The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, February 24, 1919, Page 10

| ! { ! i i ri_- 1 {4 12 N el [P PG e W oA 728 TR — PR — League Influence Strong in Nebraska Governor Elected by Organized Farmers Urges Some Good Leglslatlon— Farmer Legislators Active on Bills and for New Constitution = - - BY E. B. FUSSELL T ISN’T unfashionable to be a Nonpartisan leaguer “in Ne- braska today. A visitor to the state capitol, during the present session of the legislature at Lincoln, would hardly realize that he was in the same state that was the scene of a real reign of terror only a few months ago, where League meetings were mobbed, League organizers threatened with lynching, where the first, second and third “Battles of Wahoo” were fought, where the lives and property of farmers were insecure. And, worst of all, where this mob rule was backed up by an agency of the state, the - state council of defense, which publicly “branded” the League as disloyal and pro-German and at- tempted to bar the organization from the state. The League has only eight legislators in the Nebraska statehouse—one senator and seven rep- resentatives—but they are today getting as good trcatment as any other group in the legislature. They have been given good committee appoint- ments; their bills are being given respectful con- sideration. They are holding weekly meetmgs, at- tended by other legislators who are anxious to see honest, capable government in the interests of the people of Nebraska. Labor men and progressives generally are attending these meetings and are working with the League men, who, in spite of their relatively small numbers, are forming the nucleus for the entire liberal move- ment in Nebraska. How did this happen? How is it that the League farmers, mob- bed and insulted a few months ago, now are the recognized leaders of progressivism in Nebraska? The explanation is easy enough. It is simply that the farmers of Nebraska, without regard to their former politics, showed at the last election the power of their con- centrated votes. ‘While the League in- dorsed its candidates for the legislature on the Democratic ticket, the Leaguers turned to the Republican ticket to rebuke Governor Neville, whose infa- mous council of de- fense had branded the farmers and their or- ganization as disloyal. By an impressive ma- jority they defeated Neville, Democrat, for re-election, electing in- stead Governor McKel- vie, Republican, and re-electing United States Senator Norris, a consistent progres- sive, who was opposed by a standpat Democrat backed by standpat- : ters of both- parties. Governor McKelvie was not a League candidate. He is not a League man now. opposed to the persecution of farmers by any group of politicians. He was used by the farmers as an instrument to defeat Governor Neville and his in- famous council of defense. LEAGUE SUBMITS LEGISLATIVE PROPOSALS Governor McKelvie realizes what it was that elected him. So do the politicians generally in Nebraska. And that -explains the difference in their attitude toward the League. - One of the first actions of the new governor after his election was to ask the Nonpartisan league what its recommendations were for legis- lative action. A similar question was put to the heads of the Farmers’ union and other farmers’ organizations. The state committee of the League in Ne- braska met and submitted to the governor an outline of what the League farmers of the state think should be done to take the state oyt of the hands of the profiteers. Some of the things they urged were state operation of ter-. < AR —v»‘fiw R SRR S O SRR 'WRA’EQ?&" change, the Omaha Grain Exchange refuses to recognize them. legislature are backing a bill which will prevent this discrimination against co-operative enterprises. But he was, and is, . minal elevators, flour mills and packing plants, rural ¢redit banks operated at cost, exemption of farm improvements from taxation and state hail insurance on the acreage basis. These are League “planks” in every state. In Nebraska half of all the farms in the state are operated by tenants. Many of these farms are owned by absentee landlords, 60,000 acres in two counties being owned by the “Lord” Scully estate. The League urged state action to give fair treat- ment to the renters on these lands, especially leg- islation that will give the renters some credit for thousands of dollars’ worth of improvements put in each year, which the tenant is always in danger of losing through the present ptovxsmns of year- to-year leases. The League also urged adoption of a dgfimte program looking toward immediate employment for returned soldiers and arrangements that would allow them to get into farming on a profitable basis. In Nebraska, the Farmers’ union is operating a co-operative grain exchange. The Omaha Grain Exchange has refused to admit the farmers’.or- ganization to a seat in its exchange, where the bulk of Nebraska grain is bought and sold many times over. The private exchange has a rule that pro- hibits any member from prorating its profits back to the men to whom the grain belongs. In other words, IT IS NOT CONSIDERED “ETHICAL” BY THE OMAHA "GRAIN