The Bismarck Tribune Newspaper, May 24, 1922, Page 4

PAGE FOUR THE BISMARCK TRIBUNE Entered at the Postoffice, Bismarck, N. D., as Second | Class Matter. GEORGE D. MANN~ - - . = Foreign Representatives G. LOGAN PAYNE COMPANY CHICAGO DETROIT Marquette Bldg. Kresge Bldg. PAYNE, BURNS AND SMITH | NEW YORK - - - - Fifth Ave. Bldg. MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The Associated Press is exclusively entitled to the use or republication of all news dispatches credited vo it or not otherwise credited in this paper and also the local news’ published herein. All-rights of republication of special dispatches herein are.algo reserved. MEMBER AUDIT BUREAU OF CIRCULATION SUBSCRIPTION RATES PAYABLE IN SES Daily by carrier,.per year. Daily by mail, per year (in Bismarck) es Daily by mail, per year (in state outside Bismarck) Daily by mail, oytside of North Dakota........ e THE STATE’S OLDEST NEWSPAPER (Established 1873) > THE CAMPAIGN ISSUES In a page broadside against the Tribune’s refusal to. swallow ‘the Jamestown platform of continued state socialism at the ‘public expense, The Independent Review, the fusion organ in North Dakota, singles out this paper alone. No mention is made of the attitude of the Fargo Forum which is even more militantly than the Tribune urging“ that thé@key be turned in. the Bank of North Dakota, ‘that the mill at Grand} Forkg be,scrapped and in fact that every vestige of state socialism be abandoned as a state policy. Why Theodore Nelson does not thunder against the Forum for its refusal to swallow the James- town compromise platform cooked up under the pressuré of ppiitical expediency is left to the im- agination,.-. Su h Iese majeste should be’ pun- ished présumptuowsly committed as it is under the| very nose of the I. V. A. headquarters. Then too there is Jerry Bacon’s Herald. It opposes socialism everywhere but at Grand Forks. State owned industries at Bismarck, Drake or anywhere outside of Grand Forks county reflect socialism and every trace of them should be obliterated and the expense to the taxpayers dispensed with. But in Grand Forks state owned enterprises do not constitute state socialism. They become economic exper:ments in the: mill and elevator business. Because The Bismarck Tribune can see no dif- ference ‘between state socialism at Bismarck, at Drake or at Grand Forks, Mr. Nelson’s organ pro- ceeds to enlighten the world that “the platform (meaning the Jamestown platform) favors giv- ing the miil and elevator project a fair trial; that is-all. It does not endorse the principle of state ownership.” =The farmers surely can see an admission in this that the I. V. A. platform says in effect: We are going to squander fifteen or twenty mil- lions in proving to you that the mill and elevator cannot succeed. Of course Mr. Farmer you will pay the bill and when the taxes pinch you so hard that you cry out for relief then we will know that the mill and elevator has been given a fair trial for of course we have explained to you and you know that we cannot swallow the principle of the thing, but we need the votes. What a hocus pocus issue to go before the peo- ple with. All of this too in face of the fact that the Bank of North Dakota stands to lose the state two million before it has been completely “tried out’; that the Drake mill has lost another $200,000 or $300,000; The Werner creamery a mere $100,000 or so and the Homebuilders experi- ment some $400,000 more and when Jerry Bacon’s mill gets to grinding No. 1 hard sometime before Christmas, the loss there in a season can run a million or two without any effort on the part of the politicians. With a known loss of nearly $2,000,000 star- ing the tgx payers in the face from the operation of state gwned industries to date, the League and I. V. A. would pile on millions more. just to give the program a “fair” trial. The only honest program before the people of North Dakota today is the one committting the state to a halt now before it is plunged deeper into tax bondage. North Dakota’s credit is good and the bond issues can go on merrily for years to come, but The Tribune would be recreant to its duty in not’ informing its readers that pay day must come inevitably and then the hollow prom- ises of the politicians will be exploded. | The time to end state sociaiism is now. Personalities mean nothing to The Tribune in| this fight. It is for any program that offers to end the orgy as soon as possible and the farmers | Editor 3 of the state are beginning to see through the| empty promises of both league and I. V. A. poli- ticians who are using the