Emmons County record. [volume] (Williamsport, D.T. [i.e. N.D.]) 1884-current, 1919-06-19
TEMPTATION

i
hungry and suffering savior up On a
high mountain and tempted him by
showing him "ull the riches md
glortes of the world" and Offering
them to him as inducemcnt for serv-
Ice, so Towilley appealed to the baser
passions of men who either had or
imagined they had grievance. The
love Of power has always been lure
to men Of all classes. For this wars
have been fought. nations have been
bled and even "the angels fell because
Of n desire for Over.much power"
No wonder. A promise OF wealth and
power always wins ndherents and
robber bands, piundering expeditions.
and selfish organizations Of all kinds
have come into existence through, un-
scrupulOus leaders Of glib tongue and
reckless thought. promising "all the
riches and glory" You will own the
banks; you will hold all offices; you
Will own the mills; you can load your
taxes onto the city people and the
utility corporations; in short, you cnn
get something for nothing. Besides.
they have been robbing you and now
It's your turn. Go to 'em. Do 'em up.
Creed revenge, hatred. violence,-all
the lowest passions Of man. hut still
real passions which he often falls
victim to. were appealed to by Town
ley and his henchinen. The fact that
the farmer in the Northwest hid never
before In fifty years received such pay
for his grain. his livestock, his poul-
try or his dairy produce mattered not.
The fact that thousands of farmers
were Interested In business outside of
farming, proving Townley's "class
talk" lie, matteEed not.
The farmers Of North Dakota were
jogging along having in their posses
sion bone, worth not less than one
billion dollars. They had acquired
this marrow bone In less than gen.
GRAFTON. They were prosperous and
very busy, buildings schools. churches.
farmers elevators. fine houses, send
Ing their children to school, even feel
ing Il little sorry for most of those
whose lot was cast In town. Then
came the evil spirit of hatred. greed.
envy, falsehood and injustice. True
to the artist conception of the evil
spirit, this messenger had evil, CLINT
ing eyes, long thin nose which a
prudent man wouldn't pull even If it
was CREASED, a sheer for everything
holy, clean and right. The evil spirit
proceeded to- pour envy and hatred
into the farmers ears, to stir up their
uroal md most 'c,,r,,rirtD, ~ oil to
did not hesitate to tempt these pntrl-
otto and Christian farmers to look
down on their own government and
country which had dealt so generously
with them, given them the finest fnrm-
ing lands in the world for nothing, do
mated hundreds of thousands of uGres
of land to the people nf the State for
which they might build Universities.
Colleges, Normal Schools and other in
stitulons, and in addition. Sections 16
and 35 In every Township, these to
be sold and made in permanent fund
for the education Of all the children
This, last item alone would. II handled
as honestly and cOnservutively us here
tofore, amount to about $4,000, 600.
mt four percent interest-quite lift
in paying school taxes. Besides sneer-
ing mt the government and finding
fault with 1t he never failed to sheer
ut church and religion. His language,
private and public, reeked with oaths.
Still this ubominuble creature appeal
ed to the greed and envy Of his hear
ers and won the minds Of many. The
arch tiend had read in the Bible that
"love money is the root Of all evil"
Knowing the truth Of mans grentest
book he turned its information to his
own use with much success, following
the Devils example when he tempted
the Master. This evil spirit knew that
the more busy farmer is and espe-
citlly the less English he knows, the
easier it Is to capitalize his ignorance
and weaknesses. Thus it came to pass
that thousands Of North Dakota farm
ers who were content and busy with
| their fine, fnt bone. became greedy and
envious and filled with the same un-
| reasonable hatred that their new
| teacher overflowed with. They saw
the bones the bankers. millers and ele-
| vator people had, and, while these had
| all worked with the min harmony and
they had helped each other to find
bones when times were hard and they
were trying to get start in this new
State, now they wanted their bones
also. Sicked on by the tempter many
are ready to plunge into the cold and
untried waters Of State industrialism
to get the other fellows bone and in
fact all bones in sight or imagined.
Go slow. old man--hatred, envy greed
and spirit Of falsehood and unfair
ness never got you or yours any bones.
Also keep an eye on your own bones,
both those you own in your own name
| and those In the States name held for
your children. An evil spirit that
doesn't hesitate to stir Up hatred,
| preach greed and envy and takes your
money for this service, will not hesi-
tate to steal, not merely your bone. but
also your children's. Aesop was wise.
! Go slow.