The Bismarck Tribune Newspaper, December 3, 1931, Page 1

4s ft North Dakota’s Oldest Newspaper THE BISMARCK TRIBUNE ESTABLISHED 1873 BISMARCK, NORTH DAKOTA, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3, 1931 The Weather Fair tonight and Friday; not much change in temperature, PRICE FIVE CENTS Seek to Revise Voters Law Lower N. D. Freight Rates Become. Effective “PUPPY LOVE’ ENDS—THREE DIE STATE SHIPPERS 10 SAVE $5,000,000 A YEAR, BOARD SAYS New Schedule Goes Into Effect Following Lengthy Battle Before I. C. C. 1S VICTORY FOR COMMISSION Some of New Charges Are Sub- stantial Cuts Because Old Rates Were so High New reduced railroad rates to and from North Dakota on practically all class and commodity traffic became effective Thursday. ‘The revised rates, the state railroad commission estimates, will mean 8 saving of more than $5,000,00 an- nually to North Dakota shippers and receivers of freight. By order of the Interstate Com- merce commission the rates took ef- fect Thursday, after failure of last minute efforts of those, opposed to the changes to reopen the case. The general effect of the new rates is an increase of about $17,000,000 a year in Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and eastern South Dakota, with North Dakota obtaining decreases which are termed by railroad commission offi- cers as “completely removing the long existing discriminations” against this state: ‘The new rates come after an ex- tended investigation covering a pe- tiod of six years. rates cover all less than carload shipments, and nu- merous carload shipments. Is Important Victory < “This is one of the most important freight rates cases ever won by North Dakota,” Ben C. Larkin, president of the North Dakota railroad commis- sion, said. “Tt is estimated that on a normal year’s business freight shippers and receivers of our state will save over five million dollars in freight charges. “Some of the new reductions are very substantial, due to the fact that the olf’fates were on an unbelievably high basis, For example, the carload rate on butter, eggs and dressed poultry from Devils Lake to’ Pitts- burgh is reduced 65 1-2 cents per 100 pounds; from Minot, 67 1-2 cents; from Dickinson 76 cents, and from Williston $1.03 1-2 per 100 pounds. “Similar reductions are made from these and other North Dakota ship- ping points to practically all destina-; tions, Chicago and east, including such important butter markets as New York and Boston. Very substan- tial reductions also are made in the carload rates on agricultural imple- ments, canned goods, machinery. au- tomobiles and numerous other articles to and from North Dakota. Examples Are Cited . “Practically all less than carload rates are reduced in amounts rang- ing up to over $1. For example, the first class rate between Detroit and Williston is reduced $1.08 1-2; between Detroit and Minot, 91 cents. Similar reductions are made to and from practically all cities in North Dakota. “There are a few increases, how- ever, especially in the extreme,eastern part of the state where the old rates were on a relatively much lower basis than to. or from the balance of the state.” Larkin lauded E, M. Hendricks, traffic expert for the commission, and F. P. Aughnay, assistant traffic ex- pert, for their work in the fight made by North Dakota before the Inter- state Commerce commission for the new rates. Hendricks and Aughnay, for the last five years, had prosecuted the case before ‘a renerat Rea sion, preparing hundreds of rate ex- hibits and traffic studies, and supply- ing the evidence on which the I. C. C. based its order. The class rate case, with which was consolidated several formal com- Plaints filed by the North Dakota railroad commission, was instituted pursuant to nal direction under the Hoch-Smith resolution adopted by congress in January, 1925. Hearings were held in numerous points throughout the United States (Cantinued on page nine) What Do YOU See? R. E. BONHAM, Jeweler: “Perhaps many who heard Jim \ Taylor's recent talks before the “Of course I can report only for the jewelry business, but in my many years of experience in this business I have never seen the time wnen it was as easy d= business as now or when we ers. “Qf course we lay this to the fact that prices have decreased in almost; all jewelry lines. “Silver has had a big drop in both plated and sterling: A drop amounting to about one-third in most lines has resulted and this certainly makes for easy selling. “Of course the yolume of sales wilt hardly compare with that of some other years but the number of sales for this time of year are well up with that of other years. After Henry Slo (right), 16-year-old Chicago echoolboy, shot and 12-year-old sweetheart, Ruth Wicklund, and then commi J to re-enact the tragedy. As 16. ittempted to show Constance Tro! ailled hi suicide, Jos Wilson (left) schoolmate of Si how it happened, his gun fired acci Vied, + f "Two Sets of Twins | | Followed by Triplets — ° Jay, N. Y., Dec. 3.