The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, March 31, 1919, Page 7

. - 5 " OPENS LAW OFFICE : RTHUR LESUEUR, one of the best-known lawyers of the . A Northwest, has severed his connection with the headquar- ters staff of the Nonpartisan league at St. Paul and will - open law offices-in that city. Mr. LeSueur rendered splendid serv- ‘ices to the League as a member of its legal staff. He leaves the League in order to recuperate his finances. He sacrificed a large and profitable law practice when he accepted a position. with the League, but he believed in the cause of the organized farmers. In fact, he has always devoted his energies to forwarding the cause . of liberalism in politics as well as to defending labor cases. Mr. LeSueur was attorney for the Great Northern railroad and other corporations for years, but a few years ago began to special- ize in labor cases. He has handled many big cases for organized and unorganized workingmen, and was counsel for the Minnesota State Federation of Labor last year in the St. Paul and Minneapolis suits before President Wilson’s war labor board. Mr. LeSueur was recently chosen by a conference of the principal farmers’ organi- zations of America, including the League, as a delegate on a mission to Europe on behalf of American agriculture. : Mr. LeSueur has been one of the chief marks for the attacks of enemies of the League. The fact that, some time ago in the course of his law practice, he handled some cases for accused mem- bers of the I. W. W. and had some correspondence about these cases with William D. Haywood, has been used all over the United States to “prove” that the League and the I. W. W. are associated to- gether, and Mr. LeSueur personally has been deluged with the vil- est kind of slander by the hired editors and politicians. The Nonpartisan Leader wishes Mr. LeSueur unlimited suc- cess in the renewal of his private law practice, and we know that the thousands of personal friends he numbers among the liberals of the country, who know him to be a sincere, ‘hard-hitting and hard-working friend of progress, will do likewise. ; . WAKING THEM UP RANK W. SILHA of Big Sandy, Mont., is one of those farm- Fers who are alive to the menace of a sycophant farm press. He has written letters to several farm papers asking them to take a more intelligent interest in political and economic questions of interest to farmers, and has sent us a copy of one of his letters. ' To one farm paper he said: o I wish to say that what appeals to me in a farm paper is news and opinion which will enlighten us as to laws and economic measures. There are many laws and measures which farmers are united in de- manding, and there are others proposed which would be a detriment NOWw HEREF'S A MRGAZINE P OF BEAL 45 INTEREST ety to agriculture. We should be informed through our farm papers as to these things. Unless you can make your paper of interest to farm- ers in regard to matters which are of most vital interest to them, I am frank to say I do not care to subscribe for it longer. It is too much to ask us to subscribe for papers which ignore political, eco- nomic and financial questions, and which are composed mostly all of advertising matter, with what little reading matter there is devoted - merely to better and bigger production propaganda, designed to be inoffensive to the advertising interests from whom you derive your revenue. Intelligent farmers deserve better treatment than that from farm papers. : . The Leader is often criticized by advertisers for devoting less space to scientific farming methods and big-production propaganda than to financial, political and economic questions affecting farm- . ers. We are the only farmers’ paper published which puts its prin- cipal stress on those subjects. The Leader would no longer be the Leader if it became the kind of a farm paper that Mr. Silha com- plains about. And in the meantime the intelligent farm paper read- ers are bringing pressure on farm journals to be more like the Leader. Surely there is a wonderful awakening among the farm- ers of America! - : : TO LEADER CORRESPONDENTS r ' VHE Leader has on file awaiting publication, scores of letters. from farmers. We are anxious to run, each week, as many. letters as possible. - They give the true thought of the nation. They are better than any editorials that we can write, because they are editorials, not merely for the people, but by the people and of the people. : ; : The reason that there is such a large surplus of unpublished letters is that many of them are too long for publication. The space \ that can be devoted to this important branch of work is limited each week by available space. The Leader