The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, April 5, 1920, Page 6

Nonbarfisan Teader Entered as second-class matter at the postoffice at Minneapolis, Minn., under the act of March 3, 1879. Publication address, 427 Sixth avenue S., Minneapolis, Minn. Subscription, one year, in advance, $2.50; six months, $1.50. Classified advertising rates on classified page; other advertising rates on application. Address all letters and make all remittances to the Nonpartisan Leader, P. O. Box 2075, Minneapolis, Minn. Member Audit Bureau of Circulation. The 8. S. Beckwith Special Agency, advertising representatives, New York, Chicago, St. Louis, Detroit, Kansas City. RELIEF—AT HOME AND ABROAD TARVING Europe is appealing to America for aid. In Aus- S tria, Armenia, Russia and other war-stricken l_an@s thou- sands will die for lack of food this year unless aid is forth- coming. The charitable heart of America is touched, and it is well that it should be. : But who is to feed starving Europe? All the billions of John D. Rockefeller and the Steel corporation will not help unless a . surplus of grain can be produced in the United States. ‘Starving women and children can not be nourished on oil and steel—who- gver gives funds must first have them converted into food, and more food can not be exported unless more is produced. In the face of our lavish promises of aid to Europe the fact is that less winter wheat has been sown than in any r_ecent year and prospects are that the spring wheat area will likewise be reduced. This is due in large measure to the fact that farmers have discovered that under present prices large production is im- possible. This can not be remedied immediately, but it is time that some steps to better the condition of farmers be taken. : But there is a more immediate fact, and this is that thou- gands of farmers in eastern Montana and the western Dakotas will not put in a crop this year because they have no seed and can raise no money to buy it. The state of North Dakota and the counties of that state have gone as far as is possible in meeting this condition. But the menace of sharply reduced production HOW CHIY 4 WE HELP RER? 18 tgto big to be met by any single county or state. It is a national matter. Representative Sinclair, elected by the Nonpartisan league, has had a bill pending in congress for months appropriating suffi- cient money to enable these farmers to do their part in putting in a 1920 crop. This bill has been indorsed by the American Red Cross, whose investigators report conditions in-the drouth-stricken sec- tions rivaling those in famine-stricken Europe. Congress, as this is written, has taken no action. ! If the 1920 food production of the United States is so small that thousands of human beings meet death by starvation, blame will be squarely upon the shoulders of a half-dozen short-sighted so-called “leaders” in the house of representatives, who have con- sistently refused to allow the Sinclair bill to come up for a vote. CO-OPERATION GROWING HAT the farmers of Minnesota are not neglecting to push co-operation while they are organizing to drive special priv- ilege out of state office, is indicated by the splendid growth of farmers’ elevators in the year ended August 31, 1919. According to the state supervisor of local warehouses the number of such elevators increased in that year from 356 to 390. In the same time old-line elevators fell off from 613 to 537. The report summarizes the year’s business as follows: Class Number in operation Bu. grain handled Tinen s 3o dhiaainiie sse S 537 41,206,311 FAYMETB " ss a0t ansseseioe 390 64,676,194 Independent ............ 404 33,141,304 MIUSE Ve st daie e sions 274 . 27,644,068 1,605 166,667,877 The farmers’ elevators handled on the average 140,179 bush- els of grain, as compared with 76,652 for the line houses, 82,032 ¢ for the independents, and 100,890 for the local elevators main- tained by mills. Lo When success at the polls enables the co-operating farmers to get proper terminal service at cost through a few state-owned terminals, the growth of local co-operation should be even more gsatisfactory. Several state-owned mills will remove another monopolistic middleman influence. : ; : : The rapid growth of co-operation in the grain trade in west-" ern Canada can be explained chiefly by the fact that the state there built and operated terminal elevators and lent most of the money for hundreds of local elevators. Without much capital the farmers were thus able to break into large scale money-saving operations almost immediately. : THE ST. PAUL VICTORY ; ATS off to organized labor in St. Paul! In the recent city primary William Mahoney, labor candidate for mayor, won by a big vote over the present mayor, while the can- didate supported by business interests and reactionary newspa- pers was a poor third. In addition, four candidates for the city council, backed by organized labor, were the four high men among 25 candidates. Labor has shown conclusively that. political action has been accepted as the proper means for reform. In the face of disgust- ing attempts to create jealousy between different unions and thus divide the labor vote, the St. Paul labor men showed that they can “stick” as well as the organized farmers. This is the second straight victory in Minnesota for the Working People’s Nonpartisan Political league, in which 60,000 labor men and women are thus far enrolled. -The first victory, last summer, was the election of Oscar E. Keller to eongress over old-line Republican.and Democratic candidates. As labor places more dependence upon political action there is less need for dependence upon strikes. It is a well-known fact that Minnesota, in the last two years, has had less strike trouble than almost any other large industrial section of the country. Workers under present conditions must have the right to leave their jobs when conditions become unendurable. But prevention always is better than cure. In the old West loco weed used to be a menace. It often af- flicted horses so badly that they had to be shot. When the coun- try became more settled and horses became more valuable stock- men got to realize that leaving loco weed alone and killing the horse was an expensive process. So they got after the loco weed and uprooted it. 1 Is it better to leave conditions that breed strikes and prohibit strikes, or should we uproot the loco weed? WOMAN SUFFRAGE ROBABLY by the time this issue of the Leader is in the - hands of readers the woman suffrage amendment will have been ratified by the necessary 36 states and women through- out the United States will have the right to vote at succeeding pri- maries and general elections. - The voting population of the United States will have been doubled overnight. - And we can not help but feel that the gen- eral average of voting intelligence will have been raised. The evils of our present system have been in large measure due to two prime faults on the part of the electorate—first, apathy on the part qf many men, otherwise good citizens, resulting in failure to register or failure to vote; and, second, a tendency to follow blindly the party leaders, whether right or wrong. So long as a considerable number of citizens fail to vote and the rest are divided evenly between the two large parties, the - ward boss (with a few reliable repeaters who will vote whatever ticket they are told) controls the situation. But it is certain that women, given the privilege of voting after 45 years of strug- gle, are going to use that privilege at the next elections. And it is equally certain that women are not going to follow blindly the dictates of any party bosses. They are going to vote for candi- dates and for principles, not for party labels. - . Assured, as we are, that our candidates and principles are right, we may expect overwhelming support from the new voters. e feeble attempts of professional politicians to win the woman vote by flattery and cajolery are bound to fail. The women in overwhelming majority are. nonpartisans and in voting they may be depended upon to follow. the dictates of their consciences:. PAGE SIX % ey A e i e e b3 » e