The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, August 12, 1918, Page 3

In the interest A magszine of a square deal that dares to for the farmers print the truth Tlonpartissin Tea Official Magazine of the National Nonpartisan League VOL. 7, NO. 6 ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA, AUGUST 12, 1918 WHOLE NUMBER 151 OW comes a new Benedict Arnold of the farmers’ cause. The case of this man, “Rev.” 8. R. Maxwell, recalls a score of other cases of actual or attempted treason, spying and espionage on which the big business press has relied for four years, without results, to break up the Nonpartisan league and head off the great move of the American people for democracy and justice. A recital of the details of these cases reveals the desperation of the anti- farmer interests. It discloses the Hunnish methods of the conspirators. - - The League’s enemies who have conspired to corrupt and debauch the movement can best be described by the statement that they have been as in- genious, as unscrupulous and as INEFFECTIVE as the operators of the Ger- man government intelligence department and its propaganda bureau at Berlin. The story of their activities-is as interesting as a government report of German intrigue. _ 'There is nothing new about Maxwell, the renegade preacher, and his acceptance of money to “expose” the League in the anti-farmer press, On the contrary, his story is that of half a dozen others bought up by the oppo- same old falsehoods and misrepresentations. And there are others whom the hired press and its backers tried to buy and failed, and who exposed the would-be “exposers.” Then thére are the facts in regard to the big business espionage system set up at various times to trap League officers apd gain “inside” information by theft or bribery—stories of hidden dictagraphs, janitors who searched wastebaskets and desk pigeonholes, and even of female spies who cultivated the acquaintance of the wives of men on the League staff or the staffs of its publications. It is the purpose of the Leader to retell the details of some of these plots already exposed, under the general title of “Traitors, Spies and the Kept Press,” and to expose for the first time several other conspiracies which for various reasons have hitherto not been mentioned. It will be an abserbing story and will help readers to understand Maxwell, the latest Benedict Ar- nold of the League, and his use by the Pioneer Press-Dispatch and other papers in the futile attempt to disrupt the organized farmers. This is only the first article; others are to fellow. sition to furnish a pretense of authority for the same old charges and the Traitors Spies—and the Kept Press More Amazing Than Any Detective Novel Is the Story of the Fruitless but Desperate Plots Agamst the Organized Farmers filing the stenog- rapher’s copy of the letter, he tore it up, threw it in the wastebasket and forgot it. A week later certain anti-farmer news- papers carried a -yarn about the League, containing a distorted version —of some facts mentioned in the staff man’s private letter. These facts could have been obtained only from the original letter or the copy which had been tormn up and thrown in the wastebasket. The man to whom the letter was sent was out.of town, and" the letter remained unopened on his desk at the time the newspaper stories " appeared. Somebody had searched the wastebasket, pieced together the pieces of the letter copy, and turned the letter over to some agency that ~had gotten it in the newspapers! An officer of the League at about the same time received a long report of organization work from a distant state. He placed it in a pigeonhole -of his desk. Referring to the report a day or so later he found a para- graph strangely missing, < The report was all there, it seemed, except one paragraph, and it had not been cut or mutilated. It was the report he had placed in the pigeonhole, but cer- tain facts, which he had read the first time he looked it over, were gone. It stumped him—and then aroused his suspicions. ; A SYSTEMATIC i RIFLING OF DESKS ‘ He ca.refully examined the report, but in every way it seemed identical ‘with the original document he had filed in the pigeonhole—and yet 1t_ had one paragraph less than it origi- nally had, but with no evidence of . the paragraph having been cut out and the remainder pieced together! . The pages were all whole. > He sent the report back to the state office that had made it, telling" about . the missing paragraph ‘and asking: if STAFF man at League head- quarters wrote a letter to a friend in Washington, D. C. The letter did not concern League business. Instead of ' “the state office could throw any- ught' e on it. The state office promptly reported that the report was not the original, but a COPY, and that in copying it somebody had inadvertently left out a paragraph! Further investigation showed that the top of the League officer’s desk had been pried been used. TIME FOR ANOTHER DISGUISE T e &, WONDER WHAT [ CAN PULL NEXT? —Drawn eapeeially for the Leader by Congressmm John M. Baer . \President Wilson has spoken out, and mob terrorization will now stop. The kept press, and its masters, the gang politicians and the profiteers, have been forced to seek another way to attack the farmers who are organizing to vote - spechl pfivilege from its’ place ‘of power.. Begin the story on this page and leu'n how their spies infest the offices of the farmers’ League, vninly semhing for damaging doenments. off after it had been locked for the night. . was evidence of a crowbar and a hammer having v m@flflmmwemmmm”mm P There A spy had forced the desk, stolen the orlgmal report and left a hastily made copy of it, in which a paragraph had been left out. If the spy had taken a little more time in making that copy, his work would probably never been discovered. These two instances caused a sur- vey to be made of all the League’s files, and a careful investigation of the whole headquarters. Several files were found missing. Employes re- membered strange incidents, such as letters and reports temporarily miss- ing and found later in places where- search had at first failed to reveal them. Many incidents that had not caused suspicion at the time, when considered with other things, showed something mysterious was going on. SLIPPED ONE OVER ON THE SPIES A staff conference was held. It was decided to set a trap for the spies. A fake letter was gotten up, containing alleged facts about the League which, if true, would be very damaging. The fake letter mentioned a certain trusted employe of the League in another state as the only man who had the “evidence” against the League. The letter indicated that this man was “weakening” in his faith- in the League. It was said he was about to tell all he knew, and that the League was afraid he would “spill the beans.” It was all a fake, of course—just a “plant” to catch the spies. The League employe referred to in the letter was called in and prompted in his part. The fake letter was torn into a thousand pieces and thrown in the wastebasket. The trusted employe, supposed to have all the ‘“evidence,” was sent to his post in another state, and results awaited. - They came quickly. Two days later a prominent lawyer called on the League man who “had the evidence and was about to-make it public.”. This lawyer was very clever. " He pretended to come on other busi- . ness—in regard to a personal business . (Continued “on page 15) /