The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, August 26, 1918, Page 12

2 JHALL the farmers as a class, upon their own account and for their own good, as they see it, take an active part and interest in practical poli- ‘ties — that is a question that must be settled in the near future. ) Constituting as they do more than one-third of the entire population of our country, and in view of the fact ° that in the present congress there are only some six of eight who designate their vocation as that of farming, it may readily be seen that the question bulks large as regards the politicians, the general public and the farmers themselves. There being only six or eight farmers, as just stated, and some 295 lawyers in the present con- gress, it would seem that the farmers care little or nothing about such a thing as the balance of power, and that they religiously followed the advice of the politicians, who from one end of the country to the other, in season and out of season, have admon- ished them to stay out of politics. POLITICIANS' LIKE THE MUCK OF POLITICS Does the farmer as a political factor constitute a menace? That is a question which in the light of history is an insulting absurdity. When the why of it is put to the average politician, there is a great floundering from one weak ex- cuse to another. But with one accord they always wind up by saying: “You good old farmers, God bless you, you are too good, and your or- ganizations stand for too much that is pure and noble, to allow them or yourselves to be dragged into the mire and filth of politics.” If this is true, what in the name of all that is clean and decent are YOU wallowing around in this mire and filth for, and does not this constitute a most terrible indictment against YOU, who have for so many years had in your hands the shaping of polit- ical thought and action? If the farm- ers are as good as you at times take great pains in telling them they are, and if their organizations are as noble as you would have the farmers believe, and if politics are as corrupt as you say, then why not for the good of all concerned invite, beg and plead with the farmer to take the front line and help in the national houseclean- ing? those of the loftiest conceptions of what is right and and man, be placed in power?” This question is the keynote of an appeal to the food producers of the United States which Mr. Barrett, called to the national capital for service on various advisory committees of the national war administra- tion, has written for the Leader. Plain spoken and sincere in every word, his declaration for a united political effort by the farmers is here pre- sented as it came from his pen. The Farmer Must Go Into Politics | BY CHARLES S. BARRETT President Farmers’ Educational and Co-Operative Union of America Charles S. Barrett, veteran president of the Farmers’ Educational and Co-Operative Union of America, urges every farmer to take political action—unselfish, constructive, democratic political action—to strengthen the influence of clean and high-minded citizens in the government of this country. “Is it not your duty,” he asks of the farmers, “to demand that only just between man 1 cause of their love for liberty and justice, make possible a great republic and did give to the world a paper king in the form of a written Constitution, which, under the blessing of God, has inspired and blessed mankind, but things are different now, so run along, Reub, and forget it!” Weighing well each word, I say to you, you host of American farmers and other producers of material wealth, if there are but a doubtful six or eight of you worthy to sit in the council chambers of your nation, then indeed are we to be 'pitied. Shall you stay out of politics when through and by politics you are required to furnish the means for the support of the government that your fathers . waded through blood to establish? Is it nothing to l PREPARING - FOR A LEAGUE PICNIC | you how, when and for what purpose these means of support are used? Shall you stay out of politics when the lives and liberties of yourselves and your children are placed in the hands of others? Do you not owe it to yourselves and to them to see to it that these hands are clean as well as " capable? Shall you stay out of politics when the conflict, ages old, between capital and labor, presses as never before? If you fail to aid in the adjustment of this great question, will you not be helping to bring about a world dis- aster horrible to contemplate? Is it not your duty, in this as in other mat- ters, to demand that only those of the loftiest conceptions of what is right and just between man and man be placed in power? DISCHARGE THE SMALL-BORE POLITICIANS “Shall you stay out of politics, when by and through politics the distribution of power and the balance of power between all classes is held and regulated? Have you not, through deceit, cajolery and indifference, endangered your country by al- lowing this balance of power to become outrageous- ly out of balance? Only six or eight of you now in the council chamber of your nation! By and through politics alone do we preserve and develop the prosperity of all the people and defend the body politic against foreign aggression and domestic sedition. Are these not duties devolving upon you which call for your eternal vigilance, your profoundest thought and your most earnest prayers for help and guidance ? . Our organization has not nor should it ever become a stalking horse for small-bore politicians to ride into of- fice on—the type which has made of politics such an unclean thing that good men can not afford to soil their hands with it; but our organization should nurture, train and send forth men from its ranks, and it should join hands with men and women every- where to place in power only those— and it matters not from whence they come—who have the ability and cour- age to hold true the balance between all. Even now, when the demons of " war are, holding high carnival among the nations, and looking forward to the day when reason shall have as- serted itself and mankind cries out for an enduring peace, may I not, as a humble citizen desiring only that the rights of all men be conserved, urge The truth of it is, it is all piffle, and how the farmers have allowed themselves to be humbugged and jol- lied along with such stuff for all these years is beyond my grasp. Stripped of all its cunning camouflage such ad- vice amounts in effect to this: THE BACKBONE OF FREEDOM “Reub, you are nothing but an old sucker, so you go on now as you have always done, feed and .clothe us and pay us a good salary, and we will make your laws for you and other- wise look after OUR common interest. You have just about enough sense to do this, and you are all right at coun- ty and state fairs, and a regular wheelhorse at an old-fashioned coun- try picnic: (where I am giving an ac- count of my stewardship), but in this sad day and time, Reuben, politics are . too intricate for you to meddle with. “True, back in the early history of our country the ‘embattled farmers,’ led* by George Washington, did, be- our farmers and all those who are en- - gaged as. producers of: wcalth, to give serious thought to matters political? Take if you will the motto of Georgia, my own beloved state—Wis- . dom, Justice, Moderation —as your - guide; and without fear or favor go " out AS ONE MAN and exercise your constitutional right of franchise. Conditions may and will change, but the fundamental truths upon which our government was founded are un- changeable; and if the farmers of today are not as capable of protect- ing and administering it as were those who through suffering and death founded it, then indeed is a govern- ment “of the people, by the people and for the people” a failure. AN’ PA WiLL MR. TOWNLEY BE THERE? 7 A —- WHAT EVERY FARMER KNOWS Even that very clever trick of find- ing fault only with the League lead- There never were such picnics as the Leaguers of the West are holding this summer. As many as 8,000 farmers and wives and children attended one of these events in Montana. = Congressman Baer, who drew this picture, knows Aty i all about them, for he has been there in Idaho, Montana, Minnesota and North ers was originated by the farmers, . Dakota. Nonpartisans are a sociable lot, and they have always welcomed for they have long followed the rule town people to these affairs. And for food and common-. : of ‘capturing ‘the swarm by getting - sense talk these gatherings can’t be-beat. 5 the queen bee first. A e