The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, July 22, 1918, Page 9

'é T T loyalty dxfi'erent from those of the federal government The Umted States encourages the organization of workers in industries affect- ing the prosecution of the war; it does not hold declarations against the war profiteers disloyal; it does not object to the people discuss- ing ways of financing the war or promoting political and economic reforms. Minnesota and a few other states have attempted to stop these things, on the ground that in some way.they “hinder the war.” It will ' be well for the authorities of these states to read the decision of the supreme court of Minnesota. LEAGUE’S WAR VIEWS STAND COURT TEST HE decision of the Minnesota supreme court is a more sweep- ing and complete vindication of the Nofnpartisan league’s war views than seems apparent on the first reading of the opinion of the judges. Mr. Townley, who was arrested for circulat- ing League pamphlets containing resolutions about the war, has been discharged by the supreme court of even a taint of disloyalty, and the cases against him, originating in Martin county, are ordered dismissed. To get the full significance of this, the following fact must be borne in mind: The two pamphlets on which Mr. Townley was prose- cuted are absolutely every bit of literature on the war circulated by the Nonpartisan league, except a recent pamphlet which sets forth in full President Wilson’s war messages and speeches and commends them to the people of America as worthy of hearty support. The decision of the court, therefore, was made after the-judges considered EVERYTHING THAT THE LEAGUE HAS HAD TO SAY ABOUT THE WAR SINCE THE DAY AMERICA ENTERED IT. Since every position the League has ever taken on the war is set forth in full in the resolutions that the court passed upon, and since those resolutions do not “discourage enlistments” and are not disloyal or seditious, IT FOLLOWS THAT THE LEAGUE’S. WAR VIEWS HAVE STOOD SUCCESSFULLY THE SEVEREST. TEST OF LOYALTY THAT THE ENEMIES OF THE FARMERS COULD PUT THEM TO. The political enemies of the League sought federal government action against the organized farmers on account of their war views. The federal government refused to act, finding nothing disloyal or seditious in the League’s stand. The enemies of the League that have been making the false and contemptible charge of disloyalty against the organized farmers, then succeeded in getting a two-by- four prosecutor in a small Minnesota county to bring a prosecution under the STATE LAWS. This prosecutor sought and found every document circulated by the League referring to the war, and used them as the basis of a formal charge that Mr. Townley and the League were seditious. One pamphlet was issued immediately after the United States entered the war and the other last fall. . After the federal authorities refused to -proceed agamst the League on these pamphlets, the enemies of the League sought a “showdown” in the state courts of Minnesota. The supreme court throws the case out, finding nothing whatever in the League’s war views that in any way discourages enlistments, or is in any way disloyal and seditious. This decision comgpletely vindicates the League of the charge of disloyalty brought agamst it on: account of its pos1t1on on the war. THEY CHOSE THE TEST HE POLITICAL enemies of the Nonpartisan league in Min- I nesota, and not the League, chose the method by which the League s loyalty was to be tested. The League’s enemies . sougli’t a way to substantiate their chargd that the activities of the organized farmers have been disloyal. It must be presumed that they sought to determine the question of the farmers’ patriotism on what they considered the most damaging evidence they could produce. They naturally. would seek to have the test made by methods that would give them the greatest chance of success, and on issues most favoring their charge that the League was hinder- ing the war. The enemies of the League wanted to make the test in the fed- ) eral courts, but the United States authorities refused to indict the League, on the ground that there was nothing unpatriotic in the farmers’ organization. The League’s enemies then decided to brmg the case in the state courts. They collected all the statements is- " sued by the League on the war. The only statements the League had issued were RESOLUTIONS OF THE FARMERS THEM- SELVES. So they caused the indictment of Mr. Townley for cir- culating these resolutions. q The test, then, was on material which the Leagues enemies considered the ‘most damaging, and was made in the most efi"ectlve - way the enemies of the orgamzatlon could find. But the result is not the substantlatlon of the charge of dlsloyalty The result is a sweeping vindication, by the supreme court of Minnesota, of Mr. Townley and the League. The League did not seek this test of its loyalty. The enemies:: of the League did. If the League had not gone through this test with flying colors, Mr. Townley would have served time and the League farmers who adopted the resolutions would have been for- ever discredited in the eyes of most of the people, for the true facts would never have gained wide circulation. Its war views and policies now have the official 0. K of the highest court of Minnesota. Will the enemies of the League who lost abide by the decision, , as to loyalty. just as the League would have had to if the League had lost? will the enemies of the League accept the result of the supreme test which they themselves devised as a pitfall for the organized farm- ers? No, of course they will not. They will continue to make their damnable and contemptible insinuations. They will lie about the supreme court decision. They will disown the result of the very test which they themselves planned and carried out. But they will have insuperable obstacles to overcome henceforth in their efforts to tar the League with disloyalty. They will have to explain how it was that the supreme court of a great state—the state where the charge of disloyalty originated—found nothing unpatriotic in the war . views and policies of the League. Every time they charge disloyal- ty, as they will continue to do till they get tired of it and see its folly, all the answer the organized farmers will give is to quote the supreme court decision. ] They chose the medicine. They expected to make the League take it. The League does not need it. They will take it themselves. HOW THE PRESS HANDLED IT T THE time this is written the Leader has had no opportunity A to see how the various anti-farmer papers of the country handled the throwing out of court of the disloyalty charges against the Nonpartisan league. We judge, however, that the ma- jority of them handled the matter as did the St. Paul Pioneer Press- Dispatch, one of the nastiest and most contemptible enemies of progress and of the organized farmers in Minnesota. After making great front-page headlines for months of the indictments brought against Mr. Townley and the League, after playing up.on the front page all the arguments of the prosecution and suppressing the arguments of the League attorneys while the case was before the courts, the St. Paul hate-organ reported the supreme court decision under a modest little headline on the BACK PAGE! The next day, however, Prosecutor Allen of Martin county, who brought the cases which were thrown out of court, issued a statement in which he said that, while the supreme court found no disloyalty in the war views of the organized farmers, the case had been a “success” because it had convinced the people of the disloy- alty of the farmers’ organization! The St. Paul Dispatch played this imbecile statement up on the front page, after practically sup- pressing the decision of the court itself! How the anti-farmer, anti-labor press expects to make progress- against justice and democracy in America by this childish handling - ‘of the news is more than the Leader can understand. Such tactics _prove the bias of the press_to every person who reads it.. These methods make the toothless hate of the hired editors so apparent - that nobody is deceived by their lies and misrepresentations. When the news of the decision reached the Leader office some- body got up an, argument about how the Pioneer Press-Dispatch would report it. Out of a dozen persons, all old newspaper men, only one had enough confidence left in the honesty of the. kept newspapers to believe that the Press-Dispatch .would make a front- page feature of the news, and -he had to buy the lunches for the. -staff for being such a chump. o] g ¥ IMPORTANT TO READERS OME subscribers do not get their paper on time:: Others. fail to get it at all. Let'the circulation department of the Nonpartisan Leader, Box 575, St. Paul, Minn., heéar of all incidents of this sort. If any small town postmaster is'hold- ing up the Nonpartisan Leader because he disagrees with the League’s principles, quick justice will be secured. 'The Non- | partisan Leader has full r1ghts to the United States mails, just . the same as any other magazine. The editor has been mformed A by high postoffice officials that every complaint of delays in distribution will be investigated, and where a postmaster has been found guilty of conduct unfair to Leader _ subscribers, he will be removed. PAGE NINE . i SR N S O L S S S R S S But he League won.. ! § § i { i SREST &