The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, October 28, 1918, Page 9

If there is anything you don’t . understand about the food, fuel wheat, labor, draft or other or- write to A. B. Gilbert, ders, P. 0. Box 575, St. Paul, Minn. B ‘Winthrop, Wash. WK{AT channels does the money paid in or the Liberty bonds go through? ‘What is the “War Finance corpora- tion””? How, when and why was such an or- ganization formed? ‘What is the National Council of Defense? How is it related to the state council, and the state council to the county and local councils? MRS. A ENTZKE. Probably nearly all the money paid in to the banks by the subscribers to Liberty bonds is paid out by the sim- ple drawing of checks on the banks by the government to pay the bills which the government owes. The one possible abuse of the system is that government funds so secured might be left with favored banks for a long time at- little or no interest,.but so far as known nothing of this kind has yet come to light. The War Finance corporation was formed last spring by the national government to help finance essential war industries which the banks pro- fessed to be' unable to finance or to which they were charging excessive interest. It is a government under- taking like the postoffice or the Fed- eral Farm Loan bank. ‘The usual method of procedure for the finance corporation is to advance money up to 75 per cent of the face of the loans where its help is considered necessary to the bank which is dealing with the industry. Farming, as the Leader has previously pointed out, is considered by the government as an essential industry, and the department of agri- culture has urged country bankers to take advantage of the facilities offered by the War Finance corporation. The National Council of Defense 5 was created by section 27 of the army - appropriation act of August 26, 1916. Its function is to co-ordinate the in- dustries and resources for national security and welfare by investigations and recommendations to the president and heads of departments. This coun- cil has no direct relations with-the " state councils. except that of possibly friendly understanding, for the state councils are provided by the states themselves and are appointed by the governars. The county and local councils, on the other hand, are di- rectly under the state councll. The state councils have only the powers given them by the state legislatures, but where scheming politicians have been -appointed to this important po- sitipn, they have sometimes seized the war opportumby to act above the law. : PRICES OF SUBSTITUTES Richmond, Minn. N .THE Minnesota Leader a few weeks ago I saw that millers and flour retailers are not allowed to _charge more for substi- tutes than for wheat flour. Is this the truth? If so where could I report a man who is charging $5.80 per hundredweight for wheat flour and 9 cents per pound for oat flour, 7 cents per pound for corn_flour, ete.? FRANK RICKLE, What Mr. Rickle saw in the Leader may have been the statement that the food administration was planning to put “victory” ready-mixed flours on the market and that the dealers would not be allowed to charge more for these than for . straight wheat flour. The prices of substitutes by themselves could not be set exeept insofar as the moral influence of the _fair-price committees would operate. One of the things that force up the substitutes is that they are bought in small packages or small amounts. Thus barley flour, which probably could be obtained for around $6.50 a barrel at the big market, frequently retails for more than wheat flour in the country distriets. Congress gave the president no au- thority to fix the prices on other grains than wheat, and consequently he can not fix the prices of their products. The food administration is hopeful of getting the “victory” flour on the market in the near future. The mill- ers, of course, are fighting it. In fair- ness it ought -to sell for something -less than straight wheat flour, but even at the same pnce it will give. some relief. What are considered violations of food administration regulations should be reported to the county food admin- istration and put before the local fair- price committee. TAKING OUT A PATENT Anselmo, Neb. ILL you please send me the address of %hfia best place Jto apply for a patent? ve a You should wnte to the United States patent office for papers and in- structions and then you will undoubt- edly need a lawyer to handle the thing for you because the procedure is com- plicated, so much so that lawyers specialize in this one field. It would probably be ‘better, however, to get some local lawyer youw can trust to draw up the papers than to send to the unknown lawyers who advertise themselves as patent lawyers. As a matter of fact the United States does not grant a real patent. It grants