The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, December 17, 1917, Page 13

- -are printed in New York? . it come that there ‘is a "continual ~~--,:.§lon. Sy "-people of’ -both state and people a permanent in- " Te $usuce Codrier-NeWS Answers Fargo Forum Demes Base Charge of Gang Sheet That North {(Editorial in the Fargo Courier-News of December 10, following a charge by the Fargo Forum that the people of North ‘Dakota are “dasloyal and opposed to the war!’) 5 APTAIN 1. P, BAKER, federal C fuel administrator in this state, brought to the attention of the state council of defense at its meeting Saturday and asked its action on'a state of affairs ° ?that demands attention by all the citi- ‘Zzens of North Dakota. That state of affairs is the persistent and continued maligning of North Dakota, its state and local officials and all its citizens, by a well organized group of traducers. The nature of this campaign and the manner in which it is being. operated is shown by the publication, first in a New York papery and later in Minne- sota and North Dakota papers, of an outrageously false 'article in. which every state official -but one and every officer of the United States govern- ment but one in the state of North Dakota by plain inference were called traitors to the nation. Not only that, biit a general charge _-of disloyalty is made against the peo- “ple of Nerth Dakota, a charge which . -recklessly, mallciously and intention- : ally ignores ‘every noble effort. made - by . the. patriotic people of this state gince the war began; not only ignores theése things, but deliberately repre- sents this state to be a hotbed of dis- loyalty, whereas the facts are that the people of this state will not yield to any.. in the union for loyalty, but justly and truthfully and proudly point out that nowhere in the union is there a foreign born portion of the population stand- ing so0 solidly behind the government. PEOPLE SHOULD KNOW WHO TRADUCERS ARE How does it come that these things How does stream of lying slanders in circulation throughout the Eastern press? " There is only one explanation; somebody is carrying the poison from this state back to New York and to other cities. ‘Who is it that is doing it? The peo- ple of the state ought to know. ‘Let them inquire., of the North Dakota newspapers which insolently and with- out a word of apology or correction, reprint in their own columns calumnies that would be ludicrous were they not 80 foul. ' The: evidence is plain that-the- slanders originate in - North .Dakota, that - they are deliberately and syste- matically spread by someone evidently well paid to do it. The newspapers which _reprint them can not escape complicity. The same sinister control evidently is behind both: the North: Dakota papers .which are- engaged-in fouling their-own nest and the public-- ity campaign ~waged .in.:the."East- through: corrupt plotting and:: decep-" ‘This’ detestable procedurefts injuring the good name_of the state’ and: the rth Dakota. "It is doing.’ But there is a more sinister tea.ture to it than that. It is certain to make it more ’difficult to get harmonious effort in support of the’ nation. For every paragraph of these malicious untruths printed, someone who is honestly serving both state a.nd mation is put to extra effort to smooth over the. disturbing and mischievous results of the slanders on public senti- ment in the state. If this sort of thing had been planned by the agents of the German: propa= ganda théy would have to be. given: eredit for more than their usualastute= mess. It-is nicely calculated: to- serve the purpose of creating dissension and inefficiency in the United States. It is pro-German in effect if not in inten- : tion. WOULD POISON JUSTICE WITH POLITICAL FEUD But it is incredible that’ traitors could thus be found to carry on boldly such a work. It is far more reasonable to suppose that political ambitions, allied perhaps with selfish advantage, have combined to create an attitude of stupid and venomous fanaticism. How stupid and how unscrupulous this fanaticism has become is shown by the efforts to make a political issue out of the trial of a woman lecturer charged with gedition in making a speech tending to discourage enlist- ment. The prosecutor for the govern- ment who succeeded in obtaining a’ conviction was the United States dis- trict attorney who has been accused both by word of mouth and by news- paper innuendo of lack: of patriotism because he has tried to enforce the law without political bias, to preserve the peace and to maintain the dignity of & Dakotans Are Disloyal and Seditious the nation which he once had the honor to serve in war. The newspaper comment on this case has gone to the length of seeking to make it appear that judge, jury and lawyers were actuated, not by honest desire to do Justice, but by the aim to strike another blow in a political feud. Stead- ily while the trial progressed the newspapers which have declared war on North Dakota have been busy try- ing to pervert justice by striving to bring out and to emphasize a political aspect to the case, making it appear that the woman was being prosecuted, not because of anarchistic remarks, but in order to strike over her head at state officials on the ground that they were friends of people who “befriend- ed” the accused woman. One editor “proves- his manly patriotism by stating that the woman was “as guilty as hell” and “ought to be shot” and then shows his real motive by intimating that the same dose ought to be-applied to all the leaders of the political faction with which he disagrees. ‘We can say deliberately that there appears to have been a conscioeus; con- certed 'effort to bring about strife and bloodshed in North Dakota this first war year. It has been carried on under the name of patriotism. ' It sought first to embroil the farmers of the state ‘with ‘their harvest labor. . Next it ad- vocated a malignant and hateful course toward the German-born, who are numerically large in North Dakota and who are nearly all loyal to the land of their adoption, - NORTH DAKOTANS LOYAL AND DOING THEIR DUTY . Still the hateful work goes- on. It seems to be now the scheme to make as bitter as possible the political con- tests which will come next year, to stir men by falsehoods and appeals to passion so as to cause a menacing con- dition.: It is the policy of rule®or ruin. It is the same course that has been pursued by the German autocracy. It may be more than a coincidence that the men who give support to this cam- paign are the very men who have been the enemies of full democracy, indus- trial and political in this state. We can not believe that they fully realize what they are doing. We can not. believe that they fully realize the urgent necessity for patriotic action based on sound reason. 'We hope that they will reconsider their course before they .have done damage that will be hard to amend. Thepeople of the state of North Da- kota are a good people and loyal both to their state and to their nation. They are friends of democracy. They love their land strongly enough to wish and to work for better things for it.. They are determined to prove democracy as . efficient and- 10 nmes more beneficient, a million times better worthy of trust, than any autocracy on the face of .the earth. They are going to fight with gun. in hand’ for democracy in the world and - they are going to fight— ,peacetully by < the ballot—for: more. complete: democracy at home. "~ “They ‘are not to’be stayed in their in- | tention. It is better to be with them— .wisely-advising them if need: be—than-|. to bé 'scornfully maligning them -even | - whfle theh- bread is shared with the ‘scomer ; CQNSOL!DATED SCHOOLS IN N. D. Consolidated - ‘schools ' are rapidly growing in favor with the rural popu- lation, and there is not a county in thke state but has one or more. The num- ber ranges from one to 18, with a total of 447 in all, ' This. number. of conso- ‘“lidated schools is ascribed largely to ithe educational campaign in connec- ! tion with state aid, and. their number is increasing everywhere. :Farm families have come to realize that this sort of school affords the best means of getting an education in the country. There are 35,000 farm pupils enrolled in these consolidated. schools, in North Dakota, of whom 3160 are do- ing high school work. Not more than 300—less than 10 per cent—would be doing high school work if it were not for the consolidated schools. .Another cause for their popularity is the fact that they provide a com- munity center, a hall>where groups of people may gather for almost any pur- pose, and throughout the state these school buildings are being used for this community purpose. WAR’'S HISTORIC PURPOSE “The historical purpose of war is to divert the attention of the people from the slaveries and exploitations at home. This is not Wilson’s purpose, but the same may not be said for the junkers of America. Will radicalism fall into the trap?—EVERYMAN, Los Angeles, Cal. 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