The producers news. [volume], March 02, 1928, Page PAGE TWO, Image 2

About The producers news. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1918-1937

Image provided by: Montana Historical Society; Helena, MT

                
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THE PRODUCERS NEWS
Paper of the People, By the People, For the People
By the Peoples Publishing Company, Publishers.
. CONTINUING:—The Outlook Promoter, The Out
look Optomist, The Dooley Sun, the Antelope Inde
pendent. The SherttJan County News, The Pioneer
Press and the Sheridan County Farmer.
CHARLES E. TAYLOR, Manager.
P. J. WALLACE, Editor.
FRIDAY, MARCH 2, 1928
EDUÔRJaL
•jfl
By CHARLES E. TAYLOR
IS DIXON'S HAT IN THE RING?
Joe Dixon going to run for something this
Is
fall?
That is the great question agitating the political
waters of the Treasure state.
Some say he is and others say he isn't.
Then those who say he is are asked, "for what" ?
Thm there is again great speculation. Some won
der whether he is going to run for the United
States Senate, go out after Wheeler's toga—Dixon
has been in the senate and knows what it is like;
some wonder if he is going out gunning for the
governorship again, he has been in the governor's
chair and knows how that feels, while others, if
he is going to start at the bottom in another po
litical career and run for the legislature over in
Missoula county.
Everyone is entitled to a guess—Joe isn't talk
He is let
He just "dont' choose" to talk.
ing.
ting the other fellows do that and they are doing
a heap of it. In this way Joe gets his political
advertising, like Henry Ford, free, as a thing of
Dixon and Fords are always a
public interest,
subject of interest in Montana.
One of Joe's bitter end enemies over in Helena,
says, "Joe will be a candidate for governor or the
United States senate or anything else, alright, that
is not beneath his dignity or incompatable with his
disposition, providing somebody furnishes the buss
and the gasoline for the, race, and gravels the road
for him: in such a condition he will run, but Joe
never runs at his own expense''.
So if that gentleman's contentions are correct,
in order to determine what Joe will do is to find
out if there are any who is willing to furnish the
buss and the gasoline. It looks as if there is just
such a person in this state, so we believe it is a
very safe bet that Joe Dixon will be a candidate
for the republican nomination for governor in the
July primaries, and of course if he is, he will be
nominated. Then in November he must defeat the
tall Swede from Flathead county, which we opine
will not be difficult this year.
The governor has not made good on any of his
economy promises and the people are tired of his
bovine disposition and his ox-like servility to the
interests of the state who bagged him and
copper
dragged him from the serenity of the Flathead
country to minister unto them at the state house.
John don't seem to fit the chair anyway and is al
together too slow for Montana. The people are
going to send him back to the tall timber come
autumn where he will be much more at home.
Say what one likes about Joe Dixon—he is al
ways busy, and while the Montana Power and the
Anaconda Copper Mines may have their way in the
The Devil's to Pay
By Leland Olds, Federated Press
A European crisis, sure to broaden
into a world crisis, in the spring of
1929, is the prediction of the British
economist, George Paish. His analy
sis of the situation is worth studying
now that economic activity in the
United States appears to be on a
footing which grows constantly more
precarious. If Paish is correct, a lit
tle more than a year hence will see
America deprived of Europe as an
outstanding market for its surplus
goods and surplus capital.
Paish points out that prior to the
war European investments in Russia
totaled about $5,000,000,000. This en
titled Europe to receive each year a
tribute of nearly $300,000,000 in Rus
sian products, chiefly wheat, rye, flax,
hemp. A similar $300,000,000 flowed
into Europe annually from America,
paid in raw cotton, food stuffs, met
als, etc.
Europe balanced its budget and re
mained solvent largely because it re
ceived this huge tribute in goods with
out being forced to give its own pro
drets in exchange. The Bolshevik
revolution and the fact that America
has become a creditor nation instead
of a debtor killed this income. Now,
on account of war and postwar debts
to America, Europe must send the
What Ails Great Britain
By Leland Olds, Federated Press i
Tlie boycott on British goods, (
threatened by Indian nationalists
against the latest coercive measure of
the imperial government, shows that
the cornerstone of the British
nonic empire is getting loose. As the
provinces undermine the economic
bonds of the empire the vigor of Eng
lish capitalism will be slowly sapped.
Unemployment, wage reductions, more
unemployment, a population increas
ing .y supported on unearned income
distributed in dividends or doles,—so
the story of decaying empire will re
peat itself.
es
The report on the British cotton in
The slow decay which the boycott
by the Indian nationalists will hasten
is reflected in 2 articles in the weekly
Conmerce Reports of the U. S. de
pai Æaent of commerce. One deals
with the decline in British trade with
India, the other with the cotton indus
try's difficulties in England.
