The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, July 19, 1920, Page 7

‘least one-thxrd of 'the members of the new. parha- .- - newspaper. - rectly interested in land and land industry. - tween -all classes of the community . members of the union. " ducers, through the' “mnion;. represen- . other bodies, governmental or other- . which it was created. ~the followmg ‘planks:’ < work is. bemg duplicated and by rigid.. 3 .economy in_all departments. ' : a fair standard of comfort for all- " hold tenure of land. - ment i : “Though the youngest orgamzatxon, the Vlcto- 5 " rian Farmers’ union: is ‘typical of all the state as- ‘sociations, Tt has, within the .space of four years, reached a membersh;p of 18,000, running its own central office, district: orgamzatlons and a weekly Its membershlp is limited to those dl- ‘ 'The objects of the umon may be indlcated by the following extracts: ‘To' unite the primary producers of 'Victoria " with the object of: safeguarding and promofing their individual and collective interests industrial- 1y, commerc:any and politically, and to secure for them“the full results of their labor, * ual member, through his branch, district' council, 'state conference and federal conference, determines is‘on-a thoroughly democratic basls. The mdxvxd- the policy of the movement. He it is who- alone finances the movement. He will’ accept no finan- cial assistance from outside: in carrying on his or- gamzatlou. Thls preserves to him hls pohtlcal in- ‘dependence. - ok ORGANIZED~FARMERS FORCE To guard primary producers’ agamst the thher- ! ing: effects of monopolistic combinations ‘of every. - form by the application of the co-operatwe prm- ‘ciple ‘on safe, economic lines. S . To improve marketing facilities so = . .- as to enable the producers to-sell their produce 'direct to the consumers. To oppose all unjust demands made | by any individual or union or associa- tion of individuals upon farming and mdustnes connected therewith. . - . To encourage amicable relations be- and to promote the adoptxon 'of sound principles of economur productgon and 3 distribution. - v To provide legal advxce and ald to o secure for -the primary pro-"' tation on all boards, commissions or. S ‘wise, that deal thh interests and mat- © - ters, afiectmg ‘primary. productlon and > the primary producers. 2 To maintain affiliation with the Aus- tralian - Farmers’ Federal. organiza- . tion and to promete the obJects for The state political p'lattorm mcludes : “Reduction in the cost of govemment- £ by the amalgamation or reduction of those boards or -commissions where ' - ‘Maintenance. of the living wage ‘and classes. 2 To maintain the pnnc,\ple of ‘free- ‘Building ' houses and bormg .for ~ water for new settlers, repayment to “improve the, standard ‘of butter " GOVERNMENT MUST PAY - FOR CONDEMNED STOCK " marks. and. destroy vermin ‘on crown lands. /all stock destroyed by government spread over the whole period of pay— : ment for land. (e Compulsory. gradmg of cream ‘o Compensatlon for stock owners for - under the “contagious diseases act” Registration of brands and ear-’ ‘State to. eradmnte noxxous weeds In view of ‘the prohibitive price of “ bags, the conclusion of the war, the Vs ; txon Ffor: cmmtry children and teachers surplus of labor, and probably more : ~_reasonable prices of materials, the system of bulk-; handling of wheat be1nstalled at the earlxest Dos- . - sible moment.: More libera.l adxurmstratlon of the Crednt Fon-" _cier system. " - i Natlonahzatxon of all n'ngat:en and wat:er supply ! headworks. Representation. of ‘water users on state rtvers : _and water supply commission. ‘Nonpolitical management and. control of rarlways ; : Zand lowering of rates to encourage: farming. - state during the last two years.. faciliti d _accommoda = feswer oalian Solitin Bo sl - dng. system, since their admission, handled 65 per More prominence and effort in primary and sec- ; 'ondnry educatron ‘to matters: aflectmg 'rural pro- . : ductxon i 5 It has been a matter for comment ‘and not ‘a httle- amusement that since the first publication of the . - slices of it and. incorporated ‘same in ' their own. It is'a ruse, of course. - iy farmers’ platiorm, other parties have lifted large_ i GOVERNMENT PARTICIPATION The political and economic problems incident to. the’ war created a vast number of activities for the farmers organizations. 'Almost without excep- ° tion the farmers were at the outset exeluded from a dlrect share ‘in the management of the various gove,rnment—controlled pools and marketing schemes‘ of primary products. "The -governments called 'in the representatives of large private: tradmg firms and compames‘ for advice and assistance in man—; IT CAN ’T BE DONE aELUY FeivE -—-‘Drawn expressly for the‘Leader by W C. Morns. 3 Just hke flles, the reactmnanes are trying to stop ‘the Nonpartisan league . wheel from rolling over the road of progress to the goal ot mdustrul democracy. 