The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, May 26, 1919, Page 7

" ployment service and other ef- Interests BY JOHN M. BAER 1T IS a great disappointment to not form a definite program of reconstruction. If viewed only from a narrow political stand- point, the administration lost one of its greatest opportuni- ties by failing to pass adequate legislation to take care of the momentous problems which will come up' during the period of readjustment. The Republican party has inherited the opportunity, and if it fails to pro- duce a constructive, progressive program to handle " the economic and industrial problems which now confront the nation, it also will be a great dis- appointment to' forward-looking people. gress. The great trouble is that public sentiment only finds its' expression through thé newspapers and, unfortunately, newspapers are not all owned by the people. Too many of them are subsidized by the special interests. We have come to a turning point in the economic and political history of the country. The people want not only to express their opinion at the polls, but they want their views on questions of the day brought before ccngress. They want a larger hand in the political decisions and a greater portion of economic democracy. They are desir- ousiof enjoying the full light of democracy. But that light will be obstructed, unless we watch our interests with a jealous eye, by the reactionaries who represent the tories and capitalists in congress. If public opinion could find a powerful and ef- fective expression, the opponents of full economic liberty would melt away like winter snows before a chinook. I believe this is a very significant com- parison, for the warmest support for progressive legislation comes, like the chinook,: from - the Northwest, where the farmers are or- ganized in the Nonpartisan league. : HIGHEST PATRIOTISM IS NOW REQUIRED I am convinced that the country has committed indus- trial suicide by ending imme- diately after the signing of the armistice the functions of the war industries board and mutilating the federal em- ficient instrumentalities which were so necessary in winning the war. This is the time that “requires the highest type of patriotism. The government has left the monopolies with even a freer hand than they have had in many years. It is as necessary to curb their selfishness and greed in con- structive peace times as in' destructive war ‘times. It.is imperative that we continue vigorously to tax excess profits and incomes. It is estimated that profiteers, after paying excess profits, income and war taxes and deducting a fair profit, have cleared. $12,000,000,000 in the last year. It would seem not only just and equitable to place the pro- portional cost of the war on the shoulders of those lieve the average taxpayer, but also necessary that this gigantic burden will not be thrown on the backs of the returning soldiers who fought so valiantly to destroy autocracy. It will be a fore- most effort of progressives to continue to make the profiteers pay, although the controlled press is trying to make people believe it is a dead issue. The cost of the war will be at least $47,000,- 000,000. This can not be borne by the workers of the nation alone. It is necessary that the big institutions pay their share of this cost in taxes. To meet this cost therée should be heavy taxes on super-incomes, inheritances, unpro- ductive lands and natural resources held for speculative purposes. - Another fight which confronts the progressive element in the next congress is the one against militarism. The members of the military com- mittee of the house are now in Europe studying the compulsory methods of military service. They me that the last congress did- Public opinion can do much to influence con-- reclaiming waste lands for soldiers, sentatives, John M. Baer and James H. Sinclair. partisan league, more than any other organization, has fought for the soldiers, and no other 3 state has done as much as North Dakota to show its appreciation of the sacrifice they offered and the victory they won. who have made this enormous profit, so as to re- . are coming home to try to force a Prussianized system upon the people of the United States. They intend that after the boys of the nation have been trained for a period they will be placed in a re- serve and will always be subject to service in this country or foreign lands. This, of course, is the same system used in Ger- many, and the kaiser, at least, must have become convinced that it is a failure. Even the people of Germany know now that great armaments and extreme preparedness-do not secure peace. The military committee also will plan a great standing army. The war department, since con- gress adjourned and without authorization of any kind from that body, has purchased 13 of the great ‘army cantonments. It is surely the plan of the militarists to make America the scene of a per- manent -war camp. If the league of nations as planned has any provision for disarmament, it should surely be carried out in our country, whose spokesman has been foremost in advocating it. NEW DRIVE TO GRAB NATURAL RESOURCES SEEN The same interests which are now conducting a propaganda campaign for a’ great military ma- chine for the United States are now mobilizing for a great drive to obtain control of all our natural 9 Copyright by Harris & Ewing. In this building in Washington are decided the many varied domestic