The report on British trade with
Incia shows that the English share
in total imports into India fell from
an average of 63% in the last 5 pre
war years to 48% in the fiscal year
3926-27. In recent years the British
decline has been steady, the English
share being 68% in 1^23-24, 64% in
3924-25 aH 51%
in 1325-26.
In the Indian market England is
faced not only with the growing com
petition of other capitalist nations,
particularly the United States and
Japan, but also with Indian -réduc
tion.
United States annually a tribute of
more than $800,000,000.
To meet interest obligations and
pay for imports, according to Paish
Europe should export annually manu
factured goods nearly $1,500,000,000
in excess of prewar. This is impos
sible, if only because the world's man
ufacturing equipment, especially In
America but also in Japan, India and
China, has vastly increased.
The bankers, both in Europe and
America, has postponed the crisis by
piling loans on loans. The new loans
to Europe by America in 1927 are es
timated at close to $1,000,000,000.
Paish asks how long Europe can go
on borrowing from America and an
swers, "Less than 2 years. The cri
tical time will come in the spring of
1920."
Europe will then, in Paish's opin
ion, face bankruptcy.
What will this mean to labor in the
United States? For one thing, out
of U. S. exports totaling $4,865,000,
000 in 1927 Europe took $2,314,000,
000. In spite of this factory produc
. — t . • ,
tion and employment m the United
States declined while farmers suffer
ed for want of profitable markets. If
Paish's analysis is anywhere nearly
correct labor should beware the ides
of March in 1929.
dustry, the original foundation of
British capitalism, shows it almost
mortally hurt. The demand for wa^e
cuts and longer hours in a last effort
to hold foreign markets is signifi
cant. But more significant is the cot
ton industry's necessity of writing
dowm its capitalization. Where capi
talism is healthy it is constantly
writing up capitalization in anticipa
tion of larger profits.
Indian purchases of English-made
cotton goods increased slightly from
1926 to 1927 but the value fell off
sharply. The shipments to India in
1927 totaled 1,652,514,600
yards but this compares with 3,057,
351,000 yards in the last prewar year.
The demand for English cotton
goods in other fields of the empire
shows a similar decline from prewar.
In 1927 China took only 103,195,000
square yards compared with 716,533,
000 yards in 1913, Egypt 159,884,000
compared with 266,623,000 and Tur
key and Syria 91,655,000 yards com
pared with 360,742,000 in 1913. Eng
lish exports of cotton goods in 1927
totaled 4,117,683,000 square yards
compared with 7,075,262,000 in 1913.
In the last 9 months of 1927 the
English cotton spinning industry av
eraged about 65% of capacity opera
tion. In 1924, tre last year for which
census figures are available, the Eng
llish cotton industry showed 10% few
er workers than in 1907 and produc
tion down 23%. The cotton spinning
companies have reduced outstanding
capital by about a third since 1920.
square
end, after some worry and commotion, yet they
always know that Joe is in the chair and that in
their plans he is a factor they must consider, and
that is something. .
People do not die of dry rot wTien Joe is in the
chair.
With Dixon a candidate for governor, it just
naturally comes about that Wellington Rankin will
be the man who will be the republican candidate
for United States senator against Burton Wheeler,
and will succeed that gentleman if young George
Bourquin does not nose him out of the democratic
nomination—which if he does of course will alter
the situation considerably.
Last week Joe delivered a Washington's Birth
day talk over in Butte which was followed by a
republican love feast at Helena at which all of
the old war horses gathered,
Things are shaping.
The following editorial under the above caption
appeared in the Butte Sunday Miner. It pertains
to a subject, the proper solution of which, is
great importance to the farmers of the west as
well as to the entire industrial structure of the na
tion : the solution of which concerns the economic
and political history of this nation as no other
problem has ever affected the career of any coun
try in the range of history.
It should be carefully read and studied by every
one. We quote:
THE WORLD'S LARGEST LAW SUIT
j
"It appears rather odd that no greater
public attention has been attracted to a lit
le lawsuit involving the interstate com
merce commission hat has been called the
biggest law suit in the world. Upon the
result of this suit hangs the disposal of a
sum of money staggering beyond belief
and which will have vital bearing upon
-the future prosperity of the American peo
ple.
