The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, August 25, 1919, Page 13

Nebraska Mob Attacks Leaguers Police Refuse Protection After Hoodlums Attempt to Break Up Meeting—Aged Man Injured By Special Correspondent N ECHO of last year’s persecution of Nonparti- san league farmers in Nebraska came recently when hoodlums broke up a meeting at Beatrice, Neb. One aged man was struck over the head by members of the mob, and C. A. Sorensen of Lincoln, League at- torney, was knocked down by a man in the uniform of the city fire depart- ment. There was an attempt made by persons in the town to lay the blame for the disturbance at the door of returned soldiers, but as far as could be learned few discharged army men were concerned in the riot. A rumor, circulated by League ene- mies, stated that a red flag was being carried in one of the 30 automobiles in a parade which preceded the meet-_ ing. There was absolutely no evi- dence to substantiate the rumor, but it spread rapidly. Lester P. Barlow, who is touring the country on an edu- cational campaign designed to en- lighten the people on some of the war production enterprises, particularly the work at the Hog Island shipyards and the aircraft board, was a speaker at the meeting. “It was on these themes I addressed my Beatrice audience,” he said, “ap- pearing on the same platform with Mr. Martin, the League speaker. I had films showing the work at the government war enterprises which I projected along with my lecture. “Then the hoodlums broke into the meeting. Being accused of pro-Ger- manism, pacifism and tendencies equally odious I'produced my A. E. F. card and passed it to the gang. I was not a soldier though-I was offered a commission. I felt that I could do more by remaining with my war ma- terial production work than by enter- ing the army and being assigned guard duty at some munition plant. My card finally came back and the crowd had nothing further to say. “Then I asked them how many had served overseas. ‘We all did!’ was shouted in reply. I then took them individually. Pointing to the first I queried: ‘Were you in military serv- ice overseas?’ ‘No,” he answered. ‘Were you in service in this country?’ Again the reply was in the negative. Subsequent questioning of the rest of the mob drew the same answers. I was certain that American soldiers would not ‘resort to rioting and mob rule.” PROTECTION REFUSED | BY CHIEF OF POLICE During the afternoon parade the only disorder occurred when a num- ber of returned soldiers took banners from automobiles. Jesse R. Johnson, state manager of the Nonpartisan league, called on the chief of police and asked for protec- tion. The manager said they were expecting trouble. The chief told him that if that was the case they had better not try to hold a meeting. C. A. Sorensen’s story of the Beat- rice affair is as follows: “I was in Beatrice on private busi- ness and had no part in the League meeting. But being attorney for the League I was interested in the meet- ing and attended it in company with members and officials of the League. “After the meeting I was going from the hotel to a garage where I was to take an automobile for home. I found myself followed. A crowd gathered behind me and a party passed in front of me. Members of the mob cried: ‘There goes that d—n Nonpartisan leaguer. Hit him! Hit him!” They surrounded me and a large man in the uniform of the Beat- rice. fire department came up behind me, struck me in the face and knocked me down. As I lay dazed on the street, members of the crowd cried ‘Hit him again,” but others said that once was enough. This occurred on the main street with people passing by constantly. - ¥I got up and went on. Half a block away a policeman stood talking with a bystander and doing nothing. A few steps further on was one of the city commissioners whom the policeman called ‘chief.’ I asked him what sort of town this was that permitted peace- ful men to be assaulted on its streets in sight of policemen. He took me back to the policeman and said: ‘Here, this is no joke. This man isn’t a mem- ber of the Nonpartisan league. We'll have to stop this.’ We then walked back to the crowd around the fireman and I asked for his arrest. ‘We can’t arrest him without a warrant, said the policeman. There was no way to swear out a warrant at that time of night, so no arrest was made.” MOB TEARS BANNERS OFF FARMERS’ CARS The afternoon meeting, according to Mr. Sorensen, was finally permitted to go on with little interruption. As the farmers approached the bridge west of town on their way to the tent where the meeting was to be held they were accosted by a crowd which tore the banners from their cars. Wal- ter Dietz, a retired farmer living in Beatrice, was pushed up against the bridge and his League badge torn from his coat. Of the evening meeting Mr. Soren- sen said: “Before the hour for the evening meeting a crowd from town began to congregate. Mr. Johnson asked a city commissioner to swear in some depu- ties to preserve order and asked for police to keep order. No- policemen appeared until after the meeting was broken up. When the meeting started this ecrowd began an uproar which pre- vented the speakers from being heard. L. W. McKissick of Beatrice then took the platform and begged the mob to desist. ‘You are disgracing Beatrice,’ he told them. The crowd listened to him, but at the end of his remarks hooted and told him to ‘wash his ears.’ A minister. then made the same plea without avail, likewise a local lawyer. “Here Manager Johnson asked the farmers present to come near the plat- form so they could hear. At this the mob charged the platform. F. J. A. Hartwig, an old resident living near Firth, was struck over the head and his scalp torn, a blow in the mouth knocking several teeth loose. As mem- bers of the mob were about to strike him again a farmer woman threw her- self between him and the mob and cried that they would not strike him again save over her dead body. “This incident seemed to sober the mob. Mr. Johnson announced that the meeting would be dismissed.” From talk in the mob.some of the sources of their antagonism could be inferred. “We know all about you,” men in the mob cried. They said they had read about it in certain newspa- ‘pers and in the literature of an anti-League organization. “The d—n farmers are trying to run the country,” others shouted. Also the League farmers were denounced as Socialists and pro-Germans. It is said that a delegation of Gage county farmers will call on Governor McKelvie to ask for protection for their meetings. 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