The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, November 4, 1918, Page 4

Sheriff Pfost, Mob-Buster of Boise .Ada County, Idaho, Has Officer Who Knows What an Oath of Office Is— Minnesota and South Dakota Necd Many Like Him BY RAY McKAIG HERIFF PFOST, the Boise mob- queller and law-enforcer, is not "a member of the Nonpartisan league. He plays no favor- ites. He simply stands by the law, which is made to protect men until they are found guilty. While mobs and even tar and * feather parties have been un- -challenged in several northwestern states during the past year, occasionally abetted by state gov- ernments, at other times - . with their quiet approv- al, Sheriff -Pfost of Ada county, Idaho, has the enviable record of quell- ing a threatening mob inside of two minutes. The fight to keep Mr. Townley from speaking and otherwise discredit the League in Boise, dates from the state con- vention held in that capi- tal on July 3 and 4. When the state manager, W. G. Scholtz, announc- ed in the press that A. C. Townley would speak as a special feature at the state convention, a so-called defense league, composed mostly of dis- credited politicians and hangers-on, held a meet- ing and .declared that Townley should not speak. A mob of about 400 of these political ‘roughnecks gathered in frent of the theater where the convention was to be held, and on two occasions, both July 3 and 4, made demonstra- tions against the League. As Mr. Townley was unexpectedly detained in Montana, Congressman John M. Baer was in- vited to fill the breach, which he did in his hap- py way. But . the mob thought that they had scared away the presi- dent of the Nonpartisan league. PFOST DEPUTIZES WHOLE AUDIENCE Later ‘in the primary campaign,, held in - the month of August, Mr. Townley made a speak- ing trip over the entire state. He was scheduled to speak in Boise on the evening of August' 23. The same - mob. again, through their leaders, de- clared Townley -should’ not speak. Governor Frazier of North Dakota and H. F. Samuels, the Leéague nominee for 1de- ho’s gpvemoxjsh‘?,-- both gave ' stirring addresses’ at the large“theater- on’ that evening. But' the crowd also wanted Town- ley. eI R The management re- : fused to let him speak. Adjournment was imme- diately taken over to the state capitol steps, where quickly gathered a crowd of over 5,000 people. i, :to flout the law. These political defense league “anarchists” formed a wedge at the top of the capitol steps and as Townley started to speak they started a rush. Many farmer deputies had been sworn in that afternoon i to preserve order. Fifty men were closely packed around Mr. Townley to prevent any personal vio- lence, 'The farmers were drubbing the would-be mobbers, but it looked like it would take some time. 3 ek A mand for social justice. The fight was raging fiercely. It seemed as if bedlam had broken loose. The sheriff was here and there urging men to keep quiet and helping the deputies keep together. He finally gained the ear of that great audience. He shouted out, “All those within the hearing of my voice, I, Sheriff Pfost, now deputize to keep law and order in this city of Boise.” . It was like a sud@en downpour of rain on. a prairie fire. Those few disturbers who refused to listen, notoriously the son of an ex-governor; Karl Paine, a political lawyer; McAfee, a bank cashier, DEMOCRACY NAILED TO THE KEPT PRES.‘S : . —Drawn expressly for the Leader by Congressman John M. Baer The greatest menace to democracy today is the newspaper conspiracy in restraint of public information. - It is the strongest weapon in the hands of the special interests anxious to stem the rising tide of de- Without its distertion and lying or cancealing news, officials would not dare They would all be acting like Sheriff Pfost, whose is described on this page. As Congressman Baer has indica Press crucifies democracy and tramples law, were either jailed or quiefied by indignantAdeputiqs'. : In two minutes it was as peaceful as the proverbial church graveyard. 3 ) “It is quiet, very quiet,” Mr. Townley observed in the opening of his address, “since the big 1. W. W.s have been put to bed.” A crowd of 5,000 people madly cheered the out- - come of this struggle for the right of free speech. If Mr. Townley were guilty of pro-German utter- ances, the people would have silenced him. ¥ Townley had been lied about in the press, the peo- PAGE FOUR dispersion of the Boise (Idaho) mob ted in this cartoom, the Kept: liberty and reason in the dust. - ple wanted the right of free speech to judsze for themselves if he were guilty. “Townley must speak,” was the answer of that great crowd. And Townley spoke. It was the sheriff of that county who determined there should be no lawlessness in the city of Boise. He cared not what political faction was struggling, whether it lost him votes or gained him votes. So long as he was an officer to protect the citizens, * there should be no lawlessness in his jurisdiction. The state capitol grounds are in the heart of the city of Boise. Though for days this mob had ad- vertised its intent, ne ef- fort was made by the spineless mayor er the ment to check that threatened © lawlessness. It remained for the sher-" iff to thrust himself in the breach and preserve the law. A REAL LAW-ENFORCER I was naturally curi- ous to meet this sheriff at close range. Seme of " the sheriffs in ether states who were weak- kneed politicians er pro- fessional officers, enfore- ed the law when they wanted to, and when threatened mob . vielence was Jnear were coenspic- uous by their absence. The quelling of this mob was such a refreshing the sheriff. He jis a modest, quiet man, about 38 years old, heavy set. He is a farm- er’s boy, his father one of the pioneers of Idaho, who drovée an excart - across the plains clear from- Missouri. Bmmitt as a boy came with his father, and had that won- derful experience. He takes his effice se- * riously. Idaho has been dry only a few years and in the trail of prehibition there naturally . eomes. the bootlegger and Blind- pigger. Whether a man peddles booze, as ene of Boise’s so-called respec: table citizens, er as a traveling professional bootlegger from Mexico, Sheriff Pfost. He showed - whisky where ever a thousand gallons was stored, which he was holding for evidence in trials now pending. Most of this whisky has come . from Nevada. The' bot- tles have all had the acetylene torch applied to them, the eriginal __whisky removed, which is under bond, & €heap substitute put in #s place la):gti the l;ottqm of the e sealed up again. Flagsks of whisky no ‘bifer than your four fingers, vest-poeket edi- ~tions, and’ Chinese whisky in earthen jars, real, knock-down, drag-out whisky, a drop eof which placed on the tongue of a rabbit would make it spit in the face of a bull dog—are all placed in this cell. The records show that Mr. Pfost has had.more ‘convictions of bootleggers _than any other county . sheriff in the state. Boise is in the midst of a . beautiful valley, with' mountains to the north and a little stretch of desert to the east. Sheep and indifferent police depart-" incident I called upon - .they all look alike to . me bottles and casks of |