The people's voice. [volume], November 03, 1961, Page Page Four, Image 4

About The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969

Image provided by: Montana Historical Society; Helena, MT

                
Farm Problems , Peace and
—from page 1
farmer co-operatives many prob
lems still exist. He referred to the
co-op tax case now before the Mon
tana Supreme Court. An unfavor
able ruling would be a serious blow
to farmers and their co-operatives,
he contended.
The chief executive of Central Ex
change reported that rapid changes
in agri-business, in recent years, have
brought immense new challenges and
problems to farm supply co-opera
tives. No longer, Steichen said, can
like Central Exchange be
co-ops
merely distributors of petroleum
products, feed and fertilizer. They
must mine the raw materials and
manufacture the finished products as
well, if farmer's co-ops are going to
remain efficient and compete in to
day's big business climate. In addi
tion, Steichen felt, to keep pace with
the changing character of American
agriculture, farm supply co-operatives
are being called up to perform a much
wider variety of specialized services
that promote more efficient practices
on the farm and provide higher re
turns for every dollar and every hour
of work the farmer invests.
FUCE IN SOUND CONDITION
Although the worst drought in 60
years has struck vital Central Ex-,
change marketing areas in large parts
of the Middle West, the regional co-op
remains in sound financial condition,
Steichen said. For the second time
in six months, the Central Exchange
will once again enrich its affiliated
local retail co-ops with a multimillion
dollar cash retirement of a portion
of its outstanding patronage refund
stock. The stock, representing savings
accumulated by trading with the Cen
tral Exchange, is issued each year
to its affiliates. The present retire
ment added to a previous springtime
redemption, brings the year's total
to well over $5 million and retires
patronage stock through 1951 and
half of 1952. This is the largest sum
ever retired by Central Exchange in
any one calendar year, Steichen said.
Through the years, Montana co-ops
have received $4,206,000 in cash in
these retirements.
The Central Exchange is owned by
350,000 farm families through 850
locally controlled co-ops.
MILITARY, A "BUILT-IN
PART OF OUR ECONOMY
Jim Patton, popular national presi
dent of the Farmers Union, spoke
on many issues of interest to farmers
and all American citizens. Basic to
everything else, Patton said is work
ing harder to make democracy work.
"We must not let America become
a corporate military socialist state,
he said, asserting that the military
establishment has become a "built
in" part of our economy to the point
if peace broke out it would be a na
tional calamity.
"We
defense program,
we have permitted ourselves to get
to the point where we have to keep
our military stablishment going to
keep our economy going and the
real issue of our time is whether
we are going to have a corporate
military socialist state or whether
we are going to operate as a democ
racy".
"The real issue arises around power
forces that rest within the military
♦»
ft
can not do away with our
he said, "but
» I
Olsen To Take Part
In Public Hearing
0a Wilderness Bill
WASHINGTON, D. C.—Milton A.
Pearl, public lands consultant for the
House Interior and Insular Affairs
Committee, has announced that Cong.
Arnold Olsen has been chosen by the
committee to participate in public
hearings on wilderness areas to take
place in Boise, Idaho, Salt Lake City
and in Sacramento, California.
Cong. Olsen will play an important
role in the hearings in Phoenix, Ori
zona, on legislation regarding urban
and business sites on public lands.
Also, the Phoenix hearings will hear
and inspect the proposed site of the
Air Force installation in Tonto Na
tional Forest. Olsen will meet with
public officials in Riverside, Cali
fornia on legislation due to be acted
upon in the second session of the
87th Congress.
establishment and our corporate gi
ants all over America", he asserted.
He called for better credit laws
or the future of the family farm is
, j 1 » tt j, , .,
rather dark He added, if we can
not get better concepts of credit we
will have only corporate farms in the
hands of investment companies m
surance companies, banks or churches.
MAY HAVE TO LICENSE
FARMERS
Suggesting the possibility of having
to license farmers, the farm organi-1
zation leader said, "if we are going
to let everybody speculate in land
who has a little money we are going
to be in trouble". If a farmer tried
to practice medicine or law he would
end up in the penitentiary, Patton
stated. "We are going to have to |
get tough" about land policy.
Larger amounts of capital and cred
it must be available to maintain fam
ily farms and co-operatives, because
they go right along with the family
farm policy. Without the farmily farm
we will not have co-ops as we have
them now he said
Patton Llso called for getting more
marketing power in the hands of the
people, contending that if the Ameri
can housewife has buying power she
will buy without paper advertising.
He said 90 million dollars has been
spent by marketing commissions in
this country which are vying with
each other for a place in the people's
stomachs. "If you put 4 pounds of
lamb in your stomach you don't have
room for 4 pounds of beef" he said.
Using food for capital abroad
under the principle of Public LaAv 480 |
would bring us a long way in making!
and bring about a peaceful world, |
according to Patton. Urging farmers
to work for peace he said it would be
a d ,? e r ved tr f, g ' edy t0 return t0 the
cave if we allow our genius to be |
it possible to help depressed peoples
. »
turned against us in the form of the j
monster we have created and do not |
seem to know how to control.
have 1.
