The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, November 17, 1919, Page 7

. propaganda against union labor, the organized farmers-or any other Gith rar et : the Drake mlll To charge one-fi“‘th of the mdustnal commlssxon " enlisted men. I ask that this convention go on record as not favoring ’expense to the Drake mill would be excessive, but one-fifth; accord- = any caste or class of former service men, but we must show enlisted * ing to the state auditor’s own figures, would be only about $520, '~ men, men who bore the brunt of service with no glory, little pay and Subtracting this, as well as the interest on the investment from 5 aicaun ther B8 frnonten tasol B A e Relene o zzfitmln 8 ea'mmgs’ and the annual profit is_still nearly 100 per . These are moments of decision for us. We are being watched by en- ! listed men, over 4,000,000 strong, as to our attitude. Let us not by t{fi"3t3‘%2“2{?5&o‘é“fiiflau?é’éfiydgfn&“&’rfitih s T T Ao RS URsiia 3o B0 ot et e ghoude Grgaaaation fon ofloey only. 0o often that phiase, for officers only, was met by the com- F;O}l; l(rllstafice, hlsfc(liafin that hhe gtate treasury was bankrupt when mon soldier during his military service. : T ad miliions o ollars on nand, an - . . . . . ported by figures, that the North nggg Téiafiarsggfifiegg gggr Z Sergeant Sullivanr was objecting to the Washington delegation 5 mills, when it later was fixed at less than 3. He has now issued s Sl « R) AT a statement, widely copled in the press hostile to the Leagife, to the ;;ll;atflt;};e g:fi.%f(? :is()\?.v?l ];)}f,fi ct%r;s \%f:fi;zgggn coz%znrt?gnljefi%fig vsv&ilé effect that the Drake mill i$ losing money. To arrive at thls "absurd will be represented at Minneapolis by 15 officers and nine enlisted conclusion, he charges the entire industrial comm1ss1on expense to the mill, while as a matter of fact-the mill is a very small part of men. But Sullivan’s fight for more voice by the common soldier . the commission’s activities. He charges the entire salary and ex- in the affairs of the Legion has done more good and will, we think, pense of the manager of the Mill and Elevator association to the be backed by the overwhelming majority of Legion members. Drake mill, while as a matter of fact the association manager ¢ S N A A RS R devotes only a small part of his time to the Drake enterprise, most THE PLUMB PLAN of it being devoted to the big mill and elevator units of the main HERE is a condition in America today, apparent to every proposition, which is to cost $5,000,000. The Drake propos1t10n one who has eyes and ears, which, for want of a better word, is only a small experimental one. is described as “unrest.” No matter what his political beliefs Unless they want to make themselves ridiculous, which they or economic doctrines, a ‘person who denied that there is wide- evidently do, newspapers will' not publish as reliable any financial spread discontent on the part of labor with conditions in industry ~ statements given out by a turncoat politician hostile to the League would be like an ostrich, hiding his head in the sand and thinking and one who is filled with a mean spirit of hate and revenge which he is thereby eluding his pursuers. As a nation we have recognized colors everything he says and does. this condition by the calling of the industrial conference which sat 8 : : -in Washington. % e THE AMERICAN LEGION. Out of all the clashmg arguments over the right o workers to collective bargaining, profiteering, high cost of living, the open HERE is no doubt whatever that certain powerful interests ' and certain politicians are attempting to control and use ‘the American Legion, and it is just as certain that a large part of the membership of the Legion is combating these evil influences. The Leader intends to give wholehearted support to those forces within the Legion which want to keep it out of politics and which will -fight any effort of sinister interests to use the Legion for people’s reform movements. " Nonpartisan league members constitute a largé part of the f Bolshevik d - Legion membership in North Dakota, and all attempts to use the ghiop, diger:of -troops in plrilies; shiarges of Rolshevi D e among workmen -and other heated controversy, comes one- issue organization in that state as a pohtxcal weapon so far have failed. which can not be ignored and which must be settled before we The League press in North Dakota has been the leading booster for pave industrial peace. . Labor, with a large part of the general the Legion there. public—perhaps a ma.]outy—beheves that American industry as _ In Minnesota, however, there are certain~unmistakable signs at present conducted is autocratic and monopolistic; that the rem- that those who would use soldiers’ organizations for their awn egy for this is to give labor a voice in the conduct of industry, as selfish purposes are having too much influence in the Legion. The well as recognizing labor unions and the principle of collective World War Veterans, the Legion’s rival, which is primarily an pa0aining. How much voice labor is to have is a problem on enlisted