The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, March 21, 1921, Page 7

.never had owned a piece of real estate in Nk, ok # the fact that their politica{».vopponents were trying to brand the Nonpartisan geague with disloyalty. andithat, it was their duty by their aggressive and affirmative action“in their support o v ment to'prove that the charge was false. . After we got through in Minneapclis we extended our investigations and asked almost every opponent of the Nonpartisan league to whom we talked if he -could give us any concrete case against Townley showing his disloyalty. None of them were able to do it. The committee, therefore, came to the con- clusion that any one would reach by a judicial in- . vestigation, that the charge-against Townley that he was disloyal during thé war had no foundation on fact. : ~We have given more attention to the question of the charge that the League and its leaders were dis- loyal than we otherwise would have done but for the charges that are made here in Kansas respecting this matter. The committee feels that if ought to say that but few men have gone under the search- light as has Townley and come out so completely unscathed. J Captain Hale gave to the committee a long list of matter. he wanted us to.inquire into, and among others were actions of Townley tending to show his dishonesty. \ A A Townley had failed in business and had gope through bankruptcy. beforé leaving North Dakota. By reason of his connection with the Nonpartisan league his dp(flitical enemies made the most of this failure, and it seems that his every act was scruti- nized by them with the, utmost care to find some- thing that would reflect upon -his integrity, and at the final hearing Judge Amidon, presiding, used these words respecting this proceeding against Townley: “The. search . has been pursued not only with the zeal of creditors intent on collecting their debts, but that of political adversaries seeking to discredit a party believed to be dangerous. The conclusion is justified, and the court so finds the fact to be, that the reason why this hidden treasure has not been found is that it does not exist.” The charge frequently has been made in Kansas that Townley is a rich man; that he owned a palace in St. Paul, where he. and his family lived in affluence. We found that he does not now, and the state of Minnesota; that during his - four years’ residence -there he has lived, part,of the time at Minneapolis, and part of the. time in St. Paul, in very modest quarters; and that nobody we can find could goint to his having anything in the way of property. : Captain Hale’s inquiry also went to another matter respecting Townley, ‘and it might have covered each and all of the other leaders named. Did Townley leave another political party in order to join the farmers’ political party? . We find that he did; that he ran for the legislature on the Socialist ticket in 1914, the year that Gov- ° ernor Allen ran for governor of Kansas on the Progressive ticket; that he left the So- cialist party after fighting the Republican party and went into the farmers’ Nonpar- tisan league just as Governor Allen, after fighting’ the Republican party, left the Progressive party and went into the Re- publican party. 2 ~ The next charge is that the Nonpartisan league is a socialistic political organization and its members are socialistic, and es- pecially is this charge made emphatic against its leaders. While it would be ¢ ing study to look into the motives of the people who make this charge, tlis committee desires to confine itself to facts, and it is not to be denied that the state of North Dakota is the subject of consid- - erable suspicion on the part of many wholly disin- terested people as being strongly inclined toward socialism. Nor shall we attempt to discuss the merits or demerits of socialism because, in the first place, there are various kinds of socialism; and, in the second place, there is wide difference of opinion as to what, is included ‘in each kind. R LEAGUE IS NOT DOMINATED BY SOCIALISTS, INVESTIGATORS FIND The facts about North Dakota are these: Before the organization of the Nonpartisan league the peo- -ple had voted for a state-owned mill and elevator y a ve large ajority. . This was, of course, 2 lfimd of Socialism, like our. state printing plant in ansas. . - As a newly organized army is surrounded. with'’ : adventurers and marplots, so too was-the Nonpar= tisan league surrounded by wild-eyed Kolitical ad~ venturers from every quarter of the country. It has taken the Nonpartisan league some time to clear away the political rubbish that sur- ‘rounded it, but the League has measurably succeed- ed in North Dakota with ‘respect to this particular matter. All of the extreme Socialists have heen cleared out of North Dakota. In concluding what we have to say on this subject we submit the fol- ... secretary to Governor Frazjer: e govern- . e an interest- - lowing statement handed to us.by Nelson A. Mason; R S T S ¥ . February 15, 1921, To Whom It May Concern: ' - This is to set forth that since Governor Frazier took office he has personally made 242 official ap- pointments, Of this humber not to exceed six have ever been in any way, at any time, connected with the Socialist party and they—with one or two ex- ceptions — received unimportant board appoint- ments. The others have always been Republicans and Democrats. No man has ever been ‘commis- sioned who has served time in prison or penitentiary. : Respectfully submitted, N. A. MASON, Secretary to the Governor. * In answer' to the question: “Are the Leagiers free lovers?” the committee says: Eighty-five per cent of the people of North -Da- kota are rural. . They are a virtuous, God-fearing people. The standard of morals among the mem- " bers of the Nonpartisan league, both men and women, is as high a standard ascan be found among the adherents of any political party in America. In the statement of facts that we are trying to make the committee would not indulge in anathema or give vent to sentimental feelings