The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, October 17, 1921, Page 5

. Nebraska Political Situation Disg:ussed BY EDITOR NEBRASKA LEADER- POLITICAL entrants for the campaign of 1922 # are now being groomed for the race. Both - Republican and Democratic leaders have taken notice of the fact that Judge Arthur G. Wray, running as a candidate for governor in 1920, by. petition, with the indorsement of the Nonparti- san league, polled 88,905 out of a total of 378,246 votes. The political captains are guessing where " this vote will strike in-the next campaign. Will it be used as a balance of power in one of -the old parties, and if so which one? Or will it be used in a separate and independent organization? In " the meantime the League managers are making no noise, and say that these questions will all be an- swered by'a duly called state convention of the League members. . . Robert Beecher Howell, Republican national com-~ ~ mitteeman and manager of the municipal enter- prises in Omaha, has announced himself as a can- didate for the United States senate. Howell is despised by the Republican reactionaries and secret conferences are being held to pick a reactionary candidate that can defeat him in the primary. Among those discussed are Governor McKelvie, Charles A. McCloud, chairman Republican state central committee, and ex-Congressman Charles H. Sloan. Without attempting to forecast the action of the League state convention, it can safely be said that as against any one of these three, the League would indorse Howell. Senator Hitchcock will probably be a candidate to succeed himself in the Democratic primary. Dur- ing the recent recess of congress, the senator made . several addresses in the state before business men's ‘clubs. It is quite significant that the senator made no addresses before any farmer organization. There are rumors that W. H. Thompson, Demo- cratic national committeeman and a Bryan Demo- crat, will oppose Senator Hitchcock in the primary. Should the League enter the Democratic primary, it would probably get behind Thompson in prefer- . ence to Hitchcock. - CANDIDACY OF WRAY BOTHERS POLITICIANS In-the contest for governor, Senator McMullen of Beatrice has already announced his candidacy on the Republican ticket. McMullen was second high man in“the primary last year. A. J. Weaver of Falls City, president of the state constitutional convention, has not announced his candidacy, but expects him to be a candidate. He has the backing of the McKelvie machine and is sat- isfactory to the reactionaries. It has been reported that he will come out on a progres- sive platform that will cut into the League program. Weaver is a master actor when it comes to being for anything that all the people want and in being nen-com- mittal upon anything that only -part of the people want. There is one thing that is bothering Weaver, and that is- the candidacy of -Arthur G. Wray. If Wray becomes a candidate on the Republi- can ticket he will have the solid support of the Nonpar- tisan league. With three in the race Wray would secure - the nomination and no one knows this better than Weaver. : On the Democratic side there is nothing except ru- mors. It is generally con- ceded that if the League en- ters the Democratic primary with Wray as the candidate, he would win against any one or more Democrats, and . there is a large group of League members who believe field, Idaho. NONPARTISAN LEAGUE NEW that the safe way to proceed is to use the Demo- cratic party. Quite a large number favor inde- pendent action with a new party name, but this would be postponed until after the primary election. | WASHINGTON 1 BY THE STATE MANAGER S MANY of our members seem discouraged on account of poor crops and the slump in prices of all farm products, it will do us all ~-good to read the following letter, received at the state office a few days ago from one of the League members in Montana—that state which has been hit as hard, or harder, than any other state in the Union, but in whose people the spirit of free- dom never dies. ) “Joplin, Mont. “Washington League Headquarters: “Defeat? There can be no such thing as defeat for those who follow the dictation of their own conscience. For theirs is eternal salvation. “Shall we give up the fight? I say no! Give up the fight with victory almost won? I say no! Al- though our enenties think they are at their strong- est, they are the weakest—their very strength is their weakness. X “To give up the fight now is to languish into nothingness. What would we think if Washington had given up after the first fight; if Garrison had quit after the first mob violence; if Grant had given up after the battle of Bull Run? These great men fought for an ideal. And they fought