utopian schemes of Townley to catch votes. Those who want a return of the socialistic regime will vote for Senator Baker; those who want to see the farmer’s program carried out ex- perimentally will vote for Gov. Nestos, and those who earnestly desire to end the orgy now and clean up on all gangs, all bosses of whatever stripe will support H. L. Stegner and his associ- ates on a clean-up ticket. The Tribune proposes to place the issues:of all these various candidates before its readers and let them say what they want. It is not the pro- vince of this paper to dictate the franchises of its readers, but to state the issues clearly as it sees them. ters intelligently exercise their rights of suff- rage. Voters of North Dakota have a wide range of | choice. As the campaign proceeds, all political factions will have opportunity to state their ar- guments through these columns which are open to a free and fair discussion of the issues before the state. No voter need take the propaganda of league cr I. V. A. press agents unchallenged. Hear all sides of the arguments, then let your best judg- ment and your conscience be your guide. The Tribune in this campaign is not going to dictate to any one how he shall cast his vote. That can well be left to the subsidized league and I. V. A. organs whose masters dictate their views. Whether it is pleasing to the I. V. A. or not, The Tribune does not propose to be drawn into an endorsement of any program which promises no relief to the taxpayers of this state. Before the voters are two programs, state so- cialism and anti-state socialism. Senator Baker stands for full rain while Gov. Nestos would spend .just enough to make the farmers believe the program was going through. H. L. Stegner declares unequivocally against all state social- ism. The voter pays the freight, let him take his choice. THE ETHICS UNCHANGED The supreme court has rendered a decision in the Burleigh county printing. case in which a printing establishment (The Tribune Company) sought to compel County Auditor Frank Johnson ‘0 receive competitive bids for printing election supplies. The supreme court holds that letting of this work by competitive bid is discretionary with the county auditor but not mandatory. It holds that although the legislature provided that in ex- penditure of ‘county money in repairs, etc., bids must be received, the legislature omitted such mandatory provision with regard to election sup- plies. Many county auditors ‘actuated by a spirit of fair play, common honesty and decency call for bids on this work. x There are at least three printing establishments in Bismarck that can print the county election supplies and probably would submit bids... There are as many stationery houses that can supply the pens, ink and pencils used. County Auditor Johnson may call for bids if he desires, He has said that: he will not.’ He has said he’ would place the work with a Fargo firm, without bids or without an agreed price. Mr. Johnson has in effect said: . Mr. Farmer: I might spend your money in Bismarck to help firms which pay taxes and em- ploy men who pay taxes and thus lighten your tax burden, but I will not. Mr. Wage Earner: I might spend your money in Bismarck to ‘help your fellow wage earners keep employment the year around, but I will not. Mr. Retail Merchant: You may talk about trade-at-home if you wish, but I am going to spend your tax money in Fargo. The county auditor encourages a system which has been denounced by many law-making bodics which have enacted legislation to require accept- ance of bids on county work of $300 or moze, so as to give all business houses a fair chance, and eliminate graft and waste. The supreme court decision has not changed the ethics of the case. It puts the onus squarely on the shoulders of the county auditor. He has said he chooses to spend the taxpayers’ money in Fargo. Mr. Johnson is a candidate for re-election. He should get votes—in Fargo. EDITORIAL REVIEW Comment reproduced in this column may or may not ‘express the opinion of The Tribune. They are presented here in order that our readers may have both sides of important issues which are being discussed in the prese of the day. A MAINE BOY’S PROWESS The Honorable William Widgery Thomas of this city, who for many years was minister to Sweden, and is now visiting his Swedish home at Karlshamm, recently gave a demonstration of physical vigor and prowess that belies his 82 years, when singlehanded he rowed for three miles a fishing boat with two masts and sails, heavily ballasted with granite. Mr. Thomas was stroke oar on a crack