The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, April 27, 1916, Page 9

~ - - -~ ¢ W e S o . ” - < iR - > ’ 3 4 ‘» < (' > \ - ¥ ¥ ™ A A AL s _introduced - thig week, b e Jarged . homestéad” et passed the- house: and in -the senate 'a few at- The Leader’s Washington Bureau 302 Riggs. Building Washington, D. C., April 25— You might say that the farmer had something like an inning this week, the house devoting most of its time to considering the Agricultural Ap- propriation bill, and the senate talk- ing about the Good Roads bill, while almost daily there was some rumble heard of the farmers’ growing kick about the price of gasoline. The agricultural appropriation bill gave Representative Norton of North Dakota a chance to wallop the leaders of this time-wasting house for their indifference to the subject of rural credits and he did a good, workman- like job. He recited the facts, which when you put them together are bad enough, no doubt about that. He pointed out that for years and years , the farmers of the country have been _coming to congress asking for some relief from the system of money lend- ing by which at present they are im- poverished and plundered and con- gress has always sidestepped the issue. In the last session an amendment was offered to the agricultural ap- propriation bill to provide a relief from these conditions and the house leaders threw it out and as a sop got up a joint commission to consider the subject. CONGRESS FIDDLES ALONG WITH MUCH WORK TO DO This commission was really ap- pointed to gum the game by devising a scheme that would not work. It made its report on January 4 of this year, having hit upon a plan that would pretend to relieve the farmer and really keep everything as it is. But even on this the house com- mittee 'has been fiddling and feoling ever since. In the senate the rotten Hollis bill, expressing the ideas of the commission, has -been introduced but not debated, and in the house not a thing has been done. The admin- istration time table calls for congress to adjourn the first week in June. That is five weeks hence. Only one- third ;of the apprepriation bills; have been passed and it will take five weeks at least to get them out of the way. Under these conditions it looks as if rural credits had about as much chance in the session as. a snow ball in a’very tropical climate. Mr. Norton pounded out some of these facts and stirred up the ani- mals to the extent that some of the .house leaders grumbled and mutter- ed. In answer to a question if what he had in mind in urging a rural credit bill was the soft berths at the public crib such a bill would create, - Norton hotly retorted: “I will say to the gentlemen I have in mind the highest welfare of my country and the urgent and distress- ing needs of a large majority of the 6,500,000 farmers in it. I have in mind that today these farmers are paying about 8% per cent interest on $6,000,000,000 of farm credits and mortgages. I have in mind that the . value of farm property in these Unit- ed States exceeds $40,000,000,000 and the value of railroad property is $16,- 000,000,000, and the railroads pay on their indebtedness from 3 to 4 per cent, and the farmers pay more than twice that rate.” PLATFORM PROMISES DON’T HELP FARMER Mr. Norton called attention to the remarkable fact that republican, dem- ocratic and progressive platforms in 1912 explicitly promised a system of rural credits and four years had pas- sed and we are no nearer apparently to any such system. He might have added that so long as the 6,500,000 farmers of the ‘country are not represented in con- gress it will continue to give them the flim-flam. $ You don’t notice congress playing tricks like that on the gentlemen that control the money supply. nor upon - the gentlemen that own the railroads. The reason is that these gentlemen are representd. Everybody here knows that well: enough. Conse- quently they get what they want. Mr. Norton’s complaints and others must have had some effect for on Friday the house banking and cur- rency ' committee reported out the - votten Hollis bill. But this is after all mostly atfgm_::lity, The house can hardly ge it. | . - o agricultural bills e e eek, ~but: the en- ' THE NONPARTISAN LEADER Congress Again is Reminded that Pledges Are Not Made Good Shafroth of Colorado wanted to re- duce the contribution of the federal government in road building from one- half the cost of the road to one-fourth, but failed, and the-bill in its original shape will be jammed through. As I have before pointed out, this is one of the bills that sound mighty well but don’t amount to much. It is so arranged that new states like North Dakota that need the most help will get proportionately the least. BUREAU OF MINES TO INVESTIGATE LIGNITE It is now assured thz;t the bureau of mines will conduct experiments with North Dakota’s lignite coal this year to determine its possibilities in the production of benzol and other valuable by-products. To Senator McCumber and members of the North Dakota house delegation, the officials of the bureau have promised to make such experiments-as their funds on hand will pay for, but they are urging that a special appropriation be voted through congress to enable these ex- perliments to proceed on a much larger scale. Accordingly Senator McCumber last week introduced a bill asking $25,000 to pay for lignite experiments in North Dakota. The possibilities of the utilization of lignite for gasoline substitutes are prominently before the government. Other states having lignite deposits are asking for experi- mental work, and it is probable that congress will vote at least $100,000 for this work during the coming