The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, September 30, 1918, Page 8

. AnotherSecretLetterof Lea . RevealsWho Are Behind the Fight on the Farmers—From a Professional “League . Buster” to a St. Paul Confederate—Read Who *“Wild Men’” of the Nation Are N I; # ¥ i i AT | (The Leader presents here another install- ment of the secret correspondence between League enemies. This shows how they plan not only to fight the League program and erganized labor’s efforts for municipal owner- ship, but President Wilson’s economic pro- .., gram. League members, union men and ""“those in the federal government administra- tion putting in effect government ownership and control of the great industries are re- ferred to as “wild men” and “half-baked - Socialists.,” For a detailed explanation and analysis of this letter see article below). 278 Main St., Haverhill, Mass. June 23, 1918. Mr. Charles Patterson, St. Paul, Minn. .. Dear Mr. Patterson:— I am sorry not to have seen you before I left St. Paul, as I wanted to say a number of impor- tant things to you. I fear with the great-victory in the state and city that many of your good citizens will conclude that-this is the end of the Nonpartisan league. I beg of you to use your strongest influence against such a calamity. If the Nonpartisan league went to pieces next week, its 200,000 members in the Northwest would not go back to the old parties; at least 50,000 of them would go over to the Socialist camp, ‘thus strengthening that party immensely. Secondly, within six months we would wit- 2 |HEN we printed the “My Dear Van” letter recently, you didn’t think we had another like it, did you? The “My Dear Van” letter was so good you nat- urally thought there couldn’t be another so interesting. So we have a little surprise for you in the letter reproduced above. This letter Gordop. Mr. Gordon, as you remember, styles himself an “industrial expert.” His real business is that of an agitator for eminent and wealthy gentlemen with large interests, who pay him money ~ to speak, write, publish pamphlets and books, and form organizations to fight people’s reform move- ments and oppose progressive ‘men and measures. Mr. Gordon. was brought to Minnesota during the Minnesota primary campaign to carry out the orders of the “big fellows” in the fight on the organized farmers. This week’s installment of his secret correspondence is with Charles ‘Patter- son of St. Paul, president of the Patterson Street Lighting company and interested in other large business enterprises in the Twin Cities. Mr. Pat- terson, you will recollect, handles a large fund which is contributed by wealthy politicians and big - business magnates and spent in the fight on the Nonpartisan league. We gave,evidence last week to prove that Mr. Patterson and his associates paid for the treason to the farmers of one Maxwell, a former League speaker. We have also told about Mr. Patterson’s connection with the “On the Square” Publishing company, which started an anti-farmer magazine in St. Paul to fight the - League. This magazine blew up after two issues and after sinking a sum estimated at half a mil- lion dollars. Gordon was associate editor of “On the Square.” A : Now you have the background for the letter from Gordon to Patterson, printed in full above. What information can we gather from this re- markable letter ? KNOWS FARMERS MEAN BUSINESS - .Im the first place, Gordon is afraid that Patter- son and his associates will think they have the League licked and ‘will cease to put up money to fight it, thus depriving Gordon and others of his ilk of fat jobs.. It would be a “calamity,” says Gor'do,p, if ‘the big business interests. (“good citi-: zens,” ‘Gordon calls them) should imagine that it was no longer necessary to fight the League, on is by the same author, F. G. R. - League Members, Union Workers and PreSidenf ‘Wilsofi Are “Wild Men” ness the organization of another radical farmers’ movement more dangerous than the N. P. L. The only safe and logical thing for yon to do is to keep up the fight. : Just a word personal: I think Mr. Van Hoesen unintentionally may have given you a wrong im- pression as to my expenses on .account of illness. Mr. Van Hoesén paid out a little over seven' hundred eight dollars by. personal check. 5 Just before I left St. Paul, I paid him $298.00. and arranged in New Yépk to have the balance of the bill sent to him at once. So far as I know at present I will have to pay the entire bill myself. I am not telling you this with the wish or expecta- tion that anyone in St. Paul will financially aid me, but merely to provide you with the finest kind of an argument for the sale of some four thousand copies of my book on municipal owner- ship. You could also add to the argument that my illness caused ‘me to lose ten weeks employ- ment at 60 dollars per week and further that in " the municipal campaign I furnished more than “~ninety per cent of all the printed matter, etc., ete.,” that was used. The St. Paul association, the street railways and many other organizations vitally need this book. Sooner or later Mr. Keller will ‘'make a hot campaign in St. Paul for munic- ipal ownership. Mr. Lowry told me there was great need for the circulation of this kind of literature, and if you and “Dick” the theory that it is dead, as the St. Paul Dispatch said after the Minnesota primary. Then we get a good idea of what Gordon thinks - of the staying qualities of the:farmers. He says if the League went to pieces “next week,” it really wouldn’t do much good for Patterson and the other League enemies, because the blame farmers would organize another league—a more radical one! The farmers would get so amgry about the breaking - up of their League that they would