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STATISTICS OF STATE GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURES Washington, D. C., December 3, 1923.—The Department of Commerce announces that the costs of govern ment for the state of Montana for the fiscal year ended June 30, amounted to $8,281,224, which was a per capita cast of $13i)9. * In 1917 the per capita cost was $8.39, and in 1914, $7.06. the totals of these years being $4,220,151 and $3,173,644, re spectively. The per capita cost for 1922 consisted of expenses of general departments $7.99; payments for in terest. $0.56; and for outlays. $5.44, more than two-thirds of which was from highways. 1922, REVENUES The total revenue receipts for 1922 were $8,457,638, or $14.29 per capita. For the fiscal year the per capita ex cess of revenue receipts over govern mental costs was, therefore, $0.30. In Montana, property and special taxes represented 26.1 per cent of the total revenue for 1922, 23.1 per cent for 1917, and 39.3 per cent for 1914. The increase in the amount of pro perty and special taxes collected was 13.8 per cent from 1914 to 1917, and 50.0 per cent from 1917 to 1922. The per capita property and special taxes were $7.72 in 1922, $2.92 in 1917 and $2.87 in 1914. Earnings of general departments, or compensation for services rendered by state officials, represented 7.0 per cent of the total revenue for 1922, 5.7 per cent for 1917, and 11.0 per cent for 1914. Business and nonbusiness licenses constituted 14.3 per cent of the total revenue for 1922, 28.7 per cent for 1917, and 19.3 per cent for 1914. Re ceipts from business licenses consist chiefly of taxes exacted from insur ance and other incorporated compa nies, while those from nonbusiness li censes comprise taxes on motor ve hicles and amounts paid for hunting and fishing privileges. INDEBTEDNESS The net indebtedness (funded and floating debt less sinking fund assets) of Montana was $7.29 per capita for 1922, $1.91 for 1917, and $2.83 for 1914. Of the bonds issued during the year $3,299,000 were for educational purposes and $21,400 for veterans' welfare. ASSESSED VALUATIONS AND TAX LEVIES. For 1922 the assessed valuation of property in Montana subject to ad vxcrem taxation was $456.200,278; the amount of taxes levied was $2, 105,487; and the per capita levy, $3.56. CANADIANS AGAINST AMERICAN TARIFF That Canadian grain merchants and commercial interests are becoming aroused over the alleged misuse of the "milling in bond" feature of the American Tariff on wheat, is indicat ed by an item recently appearing in The Corn Trade News, a prominent English paper. It is alleged that Canadian grain, shipped into this country under bond, to be milled and re-exported, is diverted into this coun try, while lower grades of American wheat are substituted for shipment abroad, thereby allegedly defrauding both the United States government and the farmers of this country, and defeating the legitimate purposes of the Tariff. The item referred to is as follows: A Royal Grain Commission is now sitting at Montreal, and both millers and merchants are giving evidence. Mr. James Carruthers, a leading grain merchant of Canada, complained that Canadian Hard Wheat is substituted in shipments through the United States, the good Canadian wheat be ing retained for bread making, while interior United States grain was rent over-seas as first class Canadian wheat. .. y> WHY PITY THE POOR FARMER; LET'S RAISE MORE HORSES Wiîliston, N. D., Dec. 4.—Discourag ing returns have just been received by several McKenzie county farmers who jointed in the shipment to St. Louis of a oar load of horses. J. W. Goodall says he had to pay $87.20 freight charges over and above what his horses brought, while other who contributed two horses ceived net returns of 10 cents horse. Similar shipments in past have at times at least resulted an re per years . pro fitably. and this is believed to be the first case of the failure of a shipment to pay the freight charges. Try a Want Ad, it brings results. c köVc & T. m © •? * [t/Ti rV "ii3 V * V mm « © * <i'r: * ■y 25<Wes for No bettes* ssade regardless oS price, MILLIONS OF POUNDS BOUGHT EY OUR GOVERNMENT KC-KC-KC-KCKC-KC 4* 4» * * <• 4- 4* ♦ 4 » 4» ♦♦♦+♦ ❖ *:**M**fr*fr*g* < fr*fr*t M M < •• * I Id The Wake Of The News II -, % V Farmers Distress Showed By Increased Bank Failures In the six business days, October 23rd to 29th, twenty-four business banks closed in the Minneapolis ter ritory. Many peoples believe that this serious condition ended with the bum per crop of farm bank failures two years ago. But at no time before have so many banks failed. Besides for every bank repeated failed, accor ding to the Wall Sreet Journal, there is one bank that is to be classed doubt ful. Takes Tool from