The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, July 14, 1919, Page 4

4 .| HE latest smashing victory for the principles and measures of the Nonpartisan league, just made historical in the result of the June i 26 North Dakota | referendum election, was won by the i organized farmers and workers after { one of their hardest battles. The { campaign to carry the seven measures i passed by the recent legislature and { referred to the people on petitions . filed by the opposition, was a typical ¥ ! i i f } i ! League campaign. The farmers went ; to the people in their usual way, with facts -and arguments on' the merits of the measures, while the op- position, also true to form, avoided all discussion of the merits and relied on the same old slogans and misrep- | resentations to carry the day. As usual, the chief cry of the anti- ! League forces was: “Take the state away from the clutches of the ‘Bol- ! sheviks,’ ‘I. W. W.s’ and ‘Socialists.’ ” i Mr. Townley, president of the League, | ~as usual was called a “boss” and “dic- i tator,” an ally of Trotzky and Lenine i and every other “red radical” and “an- ! archist-revolutionist” in the country. ¢ That this argument, so often and un- fortunately effective in defeating pro- gressive reforms, carried so little weight in North Dakota, as shown by ! the result, is due primarily to the fact . that the League in that state has the means of reaching the people with the . facts. That no citizen of North Dako- { ta votes without knowing the real is- | sues and the merits of the men or ; measures to be voted upon, is due to ! two facts:. . First, the state is well organized, i nearly every farmer being a member . of the League, with organized labor | strong, and getting stronger, in the \ cities. This enables the putting on of League and i labor meetings in practically every precinct of the state. Second, North Dakota no longer suffers the plague of an unopposed hireling press, daily and weekly. The opposition, it is true, still controls | many powerful daily organs and numerous weekly papers, but the League and in- dependent press has developed { and prospered until no part of | the state is without public forums of expression which will carry the truth to the people. It should be remembered, also, that the opposition in this referendum campaign ‘was es- sentially - dishonest and hypo- critical, which. was made only too apparent to the voters. The opposition was from two . directions: SLUSH FUND FROM OUTSIDE OF STATE First, the Independent Voters’ association, run by old gang politicians, with an unlimited slush fund contributed by special mo- nopoly interests adversely i affected by the measures { which. the organized farm- .ers and workers are back- { ing. These interests are ! largely outside of . the i state. It is doubtful if the : . ! I. V. A. would be able to E get sufficient funds to make much noise if it de- ‘ pended on the well-beaten and- discouraged minority ‘in North Daketa for ; " funds, But outside inter- f ests, chiefly big business ! North Dakota Referendum Campaign ' Tactics of League Opposition and Betrayal of People by Three State . Ofticials Fail to Sway Farmers From Purpose The North Dakota Battle 1912—People 'of state give overwhelming majority to constitutional amendment permitting erection of terminal elevator. 1913—Legislature refuses to, authorize terminal elevator and puts ques- tion again up to people for vote. 1914—People again approve terminal elevator by landslide vote. 1915—Legislature for second time refuses to proceed with terminal elevator. Nonpartisan league organized on adjournment of leg- islature, after farmers told to “go home and slop the hogs.” 1916—Summer. Nonpartisan league nominates its entire ticket, pledged to ferminal elevator and other progressive reforms. All old office- holders eliminated by vote. . 1916—Fall. League-indorsed candidates swept into office by unprece- dented majorities. 1917—Legislature meets with farmer majority in lower house, but ma- . Jority of holdover senators in upper house defeat League pro- gram by a few votes. 1917—Summer. Farmers elect their first congressman at special elec- tion in first district. 1918—Summer. League candidates again sweep state-wide primaries. 1918—Fall. League candidates for state office and legislature elected by new record majorities, and people adopt constitutional amend- ments by big vote, permitting carrying out.of program. 1918—December. Opposition makes big court attack on constitutional amendments adopted, but is beaten by supreme court decision. 1919—January and February. Legislature meets with farmer majority . of two-thirds in both houses and League program is at last enacted into law. 1919—March. Opposition attacks by circulation of referendum petitions seven of principal bills of legislature carrying out program. 