The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, July 7, 1919, Page 7

A CHANGE OF TONE (Y INCE the president and a majority of the members. of congress have been shown to be in favor of an early return of the rail- roads to private management, there is a remarkable change of tone in the propaganda that is being put out to justify unrestricted operation. ; g Only. a few weeks ago the enemies of government ownership were saying: ; - .. “See how terrible government ownership is. The government increased railroad rates higher than they ever were under private management. Turn the railroads back to their owners and get lower rates again.” - . This argument undoubtedly made a number of converts for the private management system. But now that it appears certain that the roads will be returned, this is the cry of the propagandists: “See what a big deficit the railroads piled up under government ownership. The private owners can’t be expected to shoulder this loss as the government did. We will have to have still higher rates when the roads are returned.” ; : The facts are, of course, that the railroads, under practically unrestricted private management, were allowed to run down so badly that when the war came they were little better than piles of junk. The railroad managers had taken the profits of prosperous years to pay dividends on watered stock instead of using it for up- keep. When the government was forced to take the roads over it had to spend millions to put them in working order. The pay of raiiroad employes had ‘to be raised to meet the increased cost of living. The change in tone on the part of the enemies of govern- ment ownership shows the weakness of their case. They have not a valid argument to put forward so they coin two bogus arguments, directly contradict- ing each other. It is the old game of playing both ends against the middle. The American people are in the middle. We wonder how long they are going to stand for it? A BAD CONDITION N A Pullman coach the other day, on which the writer of this editorial happened to be riding, the smok- . ing room conversation turned to the "question of government operation of railroads. One of _the men present remarked that he had had an experience that day, in paying cash fare on the train, after having failed. to buy a ticket, that convinced him that conductors were being encour- - aged by railroad officials to “graft”’—that is, to pocket cash fare instead of turning the mon- ey over to the government. The thing that impressed the writer of these lines was that every man in the smoking room, with one exception, confessed to - , “having had the same sort of an experience within the last two months. Their conclusion was general that responsible railroad of- ficials were guilty of encouraging conductors to pocket money, in- stead of turning it over in the regular way, with a view toward discrediting government operation of railroads. Although most of the conductors are men of proved honesty, undoubtedly some can be found willing to pocket money with the sanction of their superiors. From the beginning of the government-administration there has been a propaganda against government ownership put out by the old managers through a few amenable employes. Passengers’ complaints about a late train, the last lower berth being gone or an impudent porter have too often been met with: “What can you expect with the government running the roads?” ' The Leader pointed out soon after the government had taken over the operation of the railroads the danger that was being faced by leaving the old railroad executives, men whose interests and sympathies were all against public ownership, in charge of affairs. What we have had is not government ownership by any means, and only in a limited degree government management and control. The way it has worked out is that the government has been the official . goat, putting up money for losses, and shouldering the blame for all mistakes and’ offenses for which the old railroad managers are personally responsible. ! : That many of these railroad managers have been misusing their official positions to try to bring discredit upon the government is by now a well-established fact. But it does not constitute in any someéone to get a home. needs it. _Way an argument against government ownership. THE South wants the Nonpartisan league. And it wants it THE SPIRIT OF THE LEAGUE Editor Nonpartisan Leader: Will you tell me something of the bank plan? Do you take money outside the state? I have $100 and am thinking of loaning it, as I do not need it just now. I would be glad to know it was helping ‘two or three years, but am just anxious, of course, to know I could get it back if I did need it. I know how hard it is to pay for a home, as’ we were in debt on curs for years; had to pay 71 per cent interest and had to borrow the money to pay interest two years when crops were bad. I am studying, and feel that the usurious rates of interest is one trouble with the world. I want to do a little good in this old world before I die, so would like to loan this money to some person who - Inclosed find $5 for which send me your good paper for a year and Mrs. William Koch, Liberty, IL I have been reading it for a year. Also please send me some sample copies; I will distribute them and advertise the North Dakota plan. . Yours truly, - MRS. ERVIN B. GRUBB, Secretary Farmers’ Improvement League. ~ make up your own mind as to the honesty of most of the opposition . to the National Nonpar_tisag*;;leagge’. SRR : . WATCH THE SUNNY SOUTH! in a hurry. The League already has started organization 1 work in two southern states—Texas and Oklahoma. It will . | be impossible to enter any other states until after the 1920 cam- paign. The big farmers’ organization has its work cut out for it, for the present, in the “original thirteen states.” : -But in response to repeated requests from Texas and Oklahoma | the League is preparing to start a big organization campaign in | these states. Organization work has never stopped in either state. 2 But the shortage of organizers and the urgent demands for work it & elsewhere have not allowed work to be continued among the cotton ' growers at the rate at which it should have been kept. That is go- ing to be remedied now. The farmers of the South are going to | join hands with the farmers of the North and West so that the Nonpartisan league will have more than sectional influence and power. Farmers of Texas and Oklahoma insist that their states have | as promising a spirit as any in the Union. Texas was the birthplace of the Farmers’ union, which at one time had more than 100,000 members in Texas alone. It set out to get an increased price on cotton—and did it until the panic of 1907, engineered by Wall street, struck the country. That taught Texas farmers a lesson—that po- litical organization is needed to go along with co-operative organi- zation. 3 ’ Oklahoma has one of the most. progressive constitutions of any state in the Union. Few, if any, changes will be necessary to allow the state to go into busi- ness to help its farmer citizens. But farmers of Oklahoma have learned, by bitter experience that it is not enough to have a good constitution and laws— they must also have good men to carry them into effect. So they are welcoming the League and insisting upon more activity. The time was never so good for organization work as at present. Texas and Oklahoma have a larger proportion of ten- ant farmers than any other states in the Union—and condi- tions in this line are. rapidly growing worse. Interest rates are high. Both states promise good crops, but although prices are higher than they have been in some previous years, the prices of everything that the farmer has to buy have in- creased faster than the prices that he receives for his prod- ucts. The farmers of Texas and Oklahoma know that these con- ditions can be remedied, and through the Nonpartisan league, and with the help of their League brothers of the North and West they propose to rem- edy them. TIRRS U Liberty, Il I might not need it for THE LEAGUE OPPOSITION HE interviews with Clarence F. Johnson, which have been running in the Nonpartisan Leader, as a portion of the ex- : posure of the methods of the opposition to the Nonpartisan league, have shown one thing quite clearly. This is that a group of unscrupulous profiteers continually have preyed upon the fears of business men, to extort more and more money from them with which to fight the League. - : : Legitimate business has nothing to fear from the League. . II- legitimate business has a great deal to fear. To get contributions of cash from all classes of business men with which to “finish the League” it has been necessary constantly to misrepresent the char- acter of the League program and the men chosen to put it into effect. - The new series of articles exposing the methods of the oppo- nents of the League will bring this out even more clearly. The private detective agencies of the country have been misrepresenting the League just as systematically as have the clique in the Mer- chants National Bank building, St. Paul, and for the same purpose —to extort money from big business the more readily. Watch the new series of articles beginning in this issue. Don’t take Mr. Moore’s word alone—read the documentary evidence that we will produce, in each issue of the Leader, to back up his story. Consider all the facts fairly and squarely on both sides and then