The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, February 10, 1916, Page 11

k2 North Dakota at the National Capital Washington, D. C., Feb. 7.—Wheth- er the so-called landschaft system of rural credits would be feasible in the United States is a question the sen- ate will have to consider and decide if Senator Sheppard of Texas suc- ceeds in getting his landschaft bill out upon the floor. It is now in the hands of the committee on banking and currency, which has also the Hol- lis or administration rural credit bill. Senator Sheppard is very enthusi- astic about the landschaft idea. There is no doubt that it has worked mighty well in Germany, and -perhaps it would work all right here. One good thing about it—it pro- vides money without a net work of banks and another of red tape. Wkhereas tae Hollis bill has a double supply of both. A landschaft is a circle of farmers that want to get money on their land. Nobody can belong to a circle unless he has land apd. wants to borrow money on it, and his membership automatically ceases when his loan is aid. s To get the money he puts a first mortgage on his land to an amount not more than one half of its value. The landschaft or circle of which he is member issues to him in exchange for his mortgage its own debentures or bonds to the amount of the face of his mortgage. These debentures are to be of varying denominations and bear interest at 3, 3% and 4 per cent. The farmer takes these and sells them wherever he can and upon such terms as he can make, or the land- schaft may become a ‘selling agency and sell them for him. All the mem- bers of the landschaft are respon- sible for the debentures it issues. In other words, they guarantee these debentures, which, of course, makes them an absolutely cinched invest- ment. The country is to be districted with landschafts or circles in each dis- trict. Every member pays an en- trance fee, is subject to fines for violation of the rules of the land- schaft, and agrees when he offers a mortgage to pay an annuity in addi- tion to the interest, the annuity being one-fourth - or one-half of one per cent on the principle of his loan. In these ways the running expenses of the landschaft are to be met. The workings of the system are to be supervised by a federal board or institute of seven members, four of them farmers, appointed by the presi- dent. This institute is to pass upon the mortgages. This bill is known as S. 3704 and the Washington bureau of the Leader has copies of it for distribution. To Extend Rural Free Delivery In the House Representative Ran- dall of California has introduced a bill to extend the rural free delivery into every region of the United States so that it shall reach, as near- ly as possible, every home, no matter how remote. It also fixes a standard rural -delivery route as twenty-four miles in length, requiring not more than six hours to cover and the stand- _ard pay of a carrier at $1200 a year with extra compensation for rore than a standard route. This bill would relieve congressmen of laborious and often fruitless ef- forts to get rural free delivery routes introduced in regions where they are sorely needed. D News Snapshots 0f the Week ~Scutari and other Montenegrin cities, driving the Montene 5 L LI T, Lincoln, confessed German spy waiting extradition to England for fraud, escaped, - fused permission by the British to climb Everest, the hig President Wilson in his speaking campafgn -up with his tour over the ‘middle injuring maay, getting away safely. THE NONPARTISAN LEADER Bv WILLIS J. RUTLEDGE Special Representative of the Leader at Washington Representative Abercrombie of Ala- ama has introduced, a bill to appro- priate $1,000,000 a year to be used by the federal bureau of education in cooperation with the educational departments of the various states to investigate and promote rural educa- tion, including manual training. A bill identical with this has also been introduced in the senate. New Agricultural Bills New agricultural bills this week are: By Representative Lindbergh of Minnesota, to frrovide capital for farm and city home development. By Representative Smith of Idato, to establish a federal sheep experi- ment station. - By Representative Doolittle of Kansas, for a committee to investi- gate the present low price of cattle. By Representative Hull of Tennes- see, a resolution to have the agricul- tural department distribue informa- tion about live stock conditions. By Representative Tribble of Geor- gia, one more rural credit bill. The woods are full of these. Write for One of These Books Both house and senate have now passed the resolution to print 100,000 copies each of the Agricultural de- partment’s famous books on “Diseases of the Horse and Diseases of Cattle.” Senators are to have 30,000 copies of each work and, representatives 70,000. These are books of extraordinary merit and well worth having. North Dakota people in Washing- ton are to celebrate this month wit an elaborate banquet the anniversary - of the Union, MIXED FLOUR HEARINGS The fight to repeal the mixed flour law and allow millers to mix corn flour with wheat flour to make an adulter- ated products has. now passed the stage of hearings in committee and, will soon be taken up on the floor of the house. The ways and means com- mittee all of last week conducted hearings in_the bill, which was intro- duced by Representative Rainey of Illinois. A dozen or more witnesses were heard, nearly all of them in favor of the bill. The wheat growers of the northwest were represented by Congressman Young of North Dakota, who was on the witness stand most of the day last Thursday. Dr. Snider, a chemist of Minneapolis, also ap- peared in opposition to the bill, The chief exponents of the biss are representative of the corn products concerns. The Standard Oil company is said to have a financial interest in corn products. A powerful effort is being made to push the bill through to passage. It was introduced less than a month ago, yet the hearings on it .are already complete, while many a more_ worthy measure still slumbers in the committee pigeonhole. Representatives from the corn pro- ducing states largely favor the bill, while those from the wheat states oppose it. Will Demoralize Trade Mr. Young presented the wheat farmer’s case to the committee. The argument - of witnesses for the