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Show DISLOYALTY DENIED t BY HEADJF LEAGUE A. C. Townley, Who Is Under Un-der Indictment, Before Senate Committee. WASHINGTON, May 1. Charges that leaders and members of the Farmers' National Non-Partisan league are disloyal dis-loyal were answered today before the senate military committee by A. C. Townley of St. Paul, the league's president, presi-dent, who ls under indictment for alleged violation of the Minnesota law. Townley was given an opportunity today to-day to o-eply to the statement of Judge John E. McGee of Minneapolis, a member mem-ber of the Minnesota public safety commission, com-mission, in the committee's consideration of the Chamberlain court-martial bill. Townley categorically denied the organization or-ganization was disloyal. Senator Reed of Missouri said Judge Mi l lee had stricken from the record statements referred to by Townley as reflecting re-flecting upon loyalty of the league's membership. mem-bership. "Our people don't know that the . charge widely published in our states was withdrawn,'' Townley replied. "The majority of the voters and their sympathizers sympa-thizers of North Dakota are members of the league. Including the governor and state ofticers and the legislature of North lakota. We don't want to be ostracise!. If the charge is true, a great many people peo-ple in the northwestern states would bo traitors." Townley said 90 per cent of North Dakota farmers belong to the league and that about 50,000 farmers each In North hakota and Minnesota are members. In both states, he said, there had been oversubscriptions over-subscriptions to Liberty bonds. Senator Weeks of Massachusetts developed that the league's annual dues are $8. "That would make receipts of at least JS00.O00 a year," ho observed. "How much did the league, aa an organization, subscribe to the loans?" Townley replied nothing had been subscribed sub-scribed to the first and second loans, but ?5000 was taken in the third. Townley put the league's Income at $1,-HOO.OOO $1,-HOO.OOO annually, and Senator Weeks asked why it had subscribed for only i S&000 worth of bonds. S "We are not a profit-making corpora tion," Townley responded. . In conclusion, Townley said he had been twice indicted under Minnesota state laws. The basis of the indictment, indict-ment, he asserted, was a speech in which he had said the war was caused by "industrial "in-dustrial autocracy." The other indictment indict-ment charged unlawful assemblage. As evidence of the league's loyalty, Townley cited resolutions pledging members' mem-bers' support to the government In prose-ruling prose-ruling the war, passed at Its conventions, lie read resolutions promising support of the war for "political and industrial democracy." |