The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, November 29, 1920, Page 5

Meet John J. Blaine of Wisconsin! Some Facts About the New Governor Elected by Nonpartisan Leaguers— -~ What He Has Done and What May Be Expected BY CHESTER C. PLATT (Edltor of the Wisconsin Leader) mw | HAT kind of-a man is this John J #| Blaine, who becomes the Nonpartlsan league governor of the great state of Wisconsin next January? He has sur- prised his farmer friends and con- 3 founded 'his plutocratic enemies by carrying the state by over 100,000 majority. This means getting the support of about two-thirds of . the voters. There are over 400 neWwspapers in Wis- consin. Two dailies and a - group of 10 or 12 country weeklies, together with the Wisconsin Leader, made up all the newspaper backing which Mr. Blaine received. Country papers were paid so much an ineh to print letters from North . Dakota people warning the ‘farmers against the dangers of League government. Eggs were thrown at -Nonpartisan - league speakers. The free love and Bolshevik bogey .men were worked to the limit by anti- League speakers and the anti- League newspapers. What were the qualities which stood up against such opposition and won victory ? I asked this question of one of Mr. Blaine’s old friends. He - said: “His courage, his 1ndepend— ence, his fearless resolution, and the fact that the farmers knew him and counted him as* one of them.” ‘He recounted instances where Mr. Blaine had shown remark- able and persistent courage and - resolution. The most notable was the stand he took, when he was a state senator, for an in- vestigation of "the campaign expenditures of Isaac Stephén- son in 1909. Stephenson was a candidate for renomination as United States senator in the fall of 1908 at an ad- visory primary, the senators at that time being elected by the legislature. The investigation re- vealed the expenditure of over $100,000. * When Blaine presented in the senate a resolution for an investigation of these campaign expenditures, he threw a political bomb, and nearly everybody thought he was blown to atoms himself. He stood almost single-handed and alone, for he was starting a war not only against a rich and influential member of his own party, but a man who had been identified with Senator La Follette and had been working with the progressive wing of the party to which Mr. Blaine himself belonged. So he was not only at- tacking one of the big men of the party, but one of the big men who had stood with him. Nearly all of the newspapers of the state at first denounced Mr. Blaine and defended Senator Stephenson. SURE OF HIS GROUND, JOHN J. BLAINE WENT STRAIGHT AHEAD But Mr. Blaine knew he was right, he was sure of consin. his facts, and he went ahead., He won a great moral . victory and the high regard of the best citizens, al- though the legislature, in spite of the dammng facts which were brought to light, re-elected Mr. Stephenson. Some who do not know Mr. Blaine very well are asking if he will try to put through the legislature the reforms called for by the Nonpartisan league platform. They do not know, or have forgotten, that it was Mr. Blaine who, as senator, introduced a resolution providing for a constitutional amendment restablishing the initiative and referendum. It pass- ed but was defeated at the polls.. When senator he was one of the leading supporters of the workmen’s compensation act; many measures amending and im- proving the election laws and he has to his credit the support of a long list of progressive reforms. The voters have had a chance to know the mnn, _mot only by his speeches but by his acts. He was a John J. Blaine, governor-elect of Wis- “I stand squarely on the Non- partisan -league platform with both feet,” Mr. Blaine declared, when the League was attacked during the Wisconsin campaign, ~Blaine was busy every farmers boy, went to district school at Wingville, in Grant county, graduated at the Montfort high school and from the law department of the North- ern Indiana university at Valparaiso in 1896. He practiced law for one year at Montfort and then he went to Boscobel, in Dane county. It was a small city of less than 200 inhabitants, Tt is still his home. He was made a member of the county board of supervisors for four years and here he had a chance to become acquainted with representative farmers from all parts of his county. He was elected mayor of his home city and served four terms. When the progressives want- in 1912 they went to Mr. Blaine and he consented to run as an independent. He was not afraid to be defeated in a fight where he stood for a pnnclple This candidacy, which sonie of his friends warned him against and which showed that he pre- ferred to be right rather than regular, proved to be the step- ping stone which led to his elec- tion as attorney general in 1918. When the Nonpartisan league