The Bismarck Tribune Newspaper, July 11, 1919, Page 1

‘i Cee eee « ee | 8 ly Fatt. INTH YEAR, NO. 156. BISMARCK, NORTH DAKOTA —_ FRIDAY, JULY 11, 1919. PRICE FIVE CENTS THIRTY- OIL TAX LAW | ATTACKED INU.S, DISTRICT COURT Standard Oil Co. Alleges That Its Taxation Is Increased From $12,000 to $275,000 PEOPLE PAY THE BILL Levy of One Cent Per Gallon Must Be Passed on to Con- sumer If, Act Is Enforced Alleging that the tax burden on its North Dakota consumers has been in- creased from $12,000 to $275,000 per annum by senate Dill No, 41, passed by the 16th assembly, the Standard Oil Co, of Indiana has applied to Judgt Amidon in the United States district court for the southeastern division of North Dakota for a ttmporary restrain- ing order enjoining state officials from enforcing this statute, S. B. 41 levies a tax of 1-4 to 1 cent on each gallon of oil sold in the state, The injunction petition is direct- ed to Obert Olson as‘state treasurer; William Langer, as attorney general; Carl Kositzky, as state auditor; EB. F. Ladd, as state oil inspector, and ‘George E. Wallace, as state tax com- missioner, and to each of these offi- clals as individuals. A hearing on the injunction order will be held as soon as Judge Amidon can arrange it, said Attorney General Langer this morning. Mr Langer will represent the state in this litigation, and he seemed condifent today of vic- tory. Judge Amidon regards ‘the ac- tion of such vital importance that he will not hear it alone, but has an: nounced his intention of calling ig cwo judges to assist him. Allegations in Complaint. The Standard Oil Co. of Indiana contends that Senate Bill 41 is con- trary to and in violation of Section 1 of the 14th amendment and Section 8 of Article 1 of the constitution of the United States and contrary to and in violation of the constitution of the state of North Dakota and it asks that the defendants be enjoined from applying or carrying into effect any of the provisions of this statute and that the collection of taxes “purport- ing to be authorized and attempted to be imposed thereby upon plaintiff's property in the state of North Da- kota” be enjoined. The Standard Oil Co. alleges that Senate Bill 41.18 in violation of Sec- tion 11 of the constitution of North Dakota, which provides that “all laws of a general nature shall have. uni- form operation,” and ‘Section © 176, which provides that ‘taxes. shall be uniform upon the same class of prop- erty.” It is also urged that the act violates subdivision 23 of Section 69, which provides thatthe legislative as- sembly “shall not pass local or spe- cial laws.* * * for the assessment or collection of taxes.” j * Big Tax Increase. The plaintiff asserts\ that its per- sonal property taxes on oil for 1918 amounted to about $12,000, while if the taxes specified ‘in S. B. 41 had been applied such: personal property taxes would not have been less than $275,000. Such a tax the company contends is unfair, unreasonable and unjust and would’ subject the plaintiff and 44 other companies selling oil in North Dakota to a‘discriminative and unfair burden many times as great per unit value or volume of business as the tax burdens imposed by North Dakota upon others engaged in the state as wholesalers and jobbers. The plaintiff takes exceptions to the distinctions made under the act be- tween “straight-run” gasoline and gasoline produced by other methods. It contends that as a result of this classification all the gasoline sold ‘by the plaintiff or by it stored in North Dakota for sale on and since March 1, 1919, and all gasoline hereafter to ibe shipped to North Dakota for sale therein will be subject to a tax of one cent per gallon, if this statute is held valid and enforced, “because it is im- possible to determine the amount, if any, of so-called ‘straight-run’ gaso- line so stored or sold by plaintiff.” The company ‘further contends that the statute, if enforced, will amount to a regulation of, burden upon and discrimination against interstate com- merce, in violation of Section 8 of Article 1 of the constitution of the United States. Heavy April Assessment. The plaintiff. alleges that during April the taxes assessed against it for $36,978.77, covering 2,424,491 gallons of kerosene at one-quarter of a cent per gallon, and 3,091,754 gallons of gasoline at one cent per gallon, and it asks that the state treasurer and state auditor be enjoined from the collection of this tax. This burden, if the act is enforced, must, says the plaintiff, be passed onto the con- sumer. Attorneys for ‘#e Standard Oil Co. are J. S. Watson and N. C. Young of Fargo; William D. Mitchell and Pierce Bunton of St. Paul, and Chauncy W. Martyn of Chicago. GERMANS HELD ON CHARGE OF SUPPLY THEFTS