The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, June 10, 1918, Page 4

the Nonpartisan state adminisiration in office? The first farmers’ nonpariisan state administra- tion in American history was elected in North Da- kota in the fall of 1916. Taking office in January; 1917, the officials elected by the Nonpartisan league have now been handling the government af- fairs .of the people of North Dakota for 17 months. A RECORD OF PLEDGES KEPT The League has made good on each and every pledge made to the people during the campaign of 1916. Opposed by the interests who have made it l : JUST LIKE A FAIRY TALE ‘ _/700/) s their business to see that government has been as much as possible a special privilege affair, the League ‘officials, fighting’ all ‘the way for a square deal for the people, have won out in every- instance, or have cases in court in which they are confident of winning. First, there was the matter of railroad taxation. For years and years—ever since statehood, in fact, with a constitution that was understood to have been O. K.’d by James J. Hill—the railroads had been dodging a large part of their taxes. Not that they did not pay what they were actually taxed. : They did. But the state board of equalization al- ways seemed to be composed of men who had a soft spot in their hearts for the railroads — and who usually ecar: ried railroad passes in their pockets. ) When it came railroad assess- ments, it didn’t take a great deal of time — under the old regime in North Dakota. Some oné’ would move that there be no change in the assessment of the Great North- ern or the North- ern Pacific or the Soo. The motion would be prompt- somehow or other. time to consider S ly seconded and quite as promptly carried. And the hardworking farmers of North Dakota, losing $55,000,000 in the marketing of their grain each year under existing marketing conditions, were compelled to pay not only their, own taxes, but a large part of the taxes of the railroads who were already charging them all the traffic would bear in freight rates. What happened when the Nonpartisan - state board of equalization met in Bismarck, the capital of North Dakota, to consider the assessments of railroad property? The proceedings were just as prompt in action as they used to be when the old political gang was in control. But that was the only thing to remind one of the old days. : Instead of continuing railroad assessments as they were, or reducing them, the Nonpartisan state board of equalization promptly increased them. A MATTER OF $800,000 The Northern Pacific, whose lines cross North Dakota from east to west, was increased 51 per cent, or from $16,132,997 to $24,388,133. The Great Northern, another transcontinental line across the state, with many branches, was raised more than $8,000,000, the Soo nearly $2,000,000 and the Milwaukee nearly $1,000,000. - Mind, these raises were not at all unjust. They simply put the railroads on about the same tax- paying footing in North Dakota as in other western states. The railroads had been particularly- suc- cessful in North Dakota under the old order of things in avoiding their just share of the taxes. The farmers’ administration simply carried out the recommendations of the state tax commission, - whose advice had been ignored previously. Of course they promptly appealed to the courts, but the people of North Dakota are confident that their Nonpartisan state board of equalization will be sustained—that their Nonpartisan attorney gen- eral will win again—and the railroads will be com- pelled to pay. A The whole amount involved in the suits—the dif- ’ , . g —Drawn especially for the Leader by W. C. Mdrris. The hero of the fairy tale who strode over land and sea in seven-league boots had some speed. He made 21 miles at a step. But the western farmer is com- pletely obliterating distance with Nonpartisan league boots. The first steps were taken in North Dakota. The rapid strides of the Nonpartisan boots are leaving tracks in more than a dozen states today. Before long the boots will have taken the organized producers th: : { t ) 0 ’ roughout the breadth and length of the land, - G o To tge anti-farmer gang it seems hlrg magic. But there is no secret ab_qqt it —it’s just honesty and intelligence linked up with shoulder-to-shoulder ORGAN- 2 SEE THE ANTI-FARMER "GANG TEYING VAINLY TO GET OUT OF THE WAY?! et : 4 ' PAGE FOUR L S N A P A ST YIRS 0 R D o b