The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, June 23, 1919, Page 9

they !ioped would sub- scribe in the future.” How the financial in-~ terests behind anti- League headquarters operated, and the names of their official repre- sentatives, disclosed by a copy of the = contract . between “On the Square Pub- lishing company” and the anti-League com- mittee, which is repro- duced herewith. . The “parties of the second part” are Russell M. Bennett of Minneapolis, Eli S. Warner of St. . Paul and Charles Pat- terson of St. Paul. They are described in the contract as “a commit- tee representative of certain interests.” According to the con- tract, a copy of which has come into the pos- session of the Leader, this committee “rep- resentative of certain interests” agreed to furnish all money nec- essary for two issues of “On the Square.” If the magazine proved a success, H. M. Van Hoesen was to have possession of it, but the “committee representa- tive of certain inter- ests” was to continue to dictate its editorial policy. As it happened, “On the Square” was a failure, . because no farmer wanted the sub- sidized sheet, so the " “committee representa- _ tive of certain inter- ests” lost the sum, esti- mated at $50,000, that it cost to put out the first two issues. SALESMEN USED AS PROPAGANDISTS Mr.- Johnson, going on with the interview, said: ; *“One of our plans of campaign was ‘to use traveling. salesmen for distributing our propa- ganda, and for this purpose we shipped a great quantity of our pamphlets to wholesale houses of Minneapolis, St. Paul and Duluth for distribution:: to their traveling men, who in is further- -as shall be received by the party from the publication of the said magazine. “On the Square” Contract THE FOLLOWING is a memorandum of an agreement that has been entered into on this‘ | Shenerd s S day of January, 1918, by and between the “On The Square Publishing Company,” a cor- poration organized pursuant to the laws of the State of Minnesota, party of the first part, and Russell M. Bennett of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Eli S. Warner of Saint Paul, Minnesota, and Charles Patterson of Saint_ Paul, Minnesota, acting as a committee representative of certain in- terests, parties of the second part. ; WHEREAS, the said Russell M. Bennett, Eli S. Warner, and Charles Patterson compose a committee acting as trustees and agents for a certain group of men in whose interest it is de- sired that there shall be reserved certain rights and privileges in this agreement and as herein- after specifically set forth, and . WHEREAS, the reservation of .said rights and privileges constitute the consideration for which the said committee is to advance the party of the first part money or moneys to an amount not possible to definitely and accurately determine upon; NOW, THEREFORE, it is agreed between the parties hereto as follows: First: That the party of the first part will publish, or cause to be published, a magazine to " be known as “On The Square”—said magazine to be along the lines and after the general plan as agreed upon by the two parties hereto—and, ;to. be lished at least once each month in such quantities as may be necessary. fi T ories Second:. The party of the first part will do and perform all work of whatsoever nature nec- essary to the publishing, distribution and business. of such magazine. It will prepare all editorial matter—will employ competent advertising solicitors and secure advertising to the best of its abil- ity in accordance with the plans and arrangements as have been discussed and mutually agreed upon by the parties hereto. ) Third: The second parties hereto as a committee, agree to open an account in the name of the first party and to deposit therein from time to time, subject to the check of the first party, a sufficient amount of money to reimburse the first party for all legitimate expenditures made for a period covering two issues of the publication of said magazine. Fourth: As a consideration for this the party of the first part agrees that it will submit to . the parties of the second part authentic vouchers and bills for all expenses so incurred. Fifth: If after the publication of two issues of said magazine the parties hereto shall deter- mine that it is_advisable to continue the publication of said magazine then it is agreed that all right and title to the said magazine shall vest in the party of the first part, the. “On The Square Publishing Company,” subject, however, to the following specific reservations and provisions: A. That the said “On The Square Publishing Company” shall reimburse to the said com- mittee, the parties of the second part, from the earnings of the said company the amount of any . deficit which shall have been incurred in the publication of the said first two issues of such maga- zine. The reimbursement to be a monthly amount equal to the actual excess receipts of such com- pany over its actual expenses. ‘ B. And as a further specific consideration for the execution of this contract by the said sec- ond parties, the committee, it is agreed that whenever the said party of the second part, “the com- mittee,” shall notify the said party of the first part that it desires t0 exercise control and super- vision of the editorial and general policy of said magazine it shall have the right so to do un- reservedly, and such right is hereby specifically granted to the said committee or its successors, by the said party of the first part. This right to endure during the publication of said magazine. C. And provided further, that during the period of the publication of the said two issues it is agreed that the first party will deposit in the ‘said account opened by the second party all mon- eys received by the said first party in the payment of advertising accounts, subscriptions or receipts of any nature whatsoever—it being understood 't‘zg&g%v;mgnd;party shall furnish a sufficient amount of money to reimburse the said first party “fof the total amount expended less such revenue This provision, to cover all revenue whether received during the period actually covered by the publication of the two issues or whether earned during that period and paid-to the said first party at a later