Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1917-09-22

LaFOllette Aids Foe.
""Such will be the harvest Of the lies
sown in our auditorium last night %:
Senator LaFollette, aspirant to tn!
presidency from Wisconsin. II this !
not the harvest 1t will not be Senator
LaFollette's fault. He peddles hi
poison Of half-truths and false as
they can do naught but weaken tn,
arm Of the United States and lend
moral and physical aid to It's enemies
Senator LaFollette makes a pas
sionate plea for free speech. He hat
1t last night. But Me used 1t not t,
plead honestly the cause Of the PEG
pie, He used 1t to exploit to ignoran
and to rekindle pro-Germanism which
has been shamed out Of c~ountenanc'
Of late by the publication of the fact
of Prussian treachery, tyranny ant
inhumanity. Ess
He "Smeared the Peoples Banner
Senator LaFollette assumes tha
we went to var on the submarine is
sue alone, which is a c~onscienceles
eviction OF the truth. The submarine
issue has been all but forgotten ii
the chorus Of the piteous cries which
reach us from Belgium, France. Pc
land and Serbia.
Senator La Toilette processes to hi
a friend Of the common people as op'
posed to the wealthy ~plutocracy. A
the Auditorium last night he delivered
at the cause Of the common peopl,
the severest blow it has had since thu
birth of the republic. That is a strong
statement, but we make 1t thought
fully. He has smeared the banner o.
the common people with the blood o.
the victims of kaiserism."
This is what Senator La Toilette
has done in st. Paul. Free speech Ii
a sacred right. Senator La Follett,
has had it. With it he has shot pois
oned bullets into the backs of oul
boys. With 1t he has contaminated
the of the common people. witt
1T he has fired hot steel at the Gauss
of humanity itself"
AS to Townley - -
In another editorial devoted t.
Townley, the Dispatch says:
"The loyal and right-minded people
of the northwest must be impressed
with the irony Of a situation which
suppressed the frank and outspoker
d~isloyalty of the Peoples Council O.
America and permitted A. G. Townley
under a palpab1e. unacceptable subter.
fuge, to lead a gathering at the Audi
tortum to a climax Of intolerable, an
archtstic, demagogic Inc treasonabll
outburst.
For Mr.. Townley there is no refug'
was his very own. He masqueraded /
as a discussion Of an economic crisi
and then assembled the most notori
Gus disloyalists in the country AM
guided the gathering into q frenziel
attack upon the war methods AM
purposes Of the country. With siniste
shrewdneSs he realized that the peOpl,
Of this community" were in no tempe
to tolerate open and unrestrained Sc
.ditiOn. The summary expulsion Of tn
Peoples Council taught him that. Il
no way amending his design, ha mask
ed It In the guise Of loyalty and sen
out the advance announcement tina
"seditiop would be kicked out Of tn,
conference" With public apprehen
sion thus lulled to rest, he prepared
the program which was carried OFT a
the Auditorium in disgrace to publ,
loyalty and in rebuke to every sent;
n,ent Of American patriotism.
There Is no more fragrant featrr,
OF the proceedings than that it wa
flannted in the guise' of loyalty; thu
scene; that the resolutions protestel
the prnfnnndest support OF the gov
|ernn,ent in its war program; that tina
speaker fired his shot at the heart q
|:he government from the ambush q
a declaration of fervid loyalty.
5a Conference Was Futile.
tlf out of this hot-bed Of seditiou
h~arrangu:ng, this mischievous endeav
or to- stir up class prejudice, this an
I'll american demonstration under tn
mask Of q discussion Of economic con
ditions. there had come one solitar,
constructive suggestion-one singi
proposal pointing the way to benefit
to the people generally or to the spe
cial. class interests concerned. Their
would be at least that much to be Sc
up against the ranting Of positive dis
loyalty and distorted Socialism. Blu
the conference was without one palli
ating Or redeeming circumstances.
""The people Of Minnesota and tn
Northwest will find no difficulty Il
|appraising this gathering at its exac
value. They will not make the mis-
take Of charging this unpatriotic an,
disloyal outburst to the farmer an,
the laboring classes, whose devotion
and loyalty have been proved an,
.unshaken. Both will disavow it ii
emphatic and unmistakable terms.
The potential mischief of such
demonstration may be great; the ac
|tual mischief probably will be- mcon
siderable. The reaction Of q loya
people, the quick %reyulsion OF patriot
ic and sound sentiment will be tn
antidotes to such persons"
He Went Over the Top.
The Minneapolis Tribune today said
Senator La Toilette of Wisconsi,
went over the top and shot the full
bolt of Ibis deadly poison into tn
minds OF American citizens att tn
closing session Of the mis-named war
price and war-economic conference o
the Nonpartisan league in st. Pau,
The ginning had no immediate dan
gerous recoil for him, although tn
leagues leader and president, A. , {
had assembled the confer
er who dared TO utter seditious senti
ments would be choked off and kick
ed out of the hall. S@
What the Wisconsin spewer O
pro-Teuton sophistry spat out wa
precisely what was to be expected 8
him,fn viewtof the rank un-American
ism he has displayed In the last ST.
or seven months. What Townley fall
ed to do in seeing that his promis
was carried out was precisely wha
was to be expected Of him in viey
heart in the war.
Had Deserved Interruption.
la Toilette intimated to his audi
once an expectation that he might b
stopped by somebody before he reach
ed his train outbound from Minneso
ia. Justice would have shed no tear
|if he had been stopped. He had amp
by earned a stopping if that penalt
has been earned by an american cit
|izen In this or any other state.
Tia FOllette's speech was the cIi
max of d feast or tainted loyalty, par
taken or BY TownIey,s Followers OF til
|N-onpartisan league who attended til
conference. Tho soil had been wei
rieIif FOR, iuak the, sort or tffur~thr