The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, May 30, 1921, Page 5

first state to enact a bonus law for service men. At the fourth meeting of the series, at Herring- ton, Mr. Townley was interrupted by a woman heck- ler who askéed him to explain his conviction in Jack- son county, Minn. Mr. Townley said: “] made hundreds of speeches during the war, fighting the fight of the farmers against the grain trust and the beef trust. The government had agents taking stenographic notes of everything I said. The state of Minnesota had operatives watch- ing and listening to everything I said. I ask you, why didn’t they file complaints against me, under the espionage law, if anything I said or did was wrong? If I had done or said anything out of the way I could have been punished by 20 years’ im- prisonment. Finally the grain gamblers found a little two-by-four county attorney in Jackson coun- ty, Minn., who would work for them. He didn’t charge that I was preaching sedition. All he could charge was that I had conspired with a man I had never set eyes upon, in a county I had never enter- ed, to utter disloyal remarks and hinder enlist- ments. My side of the story was not allowed to go to the jury. I was convicted and sentenced to three months in jail. Think of it—three months in jaill And think of all the trouble I caused the trusts and grain gamblers while they were framing.” THE FIVE LEAGUE “PLANKS”—BY JOHN M. BAER == STATE |NSPECTION o= > NE=FX PTION_OF FA j —_— ol s drawn here the five “planks” in_the original Nonpartisan league platform and has shown below each plank just what has been done to carry it into effect. State inspection of grain and dock- age means four distinct savings to the farmer. First, he gets full weight; second, the grade he is enti- tled to; third, the correct payment CARTOONIST JOHN BAER has ——_GRAIN AND DOCKAGE ——_Ji| M L) \ L % for that grade (the margin of profit of the country buyer being limited- " by law); fourth, pay for dockage. Exemption of farm improvements from taxation means that a farmer is encouraged to make the farm a better place to live ‘instead of being punished for improving his property. Farm machinery and implements are also largely exempted from taxation. _ State hail insurance has saved the farmers of North Dakota more than $5,000,000 a year since it was put into effect, the private rate ranging from 70 to 84 cents.an acre for $7 insurance being cut to 28 cents on 12,000,000 acres of crops. \PSEl I'M NoT PUNISHED FOR IMPROVING M\r\(l PRO'PE.RTY N R \ Rural credits banks operated at cost has meant a saving of $2,000,000 a year in interest charges since the Bank of North Dakota started making loans at 6 per cent. Before this the daverage farm mortgage rate was 8.7 per cent (U. S. department of agriculture fig- ures). Now the average rate is 6.7 per cent (U. S. census figures) on $108,000,- 000 worth of mortgages. State-owned - terminal elevator and flour mill is the only plank not yet fully carried out. When Wall street banks carried out their conspiracy and refused to handle North Dakota bonds, work had to be stopped on the half-finished elevator and mill at Grand Forks. North Dakota is now going direct-to the peo- ple of the United States with the bonds. .Sale of the North Dakota bond issue will mean the early completion of the elevator and flour mill at Grand Forks - and the carrying out of the final and most important “plank” of the North Dakota platform. If every farmer does his part the bonds will soon be sold.