date. WITNESSETH that the parties hereto have hereunto affixed their signatures this .......... day of January, 1918. ' = " “ON THE SQUARE PUBLISHING . COMPANY, B R T S e Ao SR S o Rk President. @0 errsssreeevtorecensncenenssstnnee THE COMMITTEE ®secrssnsssencs ‘eescessececee ceccenes - - Abéve is a copy of the contract entered into between H. M. Van Hoesen, publisher of “On the’Square,” and the “committee representative of certain interests,” to put out a weekly paper, to be circulated among Minnesota farmers, to attack the Nonpar- tisan league. The venture proved a failure and was given up after the “committee” had The letter evidently ‘was an.attempt to jus- tify = the expenditure of the large sum of money; for which Mr. Patterson was respon- sible, and an attempt to obtain support for the continuance of certain features of the work. PATTERSON ASKS MORE MONEY “A short time before this, about November 17 or 18, Mr. Patterson dictated another long letter to 42 business men of St. Paul, calling for a meeting for an accounting of what had been done and what the future plans for fight- ing the League werg. I delivered these letters to the officers of the Merchants National bank, the Capital Na- tional bank and the First National bank, C. W. Ames of the West Publishing company, Jule M. Hannaford of the Northern Pacific railroad, Louis W. Hill . of the Great Northern railroad, Eli S. Warner of the MecGill-Warner company, the Gordon- Ferguson company, the American Hoist & Der- rick company, and sev- eral wholesale “houses and jobbing concerns which had contributed money to our campaign. I was informed that Magnus Martinson de- livered letters to a sim- ilar list in Minneapolis. “The- meeting was held as scheduled and Mr. Patterson made his report in the form of a letter, including a num- ber of recommendations. One ‘proposal was that a paper or magazine of some nature should be started in a short time. ‘On the Square’ had lasted only two issues and cost approximately $50,000, I understood. - For -the new paper the sum of $80,000 would be needed, which was to be subscribed by the men at the meeting. In addition, Mr. Patter- son stated that $15,000 turn circulated them in their territory. In some instances we sent some of the pamphlets to the salesmen themselves. ; “Norman Black of the Fargo Forum was a vis- itor at'the Patterson offices. The last time I saw him was on -April 11, 1919, when he called at Pat- terson’s office.. He seemed very anxious to see Mr. Patterson, but he was in Minneapolis in con- ference. Mr. Black said that he had ‘something very important’ to tell Mr. Patterson regarding the Nonpartisan league, and asked that I request Mr. Patterson to-call him at the Radisson hotel, “Minneapolis. “Rev. S. R. Maxwell, whom I met frequently in the Merchants National Bank building, I have never seen in Mr. Patterson’s office, but I did see him in Tom Parker Junkin’s office on another floor, - both before and after he had written™ the anti- League articles for the St. Paul Dispatch. “lI was informed; that Maxwell was to re- ceive $1,000 each for 10 articles ‘exposing’ the League, and in addition was to get a chaplain- ship in the army 'through the efforts of Mr. Patterson and the others of the circle. Mr. Maxwell’s story, after its publication in the St. Paul newspaper, was published in book form by the Webb Publishing company, under the supervision of Junkin. “The conn&ction between the St. Paul Dispatch .and‘ Pioneer Press and the Patterson offices were financed two issues at an estimated cost of $50,000. also close. I made frequent trips to the office of Mr. Galt, the managing editor of the paper. On almost every occasion I carried a sealed envelope from Mr. Patterson for delivery to Mr. Galt. Just before the publication of the Maxwell articles in the Dispatch, Mr. Galt and Mr. Patterson were fre- quently in conference. : : “The Maxwell articles, by the way, weré edited by Tom Parker Junkin before they were published in the Dispatch, and I believe the articles came to “our offices -before they went to the newspaper. - “James R. Hickey, St. Paul attorney, was one of the legal advisers of Mr. Patterson. When the fake Minnesota Nonpartisan league went out of exist- - ence and I went to work with Mr. Patterson, he asked that I turn’the books over to him. He in- formed me that he was considering legal action to forbid the use of the name ‘Nonpartisan league’ in Minnesota by the real organization. The matter was turned over to Mr. Hickey for a decision and" he informed Mr. Patterson that the contemplated. action could not be maintained.” - “Immediately after the primary election, Mr. Patterson- prepared a circular' letter, four pages long, detailing the results of the election. In this letter particular praise was given to the Reliance Publicity ' bureau, the magazine ‘On the Square,’ and the America First association. I took a copy of ‘this: letter to Russell ‘M. Bennett of Minneapolis. PAGE 'NINE S would be needed to- em- ploy two men whose duties were to cover the state and secure men to run for the next legislature. : : “Four copies of this report were run off for the St. Paul meeting. Afterwards I was sent with one of the copies to Russell M. Bennett in Min- neapolis and delivered it to Mr. O’Brien, Mr. Ben- nett’s private secretary. ‘ “The meeting of backers of the Patterson offices, held at the Minnesota :club, resulted in the re- election. of Mr. Patterson as executive head, and an executive committee was appointed consisting - of Mr. Patterson; Oliver Crosby of the Amer- ican Hoist & Derrick company; Eli S. Warner of the McGill-Warner company; John R. Mitchell, president of the Capital National bank, and C. P. Brown, president of the First National bank. “From conversations which-I have heard since that meeting, I have gathered that the committee will continue to make its fight on the charges of ‘bolshevism’. and. ‘socialism,’” (The last installment of Mr. Johnson’s interview will appear in next week’s issue of the Nonpar- In it he tells of the activities of tisan Leader. the committee looking toward control of the Min- nesota législature and’ tells of the connection be- tweeit the anti-League committee and eastern financial interests.) 2 r— S S oz e T T