Only in peace
can we
democracy . . . we will no longer
have democracy if we have
he concluded.
Co-operatives are a group of peo
pie meeting a common need and or
gamzing to do business to supply
that need, Gordon Roth, Farmers
Union Gram Terminal public rela
tions director, told the convention,
P I
war ,
CO-OP PURPOSE;
SERVICE, NOT PROFIT
_ ,
The purpose of co-operatives, he said,
is service not profit and "no co
operative operation can succeed un
less it has a higher vision . Co-opera
tives have succeeded because of two
things, priceless value and deep faith
... a group of people banding to
gether to use capital resources they |
could not avail themselves of as in
dividuals.
Pointing out as an example the
success of the rural electric co-opera
tives, Roth said they could not have
made an electric system out of the
need for electricity, they also had to
have the capital. The secret of success |
and efficiency today is not hard work,
but capital, money to buy and money
to build, he said. No co-operative op
eration can flourish today unless it
has both ingredients, and a co-opera
tive does not need to be as good
its competition, it needs to be better,
he said
The duty of co-operatives accord
ing to the GTA speaker, is to integrate
and move into many new fields to
do many things practically at cost,
and "if you want to hold your place
in the sun you have to fight to stav
there"
Viewing peace as the only ally,
the only hope and the only weapon
for survival in the world today,
Roth said "we have to offer some
thing better than we have been
offering . . . what it will be is not
determined yet, but we must do
something before our time runs
out. The perils of failure are too |
We can have world leadership if |
we put human survival first", he
said, and "to build a better land, co- |
terrible to conceive".
i 4
operatives are the best foundation
. . . will the corporation dollar or |
the co-op spirit prevail, he asked.
He said there are serious appre-1
hensions as to where this administra
tion is going and you can hear ques
tions being asked as to whether this
is the third Eisenhower administra- 1
istration", he said, "but there is also |'
a considerable amount of hope and
tion. "There is a crisis in this admin
Rail Commission Asks
For More Time To Study
Proposed GN-NP Merger
The attorneys for the Railroad
Commission (John C. Sheehy
.lings; William P. Mufich Helena;
John L McKeon, Anaconda) Monday
titioned the interstate Commerce
Commission for additional time in
to the prOT)OSed m€r ger
of the railroads running through
Montana. The ICC had scheduled De
le ember 5 for the hearing date.
The railroads have Deen preparing
1955.
their merger proposal since
The attorneys must gather data from
the St, Paul headquarters of the rail-1
roads in order to be properly pre
pared to cross examine the exhibits
and statements made by the railroads,
ICC turned down the appeal yes-|
terday.
we need courage, care and caution".
Farmers have to decide what they
want in the future and what they I
do not want, Roth said. The only hope
of agriculture is to integrate and the
question is who is going to integrate
whom. Farmers can choose and they
I ™ ust choose whether they want to
^ h * nd ! ™ th some
bod / * elhn Z them what to do ' he con -
cluded - v v
Robert McKenna, chairman of the
ASC in Montana, said $2.06 for wheat
I in 1958 would have meant 50 million
dollars to the State of Montana. He
sa * d price of bread has no re
^tranship to the price of wheat be
cause during the years when the
P r ice of wheat was the lowest the
price of bread was the highest. |
LOW TAXES DON'T LURE
INDUSTRY; RENNE
Speaking on the critical problems
facing education in Montana, Dr..
Renne pointed out the need of indus
try for highly skilled men; industry
which is willing to pay the price for
well-qualified scientists and techni- |
cians and said, "These industries are
not attracted by low taxes as such
because low taxes mean poor schools
. . that can not turn out the kind
of individuals these industries need.
Moreover, the men these industries
seek are not willing to settle in com
munities where their children will
be doomed to second-rate education".
Referring to recent charges of
j "waste, inefficiency, fat, pinks, sub
ve rsive activities, impractical egg
heads and many other charges which
have never been substantiated by
facts", Renne said, "most thinking
citizens" realize the tremendous im
portance of financial support for our
educational system to maintain stand
ards 0 f performance that will enable
0 ur graduates to compete effectively
f or employment and to make their
maximum contribution to the future
growth and strength of
and the nation,
j
as,, ,, , . . „ , .
that Montana is rapidly losing ground
in educational standings among the |
states * Ue said all but four states in
creased |
Because of the money involved I
in education there will he criti
cisms, but "when our schools are
attacked unjustifiably or falsely, I
for one, intend to defend them
when and where I think they should
be defended", Renne stated, add
ing, "In my position I consider it
an obligation as well as a privilege
to do this". I
The MSC president charged that a |
look at the general trend of events |
over the past several years shows
our state
expenditures per pupil
taster than Montana in the past dec
ade - In avera ^ e salary P aid school
teachers, Montana ranks 29th and
about 10 per cent below the national
average.