Coblenz, July 11—A plot involving wholesale thefts of food, automobile tires and other troop supplies for ship- ment to Germany has been uncovered by army officers here today. Several Germans who are alleged to have a hand in the theft are said to have been apprehended. Cars of bacon, tires and tubes, which were billed to Germany as empties, were returned today to Coblenz from the end of the bridgehead. The loss to the army is estimated at several million marks, MINOTERS WANT STATE ELEVATOR More than 200 Minot and Ward county citizens, including Grant 8. Youmans, Senator Thorwald Mostad and Door Carroll, formerly of the North Dakota council of defense, filed with the industrial commission this morning a petition requesting that one of the state-owned terminal ele- vators and flour mills be located at the Magic City. The petitions were submitted through former Rep. Anth- ony Walton of Minot. 35,000 HEADS OF CONCERNS TO BUILD UP FUND Workmen’s Compensation Bu- reau Expects Contributions From Large Number BOARD HAS MUCH POWER Employers Cannot Appeal From Its Findings, But Claimant May Go to Court Thirty-five thousand North Dakota employers, exclusive of farmers who are placed in a privileged class which is exempted, are expected to have paid into the North Dakota work- men’s compensation fund by the end of this month annual premiums rang- ing from a few cents for each hundred dollars of their payroll to $11 or more per hundred. Individual premium payments may be as little as $5 and they will run as high as $15,000. Some comparatively small establishments. such as meat markets, which appear to the layman to rank relatively low in point of hazard, will, it is claimed, pay $100 or more per annum into the compensayion fund, while a public utility company, such as the Hughes Electric Co. of Bismarck, a majority of whose employes are held to be in extra-hazardous occupations will pay $4,000 per annum for the protection of these‘employes. An employer may not have a single accident in his own | plant, but he will pay the premium nevertheless, for the state insurance plan is mutual, and everyone except the farmer, who employs labor is re- quired to bear a stare of the bur- den, L. D. Richardson of Fargo, general manager of the North Dakota Inde. pendent Telephone Co., visited ‘the compensation bureau” yesterday. to discover the form. of report. which will be required from this company. The - North’“Dakota™Independent “haa 165 employes who: will be covered by this. act: ° Other “employers. are en- deavoring to learn what is expected of them, The department appears to be swamped, and it complains of in- ability to obtain necessary clerical help. The act requires that every employ- er subject to this act shall contribute to the workmen’s compensation éund in proportion to the annual expendi- ture of money by such employer for the service of persons subject to the act. The bureau has employed at $1,- 800 per month an “expert” to determ- ine what rate shall be applied to the various classes of employment. “There are about 1,000 separate classifica- tions, said Commissioner S. S. Mc- Donald, the labor member of the bu- reau, today. The act covers all employes of the state and all its political sub-divis- ions; cf all public and quasi-public corporations. “Hazardous employ- ment” is classified under the act as “any employment in which one or more employes are regularly employ- ed in the same business, or in or about the same establishment, except agriculture and domestic service and any common carrier, by steam. From premiums paid by employers at a rate arbitrarily fixed by the workmen’s compensation bureau, all claims for injury are to be paid; ex- penses of the commission are to be defrayed, and a surplus of $50,000 is to be set aside. If an employer de- faults in any payments to the fund, it is made the duty of the attorney general to bring civil action to col- lect the amount in default. Employ- ers in good standing with the bureau cannot be held liable to respond in damages in any common low action brought by an injured employee. If an employer fails to comply, he is sub- jected to heavy penalties in the form of fines, and should an injured em- ploye bring action for damages, the employer cannot defend himself of the fellow servant doctrine, the theory of assumption of risk, or of contribu- tory negligence. The bureau is given full power and authority to hear and determine all questions within its jurisdiction, af- fecting claims for personal injuries, so far as the employer is concerned. But if the employe is dissatisfied, he has 30 days in which to appeal to the district court, in which the compensa- tion bureau shall be represented by the state’s attorney. COMMITTEE 70 CONSIDER PACT NEXT MONDAY Washington, July 11.