The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, March 7, 1921, Page 3

T o B i§ ot : s B B sas Legion was against the League. L] IN THE INTEREST OF A SQUARE DEAL FOR TKE tered as second-class matter at Mlnnenpolis Minn., under the act of March 3, 1879 Publication-address, 427 Sixth avenue 8., Minneapolis, Minn, Address all remmnnces to The Nonpnnlunn Ialder. Box 2075, Minneapolis, Minn, the postoffice at Honpamxan Teadep Loz Official Magazine of the National Nonpartisan Leazue-—Every Two Weeks LIVER 8. MORRIS, Editor. A MAGA!!NE THAT DARES TO PRINT THE TRUTH One year, in adyance, $2.50; six months, $1.50. Clas- sified rates on classified page; other ldverunln rates on applitation. Member Audit Bureau of (‘lrcu ations, 8. eckwith Special Agency, advertising represen- tntlveu New York, Chlcago St. Louis, Kensas Citg. VOL. 12, NO. 5 MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, MARCH 17, 1921 WHOLE NUMBER 2617 How Anti-League Papers Handle the Truth United States were printing dispatches from Kansas under such headlines as “Kansas Legion Attacks Nonpartisan League,” declaring flatly that the. Legion in Kansas had gone on record against thé farmers’ organization. The following communication on this subject has been handed to the Leader by the Minnesota office of the Amierican Legion: In a letter from Frank E. Samuel, state adjutant of the American a- MONTH or SO ago antl-League newspapers in all ‘parts of the N Légion of Kansas, to A. H. Vernon, commander of the American Le- gion of ane..ot%, dated February 1, AdJutant Samuel Yy X asks the co-operafion of Minnesota ofiiclals in dorrecting Lie ,Nalled statements to the effect that the American Legion of by Legion Kansas is attacking the Nonpartisan league. Comman- of Kansas der Vernon will issue a bulletin to the 475 Minnesota Le- gion posts giving the gist of Adjutant Samuel’s letter, to the following effect: “It is apparent, from letters received from American Leglon posts and individual Legionnaires throughout the country, that they have been misinformed regarding the attitude of the Kansas department of the American Legion toward the Nonpartisan league. We natufally do not attack the League for two reasons, because it is considered a political body and because many American Legion members belong to the Nonpartisan league. I inclose-copy of the resolution passed by the Kansas Legion executive committee January 21, which I am sure will make clear the situation, if communicated to your posts and given pub- ‘licity in the public press.” The resolution of the Kansas Legion executive committee makes the following E}eference to the Nonpartisan league: “It is the sense of this committee that posts should be informed that there is no restriction in the-constitution of the American Legion prohibiting individual members from joining the Nonpartisan league or any other political organization. Be it resolved, that insofar as the economic and’ political principles of, the Nonpartisan league are in- volved, the American Legion of Kansas takes no stand, but urges each member of the American Legion to perform his full duty as a citizen according to hig own conscience and understanding.” Resolutions, adopted by the American Legion of Minnesota, and the national organization, in convention assembled during 1920, prac- ~ tically convey the same statements as embodied 'in the resolution of the American Legion of Kansas. Commander A. H. Vernon and other Min- nesota Legion officials intend to live up to the spirit of these resolutions. statement to 400 newspapers in the state of Minnesota, with a request that the matter we have reproduced above be printed. The American Legion officials undoubtedly thought that these papers, which professed such friendship for the ex-service men, would be glad to print the Legion statement regarding the COMMANDER VERNON of the Minnesota Legion sent this Nonpartisan league. For this effort to set the truth’ Kept Press before the people the Leader desires to thank Com- Ref t mander Vernon and the other Legion officials in P:‘airlllts?l'sru(ih Minnesota most heartily. — Practically every one of the 400 papers had previously ) printed the statement that the\ Kan- = How many of them were willing to print the truth, as requested by Com- ‘mander Vernon? In the Twin Cities, of / seven daily papers, just one printed the resolutions. ' This one was the Minnesota Daily’ Star, owned by. city workers - and farmers. While we have not had opportunity to check up on the country papers, we ‘are willing to make a wager that the papers that printed -it, outside of those owned by the organized farmers or or- ‘ganized labor, could be count- ‘ed on the fingers of one hand. - . As long as our papers de- light in printing lies and re- fuse to print the truth, so long will the American public be suspicious of them. F . » il ~ LOOK OUT! - | 28 . ' —Drawn expressly for the Leader by W. C. Morris. . PAGE THRER ; 21 issue we stated that, according to press reports, the Ne- braska Farm Bureau federation had announced that it would adopt a program of opposition to the Nonpartisan leaguP We later received the following letter from Nebraska: Editor Nonpartisan Leader: I have just finished reading your editorial on the Farm Bureau and notice that you credit press dis- patches with saying that the Farm Bureau in Nebraska has openly announced its purpose of putting the League out of business. You are entirely right about what the press dlspatches said,-but as generally the case where the League is concerned the press dispatches told anything but the truth. F. C. Crocker of Filley, Neb., member of the state executive committee of the Farm Bureau in Nebraska, made a violent attack on the League, said the Bureau was organized to fight the League and made an open fight on Elmer E. Youngs, president of the Farm Bu- reau and a staunch Nonpartisan Leaguer. This position taken by Crocker was publicly repudiated by the Farm Bureau and at the recent election of state officers Mr. Youngs was re-elected president of the Farm Bureau. But the anti-League papers, which falsely reported that the Nebraska Farm Bureau federation was fighting the League, have yet to iannounce that the Farm Bureau repudlated the statements of one irresponsible official. ON PAGE 16 of this issue of the Leader we are printing a I I ERE is another matter worth considering. In the February Another Lie of the Anti- League Press statement by former President Taft, correcting and retract- ing a false statement about a state official elected by the Nonpartisan league. In a letter to the Leader Mr. Taft said: I based my statements in respect to the campaign and the state . issues in North Dakota on information that I recelved from persons whom I regarded as entirely reliable. We want to thank Mr. Taft for the manly spirit he has shown gx admitting hlshmlStai{eL We hopte::, alsg, thfi.’r e will realize that anti-League interests who 1I\J/II‘. TaflfiFmd-s have been furnishing him with information eague munemies ., by no means “entirely reliable” but, on the Deceived Him other hand, are entirely unreliable. But the papers which published the false statement by Mr. Taft are not as manly as he. In spite of a request from a former president of the United States to publish his retrac- tion, we have seen this retraction in only- one paper in the United States—the Philadelphia Public Ledger—which reaches only a small fraction of the readers who saw the original falsehood. HIS entire page is devoted to nailing three lies circulated by I enemies-of the League. The entire issue of the Leader could be devoted to nailing similar lies, circulated from the Atlantic to the Pacific—and then we would not have covered them all. Most of the anti-League propaganda now being put out - deals with the Help Us Tell financial and the Truth to political con(g; tion in Nor the Country Dakota. This propaganda ‘is compounded ‘about equally of half-truths and wholly false statements. The papers that are printing these charges know they are false and mis- leading, but they will no more correct them than they will, correct their false statements about the Kansas Legion, the Nebraska Farm Bureau or the statement by Mr. Taft The FACTS about the North Dakota situation are set forth in detail on page 5 of this issue of the Leader. Every reader of the Leader should read these facts repeatedly until he has di- gested them thoroughly. Then help us tell the z%zfu- truth to others. =