Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1920-10-11
was secure from cricism from his
membe No matter how largo the

was secure from criciSm from his
members. No matter how large the
membership grew he was secure in
his presidency" No league mem
Official" paper unless he praised the
political boss and paid tribute to him.
If criticism was directed at him by
members it must come through OFT
side publications. and, in that event.
the member who showed such dis
respect of the president" was
promptly branded a traitor and read
out Of the organization by the of
fetal publications. of the league.
tablished official" papers in each
state where his league operated, and
moved the first paper, now the ma
tional Nonpartisan Leader" to St.
Paul-and later to Minneapolis.
Thus we saw man members, en-
ployees n state officials elected by
the league discarded. They dared to
criticize Townley, the promoter, and
Townley, h political boss. gave
orders to his editors to attack and dis
credit them. No member of the
league, no official of the league. and
no public official elected by the
league. has been able to get any
criticism, of any kind. published in
the Official paper - in Townley's
papers. And here, let me record, they
never will. The columns of the of
ficial' papers are only open to those
who praise the king" If an en-
papers of Boss Townley breaks this
unwritten law they are promptly dis
charged. Or if an Independent paper
is established in a local field by
league members and it should per-
chance disagree with the "president,'
or his attorney. that paper is imme-
diately attacked and discredited, and
'Townley's Official papers in large
headlines declare it has "sold out to
the enemy"
And thus the Nonpartisan League.
la so-called farmers organization, is
dominated by one man. safe from
criticism from within his organiza-
ton, absolute master of all its poll
cies and actions because OF his owner
ship of all of it's Official" papers,
while his salaried attorney sits with
him on the Executive committee"
, keeping his Official papers official
and the subscriptions flowing into
their treasury.
No such organization for power
was ever created within an organiza-
ton in the history Of the United
States. President Gompers. OF the
! American Federation Of Labor, must
always combat men in that organiza-
ton who disagree with his policy OF
policies; they can use the official pa
pers of the different branches of that
federation to criticise, suggest or con-
denim any action taken or propos-
ed. This is true of all other organi'
cations, unions, federations, societies
and associations, political or other
wise, in the United States excepting
privately owned corporations or con
Germs. Members control the affairs
of their organization-and the Off
cial publication.
But in the Nonpartisan League
Townley, the political boss, has differ
, ent ideas. He is typical of the boss
politician. He says the rank and file
shall not control my organization
The boss shall dictate. In the Non
partisan League the president" dom
mates the members and the organi-
zation instead of the organization and
the members dominating the 'presi'
dent" The official" papers direct
the members instead Of the member,
directing the policy of the paper
The boss politician wants no criti'
cism. He will not tolerate it, and
Townley wants no advice from the
, members or CFlIlClSm from IneH
On the other hand, like the polite
al. boss, he accepts praise, tribute and
honorary mention and publishes that
freely, but the waste basket in the
office of the Official" papers holds
: all the criticism, which or may
come from the members who have
paid heir dues and contributed t.
the support of Boss Townley and hi.
official" papers.
So here let me record the coming
downfall of A. G. Townley, the po'
litical boss; the downfall hat has al
ready come to Townley, the promot'
err. and the nightmare that is in store
for Townley, the dreamer. It is not
because A. c. Townley is dishonest;
many a dishonest politician has ruled
without discovery. 1t is not because
he is insincere; many an %insincert
leader has gone down in history as {
great man. It is not because he is :
poor leader; many a poor leader hal
! been supported by s~ubordinates ant
has won glory. But A. c. Townle,
is meeting his DOWNFALL because HI
has been given toe much autocratit
power.
All history proves this. It was Ma.
poleon. h great warrior, who met
his Waterloo. It was the car of al
the Russias. with all his power and
wealth. that me such an untimel,
defeat. It was the kaiser of Ger
many. with the greatest organization