—With the sen- ate in possesion of the peace treaty and the league of nations covenant, but with sessions adjourned until Monday, advocates and opponents of the league today began preparations for the rati- fication contest, which is expected to engage the attention of the senate for weeks. Both sides were expected to hold informal conferences today in an- ticipation of the meeting of the foreign relations committee Monday. SUPREME COURT ASKED T0 SAVE FULL OREW BILL Attorney General Asks Alterna- tive Writ Directing Hinds to Show Cause IS REFUSING TO COMPLY Director General Declares He Will Ignore North Dakota Labor Statute Attorney General Langer and As- sistant Attorney General Albert E. Sheets, Jr., today applied to the North Dakot supreme court for a writ of mandamus compelling the federal railway administration ‘to enforce the full crew act passed by the 16th as- sembly, After considerable corres- pondence, the railway administration yesterday wired the attorney general that it did not intend to comply with this act, which became effective July 1. | i The full crew act requires compan- ies operating more. than four trains in 24 hours to employ six. men on freight trains of forty cars or more; five men on trains of less than forty- freight cars and five on passenger trains of four cars or more. The attorney general in his appli- cation for a writ of mandamus recites the fact that on July 10, the director general of the United States railroad administration issued an order refus- ing to comply with the provisions of this act; that such refusal is without any fundation of law and is in viola- tion of law; that it tends to reduce the ‘efficiency of the Northern Pa- clfic railway, named with Director General Walker D. Hines as the prin- cipal defendant; that it increases the danger of accident and possibility of injury to the passengers traveling thereon and the freight shipments consigned thereover, and that “by said neglect, failure and refusal to, comply with the provisions of ‘said law, jeopardizes and endangers the lives and welfare of the people of the state of North Dakota” ~ The attorney general argues that the director general's refusal to com- ply with this act is an unlawful abuse of power vested in him and that the direct orders given are now- and’ have been ‘during the entire period of their enforcement without any-validity and in violation of, 1aw and an improper and illegal burden upon the employes of said railroad company; illegal and void as. against the public welfare, conyenience,: safety, “property rights and’ best interests;of-the- people of the. state of North, Dakota and con-|* trary'to"the laws of said state. He prays therefore the:issuance of an alternative ‘writ ‘directing the di- rector gefieral to show cause. why an injunction’ order’ demanding © com- pliance, with this’ act should not issue, “restricting and enjoining the contin- uing in force of the said’ ordér made by the defendant director general, in violation and contravention of the said full crew act.” : NATIONAL BANKS SHOW INCREASE Washington, July 10.—“Unprece- dented growth” in the national bank situation. for the fiscal year ending June 30, was reported ‘by John Skel- ton Williams, comptroller of the cur- rency. New charters were granted to 189 banks and authority to increase capital to 144, the new capital from both ‘sources amounting to $43,544,100. EXTREMES OF AIR TRAVEL The cabin de luxe pictured above is that of the Goliath, largest airplane in operation, To Resume Trade With Germany But Restrict | Commodities ' Washington, July’ 11.—Trade Dbe- tween the United States and Germany will be resumed. immediately, Acting Secretary Polk announced today. Mr. Polk said licenses: would be issued, but that dies, chemicals and potash would be excepted, Control over trade in these commodities will be exercised by the reparations committee under the terms of the peace treaty. A formal anouncement regarding trade resump- tion was promised within forty-eight hours, Secretary Polk made it clear that the resumption of trade relations with Ger- many did not abrogate the trading with the enemy act. LEAGUE BOSSES LIE TO: EXPLAIN BITTER DEFEAT Lieut. -F.. -B.:Streeter Declares Charges of Fraud in Emmons Utterly Unfounded TO BE WORSE NEXT TIME Lieut. F.B, Streeter, publisher of the Emmons County Record at Lin- ton,, in a letter to The Tribune de- clares that league ‘bosses are delib- erately lying in an effort to convince leaguers in other sections of the state that Townley’s bitter cefeat in Em- mons was due to fraud and the ma- chinations of his enemies, Lieut. Streeter’s letter follows: Linton, N, -D., July 8, 1919. Bismarck Tribune, Bismarck, ‘N. D. Gentlemen: