The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1920-06-17
WHY THEY HATE GEORGE T0TTEN, SR.

No member of the Nonpartisan ad
ministration of North Dakota has
been more persistently vilified by the
kept press of the state than ha:
George A. Totten, Sr. Chairman Of the
Board of Administration. Not week
passes but that some hireling editor
does not proclaim "Totten must CO.
'Why does not the League get rid Of
Totten -" Men. and women who are
unacquainted with Mr.. Totten anc
with the reform movement of the past
Is years in North Dakota may be
puzzled at this relentless pursuit OF
one public official.
Those who have lived thru the cam.
paign for the progressive govern
ment in North Dakota are not aston
ished at the attacks of the hireling
press. They know the services Of Mr.
Totten to the cause of democracy and
they know how courageously he has
fought the men and the combinations
of men and money who have for years
exploited the Northwest. They know
how savagely the Vested Interests re-
sent this interference with their prey
ing on the people. So the word has
gone out that Totten must be made
unpopular with view to inducing
his own fliends-the people for whom.
he has fought these many years TO
do what big Business cannot de- -,e-
move him from office and thus tenn
porairly curb his power.
For the information of the unin-
itiated it may be we'll to say that
George A. Totten is man who DOES
things and who is not afraid to take
the consequences of his stand in be-
half of the truth. If he were a pus
syfooter and trimmer he would not
be unacceptable to Big Business and
you would never see deunuciation OF
him in the servile press. But when
Totten went on the Board of Regents
in 1917 he proceeded to do what
former members of the board were
afraid to do-clean out the education
al system of the state. Conditions IN
several schools had been unsatisfac-
tory for some years. The Board of Re-
gents appointed by Governor Hanna
had made mild endeavors to remove
men who we're known to be a detrl-
rent to the educational system OF
North Dakota. On each occasion they
met opposition from powerful sources
There were certain interests that
wanted those men to stay in the po-
sitions they occupied. The old Board
of Regents apologized for its indls-
cretion and withdrew. The situation in
the schools concerned went from bad
to- worse. - ~,z,s.--.- -.-s !,
I When George A. Totten went on the
Board of Regents he made US MS
mind that the time had come to lg-
more these influences" and to 90
what the situation called for-remove
the men responsible. The true story OF
the removal and the reason for the
removal of George A. Mcfarland
from the presidency of the Valley City
Normal School; of Professor Thomas
School: of Fred Smith from the pres
idency of the State School Of Science
at Wahpeton; and Of Mrs. Minnie
Budlong, sister of Judge N. c. Young
from the position of Librarian Of the
State Library Commission and of sew
eral other changes in the institutions
of the state has not been publlshed'
It is the policy Of the board to mann
tain silence so as not to prevent tne
parties involved from getting posi-
tions for which they are less unfit
than the ones from which they were
removed. If the public knew the truth
about some of these cases the Board
would be praised for it's action. Geo.
A, Totten does not deny that ne was
one Of those instrumental in making
the above changes. Big Business
knows that he favored them and that
he will vote to make others if necess-
arv to loosen the grip of Special Priv
ilege on the schools and the other IN
stitutions of the, state. That is why
George A. Totten "must co.. II Big
Business has it's way.
The kept press is fond of referring
to Mr.. Totten as "the unfrockedd a
preacher" the more or less reverend
athe ex-parson" etc: Many readers
doubtless are puzzled by this studied
slander. What are the facts about mr.
Totten's church connections? George
A. Tonnen Sr. and his father before
him were ordained Congregational
ministers. The older Totten was Tor
12 wears a minister in North Dakota
George A. Totten, Sr. came to the
state in 1906 and in the course OF his
ministry here he built two churches:
In 1910 Mr.. Totten became pastor OF
the Congregational Church at Bow,
man. His sermons. stressed the social
and economic teachings of Jesus ana
applied them to present day cona,- men
tions. AS in the days, when the Car
penter taught in Judea the people
aheard him gladly" The Bowman
church was crowded.
Such gospel was abhorrent to the
l s ~ -