The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, March 22, 1917, Page 9

R | B TR LAt B 52 5 - e After Passing Fake Measures Legislature Finally Lets Through OMETHING of the way the South Dakota legislature passed several fake bills un- der the pretense that they were Nonpartisan League measures, was told in last week's issue of the Leader. These measures, it was pretended by the anti-League forces, were in response to the demand of the farmers for relief from injustice in grain grading, to open the way for state-owned elevators, flour mills, and packing plants, etc., but they were either loaded with jokers to defeat them at the polls, or were openly op- posed in the legislature. If the people of South Dakota shall have to depend upon legisla- tion passed at the 1917 session, they will find themselves 10 years from now right where they are to- day. p In this article it is proposed to tell something more about the well laid-out plan of campaign against the farmers and the Nonpartisan League. By the way, the name of the League was scarcely mentioned throughout the session, except in ridicule, the men who were pretending to enact farmers' leg- islation pointedly ignoring the organi- zation that was making the demands. NO CHANGE IS NEEDED ELEVATOR MEN SAY The legislature named a select joint committee to conduct hearings on the questions of grain grading, elevators, marketing and allied subjects early in February and the committee sent out letters to 265 farmers and to 92 line elevators to appear and express their views, or write to the committee. They took pains to have certain farmers’ or- ganizations represented, but they also apparently took pains not to have the Nonpartisan League represented. In summing up its labors February 24, 16 days after the select committee organ- ized, the committee reported that it had received answers from 51 man- agers or operators of elevators, and that 34 of those answers “were opposed to all propositions”—that is proposi- tions of changing the. grain handling system, and particularly of substitut- ing a state-owned and controlled sys- tem. Thus, the committee obtained the opinion of 51 elevator men out of 92 addressed, but its report says nothing about having heard from any of the 265 farmers. Some of the witnesses, whose testimony was included in the report to the legislature (contained in the house journal of February 24) said they were farmers, but they were also managers of elevators or had been. Seventeen of the witnesses were for some form of state grading under fed- eral supervision. With this for its foundation, the joint committee brought in a series of bills, and these bills were used, according to the gleeful admis- sion of legislators themselves, to knock the League into a cocked hat, deceive ° the people into thinking its program as fulfilled, and that it was no longer needed. VIGOROUS DEMAND FOR STATE-OWNED ELEVATORS The hearing however, brought out a vigorous and clearly expressed demand for state-owned terminal elevators and - flour mills, and the unmistakable in- dictment of the grain handlers. of the big terminal markets at Milwaukee, Kansas City, Chicago and the Twin Cities do mix grades;. that they do un- dergrade grain, and make enormous profits at the farmers’ expense. This declaration by Dr. E. C. Perisho, president of thé South Dakota Agricul- tural college at Brookings, is signifi- cant: g “Those who have investigated ‘will agree, | believe, that the pro- ducer is getting only 50 per cent of the total amount for which the things he produces are finally sold to the consumer. The other 50 per cent goes to the middleman somewhere along the line. | can not name the middleman and the amount each gets approximately. Relative to grain grading 1 do not know enough about that; but | do know that the federal grading, take for instance, the law as it stands now, .is not as good for South Dakota as the Minnesota law. “ln the Dakotas we have to ship our wheat to Minneapolis and there it is mixed with several grades to establish the standards of flour. We ought not to be dock- ed on our best hard wheat because it is mixed with several lower P SO T S T Resolution to Aid the Farmers’ Cause The only real farmers’ measure passed by the South Dakota legislature went through in the closing hours of the session due to the work of men representing the Nonpartisan League. It pays to organize—and South Dakota farm- ers already have started to reap the benefits. grades to make the proper combi- nation.” Dr. Perisho expressed himself in favor of submitting an amendment for state-owned warehouses or elevators, where farmers could store their grain and other produce and get negotiable receipts for it. The' tenant farmers, particularly, he said, suffer by the present system that forces them to “An inspector and grader of grain in this state will save more thousands of dollars to the farmers of South Da- kota than all of the other inspectors together.”