GAM- BLERS TO LET FARMERS IN ON THEIR PROFITS. The League recom- mended that the legislature take steps to prohibit this un- fair dis- crimina- " tion. The League The Monitor flour “mill, a co-operatwe enterprne started by the Farmers’ union at Scnbner, Neb. Although the Farmers’ union is strong in Ncbraska and while they operate a co- operatnve grain ex- also recommended that the laws be amended to make it easier to operate co-operative societies in a number of ways. Governor McKelvie promlsed to take the recom- mendations-of the farmers, who elected him, into . consideration in preparing his inaugural message to the legislature. But how many of the Leagne measures do you siuppose were recommended ? Well, not many. Governor McKelvie con- spicuously did NOT recommend state operation of terminal elevators, flour mills and packing plants. He did not recommend state hail in- surance on the acreage tax basis. He did not recommend the broad taxation reforms that are being adopted in North Dakota. and whlch the League believes are necessary. However, Governor McKelvie did recommend the legislation urged by the League for the benefit of co-operative societigs.. He recommended a law to admit the Union farmers to the Omaha Grain Ex- change, laws to aid the- organization of co-oper- ative associations and a law creating a state plant for the manufacture of hog cholera serum, all of which were urged: by the League. The governor also recommended the creation of a state depart- ment of agncnltln'e to consohdate existing boards . PAGE TEN = LN Leaguec members in the Nebraska and commissions on various subjects affecting the farmer. i So Governor McKelvie, while by no means a League governor, is friendly to the farmers in a general way. He has not yet grasped the.neces- sity for state ownership of the various marketmg devices, which was recognized as a necessity in North Dakota years before the League was organ- ized. But the Leaguers in Nebraska have some hopes that they will educate Governor McKelvie in these directions yet. - They believe he is open to conviction. At any event, he is far ahead of Gov- ernor Neville and his notorious state council of defense. , Since Governor McKelvie and the majority of the Nebraska legislators are not yet “educated” in the advantages of state ownership, the Leaguers in the Nebraska -legislature are themselves introducing bills planned to-remedy some of the worst abuses that now face the farmers. LEAGUE BILL TO PROTECT TENANTS 3 The most out-of-luck farmers in Nebraska are the tenant farmers. Fifteen years ago there were two farmers who owned their own farms to one that rented. Today there are as many renters as there are owners and if the present rate of increase in farm tenantry keeps up, at the end of another 10 years there will be two tenants to every farm owner. The plight of the renters on the Scully estate farme is well known. Some of these renters have put in improvements worth $5,000 and more. They are allowed to lease only from year to year and at the end of every year stand the risk of losing all the lmprovements that they have made. The result naturally is that year by year the terms of rental, either on the cash or share plan, become more onerous. It uscd to be that one-fourth or one-third the crop was taken by the farm owner on the share plan. Now it is two-fifths or one-half. Governor McKelvie, in his message to the legis- lature, recommended that to dis- courage - absentee landlordism a scheme of taxation be adopted by which land- lords who are residents of the state “would be taxed at a higher rate than home owners, and taxed at a higher rate than resident landlords. Howeveér, Governor Mec- Kelvie overlooked one thing in making this rec- ommendation to the leg- islature, and that was the constitution of Ne- braska, which specifically provides that no discrim- inations of any kind may be made. To provide. a law that has some chance of being declared consti- tutional, Representative John O. Schmidt, a League legislator, has introduced a “tenant aid” bill which provides a definite form of contract for farm rentals, establishing also a state com- mission which is empowered to pass upon the reasonableness of all farm rental contracts when the cash rental exceeds $5 per acre, and to pass upon the reasonableness of the rental in all cases in which the owner is a nom'esndent of the state. Five " League : legislators, togother with other farmers who are members of the Farmers’ union, have joined in the introduction of a bill to compel the Omaha Grain Exchange to admit the Farmers’ Union Co-Operative Exchange to membership. This bill decrees that the Omaha Grain Exchange is a public market and requires its membership to be thrown open to any person under reasonable regu- lations. Senator W. J. Taylor, the one League represen- tative in the upper house of the Nebraska legisla- ture, has a bill which provides for getting ready for 1920, by which time Nebraska Leaguers hope to be strong enough to carry the state. The Taylor bill creates a state industrial commission author- 1zed to gather statistics and other ;nformatxon that A nonresident landlords be - W g g e