"Under the transportation act of 1920,
the law governing the proceedings of the
interstate commerce commission it is pro
vided that any railroad that earns more
than 6 per cent annually net, on its "fair
value" must pay half the excess to the ^
United States government. To illustrate,
say that the value of the road is $1,000,
000, and that it has earned 7 per cent or
$70,000 in a single year. The first $60,000
would go to the stockholders along with
one-half the remaining or $65,000 in all.
The remaining one half of the excess or
$5,000 would go to the government of the
United States.
"Now as to the law suit. The St. Louis
& O'Fallon railroad is a little coal line
nine miles long and running out of East
St. Louis. It is owned by the Busch fami
ly of St. Louis. The law suit is the result
of an attempt on the part of the inter
state commerce commission to collect
$226,000 from this road alleged to be
The case has
some
clue to the government,
been won for the government in a lower
court and it is to be appealed to the United
States supreme court.
"The entire case with its stupendous
possibilities hinges upon the definition of
the word "value" in the transportation
act.
The interstate commerce commission
that the value of the St. Louis &
says
O'Fallon road is $900,000 and that the
government is entitled to everything above
a 6 per cent return on that sum. The road
claims a valuation of $1,300,000. Some es
timates are far higher. Anyhow, the road
contends that the value is so high that
under the law it has no excess over 6 per
cent to divide with the government.
"The interstate commerce commission
hold that a railroad is worth in substance
what it costs. The railroads claim that a
road is worth what it costs to reproduce
it in these times and that it may even be
worth much more. This is known as the
reproduction valuation:
"Now let us consider the possibilities of
this suit in billions. The interstate com
merce commission has fixed a tentative
What's the Matter With
Agriculture
By Leland Olds, Federated Press
Drastic reorganization of agricul
ture on a national basis appears in
evitable to the big business interests
but they don't want the lines of this
reorganization laid down by the farm
er. They want to make sure that the
solution of the farm problem enmesh
es the farmer more securely into the
fabric of capitalist industrialism.
However radical the big business pro
posals, one plank is sure to be found
in their platform, rejection of the
McNary-Haugen type of legislation as
setting a dangerous precedent.
The viewpoint of big business is
most thoroughly expressed in the
recommendations of the business
men's commission on agriculture, cre
ated about a year ago by the nation
al industrial conference board and the
chamber of commerce of the United
States. The membership of the com
mission included the chairman of the
i board of the St . Louis-San Francisco
railway> the president of Westing
house Electric, the president of the
National Bank of Commerce of St.
j Louis, the president of Quaker Oats,
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IÄUTDCA3TER1 %27
SEA FOOD for the
Lenten Season
This is the season of the year when fresh
are at their best, and during Lenten Season
it will be a specialty at our shop. We receive
fresh shipments daily—and keep them in per
fect condition in our great refrigerators.
fish
The New Meat Market
Fred Forman, Prop.
Plentywood, Mont.
Phone 17
\
value of all railroads in the United States
at $23,000,000,000. Leading financial au
thorities have estimated that the railr ofds
cannot be reproduced for less than $55,
000,000,000. Here, then, is a difference
of $32,000,000,000. The principle that
governs the valuation of the O'Fallon road
must prevail with all other roads totaling
250,000 miles. That principle is to be de
termined by a decision of the supreme
court of the United States. Truly, the
stake is almost beyond comprehension.
"The vital interest of the public is
found in a law 7 which requires the inter
state commerce commission to fix freight
rates which will yield a fair return upon
the aggregate value of the roads. If the
reproduction cost theory of the roads is
accepted by the supreme court freight
rates calculated upon that basis will be
nearly doubled.
"It would seem that the interstate com
merce commission is fighting for the peo
ple in a battle involving the hugest stake
ever known in a law suit."
If the United States Supreme Court holds that
the valuation of the railroads for rate purposes are
tb e cost va i ue> namely what it cost to build them,
only entitled to six per
cent dividends on that valuation, it will mean the
squeezing out of the water in railroad valuation—
the stock will fall to where the earnings allowed
for dividends will pay six per cent on the cost of
this stock, and, providing the railroads are pro
perly managed, will mean a reduction of freight
rates—if the Interstate Commerce Commission and
the Courts would only hold that the cost of build
ing the railroads determined upon for dividend
purposes must be reduced by the amounts of
bonuses received from the Federal and State gov
ernments and from municipal sources, as they
should, then the fright ,rptes would come down
some more. The reduction of freight rates would
benefit every farmer, every industry in the pation
and would stimulate activities in every line. Many
business activities today are prohibited by exces
sive freight rates—every farmer, every consumer,
pays tribute to the Gods of railroad over-valuation.
and that the railroads
are
On the other hand, if the Supreme Court of the
I nation holds that the replacement costs of the
railroads are the true valuation thereof, and that,
the stockholders in these railroads are entitled to
six per cent on that valuation, under the law, then
the nation by fiat, will have written a par value
into the water that is in the railroad capitaliza
tion, and means that the freight rates must be in
creased about three folds in order to pay it, which
in turn will be more than the traffic will bear and
will mean that all short haul freight will be hauled
by truck and that the railroads will go absolutely
into bankruptcy; that the government must sooner)**
or later take them
over.
