Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1920-01-17
Imagination, wise and Otherwise.


Imagination, Wise and Otherwise.
What a wonderful gift is wise
imagination! Occasionally an UNI
wise imagination has 50 many brill
liant qualities one Is compelled to
wonder while it functions. but the
results excite no great amount Of ad-
miration among those with normal
minds. We suspect that is the fate
in store for the brilliant imagination
Of one A. c. Townley, the big
noise" of the Non Partisan League.
formerly of North Dakota but now
with toe hold in - states and still
climbing.
As for the imagination Of the
North Dakota farmers. that was what
one should expect of a hardworking,
thrifty people who had made an up
hill struggle from the time their feet
touched the soil Of North Dakota.
They knew their lot was filled with
hard conditions. some Of which they
were convinced didn't belong there,
an idea that in the main was prob
ably right. Their Imagination had
not been developed by varied ex-
perience. it had been warped by in
justice.
Then came Townley. When. where
or how he had wrestled with his i'm
agitation doesn't matter here. He
had tried to be fax king and failed.
He then became a socialist. He had
his imagination in prime working or
der and from what he already has
accomplished with It we may infer
that he had been with it to the top
Of q high mountain. had looked down
on millions toiling like ants under
his direction. saw harvests sown and
reaped-fcr him and his chosen; saw
banks. newspapers. graneries, ware
houses, all responding to his dicta-
tion. saw. something moro than
wealth massed where he might con-
troll, saw power, and yet more power.
Lenine must possess similar i'm
agination. must have been with it
to a high place and seen a like vi
sion.
The North Dakota farmers vision
was rather the product Of Townley's
than of his own imagination, the
vision Of a hypnotic; so that all he
saw was brotherly love prevailing
among the farmers of North Dakota.
each a proud individual possessor Of
his farm and joint owner Of banks,
the press, the grain elevators and
the merchandising, from all Of which
the streams of af1luence should be his
to share equally with his neighbors.
rhe scope of his imagination was
indeed narrow, or he would have
seen that If joint ownership Of all
else but land should prove success
full then joint ownership Of the land
must follow: that instead Of he hav-
ing special advantage. none would
have it, save Townley, into whose
hands must pass absolute control.
You recall the camel's head thrust
in the tent was quickly followed by
the camel. Now the camel had moth
ing on Townley. That individual is
the uncrowned despot of North Da-
kota and some think in a fair way
to become the overload Of Minnesota.
In. that state he is preaching indi-
vidual ownership of land and joint
ownership Of all else-when talking
TO farmers, but when hypnotizing
the laborers he talks Of joint owner
ship Of the land. And why not? VIC
Tins Of trance are seldom skepti-
cal
All! but it is working finely for
Townley-for the present. The mem
bership dues alone are a golden
stream and Townley knows whittier it
flows; the others seem not to have
guessed as yet. He gets them paid
UP two years in advance: what imag-
nation! Three millions to spend and
no questions asked. Taxes have ris-
en- two. three-fold and and in some
instances have quadrupled; but the
newspapers are edited by Townley
and there is the court-and who made
the judges, il you please.
The attorney general, the secre-
tary of state and the state auditor
are fighting Townley and his Co.
worker, Frazier. but the Townley leg
islature has passed laws such, il IL
said. that the attorney general can't
successfully prosecute. as he had
done. a Townley bank president for
having allowed the institution to loan
hundreds of thousands Of dollars on
collateral like post-dated checks of
farmers. But the fight is yet on.
The ToYnley crowd are in similar
plight to the bolsheviki; they must
seek fresh pastures for new kline to