El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1920-10-06

IN THE WEST
is BIG ISSUE
By DAVID LAWRENCE
Continued from page L.

cratic or Republican organization.
That's why there is so much agita-
tion in the west TO abolish the pri-
mary system and 80 back 10 conven-
tons, where the choice Of candidates
/ an be more easily controlled and party
machinery preserved But the non
partisan league has enough strength,
/ for the preesnt, at least, 20 keep the
I primary system-its most valuable as
set.
Il can easily be seen. however. what
the effect on a presidential contest
can be, when the absorbing interest
I in so many states is whether the non
I partisan league candidates can be
] beaten by coalition OF another non
I partisan character between conserv-
ative Democrats and Republicans.
League Has Own Newspapers.
OF course. one hears the nonparti-
] san league leaders called reds" and
] "Bolsheviks" and radicals" In this
] sense their methods are radically dif-
5 fereut from what has been the usual
I course OF political affairs in the past
I The whole thing may be called radi-
calism, but even the most ardent foes
[ Of the nonpartisan league no longer
call the average farmer or laborer
/ who votes for the nonpartisan league
ticket a -Bolshsvik" or a red" The
I epithets are saved for the organizers
] and leaders
It is amusing in some states to see
how the nonpartisan league. which
! denouncss the kept press" and the
] -plutocratic interests" for controlling
[ the newspapers, turns around and es-
] tablishes newspapers Of its own col
ors, the news printed being only
along the lines favorable to the non
I partisan league
A. c. Townley. head Of the nonpar-
tisan league, is as dominant a figure
{ as Penrose is in the Republican party.
] Opinions may vary as to the types Of
men or their benefit to the commu-
nifty. but fundamentally each has his
I lieutenants and gives orders and con-
trolls his organization just as eff
] GENTLY as the other.
Gov. Cox. Democratic presidential
] nominee. has encountered the noupar-
I tfsau league movement on his travels
and has sought TO capture its vote for
] president He has analysed the coasts
] OF the upheaval and has insisted that
I il resulted from autocrstic and op-
pressive government and that the eE-
! tremes TO which the nonpartisan
] league may have gone in its demand
/ for state ownership OF public re-
] sources and utilities IS the direct
] result OF extremists who gouge the
] farmers
He uses North Dakota a. an eE-
! ample, and says the farmers saw the
] SPECTATORS reselling their wheat al
higher prices and classifying the
] poorer grades as superior and 60 on
I The state owned elevators and coop
I erative marketing organizations II es-
] tabllshed earlier would have averteo
I the noupartisan league, in governor
! CoL's judgment
Praise for Cox In Mild
All this is controversial Senator
I Harding on his front porch, says
nothing about Il, and gains the con-
servative vote. The voice OF governor
I Cox. doesn't reach enough Of the non
! partisan leaguers as a rule 70 helE
him. The nonpartisan league press
Z caters 70 radicals and finds IL advan-
] taEeous TO build up a distrust OF borf
the Republican and Democratic IA
tfonal examinations So praise OF
governor Cox is mild and there Is
relatively little appreciation OF his
I friendly words for the nonpartisar
LEAGUE. Indeed. he probably loses
with the conservative Republican
\ and Democrats who are Offended witt
his flirtations with the nonpartisa1
LEAGUE what he gains with the ranH
and file OF the movement But In tbs
states where the fight for control Of
the state governments il almost
matter OF life and death IN the optn'
ion OF the merchant classes the drive
lis against everything Democratic u
] the nonpartisan league happens q
have its candidates on that ticket az
In Colorado and Montana In lcaho
] the nonpartisan league has endorsed
u senator Nugent the Democratic can