The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, July 5, 1917, Page 8

) OVERNOR LYNN J. FRAZIER and Attorney General William Langer, who held that the petition method should - be followed in making nomina- tions for the special congressional elec- tion of July 10 in the First district of North Dakota have been upheld by decision of the supreme court. The decigsion is a victory for the state officers elected by the farmers last year and a hard blow for the poli- Qicians. The effect of the decision is to hold that the “rump” convention held at Grand Forks by the old gang, stand-pat Republicans, was illegal. The action of this conven- tion in designating Olger B. Burt- ness as the stand-pat Republican candidate is of no effect whatever under the court’s ruling. As a result of the decision of the supreme court, the ballot in the spe- cial election of July 10 will contain the following names: John M, Baer, Nonpartisan, indorsed by Nonpartisan League. Henry G. Vick, Republican. Olger B. Burtness, Republican. F. T. Cuthbert, Republican. Charles W. Plain, Republican. George A. Bangs, Democrat. H. H. Aaker, Nonpartisan Progres- sive Republican. Baer is the only Nonpartisan on the ballot. Aaker is not indorsed by the League or by any organization of farmers, * The old gang tried to have the court put party columng on the ballot and recognize the Grand Forks convention candidate as the only one entitled to position in the Republican column. This the court refused to do. COURT SHOWS UP OLD GANG'S TRICK Tive of the six candidates running against Baer are lawyers. Most of them have been devoting most of their time during their campaigns in attack- ing the Farmers’ Nonpartisan league. Cuthbert was one of the founders of the anti-farmers’ union organized at Grand Forks after the Goo-Goo league had turned up its toes.: In a decision. written by Justice Robinson of the supreme court, it is pointed out that the convention at Grand Forks was not a legal meeting of Republicans. It was called without any -authority from William LemkKke, Republican state chairman, or the_state executive committee. It consisted of a representation of less than 200 voters of the district. On the other hand, Justice Robinson yoints out John M. Baer was nominated by a petition signed by 7,000 voters of the district. 5 Justice Robingon also points out that the Republican chairman and the Re- publican state executive committee both have indorsed Baer as the Repub- lican choice for congress. State Chairman Lemke is taking a mail vote of all precinct committeemen of the First congressional district, and a large majority of the committeemen are indorsing the.action of the state executive committee in indorsing Baer as the Republican choice. DEMOCRATS ARE ALSO GETTING BACK OF BAER In addition, some of the most influ- ential Democrats of the First district, the men who did the work that carried North Dakota for President Woodrow Wilson: last year, are also supporting Baer in preference to Bangs, who was repudiated by the voters when he ran for congress a year ago. In the last analysis, the only men who are supporting Vick, Burtness, Cuthbert, Plain and Aaker are the old gang, stand-pat Republicans kicked out of power by the voters at the elec- tion last year. The only men support- ing Bangs are the old gang, stand-pat Democrats, who have always been in the hopeless minority in the state and district. " Justice Robinson’s decision points out that after Vick, Burtness, Cuth- bert and Plain had first followed the method prescribed by Governor Frazier & 3 and Attorney- General Langer in filing petitions (they had only a few hundred names apiece as against seven thous- and names for Baer) they attempted to doubleshoot the turn and follow the - The Home‘ of William Morrow The scenes here reproduced were taken on the farm of William Morrow, located on Sec. 6, Twp. 143, Range 53, about four or five miles west and a little north of Hunter, Cass county, North Dakota. The evergreens shown in the pictures are fir and balsam and is one of the very few such groves in the state. is a.successful farmer and also a live booster for the farmers’ organization, donating a part of his valuable time to This is your fight—and the food gamblers. YOU win if Baer is elected to congress July 10 in North Dakota. THEY win if Baer is defeated. The anti-ia shows that he is YOUR candidate. Court Refuses Gang’s Plea North Dakota’s Political Hangers-On Fail to Get Ballot Changed to Recognize Illegal Grand Forks Convention The farmers and their representatives, Gov- ernor Frazier and Attorney General Langer, have won another victory in their fight for bet- ter government and clean politics. preme court decision means not only help for the farmers in this election but gives the death blow to the corrupt political conventions man- aged by the old gang politicians and working for Big Business. Under the decision the con- vention of gang politicians at Grand Forks, claiming to be a Republican convention and naming Burtness for congress, has no legal standing, and its candidate is no more the Re- publican party candidate than Baer or others running for