Bowdoin eight in his college days when Bowdoin crews were cf world wide note, and apparently has not lost his facility with the years. He evidences a vigor unusual for his age in all his daily activi- ties. He takes personal supervision of the work of 40 hands who carry on farming in his great Swedish estate. Only recently he attracted widespread notice in the Swedish press by going out into the forest} on his estate all alone in pursuit of two lumber; thieves. He caught the men on the shore as they were hurrying out of the woods with a log, and so great is the Swedish respect for his muscle andj brawn and for his purported intrepidity that the two men threw down the log and a saw they were} | carrying and fled into the woods. They left their ; | fishing boat, which answered to the description | | above. Mr. Thomas pulled it three miles to the harbor | | of his villa and there anchored it. The boat was/| |turned over to. the police, the’ thieves came and; claimed it, and that served as evidence against { |them when Mr. Thomas appeared in court and} | personally prosecuted the case with a legal astute- | ness as remarkable for his age as his physical | Tn this way then and in no other way can vot- Oi ‘hardihood.—Portland, Me., Evening News. THE’ BISMARCK: TRIBUNE WEDNESDAY, MAY 24, 1922 Ker AN BY MILTON BRONNER. European Manager for NEA Service. Berlin May 24.—When the German empire was formed, the Hohenzollerns could put into’ the common pot the Kingdom of Prussia over which they tuled. To this were added the King- doms of Bavaria and Wurtemburg, the Duchy of Baden and dozens of. little principalities all ruled over by kings, dukes and princes, Then the Hohen- zollern king became German emperor, Hugo Stinnes, Germany's undisputed business emperor, started before the war with two kingdoms—the kingdom of coal and the kingdom of iron. And to this he has.since added various duchies and principalities in commodi- ties over which no others but himself is ruler, (He grasped early in his business ca- reer what the nations. only fully learn- WHAT MILLION MEN MEANS. Hugo’ Stinnes, industrial wizard and the uncrowned “new kaiser of Germany,” employs a million men. Walking single file, four feet apart, at an average gait, it would take these men 11 days and nights to march past their employer. ‘ghe anagnitade of Stinnes’ enter: prises, compared with American hig business,” is shown by the fact that: ‘rotal employes in the Americaa coal, industry number 740,00v, TRe Bell. Telephone’ system. em- ploys 225. men, The U. S, Steel Corporation em- ployes 275,000 men, Henry Ford employs 75,000 men, The Standard Oil of New Jersey cmploys 60,090 men, ed after the great war started—all | ~ modern life, all its necessities, al] its conveniences, all its comforts are a pyramid of which the base is coal. Piace iron on top of the coal and you at once have almostiall the neediul. So Stinnes bégan with coal. He .se cured control of Many .of the -best coa) nines. in the nich Ruby. Like his grandfather hé, continued, the , build.| ing of tugs and.bargés to convey. his own coal up and n the rivers to his own coal yardany,.. 7 }0 Sk became the ruling power in the Rhenish Westphalian ‘ Coal: Syndicate |. which in its great brick pajace at Es- sen regulates the‘production, price and market. of. practically, allthe coal dug in the Rhineldfid and:Westphdlla: ‘And it js done opeiily. * ‘Theticoal’ barons don’t haves to! dodge: the i:law to .ac: complish thelrpurpope: .iq! Ready for Chance. |, Having fortifie hiniself, in the coal business, 'Stinhes, long “before the war was inva position for his next strategic move which. was a’ big inyasion of the iron and steel trade. He: loaded his heavy guns with, money and with coal. There is this.to be said ‘for Stinnes -—he goes forward not Py crushing or wrecking opponents. is. a con: structor. He ‘takes: sick businesses and cures them. of whatjails them. H= takes well businessegand’makes them bigger. He likes ta, make two mills produce where only one’ did before. That gives more ‘work to Germans and enriches both Germany and Stinnes, Back in the ninetics a weak blast furnace corporation in Luxemburg and another in Bochum, Germany, were} united in one organ{zation. which was just as weak, It Jost money..for its stockholders. 