I have just discovered the claim in the North Dakota Leader that Em- mons county..voters were duped “by forged notices purporting: to be dis- trict court actions taking their land away from them” under.the provisions of: the. Public ‘Domain section of the Homebuilders’ act. » b While ‘it-is:;true, enough that the gang-in this state could do so, under. the provisions of ‘that bill, their state- ments’are absolutely untrue that such forged -notices--were the means - of swinging Emmons ‘county out of thé Townley: column. . ¥ That outfit:may be able fo prevent the rest of the state: from: investigat- ing conditions to. find out why Em- mons changed’ -so~greatly, but the Emmons county people. who. receive the: North Dakata Leader. know, their Btatements are untrue. gam 7 My position .and.-business .in, this. county is: such that<I ‘would be very likely to hear”at ‘once of any such Dusiness ,and the first we ever heard of it down here, several days after election, was the statements appear- ing in: the ‘North Dakota ‘Leader. «. And, ‘another thing is ‘certain, these attempts to explain their sudden loss of prestige ‘in Emmons county will re- act strongly against them next: year. Kidder, a strong league county, is also’ in this legislative district, and we'll promise the Townley outfit that voth*Emmons and Kidder will have‘a thorough chance next spring to know these facts, and other allied matters. If Kidder doesn’t take the same sort of a flop that Emmons took this vear, and if Emmons doesn’t rim them much worse, we are certainly hadly mistaken. You are at liberty to use any part of this letter in putting these facts before your readers. The league bosses are certainly lying to explain why Emmons county, ut least, jumped the traces. Yours very truly, HENCHMEN OF TOWNLEY RUSH TO HIS DEFENSE John Hagen, Commissioner of Agriculture, Not Allowed to Testify for Chief LIGGETT ON THE GROUND Publicity Agent of League Head Ready to Defend Boss’ Stand Jackson, July 11—Townley is ex- pected. to take the stand in his own defense late today. Publication of articles concerning the conspiracy trial of A. C. Townley and Joseph Gilbert ‘by a local news- paper today and by Nonparisan league papers early in the trial was aired before the jury in district court here today, when counsel of the Nonpari- san league chief charged that an arti- cle in the Jackson Republic “may pos- sibly have been prepared with the in- tention of influencing the jury.” Assails Newspaper. The article carried a _ headline which stated that the “city is full of Nonpartisah ‘leaguers, red card so- clalists and pro-Germans.” Attorney George Hoke, chief coun- sel of the defense, stopped the trial and informed the judge that he found a copy of the paper on the sheriff's table “Thirty feet from the jurymen.” He called Prosecuting Attorney Nich- olas to the stand, and Nicholas in answer to Hoke’s questions denied that he knew anything about the pre- paration or publication of the article. Assistant Attorney General Mark- ham then declared that the article might be classed with charges made} early in the trial that District Judge} Dean ‘had been unfair to the defense. It was alleged that these statements were sent out from Jackson by a pub- licity representative of the Nonparti- san league and later remailed to var- ious Minnesota newspapers. “We will sift the whole newspaper ‘business to ‘the bottom,” said Judge Dean. “But-we will not do it at this time. : We will do it before’ this case is ‘closed: if thé defense wishes.” Several ‘witnesses living in or near Kenyon, Minn., testified that Gilbert in his speech at Kenyon in August, 1917, did not make the unpatriotic re- markes charged. «This testimony in substance was that Gilbert urged con- scription of. wealth as well as of men. He denied that. he was: pro-German and :that: he: led ‘the crowd’ in giv- ing three cheers for President Wil- son. hi Fred. B, Wood of Minneapolis, former North Dakota farmer and a member of the Nonpartisan: League’s executive committee of ‘three, was the principal witness ‘at yesterday’s afternoon ses- sion of the conspiracy: tridl of A. C. (Continued on Page Three.) SLIGHT DROP IN GAS PRICES): Chicago, July 11—The Standard Oil Company of Indiana today re- duced the price of gasoline sold from! tank wagons 2c a gallon in Chicago, St. Louis, and. the Minneapolis terri- tory, and 1c a gallon in all other ter- ritory of the nine states it serves, The price of kerosene was advanced 1c a gallon in all of its territory. Un- der its new schedule gasoline will be sold from tank wagons in Chicago and vicinity for 21c a gallon, while the price at automobile stations will remain the same, 23c a gallon. F, B. STREETER. below is the Farman Mosquito, smallest