year. With such an appropriation the bureau of mines will be enabled to experiment in a number of states. If no special appropriation is voted the bureau officials propose to conduct experiments on a small scale at the Wilton lignite mine in North Dakota. Manager Macomber of this mine has offered free coal, power and other facilities to the bureau scientists. The Haynes Cooperative Coal com- pany of Haynes, N. D, last week made a similar offer, which was tiken to the bureau’ by Representative George Young. The bureau of mines issued a state- ment last week calling attention to the vast resources of lignite coal in the United States. North Dakota alone possesses more coal than the state of Pennsylvania, and the com- bined lignite resources of the west are far greater than the nation’s de- coal. The statement names as the posits of anthracite and bituminous ‘valuable by-products which may be obtained from the distillation of lig- nite: first, benzol, the substitute for gasoline; dyestuffs; ammonia com- pounds used in the manufacture of fertilizers; and tars and pitches which can be used for roofing, road improve- ment, and a wide variety of purposes. The residue left after the wvolatile compounds have been distilled away, can still be used as a valuable smoke- less fuel. SENATE WILL CONFIRM BLOOM’S APPOINTMENT It is now expected that the nomin- ation of J. H. Bloom to be postmaster at Devils Lake, N. D., an appoint- ment which created more bitterness in Washington than any other during - the present administration, will be confirmed by the senate. Senator Gronna has withdrawn his objections to Bloom. The confirmation is now being held back by Senator McCum- ber, it was said at the postoffice de- partment, but it is expécted that Mec- Cumber will also yield.” For a time the senate threatened to impeach ~ Postmaster General Burleson because he reappointed Bloom after the senate had rejected his appointment. Scandinavians of the United States are urging congress to adopt H. R. 5, the bill providing for the erection of a memorial to John Ericsson, the in- ventor. of the Monitor. The bill was introduced early this session by Rep- resentative Fitzgerald of New York at the request of the American . Scandinavian Alliance. The government has refused to give financial assistance to the private tion of ‘a pontoon bridge over the Missouri river at Williston, but the war department will give the builders expert advice. 'War department en- gineers told Senator McCumber that they*will approve the bridge rovided that the necessary dra the Williston commercial club advice as go the best type of pontoons to be used. Senator Gronna last week intro- duced a bill to give the second-class mailing privilege to publications of state, county, and city departments of public instruction, and to the publica- tions of county and city boards of health. The present law gives this privilege to institutions of learning and to state boards of health, but the others mentioned must pay full post- age rates on their publications. Cattle raisers in the west and south- west have been trying to get another investigation of the combination of meat packers; that keep down the prices of cattle and keep up the prices of meat. GRONNA AMENDMENT KICKS UP BIG FUSS .Senator Gronna’s amendment. pro- viding money for the construction of public school buildings on the Sioux Indian reservations during the coming year has kicked up a big fight in the conferenec committee which is now considering the two Indian appropria- tions bills passed by the house and senate. The senate adopted Gronna’s amendment without a dissenting vote, but strong opposition has developed to it within the conferente committee. Gronna is earnestly agitating .the adoption of the amendment to end the 20-year-old religious fight which has raged over the Indian school question. The amendment in dispute is now known as No. 127. After turning down_{" Senator Me- Cumber’s amendment t6'the army ap- Valley City QGranite and Marble Works NINE - Promises Are Not Very Filling propriation providing for military training camps for high school boys, the senate adopted a similar one sub- mitted by Senator Smith, of Georgia, a Democrat. Through the efforts of Senator Mc- Cum_ber, Mrs. Kristine Magnusson, an immigrant from Sweden, has been ad- mitted to® the United States. Immi- gration authorities at Ellis Island has ordered her deported because of her advanced age. Her son-in-law, Mr. Fern of Bowbells, N. D., filed bond with the immigration office guarantee- ing that the woman would never be« come a public charge, and the objec- tions to her infirmities were with« drawn. The first response to Representative George M. Young’s general invita- tion to the boys of his district to form rifle clubs under government aid and supervision came from H. F. Pape and others at Gardena, N. D. Young for- warded to Pape, who is the principal of the graded public school at Gar- dena, the necessary blank papers for the club’s organization. The govern- ment will furnish rifles, ammunition and instruction. American National Bank VALLEY CITY, N. D. Capital and Surplus $110,000.00 The Farmer’s Friend ’ Money to loan at all times to reliable parties Farm Loans a Specialty parties contemplating. the construc- . NONPARTI THE NONPARTI/AN LEAD ENGRAVING DEPARTMENT ~ FARGO, N. paK. " Are you going to crect a monu- ment or headstone this year? Don’t put it off until it is too Jate. We keep no agents and can give the buyers better prices. Write for our free catalogue and be convinced. All work sold on a guarantee. VALLEY CITY N. D. ,ANDIDATES. Jend urz your photograph for newspaper e.e posterand card culz. We make cuts that print. LEADER 3