5 3 agement These fitms at the first were actually ‘given a monopoly of the handhng, and ‘were paid tremendous aggregate sums: in. commissions ‘and .charges for the work. In the state of Vietoria,." - the Victorian Farmers’ union waged a 'successful fight for the ‘co-operative companies to be admit-_ - ted: to this work. Similar success was achieved ‘in other states; and in ‘Western Australia the West- ralian Farmers’ Co—Operatrve company. eventually = handled the whole of the wheat produced in that In the other states the co-operative companies have, under the pool- cent ‘and upwards iof the total wheat output. . "The ‘past few years “have geen an extraordinary - growth 'in co-operatron of primary producers.‘ " They comprise ‘all branches ‘of the industry, and are represenited in every state. - The start was ‘made some 15 years ago by the butter ‘producers,. - ‘who were shocked by revelations of corruption and +Those ‘parties have had so = . many years in which to_ ‘give these. reforms that : Z ifthe farmers Bave ceased to trust them. = The system of govemment of the Farmers un,lon'_v.« ‘fraud‘on the part of private dxstribhtmg- firms and . companies.” The co-operative ‘butter companies of . ‘Australia now dispose of over 60 per cent of the«. 3 Australran yearly butter output. Almost m every e Psos sr:vmt ‘-——— ' prices on flour,” Mr. McGovern said. : .to.the card, this concern asks $16.95 per barrel for . daxrymg dlstnct of Australia there is oW 8 €0~ operative butter factory. - Each factory in turn sells through its own co- operatwe selling company, whose headquarters are in the capital city of the state concerned, Then . there ‘are co-operativé cheese factories, bacon factones, abattoirs and freezing chambers, fruit canning works; jam fac- tories, tomato and vegetable pulpmg works and co- “operative livestock selling companies. Recently, the leading co-operative companies in - each state formed the Wholesale Co-Operative Federation of Australia, with the object of concen- trating the buying and selling for the whole com- . monwealth co-operative movement; The federation has established direct representatlon in London as a' preliminary to ‘further extension in the eastern countries and probably America. The nine largest . co-operative companies now have paid-up capital of £588,000 ($2,940,000) and an annual turnover: of £20, 950 ,000 ($104,750,000). Again' it must be emphasized that of Austrahas 5,000,000 people half live in: the capltal cltles Of the re- mainder probably one-third live in the provmclal cities, towns, villages and mining districts;” the rest. being ‘on the land and engaged in primary pro- - duction. No wonder, therefore, that .the tillers of the soil are trying to lift and political co-operation. By exchanging newspapers, and the production of their own newspaper, they are kept closely in touch with the ested in the farmers’ emancipation States and Canada and send . their greetmgs New N. D. Elevator - Completion of Structure in Time ~for 1920 Crop Assured {{EARRE i l — SRS is being constructed at Grand Forks will be com- pleted in" time to store > to the contractors. The state mill will be completed several months later. - Carpenters, an exca- vating crew of 80 teams and other - workers are already on the job. The excavating machinery which was ship- ped some weeks ago is held up by »congested railroad conditions. ' When it arrives two shifts will be arranged’ and the 30,000 yards of dirt wxll be moved.: in short order. Great economies are being effect’ed /by the purchase of materials through ‘ the -industrial commission instead of . -by the contractors. On the cement “alonie $12,000 was saved, according to- 4 J. A. - McGovern, manager of the State : Mlll and Elevator association. The contractors are making arrangements to- house the employes comfortably and to this end are erecting temporary ¥ .frame buildings where 400 to 500 men * “can be accommodated. s The state mill at Drake is runmng' 24 hours a day, according’to Mr> McGovern. It is receiving more wheat than it can handle and its orders: for flour have been so heavy that at present ‘it'ig 11 carloads behind the demand. For the farm- - -ers’-wheat the mill is paying from $3.26 to $3.40 a _bushel This ' contrasts quite favorably with the price quoted in:Grand Forks, which is from $2 46 to $2.96 per bushel. The state mill at Drake is thus paying about 44 cents a bushel more than the local ‘pnoe prevailing at Grand Forks " Mr. McGovern also gave some mterestmg figures “on flour prices. : . “I saw.this morning ‘a card from the Russell- Miller Milling company of this city ‘quoting the “According flour in ‘98-pound sacks, and $17.15 in' 49-pound sacks. The Baldwin mills are selling the former for '$16.60 and the latter for $16.80. At the Drake mill flour in 98-pound sacks is sold for $16.40 per barrel" and in 49-pound sack lots for $16. .60 per barrel. ‘There is not any. question that we can do better - ; yet with the big mill at Grand Forks.” The Drake;mlllmontmues to make a good profit, the load from their backs by business efforts of their brethren throughout® the world. ' They are intensely inter-_ movement in ‘the western - United HE state elevator which' the fall crop, according AT AR S v