—()}—Now it's triplets in the family of Mr. and Mrs, John Southmayd. Their seven children have only three birthdays as the other four repre- sent two pairs of twins. BEST RITES 10 Bd CONDUCTED FRAY Former Bismarck Merchant and Commissioner Be Burried at Washburn Washburn, N. D., Dec. 3.—Funeral services for R. L. Best, former Bis- marck business man and city commis- sioner, will be conducted at 2 p, m. Friday at Washburn. Rev. O. H. Swenson, pastor of the Washburn Methodist Episcopal church, will be in charge of services and interment will be made in the ‘Washburn cemetery. Pallbearers will be chosen from among his Bismarck friends. Relatives ‘of Best are expected here from Milwaukee, Wis, and Fargo Thursday evening. Many members of the Bismarck Masonic lodge, Knights of Pythias, B, P. O. E, and U. C. T., of which Best was a member, are expected to attend the rites. Best died Wednesday morning at the Mann home here from cancer of {the throat. He came to Bismarck {about 32 years ago and for many jyears was a clothing merchant. He was a member of the 3ismarck city commission from 1915 to 1919. |. He leaves his widow, three daugh- jters, three. brothers, and three sis- ters. \JAPS DRAFT NEW PEACE PROPOSAL | Require Chinese to Evacuate Manchuria As Neutral Zone Is Set Up Tokyo, Dec. 3.—()—Foreign Minis- ter Baron Shidehara Thursday com- Pleted the draft of Japan's counter | Proposals to the League of Nations’ council's Manchurian peace plan and new instructions to Ambassador Yoshizawa probably will be dispatches to Paris late Thursday night. stood to meet points in the league's plan which are unacceptable, as they stand, to the Tokyo government. Japan is standing firmly upon its military forces must entirely evacuate Man- churia if a neutral zone at Chinchow is to be realized. The solemn engage- ment of the Tokyo government to ob- serve the neutrality of this‘area, ex- cept. where banditry may require repressive measures, is held to be a sufficient guarantee, while a neutral control, it is held, could not be ac- cepted by Japan. Paris—Dr. Alfred. Sze, Chinese spokesman, has asked his government to express its views upon the Japanese that a neutral zone be es- tablished in South Manchuria and re- moval of the Chinese within the great wall. Observers of neutral govern- ments would have no part in the set- tlemert, according to this proposal. Phone Calls Seen as Clues in Murder Case Farmington, Minn., Dec. 3.—()— tary } |Two mysterious phone .calls by per- {sons indicating an interest in Eddie Harlow, slain rum runner, were being traced Thursday by Dakota county authorities. Lacking clues of a definite reason for the killing of Harlow of an iso- | lated side road near here Tuesday | night, investigators hoped the two The counter-proposals are under- stat os idently and Constance, also 16, was DEFEND LONG LAKE ‘AS BEST SITE FOR! U.S. GAME PRESERVE | Sportsmen Wire Maurek and Federal Chief Asking More Consideration Members of the Burleigh county chapter of the Izaak Walton league) have come to the defense of Long Lake as a prospective federal game refuge. In telegrams sent late Wednesday to Paul G. Reddington, chief of the U..8. Biological Survey, and Burnie commissioner, the local Sportsmen recommended {that Long Lake not be dropped as @ game refuge possibility until a fur- | ther investigation is made. Maurek is in Washington for a con- ference with Secretary of Agriculture Hyde. Before leaving Bismarck, he announced he was oppcsed to acquisi- tion of Long Lake asa reserve on the ‘ground that the site is unsuitable. ''The Long Lako site was selected by ‘agents of the migratory bird con- {servation commission, contemplating; acquisition of 3,788 acres in Burleigh and Kidder counties for the conver-! scion. now at Washington, Suggests Three Others Maurek announced he would pro- ipese the Lostwood lake chain north of Stanley, the Jim Lake