The producers news. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1918-1937, 1928-05-04
SQUABBLE Is
STARTED OVER
LEAGUE PAPER

Bismarck, n. D.-The question of
who is vested with authority to pub
lish the North Dakota Nonpartisan,
official paper of the Nonpartisan
league, has been brought to test in
the district court of Burleigh county,
with charges that the incumbent di-
rectors are exercising such authority
without power to do So
Involved in the controversy which
has been precipitated by the executive
committee of the Nonpartisan is the
possibility that the committee possess
ed of authority to fill vacancies on
the NonpartiSan state ticket, may IN
dertake to declare a vacancy in the
case of Frank Vogel, the candidate
for lieutenant governor, and substi-
tute another candidate in his place.
Committee Plaintiff
Roy Frazier, Carl Anderson and
Fred Argast, the Nonpartisan exec
tive committee, are plaintiffs in the
case that has been started against
b. G. Larkin, c. G. Boise and Albert
Washington, all of them Sorlie APP
pOintees and at present operating the
North Dakota Nonpartisan, demand
ing that possession of the property
be turned over to them. They rely
on the constitution and bylaws of
the Nonpartisan League which pro-
vide that the executive committee
shall operate the official paper of the
League.
Supporting their plea, they charge
that the present paper directors had
refused to publish the name of Joseph
Coghlan as the Nonpartisan candidate
for district court judge in this district
and they maintain that this action was
at the direction of Frank Vogel, whom
they accuse of exercising some sort of
supervisory authority over the men
actually in charge of the paper.
Charges Made
AS to Vogel, they charge that he
had rejected the publication of Cogh- +
lan's name on the ground that he could
not qualify as a Nonpartisan league
candidate because he had aided the
state senate facts finding committee !
in its work Of investigation into the |
affairs of the state mill and elevator !
and because he was a member of the |
Catholic church.
Attached to the complaint is an af- /
fidavit by Fred Argast detailing his |
attempts at obtaining publication of 4
Coghlan's name in the paper.
Judge H. l.. Berry, Mandan, signed .
the order requiring the defendants to
show cause why they hould not deliver
up possession of the paper to the exc
cutive committee.
Later-Efforts of the executive
committee of the Nonpartisan league
to obtain control of the North Dakota
Non partisan, official newspaper of
that organization, failed today when
Judge Berry threw the case out of
court.
The matter was argued by Nonpar-
tisan attorneys before a Nonpartisan
Judge with Nonpartisans sitting at
both counsel tables as the parties of
interest.
In verbal opinion Judge Berry up
held the contention of the defendants
that corporation is an entity within
itself and cannot be controlled by an
outside organization. "There is no
use to argue this case further the
judge ruled, interrupting the closing
argument of Attorney M. K. Higgins
for the defense. "No outside orpani-
zatl0n can step In and run another
corporation. The bylaws of the Non
partisan league have no effect on this
and if its own bylaws SO
provided they would be illegal. The
courts cannot step in and turn a cor
poration over to outsiders"
Berry said the plaintiffs brought
their action in the wrong manner and ,
that the court had no jurisdiction ov
er the real defendants. The real de-
PENDANT, he said, was the corporation
publishing the newspaper whereas
those named by the plaintiffs were
Albert Washington and Ben c. Larkin
as only two of the five members of
the board of directors, and C. G. Boise!
employed as editor of the publication.
There is absolutely nothing to it, n
Judge Berry said, speaking to the
plaintiffs. let you put in your evil
dence so that you could see it your
self. You can call a meeting of the
newspaper stockholders and GUST these
directors, but that is all. This court
!, ,nowerless to grant relief for nearly
all the