The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, September 27, 1917, Page 4

Nation Hears People’s Side Producers’ and Consumers’ Conferences Under the Auspices of the Non- partisan League Prove Most Important and Remarkable Gatherings Since United States Has Been at War—Over 5000 Delegates Pledge Their Support to the United States Government and Declare for Justice and Democracy This is a photograph of one section of the big St. Paul auditorium on the day the great Producers’ and Consumers’ conferences opened, September 18. About 1,500 delegates were present,the first day, but this number increased at each session—sessions being morning, afternoon and evening for three days—until on the final night, Septembker 20, about 8,000 were present, packing every bit of seating and standing space, and hundreds being turned away. BY A STAFF CORRESPONDENT T. PAUL, long famed as a convention city, had a new experience last week. St. Paul is used to big meetings ' —it prides itsélf on getting the most important ones held in' the Northwest. Wwiho meet to boost their order and get new members, organizations of ma- chinery dealers and implement. men, -~ gathering to talk over plans of work- ing together and helping their own pocketbooks. It has seen meetings of labor men, too, who met to figure out _ways of increasing their own pay, and meetings of farmers’ ‘organizations like the Equity, working on co-operative plans for their own benefit. But St. Paul never before saw such a meeting as the Producers’ and Consumers’ convention of last week, when working men of the cities and working men of the country, coming from half the states of the Union, after traveling hundreds and, some of them, thou- sands of miles, met and consulted together for three days, not to benefit their own interests and help their own pocketbooks primarily, but mainly to help:the government of their country. ' Farmers from : ! drouth stricken :Montana, facing . heavy financial losses because of the price fixed by the government on their wheat crop, were there, not to criticize their government, but to help Uncle Sam to go on to the end with a fair price fixing : program for everything. Labor. men from lllinois, from Minnesota, from Wisconsin and other states, met with the farmers, to back up this program and to give the lie to “ that old saying, spread by enemies of the workers, that “farmers and laboring men can’t work together.” GREAT STREAM OF PEOPLE GO TO HALL This isn’t the story of the convention, That story could not be told if every . page of this issue of the Leader were taken for it, and the next issue and the one after that besides. It was too big a meeting. The Twin City dailies, with their big staffs of high salaried writers, didn’t begin to tell half of what happened. Newspaper men from points as far distant as New York, who came to see that unheard-of thing—produc- ers and consumers getting together— were at a loss to know what to send to v It has entertained great': gatherings of the’ Masons and Elks, * ““The war finance bill, as passed by the United States senate, was the most pronounced betrayal of a government in a great crisis that I have ever heard of in this world. Why was it a betrayal? Because its effeet was to make the men who fight the war also pay the cost. * * * If we can make war pay for war, there will be ‘less wars fought.’ ‘their ipapers—there "was so much to say. This is just to be a little story of a ‘few things that particularly impressed the writer, as the gathering went on from day to day. Begin with Tuesday morning. Near- -ly every train to St. Paul carried extra cars, filled with farmers and working men from every point of the compass. As 10 o’clock approached big streams of traffic converged on the great St. Paul auditorium. In front of the build- ing the Minnesota state band was play- ing lively marches and patriotic airs. The sidewalk was blocked with farm- ers. Many of them found old friends; many made new ones. The man from ‘the South Dakota corn belt swapped experiences with’~ the wheat grower from North Dakota and the beet man of Montana. - Finally..they all. drifted inside. They, found. a great bufldmg, festooned with American flags and red white :and blue bunting and with two enormous. flags, the largest many of the delegates: had = ever:, seen, - stretched across the room behind the speakers’ _stand.: 1 A bm, heavy set man, with only a fringe of dark hair around’ the bald ..spot on his head, made his' way up to the platform. “That’s- Governor Frazier of North Dakota,” said someone, and applause and cheers began that swept through the entire hall. Governor Frazier acted as chairman of the convention. As the first pro- ceeding the delegates rose, ‘and with *—United States Senator W. E. Borah of Idaho. George H. Fairclough, chairmaster of St. John'’s Episcopal church, leading, and the state band accompanying, 1500 voices joined in “My Country, 'Tis of Thee.” , Fifteen hundred was the ‘writer's estimate of the attendance at the open- ing session. = Twin City papers, un- friendly to the League, gave figures as high as 1800. But the afternoon session was larger than the morning session, and the night session larger than the ‘afterncon and the next day there were more people yet. At every meeting the interest and the attendance grew as new delegations of farmers arrived and as more working men were able to come and join in proceedings, and on the last night a crowd of 8000 peonle, one of the greatest throngs St. Paul had ever seen, took every avail- able seat in the auditorium while many hundreds, unable to get seats, remain- ed standmg for:hours. | MAYOR OF ST. PAUL WELCOMES DELEGATES Mayor V. R. Irvin of St. Paul extend- ed a friendly greeting to .the big gath-, ering, Unfriendly papers in the Twin Cities had predicted that Mayor Irvin would have business *“out of town” to - get out of welcoming the farmers, but : they . failed in. their purpose to in- fluence the city authorities against the meeting. Mayor Irvin plainly was im= pressed by the patriotic attitude of the visitors. “We are glad to ‘welcome you,” he said. “We are all Americans. “Qet togéther and support your government in a program to fix ALL prices on a fair basis. When you do that you will make cef- tain that the war will be brought to a speedy and successful con- clusion, because the American people will be so thoroughly united in their purpose.to win the war for hberty and demoeracy that German autocracy ean not stand against them.’’—A. C. Townley, president National Nonpartisan league. PAGE FOUR Many of us came from other coun- . tries—all of us did, if you go .years and years back—but we are all united now as workers, friends and fellow citizens. We are united in the cause of America and democ- ‘racy.” Goveérnor Frazier, greeted by cheers - and applause again, outlined to the gathering what the purpose of the meeting was, in response to the may- or’s welcome. ! X “This convention was called for pro- ducers and consumers,” he said. “We all are consumers and we all should be producers, - Whether we work on the farm or in a factory, we all are "'doing something useful for our fellow men. NG QUESTION OF PEOPLE’S PATRIOTISM . “This conference was not called for the purpose of criticising the food ad- ministration. It is not a protest meet=- - ing but a get-together meeting. It was called to show where the farmers ani the laboring classes stand and to do all that is possible to aid the na- tional administration m provxdmb a square deal for all. . “There is no question of the pa- triotism of labor and of the. tiller of the soil. We will fight for the stars and stripes to the last ditch.” }xolent applausa forced. the gover= 3 nor to stop. ‘!M’anv sections of the: Northwest '-have had crop failures for two years,” he went.on. “Farmers in many locali- ;ties are in bad shape. The price fixed .for wheat was rather low. : ““We are not here to protest against ? that price. But we are here to say that we believe the government, having . fixed the price on wheat, should go on, right down the line, and. fix prices on all necessities of life.” Applause and cheers’stopped Gover- ‘nor Frazier again, and a aneapohs labor delegate sang out: : . “Good-boy.” I AR _HAVE PLAYED FARMER ‘AGAINST LABOR MAN The governor explained the hardship that government grain .grades had worked and other disadvantages faced by- the farmers, and then introduced George W. Lawson, secretary of the 8t. Paul Trades and Labor Assembly, (Continued on page 20) —