The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, March 4, 1918, Page 10

THREE MINUTES BEFORE PRESS TIME ANO SAP HEAD MUST WRITE SOME SORT of A STORY ON THE NON PARTISAN LEAGUE. TRE PUBLIC GETS M5 Pace one FIT OF HYSTERIA CTHE DAILY GRAPHT CII. \W// N.P.L. To GET cONTROL- OF THE U FARMERS , wHo HAVE NO RIGHT N Pou'\“lcs AM TO OVERTHROW THE . GOVERNMENT " SOMETHING SHOULD BE DOME AT ONCE ToO PUT A 38ToP To THS TERRBLE ,MENA' CE— OUR LIVES ARE ‘AT sTAKE ) —Drawn expressly for the Leader by B. O. Foss Bankers. Frame An Attack on the League “Farmers’ Meeting” is Conducted by Spokane Chamber of Commerce —Real Farmers Can t Get the Floor || and high. HE wheat growers of northern Idaho and, eastern Washington usually market the most of their grain in sacks. There are not many elevators in the state. Sacks are scarce A two days’ conference was held in Spokane by | these wheat growers on January 25 and 26. Here i and there you could see a stalwart farmer. From ‘,f»a casual, glance the conference was a success. It i | 5 l f { grain gamble;, | | |'western . grain fields. ! | bags are used because there are few elevators. {'was safe and sane. It was held under the auspices | of the Spokane Chamber of Commerce. It was a complete success. That is, no ‘politics were dis- cussed. The banker spoke on the conservation of { livestock, not abouf,stock dividends. The biggest 14}" est, M. H. Houser, who, by 'the way, is tood admmietrator of Oregon, like J. K. 3 at crop. tilng was held for the purpose of solving ?distribution It was a meeting for more sacks or more elevators to handle the grain. Nobody was ‘hurt, no riots' werq, started, all safe and orderly. Nobody’s feelings were trampled upon. Some truth {and a great deal of camouflaging. Wheat is the most important crop in these great ‘When the crop is harvested, The M i, ?d boss in Colorado, told of the need of e | ‘commission man is always on the farmer’s back. Heaven knows that in other states there are enough commission men, but Idaho and Washington have ‘i-'still another man to watch. He is called the sack ! 'man. In these two states most of the grain is sold and marketed in sacks. The farmers pay for these sacks. A ‘few years ago the price of these sacks i 'was a few cents each. Now they are twenty-five /cents a sack, and sacks are going to be scarce at 'that. Many of the younger farmers and some who . ,come from the other states, are 'strong for elevators, but the commission men want the sacks retained.-- i.\Sacks spell more profit to the commission man, and ‘the farmer “holds the sack.” At this big gathering—so called “conventlon ! Ames, Harris, Neville and Bemis Brothers, big sack J oA TR AT e k> m:«—« T "N .lto' be farmers., dlstributors, were very well represented. ’BANKER KNOCKS THE £NONPARTISAN LEAGUE i § meeting. It was not a farmers’ meeting, the farm- ers had very little to say. A North Dakota farmer “tion. It was so “orderly,” so well “conducted.” %Men that never soiled their hands as farmers stood iup before that crowd and directed the policy of that ‘assembly. These self-constituted “directors” call ithemselves “farmers.” Real estate men pretended I Bankers allowed they were farmers jand talked about the crops they were going to raise i —and perhaps the interest. True,"there were a few ifarmers to: give this convention. respectability, but there was no Nonpartisan league type of farmers ‘. * A SN WP SR B e e A From another standpolnt, it was a very unsafe' would have thought he was in a bankers’ associa- . RpTh S A eI R S G e DOMINATING that convention. The chairman, Mr. Insinger, also a good friend of the farmers, a Spokane bdnker, .was a shrewd parliamentarian. He presided with grace and care, and chose those whom he recognized — exceedingly discreet about keeping others off. Politics ‘were barred. No, indeed—farmers must not talk politics. Nonpartisan league politics were poison. We will protect the farmers from such poison, thought the chairman, Mr. Insinger. So he called on C. A. McKenzie, president of the First’ National bank of Colfax. In a rather crude speech, McKenzie denounced the farmers’ Nonpartisan league. He declared that the League had failed on the Liberty bond issue subscription in North Dakota. “How long, oh Lord, how long?”’ He was informed, he declared, by the bankers of North Dakota that the Nonpartisan league was against the bond issue. Bankér McKenzie did not tell the crowd that Gov- ernor Frazier last month called a special session of the North Dakota legislature to provide money for the dry farmers of that state to buy seed wheat. He did not tell how North Dakota had had several drouths and that there were no set of bankers there who would loan the farmers monéey to put their crops in, instead of having the state by special ses- sion do so. Mr. McKenzie warned all the farmers " of Idaho and Washington to have nothing to do with this unpatriotic organization. This League will de- stroy business, he declared. While banker Mec- Kenzie has never plowed a furrow in thePalouse -country, where he lives, for the past 20-years, yet he was allowed to freely “slam” the League and no- body was permitted to rebuke him. REFUéE TO ALLOW FARMER TO ANSWER A BANKER Next morning, Riley Rice, the fearless Irishman from Idaho county, and ex-president of the Idaho- Washington Farmers’ Union, claimed the floor on the question of personal privilege. He explained _that he was a member of the executive committee of the Idaho Nonpartisan league. His League-had been assailed for lack of patriotism. His honor had been put in question. Mr. Rice has a boy who is a soldier in the trenches of France, He declared he would not stand to .have the patriotism of the League assailed. It was falsehood and slander, he added. The chairman rapped him down, but Riley Rice got “riled” and still held the floor He pointed out that the patriotism of the League and its mem- .bers had not only been assailed, but that the farm- ers in attendance at the.conference had been gross- ly taken advantage of, by those in charge of the conference having permitted banker McKenzie to inject an attack on the Nonpartisan league, without giving opportunity for discussion or defense, so Rice demanded the privilege of having someone briefly ‘answer this charge. The chairman declared that it could not be considered. Unable to. get the floor Rice could do. no more PAGE TEN than protest. But when he sat'down, a represent- ative of the International Harvester company (for in North Dakota that company hates the League) let out a whoop of joy and a few other misguided hirelings of “Big Business” gave vent to much ela- tion. The demonstration showed clearly- who of those present were farmers and who were exploiters. The Spokane “conference” was a “pink tea” affair. That is, no “radical” discussions were allowed. Dur- ing one ‘of the discussions as to the handling of bulk grain and sack grain, one farmer wanted to know why the prices were so different. Immediately the chairman, Mr. Insinger, called him down. “We must not discuss prices,” said the chairman, and he served the audience with some more “pink tea.” Every effort was made to hedge and safeguard against any roarback at the grain gambler. GAMBLER IS CALLED THE FARMER’S FRIEND We were told by a Mr. Brewer of Walla' Walla, prominent reactionary among the farmers, that Mr. .Houser, the great grain gambler of the West, is the best friend the farmers have. A grain gambler - a friend of the farmer? Sure. We used to have those same “pink tea” affairs in North Dakota. They were Chamber of Commerce subsidized affairs. That was in the good old day when the Jim Hill railroads and the Chamber of Commerce ran North Dakota politics. These bankers used to preside at our farmers' méetings, and these reactionary farm- ers would also whisper around with these bankers that Pillsbury, Washburn, Peevey, and Barnes and other big grain gamblers were our “best friends.” All they wanted was to control our marketing for - us, and handle our grain and we do nothing but raise it. In the League states now, however. we are dis- criminating. A farmers’ meeting is a farmers’ meeting, and bankers are permitted to speak as. bankers and farmers as farmers. ‘And grain gamb- lers are called by their right names, nothing but common pirates. The chairman of the meetmg, Banker Insinger, and.the Chamber of Commerce. of Spokane, under ; the leadership of Thaddeus S. Lane, had taken care of these farmers for many a year. These “pink tea” occasions are what have happened. As Town- ley says, these men and their kind will continue to “take care” of the farmers by showing the farmers where they can chase jackrabbits for a living. “Patriots” are shocked at the suggestion of sus— pending the game laws during the war so that people may get a meat supply free from profiteer-. ing. They say it would result in great slaughter - But they are clamoring loudly for .- suspension of the labor laws during the ' war, ;- of wild game. Slaughter ‘and hardship of human beings doesn't -interest them. :