The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, March 21, 1921, Page 6

| S e skl AL s, AR ST TSP TN T f | il i B . - ~ E P34 ¥ i < ¥ - Getting the Truth About the League What a Kansas Investigating Committee Found About the Organized Farmers of North Dakota and Their Leaders G ATE in December, 1920, organizers of the Nonpartisan league started active work in Kansas. They were met by threats of mobbing and when these failed to drive them out of the state a campaign of anti-League propaganda was started. In an effort to align the American Legion against the League it was asserted that the members and leaders of the League were disloyal. It was also charged that the Nonpartisan league had intro- duced “free love” in North Dakota, that taxes were excessive, that the state industrial program was a failure and that farmers were disgusted with it. In an effort to learn the truth of these charges farmers and other residents met in the courthouse of Saline county January 29, appointed a committee to go to North Dakota and investigate all charges against the League and its leaders. Those present at this meeting raised a fund to meet all expenses of the investigation. Those selected as members of the committee were J. R. Burton, former United States senator; E. F. Swanson, ex-sheriff of Saline county; Victor C. Johnson, farmer, of McPherson county, and Charles L. Arterburn, representing organized labor. of these men were Republicans and two Democrats. The report of the committee, rendered at a mass- meeting in Salina February 26, speaks for itself, and is herewith presented in slightly condensed form: Salina, Kan., February 26, 1921. The undersigned members of the committee se- lected by a massmeeting of farmers of Saline and adjoining counties, and requested to go to North Dakota, learn the essential facts on the ground about the Nonpartisan league and report our find- ings to an adjourned meeting of such body, desire to say: Weyleft Salina on the 6th of this month, going first to Minneapolis and St. Paul, where we spent two days, and from there to Grand Forks, N. D., where we remained one-half day, from there to Blsma}'ck, where we spent an entire week, and returning, spent another day at St. Paul, arriving home,on the 19th inst. COMMITTEE GAVE BOTH SIDES FULL CHANCE TO BE HEARD Before leaving on our trip we called on Captain George H. Mallon, the state manager of the Non- partisan league, with headquarters at Salina, and at the headquarters of the Defense league and found Captain C. H. Hale in charge, and from these respective parties obtained lists of names of parties that they wanted us to see in making our investigation. We saw every person.whose name was given us by both these parties, and scores of League supporters and scores of League opponents besides. ! Because the Legion in Salina and in other parts of Kansas had been led to believe that the League—and especially the leaders of the League—were dis- loyal, we felt it our duty to first investi- gate the facts about that matter. The Nonpartisan league was in power in North Dakota before we entered the war, and has continued in power up to this time, Gover- nor Frazier, the head of that political organization, having been elected three consecutive times, and a majority of the officers in the state belong to that party. Therefore, the ac- tjion of the party in North Da- ota during the war is the best test of whether it was loyal or disloyal. The facts are these: The state oversubscribed its allot- ment in every Liberty loan. Its support of the Red Cross was ahead of any other state in the Union. It sent two volunteer regiments of men who made a most enviable record of serv- -gower to help along with preparations. Two state council of defense was organized with great The state ar association was organized for the purpose of furnishing aid in the operation of the system to drafters; and all without compensation and at a cost of $1.83 per soldier as taken against an average of $4.23 for all the states. The state draft boards and the council of defense experienced practically no trouble whatever with draft evasion. North Dakota furnished the only state in the Union that had a county where not a single man was drafted. The volunteers were ahead of the draft in that county. LEAGUE HAS RECORD OF .LOYALTY, COMMITTEE FINDS The committee also. cites the soldiers’ bonus leg- islation, the soldiers’ moratorium law, the law put- ting idle land at work and the North Dakota “work or fight” law and adds, as its conclusion: ) The Nonpartisan league of North Dakota prompt ly met every requirement of the government. There- fore, we found it to be a fact that is easily demon- strable- to any one who cares to know that the ad- ministration of North Dakota under the control of the Nonpartisan league, was as loyal as was any state in the Union. The only leader of the League in North Dakota ever charged with disloyalty was A. C. Townley, the committee states, adding that charges against Mr. Townley were made in Minnesota rather than in North Dakota, and stating that the principal basis for charges against Mr. Townley was that in various speeches he made statements substantially to the