man’s organization and accuses the Legion of being formed whlch those who recognize and have studied the issue disagree. by and for officers, has a large membership in Minnesota which i8> Byt attempts to brush aside the questions with charges of Bol- rapidly increasing. We like the slogan of the War Veterans, “free | .shevik propaganda, fantastic stories of bomb plots, insinuations speech and ballot.” We can not help but regret that the Minnesota that attacks are being made on the Constitution and lurid stories Legion has not stood up for these constitutional rights of labor 3 1t “red labor leaders,” are absolutely futile. The issue will and the people which ‘have been outrageously denied them the last - SR EhatiatatecE THa T eaion iabtemptad to suppress & mecting not down. It must be decided on its merits, and, in the opinion o of ‘tho-War Veterans im-a-small Minnesota - town the other day; the Leader, it must be decided by more or less sweeping concessions and Minnesota Legion leaders are not serving the cause of the great to labor, ‘it baacefill ang. orderly” deyelopment_of “society- and n g . 4 dustry is to take place. rank and file of Sevsomen by charging that the World War- And right here it might as well be stated that there is nothing sacred .about the present plan on which industry is organized. It is not “American,” in the sense that it is unchangeably estabhshed in the Constitutlon and a proper object for veneration as an in- stitution established by the forefathers of the republic. Neither are the various plans for the reorgamzatlon of industry proposed by various groups of labor * un-Amerlcan, in the sense that they resemble the Bolshevik program or are “ideas of foreigners.” We may as well understand at once that Americanism is essentially : the right of the majority to rule through free speech, open dis- Veterans are “radicals™ and “Bolsheviki.” The Leglon should cussion and vote of the people—the right and the means to alter leave this name-calling to big -business propagandists and their economic conditions and change governments and constitutions kept press. when a majority of the people believe they should be altered or The situation in regard to the Legion-in some other states is changed. also interesting. We-have already commented upon the disgusting ~ The Plumb plan for the ownership and operation of the rail- and unprovoked attack by Theodore Roosevelt Jr., a Legion leader, roads is merely one of labor’s plans for the reorganization of in- on the Nonpartisan league in South Dakota. Makmg him a Legion dustry. It is approved by the railroad brotherhoods and sanctioned ; delegate was manufacturing political capital for him in his campaign by the American Federation of Labor. As a carefully thought out for election to a political office in New York state. There is no plan to give labor a voice in industry under public ownership of doubt that young Roosevelt expects to make politics his profession, railroads it is entitled to respect. It is the only definite and work- -and that he will be a perennial seeker after political preferment. . able plan so far proposed which has a chance of preventing the For.this reason the Legion, if it is to keep out of politics, should railroads going back into private control, under which they will be not make him its spokesman. If the New York Legion really run for profit and not for service. Under this plan-the government means to keep clear of politics it should have seen that Roosevelt will own the railroads and they will be operated by a commission was kept off the program at Minneapolis. - “composed of railroad workers, present railroad executives and rep- No one man had more to do with gettmg the returned sol- -resentatives of the general public. The Leader has hitherto ex- containing 15 officers and only nine enlisted men. The charge : e AP ST AT SRS e R A N LA S RS R At O SRR R R D T N T A R TS S T S A A AN T2 diers toj join the Legion than Sergeant Jack J. Sullivan of Seattle. - pressed its approval of this plan in general, suggesting merely that : Sergeant Sullivan believes that the Leglon should meet the charge ‘the operating commission should consist also of representatives of g that it is “an-officers’ organization” by giving enlisted -men more = the farmers, who operate the largest single industry affected by } say in its affairs. He made a fight in Seattle recently to have the -the railroads—perhaps a larger industry than all others combined. | - Washington delegation to aneapohs consist of a maJonty of en- Farmers have always been overwhelmingly in favor of public listed men. Sergeant Sullivan said:, ownership of the great public utilities. No large number of them, R The Amencan Leg-lon now has about an eighth of- 5600 ,000 men - : we feel certam, will ObJ ect to the labor concerned in the operatlon ‘who were in the military or naval service of the country during the - ~having a voice in the management. Least of all will the farmers be decelved by the sflly charge that the Plumb plan is bolshevmm war, ‘Of the other aeven-enghths not yet members vu'tually all are .- -