3 Then in 1901 Stinnes came into the field, (Hl formed the.German Luxem- burg Mining and Smelting Corpor: with a capital of only one mi marks. ‘He took over the weak com bination just mentioned. In less than a year the new concern increased its rapital to 25 millions and in 1910 to 60 million marks, Under Stinnes’ leadership it bought ome stock in. big coal mining com- ranics in the. Saar and Moselle val- cys-and thus assured a cheap coal mly.. Tien ,it gobbled up. a \Dort- mund company: and rocketed its capi- tal to 100 million marks. Stinnes was ‘showing himself the yerman Napolcon of industrial finance. jut “it was sound finance, It was ‘ased.. upon..actual possessions, not rater. a Ja American trusts. Vast “ais in Bochum, Dortmund, Mulheim Emden,, ccal: mines, iron mines, 9Ke' mines. 40,030: busy workmen, all old a: very real story of big business: The ‘concern controlled’ five:million ‘ons Of coal and 1,580,000 tons-of coke der annum, to: say nothing’ of am- ‘ronia, ‘venzo] and coal tar products. t le rot only rig iron; cast iron and stee] but finished products like freight cars. .In other mills it made “‘hachinery, : , ft seemed Stinnes was at the zenitin vf hig career. But he had not yet ‘cen really tested. The war came and wth it. the bitter aftermath of crus‘- ing defeat for Germany. Albert Bal- lin, creator of the Mamburg-American Steamship lines, seeing his great bus- ‘nass destroyed, didn't havé the heart to go on. .It was said he killed him. If. But Stinnes was of tougher metal Seeing his greatest work cut into nieces by the allied victery, he aston- ‘shed all Germany by wresting greatcr. xchievement out of disaster, i War Spurred Him. No Gernan business was harder hit than his German Luxemburg. When Lorraine went back to France and Lux- emburg was freed from German influ- ence, Slinnes’ company lost 69 per nt of its raw mate! ial—iron ore and coal, For an ordinary business man that would have been a crushing blow. EVERETT TRUE ° BY CONDO| HOTEL. CLERK WIT THAT COLD, IMPASSIVE, SuPer- 10R ad ingah LOOK —— V4 But Stinnes isn’t an ordinary man. ‘He at once began buying up small companies which could give his com- pany some of the material it needed. But he was after bigger game. An- other Ruir valley family, the Kirdorts, had founded an organization known as the Gelsenkirehener Mining Corpora tion. It was one of the biggest in Cer- many. It had over 55,000 workers. The war also, hit this corporation hard, Stinnes brought about a com- bination of his German Luxemburg, the Gelsenkirchener, and the Bochum. er Verein. He made himself its mas- ter. He christened it the Rhine-Hlbe Union and it started out with a com- bined capital of €00 million marks, or just 1,000 times more than the amount with which he began his independent business career, Controls Fifth of Ruhr. German Luxemburg brought into the combine 14 coal mines, 1,500 coke ovens, 7 iron mines, 5 steel and iron works and 4 other big factories. Gel- onkirehener had 16 coal mines, 9 iron and steel works and a number of other factorics, The Bochumer Verein had 4 coal mines and 2 iron and steel works. No man in Germany was in a position like Stinnes. The coal he and i:is family own and the coel he controls amounts to exactly one-fifth of the vast Ruhr production. But he. wasn’t through with coal. With August Thyssen, another famous Rhineland caztain of industry, and the Dresden bank, he bought a controlling interest in the Mulheim Mining Cor- poration which operates. four big coa) mines, has other seams as yet, untap- ped, and a number of factoriés. Then the far-seeing Stinnes became inter- “ted in the possibilities of lignite. "This fuel has become especially pre¢- ious. for German industry since the loss of the Saar and Upper Silesian coal mines, Stinnes secured a huge block of stock in the Ribeckschen Cor- poretion of Halle which owns 34 lig- nite mines, 15 factories. for the manu. facture of coal briquettes, 5 brick fac- tories, 11 electrical power stations and 5 factories for the extraction of min- cral oi} and paraffin. Lignite is especi- ally valuable in this regard. Invades Retail Business. Then Stinnes thought of another scheme, His own coal mines supplied fue] to his own steel mills, but he looked around Germany and every- where’ he saw consumers of coal. Their money might as well flow into hig pockets. So thought, so done. He controls the United Coal Dealers Corporation of Berlin. He has similar. companies in Nuremburg, Koenigsburg, Flens- burg! Hamburg, Bremerhaven and nu- merous other important towns where Stinnes coal mines sold to big and little consumers. Foreign fields tempted him, too. Some of the finest, jron ore in the world is found, in ‘Sweden. Therefore Stinnes bought some Swedish ore tracts. One of the greatest foreign coups came to him by simply sitting still. In the old-days of the Austro-Hungarl- an empire one of the greatest com- panieg in