Newspaper Page Text
ip* "V s% Illlf ^tfPi mi Ibti Warn County iRdependint Published Every Thursday ByTHUAX & uULubAO Miuot, North Lukuta December 20 li)12 Too many Noitli Dakota farmers and business men have been satis lied io keep the even te*ucp of their way, and allow the unearned incre ment to bring them a comfortable liv ing lor the future, in many cac.es, however, the business man HAS IPRU compelled to meet competition so that he has not been benefitted by the growth of his community alone. The farmer on the other hand has fn most c*tae« profited by the progress of the state. It has meant for him an in crease in the price of his land. He hag been making money in addition to what he has earned each year. The unearned increment is slowlj tut surely making him wealthy. North Dakota has a host of progress alve farmlFfS who are repaying soci ety many fold for this unearned life, clement. But there are some far men who have been profiting thus sni have given nothing In return. Brtry elans of people owe a duty to their state, to the community, to their family, yes, to themselves. The farmer is not exempted. To society he owes the improvement of farming methods, the increasing of his grain production, and above all. conserva tion of North Dakota's fertile soil. The state depends on him for Its wealth and Progress and the duty to make good rests upon him. Picture rural school life in North Dakota. A little poorly lighted.poor ly ventilated sichool building located oa the cold bleak prairies, the ther mometer standing ibeiow zero and the wind tfowing a gale. Watch the lit tle boys and girls slb they face the coM breezes, trudging one or two mffos tru the sjiow. A crime is with thjopr clothing wet jand their shoes snowy and cold. A crine is being committed in the name of edu cation. These conditions are fast champing and the next ten years will see thousands of consolidated schools located in the variouB township. The children wITT he hauled to and fro in •warm covered lies bv a softer, com pLert drive.- Arriving at the mod err1 school building, they will receive lasuuetion from some of the best teachers the normal schools turn out. 'The legislature is going to do some thing in the way of rural school aid this winter. It can't come too fast. As badly as we need better farming methods generally, we need better market facilities more. There is something radically wrong with cur mMfcetlng system. The greater the crop the farmer grows, the more ex pensive it becomes forhlmto harvest It, and the 1MS he Is compelled to sell It for. It doesn't take very long to Dgnre how quickly a farmer will •go broke" and some get in that pre- many getting the products of labor You are assured If of E. J. LANDER I. uitaiueni t^iore tney have time to tlo any Uguriug. We'd Lie some brainy lMoimator to ilun a way by which the •egislature could help our farmers, we Leueve that our fiiend, J.. W. .-.niith of Surrey, can furnish some food for thought on this subject. 1 he coming ^ea^'ion of the legis lature will see &oud laws enacted for the improvement of our highways, ur rural schools and laws that will tend to males the farm a better place to live. Jt"is understood that Mr. Hau r.a, who favorg all of these things, will dwell upon them at some length in his message. A road is no bet ter than its worst spot and farmers and their families can hardly enjoy country life until the highways ar.' put into shape. New York has ap propriated $50,000,000 dollars for the improvement of her highways. North Dakota naturally has the finest roads in the United States and they can 1» made permanently good with a small comparative cost. Those who insured in the State Hail Insurance Co. and sustained losses this yeas', have not yet re iv he a an as a C. Gilbreath, the state hail commis sioner, drew the warrants ou the treasurer and the losses were paid. This year a Question was raised a.s to whether it is constitutional for any official except the audior to is sue warrants. Atty. Gen. Miller holds that the state bail commission er has no rower to issue such war rants The Independent has ever encour aged better farming and we hope to see the farmers continue to grow a great crop of grain if be gets such a low price that there can te no money in it foT him. Such farmers might better farm on a smaller scale, take life easier, do less hiring, there by running smaller risks and being sairer of a profit, be it ever so small. We don't believe that farminig on a big scale is going to make anyone rich very fa«t. The Better Farming Movement in this state is a cood. one and the work \S is spreading rapidly to new communi