held its state convention in Madison last June there were . a number of candidates consid- ered for the office of goveérnor, but soon everybody agreed that Mr. Blaine was the one man above all others whom the he was selected for indorse- ~ ment. ° A SUCCESSFUL FARMER, TOO record as a public official and besides he knew the farmer’s problem from actual experi- ence. For he was the owner of a farm of 284 acres in the Wis- consin River valley, to- gether w1th a friend, H. E. Austin, who was the postmaster at Boscobel Mr. Blaine and Mr. Austin conducted this farm with marked suec- cess. They built a new and modern barn on it, two wooden stave silos, put in a concrete feed- ing floor for the hogs and installed a run- ning water system to all parts of the barn. The land for years had grown succes- sive crops of timothy hay. There was not a bit of clover on the place, and the original fertility of the soil was pretty well exhausted. The soil was analyzed and just the right quantities and kinds of commercial fertilizers were used to bring it up to par. A : Messrs. Austin and Blaine have a fine herd of registered Holsteins, and Mr. Blaine has been as success- ful as a farmer as he has been in the field of politics. He is married and his wife has been one of the active membérs of the league of pro- gressive Republican women. ~ While her husband was touring the state during the primary campaign, and later during the campaign preceding the election, Mrs. day at the political headquarters looking after the sending out of campaign literature and making arrange- ments for public meet- ings. They still keep ed a candidate against Philipp. farmers could feel sure of, and - He had the right kind of a The Wisconsin state capitol at Madison, : PAGE FIVE . their home at Boscobel, but-as-the state has a gover- nor’s house in Madlson they will move there and oc- cupy it after January 1. . After Mr. Blaine won the primary election and had the Republican nomination, some of his friends told him it was as good as a certificate of election if he would only keep his mouth shut about the Non- partisan league. The Repubhcan platform conven- tion was held and his enemies and League enemies dug a pit for Mr. Blaine to fall in. They put a plank in the platform condemning the League and putting it in the same category w1th anarchy and bolshe- vism. BLAINE REPUDIATES OLD.GANG PLATFORM; STANDS WITH FARMERS “That will hold you for a while,” they said. But immediately after the adoption of the platform Mr. Blaine got up and read a statement repudiating it, signed by himself, Mr. Comings, the candidate for lieutenant governor, and Mr. Hall, the candidate for secretary of state. Mr. Blaine, in a statement to the Wisconsin Leader a few days after the election, said: “I shall to the best of my ability seek the confi- dence of the people who have renewed their indorse- ment of my public record. The campaign against me was unusual. It was a campaign based on slander of an organization of farmers which had in- dorsed me. No issue was presented. The press suppressed my platform and my public addresses, and it is quite remarkable that the people were able to learn the truth. The result plainly shows that, with few exceptions, they have lost faith in the daily papers of the state. “It will be my purpose to carry out my platform pledges made to the people.” Following is a summary of the platform adopted by the Nonpartisan league in Wisconsin: Demands adoption of initiative, referendum and recall. Demands repeal of espionage and sedition acts, restoration of constitutional rights. Demands repeal of Esch-Cummins act; -ultimate public ownership of railroads, elevators and other public utilities. : Favors development of co-operative enterprises. Demands tax revision, including increased taxes - on idle lands and exemption of farm improve- ments. Favors state aid for home builders and to allow tenants to secure farms. Favors extension of educational advantages to all classes and declares for representation by organized farmers and organized labor on all educational boards. Opposes use of injunctions in labor disputes. Demands waterpower. Promises state cost of production of farm products. Favors collective bargaining for both organized labor and organized -farmers. Favors publication of income tax returns, state and national. It will be noted that this platform deals with both national and state matters. Five of the 10 congressmen elected in November ac- cepted this platform. It is problematical how much of the state platform can be written state development of session of the legisla- ture. While the League has only a minority _membership, the people of Wisconsin have.spo- %en so plainly on the is- ®ues that it is probable that many additional Wotes will be cast in the forms demanded. investigation of into law at the coming o degislature for the re-