bill State’s admission to the for preparedness opened fire before west.. German aeroplane raiders succeeded in Capture of Villa, on whose head Car: In the Caucasus the Russians under Grand Duke Michael'gained further vic grins into Albania, where the retreating army had been that if the government re- moves the prohibitive tax from mixed flour it will give the people a whole- some and cheaper product, and thus reduce the cost of living. Young de- nied that mixed flour is as wholesome as wheat flour, and declared if the bars against mixed flour are dropped it will demoralize the milling trade and force the honest miller to adopt the lower standards of the dishonest who will sell mixed flour as the pure wheat article. : “This committee has not heard from the flour consumers in this hearing,” declared Young, “neither have the wheat raisers appeared before you. Under these circumstances this hear- ing will not be a thorough one, and the obligation is therefore upon you to give special regard for the infer- ests of both wheat producers and con- sumers. No Benefit Obtained “The raisers of corn ought not to be especially eager for the passage of this bill, because most corn growers also raise wheat and because the new market for corn to be created by this repeal is so small that it can scarcely affect the corn market. It is agreed here by witnesses that out of the three-billion-bushel corn crop annually only fifty million bushels will go into mixed flour. The influence on the market is negligible. “I deny that the consumer will ob- tain any benefit from this repeal. For the most part consumers of wheat flour buy it in the form of bread. Once the price for a loaf of bread, is fixed by custom, it requires little less than a revolution to change that price. Flour is very high in price, yet a loaf of bread costs five cents Jjust as it did when flour was cheap. On the other hand, consumers will get an inferior quality of bread if - this bill is passed. There is even a question among medical men if the habitual eating of corn bread is not actually iniurious to health. At any rate, no case of pellagra was ever roduced, in a wheat bread-eating amily. Corn is Animal Food “Pure wheat bread is the best sub- stitute for meat. Wheat is human food. It is not used for animals. The demand for wheat is constant, and were it not for the grain gamblers the price would vary but little. “But corn, for the most part, is a food for animals. Farmers make more money feeding corn to animals than they do raising wheat for flour. hus corn raisers have no reason to want this bill to be passed. Farming experts everywhere say that there is more money in raising corn for stock than in raising wheat for human food. “The -small flour mills will be in- jured by this legislation. The small mills. are not equipped for mixing flour. Yet it is essential that we have as many small mills as possible. They are a convenience to the farmers, they save freight, and they tend to steady the market for wheat.” Study Flax Question The house commiitee on agriculture has adopted Representative Helge- sen’s amendment to the appropria- tion bill to provide $5000 for the study of flax questions during the 1,500 ministers in Ne York city, tollogthls 7, returned from India. ELEVEN coming year. The last annual appro- priation was for the study of flax fibre. The new money will go into an investigation of proper cultural methods, for the development of var- ieties with a higher oil content, and for a study of diseases of the flax plants. North Dakota, Helgesen told the committee, raised nearly half the national flax crop. Investigate Twine The senate agriclutural committee has decided upon a general investi~ gation of the sisal and binder twine situation by a special committee of the senate. Senator McCumber, who introduced the original resolution call- ing upon the department of justice to investigate the alleged efort of American capitalists to control the price of Mexican sisal, of which twine is made, appeared before the commit- tee last week in behalf of his resclu- tion. The committee has decided to instruct the department to make its investigation, but at the same time the resolution to be reported to the senate will ask for a special investi- gation by the senate as well. The resolution has been broadened in scope to include the alleged effort of manufacturers in this country to combine in raising the price of binder twine for the coming crop. C. S. Buck, an attorney of James- town, N. D. appeared last week in a case before the interior department. Has Birthday Senator McCumber was 58 years old last Thursday. On Wednesday Senator Nelson of Minnesota cele- brated his 73rd birthday. McCumber is eight years younger that Senator Cummins of Iowa and three years younger that LaFollette of Wiscon- sin. The postoffice department has ac- ceeded to the request of Senator Me- Cumber that a mail-clerk railway service be established from Mandan to Killdeer on the west side of the Missouri River. At present the rail- way clerk rides in the mail car only as far as Golden Valley, so that the towns beyond that have only a pouch service. The postoffice department has es- tablished two tri-weekly rural mail routes out of Dunn Center, Dunn county, to begin April 1. News Notes Other North Dakota news notes in rost office department: Tri-weekly mail service, May 1, has been ordered on two rural mail routs out of Stowers, Adams county, one carrier to serve both routes and draw a salary of $1200 a year. Charles M. Ebbert has been ap- pointed, carrier on rural route No, 1 at Carrington, to succeed Alonzo C Mouser. Fred M. Borland has been a point- ed rural carrier on route Np 1 at Dunseith. ’ A postoffice has been established at_Otterburg, Morton county, eight miles northeast of Pretty Rock. Glenn D. Arnold has been a point- ed postmaster at Calvin C};valier county, to succeed William L., Thomas, who resigned. Fred R. Hinkle suc- ceeds Otis C, Lowe as postmaster at Clyde, Cavalieg county. to start dropping bombs on Dover, England, killing and r ranza has placed a price, was reported, but denied. % torles over the Turks. The Teutonic forces captured d was Jjoined by.Essad Pasha, leader of the Albanlans, d causing the department of justice considerable anxiety. Being re- hest mountain in the world, Dr. Cook, of north Dpole notoriet, S e T,