New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1917-10-17
The Open F forum

Inc )pen + Drum.
INoNPARTIsAN LEAGUE SOUND
Editor Review: s
with many other farmers in this
vicinity, would be pleased to have Won
publish the following letter, relative to
the falsehoods now being circulated about
President Townley of the Nonpartisan
League.
SUBSCRIBER.
Recently there has been studied
attempt by certain INSCRIPTIONS agen-
scles to revive the story of A. C. Town
ley's bankruptcy for the purpose Of
creating the inference that the Nom
partisan League itself is in an unsound
financial cond ton. This is abs ,lutely
untrue and in the interests of fair play
we ask that you correct this false i'm
preston.
& The National Nonpartisan League is
IN perfectly sound financial condition.
Even its worst enemies do not dare to
allege otherwise, but are compelled to
resort to cowardly innuendo. The
Legaue's books are audited quarterly by
one OF the best known and most reliable
public accountants of st. Paul. Com
plete reports Of every penny collected
and every penny expended are made
to the members of the League. The
Leagues credit is good and it pays and
IS well able to pay its obligations. Any
one who has doubts concerning this can
satisfy these doubts by making the
most searching Investigations. The
League welcomes such Investigations.
It is true that Mr.. Tonwley filed
bankruptcy proceedings. This is Mr..
Townley's private affair, however, and
does not concern the league. In fact, he
went into bankruptcy some years before
the Nonpartisan League was organized.
And neither Mr.. Townley nor the Nom
partisan League ever has made an
effort to conceal this fact. The whole
story is set forth on page 5 of recent
pamphlet issued by us, entitled 'tThe
National Nonpartisan League, origin,
purpose, and method Of operation
There is nothing discreditable in the
story. Mr.. ToWnley is not the first
farmer to go broke and probably will
not be the last. Business men fail, too.
and so do newspaper editors. Usually
little is said about these things, but in |
Mr.. ToWnley's case a hostile press is
revamping the story of his misfortune
for the sole purpose of trying to harm
the great organization he heads.
/. Mr.. Townley and his brother failed
in 1912 when the earliest snow storm in I
Is years ruined the flax crop on their
5000 acre farm near Beach, N. D., and
eft them practically paupers. What the
elements started the organized grain
combine completed. For three years
prior to their failure, the Townley
brothers sold their flax at an average
price of $2.05 a bushel. In the spring of |
1912 they paid $3.50 bushel for seed, |
but when they came to sell what was
eft OF their crop-2,00O acres they
could not cut at alt the grain combine
had juggled the price down to IS cents
4 bushel. This insured their failure.
But it was failure that cost the grain
interests dear. This made Mr.. Townley
realize that the farmer, the victim of
nigh interest rates, high cost of machinery
aad high cost Of living generally, virtual
y is compelled to risk his farm each
year by betting on the weather. If the
farmer wins his bet with the weather
&c is compelled to make another bet
With the grain combine And he usually !
cses this bet-for he is going up against
! crooked game where the cards are
stacked and the dice loaded against him.
where single crop failure may offset
The results Of life time of toll and turn
out the farmer homeless and penniless.
Mr.. ToWnley realized that he could
10 nothing to combat the elements, but
ne did decide that it was possible to
put stop to this market-rigging by
The grain combine and it was this
determination that led to the creation
of the Nonpartisan League. And it is |
because other farmers have been COM
PEELED to face the same unjust conditions
that they are joining the League in such
numbers.
The politicians who represent the
special interests that trim the farmer and
fatten off his misfortunes are badly.
frightened by the rapid growth Of the
League. They realize that their graft
IS ended once its program is enacted
into law. Hence they stoop to any
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