THE FAMOUS BANK CASE 



gentleman prominently connected with one of 

 the largest corporations in the country brought 

 me the news. He came rubbing his hands 

 and smiling a satisfaction he made no attempt 

 to conceal. ''That ends the Nonpartisan 

 League," he said; "they can never get over 

 such a 'wallop." The corporation with which 

 he was connected had not a single interest at 

 stake in the matter. Its business could not 

 be affected a cent's worth, whether the League 

 lived or died. He did not live in North 

 Dakota nor within many miles of it. But he 

 was overjoyed to have this disaster come upon 

 the reform movement, only, so far as I could 

 tell or learn, because of the aroused caste 

 instinct. Other corporations were involved 

 if his was not, and his sympathies must neces- 

 sarily be with the corporations. 



His point of view seemed to be generally 

 shared through the country by those similarly 

 interested or connected. A New York news- 

 paper printed an entire page announcing and 

 exulting in the collapse of the League and all 

 its program. It bore the page-wide heading, 

 ''Townley's Fiasco Shows Entire State There 

 Is No Short Cut to Wealth." The article 

 under this heading began with these words: 



"Away out in North Dakota a bank blew 

 up the other day. It blew up because it was 

 full of hot air instead of hard cash." The 

 writer then proceeded to show that this "hot 



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