Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1919-09-20

consloefaole local damage, but the main devastation WI
due to the flood.
THE OUTSIDE IMPRESSION
The Impression created on an outsider BY happe1
inss In ones immediate locality are usually interesttn
hence North Dakotans are usually intereeted~4h reAdinl
opinion in representative eastern papers concerning pr
lttical developments in their own state. A comment b
the New York Times on the sentence recently passed .
A. G. Townley by a Minnesota Judge applies with equs
force to North Dakota, for North Dakota has been Town
ley's original and chief field Of operations. The Time
says:
Light as the sentence Of rownley and his un-
important colleague may eem-only three months
1T Is sufficient to serve as a warning, and its sienifi-
canoe viii not be mistaken by men and women OF his
turn OF thought Townley was the organizer and
chief Of the so-called Nonpartisan League, a league
which was truly nonpartisan in the sense that it ea-
chewed both parties and made war directly on the
institutions and traditions Of the United States Of
America.
His Nonpartisan and un-American league has gone
very well in the state OF its origin, North Dakota, but
1t made a mistake when it over-stepped its geopraph-
ical boundaries and invaded the state of Minnesota
1neIe may De reSo1ut1onlSts, Se0ltlOnlStS and CfankS
in Minnesota, as there are in every state from Maine
to California, but the heart OF the fine old state is
as true as it was when Alexander Ramsey led it to
the defense Of the Union. 1t was no place for enc
mics of the Union.
The jury sat long on the case Of rownley and his
tool, and rendered its verdict only after the most elab-
crate exposition Of the defense. The Judge who SEN
fenced them was not too severe. The sentence will
serve for a while. Perhaps Townley will come ont
of Jail breathing new sedition, as Eugene Debs and
Kate o'Hare certainly will if they are set free; but
Minnesota, like Boston and Macon, has served notice
that it is going to have a republican form Of govern
ment. That is something worth while, in these days.
The article Illustrates the difficulty which exists in
Townley from the people whom he has in.
duced to organize under his direction. Because Townley
sedition it is natural and almost inevitable that
the distant observer should conclude that the orsaniza-
ton which he formed is a seditionary organization, and
its members are seditionists. In so far az this es.
innate relates to the character Of the members Of the
Nonpartisan League, 1t is a mistaken one. 1t Is true that
there are among the Townley following men of the Town.
ley type. But 1t is not true that the league Membership
at large is Of that type. There existed among the farm
ers OF North Dakota q state of unrest and a sense OF
Townley, an irresponsible. agitator. found in
condition his own opportunity. He seized the oppor
tunity and used it to his own advantage. The farmers
believed that they were being organized for the redress
of their wrongs. Townley did not care what they believed
SO long as they permitted themselves to be organized and
tc be used al he directed.
In this connection two thoughA suggest themselves:
First. the reputation of a community, whether 1t be
local or statewide. is very largely in the hands of the men
who are permitted to lead it. People a thousand miles
away from lis are not able to draw the fine distinctions
between ourselves and the men whom we accept as GU,
directors and spokesrneh. If those men preach sedition
advocate lawlessness. we are quite likely to be consid-
cred anarchists
Second. most Of the members of the Nonpartisar
League are very unlike Townley in spirit and character
But they cannot long associate with men like Townle,
without becoming contaminated. One cannot touch nitch
and not be defiled. And those who sit at Townley's fee,
and listen to him while he processes to discuss their eco.
nomic problems. and who hear his diatribes against Law
and government and his ridicu1e Of other things who,
most men hold sacred. cannot long continue in the course
without imbibing something of his spirit and having thet,
own moral fibre loosened and weakened.