The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, October 4, 1920, Page 8

i i __was wanted for the governor’s Washington Leaguers Name Candidates “Bob” Bridges, Veteran Fighter for Public Ownership, Heads Strong ‘ ' Farmer-Labor Party Ticket in Evergreen State ASHINGTON'S chief public ownership project, the port of Seattle, furnished to the League farmers and organized workers of the state the two leaders of their ‘icket, picked at a convention in Seattle on primary ‘day, September 14. Robert Bridges, known as “the father of the Seattle port commission” and its former chairman; was chosen unanimously for governor, while C. J. France, executive secretary of the port commission, wag chosen as the candidate for United States senator. The entire ticket indorsed at the Seattle convention will file as candidates of the Farmer-Labor party, launched by the labor group at the joint convention with farmers and progressives in Yakima in July. The convention was by far the speediest and most harmonious yet held by farmers and workers in Washington. Throughout the session the delegates, picked at joint conventions, worked to place in the field the strongest and most representative can- didates available. With'few exceptions, the choices of the joint convention were iden- tical with the choices of the League convention at Yakima. When it came time for the nominations of candidates to be made, it was Judge Winsor, judi- cial patriarch of the state of Washington, who placed the name of Robert Bridges before the convention. Twenty-four years before it had fallen to the lot of the same man to nominate Bridges for state land commis- sioner on the Populist ticket. Bridges had walked to the con- vention from Seattle (the con- vention was being held in Ellens- burg, 150 miles away) because he refused to ride on a railroad pass. Judge Winsor, in nomi- nating Bridges at that time, de- fied the convention to reject his name. But this time there was no need of that. “Bob” Bridges chair. No. voice was raised against his nomination; no other “Bob” Bridges, Farmer-Labor candi- date for governor of Washington. name was even suggested for head of the ticket. For lieutenant governor, Elihu Bowles of Prosser, known as the “Cherry King,” was named. Mr. Bowles is a Nonpartisan leaguer and one of the leading farmers of the central part of Washington. NOTED FARMER AND LABOR LEADERS NAMED FOR CONGRESS The choice of the convention for secretary of state was C. A. Harlin, now mayor of Wenatchee. Robin Adair of Olympia was chosen for state auditor, and Frank Pease, general organizer of the Private Sol- diers and Sailors’ legion, was named for state audi- tor. S.J. Smyth, Nonpartisan league farmer from Goldendale, Klickitat county, was named for com- missioner of public lands, A. M. Mecklem of Tacoma for insurance commissioner and Alma Salmon Ventzke, one of the chief women figures in the Nonpartisan league movement in Washington, was selected for state superintendent of schools. ~ If the farmers are successful in the elec- tion throughout, and the hopes are high that : they will be successful and will sweep: the state with their ticket, they -will have not only one of the strongest state organizations which ever held office in Wash- ington, but they wilt send to Washington as congressmen five the state. In addition to C. J. France, named for United States - senator, the following amen were chosen to make the race for con- gress: First District—James A. Dun- can, Seattle, labor leader. Second District — William Bouck, Sedro-Wooley, master of the state Grange. Third District — Homer T. Boné€, Tacoma, labor attorney. Fourth District—Knute Hill, Prosser, farmer. In the fifth district there was nd third party nominee for con- gress. Thomas Corkery, indors- ed in the fifth district on the Re- of the most progressive men in publican ticket, was beaten:in a close vote for the Republican nomination by the present congressman, J. Stanley Webster. The vote of the workers and farmers of that' district probably will be thrown therefore to the Democratic nominee, ' Charles Fleming, present mayor of Spokane. ; Besides picking their state officers at Seattle, the farmers and workers held conventions in every county to choose candidates for county offices and the state legislature. The law under which the con- ventions were held required that candidates for the various offices be named in the district in which they. were to be candidates, necessitating not only state, but also county and congressional district conventions. i The farmers and workers of Washington will go into the campaign with a full ticket in the field. Both are determined to win, particularly in the face of the returns in the primary election, when Louis F. Hart was renominated for governor by the Re- publicans. Hart, first as lieutenant governor and later as governor, has winked at wide-open lobbying and trading in the legislature. Indeed, one of the scandals at Olympia during the last session was the fact that while labor men were denied use of the gallery lobbyists for the special interests were per- mitted seats on the floor of the legislature. Bob Bridges, in his speech of acceptance, told the delegates that when he went to Olympia he would clean out of the capitol the lobbyists, and that he would do his best