wants to publish more letters. With the co-oper- ation of the writers we can do this. We can publish four letters, of 100 words each, a great deal easier than we can publish one letter of 400 words. : gy . . Therefore we ask our correspondents to co-operate with us. Confine your letters in all instances to 200 words, If the message SEITE I TS ~ of the “Rev.” S. R. M. CIPAGE BRVEN. Lo iTo » Al i can be given in 100 words it is that much better. Msdke them short and snappy and give every one a chance. - ST e If letters deal with matters of interest pfineipally to the farm- ers of your own state, send them to the state paper, if your state has one. If the matters that you write about are of interest to farmers in all states, send them to the editor of the Nonpartisan Leader, Box 575, St. Paul, Minn. : , Letters dealing with organization work, requests for meetings, etc., should not be addressed to the Leader or the state papers, but to the National Nonpartisan league offices at St. Paul. THE RETURNED SOLDIERS : ' EITHER the United States government nor the government of any state has made as adequate provision for returned soldiers as North Dakota. The farmers’ legislature voted a bonus of -$25 a month for every month served in the army by North Dakota soldiers. In ‘addition, the legislature, in the home- building bill, has provided a means by which every soldier, as well RETYURNED SOLOIER F OTHER STATES. as every other resident of the state, can receive state financial aid and other state assistance in acquiring a farm or home and getting a start in life. ' In Minnesota, in place of any legislation of this kind, the leg- islature proposes to spend several million dollars to erect a soldiers’ memorial, a monument to their glory. It was originally proposed - to have the memorial in the shape of an office building, so that it would be useful as well as ornamental! This, however, appeared so absurd to the newspapers that it has been decided to make it merely ornamental—perhaps a court of honor surrounded by majestic col- umns, with triumphal arches and a great, towering monument in the center. : Nobody will begrudge the soldiers a splendid and costly me- morial of this kind, and almost everybody will approve any plan to. erect permanent monuments to beautify our cities and leave to posterity works that will attest the glory and opulence of the present age, as the Romans used to do. But we are very frank to say that in the absence of any direct and material aid to the soldiers like North Dakota is rendering, the memorial plan of Minnesota is a hollow show. Give them the memorial, but also set them on their feet to become useful and self-sustaining citizens. We think they would appreciate that even more than the memorial. ABOUT WALTER E. QUIGLEY N PAGE 3 readers will find the story of another “exposure” of the League, this time by Walter E. Quigley, a discharged organizer, who has written a book. Quigley says in the introduction to his book that because he is “exposing” the League he will face “intense abuse.” He adds that it is likely that he will be arrested, and he adds in pencil, apparently as an afterthought to make it a little stronger, “OR I MAY BE ASSASSINATED.” - This is written just to reassure Mr. Quigley, who apparently is a little timid. None of the League farmers will assassinate him. Lynch law and outrages are used by the opposition to the farmers, ) not by the farmers. We are not even going to call Quigley a Benedict Arnold. Bene- dict Arnold was quite an important man in his time. He will go down in history as an arch-traitor. Quigley will not. The most that can be said about Quilgl'ley is that he is a feeble, petty imitator axwell. : Quigley is personally a likeable sort of a fellow, a good mixer and a fair speaker. He was formerly a lawyer at Grand Forks. Ap- parently he never was very sincere about League doctrines. Other- HO!L Ho! Ho ! HA! ) QUIGLEY. wise he would not turn on the farmers for $25,000 or any other sum. It is Quigley’s misfortune that he has not kept a straight path with the farmers. He became an organizer, apparently, because he thought there was money in it. He dickered with F. H. Carpen- ter to sell out the League last year, and took money from Carpenter. Later he turned on Carpenter and exposed him. Now he is trying to get $25.000 for “exposing” the League. As a side proposition he is trying to get up a series of debates with President A. C. Town- ley of the League, to charge admission of 25 cents and to take half the money. : : & v It is not the intention of the Leader to decry Mr. Quigley be- - cause he has put dollars above principles. The farmers will not attack him. They will be sorry for him. L