The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1918-02-28
WELL MERITED
COMMUNICATION
Most Graceful and Highly Deserved
Tribute From an Unbiased Source
is Paid to a Worthy Public Official
William LANCER.
AGENTS OF EVIL HIS ENEMY.
Every Move For Law Enforcement
Has Been Hampered, Every Offic-
ial Act Grossly Distorted or Will
fully Villifed.

the state of North Dakota at the last
election put a man in the office of at
torney general who knew what an
oath meant and who had manhood
sufficient to uphold the honor of an
oath and the dignity and respect Of
the state.
This man was William LANCER, true
to his promises before election, and is
still William LANCER true to the trust
Of the people have reposed in him.
But he has aroused against him
every agent of the evil forces in the
state, and much of that sort without
the state. The most malignant and
vicious tactics have been introduced
to undermine his work in law enforce
ment, aud insidious methods employ
ed to stifle his, efforts to perform his
duty. 4
His enemies attach politics to his
operations.
The Herald does not look through
glass darkly-we can hardly charge
Mr.. LANCER with welding a weapon
which under ordinary conditions would
mean his political death.
We're his attitude toward law vio-
1ation expressed in the same manner
as his predecessors, Of whom we have
every reason to suspect played poll
tics the charge might stand.
This attitude being the very an
tithesis of any position of his pre-
decessors bellies the accusation.
The abuse which has come to attor-
|ney General LANCER from the enemies
he has made have come because it is
the only warfare they can wage.
Shorn Of moral and legal ground up
on which they may enter the courts
of justice and equity, like the tyrants
Of former administrations who dog
ged the steps Of the Equity Coopera-
tive Exchange, they resort to dog in
the mangef tactics.
+ It is to bark and rage and snarl be-
hind lattice work Of deception fraud
and vituperation-to charge incom-
potency, misapplication Of the law
and now it is mismapagement of his
office.
With every move for the enforce
ment Of law has come the distor-
tion by his enemies Of legal functions
Of courts friendly to his enemies to
defeat or hamper the progress of
bringing cases to successful prosecu-
tion.
The more unnecessary legal proceed
ure his enemies can place in his way
the less time he will Have to prose-
cute those he already has in progress
and the less efficiency they will be
handled.
With such condition, Of course,
comes the additional expense in oper-
atMg his office, which at this time
comes up as another element Of SLAM
der to faunt in the face of the peo-
pie, the chief reason for which is on
" to discredit him in the minds Of
|unthinking men.
The Equity Cooperative Exchange
knows what such a position means to
an honest man and an honest move
ment the officers and directors have
met the enemy many times clothed in
the garments Of state officialdonl
and the Exchange never would have
had to expend the tremendous amount
of the farmers money they did spend,
had it not been for the men who occu-
pied high places IN Jurisprudence, and
the willing tools of politicians who
were elected to put out Of business an
mstitution whose principles were in
creasingly mesnacing - business sys-