The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, September 22, 1919, Page 7

- PROGRESS ON THE FARM : ONE of the stock lies about the Nonpartisan league is that. its .members are shiftless, lazy farmers, unable to make a : success of farming, who want some sort of laws passed so "-that incompetent and inefficient men can make an easy living. This is an insult to every farmer who has joined the League, and in many townships in North Dakota, Minnesota and other states every. farmer in the township is a League member. Further, it is untrue. There are no farmers in the United States more progressive than those who have cast their lot with the League. They are for- ward-looking men, because they see the only way to right present abuses is by the ballot. And they are progressive in other ways also. ‘ ! Recently an advertising tour of motor trucks has been making its way throughout the farming sections of the United States. When the truck tourists reached Bismarck, capital of North Dakota, the spokesman of the tour, A. R. Kroh, himself a farmer, said: - We have been looking forward to the trip through this state, for we have heard much about the snap and progressiveness of the people here. You may have a poor season, but nothing seems to daunt your hustling sp i}' it nor . : your ceaseless energy. B It is a fine tribute to a fine people in a fine state. . All of this might have been said: about the citizens of almost any state, by way of compli- - mentary greeting, al- though no other state de- serves the -approval of “progressiveness” as does North Dakota. But note what follows: In this state there is a county that has more motor trucks on the farm in propor- tion to its population than any other county in the country. ‘That county is Towner, and is only one of the many examples of how wideawake your farming population is to modern methods. The Leader has this much to add: Towner county is not only the star farm motor truck county of the United States, but it is also one of the star League counties. It start- ed by rolling up a major- ity for the Frazier ticket in the primaries of 1916, followed it up .at the gen- eral election of that year, _gave John M. Baer a clean majority over all oppo- nents at the special -elec- tion of 1917, voted the League ticket in the pri- maries and general elec- tion of 1918, and® gave majorities for all the ref- erendum measures at the special election of 1919. A Minnesota editor, who toured with a League organizer, in writing of his experiences, speaks of . the farm of one of the Leaguers which he visited. He says: " You can nearly always ‘spot the Leaguer’s home. The League member is always a man who is trying to better his conditions,”who wants to improve himself and his surroundings, and that spirit shows, as a rule, on his well-kept farm. ; , Whether it is in using the most modern farming methods or the most modern political methods, the League farmers are the most progressive in the United States. i MR. HOUSTON’S IDEA SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE D. F. HOUSTON has crush- HE.R"ES WHERE, [ GET % MY "SIXTEEN DOLLARS BACK ON -THE FIRST LOAD OF WHEAT! [ ed. the bill introduced by Representative Sinclair of North Dakota appropriating $5,000,000 for relief of drouth-stricken farmers of the Northwest. Rather than expending the money to help these men buy feed and seed, he said in a letter to Mr. Sinclair, he favors a reclamation program embodied in an irrigation bill. This - program can not be carried out in less than 15 or 20 years. The farmers in the drouth area are suffering now. In other words, Mr. Houston would give aid that is badly needed now, in.15 or 20 years. " In the meantime, they can find their own way out of their difficulties. —Drawn expressly for the Leader by Congressman John M. Baér. Here is the second in the series of Congressman Baer’s cartoons. It illustrates the North Dakota grain-grading act, whereby the elevators and millers will pay the farmer for dockage. For years the farmers were forced to make a gift of this perfectly good grain to the elevator men, and the elevator men in turn sold it at current market prices. .Of course the farmers objected, but the grain gamblers made the rules. When the farmers elected their own legislature, however, the farmers changed the rules, and now they are being paid for the volunteer grains that appear in their wheat. - robbed of its fruits through trjckery or technicalities.: AT DODGING. THE NEW PRICES DESPITE the action of Julius Barnes, head of the United States Grain corporation of the food administration, in: fixing a new scale for low-grade wheat, grain gamblers and manipulators are disregarding the spirit of the new scale. Cash sales, made at prices above the guaranteed price, are maintaining the old artificial spread of price between No. 1 northern and No. 5 northern. ' In the opinion of the grain corporation official there is a dif- ference of only 14 cents in the milling value of No. 1 and No. 5. Yet the cash- sales show a spread of from 25 cents to 35 cents a bushel. Not only that, but by far the largest amount of grain re- ceived has been low grade. In a single day last week with only two cars of No. 1 northern received at Minneapolis there were 13 cars of No. 4 northern received and 18 cars of No. 5 northern. . Thus the grain gamblers and the millers have been able to evade the intention of the new ruling through the status of the market. Only if the grain corporation can enforce the application of its rulings to present prices will the new prices have any: ef- fect for the farmers and their victory, won in the concession from Mr. Barnes, bear fruit. Repeated tests have shown that the spread be- tween the standard wheat grade and the lower grades were unjustified. Experiments by Doctor Ladd of the North Dakota Agricultural college have shown a difference of only 11 cents in value; Univer- sity of Minnesota tests have shown a difference .of not more than 12 cents. There is now no ex- cuse for maintenance of the artificial spread ex- cept a deliberate plan to ignore the spirit of the grain-grade rulings. It is to be hoped that the grain corporation, having made such a splendid start in adjusting one of the great problems of the wheat producer will see to it that its remedy shall be ap- plied to the situation, re- gardless of the fact that the market at present is above the government guarantee. . To the North Dakota NOTICE! In compliance J i thé new B Bl Law, passedig The Nonpartisan Legislature ,wefl HOATS X BARLEY, |8 ALso MusTarD,[f -and Sinclair, must go the credit of having obtained the favorable ruling from Mr. Barnes. These three men promoted the delega- tion to New York for the conference and it was their pleas, with those of other northwestern repre- sentatives, which induced the change. The success, -however, is ascribed by Sinclair and Baer, not to their own efforts so much as to the fact that they had behind them the or- ganized farmers of North Dakota and other states. Mr. Baer said: ‘In Doctor Ladd, Railroad Commissioner Aandahl of North Dakota, Representatives Sinclair and Young, with myself and other farmer- - elected congressmen, Mr. Barnes had before him the practical evidence of the power of the organized farmers:of the Northwest. It was simply because the-farmers were organized and therefore able to send to New York a group of men demanding immediate attention and in- telligent co-operation that they received prompt attention to their manifestly just grievances. Without organization the farmers would have received much less consideration. Said Representative Sinclair: Regardiess of Mr. Barnes’ attitude in the past, he has awakened to the needs of the farmers, and I venture to state it was political organization on the part of the farmers that helped that awakening. The greater the extent of their organization, the better are the chances of the farmers to obtain redresses for their wrongs. If the farmers do not continue progress on the line they have well started, they can be assured that others who fully realize the power of organizatio s will be constantly infringing on their rights. ; It is necessary that the organized farmers who have won this . congressmen, Baer, Young: NS e mC——. ey B partial victory through their elected representatives, shall not be