The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, March 18, 1918, Page 14

Division terminal site, with offices of the Alaska engineering commission, which is building the government-owned railroad in Alaska. These terminals are at | Anchorage. The accompanying article, among other things, tells how Senator Nelson of Minnesota whitewashed Ballin . were attempting to turn publicly-owned Alaskan resources over to private- individuals and corporations. tered, congress appointed the Nelson committee, and Pinchot was dismissed from his place as chief forester by Taft, because he helped Glavis to present his case. The Taft administration was , doomed from that hour. | NELSON COMMITTEE | TRIES WHITEWASHING Collier’'s Weekly of October 8, 1910, in an edi- { torial, said: “The standpat members of the Bal- i linger committee would undoubtedly rather have i most of their teeth pulled, or at least filled, than from time to time, in the form of driblets, and here is a trifle which is strictly confidential: i “The first plan of the administration, as is well . known, when our publication of inside documents i eonvinced them that something must be done, was | to have Sherman and Cannon appoint a docile com- | mittee which would sit for a few days, say there was nothing in the case against Ballinger, and clear 'the way for the secretary to bring a lawsuit against . |us for enormous damages. | “The revolt of the insurgents and the ability of ~JHE arrest of President A. C. Townley of the Nonpartisan league in an attempt to dis- credit the Minnesota farmers in their fight for peaceful as- sembly, free speech and democ- racy, has aroused the farmers of the nation and progressives and liberals -of every class. | The labor press, familiar with the persecution of- {labor leaders by the big interests, especially is ‘laroused to protests over the Minnesota situation. i1 A typical handling of the arrest of Mr. Townley in ‘ithe labor press was an article headed, “Political ' 'Poltroons Cause Arrest of Farmers’ Leader — ' County Attorney Is the Instrument,” which ap- +peared in the Butte (Mont.) Weekly Bulletin, i organ of organized labor in Montana. The bulletin :;has the following to say about the matter:, “It is high time the authorities of the United "States were taking a hand in this systematic and . widespread persecution of the farmers’ organiza- ition. - The farmers and the laborers are being made /\the victims (under the cloak of loyalty) of a nation- iiwide clique of political and industrial autocrats, iwho have no interest in democracy and who are 'making a sham of the word. The great mass of ithe people are not misled by these politicians, and ‘/a reaction will surely ensue; but in the meantime ‘great damage may be done, and it seems to us that the highest authorities in the land should act |immediately and energetically.” i .In New York state, where Mr. Townley spoke to thousands of farmers and urnion men on his trip Bast a few months ago, the farmers are deeply iconcerned in the persecution of the Nonpartisan league in the West. They have themselves been ipersecuted by the removal of John J. Dillon as 'state commissioner of farms and markets of New iYork, because he favored the farmers’ cause as lopposed to that of the big interests that are ex- Iploiting New York farmers. A headline in_the New York Daily Mail following Mr. Townley’s arrest said: “Remember Townley and Dillon, Is ~ | to make the exonerating report which is expected | of them. We are expecting to pass out a little news - "Glavis and Brandeis frustrated this plan. Now comes the news part of this editorial. ; “Nelson, panic-stricken at the rapid development of the evidence against the secretary, for whom he was supposed to act as attorney, went to see Bal- linger, and PROCURED FROM HIM A TYPE- WRITTEN LIST OF QUESTIONS TO ASK ‘GLAVIS. : “Later on the decision was reached to. procure a lawyer for Ballinger other than the group of lawyers on the committee who were acting for him. Nelson thereupon wrote a letter to Ballinger, - enclosing the list of questions which he had re- ceived. ” / “THIS LETTER OF NELSON’S, AND THE LIST OF QUESTIONS, WERE STORED AWAY IN MR. BALLINGER’S CONFIDENTIAL FILE, WHERE, FOR ALL WE KNOW, THEY MAY BE REPOSING PEACEFULLY. “Observers of the case realize that Nelson was acting in thorough accord with Ballinger, but this is the first time we have made public the fact that he WAS BEING COACHED IN WRITING BY THE SECRETARY. The reason we make it pub- lic at present is that it will throw some light on the value of the 'Nelaon whitewashing