The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, September 22, 1919, Page 6

N\ NN N A\ AR N Tonpartissn Teader Official Magazine of the National Nonpartisan League—Every W'eek Entered as second-class matter “September 3, 1915, at the postoffice at St. Paul, Minnesota, undey the Act of March 3, 1879. ! OLIVER S. MORRIS, Editor E. B. Fussell, A. B. Giltert and C. W. Vonier, Associate Editors. B. 0. Foss, Art Editor. Subscription,” one year, in advance, $2.50; six months, $1.50. = Please do not make checks, drafts nor money orders payable to indi- viduals. Address all letters and make all remittances to The Nonpartisan Leader, Box 575, St. Paul, Minn. $ MEMBER OF AUDIT BUREAU OF CIRCULATIONS THE S. C. BECKWITH SPECIAL AGENCY, Advertising Representatives, New York, Chicago, St. Louis, Detroit, Kansas City. Advertising rates on application. Quack, fraudulent and irresponsible firms are not knowingly advertised, and we will take it as a favor if any readers will advise us promptly should they have occasion to doubt or question the reliability of any flrm. which patronizes ofr advertising coiumns. OUR BIRTHDAY ITH this issue the Leader is four years old. Four years \;\/ ago the first edition of 18,000 copies was printed, all of which went to North Dakota. Today three times this many copies go to North Dakota alone; more than 250,000 copies are printed, to go to all parts of the United States and scattering bundles go to Canada, England, Australia and almost all parts of the civilized world. The editors of the Leader are not responsible for this growth; the credit belongs to the farmers of the great West. The Leader has been the farmers’ paper from the start. The work of the few farmers of North Dakota who had the vision of what was possible when farmers first organized politically was responsible for the Leader being started; the work of thousands of farmers in other states, who caught that vision, has been responsible for the re- markable advances that have been made. - - The League and the Leader are more firmly established today than ever before in their history. In the beginning, and for the first three years, the organized farmers had-nothing but the vision to sustain them. Now they have the solid accomplishments of North Dakota behind them. Great as has been the success of the organized farmers in the past four years there is reason to expect that during the next four years much greater things will be done. There will be oppo- sition, more than ever before. But the farmers are ready for that. In the first issue of the Leader, dated September 23, 1915, a noted writer pointed out that the organized farmers could expect to see their movement lied about, their leaders reviled and mem- bers held up to scorn. He said: ; 2 You have launched in a just and honest way a just and honest cause. Do not believe anything you read about it unless you read it in your own journal or in journals that you know are absolutely with - you. The most cunning attempts will be made to divert your atten- tion and switch your votes. Every variety of false issue will be raised to fool you. Don’t be fooled. You have now a wonderful chance to emancipate yourselves and begin the emancipation of the farmers of the nation. > Up to the present time the classes that make money out of your disadvantageés are the classes that have managed the government. What’s the matter with government managed by and for the ma- jority? Let’s try that for a whilee. We have had .enough of the other. That is the prospect that opens before the farmers of North Dakota as soon as they quit voting for the men that skin them and begin to vote for themselves. It is a mighty good prospect—too good to be spoiled through any bunco games of a controlled press. : The farmers of the Northwest have seen every word of this prediction come true. Every variety of false issue has been raised to cloud the real issue; millions have been poured into the fight in an effort to fool the farmers. But they have refused to be fooled. They have believed what they have seen about their League-in their own journal—the Leader—and have disbelieved the lies of the enemy 'press becaus the Leader has proved its truthfulness while the others have proved the reverse. With such loyal co-operation the Leader looks forward confidently to four more years much more successful than the last four. ; » MINNESOTA’S LEGISLATURE MEETS OVERNOR BURNQUIST has called the Minnesota legis- G lature into special session for the avowed purpose of killing the direct primary law. The governor submitted a program of other legislation, but the death of the primary is very apparently the real purpose. League members are concentrating to prevent the slaughter of the primary and will attempt to force through some really progressive legislation, despite opposition of reactionaries. i ‘ ; PAGE SIX,. ~ . tana mine owners to-break up labor unions. 