problems of the coun- try. Here also is being framed the plan of Secretary of the Interior Franklin K, Lane for resources. To me there seems to be a link be- tween these two moves. If the int®rests can steal the natural wealth of the country, they will need a great army to protect that stolen wealth. There was a most pernicious effort made in the closing hours of the last congress to pass the oil leasing bill, one of the most vicious measures that has been offered in congress since the Guggenheim copper deal. This bill was not only a thinly dis- guised gift of rich oil lands, but also of coal, phos- phate and innumerable other sources of natural wealth. Opponents of this wholesale delivery ex- pect another similar fight, for undoubtedly special privilege will not give up without another attempt to gain what it so nearly had. The American people are beginning to wake up to these great sources of wealth. We should not vote them away wholesale in peace times. I realize more vividly than anything else what the farmers of this country are facing. We will in time need fertilizer on the farms of the Northwest, as it already is being used in the East. If we turn it over to private enterprise these farmers will have to pay $48 and $50 a ton when it is worth only $12 a ton. If we give away this precious property of ours, the people will have to pay again for it. = The de- spoilers will take our lands and then charge us high prices for the privilege of having them use PAGE SEVEN DEPARTMENT INTERIOR Behind this scheme are North Dakota’s farmer repre- The farmers’ congressmen and the Non- e Five Big Problems of Congress Fighting for Militarism, Control of Natural Resources, Ships and ‘Railroads, Says John M. Baer, Farmer Representative them to their advantage. It is the policy of the Nonpartisan league to fight continually the ex- ploiters who are seeking these sources of natural wealth which are the common birthright of all the people. As a constructive substitute for this “grab,” progressives will make every effort to re- tain these lands and induce the federal and state governments to develop them for the benefit of all, as North Dakota already has started doing. - Along with the land grab is another bold-faced attempt to get something for nothing on the part of the profiteers. They are spreading propaganda for the sale of the merchant marine to the shipping interests. These vessels, built by the people at the cost of billions of dollars, must be kept and operated for the benefit of the people. The ship- ping trust failed dismally at the beginning of the war, and it was necessary for the government to tax the people heavily so that its soldiers and its allies should be properly fed and cared for. These ships constitute a tonnage six times as great as in normal peace times. The government can operate them as efficiently as it does its navy. If there is one material ad- vantage the people should gain from the war, it is its commercial fleet. I believe that if the people should vote on it, there would be an overwhelming majority in favor of keeping this great economic advantage. The turning back of this great tonnage would mean another tremendous in- crease not only in prices of foreign manufactured products but our own as well. It would be, in a discuised form, the old ship subsidy which caused so great an agitation in this country in former years. The American merchant marine will be of unseen but untold value to the American farmer. In normal times, great quantities of farm produce were congested in ports; spec- ulators said there was “no de- mand.” The fact of the matter is the world may have been starving, but this cry was used, not only to beat down prices to the farmer but to create an artificial shortage to raise the price to the consumer. If we use our own fleet and keep it in operation, the channels of foreign trade will be unclogged, and the farmers will not again be made the victims of this unfair method of the food " gamblers. . HAND OF REACTIONARY IN RAILROAD PROBLEM The hand of the reactionary is appearing, as in all other big questions of the day, in the. railroad problem of the country. It is pro- posed to turn the roads back to the owners, with- out restrictions, and with greater freedom than they enjoyed before the war. There is one fact certain on which railroad owners and the people agree, that is that the railroads should be con- solidated, whether under private or public owner- ship. A 'second point is that we must completely abolish gambling and speculating in railway stocks and securities. The roads of America are too valu- able and too necessary an adjunct to our national life to permit.them to be made a Wall street play- thing. If the inefficiency of competitive operation and Jthe speculation evil can be eliminated, then we will have taken a long step toward solving the prob- lem of transportation. These, then, are the five great problems of the next congress, problems on which the representa- ~tives of the people and the representatives of the interests will come to death grips: 1—Taxation: To distribute the taxes which have increased tremendously as the result of the war, so that those who have the greatest ability pay the largest share .of the taxes and lighten the burden of the average taxpayer. -9—Militarism: To combat the tendency to: Prussianize the army of the United States,. -and induct into the service every male citizen OF THE T A B S A T A S S IS e S s -