and Arrow; wood lake area in Stutsman county, and the Mouse river marsh west of Bottineau in place of Long Lake.! Highly alkaline waters make Long lake unfavorable, Maurek said. The local sportsmen deny that Long lake is unduly alkaline, except when at extremely low stage. The lake can be kept up to a satisfactory level by retaining the seasonal run off, rainfall, and water from Long! Lake creek by construction of inex- pensive dams, they say. They claim that Long lake is the only one large enough to meet the fequirements of a reserve. In the telegrams to the two offi- cials, the Waltonites urged that no} other lake be selected for the refug2 until a further investigation of the Long Lake proposal is made. About 15 local sportsmen met Wed- nesday afternoon to consider the problem and drafted the following telegram to be sent to Maurek and Reddington: Is Concentration Point “Ever since the first settlement, life covering the largest area in the te. “Although lower than normal this year on account of unprecedented drouth conditions in the northwest, we believe that the level could al- ways be maintained even under ad- verse conditions by the retaining of seasonal run-0ff, rainfall, and water from Long Lake creek by the con- struction of inexpensive dams, of which there are none at present, and we recommend that before any fed- eral game reserves be established at any other point in North Dakota, fur- ther investigation of the Long Lake. ‘project be made. “We believe that a serious mistake | Maarek, North Dakota game and fish] snd seal the ballots, breakage Of sea!s ‘New Yorkers Leading ALABAMA ELECTION LAWS DISREGARDED Circumstances Indicate Some Fraud in Senatorial Vote, Report Shows Washington, Dec. 3.—(#)—On find- ings of universal disregard for elec- tion laws, and circumstances indicat- ing “some fraud,” Chairman Hastings of the senate election subcommittee Thursdey formally questioned the validity of the Alabema eleotion which sent John H. Bankhead to the senate. The Republican senator from Dela- ware laid a bulky factual report, with- out recommendations, before his com- mittee as it gathered to permit coun- sel for Bankhead and the contestant, former Senator J. Thomas Heflifi, to argue disputed points. Outstanding conclusions of the re- port were: ‘That violations by election officials were the rule rather than the excep- tion, and spread to every voting place examined. ‘That on the basis of ballots tem- porarily laid aside, Hastings’ workers could not find the election result would be altered, but other question- able ballots might change this. That Bankhead spent $1,500 to $2,- 500 more than permitted by the Al- abalma law disqualifying candidates with expenditures over $10,000. That exclusion of all improperly; handled ballots would make deter-; mination of the wishes of the Ala-| bama majority impossible. ‘That among the law violations, by | election officials were failure to num- ber the ballots in ink; failure to roll | on ballot boxes; voting of absentees as much as 10 years out of the state, and voting by persons who did not pay their poll taxes until long after the legally specified time. Opportunity for fraud, said Hast- ings, was ever present and the com- bination of circumstances “would satisfy a reasonable person that some-| fraud had been committed.” The chairman has indicated he would have some recommendations for the committee later, in closed ses- sion. After this group acts, the en- tire elections committee must study the report and then it will be up to the senate. Indications so far have been that Bankhead would be seated next week, the contest coming up later. Not much has been said about it yet by the senators, but Governor Miller of Alabama Wednesday observed Bank- head was “bona fide elected” and should be seated without objection. In Bridge Competition Philadelphia, Dec. 3.—(}— Baron Waldemar Von Zedtwitz and Walter Malowan of New York led a field of 36 contract bridge players into the second day of competition for the na- tonal pair championship Thursday. The New Yorkers, with 360 points, ranked first on the basis of the open- ing day's play when American bridge league officials compiled the score late Wednesday night. Behind them were P. H. Sims of Deal, N. J., and Willard 8. Karn of New York, the national individual champion, with 357 points; I. B. Fried: and Mrs. Anne Rosenfeld of Cleve- land, 349, and L. 8. Ames and Mrs. I. Stengel of New York, 348. Say San Salvador Is In Throes of Revolt’ Mexico City, Dec. 3.