7 \ V| P Z m, A4 7 Z L WIS § NN N\ //¢ 7 "’////,,/; P ////// W A\ JOHN D. RYAN’S PATRIOTISM OHN D. RYAN is president of the Anaconda Copper Mining company and of the Montana Power company and a director of the Milwaukee railroad. He is a leader of the financial . group in which the Rockefellers and the Chicago packers oper- ate. With the other copper barons he dlctqftes Montana politics. His companies hold wages down to the lowes possible scale, boost retail prices to the highest possible marks, import spies and gun- men to break up labor and farmer organizations, and abuse organ- ized farmers and laborers in the columns of their controlled piess. and in thousands of dollars’ worth of printgd propaganda distrib- uted throughout the state. Because of his control of Montana politics Montana mines have dodged taxation, leaving the farmers and workers to make up the balance. Within the last year a pro- fessor of the University of Montana has been suspended because he dared call attention to this fact. _ Shortly after the United States entered the war Mr. Ryan was named head of the American Red Cross. In an editorial July 19, 1917, entitled “Not DIyan, Please,” the Nonpartisan Leader pro- tested against the selection of a man of this type, although his - services were offered ‘“free of charge.” The Leader said then: It is unfortunate there is no power in this country to kindly but firmly say “No” and turn his energies where his “free” services may not prove such a stumbling block. Later Mr. Ryan was put in charge of aircraft production. He was one of the “dollar-a-year” men. The Leader again protested, pointing out that the “dollar-a-year” men, by using their positions to further their own financial interests, might prove the most ex- pensive investments that the United States ever made. ; Because we pointed out these facts the Nonpartisan Leader and the League were branded as “disloyal” and “unpatriotic” by the copper crust papers of Montana. Miss Jeanette Rankin, Montana congresswoman, in a speech in congress pointed out that while Mr. Ryan was posing as a patriot interested in helping the country dur-- ing the war, he was actually holding up copper production by en- forcing the “rustling card” system, a sort of blacklist used by Mon- Because of this state- ment the copper trust newspapers turned on Miss Rankin, subjected her to a storm of abuse and finally forced her out of public life. Now it turns out that Mr. Ryan stands accused, by a congres- sional investigating committee, of doing just what the Leader, more than two years ago, pointed out as what might be expected. Mr. Ryan is accused by the congressional committee of misusing $4,000,000 of the government money to build an expensive railroad in the Olympic peninsula, state of Washington, for the benefit of the Milwaukee railroad, of which he was a director. Mr. Ryan authorized this construction while he was at the head of aircraft production. The aircraft production division needed Washington spruce. Sufficient spruce could have been obtained by building a . 16-mile railroad at a cost of $500,000. But this road would not have been serviceable later to the Milwaukee. Instead a 56-mile road was authorized by Ryan. By the time it was completed the war was over. Not one American-built bombing or fighting airplane had reached the battlefront and thousands of American soldiers had perished because of lack of proper aircraft protection. But an important link of railroad had been built for the benefit of the Milwaukee and Mr. Ryan. ' The congressional investigating committee suggests a suit against Mr. Ryan to recover some of the wasted millions. But this will not bring back the wasted lives. - Just one purpose has been served by the investigation. That has been to show in his true colors this pretended patriot, who built a railroad \for himself, the Rockefellers and the Chicago packers, ~while American soldiers perished in the Argonne woods. And remember—this is the man whose papers have beenr call- ing League farmers disloyal. - o0 5 N The man who can make two ears of corn or two blades of grass grow on the spot where only one grew be- fore, would deserve better of man- . kind and render more essential serv- ice to the country than the whole race of politicians put together.— JONATHAN SWIFT. %