Farmers Independent

Principles Of Farmer-Labor Party Remain Unchanged,
Party Leaders Declare.

With two of the principal offices in the state to be contested for in the state-wide primaries June 16 two months hence—the governorship and one of the state's two seats in the United States senate—political interest is picking up slowly in the opinion of veteran observers.

While mild campaigning by some candidates has been under way for some time, opening of formal campaign headquarters, delivery of campaign oratory and field activity still remains to be started. Farmer-Laborites have conducted their pre-primary endorsement convention selecting a slate of candidates, while Democratic groups are planning a convention to be held April 22nd.

Twin City newspapers are agreed that the Farmer-Labor party has started out to win the election.

This is the first time that such an admission has been made by the daily press of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Of course, these papers do not say that the Farmer-Labor party is going to win in November. What they do say is that the party has named a strong ticket and the Minneapolis Daily Star describes the party's achievement at the convention as "its strongest and most carefully calculated bid for political control of Minnesota."

Two of the Twin City dailies, at least, are far from hostile to the F-L ticket. The others cannot be considered anything but unfriendly and are without doubt preparing to lay the foundations for a bitter campaign against the Farmer-Labor candidates.

Formal filing of candidates, which will close early in May have come in slowly. None of the state's ten representatives in congress and United States Senator Schall have yet filed.

Governor Christianson is the only candidate to have filed for the Senate.

There are nine entries for the Republican nomination for clerk of the state supreme court. Filings for the Republican nomination for governor are now believed to be complete with four prospective candidates. Earle Brown of Minneapolis, superintendent of the state highway patrol, and Mayor William F. Kunze of Minneapolis, having announced that they will not enter the race. The candidates in order they are filed are: J. A. A. Burnquist, former governor; N. J. Holmberg, state commissioner of agriculture; Ray P. Chase, state auditor, and Albert Lagerstedt, Gibbon, member of the lower house of the state legislature.

Floyd B. Olson, endorsed candidate of the Farmer-Labor party, will have opposition in the primary election. Carl E. Taylor, of Palisade, already has filed for the Farmer-Labor nomination for governor.

Five men have filed for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor but few filings have been made for other state offices. Stafford King of St. Paul is the only formal entry for the state auditorship.

H. G. Teigan of the Farmer-Labor Press Service sums up the viewpoint of the Farmer-Laborites as follow:

"And how is the Farmer-Labor ticket to be attacked this year? By charging the candidates and the platform with being too radical? Hardly. With business facing bankruptcy everywhere; with the farmers reduced to vassalage and with the workers of the cities by the millions out of employment, such a course would be unthinkable. Moreover, the charge of radicalism has long ago outlived its usefulness.

"Thus it is that the Farmer-Labor party is being charged with having become conservative and that the spirit of a once virile radicalism has departed leaving only the shell behind.

"And this is a clever point of attack. While such propaganda may seem on the face of it as being the means of bringing old-party support to the Farmer-Labor ticket, it must be admitted that if the G.O.P. press succeeds in convincing Farmer-Labor boosters of the correctness of the charge, there is plenty of danger ahead. How many old Farmer-Labor boosters in town and country would fight for the party if they could be convinced that there has been a general abandonment of the principles upon which the movement was founded? Not many.

"The strategy of Republican newspapers is good." To defeat the Farmer-Labor ticket in the year 1930, is not to charge the party and its candidates with radicalism but with conservatism. It is also true that the Farmer-Labor party has never been defeated on what was in its platform, but rather on what was not in its platform. In 1918, Chas. A. Lindbergh and his associates on the Non-partisan League slate were attacked as pro-Germans, disloyalists and traitors. In 1920, Dr. Henrik Shipstead.

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Brief Political Drive
In Minnesota Expected

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George Malon and Tom Sullivan were denounced for desiring to usher in a social system of 'free love', home wrecking and atheism. Of course, there was nothing in the platform in either year to justify these charges, but the propaganda succeeded.

"The plan of attack is different now. The repertoire of false radical issues is exhausted,--So-appeal-will be made to voters that the Farmer Labor party has lost its progressive and is now a party of conservatism.

"The Farmer-Labor movement is still championing the cause of the farmers and workers. Its-program is the same as it was back in 1918, tho there has been change in phraseology and arrangement of the party's case against the plunderbund and its political satellites."