Workers The inability of the farmers to pay old debts and the depleted cash re serves are given as the cause for this collapse. Of these closed banks one was in Minnesota, two in Montana, and twenty-one in North Dakota. We wonder why Coolidge's farm in vestigators have overlooked this op portunity to show that the farmers are getting more prosperous day by day as the 1924 elections approach. Most interesting of all is the fact disclosed by these failures that the poor farmers are the ones hardest hit. Most of these banks were small. They had as depositors the poor working farmers who have very little to put away after the railroads and grain gamblers and packers get through with them. Nine were small banks whose capital was $12*000 or less. The total capital of the 24 banks was less than half a million dollars and their total deposits a little over three and a half million dollars. Investigators of the conditions pf the farming masses the country over who do not play the role of political pawnbrokers for the big interests of the capitalist class report similar dis tress prevailing in all the farming areas. * Privately Owned Industry M. Call Hookstadt of the Depart ment of Labor has just completed an interesting study of the heavy toll taken from the workers engaged in industry. to an exceptionally large number of accidents for the year 1923—in some States more than ever have been re ported," says the November Monthly Labor Review. The estimated annual number of industrial accidents is 2,453,418 and the total number of working days lost is 227,169,970. Taking the average wage per clay as $4.50 Mr. Hookstadt finds a minimum wage loss of $1, 022,264,866 per year. To this should be added at least $75,000,000 the workers spent for medical and hos pital service. It is especially significant that the unskilled workers, the workers who draw a weekly wage averaging from $24 to $30 are the ones who suffer most. Coal mining has the highest rate of fatalities. 4.08 per 1000, next to lumbermen and woodchoppers whose accident rate is 5.00. The steam railroad workers have a fatali ty rate of 2.25 per 1000, the house workers 2.84; iron and steel 1.36; water transportation. 4.00; and the electric light and power workers top the list with an accident rate of 5.73 per 1000 workers employed. Of the above fatalities, 21,232 were death; 1,728 permanent total disabili ty; 105,629 permanent partial dis ability. and 2,324,829 temporary to tal disability. Of course these heavy losses in life and pay to the workers are not consid ered by the employers in their esti mates of the big profits the working man annually grinds out for them. * * * Present indications point ware Little Rhode Island—A Big Political Lesson If anyone wants a lesson in the elementary principles of our great na tional game of politics as it is played by those who are the stars in the great sport let him turn to Rhode Island. Rhode Island is the smallest H r INDEPENDENT * Which? It Is up to You Next to agriculture, Petroleum is America's biggest industry and it ranks with agriculture in impor tance. Whether this big industry shall he controlled, or whether there shall he real American Independence and true competition in the oil in dustry depends on where you buy your petroleum products. So that you can decide for your self which type of business you will support, the independent, competitive oil men—distributors of petroleum products are identi fying themselves and their prod ucts with this sign. If you would encourage and sup port the principles of American Democracy—Independence, Free " dom and real Competition Buy at the si£n of "Independent Oil". WESTLAND OIL CO. STATIONS AT Scobey, Flaxville, Redstone. Plentywood, Raymond, Outlook, Dooley, Medicine Lake, Home stead, Froid and Bainville. TheBadge of True Independence Look For The Si£n 1 v j »] 1 State in the Union, but Rhode Island just now offers a mighty big lesson in the first principals of political ac tion to the workers and poor farmers of the country. The Republican Party, the govern ing party in the country, has time and again come before the masses and asked to be entrusted with the man agement and operation of the govern ment. All too often the workers and farmers.have listened to the fruadu lent pleas of the capitalist politicians. An examination of the personnal of the Republican State Central Commit tee discloses who the real owners of the Administration party are. Of the 55 members of this Central Committee more than two-thirds are directly or indirectly connected with the textile industry, public utility and banking corporations of the State. One of these owners of the Republican Party is a director in 16 banks, rail ways. textile companies, and manufac turing concerns. He is the director of several and