The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, May 27, 1918, Page 12

tised the editor of that paper while the:whole state applauded. When George Thompson purchased the St. Paul . Dispatch, the paper was in a hard way, and Mr. Thompson was not as wealthy as he afterwards became. In one of his dark hours when failure stared him in the face, Thomas Lowry, the street car magnate, came "to his rescue and put the paper on its feet by generous financial assistance. Mr. Thompson felt a natural gratitude toward his benefactor. It was perfectly honorable and human that he should never have forgotten that benefac- tion. But this exercised a control over the Dispatch in many ways. The result was highly injurious to the public. : HOW THE PEOPLE’S .NTERESTS SUFFERED When Mr. Lowry sought rights of way, the vaca- tion of streets, or long-term franchises that were not for the interests of the pecple, the personal gratitude of the publisher of the Dispatch led him to favor the interests of the street car company rather than the interests of the public. Again, in the days of the state board of equali- zation, the big fight every year was the fight to raise the taxes of the Twin City Rapid Transit company. This concern is a notorious tax dodger and often put in its assessment at absurdly low figures. Sometimes citi- zens and public officials appeared be- fore the board of equalization and de- manded that the street car company’s assessments be raised. Had the facts been published, public opinion would have insisted on increased valuation. But facts were not made public, for there was a standing order on the Dispatch that reporters should make no mention of the arguments when this matter came before the board. The fact that it was a matter of per- sonal friendship that thus kept this paper silent on a question of public policy does not alter the fact that the Dispatch to that extent was deceiv- ing the public. The Dispatch and the Twin City Rapid Transit company still preserve the spirit of cordial co-operation. Most measures which the street car company desires are promptly espous- ed by the Dispatch, and the street car company in turn rewards the Dispatch with liberal advertising allotments. In the recent labor trouble most of the Twin City papers made it appear that the first strike was a “senseless agitation, fomented by outside agi- tators.” According to these news- papers, no street car worker in his right mind would think of quitting his job or even asking for higher pay. President Horace Lowry of the Twin City Rapid Transit company was pic- tured as a philanthropist, whose only thought was the welfare of his men. Working conditions were described as ideal. All of this helped prejudice against the strikers. YES, IT PAYS TO ADVERTISE T If they had told the truth they might not have got any more page ads from the Twin City Rapid Transit company. But workingmen don’t insert page ads. Consequently, it is always safe to give them the worst of it. The newspaper treatment of the second-lockout was even more unfair. The newspapers had it that the whole affair was nothing more than a silly dispute about the right to wear a button. . “Button, button, who has the button?” wrote the facetious editor of the St. P: 1l Pioneer Press, the public who is reported to have formed the habit of read- ing his articles on the street car situation over the telephone to Mr. Lowry before he allowed them to appear in print. Possibly he feared that some re- porter might make a mistake which would cost a page ad.” Rumor also has it that this same prac- tice was followed by at least one Minneapolis * paper. / Naturally, under these circumstances, the street ~car employes got the worst of it. Little was said about their poor pay and long hours. Little was said about the arbitrary dismissals of men whose. sole offense was that they were suspected of hav- ing joined a union. ' Little was said about the man- ner in which the Twin City Rapid Transit company violated its pledges to the public safety commis- sion. Little was said about the illegal order which — N T R D AV S Y 1t K ) 1 SO S A o NP L LS Hall, and his deputy, Mr. Duffy. Next -to him is Governor Frazier. the public safety commission made AFTER the union street car men had been locked out, com- manding them to cease wearing the insignia of their union. The “newspapers” were very careful in mention- ing any of these things so as not to give the public an insight into the real merits of the lockout which " probably would have aroused the publi¢ opinion to such an extent that the street car company and the public safety commission would have been com- pelled to,abandon their arbitrary attitude and sub- mit to arbitration. These newspapers were working overtime in the interests of Horace Lowry. The workers neither advertise nor own stock in daily newspapers, while the Horace Lowrys and their associates conttol ad- vertising and sometimes own the stock of the same newspapers in which they advertise. Naturally the papers favor the side from which their bread and butter comes. “The man who pays the piper has the right to call the tune,” and often daily papers not only are subsidized but virtually owned outright by the great special interests who need these mouthpieces to-influence public opinion. I HOW THE PETITIONS ROLLED IN I When the Nonpartisan farmers of North Dakota resolved to change their state constitution to give some leeway for progress, they rolled up double the number of signatures required. The picture shows George A. Totten delivering a trunk full of initiative and referendum petitions, May 3, to Secretary of State Thomas Attorney General Langer is on the right. Mr. Totten stands in the center. 