The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, October 21, 1915, Page 8

PAGE EIGHT B THE NONPARTISAN LEADER THE NONPARTISAN LEADE Official Organ of the Nonpartisan League of North Dakota. and we have: left in-“private hands,”? 20,000,000 acres of “agri- cultural lands that are yet without improvements.” These “private hands” are’the speculators.. They don’t 1m- prove land. They don’t help develop a country. They pay verv little of the country’s taxes. They sunply hog the land and hold it. U o8 P T R e S e D e ..Editor and Manager S Application made for admission to the mails as second class matter. _Advertising rates on application. . Subscriptions, one year, in advance, $1.50. .Address, Box 919, Fargo, North Dakota. prove the country, pay the taxes and make this idle land valua- ble—then they sell it to somebody who is foohsh enough to try and make money farming. These speculators know that, under present conditions, there is very little to be made farming the tand. ; . They know that the actual farmer will improve the lands and make the land valuable and ) they adopt. the policy of “watchful waiting.” The Leader solicits advertisements. of meritorious articles needed 'by farmers. Quack, fraudulent and irresponsible firms are mot knowingly ad- vertised, and we will take it as a favor if any readers will advise us promptly should they have occasion to doubt or question the relmblhty of any firm which patronizes our advertising columns. Discriminating advertisers recognize The Nonpartisan Leader as the best medium in'the state of North Dakota through which to reach the wide- nwake and up-to-date farmers. ALL MUST PULL TOGETHER. SOME CONSTRUCTIVE WORK - ¢ AVID Lubin, Delegate of the United States to the Inter- D national Institute of Agriculture at Rome in 1912, tells | this little story: - “In the early days of teaming in Arizona I once accomp_anied a ‘prairie schooner,” run by sixteen mules, on its journey across the desert. At certain intervals the driver halted for a short resf. The mules traveled along at an even gait, and all was well as long as they were proceeding on, but the trouble arose in restarting after one of these stops. When the word of command was given the leaders would start forward and the wheelers pull back; at the next attempt, the wheelers would rush forward and the leaders remain stationery, whilst the other mules, in sympa-|it usually wills. And even though the Supreme Court is an thy with one or other of the groups, neutralized the efforts of| elective body, no chances should be taken on a matter so vital. the teamster, until by some lucky chance, the disorganized ef-| It would be discouraging and disheartening to work for and forts terminated in a harmonious ‘pull together’, when the ‘prai-| elect men in 1916 who would give the farmers some good, con- rie schooner’ would again start on its way. ‘These fool mules! structive legislation and then have the Supreme: Court undo ‘it will soon be done for’; said the driver, waving his hand towards all. the animals, ‘unless we can get them to pull together.’” ) There is only one safe way to go at this matter. It is the This story is worth remembering. It is worth keeping in| duty of the farmers in this organization to begin right now mind at times when politicians and newspapers are trying to get| to think and work along that line. That is to amend the the farmers to hop to the music of the party lash and form con-| state constitution. flicting squads in the ranks of the various political parties. We have in this state the_initiative and referendum and The only way the. falmels wxll ever get anywhere is for| valuable weapons are these. By use of the initiative the voters them to pull together. . i of ‘this state may cause to be placed upon the next ‘election ballot an amendment to the constitution, providing that the state of of North Dakota may own and operate such :business enterprises as it.sees fit, and then laws which the legislature may pass provid: ing for-such industries could not be knocked out because of uncon- stl‘rutlonahty HERE is vital need of some change in the state constitu- T tion of North Dakota. In its present form there is ques- tion of “doubt’ as to whethe1 a state-owned industry ‘would be “constitutional” or not. : For example, if the next Legxslature should pass a law providing that the state establish terminal facilities here in North Dakota, or any where else for that matter, the question of its constitutionality would no doubt raised. In that case it would be passed up to the Supreme Court. At present the Supreme Cogrt is all-powerful on matters of that character. That_hody can defeat the will of the people if it so wills—and WE LEND A HELPING HAND. EXACTI;Y as we predicted last week, our esteemed contem-|. " poraries, the other newspapers of North Dakota came lum- bering along from two to five days behind us with the biggest North Dakota news of a month, the Youmans suit against Governor Hanna and other State officials. . So far from bearing them the least ill will because they lifted this exclusive from our columns, we view their perform- ance with- philosophical tolerance. If a newspaper has not the facilities to gather the news itself it must of necessity fall back upon its more enterprising neighbors that have both the fa(nl- ities and the energy to get it. There are loud calls from our subscribers that the Leader, admittedly the best ‘newspaper in the State and havmg very the largest circulation, shall become a dally. : . This must be a pleasant suggestion to our contemporarles At present we can furnish them with the news but once a week: 'As”a daily we could refresh and revive their dreary columns at . least six times as often. What a prospe ct this opens to the al- of more than ninety. mllhon dollars———to be exact, 90,181, 910 truistic mind! ‘What gloom might we not dlspell throughout the - If the tot’al ‘crop bmngs 2 total of '§910,844 000 that w‘“ ' neswpaper offices of the State! What depths profound of edi- reduce the’ pnce tQ a fraction less than 91 cents per. bushel totial dullness might -be enlivened if to. the various “sanctums - How many farmers are netting 91 cenits per bushel? - Whflst; came every day the one ray of light that now Liters but onch thls is being written ‘wheat ‘at aneapolls is hovermg' around a week when the Leader is received! the dollar mark “Out of* that dollar or that dollar-and two cents Meantime, we shall continue to print the news. and thus do.what we can to make our contemporarxes readable THAT BlLLlON' DOLLAR CROP. o '‘ARLIER in the season we heard very much about the “com- E ing billion-dollar wheat crop.” . : They told us it would be a billion-dollar crop because a bushel—at least a dollar a bushel. Well nature and the farmer did their part; they produced the bilhon bushels all right. In fact the government on October first placed the nation’s wheat crop at 1,002,029,000 bushels. At the prevailing price on October first Uncle Sam placed the aggregate value at $910,844,000. and commissionmen’s charges - WHO ARE LAND HOGS? fi ,productlon point.” THERE are in the state of North Dakota 44, 736, 477 acres not less than $1 65 per bushel. Thus the speculators, the trans—, of land. A report says that “a little more than half of portatlon and termmal compames are making nearly < . North Dakota’s cultivatable farm lands are. thus’ ar con- 1 . tained in improved farms. The balance consists of ”té Ian and agmcultural lands in private hands that are yet. wdhout lm-i' nrovements. = There are 1,000,000 acres of state lands in North Dakota. ~~ © Assuming that a “little moré than half’ means 23 136,477 acres that would leave as “state lands and agncultural lands m . private hands” 21,000,000 acres. ~ Take from this last sum the 1,000, ooo ‘acres of state lands receive his crop., would probably be then the farmer would have rece:ved $1 - 9.; They hold it for high prices. They let the actual farmer im- . 2 there would be a bhillion bushels and the price would be a dollar. According to that there has been a loss out of that bl“l()'flr must’ come elevator charges, freight charges, msurance charges - That will’ rednee the prlce to the farmer below the cost-uf i And that | same wheat is sellmg in leerpool and London for e farmer expecte(T then he would have recewed $1 002 844 000 for-; v If the prlce had been $1 50, as the profit mongers saxd xt