the president of two tex tile corporations. Another stockhold er in the Repubican machine is an officer in 13 companies; a third mem ber is affiliated with eight concerns, four of which are textile firms. Rhode Island has long been consid ered a State of oppression and cod fish aristocracy. The govenrment of Rhode Island is securely in the hands of the peoples who do nothing for a living but own the machines used by the workers. This is the real reason w hy the textile operators were able to send 600 National Guardsmen, five companies of Coast Artillery and a machine gun company against the strikers at the cost of over $3,000 daily in the textile strike of 1922. Haitians Favoring Independ ence Arrested By American Military Forces Joseph Mirault, one of the National ist Leaders of Haiti has just arrived in New York to inform the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People of the outrages visited upon the Haitians by the American military forces serving as the agents of our big hankers and business men trying to enslave the country. Such prominent advocates of Hai tian independence from the duchés of American imperialism as the Joli bons brothers, Elie Guerin, Antoine Pierre-Pual, and George Petit have been put in jail by the United States army of occupation. What is more, in their wanton attacks on the Haitians the military forces have prevented all cable munication with the United States. A rigorous censorship of all outgoing mail has also been forced on the Hai tians by the troops. - Dollar democracy at home means dollar diplomacy abroad. The Hai tians are learning this lesson, price they are paying for it is an aw ful one. The American army in the service of our imperial bandits is a stern schoolmaster. Yet, one might ask Washington what happened to the much-vaunted principle of "self-determination" for which so many workingmen and for mers died on Flanders field and in France ? com The Industrial Profits While the farmers are having the devil's own time making ends meet and the workers are being threatened with wage-cuts and shut-downs, the merry dance on dividends goes and the orgy of profits shows no sign of a let-up. For the nine months ending Sep tember 30th, ten indusrial tions showed available for common dividends of $164,539,971. against $90,272,730 in the corresponding period of 1922. This is a gain of $74,271, or 82 per cent. That the bulk of these giant profits is due to the fact that the workers are compelled to labor for these cor on corpora a combined balança porations under intolerable conditions is proved by the fact that these con cerns are largely operated "on the f.p en-shop plan. Among these anti-union corpora tions who have prospered at the ex pense of the working men are the American Telephone and Telegraph Co., the Colorado Fuel and Iron Co., and the U. S. Steel Corporation. After paying preferred dividends the U. S. Steel Corporation had a sur plus of $57,475,341. The surplus that that the National Biscuit Co. had i available for common dividends was j double what it had in the same perio :1, for 1922. * Grave European Situation Worries American Capitalists Our banking and manufacturing | class is becoming acutely disturbed over the European conditions. A lead ing financier has remarked that "the unemployed of America are now in Europe but that the European unem ployed will soon be here." Germay s a victim of capitalist bankruptcy. Senator King reports that the granaries are filled. Stinnes is growing richer minute by minute. But the German working masses are starving. A complete rupture of the Entente is expected daily. The economic disorganization of Europe is proceeding apace. Latest estimates of the Department of Com merce show that even in Czechoslo vakia whose prosperity has been high ly advertised there are 107,500 unem ployed receiving state subsidies and 66,100 out of weak receiving; help from private sources. In Germany unemployment is on the climb. In England, Scotland, and Switzerland the conditions are no better. The con ditions in Poland are espeiVUy bad according to the Department of Com merce, How critical the situation is can be seen from the chaotic condition of the exchange. The Polish mark fell from 380,000 to the dollar on September 30th to 1,575,000 on October 31st. The downward trend of the* Spanish Peseta is continuing steadily. German mark is off the exchtnge map. Even Sterling has gone down to the extremely low level of $4.28. In the face of all these signs of ruin overwhelming Europe our ruling class has only one solution to propose, This is an American receivership for Germany and perhaps the other ; countries—a receivership guaranteed by American battleships and bayonets and the corpses of the farmers and workingmen who will again be sent "over there" to fight for "national The honor and democracy!" * ♦ * Farmers' Earnings Show Steady Decline In a recent issue of the well-known financial paper, the Annaplist, there appeared a very interesting study of the farmers' earnings. The investiga tion was made by the statistician, Mr. L. M. Graves, of the reactionary Farm ♦!