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Sl ~ .Well founded “ness itself will be first _ shall be from the present’ “associations in the fall ~and early winter. - ports of %cqmmittee's . findings LTINS Big Business Will Whltewash Hlmself Something Must Be Done to Offset. Accusations of Monopolists by Nonpartisan League—So Chamber of Commerce Names Its Own Investigators Washington Bureau, i Nonpartisan Leader G BUSINESS is going to white- wash itself! Announcement has just been made that the United States ~~Chamber of Commerce, representing the big business interests of the United States, has become very nerv- ous over the-exposures of in- dustrial abuses, profiteering and downright. corruptlon made by the Nonpartisan league. The United States Chamber of Commerce, therefore, has decided to appoint a committee to investigate these charges. No, this is not a joke! The chamber actually seems to think that it can whitewash itself in this manner and get away with it! Here is the_announcement as it was recently given out to the press of-the nation: “ORGANIZED BUSINESS TO INVESTIGATE CHARGES OF NONPARTISAN LEAGUE “An agricultural committee of five members was authorized today by the board of directors of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States, its _ members to be selected from the states of Minne- sota, Georgia, Iowa, Pennsylvania and Illinois. To be eligible, members must have big farm interests in the field of practical farming—not ‘play farm- ing’—and must have business relatlonshlps to en- able them to direct ‘any inquiries from the joint viewpoint of business and agriculture. IN MINNESOTA, IOWA, KANSAS AND COLORADO “The reason for the creation of the committee as outlined by the board of directors has its origin in an argument presented at the annual meeting of the chamber in April, indicating that the Na- tional Nonpartisan league had predicatéd its cam- paign in part at least on the accusation that ‘bigh business’ was -dealing unfairly with agricultural interests ‘and that certain ‘abuses had become suf-': ficiently pronounced to arouse the spirit of the- “ farmers to the point of organizing a strong cam- paign, even political if necessary, to correct the abuses. “The board of directors of the c‘hamber has be- _ fore it many. of the ar- guments of the League and feels that an inquiry into their truth or falsity is absolutely necessary. The committee has been instructed to employ whatever investigators are necessary to conduct a thorough inquiry in the states of Minnesota,- Iowa, Kansas and Colo- rado. The investigators will be instructed to visit farms, to attend the Leagpe’s - councils and meetings, both county and state, and to:follow complaints that seem/ in ordey that they may present to the public the .facts gathered without regard to the effect on the in- terests complained against. “The board of direc- tors believe that if the alleged abuses exist busi- to endeavor to find a remedy and to.join the agricultural interestsin whatever action is nec- essary to bring an im- provement. . “It is proposed that the period of the inquiry until the close of the meetings of agricultural Re- ted to the agncultural commumtxes and will be made public at a.time and in a manner best cal- culated to serve.the interests of the agrxcultural communities ™ in whose behalf the inquiry is to be conducted.” . - This announcement has been received at the national capital, among those who understand matters of this kind, with considerable amusement. It has been suggested that, instead of one com- mittee, the Chamber of Commerce of the United States appoint several.. For instance, why not have a subcommittee appointed consisting entirely of war profiteers, who were exposed by the president of the United States and by the recent report of the federal trade commission? teers could make a careful “investigation” of them- selves and make an “impartial report,” in which they .could find that they are not war profiteers and that they are honest and patriotic citizens. This would be a very telling stroke against the Nonpartisan league. Another subcommittee could be appointed con- sisting entirely of big packers. These packers could carefully “investigate” themselves and find that there is no truth whatever in the facts- brought out by the recent government investiga- tion of the packing trust, and that a packer did not recently sell tainted meat to the army. This would be a most telling way of discrediting the Nonpartisan league. EVILS THAT BIG “BUSINESS WILL CONCEAL " All branches of big business could be handled in the same way. There is no reason why the chamber of commerce could not appoint-a subcom- mittee of millers to “investigate” Doctor Ladd’s exposure of the graft in the milling business and to discredit the famous official bulletins of the North Dakota Agricultural college, which show how the farmers have been robbed for 40 years by the milling trust. The millers could find that there: was nothing to these facts and give them- selves a nice coat of whitewash! Leaving joking aside, the United States Cham- ber of Commerce is actually preparing' to exoner- ate itself and big business by a farcical investiga- tion_and report. This report will, of course, find that there is little or nothing true in what the I THE FARMER STILL HAS THE LANDSCAPE I In the quiet of the country, out of the mad race for fame and posmon—“out of the dusty lnghway where fools struggle and strive for the hollow praise of other ‘fools.” it czties, but they are being driven from the country-by the farmers who are orgamzmg 5 fot: Justlce and freedomr from' econonpc serfdom. - These war profi- « “The great monopolists may control the Nonpartlsan league has charged, and big business will be given a clean bill of health, and that any- way, if there is something wrong, the way to remedy it is not through the League. Just why the chamber of commerce has decided to investigate only in the states of Minnesota, Towa, Kansas and Colorado is not explained. North Dakota, which is left out of the investigation, is the original home of the League. It doubtless was left out intentionally by the chamber of commerce, in order to avoid going into the mass of evidence produced by Doctor Ladd and the North Dakota Agricultural college, showing the oppression of the farmers by the grain and milling combine. Some of the most serious charges made against big busi- mness, and some of the most sensational exposures of corrupt and oppressive conditions, concern Mon- tana and Idaho and have to do with the mining and power trusts. The chamber of commerce in- tentionally leaves out Montana and Idaho. WHY? AN EDITOR FEARS “CLASS AGITATION” Visitors at the extensive headquarters of the United States Chamber of Commerce at Washing- ton, who ask for light on this investigation, are sent to Editor Thorpe, in charge of the official magazine of the chamber of commerce, known as “The Nation’s Business.” When asked about the matter, Mr. Thorpe can not recall, at the moment, who it was that suggested the fact that the farm- ers might possibly have a grievance, but he is very positive about some other features of the situation. For example, he feels sure that League speakers in Minnesota have declared that this is a Wall street war; which, of course, they never have. He does not know why such alleged utterances were not reported to the federal authorities and arrests made by the government. He visited Minnesota early in June, but he says he did not hear anything there of any mob violence toward organized farmers, ‘or any mistreatment of farmérs when they were trying to conduct a political campaign by holding public meetings. He was evidently temporary blind and deaf while in Minnesota. He does not believe that farmers should be - “stirred up” to get what they think is justice. He considers that a “class agitation.” He _feels sure that if *Governor Burnquist per- mitted violence toward farmer political meetings in Minnesota, such in- cidents were few and were not typical of the * situation. He has great confidence in Burnquist, evidently. He does not believe, that business and pro- fessional men, who make up the bulk of the local chambers of commerce and commercial clubs, would countenance any, wrong to the farmers of thelr communities.. He - is an optimist. After-some discussion, however, the gentleman, who seems to be chiefly responsible for this “un- biased investigation,” and who has just, visited - Minnesota and has found no report of mob violence there, is ready to agree. that the “investigation” . must cover these report- . ed outrages by mobs against the farmers.,. Some concession! : Even: when the at-. tempted violent eviction of farmers from‘ Rock .county, an., for : re- fusal to sign a statement repudiating the League, is. called ‘to his notice, he does not: believe any such' thing could occur.