The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, October 11, 1917, Page 4

When Farmers Steer the Ship More Public Money Loaned to Producers Who Need it, Under New People’s Administration in North Dakota, Obtained Thr BY RALPH L. HARMON HE new policy of the land de- rartment will be to give ap- plicaticns for loars on farm mortgages first consideration, and to make these loans as rapidly as possible,” says W. J. Prater, recently appointed land commissioner of North Dakota under the new farm- ers’ administration. ‘ p This is worth thinking about on the part of the North Dakota farmers who may wish to borrow money from the permanent schoel funds on farm mort- gages. It is a new policy. The old policy was to give consideration to every other kind of application first, and to take care of the farmer, who of- fered a good farm mortgage as secur- ity for his loan, last of all. It is also worth thinking about on the part of all who want to know whether the farm- ers will get down to brass tacks and do things when they get a chance in office. In the report of the land commis- sioner for 1908 these words occur, showing how little consideration the farmer was getting under the old order of things in meeting his needs for capital to help develop the state: FARM NEEDS WERE SHUNTED TO THE REAR “This law (a law passed in 1907 making it easier for farmers to get such loans than it had been before) was so generally taken advantaze of that for the eight months immediately following its enactment, applications for farm loans aggregating about $500,- 000 were considered by this department and most of them acecepted and made, so that on December 5, 1907 the board found 1t necessary to discontinue’the W. J. Prater, North Dakota land com- missioner, appointed by the farmers’ administration. consideration of further applications on account of the rapid depletion of the funds, and in order to keep enough on hand to purchase ALL OFFERS OF SCHOOL DISTRICTS WHICH IT IS BELIEVED SHOULD RECEIVE FIRST CONSIDERATION IN SUCH INVESTMENTS.” There is the old policy stated clearly. There is shown the big demand for the five per cent loans to take the place of the 10 and 12 per cent loans then commonly made by the banks, and the way in which former administra- tions met the issue. Bonds come first —farmers last.. The report goes on to say that farm loans have been ‘“most unsatisfactory in many respects” and that one of the greatest disadvantages was the long &elay Dbetween the time applications for loans were made, and the money was paid over to the farmer. The re- port also called attenticn to the fact that a farmer wanting to borrow money from the state on his farm mortgage, had no means of clearing up any existing mortgages so as to get a clear title and make this land available for this loan' from the school fund. Quoting from the report once more, the old system “necessitates his (the farm- er's) dependence upon an accommodat- ing third party to advance the money .to pay off the old loan, pending the completion of the new one from the state, and for this accommodation he Herewith the Leader presents answering the question, ‘‘What have they done?”’ the third article in the seljies The question has been fired at the farmers’ administration in North Dakota by the opposition press and others, who were fools enough to believe that the farmers’ administration would not answer it fully and comple v, The first article told how the farmers levied the taxes . .vorth Dakota this year, the second told how the farmers are building up the North Dakota dairy business through political aid, thus benefitting everybedy in the state, and this tells w}}at the farmers are doing in the state land department. It is an in- teresting story. Read it. For years the farmers have been trying to get a larger proportion of the public endownment funds invest- ed in safe farm mortgages, to save farmers the big rates that have prevailed for money. Now they have an administration that is doing this. Does it pay to organize? has to pay a fancy rate of interest,” etc. The new policy inaugurated by the farmer legislature last winter and now being carried out under the new land board and new land commissioner ap- pointed by the farmers’ governor, has already made. a big stride towards cor- recting these very abuses. NEW POLICY RULES NOW AT BISMARCK The legislature amended the statuto governing the investment of . school funds in loamns, by providing a way for the farmer to get his loan from the state without paying toll to this “ac- commodating third party.” It provided a method whereby the applicant, by submitting an abstract, can have his title examined by the attorney general's ' Colorado, office, all the obligations against it ascertained and certified@ through the state auditor to the county treasurer in the county where the loan is wanted, and the county treasurer then pays off the old loans and turns over the balance to the farmer. This is using the power and machin- ery of the state in the public in rest, and dodging the “fancy interest” charges, which the land commissioner of nine years ago pointed eut. But the farmers had to do it for themselves. Not until they got in office with their own legislature, their oewn governor and machinery for handling the farm loans, were these complaints heeded, although they were repeatedly made by land commissioners. Another provision of the new loan to Arms! North Dakota Shows the Way to Workers of the Centennial State ! (From the Trinidad, Colo., Free Press) The National Nonpartisan league has planted its banner in Colerado and has invited the labering men and women of the state to jo!n hands with the farmers, in order that the Augean stable may be cleaned. The wage earners and farmers brought together. and working in the political arena under one flag, can drive the political agents of corpora- ticns into political oblivien, and snatch the state from the clenched grip of a band of pirates to whom “human rights” and “equality of op- portunity” are unltinown. The labor- ing men and women of the state blend- ing their politi~ il power with the till- ers of the so <1 redeem the Centen- nial state fr the depths of infamy into which it t.as heen plunged by li- censed piracy. and Colorado redeemed and regenerat<d, will then become a fit place for t' ~ lov of liberty and equal rights to l've, 1 build habita- tions that will b= free from the miasma bred from political coriruption At the late convention of the Colo- rado State Federation of Labor held at “justice”, . Boulder, the delegaf®s, without a dis- senting vote, gave their benediction to the movement of the National Non- partisan league, whose efforts have ac- complished so much in North Dakota, and the time is now, when the labor unicns of Colorado should take such steps as will bring them into harmoni- ous co-operation with the FORCES of the LIJACUE, that have now unfurled thieir flag in Colorado and