The Bismarck tribune., 1922-03-31
MIR. :. TOWNELY QUITS

MIR. T0WNELY QUITS
A. G.. Townley who not only organized and led
but to very large extent was the Nonpartisan
league of North Dakota and elsewhere, has an
nounced that he will resign as president at the
meeting of the Minnesota organization March 81.
This, apparently because the members in North
Dakota pretty generally rejected his plan Of using
the strength of the league as balance-of-power
device to influence the existing parties rather
than trying to succeed as party. incidentally,
this was pretty wise advice. The Anti-Sal0on
league put America dry by that method, and
Tcwnleyism isn't getting en- we'll as party 1t
has failed to get control in other states, and it
has lost control in North Dakota.
With 'Townley out, what becomes of Townley-
ism? For one thing, opponents of the movement
who are fond Of using epithets will have to get a
new one They can't call it "Townleyism" any
longer, with Townleys idea repudiated and Town
ley no longer its chief
What was Townleyisnl, anyway? It was, in
the first place, a general discomfort among farm
ers, based on the conception that because there
is too long a route between producer and con-
sumner and too many leaks along the: way, the
producer wasn't getting as much out of hisswork
as he ought to get Given that, and a shrewd,
forceful plausible agitator with skill at working
upon such passions, it was easy to organize an
agrarian movement, and Townley did it. TAa
movement got North Dakota, and threatened
many other states. It didn't get Minnesota, but
it bluffed Minnesota into soaking its mining in
|dustry with tonnage tax, and it forced Mime
sofa to adopt very comprehensive and promis-
ing program of legislation for the farmer-a far
more elaborate program than would have been
possible without the fear of Townleysm to hurry
it along
There have been agrarian movements before.
What distinguished this one was the methods it
proposed. It proposed to put the state in busi-
ness so that the farmer would not be exploited by
private interests. This was frankly a form of
state socialism for sociological accuracy
call it, rather state capitalism, and they may be
right Anyway, the plan was to substitute the
state for private capital in number of fields !;
and that scared the private interests then occu-
pying those fields; and many others who feared
that if such start were made their turn to be
ousted might follow. It scared others besides
who, realizing that the state is as yet by no means
a good business man, feared disastrous results
from experiments so sweeping
That was Townleyism. The movement, repudi-
|ating Townley and his advice with the result that
he is quitting, will try to get along on its own
momentum Probably it will not get far. Some
cf it's leaders seem to lack the sincerity and unsef
ishness of Townley; for Townley seems to have
been sincere and generally unselfish. If he was
greedy for anything, it was power. He does not
seem to have sought financial profit, nor to have
gained much of it.
Townleyism without Townley is going to be a
good deal like Hamlet" without Hamlet. Prob
ably it won't last long. It was slipping rapidly
anyway.
But before it is forgotten there is lesson in
lit. There never could have been any Townleyism
|if the farmers hadn't had real grievances. If So
|ciety, by dealing justly with all its members, is
wise enough to see that no class has just griev
ance, it will be secure. If it is unwise enough to
let a class - farmers or workers = acquire just
grievances, then it is going to be disturbed. And
if things get bad enough state of society care
less enough to let them get that way is likely to
be overthrown, with consequent disasters to
everybody, including the overthrowers.
The lesson Of Townleyism, clearly, is that the
security of society can have no other foundation
than Justice complete and covering all-Duluth
Herald.
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