report, when-- Protest Persecution of the League g Cry of Organizing Farmers.” The same paper cov- ers the stoppage of League meetings in Minnesota in an article headed: “Minnesota Farmers Plead for Liberty to Organize.,” Says the Mail: “The farmers of New York are on the move— and these things are what is driving them along into a bigger organization than New York state farmers have undertaken before. - They have noted the indictment in Minnesota of the farmers’ cham- " pion, A. C." Townley, and this is proving another big spur to a rapidly forming organization.” North Dakota Farmer Protests About It Flasher, N. D. Editor Nonpartisan Leader: e ' _The persecution of the Nonpartisan league by its enemies and' the prosecution of Joseph Gilbert at Lakefield, Minn., by the small -town officials, > alias Chamber of Commerce, is identical with the “persecution of the American Railway union in Chicago in 1894. ; In Lakefield, Minn., the defendent’s legal adviser, Manahan, was chased out of town; leaving the de- fendent at the mercy of his persecutors, the ene- mies of the farmers—an everlasting disgrace to Minnesota. ; The celebrated Dred Scott decision by a United " States court was a.bid for the emancipation proec- lamation. The wunjust imprisonment of the A. R. U. officers was the cementing of the various - . railroad unions. The: Lakefield affair will be the death knell to misinterpretation of the law in favor of Big Biz at the expense of the American farmer. Why can not-the farmer get'anything whatsoever without persecution? . Tk ) The howl that the Nonpartisan league members are pro-German and unpatriotic is an unpardonable - -persecuted by Big Biz. ger and others, who a few years ago that document is finally forced out of the reluctant majority.” : That whitewash report was duly made by Sena- tor Nelson, who, with Senator Jones of Washing- ton, is still in congress. Ballinger is again a pros- perous lawyer in Seattle. : When the Walsh coal and oil lands grab measure was being completed on the floor of the senate, Jones of Washington first secured an amendment reducing the amount of annual work required on a coal claim from $1,000 to $500. : “Before my time expires,” he said, “I want to say that I have three amendments pending on page 2, which I shall not have time to discuss, as the time for discussion will close in 10 minutes. They are simply the words ‘or territory’ in section 2; in other words, to make the provisions of this act, with reference to coal,sapply to Alaska as well as to the coal fields of the continental part of the United States. It seems to me there can not be any objection to that.2— R : g 3 And upon that argument the senate -voted to wipe out the Alaska coal landg act, to make a joke of the government railroad in Alaska, and to give Nelson and Ballinger and the Guggenheim-Morgan syndicate the final triumph. RESOLUTION “Whereas it has been one of the principal activities of the Farmers’ Educational and Co-operative union of Colorado to work for the enactment of laws to eliminate discrimi- . nation against the farmers and their co- operative organizations, “Therefore be it resolved that we; as mem- bers of the Farmers’ Educational and Co- operative union of Colorado, take -steps to - encourage the promotions of the National Nonpartisan league, whereby the farmers may be endowed with power to enact such- laws to govern us as will administer justice to all and special privilege to none.” The above was adopted by local No. 77, Farmers’ union of Morgan county, Col. insult. The farmers of the Northwest and Middle West are raising hogs and wheat at a loss, and pay an unheard of price for feed for stock to enable them to put in a large acreage of crop in 1918. They are the most patriotic class of men in the United States today. The Chicago banker said the farmer does not pay taxes or buy Liberty bonds. It can be proven that some farmers pay 10 per cent at the banks for money to pay taxes, and have bought Liberty bonds when their real estate and personal property is mortgaged, drawing 10 per cent interest. Ask .these bankers if they buy Liberty bonds with anything but surplus money. : How long would the Chamber of Commerce, the packers, the railroads, the political gangsters or any - other class continue in their respective branches of occupation if they were continuing a loss like the farmer? 3 Thoy oy quickly take advantage of 'the bankruptey law made by themselves for themselves, and not for the . -farmers. When a farmer. (Townley) takes ad- vantage of such a law, then he is an outlaw and Not long. They -would .