The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, January 7, 1918, Page 11

i AR ooy AND NOW I'.l.' COMES TO PASS ment take over the American railroads. Before the war this de- mand was called ‘“a Populist agitation’’ by spokesmen of the rail- roads. . It 'was also called ‘“socialism.”’ <A few professed to believe it - was anarchy Since the war, this and other extensions of government' .advocated by the Leader have been~branded as “‘disloyal attacks on thefi government” and ‘‘unpatriotic agitation intended to lnnder the war.’? ~. But now we are to have public operation of the rallroads Presi- ““dent Wilson has issued a decree officially taking them over for _opera- _tion by the public, in the interests of the publle, ‘during the war. It is ] v ® v is a revolutionary step. It means the unification and nationalization of o , : the railroads. Instead of hundreds’ of lines and systems, the railroads LNt will be operated as a unit, making great savings and increasing effi- ciency. i ’ 4 > Already the railroads and their newspapers have started a pub- ; : licity campaign to convince the public this measure should be only for ik the war. But when the government unifies the rallroads and makes o ‘h ~ them efficient, and lays the ground for reductions in rates—when for ¢ once transportation.will be conducted primarily FOR SERVICE in- stead of FOR PROFIT—it is going to be difficult to convince the people e W that they ought to permit a return to the old wasteful, inefficient con- ’ ditions. v oE The people want public ownership of railroads, in péace as well as war. . Even if the government is so foolish as to. relinquish its hold R N on the railroads after the war, it will be only a temporary relinquish- T ment. For the railroads are a public utility, and eventually they will vigy - be owned and controlled by the people. It is in the cards. . ; _'“CLASS AGAINST CLASS”’ ; GITATORS who know, nothing of the plans of the organized farm- ® “ers to obtain a fuller measure of justice and democraey in this country for farmers as well as for every one else have succeeded in stlrnng up the business interests in various parts of the country against the Nonpartisan league. These agitators seem determinedsto make the farmers’ program for open:and fair markets and for the elimination of useless middlemen and political shysters, a ¢‘ class-against- class’’ fight. They are seeking, and in.some instances have succeeded, in arraying the business interests as a class agamst the farmers. An ‘nstance is the Manufacturers’ and. Indilstrml News Bureau of Portland, Ore. - We do not. know what this bureau is—whether or not - it is the official ‘publicity department. of the. Pacific Northwest business i interests. At any rate, the bureau purports to speak for those inter- ests. It has issued a pamphlet attacking the orgamzed farmers and their program for political and economic justice, evidently being supplied with quantities of these .pamphlets. - - A nota- they write. The pamphlet starts with the fo]lowmg statement: ; - Are Western states to enter upon new campaigns of Populistic agita-- 5 tion and prostration of industries, or are they. willing to let.business | develop naturally without appeals to prejudice and class legislation? 1 : Médéntana, Idaho, Wyoming, Oregon, Washington, Colorado and California 3 ‘.. -are threatened with a new crusade ot North Dakota Populism and Hu- i P ropean ideas of class leglslation G \ The pamphlet then makes it plain that 1t is 1ntended to be an open -attack on the organized farmers and their program. The paragraph quoted is insulting to‘every one of the 160,000 farmers who belong to : Who approve its principles and are waiting to join. The farmers are b ' not making:an appeal to prejudice, as charged. They are making an 5 appeal to the sound judgment of the people. They ask only a careful | ~consideration of their program. - But such methods as used by the pub- “ lishers of this pamphlet ARE appeals to prejudice. The farmers are not %firaymg ‘‘class against class.”’ It is bitter and prejudiced efforts like : mg the business class against the farming class. ‘The chargé that the efforts of the farmers for a free market and } ~ insult hard to bear. make them all the more determmed 1o stand up for What they ;beheve' ; I \OR nearly three years the Leader ‘has demanded that the govem— - . They have been led to believe they would get land bank loans. Business men are- tion on them advises business men to inclose one of them in every letter = ; the Nonpartisan league and to the untold thousands of ‘other farmers- is pamphlet that are arraying class against ciass—unfalrly array-‘ c,lean politics constitute “European ideas of class legislation’” is’ an. Tt is these bitter, lying attacks by unprmclpled agitators among business men that make the: farmers ‘‘see red,”” and Loy .made tlus statement cost seven. dollars a plate. A COLD-BLOODED PROPOSITION : I\HE efforts of the farm mortgage dealers of the United States to I hamper the government rural credit system is one of the most selfish and cold-blooded propositions that has come to light re- cently, The government Jland banks, which administer the rural credit system;~have been :shut off from disposing of their bonds through the regular financial channels. This is dug, in the belief of friends of the land banks, to the opposition of the organized farm mortgage brokers and allied sympathetic interests. This means, unless congress comes to the rescue, that farmers who have applied for $100,000,000 in loans will either be foreclosed or forced back into the clutches of the high- rate money lenders. Thousands of these farmers are bound to be fore- closed, for, unless congress acts, the private money lenders will be unable to take care of them, even at high interest rates. This $100,000,000 in farm loans applied for has been promised by the government through the land banks. The security of these farm- ers has been approved and accepted. That constitutes the promise. They have, therefore, made no other provision to take up maturing indebted- ness, and 85 per cent of the loans applied for are to take up old mort- gages bearing a higher rate of interest than the land banks charge. The effect of betraying these farmers at this time would be disas- ter. Farmers are asked by the government to bend every effort toward . greater production, and greater production is absolutely necessary. Shall these farmers, on whom a hungry world depends—on whom we rely to win the war—be slapped in the face by a _broken government promise? The department of intrigue at Berlin could devise no more effective way of crippling America and its allies in the war. Not only must this $100,000,000 in loans promised by the govern- ment be taken care of; provision must be made also to take care of other thousands of farmers who will apply for government land bank loans in the future. As President Quamme of the St. Paul land bank says, if this is not done at once by congress, congress must reconsider— because, absolutely, without fail, these farmers must be taken care of. The country will force congress to act, if it does not do so. And it must not be an inadequate, half-way measure of relief. The bill must be passed as the land bank management has recommended it. ' THE RICH FARMERS can financial system. He devised the war saving certificate ° and stamp plan adopted by congress, the soudest financial MR VANDERLIP is a millionaire, one of the pillars of the Ameri- measure congress has adopted sinece the war started. He deserves credit for that. -But when he attempts to discuss' the political and economic program of American labor and American farmers, his ideas are tinged with the self-interest of the millionaire—with the bias of the plutocrat who sees all popular movements as ‘‘discontent in the mob’’ and as a ‘‘threat against American institutions.’’ Mr. Vanderlip spoke in the middle west in favor of the war saving plan he devised. He did not understand the rumblings he heard in the districts he visited. He found that there was a movement for a Cchange in conditions in this country. : He did not know what it was, but he felt it was something menacing—that is, was something that a million- aire and captain of finance ought to frown upon. And so, among other 2 thmgs he made the following statement.at Omaha: * Your farmers out here are too rich; and our workmen in the east are too rich. Excess in luxuries has been the result. . ‘This, from a mllhonalre, is amusing. We fancy the farmers and workingmen of this nation would have fo indulge in luxuries a whole lot more before they would be in Mr. Vanderlip’s class. Mr. Vanderlip . i8 so rich he can afford to work for the United States treasury depart- ment for one dollar a year. There are no farmers or workingmen who ‘can mdulge a luxury like that. They would have to have at least $15 So they must forego the pleasure of workmg. a week in order to live. for the government. It may be. mentloned that the banquet at whlch Mr. .Vanderhp