profits were $8,235,000. That is, doing pretty fairly well for inexperienced business men. 3 “Armour and company. Now what do Armour and company do? Any- body- Man in the audience: Buy grain. “Buy grain. Buy most everything, don’t they? ° “Yes — fruit, butter, eggs, pork — everything. Before the war, in 1913, their profits were $6,800,000, by their own sworn statement. But since the war they have been able to make $20,- 100,000 of net profits in the year. Pretty fairly well they have been do- ing lately, and they hope to do better. DUPONT POWDER CO. AND ITS WAR PROFITS “Now the Dupont Powder Co. I suppose you know what they use pow- der for, and what the powder company makes powder for. You may think the powder company makes powder to explode and shoot. . They don’t. Here is what they make. it for: Herald Advo’cates Hanging Townley Farmer Press Says | In 1864 they hung traitors and spies. 1776 they put agitators in jail, M | lt In 1812 the seditionist was given life term In 1917 will ‘our citizenship approve of | utterances? treasonable statements and un-American | The above cartoon, advocating the hanging of President Townley of the Nonpartisan league, appeared in the Grand Forks Herald of June 8. This is a fitting climax for the series of disgraceful cartoons that have been appearing in this organ of the anti-farmer interests. President Townley is compared in this cartoon with traitors and felons who in the past have either been imprisoned or hung. The excuse for printing this vile and libelous attack on Mr. Townley was the set of resolutions adopted at Nonpartisan league meetings which appear elsewhere in this issue of The Leader, and President Townley's remarks in support of those resolutions, also printed in this issue. : . . “Before the war $4,500,000 of profits in a year;. after the war, in the same length of time, 1916, $82,000,000 of profit. ; “Now that is going pretty fairly good isn’t it, in times of war? “Now you boys that buy machinery, twine, hayrakes, boot-jacks, knives, anything that has steel in it, I am go- ing to show you what our best friend, the United States Steel Corporation, Qas been able to do for themselves and to you, since the war started. In 1913 all they could dig out of your hides was $81,000,000 of profit above all expenses, I presume the reason they could not make any more was be- cause you were not very much excited at that time. There would have been too much hollering; a revolution might have been Started. But now, since the war has startéd, they have been able so well to manage their business and your business that they have made $271,500,000 in 1916. That is some ac- . complishment. “Now Uo you begin to understand the high cost of living? You have been told it was necessary because of the war. The facts are that it is necessary because during war times they use the war as an excuse to raise the prices om everything you buy. (Applause.) “INDUSTRIAL MONARCHS” FIX THE PRICES “Oh this power! This power of the industrial monarchs of this na._uon - this power to fix the prices of every- thing. you have to sell and of every- thing you have to buy! The governor said your political power was tre- mendous. Well, the next thing to it is the power of the trust to fix prices. “There is no relief as long as you permit this condition to continue—ab- solutely no relief; and tho you might get $2.50 a bushel for your wheat, they still will take it away from you in the prices of gasoline, and plows, and shoes, and bacon, and overalls and everything else; and when the farmers down here in Fargo, in convention as- sembled, demand that the government fix a price of $2.50 a bushel for wheat, our friend Judge Young says -the farmers are patriotic at the rate of $2.50 a bushel. He does not say any- thing about the steel trust fixing the prices for their products, but he con- demns the farmers for wanting a price for their product that will in some * measure protect them from this plun- der. ‘I want to say to you that this na- tion can never succeed in war unless this your government instead of serv- ing the interesi® of the United States Steel Corporation and the sugar trust and the beef trust, this country can never succeed in war until it gov- erns the business of transporting your products and wipes off the face of the earth the gamblers in food products and the necessaries of life.. (Applause.) FIVE THE “TREASONABLE” PART OF THE SPEECH “It is absolute insanity for us to lead ourselves or anybody else to be- lieve that this nation can succeed in war when hundreds of thousands of parasites, the gamblers in the neces- sities of life, use the war only for the purpose of extracting ~“exorbitant profits. We are working, not to beat the enemy, but to make mare multi- millionaires. That is what we are working for! “Now here is the seditious and treasonable and unpatriotic part of my discussion. We respectfully suggest, and then we demand, that this nation, instead of serving the interests of the gentlemen it must be serving now, or it would not permit those gigantic corporations to rob you of so many millions a year—| am afraid this government must be serving them, because | can’t figure out from these reports how they are serving us—and so, we respectfully suggest and we de- mand that as a war measure, this United States government shall do _the one thing first of all that is necessary, and take over, before they send one single boy to Eur- ope, take over the railroads and the distribution of food into their hands— (Prolonged hand-clapping and cheers) — take over the rail- roads and the distribution of foods and kick the gamblers into the sea or send them to war—(Laughters