declared war upon the hungry horde of politicians who are but the servile chattels of 5 corporations. Opportunity is iing at the door of the working class of the state, and the time is ripe to launch a campaign that will culmi- nate in ridding Colorado of its political vermin. The National Nonpartisan league that accomplished so much in North Dakota, if supported by the working men and women of Colorado, can establish in the state a ‘“government of the people, by the people and for the people.” The TIME is RIPE, and the TIME is NOW, for the wage earners and the farmers to get together for the cam- paign of 1918. “Getthe League” TheirMotto Big Interests Think They See Chance to Down Farmers, But They’ll Have to Get Up Early (From the Eddy County Provost, New . Rockford, N. D.) It’s a sixteen to one bet'that no mat- ter how badly the Twin City dailies de- sire to hang Bob LaFollette's scalp lock to their girdle, they’H never get it along the lines they are now proceeding. To a man who can see a foot through the spaces between the rungs of a lad- der it is very apparent that it is not exactly LaFollette they are after—the barbed arrow is aimed more directly at the Nonpartisan league and the recent meeting held in the city of St. Paul. The big interests are prepared to use hell as a fulerum with which to move heaven and earth to gain their desired ends, namely, the defeat and death of the Nonpartisan league, . The begin- ning at the present time of a campaign of lavish expenditure of funds with small country dailies, and some weekly publications goes far to show that the men with the big mitts are in the sad- dle for a very aggressive fight in all the states in which they think the Nonpartisan league may become an im- PAGE - e portant factor, and in this fight North Dakota and Minnesota will be the cen- ter of attraction for the coming two years, The metropolitan dailies will fire the big shots and the little dailies and weeklies which have been “select- ed” from among the chosen few, will do the sniper act. This big howl directed against La Follette is but for the purpose of bring- ing the League into disrepute, as his remarks were made at a meeting called by the League, but for which the League itself was in no way responsi- ble, and should not ' be so held. ‘We do not think there is a member of the Nonpartisan league, whether he was present at the meeting or not, whao would sanction or who would in any manner uphold the senator - or any other man in the enunciation of seditious language at this or any other time. There is more need now than ever before for the farmers and the mem- bers of the League to “stick” and to stick together tightly, or big business will steal the combination, safe and all. FOUR' ough Organization of Farmers Jaw that cught to be mentioned here, is the amendment passed by the farmer legislature last winter, providing that farmers can berrow state funds en mortgages running 25 years, as well as 12 years. The old law provided only for the latter. The first farmers’ legis- lature went a long way in removing obstacles to the development of the state, and@ making available under tolerable conditions, the vast sums ac- cruing to the permanent school fund, but it did not in any way weaken or re- move any safeguards to these funds. Do vou have any idea how big a land office business North Dakota is doing? Well, the total amount of permanent funds invested on July 1, 1916, aecord- ing to the last commissioner’s report, was $7,986,392.99 in bends, and $4,291,- 710 in farm loans, making a tofal in- vested of $12,278,102.89. In addition to this there was on that date an unin- vested balance of $271,676,66 in the treasury subject to loan either to farm- ers upon first mortgages, or for invest- ment in bonds. : STATE HAS HUGE LAND RESOURCES Up to that time the state had sold 1,154,444 acres of its school lands, at a total purchase price of $18,467,361. It had still to sell 1,642,878 acres, and at the rate of increase (about §1 per acre per year, as shown by the state land sales) this remaining land will bring somewhere between $20,000,000 and 25,000,000 more when all sold. This will give a total permanent endewment for public schools and edueational in- stitutions of about $45,006,000. Shall this money be leaned on bonds at four per cent or loaned on farm mortgages at five per cent and thus increase state revenues? Shall it be loaned chiefly to institutions which can always find a market for their bonds through regular financial channels at faveorable interest rates and do not need this help of the state, or shall the farmers who can not get such favorable rates be given a fair share of it and thus reduce their interest charges from eight and 10 per cent to five? Commissioner Prater,- speaking for the peoples’ administration of the land - office, says that these loans will be made to help stop this enormous inter- est drain on the farmer, thraugh sub- stituting low state rates for high bank- ers’ rates, that the loans will be handled as rapidly as possible and ap- plicants will get their money as seon as possible, Thus far the farmer beard of univer- sity and scheool lands has not been in power long enough to swing this tre- mendous husiness in the other direc- tion, but it has made a start. This board, made up of men whom the farmers put in office by their votes last November, has to pass upon all appli- cations, and the land commissioner is the board’s executive in seeing that the decisions are carried out. The board consists of Governer Frazier, Attorney General Langer, State Auditor Kositz- - ky, Secretary of State Hall, and Super- intendent of Public Imstruction Mac- donald. Their pelicy will be to help the development of the state with the huge state resources set aside by the constitution and laws for that purpose, and at the same time maintain the bal- ance between the different interests that have a right by law to borrow from these funds. NEW BOARD LENDS 61 PER CENT ON MORTGAGES From January 1 up to September 1, this year the new board had made loans to farmers on first mortgages totaling $570,800, and had made loans on various bond issues of $362,050, to the farmers 61 per cent, and 39 per cent on the bonds. Last year under the old regime the board made loans of $606,000 on farm mortgages and $602,000 on honds, or 50 per cent to each for the corresponding period. This greater proportion of funds to farmers rather than to bond-issuing units of the state, indicates the policy that the present board is pursuing. 4 At the time this data was gathered, September 10, there remained only $183,307 to be loaned, and it was said that the applications: for this on farm mortgages, then on file, would almost exhaust the balance. But the admin- istration that is’ now in office is not worrying about keeping out enough of this money -to' “purchase all -offers ef bonds” as was the custom under former administrations, st B s i o e e e e