get after the grain combine and packing trust with e®n more vim, Gordon intimates. Well, we’ll concede he’s got the farmers sized up right there for once. He puts in a sentence calculated to scare poor Mr. Patterson out of his skin. He says if the League “busted,” 50,000 of its members would join the Socialist party! Guess that made Patterson’s hair stand on end, didn’t it? . *The only safe and logical thing,” says Gordon, is for Patterson and his friends not to take any chance on breakipg up the League and having a more ‘“dangerous” organization on their hands. They ought to be satisfied, he says, to continue to spend their money to fight the present League. VERY ANXIOUS ABOUT HIS ‘REWARD Do you see through all this? Gordon doesn’t want the big boys to lay down and quit spending money to ‘hire Gordon. and others of his kind. Natural desire to protect your own business, you know. So he tries to scare some more coin out of Patterson. Gordon admits that there could be a more “rad- ical” dnd ‘“dangerous” organization than the League. That in itself is some concession, for all this time Gordon, Patterson -and their associates “have been claiming that the League was the limit of “radicalism”—that it was the bolsheviki, the L W.'W. or something worse! " Then our- friend discusses past compensation. He mentions Van Hoesen, former editor of “On the . Square,” to whom the “My Dear Van” Iletter, hitherto published, was written. A little. further down we come to some more : highly interesting matters. We find that. Gordon depends on getting aid in selling some of his books against municipal’ ownerghip from the St. Paul” Association. This is the St: Paul Chamber of Com- merce, a. business men’s’ organization which, as an \organization, as yet has taken no part iw'the anti-. ‘League fight, but which has many members hostile -to the organized farmers. We learn from-the let- pagU ¢ not: only fears the “ter that the g:ifil‘-uagne‘:crowd 0’Connor would urge him to buy two or three thousand copies he would take them; besides each member of the St. Paul asso. need a copy- - and the K. of C. should have at least 1,000 copies, / I particularly want to get rid of the copies I have on hand. " If we sell these at 15 cts. per copy they will net Hovey and me 12 and one half cts. profit and will enable us to print a néw and better edition. I told Mr. Van Hoesen that I would furnish him as many pages of anti-Socialist mat- ter as he may wish for each issue of “On the Square,” without cost to anyone until such time as the magazine should be a financial success, which would be another argument that you could use in inducing the business men of the Twin Cities to buy these books. Indications are multiplying every day that the Democratic 'party is almost certain to make public ownership its leading plank in the 1920 campaign. Senator Lewis is out for public ownership of R. R. and many others are with him. We have got to put forth a great campaign of education to defeat the half-baked Socialists. For this reason we can not circulate too much’literature of the right kind and it is the high patriotic duty for every one of us to make every effort possible to de- feat the wild men of the nation. " Sincerely yours, _ (Signed) F. G. R. GORDON. 7 League program, but also fears the progressives of "the . cities and their measures for municipal ownership of city public utilities. Mr. Keller, men- tioned in.the letter, is a labor member of the St. Paul city council. Gordon says he is liable to start something in favor of municipal’ ownership. The Mr. Lowry mentioned is president of the Twin City Rapid Transit company. Gordon says Lowry. told him there was a great need for “that kind of literature”—books and pamphlets against. munie- ipal and state and government ownership of pub- lic utilities. Naturally Mr. Lowry would feel the need of such “literature.” The “Dick” O’Connor mentioned is a big boss of the Democratic party. A NATIONAL PERIL FOR SPECIAL INTERESTS We now come to the last paragraph, and it is a “corker.” Gordon says the Democratic party— which .is President Wilson and his administration —are going in for public ownership of public utili- - ties. .This is true. The government has taken over the railroads, the federal trade commission has .recommended the taking over of the packing plants’ and other big business enterprises are now under “federal control. President Wilson’s economic meas- ures will also have to be fought by the anti- League interests, the letter indicates. Because the. president and the national government are rapidly putting in effect government control and govern- ment ownership, Gordon says “we can not circulate too much literature of the right kind and it is the high patriotic duty for every one of us to make every effort the nation.” : 5 : : . The wild men of the nation referred to are, of - course, the Nonpartisan league members, who de- possible to' defeat the wild men of mand public bwnership of terminal marketing. machinery, union labor of the cities, which demands gue Enemy municipal ownership of city public utilities, and =~ -~last, but not least, President Wilson, who is carry- ing out a far-reaching program of government ownership and control. These are “wild men,” ge- cording to the enemies( of the League. ‘“They are’ N fighting "President: Wilson, the organized farmers ; ~and union labor all at the same time. . ‘Does this letter throw additional light on the in-- most plans and thoughts of the persons opposing. .progress in America? = The letter shows you how: great their fear is of the League. It shows you that, at the same time, they realize that the farm- ers are determined to see justice done in Americ: and that the gang fears even a more “radical”’ and i