The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, October 6, 1919, Page 7

state-owned mills of North . substantially- more for their shriveled have since been verified, ot only by experiments of the state of Minnesota, but by those of officials in Canada, : The Times concludes its flippant comment by challenging the : Dakota to make as good flour from this year’s shriveled wheat as from No. 1, and declares the “miracle” can’t be performed too soon if the League is to prove its “mere gratitude to the real cause of the triumph of 1916.” i - So much for what passes for argument against the organized farmers in such papers as the Times! The real facts are, as the Leader has pointed out, that the first small uhit of the North Da- kota state milling system now in operation, is paying the farmers grain than . other buyers; ‘this class of wheat has make new differentials in a much fairer deal, and that that the League’s agitation concerning forced the United States government to _price, giving so-called “feed wheat” the experiments on this year’s shriveled grain, both in the state . mill and elsewhere, show it to be of much higher milling value than the grain and milling combine would admit in 1916 or will admit now. TRUTH AND THE JOURNAL opposed to the organized farmers, distort and conceal the real news of the day, let us turn, just for once, the Minneapolis Journal. : JUST as an example of how the Twin Cities papers, and others to the columns of In its issue of September 14 the _ Journal ‘told of the testimony of W. N. Richards of Dickinson, N. D., - who appeared at Washington, 1 D. C., to testify in behalf of the Big Five packers and against the Kenyon bill to license the packers and impose some control over their business. - Richards is treated by the Journal as a farmer and stockman. He is quoted as follows: ST g : : I have no interest in’any of the packers -or any of the yards; they have no interest whatever in my business. I do not borrow any money from them. * * * I own and am interested in more cattle than possibly any other man in North Dakota., I have dealt in all markets and I have never observed any of the things contained in the allegations of the federal trade commission. It sounds very fine and unprejudiced, doesn’t it? Here is an . honest farmer and stockman, going all the way from North Dakota ' to Washington at his own expense to prevent, congress from passing - a bad bill! It is a fact th@i; Mr. Richards testified, approximately a8 quoted above, at Washington, D. Q It is also a fact that Mr. Richards is HiS CcATTLE U ‘“interested in more cattle thin Dakota.” 3 - 3 How is he interested in them? In some because he owns them ; in others BECAUSE MR. RICHARDS OWNS A STRING OF FOUR BANKS. He lends money to cattlemen, and if they do not possibly any other man in North pay up he takes their stock. : ! In Mr. Richards’ testimony he admitted his ownership of a string of banks. Do we find this fact in the Journal? No, indeed! %\/Ir. Richards is presented as merely an honest stockman and armer. . ; - Moreover, on cross-examination Mr. Richards admitted that he had been lending money to Swift & Co. at 6 per cent and without security, while charging local farmers and business men 10 per cent and demanding security. How does this square with his ear- lier statement that he had “no interest in any of the packers or any of the yards; they have no interest whatever in my business.” ‘ Because the statements did not square with each other the ~ Journal simply eliminated the matter that called Mr. Richards’ “veracity in question. : 2% In view of his own admissions as to his relations with the packers, Mr. Richards does not emerge anything like 100 per cent pure, but when it comes to a choice between him and the Minne- apolis Journal on telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, we unhesitatingly choose Banker Richards. WILSON SERVES LEAGUE ENEMIES justifiable protest against the appointing by President Wil- son of W. E. Byerly as revenue collector in that state. Mr. Byerly has been one of the active heads of the Independent Voters’ ‘association, the organization financed by big business interests in and out of North Dakota and-run by the cheap bunch of jobless politicians who want to get back in power in North Dakota, ‘and who are now engaged in attempts to perform all kinds of sabotage : THE farmers of North Dakota have entered a vigo’r‘(;us ‘and - -against the farmers’ state administration to prevent carrying out - times and so overwhelmingly voted. - ; . The most recent activities of these die-hard; discredited poli- of the public ownership program for which the people have so many ticians have had to do: with circulating monstrous stories of the. bankruptey of North Dakota and the alleged worthlessness of