3 This was not the only instance in which private privilege clashed with. public welfare to the de- mand of the people. In 1914 the Dispatch and Pioneer Press publisher was very interested in a new union depot for St. Paul. Plans adopted by the railroad companies and agreed to by the city were regarded by many people as giving the rail- road companies too much. THUNDERS OF SILENCE The Commercial club at that time was the one thoroughly democratic business organization of St. Paul, representing the average man, the small dealer, the clerk, the average taxpayer and house- holder. The Commercial club opposed the depot ™ plans. The Thompson newspapers immediately began a campaign to discredit the Commercial club and Mr. Thompson declared with great vehemence that he would put it out of business. Mr. Thomp- son may have been sincere in his support of the union depot plans, but this does not alter the fact that he was willing to use the tremendous powers of his paper to ruin an organization of his fellow citizens that had always stood particularly for the average citizen. ; During the years 1913 and 1914, the St. Paul Dispatch maintained an official blacklist, and cer- tain citizens were to be isolated from publicity, the reporters being warned never to mention these citi- zens in the columns of the paper. Judge Hanft of St. Paul incurred the displeasure of the paper because he was prominent in the graft investiga- . PAGE TWELVE tions which touched an administration for which the Dispatch stood sponsor, and his ndme was on the blacklist. Leavitt Corning, now a member of the state legislature, also was on-the blacklist, as was Judge J. W. Finehout of St. Paul. A newspaper which will use its vast power to prevent citizens from having 4 square deal, and vent its spleen upon those with whom it disagrees lacks a proper sense of the truth that a newspaper is a public servant and should exercise a public spirit in its dealings, rising above trivial, personal motives in its effort honestly to interpret the doings of each day. Farmers of Maine Begin to Organize Producers of Town and Country Unite in a Nonpartisan League of Their Own. And now the farmers of New England are or- ganizing! Although without connection with the National Nonpartisan league, the farmers and wage workers of the city have united in the Nonpartisan league of Maine. A let- ter from N. W. Lermond of their state headquarters, Thomaston, Maine, shows that the same lies are being used by the gangsters and the same misrepresentations are appearing in the papers. He writes: - “No sooner do we launch the Non- partisan league here in Maine than the lying, slanderous attacks begin to try to head us off. I am enclosing a clipping from the Maine Farmer, the only farm paper published in this state. It quotes a misleading edi- torial from Hoard’s Dairyman. You see how cunningly Hoard’s tries to mislead the farmers of the East by trying to make out that the National Nonpartisan league was organized simply as a farmers’ co-operative society. “In our League we hope to have be- tween 5,000 and 10,000 signed up be- fore May 1. We will then hold a state convention to nominate candidates for governor, congressmen, etc. “Yours for a square deal for the farmer and justice for the whole peo- ple. N. W. LERMOND.” The Place of War Gardens Seed Needed for Farms Must Not Be Diverted BY W. G. ROYLANCE It is important that we do not al- low any hastily conceived, half-baked scheme for increasing food production to draw away from the farmer on the land any money, labor or other facility " for production which he needs and can use. Planting war gardens is a good thing, valuable chiefly, however, for the enthusiasm generated and the beneficial outdoor ‘exercise provided for the sedentary worker. It may be said, perhaps, that all that is produced from the war gardens is pure gain, outside of the cost of seed, because the labor _ put on them is in itself beneficial to the persons engaged. ‘- But it is none the less necessary that the greatest of care should be taken not to divert seed or anything else needed on the real farm to the war gardens. There was much in the experience of last spring - that should guide us in these matters. There were numerous instances in which potato growers paid double, and more than double, the normal prices for votato seed, spraying materials and other things needed for their industry, where the cause of the advance in prices was in part directly trace- able to the demand. created by the war gardens. Possibly all this has been corrected and: avoided during the present season by a careful mobilization of the seed supply and a just fixing of seed prices to all planters. < : LIKED THE ROOSEVEL’F ARTICLE Editor Nonpartisan Leader: Des Moines, IOXV % The May 6 number is a tremendous number. I ‘hope you are getting appreciative 'letters. Your handling of Roosevelt is all that a sane, well-poised person could wish. Apropos of Texas—let us hope that President Wilson’s “New Freedom” will pass muster in Washington, .E. L. MORSE.