The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1918-09-28

believe he should have knowledge Of
lundisputable facts which, in the lang
uage of the courts, would convince
him beyond a reasonable doubt OF the
| disloyalty Of the person in question.
| On the 18th day of June. 1917, Mr..
Townley stood on the public platform
| at WiIIiston and used the follow Ian
| guage: I'VE are told that these boys
are being sent TO Europe to fight for
democracy, but believe and fear that
they are being sent there to fight for
the profits Of the damned, rotten rich,
who make money out Of our food and
our products" Are these the words
| OF q patriot, whose heart is burning
with fervor to assist his country in
| her struggle against the theory that
/ government by brute force is the kind
that shall prevail throughout the
world and under which all men must
| live? And a few days later, speaking
at Minot, Governor Frazier used this
| language: Il have been criticised
for not urging the farmers to buy Lib
erty Bonds. / cannot urge them to
buy Liberty Bonds because / don't
know whether they have the money
| to pay for them or not" And he made
the further statement that a man
could not be hungry and patriotic at
every governor of every state in the
Union had followed FrazieT's lead and
taken the position he took on the sale
of Liberty Bonds, and his lead had
been left unchailenged, what do you
suppose would have happened to our
war prouram7 Or suppose that
Townley's lead had been followed by
G. S. Barrett, president of the Farm
ers' Educational and Cooperative
Union of America, the Master OF the
National Grange, and Samuel Comp
ers, president Of the American Fed
Grafton of Labor, not only speaking as
Townley did, but even keeping on
their pay roll as organizers and lee
turers, men whose loyalty has been
questioned by thousands Of people
and many OF whom have been con-
vfcted for sedition in various forms,
what do you suppose would have hap
pened to our war program? Might
not the people of a nation that
claimed to be and is the greatest de-
mocracy Of all time have failed TO
help their country when engaged in
a war to preserve the very principles
Of government under which they
themselves lived and prospered. II
only those who had idle money had
responded to the calls to buy Liberty
Bonds, aid the Red Cross, 7. NJ. c. A,
and other war activities most of us
Dakota's loyalty record tdoyashshsD-
would have been ashamed of North
Dakota's loyalty record today. Most
of our people were and are paying
interest on heavy membranes.
Courier News and the German Drive.
At the time of the beginning OF the
great drive by the German army, on
the 2Ist day Of March this year, the
purpose Of which was to destroy
the allied armies and capture Paris
and the channel ports, the interest
and feeling in this country was very
intense. The nation almost literally
held it's breath for days. You all re-
member the strain under which you
lived those first days Of that awful
drive, the results of which mean so
much to future generations OF men.
Townley's morning newspaper at
Fargo, whose policy Townley swears
under oath he received 500 a month
to direct, came out with flaming
headlines across its front page, de-
claring: Gateway to Paris falls to
the Germans" That headline sent
a chill OF dread and apprehension TO
the hearts core Of every loyal
American man and woman who read
it. l remember well the morning
that / got that paper and read those
headlines, and / also remember with
what incredulous surprise read the
press dispatches in the body Of the
paper below that headline. There
was absolutely nothing in these dis
patches to justify any such state
ment as appeared at the head OF the
paper And nothing has appeared in
the press dispatches from that day