The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, June 3, 1918, Page 4

w22 A . | g | e——— . knocking the whole plan of public operation, and they are still more bit- ter against public ownership. “Six months ago my organization was oppesed to public ownership and control. Today we are for the gov- ernment’s permanent retention and operation of the railway system— every man of us. And we find that the public which deals with the rail- roads, and even the vast majority of railroad stockholders, row share our position. THE ROADS WILL NEVER GO BACK. It would be a national disaster to sacrifice all the fine spirit of co-operation and aid to the gov- ernment that has been produced in these few weeks, in the hearts of the railroad employes and in the hearts of citizens generally.” Railroad administration staff men do not talk about public policy in that way, but they indicate, by every word they do permit themselves to express, that Clark of the Conductors is right. THE PATRIOTISM OF THE WORKERS Frank McManamy was for seven years chief of the locomotive boiler inspection service which the interstate commerce commission was obliged to maintain, to prevent the railroad com- panies from permitting train crews and passengers’ lives from being sac- rificed in boiler explosions. Now he is head of the boiler inspection di- vision under Uncle Sam. He was compelled to report to Director Gen- eral McAdoo, at the start of govern- ment operation, that the locomotives of most of the roads were in bad con- dition. As there was no time to build additional shops, and men to man shops were scarce anyhow, the only way to meet a war emergency was to get more repair work done by the men in the old shops. This meant that the quarrels and antagonism developed by many years of fighting over the right of shop mechanics to organize must be smoothed out, and the men must do more work. Appealing directly- to the men in the organized shops, McManamy got a conference between his chief and the shopmen’s union leaders, with the result that 225,000 mechanics let down the bars against quick promotion of helpers, set aside their rule of working no more than eight hours a day, Do You Think This Is N o Time to Organize? Just Look at the New Organizations Being Formed by the Farmers’ Enemies; War Doesn’t Stop Them y JHENEVER an editor or any other tool of special privilege wishes to foil the forward movement of the farmers of America, he starts out by saying that this is no time to ORGANIZE. He may pretend that he believes in many principles of the Na- tional Nonpartisan league, but in the same breath he advises the farmers not to take any steps to protect themselves until after the war. Preparedness is only for editorial associa- tions, chambers of commerce, bankers’ clubs, trav- eling men’s associations, and those superior beings who make their living off the workingmen. Every once in a while new ORGANIZATIONS of business men are formed. Just the other day the insurance companies of the Northwest OR- GANIZED to fight League proposals for state in-- surance against damage to crops by storms. It’s always some one who feels his graft menaced that seeks to throw the farmers off the scent. The business ORGANIZATION that votes to fight the National Nonpartisan league is thereby admitting that there is something rotten that the business men are trying to hide. No honest, fair business has any need to fear the farmers’ movement. One of the latest crowds to point the finger of sus- picion at itself is the Wichita Rotary club, which is spreading false propaganda through Kansas and Colorado in the sneaking effort to prevent the farmers getting their share of the good things of life. ¢ Y When they want to fight the League, the first step is to get an ORGANIZATION. E. F. Win- terburg of Carmen, Okla., sends in a clipping show- A e Ao N B A A G A TS T I TRY THIS, UNCLE, IT CURED ME l asking about it. He wants to try it himself. and adopted other plans that practically removed every limitation on output—except only the limi- tation against overexhaustion of the workers. As a result, Uncle Sam got 27,220 locomotives repaired in the first theee months of this year, as against * 23,038 in the same period last year, when the pri- vate companies were in full control. During April, the increase over last year was running about 500 locomotives per week. Men in rail- ing that the drummers of Kansas, which boast an organization of 40,000 members throughout the nation, are resolved to fight the farmers’ movement. -WILL THE KANSAS MERCHANTS DARE? This was great news for the Kansas City Star. It really looks for results from this ORGANIZA- TION and says: “The small-town merchants are usually of a great deal of