The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, August 8, 1921, Page 11

A Page of, by and for the Women THE FARM WOMAN’S PAGE In Behalf of Social Progress: Farmers Celebrate Mrs. Reynolds Writes Us About a Big July Fourth Entertainment o DITOR Nonpartisan Leader: A farm- i| ers’ celebration in the little village of Lunds Valley, Mountrail county, N. D., July 4, was another proof that the farmers will stick. A nearby town was also_celebrating, but the farmers went to their own celebration. As far back as the writer’s memory will carry her, the farmers have gone with their families to the nearby town to celebrate on holidays, have tramped the streets all day as strangers in a strange land; spent what money they could spare and then have dnven home to' do the evening chores. No new acquamtances made; none were asked to have a part in the day’s program other than to part with what money they could spare. No farmer or farmer’s "wife, son or daughter was sup- posed to be capable of serving on a committee, But times seem to be chang- ing since Townley fired a shot that was heard ’round the world, and the farmers of Mountrail and Burke counties proved . their ability to put their resolutions through—for the recent affair was strictly a Nonpartisan celebration. First on the program was the parade, led by the Lunds Val- ley band, which needs no in- troduction, since it has a state- wide reputation. Next came the truck which carried Uncle Sam and five girls represent- ing Goddesses of Lihenty; then our first American inhabitant: the Indian chief, squaw an pappoose, followed by George and Martha Washington, a sol- dier, sailor and nurse, a cow- boy and girl riding ponies, and the Nonpartisan league farmer riding in a two-wheel cart CLUB LEADER g = common people for justice. flies the entire county will be covered with similar organizations of the women, who are awakenmg to the new -duties placed before them by the wmnmg of the ballot. COUNTY TO ORGANIZE Goodhue county, Minn., plans to put on an in- tensive organization drive for Women’s Nonparti- san clubs through the month pf September. - Mrs. . Susie Stageberg will have an actwe part in the work, Clubs Great Asset Lecturer Gives His Impressions of Women’s Movement in Minnesota BY EX-CHIEF OF POLICE HARTHILL OF MINNEAPOLIS One of the blggest and most agreeable surprises I have ever had in my 22 years as a member and official of the labor movement is the interest shown by the - farmer - women in the - great struggle _on the part of the While giving my illustrated lecture on vice and crime un- der the auspices of the Wom- en’s Nonpartisan clubs, I found active women’s_ clubs I have ever had the pleasure to min- gle with, and it was surprising to learn that they had made students of themselves on these most important subjects and realized the importance of the women’s help in these political and economic fights. ~ under the auspices.of the Non- partisan’ Women’s federation and we had a very fine audi- ence both from the standpoint of numbers and interest. From Grandy I went to Long Prairie and Clarissa, where I lectured again under the aus- pices of the women’s clubs, and them the most interested and ° I lectured at Grandy, Minn. , which was drawn by “Big Biz.” Then came the senior and junior Leaguers bearing ban- ners. At the close of the pa- rade the letters “N. P. L.” were formed by the senior Lea- guers, after which the God- desses of Liberty sang “Amer- ica,” with pantomime, and “The Star Spangled Banner.” Mrs. Ernest J. Miller, president. of Renville County (Minn.) Federation of Women’s Nonpartisan clubs: Mrs. Miller is largely responsible for the Renville county Fourth of July cele- bration reported on this page. She personally has visited 12 clubs in her county this summer. She keeps an eye out for the welfare of every one of the 25 clubs of that county. we had a wonderful créwd, en- thusiastic- and+attentive, who realized the necessity of the women’s co-operation through organization and also realized that organization meant little without activity. on the job. My first opportunity to learn something about the Women’s Nonpartisan clubs They were The elegant costumes of Un- cle Sam, the Goddesses of Liberty, George and +~zMartha Washington, the .Indians, soldier, sailor, nurse and the cowboy and girl added much to the effect of the parade, and “Big Biz,” with his elec- tric light bulb for a diamond, furmshed much amusement. Senator Ingerson and others addressed the crowds. The ball game between Lunds Valley and Vanville was of unusual interest, the game ending a tie. The refreshment stands, which were con- ducted in behalf of the Nonpartisan league Victory . fund, were rushed all day. As chore time drew near there was a lull at the stands, where the women had been so busy all day—the farmers had gone home to “slop the hogs,” but a great many - came back for the dance. More than $200 was cleared, which will help swell the Victory fund. Hats off to the farmers of the Lunds Valley dis- trict! May they always put their decisions through in as able a manner as they did their ‘first celebra- tion! A Women’s Nonpartlsan club ‘was organized in the Lunds Valley district about a month ago, with five members. Its membership now totals more than 