And if again, the courts hold to the original
cost theory, the stockholders will want to get rid
of their half or third value railroad stock with its
small and precarious dividends and away from the
agitation for lower freight rates and the repeal
of the Esch-Cummins law, and the industrialists
into whose production costs must go freight costs,
j w ith its attendant handicap in world competition,
j wBl insist on lower rates along with the farmer
and the consumer, then will come a nation wide
propaganda for the government ownership of rail
roads from the very sources that have always
heretofore opposed it.
Both riads lead throttgl-. different fields to the
same pièce —govemment^pwnership of the rail
I roads and their operation* at cost for the benefit
1 of all of the people.
The railroad stockholders and bondholders would
today gladly exchange their stocks and bonds
United States bonds with their tax exempt fea
tures and their sure interest, uninvolved with
ministration troubles in any way.
So the nationalization of the railroads is only
question of time—there are two horns to the
lemma and both have the same name.
a vice-president of General Motors
and the chairman of the Int. Accept
ance Corporation.
This commission admits that the
agricultural industry is getting worse
rather than better. It says: "There
is evidence* that real, as well as
money, costs in the industry are ris
ing; that we are not keping our old
superiority over competitors; that the
fertility of the land is being impaired;
that many if not most farmers are
year after,year failing to secure a
return equivalent to that which can
be obtained in the city by workers of
no greater* ability; that the compara
tive advantage of other industries is
rapidly increasing; that the obstacles
to the extension of markets for farm
products aVe growing more effective;
that the difficulties of improving the
organization and methods of agricul
ture are increasing; that the year by
year fluctuations in the price of farm
commodities are growing ever more
severe and are increasing the haz
ard under which the farmer carried
on his occupation; that tenancy is
increasing; and that the quality of
farnf population is undergoing a
progressive deterioration.
The commission finds this bad sit
uation the result of many '
some of them "fundamental and con
nected with the gradual change of Uie
country from an agricultural to a pre
vailing industrial nation. It sug
gests that while farm prices and land
values were harder hit in the posi
deflation than prices in other in
dustries, certain major elements in
agricultural costs have continued at
uneconomically high levels. These in
clude state and local taxation, in ^ r '
est rates, transportation costs, which
have increased following the restora
tion of the railroads to private man
agement and the genreal cost of dis
tribution.
The commission makes the interest
ing admission that the shifting of the
United States from a debtor to a cred
itor nation, extension of tariff pro
tection to manufacturing and the in
crease in the tariff level in postwar
have further increased the dif
war
years
ficulties of American agriculture,
both in the foreign market for its
products and in cost of production. It
says: "The enormous increase in gov
ernmental and private foreign in
debtedness to the United States has
compelled the debtor nations to reduce
their
imports,
and become more self-sufficient in re
The
spect to agricultural products,
full effect of this change has been de- 1
ferred by continual foreign loans and
is likely to be more apparent in the
future." «
The commission recommends gradu
ally diminishing trade restrictions and
tariffs on manufactured articles which
tend to increase agricultural costs or
to reduce the foreign market for ag^
ricultural products. It recommends
the organization of farm stabilization
corporations through the cooperation
of farm organizations, private busi
ness organizations and a federal farm
board, each supplying part of the cap
ital. It recommends the development
of a national policy of land utilization
by an endowed national agricultural !
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T Fresh bread makes any meal
more appetizing and in this age
i* it may be had daily without ex
% tra trouble and expense of home %
4 baking.
V
** Bread fresh from our oven daily
*, You can get it at our bakery, or 3
* f if you give us your order it will j
be delivered to your home. j
U J
i f Try our appetizing and tempt- 4
• * ing line of bakery gqods. Cakes j
ÎÎ of all kinds, pies too, dough- *1
o nuts, cookies, pastries, and
right now those good
HOT BUNS
for
ad
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Plentywood Bakery
*'f
MARTIN TOFTNESS, Prop.
Plentywood
Phone 14
Reduce
PRIM
. ^ /a ^factory
Now buys aNaà
.Na.hUth««*'
FEBRUARY I, Nath announced
v/ reduced price*.