ties. The Idea isn't so much for an expert to educate the fanner, as it Is for certain experiments to be tried out in the various communities where the results are apparent. Thus the farmers will foe able to compare re sults and get an ^exchange of Ideas that will prove of value. Many things are learned ahont the farming game every year. The High cost of living is ottrlbu ted to a numfber of things, among which are: high Interest rates ex orbitant freight and express rate orbitant freight and express rates needless middlemen's profit monop oly prices on farm fachinery and nat ural products too many men living by their wits. Instead of by the' sweat of their brows, In other words, too A O A N S IF YOU MAKE A LOAN FROM US considerate service at all times—you have only us to deal with until your loan is paid up. We are right on the ground and in the event of short years will be able to consid er your interests better than an outsider would. Our rates are the best offered and we abso lutely guarantee prompt service. you want a loan on your land be sure and call and see us—or if you cannot call, write. ft fraid Forks Rsgfey Mint WllllstM C. LANDER Mgr., CO. Hint Offict if u7. "v ', ii *.)v'5'iv* 'V "'^KFTJJK 1 without doing the actual work them selves. The interest rates are bound to go clown just as quiokly as the people becoihe more prosperous. As an example of this we might cite you to conditions in Wells county where a year or two ago the inttrc«t rates were as high as 10 and 12 per cent. The farmers are in a more prosper ous condition this year, they have letter security to offer and the vari ous banking institutions are freely of fering money as low as 7 per cent in real estate loans. The government detectives are look ing for Jas. E, Sutton of Denton Harbor, Mich., who swindled the public out of many thousands of dol lars. Sutton contracted for tncusanda of dollars worth of space in the news papers of North Dakota and other slates, announcing that he could fur nish fancy apples and pears at $2.50 per barrel. Checks by the hundreds came pouring in and toy the time he bad collected several thousand dol^ lars, he concluded uiat it was time! to make his getaway. Many letterqj are still arriving at the Michigan town but they will te returned. The independent suspected that there was a "nigger In the woodpile'' and turn* ed down this crook's advertisement. R. A. Nestos will soon become state's attorney and many are look ing forward with a good deal of in terest to see how he conducts the business. Tf he Intends to go after the lawless element with vehcmence, he will undoubtedly find plenty of work to do, notwithstanding the fact that there have been many criminal prosecutions of late. Mr. Nestos will have a food many things to learn, hut he Is an apt scholar and will get next to the .game In short order. Mr Nestos has arisen to his present, po sition by his own labor, overcoming many obstacles, and a host of friends are hoping that he'll make a good record. Ihe population of North Dakota is "77,056. This is the number of per sons North Dakota now supports cn her tilled acreage. The number ot persons this state might support on her present tilled acreage is 3,933. C62, so you Bee we have room right, now for 3,356,506 of you who are liv ing from hand to mouth in the crowd ed east. It doesn't take an expert mathematician to figure that we have only about one-seventh of the popula tlon that we should have. Get in on the ground floor and make«North Da kota your home. You'll never be sorry. With the creation of Golden Valley county out of a part of Billings, there are now 50 counties in the state and it is keeping the publishers of maps busy to keep in touch with the changes. A few years ago there were 30 counties in the state, but four counties were made out of Imperial Ward. Williams county was slashed in two and Divide county formed. Then Sheridan "county was formed from old McLean. "Little Mac" lost his county division fight down at Flasher but expects to change the map two years hence. North Dakota, progressive in most thing3( sat back and let a number of Minneapolis capitalists start the Bet ter Farming movement. Our stata for years has had one of the best agricultural colleges in the world, hut the Better Farming movement is do ing a work that the college seemed to have overlooked. The Btate could well afford to appropriate a reason able sum for this wortt. The October snow storm cost this section of North Dakota half a mil lion dollars. Motik grain at a -vwr r?'7»:'!w«,-.T rwt«' y'-'. Is under the snow, and nearly all of the (lax. which might have heen sold for a great deal moffto money ootdd MM been harvested and. mafteted before the cold weather set In. For weeks after the storm, hank collections were standstill and have bat farmers will he recently caaght.' began to nick up. Next year fewer «Mark Berthold Man Makes Interesting Com ments That Deserve the Consider ation of Our Solona—Divorce the Schools From Politics. With a big crop yield, farm wages 135 to $415 per month, harvest help $3 to $4.50 per day, the hired man's I ("am ha"*?