only a nght to bring suit in courts, and that is what our in- ventors “are contending with all the time. The great Edison, for instance, has had to fight patent thieves all ‘his life. This patent situation is most dis- -graceful to the country and unfair to inventors. More than this, it is a great brake on our industrial prog- ress, for nine-tenths of the big ideas come froxn the plain people, and knowing that they will not be allowed to reap the fruit of their ideas the in- ventive plain people are not making the sacrifices necessary to bring out inventions as they did a generation ago. The writer of the question noted above should be careful to keep his idea to himself until he is ready to put it on the market. In writing to the patent office, for instance, he should simply say that he wants to take out a patent. NO STATEMENT ON COTTON PRICE. STATEMENT concerning cotton price-fixing appeared in a. Wash- ington (D. C.) paper on Saturday, September 21, to the effect that it was understood that Secretary Hous- ton. had expressed the opinion that ' 25 cents would be a fair price for this year’s cotton. This statement, and any other statement that may have been made purporting to represent the views of Secretary Houston as to a price for cotton, if any is to be fixed, “is- utterly without foundation. The secretary has expressed no opinion as to a price for cotton—DEPART- MENT OF AGRICULTURE. THE FARMER AND THE DRAFT SKILLED farm laborer has been defined by one authority,” says the department of agriculture, “as one who has the strength, intelli- gence and experience to perform ac- ceptably the ordinary farm operations of the district, community or farm concerned, whether in fields, ranches, orchards or barns. This definition is merely suggested as a guide. The draft boards may have still other standards. “A further suggestion may be made with reference to ‘necessary’ as ap- plied to skilled laborers. Presumably the amount of skilled labor that may be regarded as ‘necessary’ is to be de- ‘termined by the requirements of the present agricultural war program— something more than a normal p: J ~tion of most._farm products. Pertl- nent questions -in this connection, ‘therefore, are such as: Are there suf- ficient skilled workers to produce the - livestock, cereals, fruits, etc., requir- ed by this program? Do these work- ers toil harder and longer houm?) some children, especially under;/ 14 years of age, -work regularly eight hours or more? Are the burdens of farm women increased? In other words, do the farm people, respond- ing to many patriotic appeals, make, as compared to other occupational groups, a very heavy draft upon their reserve strength and upon their chil- dren?” DANISH CATTLE AND BUTTER FIGURES UE chiefly to shortage of feed, the number of cows in Denmark is expected to decrease by about 100,- 000 within the next six months. The present estimated number of cows in that country is 950,000, which is about 200,000 less than in the summer of 1917. . According to reliable reports received by the United States food ad- ministration the reduction in -Den- mark’s butter supply will exceed 2,000,000 pounds during the coming year. Facts like these should remind United States dairymen of the grow- ing dependence of foreign populations »on American dairy products.—FED- ERAL FOOD ADMINISTRATION. COMMUNITY MARKETS PREVENT FOOD WASTE ORTY community markets have been organized and are in oper- ation in Massachusetts, according to a report of a representative of the United States department of agricul- ture who recently visited the state. By meang of these markets large quantities of vegetables and fruits which might otherwise bé wasted are utilized and townspeople can obtain the products while fresh and at a com- paratively low cost. In most towns where the markets have been estab- lished old buildings centrally located * have been utilized and furnished at little cost. In many of the markets canning kitchens are conducted and fruits and vegetables not sold in the first state are canned cither for the owner at cost or to be sold later.— DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. MUSTA.RD SEED PRICES OME time ago a statement was made in ~ the Leader that farmers would receive pay for mustard. Now the elevator men ‘say that it is not to be paid for.- Will you kindly -give me the truth in regard to this and how much mustard seed is_worth? MRS. A. J. SNYDER. The elevator men probably try to = get as much as possible for nothing, and that must bé why they do not want to pay for mustard -geed. “There .are several different kinds of mustard seed and the more important of them should bring around $556 a ton on the market, or $2.76 per hundredweight. “Wheére as much as a carload can be gotten together, it should be sent to the eastern markets, where the price is generally better.