The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, March 25, 1918, Page 9

R > " eral grain grades was officially taken * time the federal. grain ‘grades were 2 o o e e i i e ® with, or obstruct or. impede, the government -owner- ship and operation. ‘of ithe: transportat:on system, or shall falsify records or accounts relating to them, shall’ be liable, upon conviction, to.- a fine of not over $5,000, or, if a person, to two years’ xmpnson- ment, or both fine and imprisonment. 7. That 2$500,000,000 - shall be appropriated at once, to finance immedmte mpmvemente and "uni- . fication of the system. 8. That if the courts shall nullify any part of this measure, such a court decision shall not im- pair the rest of ‘tlié measure, but shall affect only the particular part which the court declares is -not valid. . This. is merely the first government-ownership bill, submitted as a basis for further proposals along the same line. It will probably be introduced in the house by one of the more liberal congressmen. Standpat members of the house and senate will do all they can to ptevent the holdmg of any hear- ings on such a bill. - Farmers Win in Fight for Fair Grades Secretary of Agriculture Bows to Protests, but Not Very Gracefully— Says That New Grades Will Be Put in Effect “Merely During the War” HE farmers have won important and far-reaching concessions from the United States depart- ment of agriculture in regard to the federal grain grades. It is announced by David F. Hous- ton, secretary of agriculture, that the department has fram- ed a proposed new schedule of federal grades for wheat, and that hearings will be held on the proposed new grades throughout the wheat-growing districts in the near future. The new. grades propose to eliminate many of the com- plications of the former grades and take out many of the penalties against the producers which caused the uni- versal protest of farmers, and which forced action by Mr. Houston. While the secretary of agriculture does not propose to revise the grades by -basing them stnctly on milling tests for wheat, which is what the farmers ultimately desire, the new plan he proposes will be a substantial improvement over the grades that the farmers have suffered under for over a year. The unfortunate part of Mr. Hous- ton’s announcement is that he pro- poses these nmew grades merely for the duration of the war. It is inti- mated that a return will be made to the former grades on the conclusion of Peace negotiations. Of gourse, the farmers will have something to say about . that. .There . are few farmers who enjoy being bilked for the profit of grain handlers and millers in peace times, any more than in war times. In fact, it is more reasonable to say that they would protest less about cheating during war-times than they would during peace times, for patri- otic reasons. It is safe to say that, before a return is made to the old grades after the war, the farmers will make themselveg heard-again, and it is likely that, instead of return to the old federal grades, the farmers will get even better grades than Mr, Houston promises in his recent state- ment. HOUSTON NOT TAKEN VERY SERIOUSLY The fight for the change in the fed- up by the farmers’ administration of North Dakota over a year ago, at the *adopted. At .that time the farmers’ admjpistration stood alone in this protest, being assisted’ by the Non- partisan Leader and a few other in- dependent publications which espoused the cause of the Nonpartisan league. Since then, -however, . the farmers have enlisted in their behalf the aid _of many farm papers and officials in several states, with a result that the secretary of agriculture was compelled to change the. grades. It may be that Mr. Houston’s announcement that the change is for the duration of the war only, is merely to save his own face, and to make it un- necessary: for ’him: to admit that a great mistake was: made in:the original grades. Many people be- lieve that the secretary of agriculture must not be taken seriously in: his. statement that- réasonably fair grades: are only to’ be: granted by the depart- -ment during the war, and that a return to unfair grades: 'will ‘be ‘made when*peace :comes. The' ‘Leader in'subsequent articles will dxscuss ~ fully the pcroposed new grades and report the hear- “ing‘s to be held upon them. In the. meantlme, we partisan league. ‘- to the bushel instead of 59 pounds; give the following summary of the chief changes proposed to be made: Hard red spring wheat is d1v1ded into two sub- classes as before.