Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1919-03-19

been satisfying the anxious inquirers,
who have wanted to know about the
of the Nonpartisan league program
which the North Dakota legislatures
Bank of North Dakota and the rest
has just written int othe laws of that
state. Sinclair is quiet, soft-spoken
and steady and gives the impression
of being prepared to do lot Of real
work in congress without getting
tired. Among the things that he is
interested in are the railroad ques-
ton, the question of breaking up the
packers monopoly of the food supply,
and establishing better conditions In
industry for the demobilized soldiers,
He will be heard from when the time
comes. =
Robins Tells Facts. l..
Raymond Robins testimony before
the senate Judiciary subcommittee was
one Of the big features Of the week.
Robins said frankly that he thought
the Bolshevihs were wrong and that
their rule constituted menace to the
orderly government of the world. The
reported reign of terror, he said, was
greatly exaggerated.
Failure of the allies and Of the
United States to support the Kerensky
government properly caused it's col
lapse and brought the Bolsheviki into
power, Robins said. Before the col
lapse of the Kerensky government,
Robins said, British general and a
French general urged him to establish
reign of terror of his own to put
down the growing power of the Boil
sheviki.
Robins said that it was foolish to
think that any autocratic form of gov
eminent ever could be re-esta blished
in Russia. He said.
"You can not stamp out ideas by
using bayonets. You can not sup
press the yearning and the demand of
millions of men for economic better
ment. You must improve the eco
nomic condition of the workers in
every nation, or they will act for
themselves. They have taken up the
| culture of MARKHAM socialism in every
European country. The whole work:
ing class is turning toward socialism
over there. Lloyd George, the ablest
statesman in Europe today, dares not
suppress soviet in Glasgow nor a
| mutiny in Dover. Clemenceau may
| survive the assassin's bullet, as l
pray he shall, but Clemenceau's cause
| is dead. Here in America we still
| are sound and strong enough to meet
the demands Of labor for better life
| by establishing that better life. To
| try to suppress these demands, to
curb free speech, to prohibit the dis
play of the red flag-all of this is of
no avail The industrial wrong must
be righted."
| Robins warning to the senate sub.
committee, in this reference to Eng.
land and France and to the possibility
of an upheaval in America, was dra-
matte in it's intensity The only man
present at the hearing who was I'm.
moved was Senator Knute Nelson OF
Minnesota, who indicated that he con.
sidered Robins a dangerous character
Big Steal Halted.
The flibuster that marked the clos
ing of the session of congress had
one good effect. It killed the mineral
lands swindle, described by its sup
| porters as leasing bill, but which
really opened the way for corporations
to gObble up patents on what is left
| VI kA0 A0tOAd al 4OSON1 CCS VI CA0 NOuA
try.
The session of congress closed with.
out any action on reconstruction prob
lens or of aiding the employment OF
returned soldiers, aside from grant
ing them fiat bonus og $50 apiece
Money needed for the financing of the
railroads can not be provided, this bill
perishing in the fiilibuster, as did
numerous other appropriation meas
ures.
There is considerable sentiment
among progressives Of both houses
for an early session of congress to
get at reconstruction problems. But
there is no evidence that President
Wilson intends to call such session
He takes the position that congress
had chance to enact it's program
that it wasted it's time and must take
the responsibility.
-. Postmaster General Burleson is
continuing in his program of doing
the utmost possible to make public
operation Of utilities unpopular. When
the telegraphs and cables were taken
| over by the government, David J.
Lewis, progressive fighter, formerly
on the tariff board, was chosen by
President Wilson to have charge of
their operations under Burleson. Bur-
Lesson has driven Lewis to resign and
go back to the tariff board.
| News Of Lewis resignation, by the
way, was made public only recently,
although he left his Job under the
autocratic Burleson two months ago.
Lewis at that time swore his nearest
friends to secrecy, "for the good of
the government" However, Burle-
sons dishonest treatment of the tele-
phone employees, when he forbade the
companies to continue their collective
| bargains with the organized employees,
and Burleson's treacherous conduct
with relation to an increase in their
pay, did drive Lewis to quit. One OF
the departments secret agents seems
to have overheard a newspaper re-
porter's questions on the wire the
| other morning, for that night Burle-
son issued statement, just ahead Of
| publication Of the true story, saying
that Lewis had been relieved from
the service" by Burleson.