50. MRS. L. F. REYNOLDS. Powers Lake, N. D, __FIRST CLUB STARTED Wright county, Minn., now has its first Women’s ©» Nonpartisan club established, and before the snow left- the impression that they are a valuable asset in this struggle. LIKES LECTURES "Miss Kate Gregg, National Manager Women’s Nonpartisan Clubs: If I would try to tell you how well I liked Mr. Harthill’s lecture, put on by Wom- en’s Nonpartisan clubs, I'm afraid I would write too long a letter. But this I will say—it was fine, great—the best and most instructive lecture we ever had the opportunity to hear in this part of Minnesota. We all like Mr. Harthill. He is fine, and we like him this well—if we can make arrangements we will stage his lecture in three or four towns. here. Yours for the League, TENA SCHWARTZ, Secretary Todd County Federation Womens Nonpartisan Clubs. X Eagle Bend, Minn. "; bty & Dear Miss Gregg: . Last night the clubs of our county gave the illustrated lecture by Mr. Harthill and we are all so pleased with it that I felt I had to write and tell you. - The -lecture was the most instructive affair that I have ever-seen, and I hope that the clubs will all put it on, for I feel sure that if anything will coun- teract the propaganda spread by big business this lecture sure will. MINNIE CEDERHOLM, President Jsantl ‘County Federation Women’s “Nonpartisan Clubs, ¥ Grandy, an. 5 City Women Awaken . Beginning to Wonder. About High Prices of - Farm Stuff While Farmers Are Broke NNIE LAURIE, writing in the San Francisco Examiner, gives the point of view of women of the city who have to buy the food supplies for their fam- ilies. She tells of the high prices and poor quality of fruits and vegetables in the city grocery stores, and compares this situa- tion with the fact that prices to farmers are so. low that they are going broke, and with the fact that middlemen are destroying food to keep the price up. “What do the plain, everyday men and women who try to buy fresh fruit and good vegetables for their families and pay a decent price for it say?” she asks. “They just buy what they can get, pay what they have to pay for it—and let it-go at that. “But they’re getting a little restless, the plain everyday man and woman with the bills to pay. A good many of .them read about the burning of that carload of green beans the other day and some of" them noticed that beans didn’t come down in price. “Four days after that a woman telephoned me that she called up two grocers and asked them the price of onions—she’d read in the papers that they we e giving onions away in the wholesale district she wanted to know. And one of her grocers asked her 10 cents for two pounds of onions, and the other asked her 25 cents for two pounds. And: the woman said she didn’t think that sounded very much like exactly what you would call charity. “The farmers all over the country are uniting as never before. There will soon be here in: San Francisco a meeting of farmers, commission men and railroad people—I wonder if it would be possi- ble for the man'who buys the-food for his family and_the woman who selects it ‘and the farmer—to get together and put an end somehow, some way, to .this suicidal, old-fashioned, clumsy, primitive sys- tem which puts a premium on dishonesty and-forces us here in California, the land of bounteous plenty, to apologize to our eastern visitors for the quality and the quantity of our fruits and vegetables when we take them to our markets or-invite them home to dine with us. “The farmers made money during the war—that’s true. They are not making money now. They are losing money—hosts of them all over the country— and when the farmers really begin to lose real money, look out. “‘Something is going to drop. “For at the last analysis, we all depend on the land and what the land supplies. One of the rea- sons Rome fell was because the Roman citizen got too far away from his food supply and men found that it paid better in -actual money to be soldiers than it did to_be farmers.” A Fourth of July How Renville County Celebrated—5 000 At- tended Big Doings of Women’s Clubs. The Renville county (Minn.) celebration of the’ Fourth of July, sponsored by the Women’s Nonpar- tisan clubs of that county, was a great success. Danube was the scene of a two days’ celebration— everything offered that goes to make a traditional jubilee. The street parade began at 11:30 a. m. on the Fourth, with all kinds of floats to set forth League ideas and program. The county federation banner was followed by the banners of each of the clubs. The float that called forth the most applause showed the “League goat” with “Big Biz” up a tree. Dr. Henrik Ship- : stead and Mrs. Helen Camp Thomson were the speakers of the day. The latter part of the after- noon was crowded with various kinds of games and races. Danube demonstrated its superiority over Sacred : Heart in the games by a score of 13 to 1, and on the second day Olivia beat Danube 9 to 4. The cel- ebration closed with a dance, the music bemg fur- nished by the Miller orchestra. It is estimated that over 5,000 attended this cel-: ebration of the Renville county women. Mrs, Er-. nest J. Miller, president of the county federation, and Mrs. Hewerdine and Mrs. Harold Baker were largely respons:ble for the great success of the z ‘occasion. :