to eliminate the secret commit-" tees through which the special interests worked. Following his nomination for United States sena- tor, C. J. France, one of the best known progres- sives of the state, found his position as execu- tive secretary of the Seattle port commission gone. On the day following the convention which nominated Francé, the port commission, by a vote of 2 to 1, voted to abolish the position. This result was not entirely unexpected, since France has been the object of reactionary attacks for a long time. A complaint lodged against him some time ago charged him with “identifying him- self with a minority political group.” A commis- sion, appointed to investigate charges against Mr. France, declared that loss of Mr. France to the port commission would be a serious blow, but in spite of this he was deprived of the position for political reasons. Attempted Anti-League Convention in Wisconsin Fails N ATTEMPT to line up reactionary Re- publican forces in Wisconsin against the state candidates nominated by the League and labor forces has failed. Senator Roy P. Wilcox, the candidate for governor who was closest to the successful Leaguer, made the attempt, sending tele- grams to all other defeated candidates, urging them to join him in selecting a candidate for governor, to run as an independent at the November election, upon whom all anti-League strength could be con- centrated. Wilcox stated that he had been suggest- ed as the man on whom all the League opposition should unite. The only candidate for governor who could be found to join Wilcox in this attempted combination was J. N. Tittemore, who had run sixth in the field of six candidates. As Tittemore’s “strength” con- sisted of only one vote in every 20 cast it became apparent that the Wilcox-Tittemore combination could not hope to overcome the League and labor strength and Wilcox announced the abandonment of his scheme. John J. Blaine, League candidate for governor of Wisconsin, won by more than 10,000 votes in the Republican primaries, according to latest figures from the Badger state. As this issue of the Leader goes to press the official returns are not yet avail- able. Mz, Blaine has ‘issued. the following statement: “Organized farmers and workingmen gave me a tremendous vote of confidence.. The women of Wis- consin assumed their newly acquired responsibility and my vote shows that they contributed in no small “degree tc my success. “If elected i November my purpose will be to express my appreciation of the confidence that the rank and file of the people have in me by rendering service to the people of my native state. “The charge that I had entered into any agreement with Socialists for support is conclusively refuted by the result of the election. My vote in Milwaukee county, where the Socialists have their greatest strength, as well as in other counties where they have some strength, was greatly reduced in com- parison with my vote in non-Socialist counties.” COMINGS’ RECORD VOTE A VICTORY FOR FREE SPEECH IN WISCONSIN George F. Cominés, League and labor candidate for lieutenant governor, according to latest returns In Seattle, when “Bob” Bridges was in- troduced to the farmers and workers of Washington as their candidate for - governor, a crowd of 6,000.jammed ~into the armory to greet him while many - hundreds more were unable to gain admission. It was a splendid ex- ample of the “We’ll Stick” spirit which has won in North Dakota, which has just brought victory to the common people of Wisconsin, and which will win-in every League state from Wash- ington to Wisconsin: if farmers and workers cast their full vote on November 2. PAGE EIGHT T A e A A i e e e 5 Y o e et e L e has a majority much larger than that of Blaine for governor. : The explanation of the large vote for Comings is that it is intended as a rebuke to the governing board of the University of Wisconsin. Mr. Com- ings.has been connected with the university as a conductor of farmers’ institutes. At a recent con- vention of the Equity society he introduced a reso- lut:ion in favor of granting amnesty to political prisoners. : Mr. Comings was immediately called before Dean Russell of the agricultural college, rebuked and dis- missed. President Birge of the university wrote a letter sustaining Dean Russell. Mr. Comings took the position that asa citizen he - was not called upon to surrender his convictions or to refrain from expressing his views on public ques- tions. The question of the justice of Mr. Comings’ dismissal became a subject of interest throughout E;he state. His nomination, in spite of university influence, with a majority of more than 40,000 votes, shows where the people of Wisconsin stand in re- gard to attempts to censor the thought of public . officials and employes. 5 ; : The defeat of Congressman Esch, author of the notorious Esch-Cummins bill, by Joseph D. Beck, Leaguer, has attracted attention all over the Unit- ed States as a repudiation of the Esch-Cummins law. Mr. Beck has issued a statement in which he says: . \ % “I amy much gratified with the support which I re- ceived from the Nonpartisan league. I owe my suc- cess in a large measure to the effective organization work which has been done in my district.” The League ought to be extended into every section of the state,” 3 : 3