The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, September 6, 1920, Page 8

Sweeping Victory in Montana— . Leaguers Win With Wheeler MONTANA ; EAGUE and: labor forces won a tremendous victory in the Montana primary election August 24, when they nominated B. K. Wheeler, their candidate for governor on the Democratic ticket, with a vote almost twice that of . . his leading opponent. . Joseph M. Dixon, former - United States senator, won the: Republican nomination for gov- ernor and will receive the sup- port of the copper interests . against Wheeler in the general election November 2. Wheeler’s vote, however, was not only sev- eral thousand greater than the combined vote of the other two Democratic candidates for gov- ernor, but also greater than-the vote received by Dixon or any of the other Republican candidates. Wheeler’s tremendous victory is due alike to the support given him by organized labor and the organized farmers. The work- ers of Butte, Missoula, Great Falls and other cities voted for the League-labor candidate as solidly as did the farmers in the country precincts. As this issue of the Leader goes to press, returns had not been compiled for candidates other than governor, but Wheel- er’s tremendous lead apparently has carried with it all the rest of the League ticket. The victory in the primary comes as the result of a battle against heavy odds that has been waged by Leaguers for the last two years. In the election of 1918, although no state officers were to be chosen, the League and labor forces elected so many legislators that the copper trust leaders were badly frightened. -They saw defeat ahead of them in the 1920 primaries and so decided to wipe out the primaries and go back to the old convention system of nominating state officials. The legislature of 1919, in its regular session, obedient to the dictates of the copper trust, accordingly re- pealed the direct. primary law. Immediately the League started a referendum campaign. “Save the primary” became the watchword, and enough sig- natures were secured to prevent the repeal from be- ceming effective. : : The copper company was not yet ready to give up, however. Governor Stewart called a special session of the legislature. another law. repealing the direct primary and at- tempted to prevent the people from using the refer- endum -against it. rallying ery of “Save the primary,” secured the necessary signatures, and carried a case to the su- preme court to determine whether the legislature had the right to deny an election. The supreme court refused to back up the copper company plan and the primary was saved. IDAHO S EAGUERS: and organized labor haye nomi- nated a full ticket of candidates for state and. ° congressional office. ' Their candidates: will file on an independent ticket.. . While the Idaho state law requires 3,000 signatures to put-an independent ticket in the field, petitions filed in be- half of the League candidates contain more than 4,000 names, though the farmers had only a little more than two weeks in which to get signatures. These are the candidates for state office sele,ci_;edw“ by the organized farmers and workers: Governor—Sherman D. Fairchild, farmer. Lieutenant Governor—O. G. Zuck, farmer. Auditor—Allen J. Crandall, labor. 5 Attorney General—Ross W. Bates, attorney. Treasurer—Hubert D. Peckham, farmer. Secretary of State—George D. Brayton, farmer. ‘Mine Inspector—George A. Nestler, labor. These candidates were indorsed for congress: United States Senator—H. F. Samuels, farmer, Representatives—Riley Rice, farmer; W. R. ‘Whitaker, labor. i ; ! ; The farmers and labor men, besides selecting B. K. Wheeler, nominated for gov- ernor of Montana. The legislature passed . Again the League raised the -united on the «can ‘and Democratic s tickets. o ; — STATE NEWS ‘ these candidates, adopted thej'followin'g platform: “A government of the people, for the people and by the: people. “The paramount issues are to stop profiteering and re-establish democracy in Idaho. “1. Sufficient state-owned public utilities to pre- vent profiteering. “2. Restoration of the direct primary. ' “3. Repeal of the cabinet form of government. “4, State promotion and financing of irrigation, reclama- tion and drainage, including the storage of unappropriated flood waters in co-operation with the United States reclamation serv- ice. “5. Reduction and equaliza- tion of taxes. “6. Labor laws to meet the just demands of organized labor. “7. State-owned bank, that the producers of farm and .city may secure land and building loans at cost. “8. State ownership and de- velopment of waterpower. - “9. A workable initiative, ref- erendum and recall. “10. A soldiér compensation law similar to that of North Da- kota. “11. Laws to foster and pro- _ tect co-operative enterprises within the state. “12. We favor state guarantee of bank deposits. . “13. We = favor = government ownership of railroads.” . Two years ago Idaho Leaguers ! nominated their . candidates to run in the Democratic primaries. They won a .sweeping. victory with their entire ticket: at the primaries:” Following the primaries, however, the reactionary Democrats deserted the ticket, voting for the Republican ticket in the general election and defeating most of the League candidates. At the session of the legislature following the election the direct primary law was repealed. ; The repeal of the primary forces the Leaguers to run as independents: this year, as both the old party conventions are, of course, “framed”. against the farmers 3 g and labor men. The result, however, is likely to be to the advantage ‘of the Lea~ : 3 ~ _guers, for 'all the progressive forces will be d independent s Goket e Clel thereactionary voters and the waterpower in- terests will be divided ‘be-" tween Republi~: PAGE EIGHT . . “ing generous campaign expenditures. -anti-League forces. | GETTING NOWHERE ~ *—Drawn expreésiy for the Leader by W, C. Morfis. . Other States Readyv to Go Over the Top to Victories e “WISCONSIN = ‘EPTEMBER 7 the people of Wisconsin will select the primary candidates for state and congressional offices. The campaign, as this is written, is practically at an end. It is a case of the field against the Nonpartisan league. There are six Republican candidates for governor. One of these, John J. Blaine, present attorney gen- eral, was indorsed first by the Nonpartisan league, then by Senator Robert M. La Follette. Of the five .other candidates, four have been traveling up and down the state assailing the Nonpartisan league and accusing it of standing for free love, bolshe- vism and all the other isms the League is accused of fayoring by big business. : In spite of the fact that the opposition is center- ing on the Nonpartisan league, and in spite of the fact that the League is'not as yet well organized in this state and is fighting its first campaign, unprej- udiced observers expect the League to nominate a number of its candidates. The Wisconsin. State Journal of Madison, a big business: paper, has conceded that the League cam- didate, John M. Nelson, will be nominated for con- gress in the third district, comprising Dane county, in which the capital city is located, and Milwaukee papers admit that the entire League ticket is strong. The campaign of Wilcox, the favored guberna- torial candiddte of big business, is costing, at a con- servative estimate, $50,000. . The state law permits the expenditure of only $5,000. = Seaman, the can- didate of the Philipp wing of the party, is also mak- J. N. Titte- more, president of the Wisconsin State Equity, is doing his best—without great success—to use the Equity to make him governor. E. F, Dithmar bases his campaign on the assertion that he is German- born, and that the Nonpartisan league is anti-Ger- man. Mervin Hull, the only candidate who is not by . . - assailing the League, is running on his record as a dry. X : As yet there have been no evidences that any of the five candidates opposed to Mr. Blaine, the League candidate, would retire. Of late almost as much bitterness has cropped out between Wilcox and Seaman supporters as between the League and Wilcox ' is making patriotism his big issue, and inasmuch as he stayed safely at home during the war, while Seaman served as a doctor in France, the colonel’s followers object to Wilcox’s monopoly of patriotism. ' It is never safe to count votes before they are cast, but in Wisconsin it can at least be said that the Nonpartisan league ticket has a very fair chance of success, and is the one - ticket that all the opposition admits must be beaten. - . ~ NEBRASKA 2k RTHUR G. WRAY, independent candidate for governor, and other candidates indorsed by the Non- partisan league, are receiving strong support from progressive Repub- licans ‘who refuse to vote for Governor McKelvie, reactionary Republican, who is a candidate for re-election. Frank A. Harrison, = state manager for Senator Johnson, who won by-20,000 votes in the presidential primary, has sent a letter to progressive Republicans: throughout the state in which he says: - A " “By his personality and his official con- duct Governor MeKelvie is. bringing humiliation to the state. = Public. senti- i) ment was made plain in the primary, - when more than two-thirds of the Republicans. voted against him.” % * % Tt seems to me that the: best thing to do is to vote for Judge Arthur G. Wray -of York, the independent candi- date. Wherever his candidacy ~..is known_ I find -a_strong senti- “ - ment for him. If the men and women of Nebraska who believe . in better men and better govern- ment will rally to the support of Wray he can be elected by a big majority. "I-have been well ac- quainted ‘with Arthur Wray for many years and I know him to be a man of correct habits, keen