The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, December 30, 1915, Page 3

Michael Siewert came to North Da- -kota from Minnesota 36 years ago. He bought 160 acres of land near Casselton on time and by the sweat of his brow pai& for it. By that same sweat, carrying all the burdens a farmer carries, he accumulated $10,000 in cash and re- tired, leaving the farm, grown' to 600 acres, to his sons. Thirty-six years’ toil! Ten thousand dollars! That was the past Michael Siewert looked back upon on December 5, 1915. That was all the cash he had as a result of that past. Michael Siewert Loses $10,000. But another day dawned and Mi- chael Siewert looked back on that same 36 years of toil; but’ he didn’t have the $10,000. Over night nation- al bank examiners decided the First National bank of Casselton had been wrecked by its president, R. C. Kit- tel, and on the morning of December 6 a sign “closed” greeted the eyes of Michael Siewert on the bank’s door. ; ; But 36 years of toil—36 years of bearing the farmer’s burdens and withstanding the attacks of the farm- er’s enemies—has given Michael Sie- wert a staunch philosophy. And those years have not hardened him. ‘He dislikes to talk of his own loss. He feels very sorry for the hundreds of others, farmers like himself, with money in the closed bank and he says he can stand it better than they can. “I still have my farm,” he says, “and it will still net me a living and a living for my sons, who are working it since I retired. It’s not so hard on me as it is for some of the others with less money in the bank. It means ruin for scores of farmers. I don’t like to lose this money, of course. They say I may THE NONPARTISAN LEADER Human Stories From Casselton Bank Failure A Sturdy Farmer and Sons Suffer Great Loss Through Kittel’s Wrongdoing---School Teacher Loses All Sav- ings From Years of Teaching. get some of it back—or maybe all of it. But if it all goes I still have the farm.” Michael Siewert, with the realiza- tion of his loss new upon him, still found words to express pride in his sons, who are following in his foot- That the sons of Michael Siewert, Nick and John, are following in their father’s footsteps is shown by the fact they that have started bank ac- counts. Each has about $1,000 in the closed bank. But they are young and still have 36 years, perhaps, to start School Teachers Losé All This is the splendid new school building at Casselton, housing the high school and some of the grade classes. Practically every teacher in this building, as well as in the entire Casselton district, had all his or her savings in the closed bank, which was patronized chiefly by the farm- ers, farm hands and school teachers. steps. They did not go to the city to be clerks. And he smiled when recalling the toil, the fears and the pleasures of attainment of those 36 years since he came to North Dakota. He forgot his great loss for a mo- ment. “It shows there is money in North Dakota land,” he said. a bank ‘account again and make it grow into $10,000 like their father. But Michael Siewert’s 36 years of toil are behind, him. The case of Michael Siewert is only one. The people of Casselton are full of stories of other farmers, not retired like Mr. Siewert or with farms clear, who have lost their THREE money. Mr. Siewert’s estimate that it means ruin for many is not ex- aggerated-—mortgages unpaid will be foreclosed; farmers at last inde- Frendent of banks and big interest, through years of pluck with noses to the grindstone, have their capital wiped out and will again get into the maws of the money lenders. School Teachsr Loses Savings. The story of a school teacher stands out among the rest. Her name is Mrs. Dawson and she teache: in the splendid new building the iax- payers of Casselton, have erected. She did not always teach in so fine and comfortable a building. "Schools were not of brick with every modern convenience and facility when she dedicated her life to the young of North Dakota 18 or 20 years ago. She knew hardships and the pinch of saving against old age and against rainy days. But she saved. Her savings were not great-—a few hun- dred dollars perhaps——but they were all she had and they were in the First National bank. She can not teach a great many years more or accumulate as big a bank account again, for she is a gray-haired woman now. Like most all who suffered in Cas- selton’s calamity, Mrs. Dawson dis- likes to talk about it. And she smiles and cays her case is unimport- ant—her account was so small at the bank. Anxious Days at Casselton. And so the anxious days at Cassel- ton drag on, while the bank exzam- iners are busy finding out just how badly the community has been milk- ed by the business man at the head of the First National bank, who had the confidence of the community and advised them in their investments and other affairs. The town is hope- ful—hopeful that at least a pari of the optimistic statements of the bank’s directors will be realized. ‘Nonpartisan Political League’s Official 'Program By OTTO T. MONROE The common people in a number of cities of the United States have found that it pays for these cities to own and operate®various public utilities. Milwaukee has found that it pays to own her water works; so has Se- attle. Seattle has found that it pays to own her light plant; so has Pasa- dena, Cleveland and, other cities. The whole people of the United States have found that it pays to pub- licly own and operate such gigantic institutions as the postoffice, the pub- lic school system and the public roads. At least we do not hear very much kick about the rates charged for the service