—J. E. Kelly, Pierre, S. D., director of Equity terminal elevator at St. Paul “The question of the state building terminal elevators should be submitted to the people as I do not now think establish state terminal elevators, flour mills, and packing houses. After passing this resolution, and two other bills along the same line, one calling for an investigation of state industries, and the other establishing a market system under a grain title, but principally for the purpose of help- ing to market potatoes, the senate came face to face with a genuine Non- partisan League measure, and then the Old Gang showed its hand and tried to kill it. This was Senate Joint Reso- lution No. 16, introduced through the efforts of Nonpartisan League repre= sentatives. It was so late in the sese sion that they had to get unanimous consent for its introduction, and after getting this consent, the first act in the senate was an attempt to stun it and drag it out again. 4 Briefly this amendment aims at the fundamental provision of the South Dakota constitution which prohibits the state entering into any industry, North Dakota’s First Executive Mansion marck became the capitol of Dakota territory. This is the first executive mansion of North Dakota, the house in which resided the first three governors after Bis« It was then a rather pretentious building in a small prairie town, and in the best residence section. The large trees and the now out of date style of many houses on the street testify to the fact that it was the original aristocraic section of Bismarck. The house thq weather station. throw their grain on the market at harvest time. Here is other testimony: “It is my opinion that the people of the’ state would like to see the state own and operate terminal elevators.”— O. S. Thompson, Baltic, S. D., farmer and former grain dealer. He Fought the League SENATOR ISAAK LINCOLN Aberdeen, S. D. we get a square deal”—Iver S. Hen- Jum, Sioux Falls, manager co-opera- tive elevator. “I think it would be advisable for this legislature to submit to the people an amendment to the constitution enabling the state to build terminal elevators.”—State . Immigration Com- missioner, Charless McCaffree, Pierre, S..D. “I am unquestionably in favor of state-owned terminal elevators.”—H. L. Loucks, writer on economics, Water- "town, S. D. And yet after hearing this testimony and that of many other witnesses to the .same effect the joint committee submitted a constitutional amendment that provided for state elevators, flour mills, etc.,, only, “if, in the future, and in the judgment of the legislature, the public necessities may so require.” Thus even if the people should pass the amendment, contained in Senate Joint Resolution 15, they are still face to face with their legislature, and it might be the same kind of a legisla- ture they had this year,—it most cer- tainly will be if the onpartisan Leagu® of South Dakota does not put on a strong campaign and capture both houses. In South Dakota they must capture strong, for things of this na- ture require the assent of two-thirds of the legislature, and a bare majority might leave South Dakota as badly handicapped as the * Nonpartisan League of. North Dakota was in its senate, because it la£ked a bare ma- Jority. OH YES, THEY WANT PLENTY OF TAXES The other joker in this amendment was that it put no limit “to the amount of taxes that might\be assessed” to = 2 NINH \ stands on Second street about two blocks north of section 1 of article 13. The whole principle of forbidding state industries is reversed, and fhe grticle aims to make authority to start such industries broad and certain. They tried to kill it by amendments. When this failed, they tried to vote it down. The first amendment was by Senator Urdahl, who moved to change the word “shall” to “may.” This would eliminate the mandatory provision that would compel the legislature to enact favorable legislation, and substitute mere permission—which of course the legislature could ignore if it liked. The amendment failed on a roll call vote. The next amendment was by Senator Reeves, who wantedYto make it read that legislation in. fulfillment of the article could be enacted by two-thirds “of the members elect” instead of sim- ply two-thirds. This got by, and made chances for passing legislation urder it, just a little bit more difficult, in case a few members happened to be absent when a vote on such proposed legislation was taken. Senator Lincoln (a crafty and hard- fighting foe of the League and farm- ers’ legislation) then moved that the debt limit be raised from $1,000,000 to $5,000,000, which enemies thought would cause the people to vote it down. Another senator moved the previous question, and Senator Lincoln’s joker was forgotten for the time being. The previous question failed, and the bill remained open -for further discussion. BILL IS PASSED THOUGH SLIGHTLY DISFIGURED Senator Urdahl returned to the at~ tack with a motion to defer action until the next legislative day. That would have killed the bill, and this mo- tion was voted down with only 1§ (Continued on page 15) ~ Fight for Time in South Dakota - PPy e