The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, May 27, 1918, Page 3

In the interest of a square deal for the farmers VOL 6, NO. 21 [lonpafli?én Teader Official Magazine of the National Nonpartisan League A magazine that dares to print the truth ST. PAI_JL, MINNESOTA, MAY 27, 1918 WHOLE NUMBER 140 Photograph of a year's bread for 2,500 people left to mould. Who are the traitors? Where a Mountain of Wheat Rots Away Idaho Profiteers, Rather . Than Let the Government Get Hold of the Grain, Allowed It to Decay BY JAMES DeK. BROWN WENTY-FIVE thousand bushels of wheat going to waste! - Twenty-five thousand bushels of Blue Stem and Turkey Red exposed to all the elements, rain, snow and sprouting heat. .'Not even a board covers it, not even a bit of tarred paper; no - sheds. Just a pile of sacked wheat—a pile of food 20 feet high. And it is going to waste while thousands are starving. It is being ruined by the elements, while our government is begging for wheat—while the soldiers in the trenches are urging America to send every available grain of wheat to the allies. This enormous waste is to be found in Idaho, the Gem state of the Union. It is to be found about 25 miles from American Falls, in the Arbon valley, Power county, near the postoffice of Pauline. This wheat was purchased last fall and piled there. The owners, a grain company, purchased the wheat and then permitted it to rot there. It fears the government will seize it if taken to the railroad. And there it rots. One_thousand bushels already wasted—now fit for nothing but hog feed. Chunks of mouldy wheat as big as footballs can be dug out of the bottom tier of sacks. People are econ- omizing on wheat on half ra- tions all over the country; and ‘- the government is frantically calling for wheat to send to the boys in the trenches. "WHILE OUR ALLIES GO HUNGRY YET A THOUSAND BUSH- ELS ARE ALLOWED TO MOULD AND SPROUT. Belgians and. Poles are starving to death, yet down in- Idaho, near American Falls, is this pile of wheat which WOULD FEED A VILLAGE OF 500 SOULS FIVE YEARS. And it lies there, ruining. The farmers who raised that wheat are ecompelled to go on’ half wheat rations. Yet every. day these farmers drive past _that mouldmg pile of foodstuff. .Something is wrong: "The Zeanng Grain company, an auxiliary of the Northern Grain - company, 'bought the P ~ grain’ Jast fall at $1 82 Ao " bushel. Pocatello, Idaho, May 1. Herbert Hoover, Washington, D. C. Twenty-five thousand bushels good wheat exposed to elements; no pro- tection ; piled up on farm 25 miles from railroad. Wheat sold by Zearing Mill- ing company to American Falls flour mills. One thousand bushels of wheat: moulded and sprouted. Flour mills hauling only spoiled wheat because their elevators are full. Please com- mandeer said wheat and bring to rail- road. Wheat exposed all winter and spring to rains and snow. RAY McKAIG, erld Secretary Nonpartisan League. They sold it to the American Falls flour mills. The millers have their elevators now stuffed to overflowing, no room for more wheat. The flour people know if the wheat is on the railroad track the government will take it. Rather than let the government have that wheat they are allowing it to mould 5o that they can be assured of wheat for their mills this summer. Enough wheat will escape decay to make it profit- able for them to permit this enormous waste. It is simply a vicious, unpatriotic game of beat- ing the government. The farmers around Pauline offered to haul that grain this winter at prevailing prices. Makmg good wheat into -hog feed. Twenty-five tlwusand bushels of wheat exposed to rain and snow all winter and spring at Pauline, Idaho, 25 miles from the railroad. It is sproufing in the warm weather. S “p n'rnnpm i RShg e Official of the Nonpartisan League Quickly Notified Herbert Hoover of the Treasonable Waste No grain makes good flour if exposed to the ele- ments.. But the milling people hired only TWO TRUCKS TO HAUL THAT IMMENSE HILL OF WHEAT. It was originally 50,000 bushels. It is now 25,000. Today the mouldy wheat is being HAULED AWAY AS HOG FEED. The man on whose farm the grain is piled, a Mr. England, has been trying to save it. He has resacked much of it. But his company is not with him. What can one man’s efforts prevail against the rain, the snow and the sun? The wheat is sprouting. It is wasting as-a food for humans. HOW PROFITEERS AID THE ENEMY Some one is slacking. At Pocatello they say the state government has been notified. Farmers have been forced to haul from their homes their surplus flour. Men who have always laid in their year’s supply of flour have cheerfully obeyed the food administration and hauled their supplies, at their own cost, back to the railroads. And THESE FARMERS HAVE HAD TO HAUL THEIR FLOUR PAST THIS HUGE PILE OF WHEAT WHICH IS GOING TO WASTE. - And this wheat is wasting because the millers will not let the government have it! "~ Within a half mile is a Farmers’ Equity loading platform where the farmers hauled their wheat, even though they lost money on the transaction. THEY WERE LOYAL AND TOOK A LOSS THAT UNCLE SAM COULD HAVE THEIR WHEAT AT ONCE. But the American Falls millers prefer to let the wheat rot, defying the govern- ment, AIDING AND ASSIST- ING THE ENEMY THROUGH HOLDING AND HOARDING FOOD, s0 as to keep their bms overflowmg There are plenty of cars. There are plenty of teams. But there also is PLENTY OF PROFITEERING, and hénce there is no chance for the gov- ernment to send the wheat to fight the battle for making the world safe fcr democracy. And these people are flaunt- ing the flag of their patriotism, are shouting from the house- tops their loyalty and are cheerfully donating funds to fight the organized farmers. | s 1 i \ =t