The nonpartisan leader. [volume], September 23, 1918, Image 10

About The nonpartisan leader. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1915-1921

Image provided by: State Historical Society of North Dakota

                
a
aide of the story that the commission held public
hearings and at the same time spread abroad the
impression that the government was to take charge
of the meat packing industry.
"The result of the commission's course," says this
Packingtown indictment of the commission, "was,
jnot to give information to the public, but to place
the commission in the position of seeking to create
prejudice which would support an apparently pre
conceived purpose to inaugurate government opera
tion of the business."
This is a strange statement in view of the fact
'that the commission did not recommend public
ownership of the packing business at all, but mere
ly recommended public operation of the stockyards
as public markets, and of the branch houses as
public wholesale markets for meat products. It
recommended only that the oppressive and wasteful
monopoly of the Chicago packing ring be smashed,
and open competition in meat packing be estab
lished.
BIG BIZ WOULD NAME
NEW TRADE BOARD
"The seriousness of the consequence of the com
mission's course," goes on this brazen letter to the
White House, "is apparent from the circumstance
that the commission's representative (Francis J.
Heney) took oath that crimes had been committed.
If there was crime on the part of any person the
public welfare demands its immediate prosecution
by the properly constituted authorities. It equally
demands that the commission, which has no crimi
nal jurisdiction, should sedulously refrain from
alleging the perpetration of felonies which have
NDER date of August 26, 1918,
H. M. Van Hoesen of St. Paul,
in the course of a letter to
F. G. R. Gordon of Haverhill,
Mass., wrote as follows:
"I learned something today
that may interest you the"
Maxwell story was paid for, I
am told, by the "On the Square"
Publishing company—just another instance of their
insane use of money."
This statement of Van Hoesen, which fell into
the hands of the Nonpartisan Leader, along with
other correspondence of a sensational nature which
has already been published, is very important. It
a throws new light on the exploit of one "Rev."
S. R. Maxwell, whose name is already familiar to
JLeader readers and whose story we have promised
for several weeks to tell you in full.
v. The farmers of Minnesota were surprised about
two months ago by the announcement of the St.
Paul Dispatch, an anti-farmer, anti-labor organ,
that this paper would publish a series of articles
entitled "The Nonpartisan League From the Inside,"
by "the Reverend" Maxwell, "former national
speaker of the League and one who is familiar
with the inmost secrets of the organization."
WHOEVER BOUGHT
HIM WAS STUNG
The surprise over this announcement -quickly
turned to amusement as the announced articles be
gan to appear. They consisted of chatter and
gpssip by a self-seeker who joined the League or
ganizing staff last year and who, finding he could
not run the League to feed his own ambition, had
sold out to the enemy. The articles contained no
charges against the League or its officers which
had not been made time and time^ again during
the four-year life of the organization, for Max
well, a minor employe of the farmers, of course
knew no more about the League than its members
or the public generally. There are no secrets about
the League, and Maxwell's "inside facts" were
merely distortions of well known facts and mis
representations of League., officers and workers,
/mixed with pure fiction dished up in a sensational
_jbut unconvincing manner.
"f While the St. Paul Dispatch claimed to be pub
lishing the Maxwell "eixposure" as its own feature,
friends of the League knew that Maxwell had not
sold out and permitted the use of his name to
substantiate the charges of the.opposition, without
getting a good, round price for it. Through sources
that were reliable the League learned that Maxwell
had received $10,000 for his act of treason to the
farmers—$10,000 for lying about and'misrepresent
ing an organization whose money he had accepted
The Leader has been running the re
port of the federal trade commission,
which urges that the nation take over
the marketing of meat products. This
.week we have postponed the next in
stallment. Instead, here is the story
on this page showing how the profi
teers hang together. Government
ownership is feared by Big Biz
and desperate attempts are
being made to head it off.
not been proved in accordance with''established
legal procedure."
That is to say, the chamber of commerce is sore
becauser Heney took oath that the packers were in
conspiracy to control the food supplies of the
allies, and it rejoices that the courts refused to let
him see the secret correspondence of the packers,
in the Veder vaults in Chicago, that would prove
the crime.
Again, the chamber denounces .the commission
for speaking of "bare-faced fraud," and "monop
