The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, April 22, 1918, Page 11

' this ~ meeting, ~Mr. .- Minneapolis and St.” Paul - of the issue. ‘. examination of Mr. Martin. fictal. tion. I believe the National Nonpartisan league will eventually prevent a revolution.” " Referring to the suspension of the Constitution in certain counties of Minnesota and the arrest of organizers and League officials, Captain Smith ex- pressed his regret at such tactics. He attributed the venom of the opposition to the League to hys- teria, which he said is sweeping the country. “Conditions have come to such a pass that a man in public life dare not open his mouth,” Captain Smith observed. - ' Captain Smith expressed his pleasure at the loca- tion of the Federal Land bank in St. Paul, rather than in Minneapolis. He said the farmers of the Northwest evidently had a feeling against the Mill City, if the location of the Equity Co-Operative ex- change in St. Paul could be regarded as an indica- tion of sentiment. Captain Smith, by the way, is a firm believer in the Society of Equity and all other co-operative societies among the farmers. A broad gauge man, Captain Smith is in favor of anything that will benefit his friends, the farmers of the United States. Making Them Eat Disloyalty Charges L. W. Martin, a League Organizer, Is Acquitted of Framed-Up Accusations by a Minnesota Jury—Trial Won Members for the Nonpartisans HE outrageous charge of sedition made against L. W. Martin, an organizer for the National Non- partisan league, fell flat in the trial at Red Wing, Minn., April 5. After hearing three days of argument and testimony, the jury voted an acquittal on the first ballot. Thus the entire propaganda of cunning politicians and stupid news- papers was discredited. Although the defenseless public has had its intelligence insulted by columns and pages of newspaper print alleging disloyalty of the League, this is the only case the profiteers and politicians have so far brought to trial and risked a verdict on such charge. In an effort to bolster up their famishing political fortunes, re- actionary officials staked all on this venture. _ They lost, thanks to the fairmindedness of the 12 jurors of Goodhue county. THE RESULT OF WILFUL DISTORTION There are some remarkable features about. the" case. Mr. Martin was_not accused until seven months after his speech. It was only when the politicians grew desperate at the spread of the progressive ideas of the National "Non- partisan league that.charges began to be framed up. Town g officials who appeared against . Mr. Martin at his trial had, : seven months before, sat through his speech, shaken hands with him and said it was a great talk. There was no aspersion on his loyalty until after the League had named candidates for state office and had open-. ed its campaign to put the government of the state back into the hands of the people. In his opening remarks at Martin stated that he knew the Twin City newspapers would -call him pro-German. His topic was the conscription of wealth to pay for the war. He knew that any criticism of big business is sure to be called pro-German by the papers, which live off the crumbs left them by the prof- . iteers. The way the witnesses for the prosecution remembered it, he had just come out and announced that he was pro- German, - Witnesses for the defense declared under oath that the statements charged, in ‘the indictment were not part of Martin’s speech, and - were never uttered by him. The - jury took their view MADE/ CONVERTS FOR THE LEAGUE IN COURT That sfupidity as well as politics played a part in the case is illustrated in the “Now Mr. Martin, what did you _say that night?” the prosecutor asked. - .. - <. “Do, you want my speech?” - “Yes,” said this small of- - GUESS ILL STOP THE OLD GANG NEWSPAPERS AND JUST READ THE LEADER! "THE FARMER 15 DIsLoyaL! THE LEADER'S SEDITIOUs ! CRAZY WITH FEAR Rudolph Spreckels of San Francisco has a long record as a millionaire and an honest man. It was he who led the fight against the thievery of the street railway corporation of his home city. With the aid of Francis J. Heney he exposed the wholesale bribery by which big business had corrupted the city government of San Francisco. Read what Mr. Spreckels has to say of the League in a letter to Carl Beck: It looks -as if the National Nonpartisan league had put real fear into the hearts of the privilege seeking gang. I am sure the arrest of Mr. Townley must have bcen an act of desperation. Organized greed is stupid in its judgment of the ‘people. Corruption and force have served them so well in the past that they can not believe the people will no longer sub- mit to such methods of political and business control in the United States. : : Yours sincerely, R. SPRECKELS. / I - CAUGHT IN A LIE I ek PAGE. ELEVEN e oapart s, L 4 eade,: '~ QLT %/ 07‘ —Drawn expressly for the Leader by J. M. Baer “Give it all,” he ordered. Mr. Martin then launched into a rousing Nonpar- tisan speech before the crowded courtroom. He praised President Wilson and flayed the peanut politicians, profiteers and the Hessians of the press. There was breathless silence as he concluded. No one dared to applaud even the eulogy of the presi- dent of the United States for fear of arrest. Two farmers, unable to restrain their enthusiasm, hastened out into the hall and danced a jig. The prosecutor sat motionless, his face frozen with fury. As soon as recess was ordered, half a dozen farm- ers besieged Mr. Martin, begging for membership applications in the League. Through the blind insanity of politicians and the interests that are milking the people, other indict- ments have been brought against other League or- ganizers and officials. They will be acquitted whenever the trials are called. It is to be regretted that the city newspapers of the state did not handle the reperts of the case with any less stupidity. Stories of the trial in the first two days were columns long, all pretending to demonstrate clearly that Mr. Martin would be found guilty. The effort was plainly made to stampede the court and jurors. When the verdict was an- nounced, instead of reporting the acquittal with a boom, they scarcely peeped, Such unfair treatment of their readers is what has put the daily press on the tobog- gan. an OLD PARTIES ALIKE Milbank, S. D. Editor Nonpartisan Leader: greatly interested in every- thing that concerns the Non- partisan league, and will soon also be one of you. The rea- son I write is because I hap- pened to run across a few magazines that had printed a few things that greatly con- \ cern the League and it also seems as though they are getting badly scared that the League will do something that they or their masters wouldn’t like. You will see by _the clippings that the two old parties intend to fuse wherever they are - threatened by the League or any other new party. So it ought to be clear to all good citizens that the old parties are one and the same thing only in name and that is to keep the voters from biz doesn’t seem to care much which wins as long as it is either a Republican or a Democrat. I believe this is a great chance to show the people the colors of the two old parties. It shows that they are alike to a feather and if we are tired of the old system, that we will have to vote and join the Nonparti- san league. I believe that is " 'do_the work, - E.S VALENTINE. i AR SRR R TAGE) I am not a member but am voting anything else. Big - the only way for them to get. rid of the old system where big biz rules and the peOplg - Rt O e e S e o RO S U™