Willmar tribune., 1917-11-21
ToWNLEY's BANKRUPTCY.

T0WNLEY'S BANKRUPTCY.
National Nonpartisan League, Nation
al Headquarters, St.. Paul, Minn.,
Oct. II, 1917.
Editor Willmar Tribune
Recently there has been studied
attempt by certain INSCRIPTIONS ag-
encies to revive the story of A. c.
Townley's bankruptcy for the purpose
of creating the inference that the Non
partisan League itself is in an unsound
financial condition. This is absolute
ly untrue and in the interests of fair
play we ask that you correct this
false impression.
The National Nonpartisan League is
in a perfectly sound financial cOndi-
ton. Even it's worst enemies do not
dare to allege otherwise, but are COM
PEELED to resort to cowardly innuenlo.
The Leagues books are audited quar-
terly by one of the best known and
most reliable public accountants of
St. Paul. Complete reports of every
penny collected and every penny ex-
pended are made to the members IF
the League. The Leagues credit is
good and it pays and is we'll able to
pay its obligations. Anyone who has
doubts concerning this can satisfy
these doubts by making the most
searching investigations. The League
welcomes such investigations.
1t is true that Mr.. Townley filed
bankruptcy proceedings. This is Mr.
Townley's private affair, however,
and does not concern the League. In
fact, he went bankrupt some years
before the Nonpartisan League was
organized. And neither Mr.. Townley
nor the Nonpartisan League ever has
made an effort to conceal this fact.
The whole story is set forth on page
S of recent pamphlet issued by us,
entitled, 'The 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. U.s.
ually 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 rs years ruined the fax crop On
their 5000 acre farm near Beach, N.
D., and left them practically paupers.
What the elements started the organ
lied grain combine completed. For
three years prio" to their failure, the
Townley brothers sold their flax ut
an average price of $2.05 a bushel. In
the spring Of 1912 they paid $3.50 a
bushel for seed, but when they came
to sell what was left of their crop
1000 acres they could not cut at all
the grain combine had juggled the
price down to 97 cents a bushel. This
insured their failure.
But it was a failure that cost the
l..
Townley realize that the farmer, the
victim of high interest rates, high
cost of machinery, end high cost of
living generally, virtually is compell-
ed to risk his farm each year by bet
ting on the weather. If the farmer
wins his bet with the weather he is
compelled to make another bet with
the grain combine. And he usually
loses this bet-for he is going up
against crooked game where the
cards are stacked and the dice loaded
against him, where a single crop fail,
ure may Offset the results of life
time of toll and turn out the farmer
homeless and penniless.
Mr.. Townley realized that he could
do nothing to combat the elements,
but he 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 crea-
tion of the Nonpartisan League. And
it is because other farmers have been
compelled 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 bad
ly frightened by the rapid growth Of
the League. They realize that their
graft is ended once its program is en-
acted into LAW. Hence they stoop to
any discreditable methods that they
think win harm tho League. They