The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, May 27, 1918, Page 8

[ iy s [ ' 7 “YOU DIRTY CHILD!” . BN —Drawn especially for the Leader by W. C. Morris While the history of early American democracy presents gen- eral well-being, evenly distributed wealth, and little political plun- dering, latér American democracy presents constantly increasing slums and poverty, together with the most rapid and restless con- centration of property and political power in the hands of a few individuals. These conditions.have been produced under the direc- - tion of a government supposed to be by the people and for the people. A man who studied political conditions for years suggests the following definition of the sort of democracy that now exists in our cities and states: “THE GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE,_ BY THE RASCALS, FOR THE RICH.” : Before the arrival of the National Nonpartisan league the efforts of the American public to curb the trusts and catch 'the financiers were like a blind man trying to catch a butterfly. If - 'PAGE EIGHT R R N S T T RS N e S e - great monopolies is their demand. The initiative and referendum e we tried to adopt certain legislation, big business interpreted. it. If we got a decision, big business construed it in another way. When we elected men to office, big business controlled the machine that controlled them. And big business always counted the votes. But now the people are learning the lesson. THEY HAVE ORGANIZED, and they are planning to cut off the privileges that have been enjoyed by predatory wealth. State ownership of the is the'channel through which this must come. Methods ef indirect and unfair taxation that have poured the money of the peeple into the pockets of the railway magnates and other exploiters will be abolished. New marketing conditions will cut the draim om the producer and consumer alike. v s 5 BXETE' POLITICAL CONDITIONS ARE GOING T® HAVE