The producers news. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1918-1937, 1919-08-22
MOB RULE
ALLOWED BY
NEB. OFFICIALS
small Town Ruffians Induced to
break Up Farmer Meeting.

beatrice, Neb.-A recurrence Of
The iawjessness which cbaracter;zed
la ae opposltlon to the Nonpartisan
1 .IIasue IN Nebraska last summer took
pace recently here when hoodlums
olohe up farmers meeting, as
sauited an aged man and tore banners
Ai'ih farmers automobiles. An ap-
peal &c the police by League members
was refused bluntly by the chief of
a fGmor circulated by League enc
mes That one of the automobiles in
tne parade which preceded meeting
carried ed flag precipitated the
riot Attempts were made bv those
responsible for the disturbance to
Ptace the blame on returned soldiers,
put according t. Lester P. Barlow,
VINO is touring the country lecturirg
on government industries in the war,
.iiere were no soldiers in the crowd
tliat attacked the Leaguers. Barlow.
nlmset an A. E. F. man, spoke at
the same 1,eeting, and questioned
se'efal nf the men who were posing
as soldiers and forced them to admit
they nao- never seen army service.
POLICE NEGLECT DUTY
Jesse R. Johnson, state manager
Oh the League, called on the chief of
police and asked for protection, say
ing trouble was expected. The Of
ncer refused to send police to the
meetlng and told Mr.. johnson that
II ne expected trouble he had better
not try to hold the meeting.
Y. A. Sorensen, after the afternoon
meeting, was attacked by man in
the uniform of the city fire depart
ment and knocked down. When he
sought the arrest of his assailant a
pollcemena refused to take the man
into custody without a warrant.
Another meeting was held at night,
and again an appeal was made to the
ponce for special deputies. No DO
llcemen appeared until after the dis
turbance. According to those in
charge of the meeting, the presence
OF one policeman would have pre-
vented the attempt at mobbing. When |
the meeting started, the hostile crowd
began an uproar. A Beatrice LAWYER
and pastorswere howled down when
they urged the crowd to remain
peaceable.
AGED MAN ASSAULTED
At this point Manager Johnson of
the League asked the farmers in the
audience to come nearer the plat
form SO they could hear The mob at |.
once charged the platform. F. J. A.
Hartwig, an aged resident living near
Firth, was knocked down, struck over
the head, his scalp torn and several 4
teeth were knocked out of his mouth.
AS member of the mob attempted b
to strike him again while he was L
PROSTATE, farmer woman threw
herself between the mob and it's vic
tim and cried that they would strike
the aged man again only over her
own dead body. ]
"a This incident seemed to sober the
mob and Mr.. Johnson dismissed the s
meeting.
Z It was evident that the mob had
been melted by anti-League interests {
in the vicinity. Literature of an &C
tive organization opposed to the i
League and statements of newspapers {
opposing the League were mentioned |
by the crowd sThe d-n farmers
are trying to run the country" some t
ofe the members of the mob shouted S
during the disturbance. t
A delegation will be sent to Gov v
srnor McKelvie to demand protection o
for future meetings, it was announced Q
~ League officers. The sheriff of \
Gage county was asked before the O
evening meeting to furnish protec- c
ion He replied that it was not $
within his jurisdiction. !,