and continued to fight when everything seemed to be against them. Washington fought for twe long years when defeats were more frequent than vie- tories. Garrison fought for a lifetime and never lived to see his ideal accomplished. And Grant’s only terms were “unconditional surrender.” These men fought for liberty—not so much for themselves as for others. Shall we quit then? I say no! Let us not step aside. Let us keep pounding away. “We must have exemption of farm improvements from taxation. ’ “We must have rural credit banks operated at cost. “We must have state terminal elevators, ware- houses, flour mills, stockyards, packing houses, creameries and cold storage plants. “We must have state hail insurance. “We must have state inspection of dockage and grading of grain. “We must have the Torrens land title system. “We must have a nonpartisan election law. This _harvesting outfit belongs to a group of Montana Leaguers in Camas county, near Fair- H. B. Peck is driver.. His brother-in-law is tender. ‘W. H. Peck, also shown on the machine, was a League legislator. His father, who is helping finance the machine, claims to be a Republican, but is losing his faith. Three League neighbors are standing on the ma- chine. They use 24 horses and are cutting over 1,000 acres. They haul direct, thus crack- ing on the head the sack and twine trust. feet above sea level and is solid for the Nonpartisan league. ° PAGE FIVE : . IDAHO LEAGUERS’ ENTERPRISE Camas prairie is a valley 5,000 Wisconsin Paper Peddles Falsehood “We must have equal taxation of all public utility corporations. “We must have state rural telephone system operated at cost. “Let us go on with the great movement. Let us go on with the fight regardless of their tar and feathers. Let us go on regardless of their Ku Klux Klan form of argument. The bells of legal- ized monopoly shall not ring the death knell of our constitutional liberties. Let’s go! “PERRY OAKLEY.” [ WISCONSIN I BY EDITOR WISCONSIN LEADER EWSPAPERS opposed to the League, and belonging to the brass check fraternity, are seeking to stop the drive which is go- ing on in this state for new members, by inventing a story that League activity in Wiscon- sin at the present time is due to a need for funds to carry on the North Dakota recall election cam- paign. A recent editorial in the Milwaukee Jour- nal makes this charge, which, of course, is wholly false. All readers of the Nonpartisan Leader know that when a new member joins the League in Wisconsin, or any other state, only $4 passes out of the state, to pay in advance for a two years’ subscription to the Nonpartisan Leader, and for office expenses of the national office at Minneapolis. The League meetings of Lieutenant Governor Comings, which are being held in various parts of the state, are attracting state-wide attention. Dur- ing the early part of October he will be holding meetings daily in Monroe, county. His work has been of pronounced assistance to the organizers. The League, although primarily responsible for Governor Blaine being chosen to lead the fight for _ farmer-labor reforms in the state last fall, has not concerned itself with patronage, and has not recom- mended any one for any appointive office, but a choice of a successor to Dr. McCarthy as head of - the state legislative reference library is one of such vital importance to the future of reform leg- islation in this state, that many of those active in League matters have recommended Glenn P. Tur- ner as a successor to Dr. McCarthy. LIBRARY APPOINTMENT MAY BE SATISFACTORY TO FARMERS This appointment will be made soon by the free- library commission, of which the noted author, Miss Zona Gale of Portage, is chairman. Another » member of the commission is Senator H. J. Severson, one of the leaders of the League forces in the upper house. Still another member of the com- mission is Superintendent of Education John Callahan, who owes his success largely to the support of the Nonpartisan league at the election held last spring. Mr. Turner has been active in the organization work of the League. He was one of the first organizers sent out in this state. Mr. Turner has many of the qualities which endeared Dr. McCarthy to the heart of pro- gressives everywhere. And be- sides, he is pecularly qualified for this job. He has had uni- versity library_training. His experience as a lawyer and as a member of the legislature for two years also helps to fit him for the position. men have disappointed us after taking office, on account of their progressive principles slowly fading out under vari- ous influences playing upon them. Social prestige is some ‘times the most insidious, and rd b In this state, as elsewhere,, many supposedly progressive - R e o assadlane ot mpopEnrnae