—(P)—Radio| Christ in America urged that the pro- messages received Thursday by the tocols be ratified prior to the forth- coming Mexican Aviation company said the republic of San Salvador was in a state of rebellion and that there had been shooting in the streets of the/ed States government in seeking to/ capital. The said President Araujo message of Salvador had asked that no air-'record as favoring all-around reduc-! planes be sent over the regular mailition or cancellation of inter-govern-' run to the capital for the time being.i mental war debts. Labor and Capital Join in Unique would be made if any action was taken on refuges before further in- vestigation of the Long Lake project.” Navy Is Weak Says Chief of Aviation| Washington, Dec. 3.—(#)—More, Money, more ships, more and faster | airplanes, is what Rear Admiral Mof-' fett, chief of sea aviation, wants. — | He bluntly recommended these | things in his annual report to Secre-| I Adams Wednesday. Moffett | ;Wwarned that the country is way be-; hind in construction of aircraft car: iriers and urged the limit allowed by; itreaties be built as soon as possible. ; He. asked also for eight flying-deck | jeruisers, a new and untried weapon; jof war upon which he pins high! hoves. i ‘The air chief asked for a substan- | Consequently we agree with Mr.- | persons who phoned might have in- tial increase in the 1,000 plane force - Taylor in his optimism.” formation to identify the slayers. of the navy. Plan to Stabiliz Philadelphia, Dec. 3.—(7)—AY new plan in which labor and cap- ital jointly seek to unionize the $300,000,000 full-fashioned hosiery industry, and in which labor | seeks exemption for its employers from the anti-trust laws, was ex- Hoisery Union.: The plan has been in operation two months. union workers have voluntarily accepted wage reductions of about 50 per cent, Mr. Edelman said, and the union mills have cut prices about, 20 per | cent to meet ccmpetition. He ssid the plan has brought about unionization of 45 per cent of the industry's 300 plants, whereas but 30 per comb were Gr 4 | did last summer and a year ago, whiie a? Business Brightens With Produce COMMITTEE FINDS Prices Recent Increases Add Mater- ially to Farm Income, Sur- vey Discloses EFFECT IS SEEN CLEARLY Cities of State Report That Vol- ume of Trade Has Taken Upward Turn Recent increases in prices received by farmers for their produce and grain have given them greater buy- ing power and have served as a foundation for a growing economic optimism in North Dakota and the Northwest. From North Dakota's major cities come reports that improvement in business has started. In Bismarck, farmers Wednesday’ received higher prices for their eggs, poultry, butterfat, and small grains, with the exception of flax, than they/| prices paid for milk and poultry were ee the same as at this time in Grain Increases Marked Bismarck quotations for small’ grains last July 15 Wednesday fur- ne by the Russell-Miller company follow: July 15 Dec. 2 No. 1 dark northern .. .41 38 No. 1 northern .. 40 JT No 1 amber durum 32 46 No. 1 mixed durum 28 38 No. 1 red durum 29 Bt No 1 flax .. 34 1.14 No 2 flax .29 1.09 No. 1 rye 15 30 Barley... 20 30 Oats . 13 25, Speltz .. 20 40 atk ard winter wheat .29 40 Hard winter wheat ... .29 AG Butterfat in Demand Butterfat Wednesday brought 29¢ @ pound to the farmer, according to the Bridgeman-Russel] company, ;while last summer it reached a low of 17 cents per pound. Butterfat prices were the same as they were a year ago. Eggs brought 22 cents a dozen Wed- nesday while last summer the farm- ers received only from six to 10 cents) per dozen. { Prices paid for chickensghave aver- aged slightly higher this year than! @ year ago, according to the. Armour Creameries, but the turkey demand has not been as great this year as it was last year. Chickens brought 10.7 cents a pound Wednesday compared to about 11 cents a year ago. Tur-) keys have averaged about two cents) @ pound lower than in 1930. Turkey Demand Drops Prediction that the Christmas tur- key market will not be as favorable for the farmer as it was last year was made by the Armour firm, who point-! ed out that epproximately 60 per cent/ of the turkeys have been kept on the farms this year for the Christmas demand while last year most of the turkeys were sold for Thanksgiving. Milk having a 3.5 per cent butter- fat. content brings $1.75 per 100 pounds, approximately the same price| brought here last year. aie The federal government has loaned; large sums to assist farmers in the| drought-stricken counties in the northwest part of the state. Rains and snow this fell have im- Proved pastures and added to the moisture supply for next year’s crops. Would Abolish Use | Of Gas in Warfare; Philadelphia, Dec. 3.