The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, November 29, 1920, Page 3

g IN THE INTEREST OF A SQUARE 4 |-~ DEAL FOR THE FARMERS . _Entered ‘as -second-class matter. at the postoffice at Minneapolls, Minn., ‘under the act of March 3, 1879, . Publication address, 427 Sixth avenue 8., Minneapolis, - Minn. all remittances to6 The Nonpartisan n. - Address Leader, . Box 2075, Minneapolis, VOL. 11, NO. 13 Tlonpari¥én Reader OLIVER 8, MORRIS, Editor. MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, NOVEMBER 29, 1920 A MAGAZINE THAT DARES T PRINT THE. TRUTH d rat th 11 0 One year, in advance, 32,50; six months, $1.50, Clas- sifie es on classified page; other adveruslnf rates on application, Member. Audit Bureau of Circulations. 8. C. Beckwith Special Agency, advertising represen- tatives, New York, Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City. WHOLE NUMBER 260 - What About These Things, Mr. Harding? of power, did two acts for the good of the common people. It will be interesting to see what President-elect Harding and the other incoming Republicans will do about these two reforms. One of the reform measures to which we have reference is the WITH all its faults the Wilson administration, soon to go out " federal farm loan system. As the Leader pointed out-in its last : issue, the federal farm loan banks have been forced Farm Loan to suspend business. They will need strong support Bonds Must to be able to open their doors again and continue business in the face of the bitter opposition of the Have Help Mortgage Bankers’ association. ‘ President-elect Harding said in the course of his campaign that he favored “the administration of the farm loan act so as to help men who farm to secure farms of their own and to give them long-time credits needed to practice the best methods of diversified .farming.” He also said This is not as definite a pledge as the organized farmers asked of the Republicans at their national the next two years, as great increases.in the total vote as we made in the last two years, we can carry at:the primaries in 1920 every - ‘state in which we contested this year and carry them all at the gen- eral election besides. 5 It all depends upon the spirit that the League members show in the next two years. We have a letter from Lincoln, Neb., that says: : Leaguers here all say the 1922 campaign started at 8 a. m. last Wednesday morning, November 8. That spirit in every state will win the next election,hands down. ATEST returns on the election show more League successes than we chronicled in our last issue. - Although League candidates in Washington and South Dakota, running as independents, were beaten, they ran far ahead of Democratic candidates, and thus the League takes rank as the second organization instead of being a - " “third party.” In other states, nota- far more votes for Primary Law League candidates he was in favor of organizing asso- : : : bly Montana, the League showed its ciations of farmers ‘so that they l “ALWAYS BLOWING BUBBLES” I ; remarkable might get short-time personal credit. : : League Saves strength by polling / 0 = B _— convention at Chicago. But Mr. Harding has certainly said that he - favors the farm loan act and wants to see it extended. A man who said the -words quoted above would be sinking to the depths of dishonesty - ‘if he would allow: the, farm loan banks to be strangled by the Mort- gage Bankers’ association. We cer- tainly have no right, at this time, to assume that Mr. Harding meant any- thing else than what he said. : HE second reform inaugurat- : ed by the Wilson administra-- tion was the establishment of the federal trade commission. The federal trade commission has made a great many powerful enemies. It is hated by the “Big Five” packers, : by the coal mine Big Business owners, by profi- . teering farm: im- F 1ghts.T1.'ade plement manufac- Commission tyrers and by the Agricultural ‘Pub- lishers’ association, the organization of so-called “farm papers” who help- ed profiteering implement manufac- turers keep prices up beyond a rea- § Last issue we printed a cartoon by Morris on thé- credit situation. This sonable point. .The federal trade time Congressman Baer treats the same subject. The federal reserve f A i 5 h board has said that its “deflation” policy was intended to prevent profi- armers. new slump in wheat commission is hated by the sugar for People upon the Demo- cratic ticket than didate for president, in spite of the fact that the Democratic bosses were boosting for Cox while attacking League candidates for state office. . But the most inspiring of all the news that has reached us is that the League’s fight to save the direct primary. has succeeded in beth Mon- tana and Nebraska. In both states the bills passed by the legislature to reinstate the old convention system would have won but for the fight of the organized farmers. . League opponents in Minnesota, in 1922, are again talking about re- pealing the direct primary. What has happened in Montana and Ne- braska, where the people had a chance to vote on the question, ought to make these interests pause, if they have good sense. ' But all past lacking in this quality. IG BUSINESS has seen in the election returns permission to do what it pleases to the !31'11517; the grain tl:uSt .and the bank- - teering. The federal reserve board raised its rediscount rate, making PriCG_!S Start_ed November 3 and has ing trust because it will have power, money cost more. Profiteers who are making enormous sums can afford continued since. Day after day has if it is continued in existence with ‘its present personnel, to " expose these combinations just as it expos- ed the packers, the implement manufacturers and other illicit-“big business.” Big business is against the federal trade commission. The people are for it. When President-elect Harding assumes office he * -must make up_l_xis mind at once which side he is going to serve. HE 1920 campaign is behind us. The 1922 campaign is ahead. In 1918 we carried two states at the primaries and one at the ‘general election. In 1920 we carried four states—North Da- kota, Wisconsin, Colorado and Montana—at the primaries and two ; : 31: the g_ene?altilecg;ignl. Vé’e also m:itlde tremen- C ous gains in the total vote everywhere—gains }llllei; %E:&:nd that can not be accounted for by the fact that JUS - in some states women’s votes have been added the Next One since 1918. ; number.of states carried at the primaries and also doubled the num- \ ber of states carried at the general election. But if we make, during Between 1918 and 1920 we doubled the to pay the higher rates; farmers and legitimate business can not. It is taking away the wrong cake of soap, as Baer pictures it. shown new record price levels for the principal product of northwest- : ern farmers. The farmers can win the next election in every League state if they make gains such as have been made in the last two years. They TUST win, if they are to'protect themselves from The Election beinlg)lwiped off the map by the organized grain i mblers. Rf:turns. and , Having won, they must lose no time in put- Big Business ting in effect the two principal planks in their pro- gram—public storage places for farm products, free from gambler control, and easier money, so that farm products can be held a reasonable length of time and not all thrown on the ‘market at once. ether a grain-holding movement can be conducted success-. fully now is open to question. With government officials and bank- ers united in denying the farmers credit and the markets in charge of the gamblers the farmers have immense obstacles to overcome. ‘But with fair markets and fair credit arrangements the farmer can have something to say about the price of his product. : PAGE THREE ; . e - were polled for the Democratic can- Washington and other states, which - the League is almost certain to carry’ evidence is that they are decidedly