the -state bonds which it is necessary to sell in order to' carry out the ~ state’s industrial program. This .contemptible campaign will cost he state hundreds of thousands of dollars in premiums on the o bonds, and it will be difficult to offset among investors, to whom the ‘bonds must be sold, the evil effects of this lying propaganda. Mr. Byerly has been a leader of these politicians. The North Dakota farmers certainly deserved better than this from the president of the United States. , : There are plenty of good Democrats in North Dakota who are - neutral so far as League and anti-League politics are concerned, and certainly the president should keep the federal government staff in North Dakota out of local state politics by appointing that kind of a Democrat. The Nonpartisan league does not insist or ‘even ask that the president’s North Dakota appointments be from the ranks of Democrats who are active for the League, .or even friendly for it, but there can be no doubt of the justice of the pro- test of the farmers against the nomination by the president of an out-and-out enemy of the people’s government of the state, who has dirtied his hands in the bitter, unscrupulous and dishonest fight on the organized farmers, who constitute a majority.in the. state. The most charitable thing to say is that the president has had bad advice. If he wants to be honest and fair he should bar from his counsel table in future the person who recommended to him the appointment of Mr. Byerly. Mr. Byerly’s appointment, besides being an insult to the state administration and to every member of the League, is the worst kind of politics for the president to practice at this time. It gives joy to a little group of anti-League Democrats and Republicans who are fighting Governor Frazier and the League, but disgusts the overwhelming majority of the people. : GETTING RID OF JONAH Hebrew prophet of biblical times. have chosen the governor as the goat to appease the political storm which they fear. The decision to ‘get rid of the unwelcome pas- senger came after the veto by the governor of the ore tonnage tax measure, which passed the legislature by an overwhelming vote. Old-line newspapers said unkind things, among them that the gov- ernor was politically dead. The politicians have been much of the same mind. Lieutenf,,{i\:‘y Governor Frankson has come out with a statement assailing the' executive for the tonnage tax veto and suggesting his own can- didacy for governor. And yet Governor Burnquist only played the game he had been taught by the machine. 3 PROFITEERS BUY LAND : NDIGESTED war profits are the probable cause of mueh of the speculation in farm lands at the present time. The profiteers have more capital than they can invest in so- called big business enterprises, and the foreign field is too un- certain as yet. They can put their money in farm land with safety ~and at the same time escape war:time income taxes. Corn belt land would, look best to such investors, for it always yields a crop, and as population grows is bound to grow in actual value. And the movement started first in' that section. Corn belt farmers who sold then moved to southern Minnesota, North and South Dakota and points further west, and so widened the boom territory. ° - . There is great danger that the little fellows, including some farmers, may carry the speculation fever beyond the point where sales to the big city buyers will be forthcoming and that they will - || be caught in a sudden collapse. Farmers who intend to operate can hardly afford to buy corn belt land; prices in other states are rap- idly getting away from the operation value. ~ As for the farmers, only those veady to retire will probably get any great amount of profit out of the lanq speculation. The nation will lose by the number of farmers it takes out of produc- tion and the inevitable increase of farm tenancy. The farmer who moves to another state must charge against the nominal profit ~~secured.the risk in buying and operating strange land, more remote markets, and the leaving of social and business relations of a life- time behind. ' SR 2 The Nonpartisan league farmers have directed their attention toward making farm operation more profitable, for in the long run the men of little capital lose by speculation and . burposes higher than it is now. That is, land prices will be near _actual worth and any operating farmer Teturn on the purchase price. HE Jonah of Minnesota Republican politics has been heaved I over the side of the ship as unceremoniously as ever was thé The crew of the machine* the big fellows win. ' §§ Their program hits at land speculation by shifting taxes from im- Sl ~-provements and at the same time will raise land value for operating f{§ can get a present busix_gqq‘sv;;;: iat e P ERAS