The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1918-05-16
THE
FALSlFlERS

Our People Willing to Make Any And
Every Sacrifice to Insure Victory to
Our Arms in the Great War Now
Raging.
EXPOSING THE GRAFTERs.
Public Ownership Of Public Utilities
- Pointed Out as Being the Logical
Solution of the Present Economic
Problem.
The following is a speech delivered
by ex-Congressman Charles A. Lind
berg, candidate for governor of Min
nesota and whose candidacy has been
endorsed by the Nonpartisan league,
which was delivered at Rochester,
Minnesota, on the 9th inst.
"Every decent citizen in the Unit
ed States is convinced that our war
aims are absolutely just and that the
Presidents peace program must pre-
vail and every decent citizen in the
United States is behind this war and
willing to make every sacrifice to car
ry it through to victory. Modern
warfare, however, is not alone a ques--
ton of military might. Every pro-
ductive resource Of every belligerent
nation is being strained to the utmost
and the nation which first falters be-
meath this strain will be defeated, ev-
en- though it's armies seem victorious.
Production on the fields and in the
factories at home is just as important
as the fighting on the battlefields
abroad. 4
Production is an economic problem
and we must solve this problem to the
best possible advantage before we can
win the war. To participate in the
solution of this problem is the duty
of every patriotic citizen. Our boys
are holding firm in the trenches
abroad. We must play our part at
home by supporting them with promt-
ness and efficiency. :
After bitter experience, England,
France and Italy, found that private
ownership with it's inevitable profiteer-
ing had failed and these governments
were forced to take control of the es-
sential industries. Russia failed to
take such a step, with the result that
the nations economic structure col
lapsed and today Russian armies are
practically out of the field. The les.
son ought to ba plain to the people OF
the United States. Our government
will be forced to control the basic in
dustries and any delay in this matter
is simply prolonging the war. We
need not go abroad for object lessons.
Private profits have delayed and ham
dicapped our own war program. The
Hog Island scandal is still fresh in
the nostrils of the people and more
recent revelations show that our air.
plane construction program has been
seriously interferred with by the un-
conscionable greed of private selfish
interests.
The railroads broke down under
wasteful and inefficient private man
agement and the President was forced
to take them over to prevent disas-
trous congestion. Profteering in the
coal mines tied up our shipping thru
a lack of fuel. The production of cop
per was curtailed deliberately so that
higher prices might result. The mill
ers and packers are exploiting the
people at home by excessive prices
Our national efficiency is shackled by
profteering and wastefulness in many
lines of industry.
There is only one remedy and that is
to have the government conscript in
dustry just as it has conscripted men.
This is not a political question as to
the advisability of public ownership.
1t is a question of winning the war
and all true patriots should forget
politics and unite in demanding speedy
action toward this end. To refuse
this step is to court defeat and the in
terests of a comparatively few pro-
fiteers should not be allowed to jeop-
ardize the fate of democracy.
The National Nonpartisan League is
unequivocally pledged to carry out
this program. 1t was the first political
organization in America to demand
war control of industries and it is the
only organization in America today
that is backing up President Wilson
in his fight with the politicians and
profteers to carry out this program.
That explains why the Nonpartisan
league has been attacked by The sup
porters and newspaper apologists of
these profteers. That also explains
why garbled extracts of my books
are used in an effort to show that l,
too, am disloyal.
These interests fear to meet dis
cussion Of the facts. They know that
they can neither deny nor defend their
unpatriotic exploitation at time when
every true citizen is sacrificing for his
country's good. Therefore, these pro-
fiteers and their political henchmen
dodge the real issues and bring fake
charges of disloyalty against others.