but * *. * . it is hard to speak temperately as to this charge of free love against the people of North Dakota and against the leaders of the respective political parties. It has no fouridation whatever in fact'and | - THE FINDINGS l AND FOOLISH! Kansas INESTIGATING COMMITTEE —Drawn expressly for the Leader by John M. Baer is a slander that ng one will make against any po- - - litical party in North Dakota unless he indulges in falsehood or ignorance. The committee finds that the most serious mis- _take made by the League in its administration ‘of ~ North Dakota was “the mistreatment of Miss Min- nie J. Neilson, who had been fairly elected for su- perintendent of:public instruction. ‘Theman she de- feated refused to give up the office’ and she had to resort to the courts, which she did, to get it. * * * There were other minor mistakes such as were to have been expected by any new party suddenly clothed with power. But ‘such mistakes as these were not the big obstacles.” On the subject of increased taxes the committee -says: 28 ik i 7 " There is much-talk about increased taxation in . North Dakota,-but. far more talk in Kansas about this sabject than there-is in that state. The Non- partisan league’s answer to increased taxation is . that it is not because -of these state-owned indus- tries. The increase there; as it is here, is largely because - of the local taxes; the largest increase there is in support of their schools 'and_especially in aid to their rural schools. It seems North Da- ota has gone ahead of all the states in the aid ey have given to their rural schools. The charge is made that diserimination has been .PAGE SEVEN _that nearly all were active church members. made against the farmer in their sysiem of levying taxes. ~We were not_able to find this as a fact n were.we dble to find any;farmer who/had found it. It is perhaps enough to say on.this subject that North Dakota has a smaller per capita state tax’ than any of the following states: Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah or Nebraska. LEAGUE OPPOSITION OFFERS NO CONSTRUCTIVE PROGRAM TO FARMERS The committee quotes in detail interviews with Jerry Bacon, O. B. Burtness, J. F. T. O’Connor and , T. G. Nelson, leaders of the League opposition in North Dakota: The interviews show that all these men admitted: that the farmers had been imposed upon YPefore the League came into power but that none of them had any plan to offer to take the place of the League plan and secure justice for the farmers. After quoting Mr. Nelson’s outline of the I. V. A. plan for limiting the state elevator to $2,000,000 the committee states: 2 ‘While ‘Mr. Nelson speaks of his willingness to let the Nonpartisan league have a trial on the elevator and mill and would make other concessions, as in- dicated in his statement, it is plain that he is op- posed to state industries. Of course he is intelli- gent enough to know that with the $2,000,000 -ex- pended on the mill—and it will cost that to com- plete it—and with no capital to run it, it would quickly prove a failure. He believes that all state industries will prove failures, as he told the committee. He believes in the liquidation of the bank or to reduce it to a-1and loan bank. In short, the proposi- tion of the “No Party” (the League ‘oppo- sition), so far as we could see and so far ‘as these statements that we have given you from the most reliable sources would indicate, is to put the state back exactly where it was at the time of the organiza- tion of the Nonpartisan league. Much of the report is given to a detailed study of the operations of the Bank of North Dakota, which the committee says is “the one new thing and the one big thing in the Nonpartisan league program.” The 'committee quotes the statement of the condition of the bank made by Direc- tor General F."W. Cathro and certified as correct by the auditors employed by the " League opposition and adds: We were not able to get any statement from what seemed to be a responsible source tending to contradict Mr. Cathro’s statement. It may be that the committee was influ- enced in this matter to a degree by the well-known fact that Mr. Cathro stands, and has stood for years, in the very front ranks among the leading bankers of North Dakota as a conservative and successful banker and that the checking of the Bank of North Dakota by auditors seemed to confirm every statement that he has made about the bank. As to the future of affairs in North Da- kota the committee said it was likely to be a “fight to the death,” concluding its report with the fellowing statement: «Thermopolae had its messenger of the defeat but the Alamo flad none”’—this is the proud boast of the Texan—this is why the Alamo is called the cradle of Texas liberty. }i‘here are different claims of the two parties respecfing the votes of 1916, 1918 and - 1920, but a study by any one on the ground will con- vince him that one, two or perhaps a dozem suc- cesses, or a dozen defeats at the polls, will not end this contest. There was injected into the raging struggle while we were there the idea of compro- mise—it met with little favor from either side. There was a state gathering of League women “while we were in Bismarck. They were wives and daughters of farmers and of laboring men; many of . them had come from a great distance. Their ses- sion lasted two days and closed with a banquet. Their husbands and brothers were at the banquet. We talked to many of these women, we heard them talk at their meetings and at their banquet. Many of them told us of the spirit of ostracism that had manifested itself against the League. women by . their city sisters and by club women. We were T%old ey are good, God-fearing women, with -souls as pure as the snow that covers their northern prairie .homes. Their devotion to the League is stronger, if possible, than that of the men. Every one is a crusader and their politics and their religion seem blended in a common devotion. No matter how long the fight lasts, it is victory or death with them. & (Continued on page 17) -