to fly. The Goliath makes weekly trips from Paris to Brussels and the fare is $60. The mosquito is a one-man plane, built to sell for $800. It has a wing spread of | ¢55 999. ‘The bank will open for busi- 16 feet and a 20-horsepower engine. Both planes are products of the Farman plant. RECRUITS LEAVE FOR ARMY CAMPS Johnson Lane of Carson and Leopold Ganz, Joseph W. Schebler, William C. Anderson and Wilbur G. Root, all of Bismarck, who enlisted. through the local recruiting station, left last night for their mobilization points. Schebler and Root have enlisted for the air ser- vice; Anderson goes into the motor transport division, and the others into the medical corps, Col. T. J. Rogers of Aberdeen was an over-night visitor at, the local re- cruiting station. DIRIGIBLE R-34 MAKES PROGRESS TO ENGLAND More Than 1,000 Miles East of New York on Way to Base KEEPS UP HIGH SPEED St. John, July 1—The wireless sta- tion here was in contact with the R-34 today and indication was that the dirigible is near the Azores. FORTY-FIVE KNOTS AN HOUR. Londan, July 11—The British dirigible R-34-was in direct contact by wire with the Clifton at 4 a, m. this morning, Greenwich time, The speed of the craft was forty-five knots an hour. WELL ON ITS JOURNEY. New York, July 11.—The R-34 was estimated to be more than half way across the Atlantic at 9:30 today, al- though details were lacking. At 4:30 Greenwich, midnight New York, the dirigible was 1,260 miles east of here and speeding 45 knots. If this pro- gress continued it was estimated that the dirigible will be 1,666 miles away by nine o'clock. COVERS 1,310 MILES, London, July 11.—In the first twen- ty-four hours of flight across the At- lantic from Mineola the dirigible R-34 covered 1,300 miles, according to advices received here. AIDED BY WIND. London, July 11.—The dirigible, R-34 speeding eastward across the Atlantic, at 8:10 New York time had reached ap- loximately 1,400 miles from her starting point, Up to the time of her report at 12:10 o’clock Greenwich time, the R-34 had 3,027 gallons of gasoline still in her tank. This was taken to indicate that the dirigible was being aided by the wind, HARDEN MAY BE AMBASSADOR FROM GERMANY Copenhagen, July 11.—Maximillian Harden, socialist, probably will be ap- pointed ambassador at Washington, said the Fremenblatt ‘of Hamburg, to- jay. WHITES ATTACKED BY LARGE CROWD OF TEXAS NEGROES Longview, Tex., July 11.—More white men were wounded early today when negroes fired upon a group of whites they had waylaid in the negro section where the whites had gone in search of a white school teacher accused of pub- lishing statements in a negro newspa- per. There were from twelve to fifteen white men in the white party and they returned the fire so long as their am- munition lasted. It was estimated that from fifty to seventy-five negroes were in the attacking party, which were hid in houses. With re-inforcements the whites re- turned to the secene, but the negroes had dispersed, leaving no indication of casualties among their number. The whites then burned five of the principal negro residences to the ground. Search for the ringleaders continued today, and it was said the authorities expected no further difficulties, Wilson Confers With Polk Upon Mexico Washington, July 11.—President Wilson made an unexpected call on Acting Secretary Polk today at the state department. The president car- ried with him a number of papers and it was understood the Mexican condi- tion was among the first he wished to consider, The president remained in conversa- tion with Mr, Polk for over an hour. Mr. Polk is to go to Paris to succeed Mr. Lansing on the peace delegation. After leaving Mr. Polk’s office, the president walked down the corridor to the office of Secretary Daniels, where he went into conference with the head of the navy department. Many employees in the state, war and navy building, who were out for lunch, applauded the president. Grady and Aamoth Launch New Bank Valley City, N. D., July 11—James Grady and H. C. Aamoth, who recent- ly sold to a group of Barnes county farmers the American National bank, over whose reorganization by Thomas Allan Box and Jack Hastings of the league into the American State bank there has been much adoo, appear as president and cashier respectively of a new Valley City bank, the Security National. Lee Cowell is chairman of the board of directors, and S. P. Ellis and George W. Drake are vice presi- dents of the new institution, which has a paid up capital and surplus of ness August 1. FEDERAL BOARD HITS PACKERS’ “FOOD CONTROL” In Comprehensive Report to President Wilson Charge Illegal Practices NO ADEQUATE LAW Commission Declares Practices Growth of Long Standing— Dominate Market