—()}—On rec- ord as favoring immediate abolition of all plans for poison-gas and dis-| ease-germ warfare, one of the leading church bodies in this country pre- pared Thursday to use its official in- fluence to secure prompt ratification | of the world court protocols. { A statement submitted late Wed-! nesday to the executive eommittee of | the federal council of the churches of | disarmament conference. ‘The council expressed approval of the prompt action taken by the Unit-| restore peace between China and Ja- pan in Manchuria and also went on! e Hosiery Industry ganized two months ago. Virtu- ally all union plants are now working full time. In some instances, they were operating as low as 20 per cent of capacity before the plan took ef- fect. Other industries, likewise trou- bled by surplus and non - profit | production, have begun to inquire into the plan, which its adherents think may point the way not | only to elimination of labor trou- bjes but to business stabilization— with labor taking the initiative— and without infringing on anti- trust laws. “On the basis of lower prices made possible by wage slashes,” Edelman caid, “we hope to drive the non-union mills either out ‘equalization fee or the debenture | jenue of the tax laws applying to \penitentiary and will be distributed ' ‘tract. Coty paid her $12,000,000 and she claimed an additional $5,200,000. STONE SAYS BOARD WILL NOT OPPOSE EQUALIZATION FEE Fails to See, However, How it or Debenture Plan Will Aid Farmer NORRIS WILL ASK PROBE Nebraskan Not Critical of Board But Wants Details of Ac- tions Known Washington, Dec. 3.—(#)—Almost. simultaneous with word that an in- vestigation of the farm board would be sought of congress, Chairman Stone of the board made known! Thursday that he would not actively! oppose adoption by congress of the! Plan, The farm board chairman said,/ however, he had been unable to see} how either would operate to the farmers’ benefit. “I am for anything that will help the farmer,” he added. “If congress | wants to put them into effect we wil! ro our best to carry them out.” Senator Norris, a Nebraska Repub- lican, has drafted a resolution calling for a thorough inquiry by the agri- culture committee into every phase of the two-years’ operation of the board with particular emphasis on the loans and stabilization activities. “I am not doing this in a critical sense,” stated the Nebraskan, a rank- ing member of the agricultural com- mittee, “but a lot of things developed at the recent hearings of the board that ought to be gone into.” Norris also announced he would propose an inquiry into the adminis- tration by the bureau of internal rev- farmers’ cooperative organizations. He intended to be given them 6) FAMILIES ADED BY RELIEF CAMPAIGN Minot Man Contributes to Local ‘Open Your Heart’ Cam- paign Relief Fund Announcement that 60 families al- ready have received aid from the; “Open Your Heart” campaign was made Thursday afternoon by Milton Rue, general chairman. Among contributors to the “Open Your Heart” fund Wednesday after- noon was Ed Ehr, manager of the Waverly hotel at Minot, who said the Legion had done good relief work in the drouth-stricken area. Ehr gave; $5 to the local find, which will be: used to spread Christmas cheer! among the needy in Bismarck. Arrangements for the charity ball which will be staged by the “Open Your Heart” directors are progressing and plans are being made for special music at the affair. Floral decorations for the ball will! be donated by the Oscar H. Will Co.,! and Hoskins-Meyer, according to Frayne Baker, chairman of the gen- eral committee in charge. Members of the dance committee appointed by | Baker will serve as chairmen of sub- committees to handle the details. They are Phil Webb, M. B. Gilman,| Dr. J. K. Blunt, Frank Bassett, Dr. W. E. Cole, and Major Harold Soren- son, Boy Scouts Thursday afternoon: were canvassing the city in a clean- up drive for toys. The toys will be repaired by prisoners at the state among children of needy families for Christmas. Paris