-'.! «o the iarmei. thresh ing, 1.0 to 14 cents per bushel for '\heat, wher selling ai fS Under conditions of silow progress which has. been the farmer's reward for the past three years, I believe that the conditions warrant the de mand to place the maximum contract rate of interest at 8 per cent, Senatorisl District. Ward county was divided by the legislature of 1911 into two senatorial districts, viz: No. 29, composed of Minot and 36 townshlips, population 16,488. having one senator and four representatives No. 2, composed of Kenmare and 22 townships, popula tion, 8793 having one senator and one representative. Population of North Dakota, 577,066. population of Ward county, 25,281. Number of representatives in the state, 112. Basis of representation, one for every 5152 population. No. 2 has a majority fraction (8, 793 minus 5,162), 8641 population without representation. No. 29, three representatives would require a population of 15,456. Then the state constitution. See. 29, con templates equal repraeenation where a county is divided Into more than one district. Justice, fairness, hon esty and the present geographical lines all demand that the next leg islature so amend the law that dis trict No. Shall have two represen tatives and No. St is theBbestMmark io make in life -m The dollar mark is Ihe only mark thai is recognized in all lande. Money rules the world. You can be one of the rulers if you open a bank account. Only the habit of saving secures this dollar mark—the mark of the world's most suc cessful men St rt your career on the hig'i road to success by opening an account at this bank. A dollar will do it. Scandinavian-American Bank I not, IV. D. ERIK R. RAMSTAD, M.R. POSTER, President. Cashier MM* or bushel, the dockage increased and the grade reduced because of the plen tifulness of the crop, is there any better proof that the interest rate is too high? If a full crop yield would bring $1 to $1.25 per bushel farmers could better afford to pay 12 per cent interest than 8 per cent when a full crop sella for lees than 80 cents per bushel. have three repre sentatives. Amend Some Soool Law*. The pride of a state should ha Its •chool system. The school house is to posterity what the fossH ls to ge ology. The evidence by which to judge the past. It Is the monument of educational progress. Of the cardinal principles—legis lative provisions, Judicial dlscrlmlna- tlon, executive protection, scientific research, Inventive Ingenuity, moral such publishers shall furnish copies I E NEEDED LEGISLATION progress, or embalming the conscious T-none should cause the citizen to reach deeper into his purse than the educational because in that provision we realize, magnify and reflect the joys of our beings and accomplish ments. If there is any tax at which we should offer no objection, it is the school tax. We may censure the ex travagant or wrongful use of the school money but we should not ob ject to a school tax. Because this subject challenges the admiration of our superior functions is all the bet ter reason why we should guard the spending of our school friends as that of a sacred trust. The recent, campaign for the office of county superintendent of schools proved one thing very dearly and that Is the law regulating the mileage account of superintendent of schools is a very "lame law" and should be amended. The defect can .be cured by prescribing a maximum limit ac cording to number of townships or schools in a county. When we take into consideration the difference salary of the teacher who does the actual work with the children and the supt. who "entwines the red tape" it ought to be considered under stood that a county siupt. should own a horse and buggy as a requisite to hold the *2,000 Job. Yes, in all coun ties paying $1200 or more for supt. of schools. It should be considered like the past master who must in vest In all the furniture of his of fice without interest as a considera tion of holding the Job. Divorce the School System from Pol. itica. Another lesson we should learn from the recent campaign is the im perative necessity of divorcing the school system from politics. In the recent campaign