Motor Show of the year
with the Nash 7-bearing motor
for smoothness and greater power
Now, you can buy a full 5-passenger
Nash Six Sedan for only $845 f. o. b.
factory. Prices on other models
accordingly low.
Throughout the length and breadth
of the motor car industry, you* ll find
no value to compare with Nash!
And, Nash is the car
lor trussed frame, for extra 8 ^
—2~toay, 4-wheel brakes, ^
safety— alloy steel spring!* p ^
absorbers, front and rear, or
riding eomfort—and a i
transmission, for super
are
heavy
-durabitt^'
rtta eta>
new car»
thb'
For Nash is the car with exterior and
interior style
* and beauty
which made it
the center of
interest at every
m
When you buy your
ber
S55i*
dixplaf
buy•
NASH
it on
LEADS THfc WORLD IN MOTOR CAR VALUE
The Farmer's Garage
M. E. HILL, Prop.
foundation. It also recommends cer-1
tain changes in taxation, agricultural *
credit and railroad rates to favor ag
riculture.
The proposal of a national policy
for land utilization is the most revo
lutionary in the program. This would
involve curtailment of private proper
ty rights on a huge scale. The farm
may well ask: Why not apply the
policy to all natural resources
order that they may be most ef
fectively used in the interest of the
nation ?
« ►
*
ers
same
in
RUSSIAN OIL PRODUC
TION GOES WAY UP
New York—FP—Soviet Oil pro
Auction for 1927 was the highest
annual output for 25 years, offi- i
cial figures received by Amtorg
Trading Corp., New York, show,
Amtorg represents in the United
States the Soviet Naptha Syndicate.
Production for the year was 10,
413,000 metric tons.
Modernization of the oil indus- !
try has been pushed in the last j
year Amtorg reports. More rotary |
drilling was dohe and new refiner
ies were erected.
AUCTION SALE
Have Leased My Farm and Will Sell at Public Sale on Sec i
tion 11, Twp. 36, of Range 53, which is one-half j
Mile South and One Mile Eact of
OUTLOOK, MONTANA
Monday, March 5
SALE STARTS 12:30 P. ML SHARP
HOUSEHOLD GOODS
FARM MACHINERY
1 U-so-Na Iron Range. 1 spr J
cot, 1 Singer Sewing Ma bine j
mattresses, 4 beds with >pring-' i
dining room table, 1 chiifioner l
wash stand, 1 long flower table,
1 kitchen table, 1 8-day dock, i
big stone jars, 1 ice cream free»]
new, 1 organ, 1 lot of fruit jar<j:
15-gallon churn, dishes, and'
other articles too
mention.
I 1 3'/2 Stoughton wagon
II 1 3*4 Studehaker wagon
1 Webber truck wagon, with
stone rack
1 triple wagon box
1 McCormick mower
1 8-ft Tandem disc
2 hay racks
I
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1 Deering Hay Rake, 12 ft.
1 12-ft. spring tooth harrow,
good as new
numerous li
i 20-ft. iron drag
1 26-ft. Boss harrow
1 16-in. Emerson Sulky plow,
with stubble and breaker bottoms
1 14-in. Emerson gang plow ana
eveners, nearly new
HORSES
I
1 black gelding, 9 yrs. weight itttI
1 black gelding, Ray, 9, wt. 1*
1 black gelding, Frank, 13,wUW
1 gray gelding, Prince, 12, wt 1M
1 gray mare, Katha, 12, wt. 1450
1 black gelding, Thom, 11, wt 1401
1 black mare, Beauty, 18, wt. 1250
1 14-in. walking plow
Il 1 10-ft. Monitor disc drill
I 1 John Deere manure spreader
1 Deering binder, 8 feet,
in good condition
1 Rocklsland side spring buggy
1 Drag Cart
1 l x /2 h. p. Economy engine
1 pump jack
1 tank heater
MISCELLANEOUS
pole and fills
1 lot of potatoes
1 Stack of hay
1 bundle hog netting, 13 rods
1 bunch of wood
1 galvanized water tank
l Gummer smut machine 2barreU
1 DeLaval Cream Separator,So. 12
1 grindstone 1 blacksmith outfit
1 small tent 1 brass cylinder, ne»
Some galvanized pipe and cistw
1 riding cultivator
1 log ta
HARNESS
5 sets of double harness
1 set single harness
pump
TERMS OF THIS SALE STRICTLY CASH
0.1. GALLAND, Owner
:
x
Frank Koester, Clfli
R. W. Ruegsegger, Auctioneer
:
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IN THE
Northwestern
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FORPiriT
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AGEIST L 'TtU
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\\ Plentywood