,!
K.
IN THE INTEREST OF A SQUARE
DEAL FOR THE FARMERS
Entered as second-class matter at the postoffice at
Minneapolis, Minn., under the act of March 3. 1870.
Publication address, 427 Sixth avenue 8., Minneapolis,
Minn. Address all remittances to The Nonpartisan
Leader, Box 2072, Minneapolis, Minn.
T-ber
The Contest
in the Home
League State
IT
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WHO SAYS
\'M not
A FRlEHP
To TWE-
FARMEf?
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i.
HE final test between the Independent Voters' association
and the farmers of North Dakota occurs in that state Octo
28, the date of the recall election, when the I. V. A.'s
new initiated laws also will be voted upon. The I. V. A., which in
1918 superceded all other organizations opposed to .the farmers'
movement, failed to unseat the League in that year, failed in 1919
at a referendum election on laws passed by the
legislature carrying out the League program, and
failed again in 1920 at the general election. The
I. V. A. at this time is therefore going before the
people for the FOURTH time, with THREE fail
ures behind it. If it is beaten at this recall elec
tion it can not recover. That seems to be certain.
The I. V. A. is therefore making a superhuman effort. It de
pends for success largely on the fact that North Dakota has not
had a good crop in several years, and that, along with all agricul
tural states and districts, is suffering at this time from the general
depression and starvation prices for farm products. This makes
the farmers, poor financially, unable to contribute adequately to a
campaign fund. The I. V. A. also believes that the farmers are
discouraged on account of the agricultural depression general all
over the country, and on account of the long, up-hill fight they have
had to make in North Dakota to get their political and economic
program carried out. However, in counting on the discouragement
and despair of the farmers, and their consequent apathy and
"what's-the-use" attitude in this campaign, the League opposition
is doomed to a rude awakening. The campaign has progressed far
enough to show that the North Dakota farmers will fight to the last
ditch, with all their money and energy, and that the battle
hold their gains will be as hot as any ever staged in the state. In
fact—
IS the I. V. A. that has to contend with apathy and the
"what's-the-use" attitude. It, not the farmers, has forced this
election on the state in an off-campaign year, when the people
wanted to rest from political strife. The I. V. A. couldn't wait for
a test in the logical course of events next year, when the regular
general state election is held. Despite opposition in its own ranks
and in its own press to an election this year, it circulated the recall
petitions and forced the issue. Much of the League opposition in
the state was convinced that success in unseating the farmer gov
Published at Minneapolis* Minn., Every Two Weeks
OLIVER S. MORRIS, Editor.
VOL. 13, NO. 8 MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, OCTOBER 17, 1921 WHOLE NUMBER 283
Why the North Dakota I. V. A. Is Insincere
I. V. A. Break
in Ranks
Is Serious
to
THERE
IT'S ALL RIGHT TO FEED THE COW, BUT LOOK WHO GETS THE MILK!
LEAVE-
feGftlCULTUgJ*
PAGE THREE
A MAGAZINE THAT DARES TO
'PRINT THE TRUTH
One year, $1.50. Classified rates on classified page
other advertising rates on application. Member Audit
Bureau of Circulations. S. C. Beckwith Special
Agency, advertising representatives, New York, Chicago,
St. Louis, Kansas City.
ernment was more certain next year in the regular elections, than
in this year at a recall. The anti-Leaguers will therefore have
difficulty in keeping their own ranks intact and delivering their own
full vote at the polls, while everything points to the fact that the
farmers, as in the past, will go to the polls solidly and vote 100 per
cent for their state government and program.
An aspect of the campaign that is well understood in North
Dakota but not as well understood elsewhere, especially among the
anti-League press, is that the I. V. A. goes to the people in this
recall election, as in the past, expressing its belief
ih the Nonpartisan league program and desire to
carry it out. The I. V. A. does not propose, in its
public announcements, to repeal the laws carry
ing out the League program passed by the legis
lature, nor to stop work on the farmers' and work
ers' industrial program. On the contrary, it professes to believe in
the program and promises to see that it is given a "fair trial." It's
initiated laws, to be voted upon at the same time as the recall, pre
tend to enable the carrying out of the League program in a more
fair and efficient manner than the existing laws adopted by the
farmer legislature. It claims its candidates, if elected, will carry
out sooner and more effectively the industrial program which the
farmers' own state government is working upon.
This dishonest and camouflage position of the I. V. A. has dis
gusted at least one of the leading anti-League dailies, the Bismarck
(N. D.) Daily Tribune, which is now out against the recall and the
I. V. A., and which declares for a straight out-and-out fight against
the League and its program, without any trimming or bait to
League voters. The Tribune is honest enough to say what every
one in North Dakota knows—that the I. V. A., backed financially
and morally by the great interests which oppose the League pro
gram, is trying dishonestly to compromise with the farmers to
get votes. Now—
is no question but that the I. V. A. initiated laws,
while they purport to assist in carrying out the farmers'
program in a little different way than the present state
government is carrying it out, and that their candidates, while they
profess to want to give the program a thorough, fair trial, are
both really hostile to the program. The initiated laws will create
complications that will at least delay and may eventually kill the
'. *.
—Drawn expressly for the* Leader by W. C. Morris.