Millionaire To Pay Big Alimony Paris, Dec. 3—(P)—M. Francois Coty, noted Paris millionaire perfume manufacturer, a large part of whose fortune has come from sales of his products in the United States, faced Thursday the prospect of having to Pay an additional $5,200,000 to his former wife as compensation for her share in building up the business. | A Paris court issued the order. Mme. Coty divorced the manufac- turer in 1929. They were married in 1900. He borrowed money from her brother and they opened a laboratory in which she also worked in order to keep the secret of the perfumes with- in the family. Their fortune rose to almost. $35,- 000,000 by the time they were divorced and Madame Coty claimed half of it because there was no marriage con- When the order was handed down in the civil court Wednesday, M. Coty’s attorney pleaded the manufac- turer did not have the money, assert- ing the state of business in the Unit- ‘Murray and others. said the buréad has not been allowing | tax exemptions to the cooperatives’ by con-{ thousands of tons of Soviet grain ly- —* \ Seeks Divorce NONPARTISAN GROUP MAKING ERRORT T0 INTIATE STATUTE Absent Voters Ballot Subject to Fraud Now Says Com- mittee Member WOULD PROVIDE PENALTIES Hollywood, Dec. 3.—(#)—Helene Costello and Lowell Sherman have come to the parting of the ways Sherman Wednesday filed a divorce complaint, charging cruelty, against his actress-wife, the sister of Dolores Costello and a daughter of Maurice Costello. Sherman asserted his wife cursed him in the presence of Mae BRITISH MILLERS ASK FOR WHEAT TARIFF Levy of 9 Cents a Bushel Sug- gested; Would Give Domin- ions Special Rates London, Dec. 3.—()}—A general tar- iff against foreign wheat of about 9 lined bushel, at the present rate of exchange, the Daily Express said Thursday, has been proposed by British millers. The millers’ also pro- posed, the Express said, a similar duty be imposed on unsold foreign wheat stored in Great Britain, particularly ing in port elevators. The suggestions were made to Sir John Simon, minister of agriculture, who is working over the task of ap- plying to the products of British farmers the effects of the new tariff Policy recently announced by the na- tional government as a protection against so called “dumping” of fér- eign-made goods in Great Britain. | In line with proposals for general tariff preferences for the dominions within the Empire, the millers sug- gested, the Express said, the wheat tariff against importations from do- minions should be fixed at half the general rate on that of other coun- tries. The rate suggested was four shill- ings a quarter on foreign wheat, which would be about 9 cents a bush-/| el, and two shillings a quarter on do- minion wheat. The plan was suggested, the paper said, in place of the wheat quota scheme which the ministry has had under consideration and under which @ certain proportion of British-grown wheat would have to be used by mill- ers for each amount of foreign grain} milled. The millers, it said, argued against the quota plan, contending it would disorganize trade. Walster Outlines i Work of Flax Body; Chicago, Dec. 3—()—Work of the! flax institute of the United States was outlined before the American Paint and Varnish Manufacturers’! association Thursday by H. L. Wals- ter, dean of the North Dakota Agri- cultural college and institute presi- dent. Speaking at the association’s. an- nual convention, Dr. Walster said the institute is unique in its field, with a task of promoting research and pro- viding contact for flax growers of the nation and the flax consuming indus- try with state and federal depart- ments and institutions. Asserting efforts of the association’s flax development committee had en- abled Professor H. L. Bolley to carry on flax research at the North Dakota | college for 25 years, he said the in-; stitute would see the work was con-' tinued. Efforts of Professor Bolley| “saved the flax crop for this coun- try,” Dr. Walster said. Kentucky Delays Tobacco Auctions ing the lead of Henderson and Owensboro, other Kentucky dark to- bacco markets have led auc- tions until next week with the excep- tion of Franklin, Ky., where farmers did not express open dissatisfaction with prices. Sales were literally “howled down” by farmers at Owensboro Tuesday and at Henderson Wednesday, forcing warehousemen to stop the auctions. In both cities the growers and boards of trade decided to