effect that: “If we should get into the war and had to resort to the draft to get an army, if the government should censcript the boys to fight, it should conscript the wealth to pay for the war; and that, if it failed to, do that, wealth would prof- iteer on the country durjng the war.” As to this statement the committee said: So far as the committee knows, A. C. Townley was the first man in America to foretell the action of wealth during the war. Profiteering may have been prophesied by others before Townley made the prophecy, but if they did, the committee has no knowledge of it. 7 In investigating charges of disloyalty against Mr. Townley, the committee first called on Rome G. Brown. publisher of the Minneapolis Tribune, who' told the committee Mr. Townley had been disloyal and that they could get proof of this from one. Harry C. Wilbur. Mr. Brown also had the commit- I ~ MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTE I N . is running an employmént bureau. tee meet Schuyler E. Farnham, a printer and pres- ident of the Minneapolis Typographical union. Mr. Farnham told the committee, the report states, “that Townley was disloyal during the war. We asked him for a concrete case against' Townléy and he said that he did not have it with him but that he would get the evidence and send-it to us. We have received no further communication from him.” Going on with the report, the _committee says: The next morning we called upon Mr. Wilbur. ‘He We found him not only courteous but highly intelligent, and very hostile to-the League. He had been at the head of the Red Cross work during the war in North Da- kota. He is a writer on sociological subjects of no mean worth. We told him we were investigating whether Townley was loyal or disloyal during the war, and were trying to find a concrete case where he had done something or said something that would indicate his disloyalty. His answer substantially was this: “You will not find anything that Townley said or did showihg his disloyalty. I hate the man. He is a damned snake in the grass. I believe he was at heart disloyal, but he was too damned ~smal} for anybody to catch him. While I was in charge o the Red Cross in North Dakota he was making speeches over the state, taking up collections for the Red Cross and telling the people to stand by the war. The farmers would go to his meetings and subscribe liberally to the Red Cross, and then they would go to our meetings and subscribe miserly. 1 saw that the League was getting credit and I issued an order prohibiting collections for the Red Cross in Townley’s meetings.” : We asked him then about the state case against Townley and his answer was that Gilbert-might have said something, but Townley said nothing, reiterating that Townley was too smart. Wg four_ld that Townley had been arrested, charg- ed with disloyalty because of resolutions that were adopted at the farmers’ and workers’ conference held at St. Paul, September 18, 19 and 20, 1917, but the supreme court of Minnesota decided that these resolutions were not disloyal and dismissed the case against Tawnley. TRIAL OF TOWNLEY AT JACKSON CALLED A “JUDICIAL FARCE” We then ‘investigated the state case against Townley that was tried at J ackson, and in which he and a man by the name of Gilbert were -convicted. They were tried under a state law which makes it a misdemeanor for two or more persons to conspire to teach dlslqulty in the state. Townley and Gil- bert were convicted and the case is on appeal ‘in the supreme court. The judge who tried the case is reported to have said that he expects the case to be reversed. While we would not charge that this case was a frameup, we think it is a matter of common knowledge tl;at it is regarded as a war case and also very much as a judicial farce. The conspiracy seemed to have rested entirely upon what Gilbert said and did, not on anything that Townley s id or did; but the illuminating fact i'éas%lect- ing Townley’s loyalty or disloyalty Wwas found when we called on T. E. Camp- bell, the present chief of police of St. Paul. During the war he was the repre- sentative of ‘the department of justice for Minnesota, all of -North Dakota, part of South Dakota and northern ‘Wisconsin. He had under him secret service men. Mr. Campbell sent his secret service men to all the meetings that Townley had. He person- ally attended some of them himself, and he said the result of his investigation was that Townley was not only not dis- 1oya} but, was aggressively loyal in everything that he said and did. Mr. M. J. Murray, now of North Dakota, was working under Mr. Campbell for the de- partment of justice, and at- tended a great many of Town- ley’s meetings, and confirmed the statement of Campbell that in every instance' Townley spoke earnestly to his audi- ence, urging them to support the government in the war, and also calling attention to ice. It quickly organized its draft board and auxiliary agencies in support "thereof. Through Governor Frazier the Charles L. Arterburn, representing organized labor. : E. F. Swanson, ex-sheriff Saline county. fim Victor Johnson, farmer. J. R. Burton, former U, S. senator, chairman of the committee. PAGE SIX TS i LS