Denver labor bulletin., 1917-03-17

Lota John the baptist In Organizing
the Farmers OF This state for United
Non-FartIsnn Political Action in Con-
junction with the city and Town
Workers.
shown that it is not necessary to i'm
port any foreign system or theory
like Socialism, Sabotism or Nihilism to
do away with injustice. They have
shown that our institutions give abso-
lutte guarantees and individual free
dom and afford the means of free
dom from all enslaving restraints so
that the individual may attain full
and free self-expression.
Want Economic Freedom.
The moving cause in all revolts is
desire for self-expression. and self
expression is impossible without econ
omic freedom. The farmers of North
Dakota toiled long hours in the cold
of winter and the heat of summer, hop
ing to. obtain as the result of their
toll economic freedom and a chance
for self-expression for themselves,
their wives and their children, only TO
find after weary years of struggle
that the results of their labor were
stolen from them by land spectators,
produce spectators, insurance COM
panies and other groups Of gentle
manly pirates, who operated this rob-
berry game under the protection of law
and with the help of smooth and un-
scrupulous politicians.
For many years the farmers of
North Dakota suffered in calm pa
tience, ignorant of the real cause of
their poverty. Many of them had
dim consciousness of it, but as the
cause was invisible and widely dis
tributed, they could not locate it. Be
pealed to their representatives. They
thought that government existed TO
give protection to the people by re-
straint, defense and accommodation.
They demanded relief from pressure
thru governmental action, but the pol
iticians laughed at them and told them
to "go home and slop the pigs"
Farmers Are Aroused.
This insult to their intelligence
reused them from the stupor of years
and spurred them to n majestic en-
deavor. Their eyes were opened and
in blaze Of light they saw the cause
of their wrong conditions. They saw
that their trusted law makers were
in the service of those who robbed
them; that the entire machinery of
the state government was run by the
paid hirelings of monopolies. Then
as day: II the machinery Of govern
ment can be used by our oppressors
to rob US and enrich themselves, why
can we not gain control of the machin-
cry of government and use it to obtain
justice for ourselves? If government
can be used as tool for the unjust
enrichment of the few, why can it not
be used to secure justice for the
many? What is Sauce for the goose"
should be "sauce for the gander."
Thus the farmers learned wisdom from
their oppressors.
Under the leadership of able men
in their own ranks the farmers of
North Dakota were organized into n
non-partisan political league, secret
organization with an intelligent, def
mite purpose, the soul of the purpose
being the demand that justice should
be done to the farmer by giving him
control of what he produces.
Program Is Complete.
The program of the League is thoro
and each demand goes to the root Of
the trouble. The principal demands
are:
State-owned grain elevators. This
would break the grip of the grain
speculator.
State-owned flour mills. This would
paralyze the flour monopoly.
State-owned packing houses. This
would do away with the oppression of
the meat trust.
State insurance. This would save
the farmers from the graft of the
insurance agent.
Rural credit system, state-owned.
This would lift every mortgage and