olistic control," and "manipulation of the markets
by illegal devices," and "preying with shameful
avarice upon consumers." It winds up with de
claring the commission to be irresponsible, and says:
"The committee (Lawyer Butler) recommends
that the board of directors (Wheeler) call the at
tention of the president to the outstanding defects
fc
15
sir
Inside Story of the Maxwell Plot
Who Were the Enemies of the Farmers Who Paid So High for the
Renegade's Articles Against the League? Here Is the Answer
DAVIS ON MAXWELL
Here is Tom Davis of Marshall, "Minn. He is the
farmer-labor candidate for attorney general of'tHi?
state. Let's ask him .what he thinks of Maxwell.
Here's how this trained: legal mind disposes of the
traitor: "Caesar had his/Brutus, Jesus of Naza
reth his Judas, Washington his Benedict
Arnold, and the farmers—their Maxwell.'*
PAGB TEN
1
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of the commission's administration and of the in
terpretation it now gives to the law under which
it acts, and at the same time URGE THAT THE
PRESIDENT APPOINT TO THE COMMISSION,
in whose membership two vacancies now exist,
MEN WHOSE TRAINING, TEMPERAMENT,
EXPERIENCE AND REPUTATION FOR SOUND
JUDGMENT QUALIFY THEM for the position,
and whose interests will be single to the commis^
sion's work. In no other manner can confidence in
the commission be restored."
Unfortunately for the chamber's prospects, it let
slip in its denunciation of the commission a remark
that two former members of the commission, as
well as Mr. Heney, wfere candidates for political
office. It happens that both Mr. Davies in Wiscon
sin and Mr. Harris in Georgia have had the strong
personal support of President Wilson. Shots aimed
at them must hit the president. Their political
work was done with his approval. The present
members of the commission, who have disclosed
the packers' graft, have not been running for of
fice.
It may be safely assumed that the president will
not be won by that sort of argument to side with
big-business against the federal trade commission.
And when the chamber turns its guns upon the
national war labor board, the war labor policies'
board, the organized farmers, or upon the secre
tary of war, it will probably get about the same
answer from the White House.
The danger is in the effect of the lies of big
business upon public opinion throughout the coun
try.'
as salary for several months and whose principles
he pretended to believe in. The actual amount that
Maxwell got has never been verified, but certain it
was from the start that the St. Paul Dispatch
had NOT paid it.
Big interests bent on discrediting or breaking up
the League paid the money, and the Dispatch was
merely used as a vehicle to exploit the "find." The
Dispatch denied that th.Q money was paid to Max
well by the traction interests, the packing interests
or the grain combine interests, and also refused
to make public the sum paid the renegade for his
dirty work.
A GANG THAT ROLLS
IN WEALTH AND PROFIT
Since then, however, some important correspond
ence has fallen into the hands of the Nonpartisan
Leader, and we are able to throw some light on the
matter. According -to the statement by Van
Hoesen, made in a letter to Gordon, quoted at the
outset, of this article, Maxwell was paid by the
^"On the Square" Publishing company. First let
it be said that Vafl Hoesen ought to know the
facts. He was editor of "On the Square" during
the life of that publication, which blew up some
weeks ago and discontinued publishing. The com
pany that got out the magazine, however, is still
in existence as the "On the Square" Publishing
company.
If the information erf the former editor of "On
the Square" is correct, as it ought to be, as he is
still in close touch with the backers of this anti
farmer publishing company, Maxwell got a hand
some price for his treason, for the "On the Square?
Publishing company is backed by some of the bjgfe
gest interests and most influential men in the Twin
Cities financial tunc? political circles. Therefore it
becomes of interest to give a brief explanation of
"On
the Square" and show just
with the Nonpartisan'Leader. At an expense which
probably readied a half million dollars, "On the
Square" got out two issues before it blew up, each
issue being mailed free to a list of 200,000 people,
"all in Minnesota and all living on rural routes,"
-according to the boast of the magazine promoters.
The money for thjs gigantic anti-farmer enter
prise was contributed by big business men, corpora
tions and weisdthy politicans of Minnesota, through
Charles Patterson of St. Paul, president and treas
urer of the Patterson Street Lighting company and
mm
A'.v
i-
wherejtf axwell
his money, if indeed he did get it frdmi the source
alleged by the former editor employed by these big
interests. -v
The "On' the Square" Publishing company was
organized by big business opponents of the Non
partisan league to issue a beautifully ^printed and
profusely illustrated "fanners'" magazine to cope
got
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