The Washington herald., 1920-05-03
By RAYMOND G. CARROLL.

Lincoln. Nebr., May 2.-Besides be-
ing the occasional homo of William
]. Bryan. Lincoln is an important
educational, manufacturing and rail-
road center. Politics made here have
fame that extends through Ne
braska, Iowa, Missouri and Kansas
which incorporate the nations big
Four" from an agricultural point
of view.
First a farm laborer, next a re-
porter on an Omaha daily newspa-
per, then editor and publisher OF an
agricultural weekly and now gov
ernor of his State, Samuel r. Nc
Kelvie, who Is called the Lit
tie Lowden" because he put
through civil administrative
code in Nebraska almost iden-
tical with that of Illinois,
presents crowded thirty-eight
years of adventure in the Corn
husker State" He is only one OF
the many writer-governors of the
Middle West. which suggests men,
bership in the Fourth Estate as
much quicker ladder to the gov
ernor's chair than the customary
employment of flock of press
agents.
Mrs. McKelvie is a mineralogist
and supplements what her husband
knows about the soil with an in
innate understanding Of the rocks
Governor Uses Logic.
Mr.. McKelvie is an active apostle
Of the backfire. He not only bridged
! the chasm between the town and
the country by including a farm
| program" in the business Of his
state government. but he steps out
! into the open and face to face com
! bats with logic the communistiC
doctrine of that prairie fire spread
ing southwark from the Dakotas. !.
E., the Nonpartisan I.eague.
People wrapped in the fcotton
wool" of our greater d. lesser
cities-the telephone, the ,nvery
wagon and the charge accouft with
the shopkeeper-live in pathetic ig-
norance of the economic upheaval
of the last few years in the mid
West rural districts One day there
will be a sudden and surprising
awakening.
What has happened Is that the
farmers are on the warpath. Their
eyes have been opened. They read
the papers and keep abreast OF the
times. They are slowly but surely
preparing for a titanic struggle with
such middlemen as are found to he
menacing their obtaining a fair
price for their corn. their wheat and
their alfalfa.
Calling the nonpartisan leaguers
such harsh names as Reds and Boil
sheviks' because some Of their lead
ers are Socialists, won't help mat
ters in the least" said Governor Nc
Kelvie. You must approach the
problem with reason, and offer the
farmers something superior in the
way of reform than the solution
proposed by the leaders of the non
partisan league"
Prefers Another Plan.
Governor McKelvie thinks that
the something superior" Is the plan
put into operation by the Farmers
Union. The union, with a mounting
membership now numbering about
40,0 ,000 in Nebraska, has established,
owns and operates. ELEVATORS. mills
lumber and coal yards, warehouses.
creameries, banks, stores, and is
even erecting a beet sugar factory
in the town of Minatare last wear
comparatively handling over S270.
100000 worth of products and mer-
chandise.
Governor McKelvie said:
"I point out to the farmers that
their greatest danger is that the
next step of the league after inst "a:
ing the statewide properties would
he the pooling of their .and. ard
that the whole idea of mixing the
state up in private ownership is de.
structive of individual initiative.
The Farmers Union is the murS Ut.
ter refuge for the farmers, ss 1t i'm
medfately gives him a large slice OF
the middlemens profit without cost
to the consumer.
Jon tn. other hand the Farmers
Union enterprises have multiplied
rapidly witGin the last year, having
reached the third stage of cooper
alive endeayor. The first stage was
the formation of local corporations
to handle what the farmer had 10
sell and getting the hest price pos.
sible. The second stage was tho
molding of these local unions into
Trading enterprises operating
through q state exchange Now the
farmers art. increasing the capital OF
the state exchange from s52. .aea 70
s., ,0Qa 200, and this new stock vii;