these institutions ren- der, nor any complaint about their . watered stock and fictitious capitaliz- ation. Pays in Dollars and Cents The cotton farmers of Louisiana voted over two million dollar bonds to build a great cotton terminal at New Orleans. They have found that it pays them in dollars and cents. King county, Washington, has ex- pended nearly six million dollars on a publically owned terminal system at Seattle. The people have found, that it is a paying investment. The state of California voted bonds to build a gigantic terminal at San Francisco. The people like it and keep on adding to it, just as they do in Seattle and New Orleans. This much by way of review and to - refresh the reader’s memory -on what was said last week. For Farmers to Decide The Nonpartisan Leader is noll g@s ing to ram a state terminal down. anybody. The Leader does not say that North Dakota SHALL own and orerate a state terminal. That ques- tion is to be settled by the farmers. They constitute the vast majority - - of the population of the state. -They. ‘pay most of the taxes and produce:: " the wealth of the ‘state. Public Ownership of Grain Terminals Articie No. 1 It is the farmers who suffer from high charges due to privately owned grain handling and shipping facili- ties now. It is the farmers who will profit by the saving resulting from publicly owned grain handling and shipping facilities. Farming is the chief industry of this state. There- fore the farmers should have the say. The Big Question The Nonpartisan Leader does not say that such terminal facilities, if adopted, shall be located at St. Paul or Duluth or Superior or even in this state. What the Leader wants is for the people to find out and determine whether they want such institutions or not and then after investigation determine where they want them lo- cated. However, the Leader does say, if the people of Pasadena get elec- tricity for five .cents per kilowatt hour by public. ownership, while Mil- waukee pays 11 cents to private own- ers, {here’s_ no reason why there would not be a corresponding and propor- tionate difference between publicly- owned and pnvately ‘owned, terminal facilities. ¥ Loumanas.coflon terminal, with a capacity of 2,000,000 kaies annually, saves 40 per cent on shipping and handling charges, will some genius please tell us why there wouid not be a proportionate saving to the farm-- ers: of North Dakota if their wheat was handled: fln-u a publicly owned terminal? A 36 Per Cent Dividend - Take for example a small elevator. The Powers Lake Farmers Elevator, aécordmg to a statement by the. offi- cxals, has pmd an annual dmdend of 36 per cent since it has been in oper- ation. That, no doubt, is a fair aver- age. This dividend, was paid to the stockholders in the elevator company. Is it not better that these stockhold- ers are farmers than if they were bankers and business men? If profits are to be made from handling the farmers’ grain, let the farmers make it. There are 400 alleged farmers ele- vators in this state. Actually there are not more than fifty real coopera- tive farmers elevators in the state. On that basis, if we figure all the elevators as paying a dividend aver- aging 36 per cent the amount lost thereby to the farmers is amazing. Large Savings, Results To go a step further. It is not un- reasonable to -presume that the pri- vately owned terminals of Minneapo- lis and Duluth make enormous annual profits. Just what dividends they pay we -do net know, but it is certain they are handsome. Then if there is a saving on a small institution like an elevator at Powers Lake, may we not conclude that there would be'a large saving on an- institution like that at Minneapolis? Suppose the total wheat crop of North Dakota was 100,000,000 bushels. Suppose the terminal profits were on- ly one cent per bushel. Assuming that one cent per bushel is the net profit, there would be a saving of $1,000,000 on that one item alone. Suppose the farmers of North Da- kota went a step further and elim- inated the commission men and sold direct. ‘There would, be another' ) Hi «’togethet we waI GET them. J total on a hundred million bushel crop of $2,000,000. Dockage and Grading Is it any wonder that the farmers of Louisiana saw that it was to their advantage to vote bonds and, build a cotton terminal? ~Is it any wonder that the people of King county, Washington, voted bonds and built a six million dollar terminal at Seat- tle? Take the item of dpckage and grad- ing of grain. Professor Ladd of the state agricultural college, in a bulle- tin issued last January, stated that the farmers of North Dakota lost $5,000,000 in 1914 on misgrading alone. There’s no reason to suppose that Dr. Ladd’s estxmate was exager= ated. Profits Belong to Farmers. With a public system of storing, handling and with a fair system of dockage and grading it is safe to.say that $5,000,000 would be saved to the farmers. If it is profitable for private in- terests to own angd operate such in- stitutions as terminal facilities—and it is or they would not engage in it —we most humbly ask, why would it not be profitable to the public for the public to own and operate them? Such profits are rightfully a part of the farmer’s earnings. The farm- er should have all-minus the actual cost of handling, manufacturing and transporting—that is made on his products from the time it leaves his hands until it reaches the hands: of the consumer. " The question now is, will lhe nse up and declare his rights? What’s nine dollars? We're aftera hundred times nine dollars for every farmer in North Dakota every year. If we drop our differences and pull P