The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, September 15, 1919, Page 7

ARG, 5y i 5 | % i sl ¥ oy Europe at big prices just now. But some of the drop, of course, -~ may spring from the so- edvcrusade.;im high prices. - Such is the PAGE B FOR SALE—A NITRATE PLANT = announce the intention of the®government to sell an entire city—Nitro, W. Va. It includes 737 manufacturing buildings for manufacturing sulphuric acid, nitric acid and other products. -It was built as a war industry, to make smokeless powder for the government. - But it is equipped, as'it stands, to manufacture nitrate and other commercial fertilizer. - The plant is being sold at a time that there is a demand for increased farm production as never before. And one of the means of increasing production is by commercial fertilizer. But at pres- ent the supply of nitrate, exclusive of that developed. at these gov- ernment plants, is controlled by a monopoly, with the resulting high . 3 DVERTISEMENTS appearing in daily newspapers last week _ prices for the fertilizer. The government. itself has taken up the ~living cost problem on the one hand, and on the other disposes of one of the means of solution of that very problem. The city itself is in the best of locations for the purpose. Ac- . cording to the advertisement of the sale, it is located in “the center - supply the highest grade of steam and coking coal. Natural gas is . .community working for of a region rich with natural resources. Surrounding coal-fields available from wells lo- cated in the immediate vicinity. - A high-grade crude petroleum is pro- duced in this territory.” ) And the government _is to sell this plant in the face of the demand for a government plant for the manufacture of fertilizer. And who will buy it? There is no question but that it will be a rich haul for somebody. It is to be disposed of at auction, to the highest bidder. It is unlikely that it will bring anywhere near its true. value, or anywhere near the price it cost the gov- ‘ernment to erect it. y And not only that, but it will sell an entire city over to exploitation, comprising houses for 20,- 000 people. Instead of a the federal government, " it - will become a settle- ment of 20,000 persons working for a .corporation which is seeking profits- from both its workers and its consumers. Nor would it be surprising if the whole output of the plant, if it continues to make the smokeless powder, will be sold back to the govern- ment: It is probably too late now for any protest, how- ever strong, to save that plant for the people of the United States, to be used for the pursuits of peace. But the plan of the war department to sell the plant is no. less sabotage than the burning. of the millions of dollars’ worth of airplanes and motor L trucks in France, when . A Erd b North Dakota’s new laws. these things were badly needed at home and in Europe. = Particu- ... larly is this true of the motor trucks, which would have solved an - immense transportation problem for France if not for the United -States. - Both areé on a par with the proposal of the packers to the war department to hold meat which it had purchased in order that - the packers’ market would not be-disturbed. i S THE PRICE OF HOGS o ; ECLINE in hog prices is said to be due to the campaign be- : ing waged in official quarters and in the big press against the high cost of living. The politicians, however, should ‘not be so bold én taking credit for it, for there is a kick in it now ~when farmers and others of the common people are more ‘awake to methods of protecting the profiteers. It is noteworthy _\hat no big reductions in pork products could be announced by the press at the same time. =~ = : The greater part-of the drop is probably due to the fact that the packers have about all they think can be unloaded on hungry . below what the market warrants. —Drawn expressly for the Leader by Congressman John M. Baer. This is the first of a series of cartoons by Congressman John M. Baer, illustrating The cartoon above illustrates what happened in North Dakota. As a result of the fight of the organized farmers, who have put their energy and their money into the campaign, the unorganized farmers, as well as the organized farmers, are reaping the benefits. Through the work of the League members, the farmer who is not a League member and gave no help, is able to borrow money at cheaper rates, he will get better prices for his wheat at the state mill, he can have the help of the state in buying a farm or building a home, he gets fairer grades on his ~wheat at the old-line elevators. And for all this he has to thank his neighbor, whose foresight and co-operation’ made all these things possible. o logical result of the kind of campaign that is being coriducted, The trouble with it and the thing which marks it as bogus, fashioned for political purposes and dangerous to the nation, is the’ fact that it is merely a drive on high prices. No marketing reform; no taking over of acknowledged monopolies; no effort to levy higher taxes on unearned profits—simply a wild barrage against which the big profiteers and wasters have ample protection and which falls unmercifully on the unprotected producers. The farmer who had a fat hog on August 26 woke up the next morning to find that this hog was worth $1 less a hundredweight than when he fed him the night before. Within three days the hog was $3 to $5 less a hundredweight. Wheat is being held down Livestock has been below pro- duction cost for months. . The farmers’ returns for corn, rye, oats, potatoes and fruits are being hammered down—in part by the usual fall speculative tricks; in part by the hysteria produced by the camouflagers. 3 ; In the meantime nothing is done to reduce the margin between producer and consumer. Labor in the cities can see this as well as the farmers. It knows that the farmer gets less than 85 cents of the dollar the consumer pays for farm products. Labor also knows that the farmers rarely get more than cost of production “and that arbitrary cuts in prices at the expense of higher prices later. Political tricks have succeeded before, but this one is likely to have a big boomerang effect. Too many of us know now who is doing the skinning. : If the Wall street powers were trying to pro- duce a panic they could hardly find. better means PAID FOR THE TREE~ BUT I'LL HELP HIM EAT THE APPLES the inadequate incomes of the real producers of food supplies and clothing. EWSPAPERS of l J are raising a peal of joy over what they de- of the Kenyon packer li- censing bill. They .seem to believe that there is enough “public sentiment” to kill the bill effectually. - Where this public senti- [ gVl -+ . SNl /70 = Wl — not say. \ called independent pack- ers, and some southern stock breeders have also protested against the bill as of “no practical good.” These™ are the same or- ganizations that appeared \ . year ago. ; 3 The Big Five are clev- er, very clever. They op- pose the bill, of course, 3 -but they send the little fellows down to do the work for them. The little fellows, who furnish the “competition” for the Big Five, get “the sympathy, convince congress that they don’t need pratection from the Big Five, and the packers win again. 1If the “independ: " ents” failed to oppose the licensing bill the Big Five would sweep reactiomary stamp- the farmer can result only in smaller production andv than through this raid on - THEY CROW TOO SOON clare is the practical death - ment comes from they do- in defense of the Big Five during the investigation a. into their territory, cut the ground from under their feet, swallow them up. It pays for an independent packer to play the big fel- . lows’ game. discredit the federal trade commission, which brought their abuses At the same time, the Big Five are busy trying to ' to light. So far they-have been singularly unsuccessful, despite all the help they could get from the big daily press. But the packers and their newspaper allies are unfortunate in: that the licensing bill is being considered during a time of agitation against the high prices of food and in a year preceding a presiden- - tial election. Congress very probably will be inclined to step softly and carefully around any possibility of giving offense to the folks with the votes—and at the next election the housewives who buy. the family meat will be among the number. Congress may even be - forced to step on:the toes of the gentlemen who: pass-around the funds and have been known to give steaks to prospective speakers. But several smali, 80- -