election. The su- old gang convention method, which North Dakota had put out of existence in passing the primary law. In other words, the old gang candidates were attempting the old game of playing helping the organizer meet the neighboring farmers. Watch the Bandwagoners Bismarck, N. D., June 29, 1917. Editor Nonpartisan Leader: : * Within the lats few months there has appeared in North Dakota a move- ment among the Nonpartisan league farmers to establish their country newspapers, local elevators, attached to small flour mills and in some locali- ties, their own local facilities for buy- ing and distributing merchandise and local farmer owned banks. They are impelled to go in to the newspaper field because the existing “organs of publicity” take $1.50 to $2.00 per year from the farmer and fat county- advertising contracts of which 100 per cent comes out of the.pockets of the farmers; and yet many of these local newspapers obey the voices of their masters by attacking any effort of the farmers to organize themselves politic- ally and in business affairs so as to escape the robbery of the swinish mid- dlemen—big and little. They have been forced to establish their own - exclusively farmer-owned banks, to escape the exactions and tyranny of the organized bankers in some localities. They have been forced to establish small grist mills to get out of the clutches of the great grain-gambling and milling trust, so that their “Feed D” wheat of 1916 riight not become‘the $8, $9 and $10 flo i of May and June, 1917, All these efforts are worthy of sup- port, but a word of warning is advis- able. : Already local bankers and others are falling over themselves to ‘“get in on” the local farmers’ elevator, the local farmers’ flour mill, the local farmers’ bank, the local farmers’' store, the local farmers’ creamery, i 1 hope the Leader will sound this note of warning, so that the members of the League will not permit any local business interests, hostile to the farm- ers, to creep into their organization as stockholders. : Those hostile interests have but one aim in view and that is to control or neutralize the power of the farmers’ efforts. Drove 80 Miles to Hear Townley Calvin, N. D. ~Editor Nonpartisan Leader: When the League meeting at Devils Lake came off, we—myself wife and our son, our merchant at Calvin, and the best farmer in this iocality, though not a League member—drove 80 miles in our Ford t¢ Lear the speakers of our great cause. ; ‘When we started home I asked my party what they thought of the meet- ing. They said there was certainly something to our organization. Our merchant is one of the cleanest men living and pays his $16 to our cause as any farmer does. The farmer who went along has become enthusiastic and says he too is in the fight with us, . . PAGE EIGHT . _ farmer press is against Baer—that Mr. Morrow has lived there for more than 30 years, ‘Dickinson Press said about our farmer both ends against the middle, running with the hare and hunting with the hounds. It is pointed out that after having made a choice and having adopted the petition method these men have no right to appear in court and attempt to attack this method because they thought it would be of more ad- vantage to them to follow the old con- vention method. OLD CONVENTION PLAN KNOCKED OUT The decision of the supreme court means more than a temporary victory for the farmers in this election. It means that the old convention method of nomination, with delegates controll- ed by political bosses and Big Busi- ness, has been forever put out of exist- ence. Thig does not prevent the farmers or any other class of citizens from meeting together, as they did in calling upon Governor Frazier and Congress- man Baer to be their candidate, these candidates then following the election laws and filing their names in the usual way. The decision means this—that no gang of old line politicians can meet together and select a candidate and by so doing defeat the purpose of the primary law to allow the voters to male their own choice. In all the northwestern states the road is strewn with thousands of: wrecks of “farmers’ banks,” ‘farmers’ stores,” “farmers’ mills” and other en- terprises, all started in good faith by the farmers themselves. 5 But the commercial and financial Judas Iscariots were able ‘in thous- ands of instances to *“get on the band wagon” of the farmers and the result was that the spokes suddenly fell out of the wheels of the farmers wagons. A word to the wise Nonpartisan league farmers ought to be sufficient. Yours very truly, > HENRY P. RICHARDSON, " If at any time I can assist in the greatest movement that has ever start- ed since_ the time my father helped to free the slaves, let me know. We are v_lith You in this fight to the finish. I firmly believe in all the principles of the League. H. P. CODER. STOPS DICKINSON PRESS South Heart, N, D, Editor Nonpartisan Leader: What do you think a man should do with a paper that is printed in his com- munity that does not stand by the farmers? . T mean our county paper. I have done this—I have stopped my subscription. I inclose what the governor, . P. B, STROUD.