The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, April 15, 1918, Page 3

Sl ~In the intePeat . that. the scheduled meeting be_ can- _order served by the marshal, just be- “tuted. county public ‘saféty’i ~ are members of' the public . saféty “unofficial ' body. with no’ . authority of ‘any kind recognized by - law in Minnesota. e el . Johnson, local ‘member of the “war “board,” and demanded an explanation: - ‘waited upon 'by the farmers at his “board” - had ‘ordered the meeting i . stopped, and. added that ‘the vote of “the "-lll:oard had.been “unanimous.” Mr. ~~of .a square deal for the farmers Official Magazine of the - National Nonpartisan League A magazine that dares to print the truth VOL. 6, NO. 15 This Happéned in the United States ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA, APRIL 15, 1918 —_— e A Plain Statement of Somé Incidents at New Richland, Minnesota, Showing the Amazing Conditions Which Are Permitted by Officials of the State ARMERS of Waseca -county, Minn., decided to hold a big meeting at New Richland on March 26, in the interest of the Minnesota labor-farmer candi- dates for state offices, and to discuss the issues of the cam- paign. A committee of the > farmers waited on the county sheriff prior to the meeting, and was assured that no attempt would-be made to prevent the gather- ing, and that ample protection would be afforded - if hoodlums, inflamed by Nonpartisan le_ague ene-. mies, attempted any disorder. .As a speaker for the meeting, the farmers ob- tained C. J. Buell, a man-widely known in Minne- sota for more.than 30 years as a champion of real democracy. Mr. Buell is the author of several works on Minnesota politics, and is' especially famed for his analysis of the work of the Minne-_ sota legislature during the last six or eight years. Mr. Buell is a man whose Americanism and patri- otism have never for an instant been questioned ' . by anybody. : New Richland was full of farmers from the sur- rounding country on the day that the meeting was advertised to take place. Some of these farmers had driven as far as 32 miles to hear the candi- detes and issues of the campaign discussed. Farm- ers’ automobiles and other vehicles, in which they had driven in for-the meeting, crowdeéd the streets, and one of the biggest meetings ever held in the county was' in prospect. i Just prior to the time that the fiig meeting was to assemble, Tom Court- ney, town marshal, waited on the committee in charge of the meeting and presented -an order, signed by Sheriff Bernard Fischer, commanding celed, ‘and further ordering that no farmers’ meetings should be held at any other point in the county. 3 BANKER DEFENDS ACT .~ OF THE “WAR BOA_RD',’ Investigations ' showed. that the sheriff had been ordered to stop the meeting by a' so-called “war board,” which had been-hastily .assembled the day before and had notified the sheriff to stop the meeting. ' The first notice that the farmers and Mr. Buell had’ of the “war board’s” action was the fore the meeting was to open. " The so-called “war board” of Wa- seca county is not a legally rconsti: sion, although some of its ‘members : commission. -The “war:board?” has no legal standing whatever, and is—an ‘powers “or. i 'Mr. 'Buell _and about ‘a -Ecor_:;e’%f farmers immediately called on-Henry. Mr. Johnson is a banker, and he was itted “that the “war : Read the account stanihg authority whatever, and that the order was in vio- lation of the constitution of the state. He ex- plained that to deny farmers their constitutional . rights ih a political campaign would work great harm on the city of New Richland, which depended for its existence on the patronage and support of the surrounding farmers. Mr. Johnson contended that this was “no time to stir up trouble,” and for that reason the meet- ing had been stopped. “If this is no time to stir up trouble,” said Mr. Buell, “why does your ‘war board’ attempt to stir up trouble? peaceable and highly successful, except when at- tempts at suppression of free speech, like the present, create annoyance, discontent and some- times disturbance. You are the trouble-makers and the law violators. We are not. If there had been no attempt to stop our meeting, it-would have taken place in peace, and good feeling would have continued to exist in this county between the townspeople and town officials ‘and the farmers.” +FARMERS ADJOURN . TO VERPLANK FARM ; i About this time, word came from E. E. Verplank,. a Civil war veteran and justice of the peace of Waseca county, inviting the farmers: to his farm, two and one-half miles east of New Richland, and inviting them to hold their scheduled meeting there on his lawn. Mr. Verplank is 84 years old and 7 AN S : RS & - ;ofi_‘ = //‘5&'«5 The farmers’ meetings are always . -~ —Drawn expressly_for:the Leader by W. C. Morris : on this page of the incidents at New Richland, Minn. . What happened at New Richland is typical of what is happening in 20 coun- - ties of Minnesota, in the United States of America. 'And when you have read ~this account, ask yourself if Morris, in the above cartoon, has not truly por- trayed a situation xists 2 whic nld “atte o 1 has been the justice of the peace in Waseca county for 50 years. Between 200 and 300 farmers dreve from New Richland to Mr. Verplank’s farm. A big American flag was obtained and, with this as a background, Mr. Buell mounted an improvised platform and began his address. Mr. Buell had just gotten started when Town Marshal Courtney stepped up and declared that Mr. Buell was under arrest. The arrest supposedly was for attempting to hold -a meeting forbidden by the so-called “war board,” although there was no warrant or pretense of legal procedure. The veteran justice of the peace, whose premises had been invaded in this manner by the town marshal, declared that if the marshal s*tempted to arrest Mr. Buell, or break up the meeting, he—Verplank —would arrest the marshal for “unlawful inter- ference with a peaceable assemblage.” At about this time the sheriff appeared in the crowd and ordered the meeting stopped. The farmers were boiling angry. Their ‘indig- nation could scarcely be restrained. They con- trolled themselves, however, and an attempt was made to convince the marshal and the sheriff that they were taking an indefensible and illegal po- sition. As spokesman for the farmers, Mr. Buell again explained to the peace officers that the “war board” had no legal basis; that, even if ‘an at- tempt was made to carry out the order stopping the meeting, there was at least no basis for the arrest of the speaker. The sheriff at least saw the force of this, and no further at- tempt was made to arrest anybody. FARMERS ADJOURN IN INTERESTS OF PEACE The question then arose whether the farmers would peacefully disperse or would attempt to hold the meeting and the town marshal. They would have been perfectly justified in: in- sisting upon holding the meeting and in doing so. It was a case of nearly 300 farmers against the sheriff and the town marshal, and, furthermore, Justice of the Peace Verplank stood ready, if the farmers present thought it advisable, to place both the sheriff and the town marshal under arrest for interfering with a legitimate, peaceable assemblage of the citizens of Waseca county. ; But the farmers demonstrated.their peaceful intentions. Smarting under this denial of - their rights and the violation of the law ‘and constitution of the state, indignant to the degree where it was difficult for them to con- trol themselves, the farmers decided not to“hold ‘a meeting. They decided not to stand on' their rights. They reached -this -decision in_the interests of peace and order, and decided to determine their rights later by legal methods. : ’ Mr. Buell from arrest, he was asked seat to consult with the county at- torney. This he agreed to do. Be- fore the crowd broke up, however, Justice of the Peace Verplank declared shaking’ with emotion. 'He sang ‘a ' _song of his own compogition, praising’ R R R TS regardless of the orders of the sheriff ‘Although the sheriff had discharged. to accompany- the sheriff to the county . e e e e e he had a song to sing.. The 84-year- ) old: veteran of the: Civil war mounted .an__automobile “and sang in a voice . - the Declaration of Independence, the . O P O T T e SR T e T (o B RO TE T RRY OO T =TT THFTO HY 0 WO T O RS ™