Milford chronicle., 1921-11-11
UNCLE TED'S
BEDTIME STORIES
NORTH DAKOTA OVERTHROWS
NON-PARTISANS

about the bad men who were tounC
out" pleaded Ruth.
Il don't quite know what you mean
Ruth" answered Uncle Ted, as he pu'
down his evening paper.
"Wen." said Ruth, you told us
Yesterday that no matter how Soou
a person may appear, if he IS Wrons
at heart, he will be found out sooner
or later. And when you SAID tna'
something had happened in polltlcs
that made you think of it.
ooh. 1 guess 1 know what you mean
now" said Uncle Ted. Il was REMIND
ed of the truth of that saying When
read of the defeat of the Non-partl-
san League in North Dakota. >,
"What is the Non-Partisan League
asked Jack. , ,,iod
Uncle Ted. "but l will give you some
idea of what the league IS ana Whdl
II tried to do in North Dakota. Back
in 1q15 the farmers of that State pc
came impatient at the failure OF the
state government to put into practice
certain theories that they hoped
would benefit them. In partlculaI
they wanted the State to unoerIdhe
the erection and operation OF gram
elevators and markets, where the IaI-
mers could bring their grain. Ihey
Thought they could sell their Wheat
and corn to the State elevators at a
biober nrice than they were dlspos-
inc of if. because the profits that the
elevator men now get would be cut
out. .,,o,, b,, the
"Just about that time a man Dy tne
name of Townley came into the StaIe
and organized the farmers INTO tne
Non-Partisan League, so that they
could act together TO get what they
,uon+ad from the State government
Tn 1o16 most of the farmers voted TO-
go+ber at the State election, and sue
coeded in putting their candidate III
4bo governor's office, electing ABOUT
all the other State othcers' CnIee Juo
tices of the supreme court, ana n,.oo 1lls'.
ioritv of the State legislature. ne
next year, 1917, they elected a nleLr- -I
her of the National House OF Repre-
@V0n see. children, they had tnlngs
nrettv much their own way IN NOItn
dakota. and they proceeded to enact
1ove according to the theories Chey
believed to be for their own best IN
forests They paid no attention to tne
TTincin1es that had divided the ola
democratic and Republican partles'
hut adonted what amounted to form
of Socialism. Some of the things they
tried to do included the exemption Oh
oil farm improvements from any 1orJn
of taxes: ownership by the state Oh
Grain elevators at railroad terminals
warehouses, flour mills, stochyaIus'
packing houses, and colo sIoIee0
nlants. They even got the state 10 III
sure their growing crops against
hail storms. They discouraged the pro
duction of ore by putting tax upon
if. that is, they tried to hold down
other industries while doing every
thing they could think of for the ben
Gift of themselves, the farmers. They
set I'D a large number OF country
hanks. most of which afterwards
failed because their officers were TOO
generous in paking loans to farmers
tax was At on all unused land, so
as to encourage the development OF
farms.
"About ev6ryone of those princi-
ples is contrary to the best expert
ence of other State governments, and
the people soon found that they had
made a great mistake. One law now
ever, that the Non-Partisan leglsla-
ture passed proved the salvation OF
the people of North Dakota. IL is
known as the recall 1t was one OF
the pet measures of the Non-Partl-
san League, but it never occurred TO
the leaders and office holders of the
League that it would ever be used
against them. But the good farmers
of North Dakota resorted to the re-
call law last month, and proceeded TO
throw out of power Mr.. TOwnley and
all the other political quacks who
had deceived them, caused them great
losses. and brought disgrace to their
State. The people had learned their
lesson in the hard school of expert
ence, and profted by it.
'What has occurred in North Da-
kota ought to be studied by every |
citizen of the United States, especial
ly those living in communities
where the doctrines of socialism have
won a place in the minds of the peo-
pie. The people of that State are as
Intelligent as those of any other.
They tried their best to make sue
cess of the theories in which they had
been led to believe. Their plan failed
not because of any fault of their own,
but because socialism will ultimately
fail wherever it is tried.
"The New York Herald stated the
case very clearly the other day when
its editor said, The people of North
Dakota having voted themselves in
to the program of socialism labored
at it diligently and patiently. They
put some of their best intelligence
into it and made large sacrifices for
it. In every way they gave it the
chance to win if it were IN the scheme
itself, backed by hardworking and
meritoriOus public, to win: But it fall
ed. It failed to satisfy the people of
North Dakota as signally as it fail
ed to satisfy those outside the State.
It failed to deserve to live as a polit-
ical institution
"Now, children, that is the story of
what happened in North Dakota. 1t
bears out what I said in the begin
ming. that no matter how good per-
son and the things he says may itp-
pear to be, if they are wrong, the
ruth will be found ou- sooner or
ater. The people of North Dakota
nave found out the truth and discov-
ID the frauds worked against them.
rhey are not likely to repeat their
and the people of other
States will see what has happened to
hem and avoid making similar mis-