for supt. of schools of Ward county the regular Republican nominee, compelled the auditor, Ibfcr order of the court to place the one and same name on the Democratic ticket. Thus putting the campaign on a non-jpartlsan basis. Every reason for a non-partisan ju diciary applies to a non-partisan teacher and trustees applies with equal force to the entire Bchool sys tem. All state, county and township school officers' shonld be on a non partisan ballot. Uniform Text Books. Section 286 school laws of 1911, provides that before a hook company shall enter or attempt to enter Into any contract with any school board of hooks to state supt. of sclioois who shall furnish a list of such books1 thru the county t»uipt. to school districts, 'ihen the districts may buy ouch, books so listed. In short., any old list of hooks that the state supi. may oinmend may be adopted Ly the s' ricts. Every school district may adopt a diiTeient text book. Every new aet cf school oITlcers may change the l:ooks. F.very teacher may prevail en the school board to change one or more books to suit her fancy. Every lime a patron movesr from one dis trict to another the chances are fa vorable to the (purchasing of nc l.'oo^s. There is no difference whether the looks are purchased by the patrons or furnished by the townships1, th»* Looks must be paid for just the same and that from the pockets of the taxpayers. As an example of extravagance see course of study for 1912. Eighteen different books are recommended for first grade. On the one subject read ing 88 different books are recom mended. On page 95 some 18 books are recommended on the subject of Nature Study and then this language is used: "The list of course is not complete." On page 119, after nam ing the "good" books on U. S. his tory puplished by six different com panies then the following language is used: "Booiks helpful in the U. S. history taught in the Intermediate grades can be found listed in the cat alogues of any of the school book companies.'* About five feet of space is devoted to purely advertisements of school book companies. Mr. Voter, did you not take cogni zance cf the fact, during the recent campaign, that Superintendents, both state and county, have been "lobby ist." before the legislature fcr school laws? Is it not easily understood why we have such "lame laws" or extravagant gaps in the law, when the beneficiaries of such laws have 1 done all the "lobbying Tf reports be true, the text book Mil introduced in last legislature was defeated by the "lobbying" of school book publishers, and the county su perintendents' "legislative commit tee." Mr. Farmer and Voter, if you will form such organizations as suggested by the Independent, discuss questions and petition your members of the leg islature for such laws as you need, you can save money In the form of taxes and prevent still higher taxes. The high figure, set on wages will do much towards driving the farmers to diversifying. Little money in big farms. Farmers are learning that the surest money is to be made by tilling only what can be .looked after nicely, without having to hire much. Cut down the acres, Increase the yield, and learn to do without ex pensive labor until the time comes when good men can be hired for what they are worth. 18 READING THE BIBLE. Sometimes printers and newspaper men are considered too Irreverent to read the Scripture, but this is not al ways the case. Oftlmes an editor knows about as much concerning whatt can be found in the Bible as the next fellow. L. D. MeGahan. editor of the Democrat, Is making a study of the Bible this winter, and -"Mac" reads the good book aft* he retires at night. He's Hsibie to get into a warm discussion with the «K pounders of tht doctrine. Alfred Charmstrom, from ten miles east of Mlnot, was a holiday shopper Friday. He Is one of the early set tiers in that vicinity and Is well sat isfied with the result of his labor*. •:.k'W,!( GEO. T. MURRAY, Berthold. N. D. BIG DEMAND FOR CREAMERY BUTTER The White creamery manufactured 80,000 pounds of butter this season, most of which was sold right in the Mlnot territory. At least half of thi» butter was shipped to Chicago and placed in cold storage and then re turned to this dty. It cost $1.39 a hundred to ship the butter to Chicago and $1.49 per hundred to ship It back. With a coJd storage plant in this city, this Item of expense might have iheen saved. Creamery butter was sold in Glenburn, Lansford, Sher wood and other surrounding towns that never handled ranch of it before. At Ambrose, where the merchants failed to handle it. a drug store hot a supply and worked up a big busi ness.