Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1919-11-26
any effective part In, such q program.
The way to Win.

ANY eAeCt1Ve part IN, SucA prOSTaIu.
The Way to Win. IL,
fa If the people are to be reached eff
fectively for such purpose, the only
ways Of reaching them are,s first,
through a Ehouse-to-house canvass;
second, through the distribution Of
literature; third. through. the public
press. and, fourth, by public meetings.
All of these things have been eff
fectively carried out IN the various
Labor party campaigns which have
been successfully undertaken. The
British Labor party fills all Of the
homes and streets and billboards with
printed matter containing short, point
ed, stirring paragraphs, accompanied by
cartoons, and does this over and over
during the period that such a campaign
usually covers. It organizes whole arm
les of canvassers, who go patiently from
house to house soliciting cooperation,
these measures will help, and fairly
begging for cooperation.
The regular labor press of the trade
unions is supplemented by a Labor
party press widely read. The public
meetings are advertised by personal
solicitation, by the distribution of dod-
gers, by great billboard announcements
and by announcements through all of
the trade unions and other organiza
tons ofiliated with the movement.
Long lists of names are prepared and
these checked and rechecked by
committeeman thoroughly competent and
patiently going over the work again and
again, and long lists of names of those
known to be opposed, known to pc
doubtful, or not known at all, are
passed on to regular canvassers to fol-
low them up to the very day of the
election. The trade unions and the CO.
operative societies, of which the Brit
ish Labor party is so largely compos-
ed, spare no pains to make all of their
members eligible as voters, to see that
all are informed and to see that all go
to the ballot box.
These same methods are followed in
almost complete detail by the Labor
parties in other countries and particu-
larly in New Zealand and Australia.
They have been followed in Milwau-
kee, in San Francisco, in Los Angeles,
in Minneapolis and in other points in
this country where local and temporary
victories have been achieved.
The Nonpartisan league provides two
newspapers, a national and a state
paper, for each of it's members from
the day he becomes identified with the
organization. North Dakota now has
three dailies and county paper, be-
longing to the farmers themselves and
fighting the farmers battle in every
county in the state. The same program
is being carried out elsewhere.
The Cost of Victory.
If there is to be a national Labor
party in the United States, this method
of campaign is Of most serious concern
1t has not infrequently been the case
that labor candidates have been named,
a series of massmeetings have been
held and results expected, as if this
were all that needed to be done. The
Labor parties in most countries and the
Nonpartisan league in this country have
wisely and deliberately refused to nomin-
ate candidates and attempt their cleo
ton until after their own organization
had developed sufficient strength to be
able to finance and to maintain the sort
of campaign that is here described.
The farmers who want national
Labor party must put a million and a
half members into the Nonpartdsan
league first, and then, If need be-, talk
about tho party afterwards. The trade
unionists who are speaking Of an in
dependent party must understand the
vast expenditures which VIII be involv-
cd and tho almost endless tasks ueces-
sary through tho printed page, tho per-
1onal canvass, the current press and
tho public meeting, to make effective
their presence at the ballot box.
Then tho nomination and election of
candidates Will come Of necessity-if
they are to come with satisfactory re-
suits the power to fight winning bat
tie must be provided first. The battle
comes afterward, with an army to fight
w1th-not merely an awkward squad.