The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1918-07-25
AN ESSAY IN AMERICANISM.

AN ESSAY IN AMERICANISM.
Writing to a meeting Of farmers at Kansas
City, MI. William Kent Of the Federal Tariff
Commission indorses their purpose Of getting
together for united action in placing their view.
before the public authorities of State and Ma
ton. And he gives them pertinent advice ou1
of his experience as a farmer, cattle grower
and preacher of democracy. His letter, which
was in lieu of the speech for which the farmers
asked, covered many subjects with the vigol
and pithy brevity for which this unique public
man has come to be widely known.
"The persecution of farm organizations,
notably Of the Nonpartisan League" he
tells them, Shows the need Of a united
demand for our civil liberties, the right of
peaceful ~assemblage, the open channels Of
publicity, and the prosecution, through
the National Government, if the States
fail in their duty, Of those who conspire
against the Constitution.
I'VE have a right to demand open cham
nels between ourselves as producers and
the consumers of the Nation, free from
SUCH abuses as practised by the packers
and the millers. We have the right to de-
mand economy in distribution, with i'm.
munity from parasitic speculation and
from the wasteful and unproductive ma
nipulations of Unnecessary middlemen. We
1AdVO q W w 1lld1 I'll u CICCOCU I'LL.
ficials a most careful scrutiny into our
present systems of distribution, to the end
of opening and Strengthening the chan
nels of trade and removing the obstacles
that impede the flow of our foodstuffs from
the farm to the tables of our people.
1--WE are right in demanding that the ma
tural resources of the country shall be so
managed, whether granted to private in
dividuals or corporations, their their use
loo@Gk Ill L1> >1.1o x-I~ 11.o11.~
share in their ownership. When we con-
slider the list of our natural resources, we
can in no way forget the greatest Of our
natural resources, the land. Permanently
of tenure, a sense Of home, is inherent in
our traditions and our civilization. We can
not afford to forego this institution, but we
can and should take from land occupation
the speculative, irresponsible privileges.
The right to misuse, destroy, or leave land
unused is contrary to all ideas of public pol
icy and is the opposite of production"
Mr.. Kent does not stop with things that will
the ears of the farmers. He opposes the
demand for taking off all immigration restric
tons during the war. "We must see to it that
those, no matter how humble, who are engaged
in production, shall be recognized as part anc
parcel of our democracy, with equal rights il
deciding it's policies and it's course. Any othe1
theory leads straight through peonage int
virtual slavery. . . . Until all our present
population not in military service is forced BY
law and the pressure of public opinion into pro
ductive work, there should be no talk of dilut
the present emergency" Mr.. Kent urges tn,
extension of the age limit of the draft and tn
universal application of the work-or-fght prin
ciple.
In conclusion, Mr.. Kent cautions the farmer,
against a narrow class movement. After re
verting to the persecution of the Nonpartisa1
League by "the pightical, profteering patriot
GERS, and by those who have, through their ig
norance, been used as cats paws" he writes:
1T is necessary that, when the farmers fee
the lash of persecution, they carefully conside
the cause of others under similar conditions
and that when they demand their rights, the,
see to it that the demand is a general one an,
not a class cry. l have spoken of the agricu]
tural interests as being inherently conservative
and at the same time being progressive. Their
is no such thing as real conservatism that doe
not move on with the world procession. You
standpat conservative is a bull without discrim
%ination, who bellows and shakes his head i
front OF a freight train. The best he can hop
for is a reduction Of sausage meat, with possibl
Wreckage OF the train as a side-show and by
product"
All of which we should call an essay i
Amer1canism, and as such we recommend it t
those Americanization societies who do thei
best to discredit the term by associating it wit
universal service, mounted state constabularie,
discipline, fear, and the maintenance Of the e.
tablished order without change.-The Public.
The Courant gives it as its belief that. whe
it may be too late, the business men of Devi
k will come to realize that in the Journ,
they have long enjoyed one of the most val,
able newspaper assets in the state of Mort