Washington, July 11—An approach- ing “packer domination of all import- ant foods in the United States and an international control of meat products with foreign trade companies, seems @ certainty unless fundamental ac- tion is taken to prevent it, the feder- al trade commission declared today in Part I of its report to President Wil- son on the “extent and growth of power of the five packers in meat and other industry.” MMlegal Combines, Declaring the “history of the pack- ers’ growth is interwoven with illegal combines, rebates and undisclosed control of corporations,” the report urged importance of full publicity of corporate ownership of all industries. “As to devices for.securing control there does not exist adequate law,” the report said. “In its absence, un- fair competition may run its course to the goal of monopoly, and accomplish the ruin of competitors without the secret ownership being suspected and, consequently, without complaint to the commission, or investigation of facts. Competitor in Jeopardy. The competitor is in jeopardy so long as he has not the knowledge of true ownership, and the public is en- titled to such knowledge. Alleging that the “big five’ packers—Swift & Co. Armour & Co., Wilson & Co., Morris & Co. and the Cudahy Com- pany, jaintly or separately yield con- trolling interest’ in 574 companies, minority interests in 95 others, and undetermined interests in 93, a total of 762 companies, and that they pro- duce or deal in some 775 commod\ ties, largely food products, the report gives this picture of growing packer invasion into related and ‘unrelated industries: Range of Commodities. “In addition to meat food, they deal in such diverse commodities as fresh tomatoes and bango strings, leather and ¢otton seed oil, breakfast foods and -thin fiz, curled hair, pepsin and washing powders, Their branch hous- es are not only stationed for the dis- tribution of meat and poultry but take on-the function of wholesale grocery houses and jobbers to special trade. They have interests sq as to be a dominating factor in the distribution of animal food and their by-products and are reaching out for contro] of substitutes for animal food and other lines. Cattle Loan Companies. “They are factors in cattle loan companies, making necessary loans to growers and feeders of livestock; are interested in railroads and private car lines; in most of the important stock yards companies, the public market for the bulk of food supplies; control live stock papers in which the stock raisers and feeders rely for their news; dominate companies that manufacture machinery essential to the industry. they are principle deal- ers on the provision exchanges where prices are determined; they or their subsidiary companies deal in hides, oleo, fertilizer and other animal by- products, In Leather Industry. “They are important factors in the leather industry, in oleo margarine, in soap, in fertilizer, glue, ete. Their vast ristributing system with the ad- vantage arising from control of agencies has enabled then. to extend their activities on a large scale into poultry, eggs, cheese, ‘butter, rice, breakfast food, canned vegetables and soda foundtatn supplies, “The big five ‘have control of pub- lic utility corporations in Sioux City, Kansas City, South St. Paul, Portland, Ore.; San Francisco, Hill City, Minn.; Fort Worth, Tex., and Chicago. DENY CHARGES. Chicago, July 11.—Charges against the big meat packers contained in the report issued by the federal trade commission today were denied by Louis F. Swift, president of Swift & Co., speaking for all Chicago pack- ers. This latest report of federal trade commission is merely an attack on large and successful business en- terprises, said Mr. Swift. It con- tains nothing new and is an outgrowth of the former discredited Heney in- vestigation. This report, so far as I am concerned, contains absolutely no evidence of collusion among the five largest packers, and I say for Swift ‘& Co. as I have said many times, that we have no agreement of any kind with any other packers to affect prices of livestock or meat. NEW TELEPHONE LINE FROM NEW ENGLAND TO WEST While government control has re- sulted in a suspension of much pro- posed construction work, General Manager L. D. Richardson of Fargo announced today that the North Da- kota Independent Telephone Co. has ordered all materials for and soon is to begin work on a 28-mile connection between Amidon and New England, which will connect the Slope county seat with Bismarck and other centers, The company still hopes some day to build a new office building here and to install a conduit ,system which will enable it to abolish all poles, ex- vept for distribution purposes, in the down town district at least.