The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, March 8, 1920, Page 3

In the interest of a square deal for the farmers VOL. 10, NO. 10 * ; : As Leaguers will remember, Nonpartisan league candi- ~dates carried Idaho in the primaries two years ago, but lost in the general election, due to a combination of old- R L ae bo the adipor ot i:,‘éi‘é pgfiei:?;'myon S ntl ‘oan beat the Tdaho\people’s HICkek BY I. P. MacDOWELL == TARTLING the reactionaries- of the West, the Idaho State Federation of Labor, at its 1920 annual convention, “broke its historic precedent and as a £ | unit decided to affiliate with the or- ganized farmers in the coming po- " litical campaign. o Pocatello, the scene of the convention, is the larg- est industrial center in Idaho. Here about a year ago the labor unions insurged, went into politics, and elected a complete labor ticket, headed by W. 4 - P. Whittaker, a locomotive engineer, as mayor. That victory was a forerunner of what labor and .+ farmers can do in Idaho. In that campaign labor forces were called the bitterest names known in political history. But “they stuck” and “they won.” Their mayor invited the state federation te meet in that city at their annual convention. Political action was in the air. Delegates came from all over the state, representing miners, the lumber mill workers, and the various.crafts unions. 2-* Labor had been invited by the Nonpartisan league in the preceding state ¢lection to name its .+ share on the state ticket, and to nail down its . planks on the.Nonpartisan league platform. This ‘4¢'y was done.’ The labor forces never forgot the wel- 2 come of the Nonpartisan league farmers. POLITICIANS ATTEMPT TO PREVENT CO-OPERATION o b s IO 4§ -2 > » 2 determination on the part of the delegates to get ¥ political action-and to carry the Pocatello idea over = - the state of Idaho. was the first logical step.. Rumors of what might —4~< happen had been circulated over the state several weeks ahead of ‘the convention. In a frantic ef- A partisan league farmers the political bosses of the - state hastened to Pocatello. They were busy but- tonholing the delegates and their friends, trying to -~ 'head,off the copartnership and warning the labor - union delegates against “those awful Nonparti- sans.” These political bosses, hoping to discredit Big Campaign St i { " So at the state federation convention there was To affiliate® with the farmers | = fort to prevent this amalgamation with the Non-. Y This picture shows some of the delegates at the 1920 session of ‘i‘the Id _ball rolling for a bigger victory this fall through joint action with the organized f Nonnariigén Teader == MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, MARCH 8, 1920 ‘State Elections This Fall . N THE coming elections the Non- partisan league will be stronger than ever before, because of the active, organized assistance of labor. Two years ago the workingmen of the cities, as individuals, largely supported League tickets. But labor, organized for political purposes, is just as'much stronger than labor, voting individual- ' ly, as the organized farmers are strong- er than unorganized farmers. Idaho is only one of the states in _which labor is organizing this year for political co-operation with the farm- ers. In Washington the Triple Alliance was organized a year ago, in whith Federation of Labor unions, railroad’ brotherhoods and organized farmers work together in one big political or- ganization. In Minnesota the workers, union and nenunion, are affiliated in the Working People’s Nonpartisan Po- litical league. = This organization will hold. a state convention at the same time that the farmers hold their state convention and the two conventions will act jointly in selecting a state ticket. In Montana similar political organizations of the wage-workers will act with the organized farmers _ililks%lecting and supporting a state cket. - The Leader, in future issues, will tell something of the co-operation between farmer-labor forces in other states. the farmers, called the Leaguers “I. W. W., “dis- loyalists”. and “Weary Willies.” “Hold on,” exclaimed one of the leading labor men from Pocatello, “that is what the politicians called us last spring when we went into politics. That is your old game—to make political scare- crows and then try to keep us from lining up with the farmers. Forget it.” { The: convention called ‘some of the League men _IDAHO LABOR DELEGATES WHO DECIDED ON UNION WITH FARMERS PAGE THREE Z. A magazine that dares to print the truth Official Magazine of the National Nonpartisan League .WHOLE NUMBER 233 : Idaho Labor Joins Hands With League arted to Insure a State-Wide Victory at Gem in and requested that they address the members. Several farmers had credentials as fraternal dele- gates. ; Ray McKaig addressed the convention lor over an hour and was enthusiastically received. He por- trayed what the labor movement had received at the hands of the League farmers of North Dakota. . He told of the amalgamations from Minnesota to Seattle of farmer and laborer. Then the largest State Federation of Labor that has ever met in Idaho, representing. nearly 10,000 workers, voted for political action and union with the organized farmers to secure that result. The vote was unani- mous and was. received with cheers and much ap- plause. . - The state executive committee was made the po- litical executive committee and they decided to buy immediately 10,000 copies of the “New Day of North Dakota Laws,” to distribute among the labor unions. ‘ “WE’LL STICK” SPIRIT PERVADES THE CONVENTION State President R. H. Park, one of those progres- sive leaders that never goes wrbng but fights for the cause of better government, made the statement publicly that over 90 per cent of the delegates to the state convention were in favor of the Nonpar- !:isan league. And since then President Gompers of the American Federation and the national ex- ecutive committee have asked the unions to throw their hat into the political ring. It looks as if strikes, which were a last recourse for union labor, have been discarded for the better way of political action. T As one carpenter union delegate aptly put it, “I came down here to Pocatello to attend a state federation of labor convention and I find the Non- partisan league spirit has inspired every one of us.” This alignment now of labor and farmer forces in Idaho is the beginning of the campaign. Big Sunday afternoon massmeetings of laborers and farmers are being held all over the state. Thus the farmer will understand the questions . that bother union labor and the union man will know what problems are confronting the farmer. As has been well said, there are only two classes in America, the “skinned” class and the “skinners.” . ‘When the “skinned” classes get together, the farm- . er and labor forces, there will be a better day, a new' - day for Idaho as well as for North Dakota. - ; . £ 3 aho State Federation of Labor, held at Pocatello. Idaho labor has won the reputation of be- ing active, wide-awake and progressive. Pocatello, a year ago, was the scene of labor’s first big victory in politics. This year the labor men have started the armers to elect a complete state ticket for the benefit of the common people.