El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-04-22
ASSAILS LOONEY
TRUST EFFORTS
President of Texas Farmers
Union Says Lawyers Are
Only Ones to Profit.

Fort Worth, Texas. April 22.-Char-
acteriZing Mr.. LOOney's administration
as a failure from the farmers view
point, and charging that official with
having made legal criminals out OF
more honest men than any one who
ever administered the law in the his
tory of Texas" H. n. Pope, president
of the Farmers Union of Texas, today
issued a statement TO the mempershlp
of his organization urging them to
cast their ballot for Mr.. LOOney's OPP
ponent for attorney general in the
coming primaries. Mr.. POpe's state
ment in part follows:
in the present campaign / consider
the issues involved in the contest for
attorney general Of paramount import
arce to the farmers Of Texas, and
after giving due consideration to men
and measures at issue, l have conclud-
ed to cast my ballot for Hon John W.
No Prohibition Issue.
The prohibition question is not an
issue in this contest, for there are only
two candidates, and both of them, Ike
myself, are prohibitionists, and l am
sure that no candidate for office can
afford to damage our cause by inject
ing fractional fights within the prohib-
itiOn party. We have during Mr.. Loon
eys administration witnessed almost
continuous prosecution Of the business
interests; numerous pains, penalties,
fines. compromises, etc, have been i'm
posed. He has made legal criminals
out of more honest men than any Off
cial who ever administered the law in
the history of Texas. The newspapers
have carried inspired articles under
Austin date lines announcing great
victories for the people, but I defy at
torney general LOOney to show that
anyone has prOfited by his litigation,
except the lawyers and LOoney's po-
litical friends whom he has forced on
the official roster and on the payroll
of corporations.
These antitrust suits have been
great victories for the lawyers. Many
thousands of dollars have gone to them
in fees; political debts have been paid;
industry stined; the people deluded,
and an effort has been made to build
up a political machine to levy toll
against the people. When the polite
ians dance around the flesh pot Of in
dustry, the farmer pays the fiddler
Work of ''POliticaI Heroes"
"The political heroes nave been saw
ing the farmers periodically, and In
each campaign we hear candidates
boast of the fabulous sums they have
put in the pockets of the farmers, and
the great industrial reforms they have
wrought. The farmers pocket book
is a better test Of financial salvation
than a court decree. and the price tag
OF the article in question more con-
than the shouts Of victory OF
selfish and ambitious office holders.
Let the farmer count his money, and
dare say he will find a Looney-anti-
trust dollar among them. and II he
win study carefully the effect Of these
antitrust suits upon his prosperity, he
viii find them the most expensive lux
ury the state has ever INDUCED in.
'aThe most important litigation from
the standpoint Of penalties collected
was that of the suits against the oil
The former knows the
price he pays for kerosene since these
quits were filed was never higher, and
his newspaper informs him that the
dividends Of the oil companies was
never greater"