influence in their com- munities, and by laying the facts about this or- ganization before them it is believed they can pre- sent the matter to the farmers so the rush of mem- bers can be stopped. The League is believed to have 30,000 members in Kansas.” Governor Capper’s paper, the Topeka Capital, also recounts at ‘great length this ORGANIZED move against the farmers’ rights. . If the traveling salesmen know when they are well off, they will stop this fight before they begin. No one has heard the farmers complain because the salesmen have organized. It is plain that the business house which allows its peddlers to spread false reports about the Nonpartisan league is go- ing to lose considerable trade. merchants will be so foolhardy as to try to dictate to the Kansas farmers. Asa Bishop of Tecumseh, Kan., writes out of his- experience of this ORGANIZED move. against the farmers who are seeking justice: i “As an embryo farmer I am interested in the farmers’ movement. Not so many years ago I was .a traveling salesman and belonged to the United Commercial Travelers. I see that organization has announced its intentions of PAGE FOUR (ot —Drawn especially for the Leader by W. C. Morris Uncle Sam is looking for a little tonic to put his blood in exactly the right condi- tion. The old parties have some patent dope that they would like to force on him. But the western farmers have a standard remedy that is working wonders in their home states. Uncle Sam has taken notice of the improvement, and ig And few country - e O e TR road shops are working 70 hours a week for Uncle Sam, as a patriotic service for a square employer, where they knew it was dangerous to permit more than, 48 hours of workifor the anti-union . bosses under the private company regime. S Out in the Middle West the shops have more room for repair work than in the East. Formerly every locomo- tive belonging to an eastern road was hauled home for repairs. Now they are turned into the nearest shop, re- paired at once and sent right back into service. They are working for Uncle Sam. “As long as the men know they are working for the government, said McManamy, “they will go farther and do more than for any private em- ployer on earth. That is my experi- ence, and I had seven years of ac- quaintance of the old conditions.” The shopmen on one road offered to match, by donations of work, any donation the company would make to the government! STOP THRIFTLESS ADVERTISING The other day Uncle Sam began painting his initials on a lot -of loco- motives that- he has secured from firms that built them for export to Russia. In October he will be able to paint his initials on thousands of freight cars that are now to be built. Every day he is hauling down the - signs of the old regime—the adver- tisements of private railroad com- panies’ ticket offices. D By and by the ordinary citizen will forget that private railroad signs ever decorated the streets and the cars— at the public’s final expense. The railroad companies’ press bureau in Washington, which was fighting against public ownership at a cost to railroad “operating expense” of $600,000 a year, has been abolished by the government. Railroad lawyers by the hundred have had to earn a live- lihood in other fields. ONLY WALL STREET STOCK JOBBERS AND THE $100,000 RAILROAD MAGNATES ARE FIGHTING PUBLIC OWNERSHIP NOW. X “A world made safe for democracy” applies even to railroad kings. fighting the Na- < tional This new co-operative creamery at Nonpar- Dover, Minn., is a lesson in organiza- tisan tion for efficiency, economy and chang- league ing the distribution of income derived and is from agriculture. It does not give worried imperial control to a few lords of in- about dustry who can then exploit what their fellowmen. becomes of the $16 that the farmer pays for a two years’ membership. That leads the farmer to ask what becomes of the $20 it costs to join the U. C. T. and the $14 a year a member pays in dues. That would make $48 for a two-year membership, three times what the League is asking. - : . LEAGUE ENEMIES STILL ORGANIZE “It seems singular that the U. C. T. (as rep- resentatives of big business) should lead the fight. Why don’t the fraternal societies do it? And why don’t some one get the evidence about all they are charging the League with and pre- sent it to the government? It would save them trouble and expense of running around the state and interfering with the farmers’ affairs. But the farmers are not misled by this fight. They know what they paid the $16 for and they expect to reap big returns from the in- vestment. You notice it is the old-gang poli- tician and big business that are hollering wolf.” The men who profit off the farmers haven'’t given 5 -