The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, May 26, 1919, Page 3

-« men—-most of them reared on the e e SRR A SUE A S SRR S Sl TN A e S AT R 2 In t'llge_ interest of a square deal for the farmers Official Magazine of the National Nonpartisan League VOL. 8, NO. 21 ' Nonpartigsn Rader ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA, MAY 26, 1919 i1 How North Dakota Is Buying Talent State Brings Noted Risk Expert to Fix Insurance Rates—Best Bankers A magazine that dares to print the truth WHOLE NUMBER 192 ~ Aid 1n Establishment of State-Owned Institution Bismarck Bureau, Nonpartisan Leader. ~ | HEN all other objections to pub- k| lic ownership are exploded, those who oppose it fall back to their last trench and say, “You can’t get a man who can make money for himself to work on a salary for the state.” The experience of North Da- 3 kota in beginning its state-own- ed industries is clear disproof of this. For every position of responsibility created under the new laws, an expert is ready to step in and give his _ best efforts to the success of the enterprises. “ North -Dakotans are proud of their position in the lead of all the sister states, and few, indeed, are the men who are refusing to aid in the launch- ing of the new industries. There is no talk of pri- vate initiative being better than public co-operation. The idea. of service to the people is proving at- tractive to the best men in all branches of life. “General Villa is acting independently and on his own' initiative down in Mexico,” says S. A. Olsness, state commissioner of insurance, who will administer the new state-wide hail insurance fund. “Villa'is' working for himself, and seems to be get- ting rich at it. was the equal in talent or results obtained' to General Pershing. The American soldier is not working for himself, but for the government—the whole ‘people. And he is more effi- cient and works at it just as hard as -if he was doing all for himself alone.” * That is the way it is working out in North Dakota. Thoroughly trained To Go. 0 . farm, all of them successful in pri- “vate business—are harking to the call of the public good and entering into the management of the people’s own ‘business. This is giving even skeptics a new respect for the Nonpartisan govern- ment. Everywhere it is realized that all appointments are made on a basis of merit, and not because of any pull. There’s no politics in it. The Non- partisan league has a consistent rec- ord of keeping politics out of govern- ment. -And it will not allow politics to creep into the new businesses. LABOR MAN AT HEAD OF COMPENSATION BOARD Every move made by the farmer government is straight toward the ef- ficient carrying out of the new laws. When the time came to establish a workmen’s compensation board, the governor appointed to it the president of the State Federation of Labor, S. S. McDonald. i : A progressive-minded lawyer, L. J. Wehe, was also chosen to care for the legal ends of the administration of the accident insurance system. For the highly important task of establishing the rates, they sought the country over, finally settling on Emile E. Watson of Ohio, one of the first mén in the United States to specialize in the-technical phases of workmen’s compensation insurance. Private in- surance companies time and again have tried to hire him away from pub- lic work. He has always refused, be- cause he believes that government in- Yet no man would say that he - surance is the only proper solution. government started its wartime insurance, it called him in as an actuary. His first act was to uncover almost $2,000,000 in profiteering by the private companies. Uncle Sam had insured its cantonment workers with old-line companies, paying in $2,369,- 365 in premiums. Mr. Watson’s investigation show- ed that of this amount only $476,272 had been used in paying for accidents to workmen and the expense of administering the insurance. The remainder represented the profits of the private corporations. Up to the time of the armistice, Mr. Watson was the sole actuary of the federal commission on in- surance. He still is the consulting actuary of the bureau of war risk insurance, which has given the soldiers such cheap policies. This is the quality of expert-that the state of North Dakota is putting into harness. Mr. Watson came to Bismarck, looked into the state law and pronounced it the best and most humane of any in America. By it the employers pay in a yearly fee and are insured against any damages result- ing from accidents to employes. The workers bene- fit by the fact that the state fund assures them reparation for any injury without their having to go to law and split their damage claims with an attorney. Mr. Watson at present has full charge of the |_ : IN NORTH DAKOTA l LETS TELL HIM HOME AND PTHE_HO6S HES GoT NO BUSINESS s - 742""!47'0’»’ / == o031 r Rs&evss, - GUESS HES —Drawn expressly for the Leader by W. C. Morris. “You can fool all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time, but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time,” Abraham Lincoln once said. The politicians didn’t ‘believe it, but those that once sat in power in North Dakota now know how truly the Great Emancipator spoke. The farmers of the state got tired of being fooled all of the time, and took hold of the government themselves. “But business is getting a fairer deal at the hands of the farmers than the farmers got at the hands of the interests. When the” R S Y B 58 T B e i s actuarial and underwriting work of three other state funds—those of Ohio, Maryland and Idaho. His economical and humane administratipn of the Ohio compensation act, which is similar to that of North Dakota, has won the praise both of organ- ized labor and the employers. The Bank of North Dakota, which already has been established in the state capital at Bismarck, is clear evidence of the businesslike way in which the farmer government is going about the problem. First to be appointed was the manager, J. R. Waters. Two terms as state bank examiner have capped the 20 years Mr. Waters spent as a banker and financier in the state. Governor Frazier chose him to supervise the banks of the state three years ago not for any political reason, but because he was fitted for the position. And when the state indus- trial commission, which has been formed to direct the publicly owned utilities, looked about for a man they could trust, they chose Mr. Waters. The appointment was one that immediately gave confidence to the banking interests of the state, and confirmed the belief of the people in the new financial institution. The first duty of Mr. Waters was to build up an efficient staff about him. When he went out and enlisted F. W. Cathro, president of the First National bank of Bottineau, even the corporation press of the larger cities had to indorse the way affairs were being conducted. Mr. Cathro had made a record as a successful banker —and had built the foundatjons of his high rank on fair treatment of his farmer customers. BANKERS CONVINCED OF STATE BANK’S SOUNDNES!S Such appointments as these have convinced the bankers of the state of . the soundness and practicability of the new state-owned bank. It is now seen that this institution will act for the state as the federal reserve banks act for the nation. The fact that it will keep the reserves of money in North Dakota instead of making it neces- sary to continue the practice of send- ing millions to the St. Paul and Min- neapolis banks and then having to bor- row it back at interest for moving the crops, appeals to the logical sense of any man of business insight. i The recognition that has come to the state bank is indicated by the fact that almost unanimously the banks throughout the state are subscribing to the bond issue which is to back it. If bankers will- invest in the project—and many of them are bidding above par—it is quite evident they have confidence in its success. When the Bank of North Dakota requires- expert advice, it has only to ‘ask and it receives the best aid possible. The largest national bank in Fargo has lent an expert to assist in installing a system of blanks and forms. An advisory committee of five prominent bankers meets frequently with the bank executives and gives freely of its experience so that there may be no chance of failure in the new system. The spirit animating the people of North Dakota—even the townspeople who doubted the ability of the farm- ers to govern the state or establish public utilities—has ‘changed. . Every- - (Continued on page 14)