The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1915-12-23

| of the liquor question to tne VOTERS VI
North Dakota was sponsored by the
North Dakota Personal Liberty league
at meeting held in Bismarck, when
J. H. Wishek, of Ashley,was reelected
president, and at which plans were
made for active participation in polit'
ical affairs of the state during the COM
ing year.
| Adopting resolutions committing the
organization to resubmissiOn of the
liquor provision of the state constltu.
ton, the league also determined upon
an aggressive campaign for the repeal
of the present prohibitory legislation.
Petitions asking that the prohibition
clause of the constitution be submitted
to the voters in the next general elec-
| ton will be placed in circulation short
ly after the first of the year.
Taking chapter from the last cam
paign, the members plan to avoid
some Of its former errors. They will
not seek to make special political
organization, but rather to endorse
certain candidates within the other
political organizations and throw their
strength to them in the political cam
paigns.
They claim strength at the polls
of from 10000 to $4,000 votes and as
sert that properly handled this vote
is sufficient to determine the election
results. That the leaders have the ut
most confidence in their ability to
swing the vote where it will do the
most good is openly asserted and they
point out some of the results of the
last campaign as corroborative evil
dence of their power.
While there will be no separate or
ganizatiOn of political character by
the league there is nothing to prevent
members from becoming candidates in
one or the other of the existing par
ties, preferably the republican organf-
cation. In fact that is contemplated
in the case of Hon. j. H. Wishek, the
president of the organization. He will
undoubtedly be a candidate for con-
gress in the second district. Two or
three others may seek state offices,
one place thought desirable being that
of state auditor, but in the majority
of the cases they will look over the
field of candidates Of all parties, de-
termine their favorites, give them en-
dorsements, then swing all their
strength to these men.
The league is most vitality interest
ed, however, in the elimination of to-
present prohibition law. They intend
to circulate petitions to invoke the in
itiative against this law. To do this
they will be compelled to secure the
signatures of rs per cent of the total
votes in at least half the counties of
the state. This, they admit, may be
a difficult task. There are a few
counties in which they could secure
probably Is per cent, others in which
so per cent would not be difficult and
still others in which Is per cent would
be comparatively easy to line up, but
it is rather difficult to figure out 26 or
q of these counties. the first 10 look
fairly reasonable and the proper kind
of canvass with a strong organiza-
ton back of the plan might land the
required percentage in these. The
leaders assert the task will not be diff
ficult in Richland, Walsh, Stutsman,
Mcintosh, Logan, Kidder, Sheridan,
Wells, Mclean, Burleigh, Morton, Het-
finger, Oliver, Mercer, Stark, Slope,
Sioux, Billings and Dunn. They be-
lieve they could annex seven more in
Ward, Mckenzie, Williams, Divide,
Burke, Renville and Towner, although
they admit the latter bunch might be
difficult to handle. Mountrail is an
other county regarded as fairly fer
tile field by the Liberty leaguers.
Some Of the prohibition people, it is
asserted, would sign petitions to re-
submit the present law. They con-
tend that it would be defeated by a
much larger vote than ever before and
a decisive result would end the agita-
ton for another quarter of century
if not for all time. Other prohibition
leaders object. While they express
confidence in their ability to win re-
submission fight, they contend it would
require hard campaign and the ex-
penditure Of considerable money to
make the results of a sufficiently de-
cisive character to terminate the agi-
tation
The contention of the Personal Lib
erty League workers is that of the
present day population of North Da-
kota at least rs to 80 per cent never
had an opportunity of expression on
the prohibition law. They assert that
the people of today SHOULD decide the
laws under which they are compelled