1919—April. Opposition starts big-suit in federal court to enjoin car- rying out the prograam on grounds it is in conflict with federal Constitation, but farmers win decision in epoch-making opinion written by Federal Judge Amidon. : 1919—May. Attack made by opposition on Bank of North Dakota act in state courts, but farmers again win decision in sweeping opinion by state supreme court. 1919—June 26. Referendum election is held and all seven farmer bills attacked by referendum petitions of opposition are approved by people by sweeping majorities. : 1919—July. For first time people of state are in a position to proceed with actual carrying out of program, after seven-year fight be- ginning with vote on terminal elevator in 1912. in- Minnesota which wants to discredit the League in its home state before it gets too strong elsewhere, seems never to be weary of pouring money into North Dakota campaigns. Second, the opposition relied on the creation of a faction in the League and consequently a split League vote, through the work and influence of ciples. —Drawn expressly for the Leader by W. C. Morris. Dobbin ought to make fine progress, now that the reins of government in North Dakota are - firmly in the hands of the League farmers. The ing that he didn’t realize the idea of the farmer every effort in North Dakota to recover the re all the others have—with the farmer still retaining ment: The old driver didn’ * ‘where he’s going as fgst as he can, and he’s headed for prosperity. old guard, which had been so used to driy- driving his own political team, has made . ins. The last effort ont June 26 ended like a firm grip on the reins of govern- t care whether he made progress or not, or rather, he didn't want to make progress. But it’s different now. The farmer wants to get three traitors to the organized farm- ers in the statehouse. The majority of men elected to state office last year with the indorsement of the farmers and workers were themselves actual farmers and workers, and nothing has been able to corrupt them. But three of the nine elective state officers were reached in some way by the oppo- sition, and took the stump against a part or all of the bills up for a vote in the referendum. These turncoats were William Langer, attorney gen- eral; Thomas Hall, secretary of state, and Carl Kositzky, state auditor. In- ducements were held out to them by the opposition that they would be taken care of if they aided in the de- feat of the League bills, and it. was one of the chief cards of the “antis” that three League-elected - officials were out in the press and on the stump against the bills. The plan, which of course failed miserably, was to deceive League members into fol- lowing these turncoats and jeining the opposition to secure the defeat of the program., : FAMILIAR CAMOUFLAGE USED BY FARMERS® FOES Probably the most underhanded and contemptible tactics ever used by the opposition to progressive reforms was resorted to in this campaign. Neither the I. V. A. or the League traitors came out, at least at the._start, as frankly opposed to the League and its principles. The I. V. A. declared it was for the League program—eleva- tors, home building asscciation and all—in principle, but that it objected to the way the legislature had at- . tempted to carry out the program. The I. V. A. speakers and press in- sisted that they were not against the principles on which the farmers were organized, but only against the de- tails of the specific measures passed by the recent legislature carrying out those prin- Soon after the legislative session these false-face politicians had drawn up a series of bills “carrying out,” as' they said, the entire League program, but doing it by different administrative machinery than that which the League farmers - had provided last winter at the sixteenth legisla- . tive assembly. They attempted to have their bills put through lot, so.that the vote was finally taken on the straight propo- sition of approving or reject- ing the farmer-passed acts.. While the I. V. A. was dis- honest enough to camouflage its opposition with the “argu- ment” that the bills were all right “in principle” but wrong in detail, the League traitors resorted to another kind of camouflage. They maintained in the press and on the stump that they, too, were for the farmers’ program, but against the “leaders: of the League.” As a result their “argument” consisted of personal attacks on Mr. Townley and others prominent in League affairs. On the League’s side the campaign was a perfectly open and fair discussion of the spe- cific measures to be voted upon. Neither the League speakers or the League press spared any.effort to get the actual text of the bills and a fair discussion of their pro- visions before the voters. The League relied on the voters having enough intelligence to read and understand the meas- ; ures themselves. ' ¢ PRI o S T ORI ‘ ”""‘ oy i A : %