the country was the Austrian Alpine Mining Corporation which prac- tically owned‘an inexhaustible supply of high grade iron ore in the Styrian Alps—a whole mountaain of ore in face. After the peace treaty the great Alpine company found itself ina pov- erty-stricken little Austria. Its for- mer bases of coal supply were now situated in new and hostile states. Into Austria, In its need of financial support a great block of its stock went into the hands of an Italian syndicate of auto- mobile and steel manufacturers. They saw in the plant an excellent chance to get for Italy the steel it so badly needed. But production failed. Tne Italians could give the company money and labor, but no coal and coke, In their trouble they looked to Ger- many. and naturally to Stinnes. The great Hugo was ready to oblige. He could shoot coal and coke right \straight across Germany into the Sty- rian Alps and the great concern could work full speed ahead. . Only—there is almost always an im- portant only with Stinnes. He told them he would like to sell them coal, but must be interested financially in the Alpine company. The Italians saw the point. Result—Stinnes owns outright two- fifths of the company for which he raid the huge sum of 250 millions of marks. Political Furore. This ccused more political furore both inside and outside Germany than anything Stinnes has ever done. At a time when the allies were demanding that Germany pay huge reparations, it was pointed out there must be lots of money in Germany when Stinnes could spend that much in one transac- tion. And inside Germany opponents of the government asked why Stinnes didn’t pay more taxes. The fact 18 the money was raised by a Swiss con- cern in which Stinnes is chief owner. ‘But the rude Socialists still laugh when you teltthém/a ‘corporation in the little tows! of:Zug could: raise ‘all that coin. £0) 4k NBs (Copyright, 1922, NEA Service,“Inc.) POS TaN ef It costs more to live now; but it is worth more. All work and no play makes the reformer a killjoy. ‘Cut glass makes a fine wedding present but a poor engagement ring. The unemployed would call a le tle work a vacation. These oil stock suckers had better let welis enough alone. Every day the miner strike con- tinues. we predict a harder winter, No husband is worthless; but some are worth less than others. ‘Th: “obey” is“being taken out of marriage rites. Some take it out of the prohibition law also. All’s fair in love and. war.and they are also alike in other ways. “Puy until it hurts,” is the new slogan. That's easy. Lenine’s shoulder is lame; but not as lame as his. excuses. They say tobacco siroke_ kills verms, and kisses are full of germs, so what could you \expect from a flapper? The moon moves about 3,500 feet a second; but the moonshine moves more feet than that. It is better to do your best and ex- pect the worst than do your worst and expect the best. It takes a couple to, mend a_bnoken engagement. pedir rach ts New York leads the World in den- sity of population, but they are be- ginning to learn. Many a man who acts like a big. gun isn’t loaded. Th> man who is always looking backward can.see where he has ‘beén, but not where hejjs going. |, batgin sikaylan dit “A Bus Like..a;Parlor Car—head- Ines the Digest. All tho seats must bo. taken. Congregation of a Chicago church will move because the rent is raised. Salvation isn’t so free, pac Seg | TODAY’S WORD | Poa clear amipetta RN Today’s word is HAGUE, THE (this proper noun being precejed al- ways, according to correct English, by the article). It’s pronouncc:d—hag, with the ‘a’ as in ‘age’ and the ‘g’ as in ‘egg.’. It is—the capital of Holland. In_ its original Dutch form it means—the counts’ ‘garden, the city’s present site having been once the place of residence of the Counts of Holland. Its a translation into English from—Dutch, “ ’s-Graven Hage,” fre- quently shortened to ‘Den Haag.” (La Haya is the ‘Latin form.) It's used like this—The Genoa con- ference is to b2 transfefred to The Hague, where deliberations will be resumed June 15. o——_____ . _ ___s 'ATHOUGHT | Se 7 —> Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall ut- terly fall; but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount un like wings as eagles; they shall run- and not be weary; they shall waik and not faint, —lIsaiah 40, 39-31, By persisting in a habit of self- denial, we shall, beyond what I can express, increase the inward powers of mind, and shall produce that cheer- fulness and groatness of spirit as will fit us fer all good purposes: and shail not have host pleasure—Henry More. cc wot ome!