The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1918-06-13

THURSDAY, JUNE ID, 1918.
eminent work, or the political
|flchers who swarm about the bill
lions that have been raised by
taxation, seeking "a share Of
the booty.
Not a voice has been raised
against Senator McCumber for
his fierce and vitriolic onslaught.
Not a single one of all the pa
triotic dailies of the Twin Cities
or Of our state has even limited
that perhaps the Senator might
be in questionable business or
might be giving aid and comfort
to the enemy.
Yet let a young man, in the
employ of the Nonpartisan
league get up and tell an audi
ence of farmers that he saw with
his own eyes strings of cars con-
tanning food held up on the side
tracks, while the inhabitants Of
cities close by starved or paid
exorbitant prices for the neces-
sites of life-and he is immedi-
ately arrested and labelled by
every slavering newspaper that
supports the old order of politics
as a traitor and seditionist.
The thing has become an open
sore. The trick is repeated over
and over, until decent people
turn away sick from the sight Of
it. Men are siezed and a supple
court, holds him for trial or to
a higher court-thus supplying
the excuse wanted by the enemy
newspapers.
But the truth of the situation
is already dawning upon the
popular mind. It is not patriot
ism that causes the juries who
have convicted speakers to con-
vict them. It is politics! The
nastiest, dirtiest kind of politics.
It is the politics of the basest
sort Of fear and desperation.
There is but one chance for the
ancient political order to contin-
ne in power and that is by prov
ing that the new order is disloy-
al. A discreet cowardice warns
them not to assail the rank and
file as disloyal-that would drive
away votes. Therefore assault
is made upon the leaders and
speakers, that they may be made
to appear disloyal.
It will not accomplish it's pur-
pose. The men Of today are too
intelligent to be deceived by such
a transparent trick. Even those
who were not. first enlightened
to fraud have seen it repeated so
often and in SO many instances
that the light has dawned upon
them and they have. seen the
base purpose that. xhovers be-
meath a pretended patriotism.
There are PrusNans of out
spoken pro-German proclivities
in the old political organization.
They have never changed their
minds as to the blessing it would
be for the civilized world were
the German War Lord to rule.
In all organizations of a politi-
cal sort and in all religious and
civic organizations are to be
found men who still believe we
were wrong to enter the war and
who believe that the Germans
are right. Such may be found
among the Nonpartisans-but
we do not shelter them from
punishment nor do we condone
their antipathy to the land that
supports them.
In times now gone by have we
seen mudslinging political cam
paigns-campaigns wherein
nothing was sacred. We thought
we had seen the vilest forms of
political savagery and chicanery.
We humbly confess to our error.
This campaign of organized
greed and power against the an
battled farmers Of the North
west exceeds everything in base
ness we have ever known. It ex-
ceeds because it will take limo
cent men who are not candidates,
who have no office to gain, and
for the purpose Of making a po-
litical argument, will indict them
and Jail them, will point the fin.
ger of scorn at them and blast
their names with the faint Of
treason-all to gain the ascend
| annxy IN q 1s%%1o ~o1:4:nn