- One of these is “hard dark northern.” Formerly hard dark northern had to consist of 85 per cent of dark, hard and vitreous kernels. Under the new grades it will need to consist only of 75 per cent of such kernels. “North- ern spring wheat” under the new grades consists of wheat of which less than 75 per cent is dark, hard and vitreous. The new grades are simplified by the droppmg of the classification of “red spring” and “red spnng humpback.” IN THE NAME OF PATRIOTISM! | —Drawn expressly for the Leader by John M. Baer Nineteen out of 87 counties in Minnesota have barred meetings of the Non- These counties have decided that the farmer has no right in politics; that he has not the right to organize. in this cartoon what is happening-in these counties. tied and gagged by the profiteers, the parasites and the politicians. How much longer will the constitution and laws of the state of Minnesota be suspended .in 19 out of 87 of its counties? Ask Governor Burnquist. ' Formerly there were five grades, numbered 1 to 5, and a sample grade. The change provides . for four numbered grades and a sample grade. ‘Weights for hard red spring wheat have been re- duced as follows: No. 1 need weigh only 58 pounds No. 2 need weigh only 56 pounds instead of 57 pounds; No. 3, 653 pounds instead of 55 pounds; instead.of 53 pounds. - Weights for other classes of v/heat are reduced --as follows: No.. 1, from 61 pounds to 60 pounds; No. 2, from 59 pounds to 58 pounds; No. 3, from b7 pounds to:- 56 pounds; No. 4, from b5 pounds to 52 pounds. The amount of moisture allowed is_ increased from 13% per cent forNo. 1, 143 ‘per cent “for No. 2*and“No. 8 ‘and 15% per . cent for No. 4, to a straight 15 per cent :for ‘all grades: An unportant concesslon is giveg to the demands : PAGE N!NE Congressman Baer shows The farmer is being No. 4, 50 pounds' of farmers in changing the percentages of other classes of grain permitted In No. 1, 4 per cent of other classes will be per- mitted instead of 2 per cent; in No. 2, 10 per cent instead of 4 per cent; in No. 3, 10 per cent instead of 6 per cent; in No. 4, 10 per cent as at present. Dockage of less than 1 per cent is disregarded under the new rules. More rye is permitted in the various grades of wheat than was formerly per- mitted, and there are various other minor con- cessions to the farmers, which were ignored a year ago when the viewpoint of the millers was accepted entirely. The farmers consider that they have won a great victory, although the grades are not as yet what they should be. An Editor Tries Intimidation The Franklin Tribune is a country weekly published at Franklin, Ren- ville county, Minn. It has been bit- terly fighting the organized farmers. As a result farmers, who resent this editor’s insults and charges that they are pro-German because they belong to the League, have been stopping his paper in large numbers. The Franklin Tribune has attempted to county with the following notice: “Recently every mnewspaper has been asked to keep a strict list of all persons who might be thought- less enough to make slighting remarks about the Red Cross, the government or our president and the war, or of persons who may be foolish enough to discontinue their newspaper sub- scriptions. Every such case is to be re- ported to the authorities who will amply take care of the matter. If you want to be put on record with the authorities just stop a newspaper or make pro-German remarks about our government. We will oblige you by making the report you have thus solicited. Any one who discontinues the Franklin Tribune will be regis- tered with the proper officials and all the necessary information furnished which government officials have asked for. We always aim to be accommo- dating and have plenty of blanks for any who are in need of them. We understand the internment camps are not yet full of pro-Germans so there is still room for more. Who’s next?” How'’s that for brazen intimidation ? It seems almost incredible. To be successful with this. sort of stuff, the editor of the Franklin Tribune would have to have an audience of very ignorant-people, and the fact that he tried this on his farmer readers shows that he believes them to be stupid and easily fooled. The contrary is the case, how- ever, and the farmers of Renville county are not going to be prevented from stopping papers which insult and besmlrch them by such idle threats as these. ? The editor of the Franklin Tnbune, we. beheve, can be prosecuted and sent to jail for trying to use ~the name of the United States government to in- timidate loyal and patriotic citizens, or for print- ing such gross falsehoods about the government. As every farmer knows, the government is nat authorizing any such intimidation -as this. 'Any farmer can stop the Franklin Tribune if he wants to, without any fear of internment camps. It is not unpatriotie of dlsloyal to refuse to read a uews- *paper that msults and attacks the orgamzedfarmers. intimidate the farmers of Renville' | |