« Pre-Removal SALE t I We are still selling I t I Silk Hose for 90c T ♦> s Ladies and Childrens at one half of the former price 2 SHOES i ❖ 4*4 à h School Hose 3 pair Infant Hose, a pair ( i 4. 44 lOc 4*4 X 4*4 * i'* o Fancy, Juicy Johanton per box t Apples $ 1.50 o *:♦ 4*4 $335 Worlds FLOUR per Best 100 2 Above prices are cash I t 4 ". Family Shoe Shopee I V i t Bd. Weiss, Prop, * k**î**h* **.$*<. <^^4;.4«e^*e*e*:**h*^*:*^*^*k* 8* ^^**{^*<*<*^*t**:< ^>*m**m*»:**m»*m4 GOOD CIGARETTES ç GENUINE ly "BULL" DURHAM TOBACCO Bureau Federation. Yet in view of the intensive propaganda being waged by the daily press to show thaj; the farmers are improving their condi tions, the figures are highly instruc tive for all farmers. rn In the four-year period of _ 1919 1922. Mr. Graves shows a continuous decline in the gross sales of the farm products. In millions of dollars . the gross sales of farm products declined from $7,860 in 1919 to $4,523 for the year 1922. In the same period the gross sales of livestock fell from $3,622,000,000 in 1919 to $2,256,000,000 in 1922. During these years animal products fell in gross sales from $2,114,000,000 to $1,700,000,000. In view of the rising cost of living this condition of steadily declining in come for the farmers is becoming still unbearable to millions of the rural working masses. more Cotton Interests Organizing In Congress Congressmen and Senators of the cotton-growing States are going to organize a bloc in the next Congress to defend the interests of the big' cotton-growers. On November 30th, these Senators and Congressmen will get together. They will devise ways and means to do for the Southern Cotton Barons what Capper's farm bloc did for wealthy farmers and against the poor farmers. Represen tative B. G. Lowry of Mississippi has se nt out t he call. The moving èpirit of this proposed cotton bloc in the Senate is Senator | William J. Harris of Georgia who has j been a prominent figure in Southern | banking and insurance business for j many years. Textile Workers Resist Op erators Productive Schemes At a meeting of the New England Conference of the United Textile Workers of America resolutions were adopted against the attempt of the Pacific Co. of Dover, New Hampshire, force them to run additional ma chinery per man. The workers are bent on prevent ing the bosses from forcing them to turn out 50 per cent more at the same wages. The employers are threatening to shut down the mills in order to force the working men to ac to Keen Your Boy at Home & H I I ? « m à 5js i \<v i For those who like to build their own sets will do well by getting the arts from me, and I will save you money. And if I can be of vice to you in the construction of will be welcome. any ser same, y 0u Price Depends Upon Size and Quality of Yo Machine ur ■ A Complete Set as low as $37.50 SEE US BEFORE YOU BUY Plentywood Machine Shop i L. S. SMITH, Prop. A Warm Welcome A MAN CAME to the bank one day and told us that he wanted to spend the winter months in southern California. He wanted to know how best to take care of the money needed for expenses while on this trip. We suggested two things: First—that we write a letter to one of the banks in the town where he was to spend most of his time and tell them about him—that he was all right and to give him any service he needed. Second—we issued Traveler's Checks for this man for all the money he might need while among strangers. man received a hearty welcome from the California bank and he had a very pleasant trip; free from worry or risk. This is only one of a great variety of things we can do for patrons. This THE First National Bank Member Federal Reserve System PLENTYWOOD, MONT. » *>*:**I*^K**î**^»*t*>>4*^*4*^ * > > * *M**l**M*4fr** * » ***** WATKIN'S SERVICE i * ♦ ❖ - - i* V -»* ♦ YOU ARE RIGHT AND YOU ARE SAR WHEN YOU DEMAND ANY ONE OF in WATKINS 137 PRODUCTS. OUR MEDlUi AND SALVES HAVE PROVED THEIR Mt» FOR 55 YEARS. WATKINS LINIMENT Æ NOT BE BEAT. WATKINS MENTHOL t* PHOR FOR SORE THROAT. OINTMENT FOR RHEUMATIC PAINS. ^ rST AND GRIPPE TABLETS FOR Y ÇUR r COLD. EACH AND EVERY ARTICLE BEST THAT CAN BE PRODUCED. g REMEMBER—ANY VANILLA E *™ N p A RD CEN* •• * O ♦ ♦ •» A 4 , I 4 < V ♦ A i ,4 • • ** it * ** ■: ** * ❖ M * I •< V INFERIOR TO V/ATKINS—THE -IF IT DOES NOT CONTAIN 50 PER VANILLA. I .*. i V I ❖ v * J. M. NIELSON •• ! O h ♦ RETAILER IN SHERIDAN » > » i i <11» . | . fr e » » » X textile industry. tru We Try a Want Ad u > . 10 CCTls » «"<■ lier