conduct no more sales until Monday. Dark leaf prices at both Owensboro and Henderson averaged between $4 and $4.50 a hundred pounds before sales were halted, as compared to av- erages of $8 and $9 at last year’s opening. At Franklin, where 136,000 pounds were sold Wednesday at an average of $4.43 a hundred, many re- ‘Political Agents’ Would Be Bar- red From Wholesale Ac- tion in State Petitions to initiate a law revising the absent voters ballot law in North Dakota were placed in circulation Thursday by. the executive commit« tee of the Nonpartisan League. The purpose of. the proposed law, according to Mrs Emma C. Nagle, Jamestown, a member of the Non- Partisan executive committee, is to insure honest elections and prevent wholesale fraud, possible under the Present ballot law. Under the present statute, applicae tions for absent voters ballots may be made by letter, in person or by an agent, with the result that one agent may legally come into possession of any number of ballots. The proposed measure would pro- hibit the practice of giving ballots to Political “agents”; would authorize only the county auditor or his chief deputy to give or send out absent vot~ ers ballots; would prohibit the mark- ing of such ballots within 100 yards of the courthouse and fixes a penalty of from one to five years in prison and a fine of $5,000 upon any auditor or his deputy convicted of violating the provisions of the statute. The present law contains no speci- an provisions for penalty, Mrs. Nagle The law permitting political agents to legally acquire possession of ab- Sent voters ballots is specifically re- penton under the proposed initiated act In a letter sent out with the peti- tions, the League executive commit~ tee asserted there is nothing in the Present law to prevent anyone from “obtaining absent voters’ ballots by the carload and voting them promis- cuously, Furthermore the law has provided no penalty in the event of their wrongful use,” Since the plan fg to present the matter for decision at the presiden- tial primary election in March, only @ short time remains in which the petitions may legally be filed with the secretary of state Ten thousand legal signatures are required and the petitions must be filed by Dec. 14. Commenting on the history of the absent voters ballot law and the need for tightening it, Mrs. Nagle said nu- merous instances have come to light where the voters were defrauded of their right to determine election is- sues by the illegal use of these ballots. A case in point, she said, was that at Valley City where investigation disclosed that a county auditor had tampered with the ballots. The ex- tremes to which this tampering was carried, she said, was illustrated by the fact that a woman prohibition leader was found, on investigation, to have legally voted for repeal of the state prohibition law. The legislative majority at the last session, she said, must have been aware of the possibility for misuse of absent voters ballots already existing, yet it still further liberalized the statute. The effect of this law, if it remains unchanged, will be to place control of elections in the hands of machine po- liticlans. There have been few elec- tions in North Dakota in recent years in which a few votes per precinct would not have changed the result. “Doubtless Mr. Twichell and his as- sistants were fully aware of this fact and of the possibilities for chicanery offered when they still further lib- eralized this statute.” The committee of petitioners is composed of Mrs. Nagle, chairman, who has established headquarters at Bismarck; Mrs. Alfred 8. Dale, Bis- marck; Dr. E. C. Stucke, Garrison; S. 8. McDonald, Bismarck; P. H. Mil- Jer, Washburn; P. Therkildsen, Grand Forks; and Schlosser, Carson. Taxpayers of Foster To Organize Saturday Carrington, N. D., Dec. 3.—()}—On call of three local citizens, taxpayers of Foster county will meet in the courthouse here Saturday to form a Permanent county association. Cc. L. Kyte of Melville and Willie Roaldson and C. H. Reimers of Car- rington have issued the call. There will be no speaker at the meeting. After naming a temporary chairman, county officers will ve elected, resolutions adopted, and a committee named to draw up a con- Louisville, Ky., Dec. 3—(/?)—Follow- | stitution and by-laws. Quowwe ons ™ ed States had resulted in huge losses the market or into the union.” Le his interests there. bicigeo pees but auctions (were