SITUATION MAY WORSEN '
He prophesized "the current situ
ation in the financing of education
is critical, but it may get even worse",
I Citing figures released by the U. S.
Office of Education covering the 62
land-grant institutions, of which MSC
is one, he said Montana's University
System has been losing ground com
pared with other institutions of high
er learning in the country, just as
Montana has been losing ground in
support of its public schools,
Dr. Renne said that in spite of
inadequate financing many still are
not convinced that more funds are
needed. "Many feel that a lot of stu
dents are going to college that should
never go and that we are wasting our
money in accepting these students
only to flunk them out".
"On the contrary", he said, "most
0 f our students leave college because
they are unable to finance it".
Reflections of a U. N. Marcher
By PAUL A. CARTER, Associate
Professor of History, MSU, Missoula
Tuesday, October 24th, 1961 —
Bil-... .
I United Nations Day, everywhere in
the world except Montana. Houses
and streets still decorated with flags
from the United States Day observed,
by the Governor's fiat, the day be T
fore. Is this the Gaza Strip, where
they spit on U. N. soldiers? Or Ka
tanga, where they shoot them? No;
it is only the Garden City of Mon
tana . . .
rade, scheduled for this hour in spite
of the edict, has been called off. The
mayor and the police deal themselves
out. (Is John Birch telephone pub
licity that strong in Missoula?) The
news comes after an MSU class which
2:00 p.m.— A United Nations pa
g les between colonial legislatures and
royal governors m Eighteenth-Cen
tury America. Dusty history comes
has been considering political strug
fo life, as it has a way of doing It
N late in the day; can anything still
' be done,
I home-made, painted the night before
for■the parade which never came off.
? ut , th + e sbadowa long; it is late,
°° la * e '. t0 other marchers.
If anything is to be done before the
sun sets on United Nations Day it
can be but one thing. Very well; let s
| do i .
from the MSU campus down Univer
sity Avenue. Fraernity and Sorority
Row, preoccupied with its own little
games. The last of the turning leaves
that have glorified Missoula in the
year of our Lord 1961. Out to the
traffic on Higgins Avenue, and across
the Clark's Fork of the Columbia.
4:00 p.m. —At last a U. N. flag—
4:30 p.m. —Off at a brisk pace
Q , r ^
L ' , . '
, P . P . „ .. ? ., ^ .
observe the traffic ' s i ffna 5 s There
haye hee ^ too „Jy irrelevan ci^ this
day; don't be trapped by yet another
one. The sinking sun is still bright,
a cold breeze snaps out the flag. It
will be seen; good.
("Hey what's that, Mister?" A kid
of twelve or so, I'd say.)
| Hammarskjöld died for that flag last
month, son. For you, really.)
Smiles, frowns, puzzled looks,
Stares from passing cars; some slow
down. The polar projection of our
planet in white on a pale blue field;
| at least some of them know what it
("That's a U. N. flag, son." Dag
is. One world, Mr. Nutter. Mr. Willkie
first called it that and he was one
of your own.
Court-house souare Before a
bronze World War I douehbov the
'
... , ., , , ,
it up, in the hours and days to come,
Congressman will speak for the U. N.
in one of your parish halls this very
flag dips. This was what you and
Woodrow Wilson were fighting for,
even if, grown old and become an
American Legionnaire, you have for
gotten,
Stores, bars, St. Patrick's Hospital,
churches, St, Francis Xavier. (Popes
have called for a parliament of Man).
First Methodist. (The Social Creed of
Methodism supports the Parliament
of Man.) Holy Episcopal. (The Lam-I
beth Conference endorses the Parlia-1
ment of Man.) But where were you
today? We needed you. Above all,
to cope with our God-fearing Gov
ernor, we needed you!
There was not time. You will make
| night. But it is not enough,
there?
Sunset clouds scatter the last rays,
Di the fading light, a news photogra
pher who has been waiting for the
parade that never came climbs stiffly
i 4
There's still time, brother!'' Is
Hotel & Restaurant Employees Union No. 612
Is Pleased to Announce that
The Airport Cafe
owned by Clarice Evans, and also a member of Local 612
Is 100 Per Cent Union
and Deserving of Your Patronage
out of his little white car in front of
City Hall.
("Where'« the parade?")
("I'm it.")
("Represent anyone?")
("Just paying tribute to the mem
ory of a great man.")
Hold the flag out, catch a puff of
air, hope that the light holds.
Click.
("Thanhs.")
Walk away at the parade-ground
pace, into the dusk. What has hap
pened sings in then becomes elation.
Come what may, the flag has flown
over Missoula on United Nations Day.
No matter how this incident may be
misrepresented or misunderstood in
coming days, it has happened. The re
actionaries, by God, have lost this
round. The U. N, has won one.
It's cold and the world symboy on
the flag can scarcely be seen. Time
to go home now.
Federal Aid To
Education To Be
Aired In Helena
Federal aid to education will be
the subject of the November panel
discussion presented by the Women's
Division of the Lewis & Clark County
Democratic Club, at the Commerce
Bank and Trust Company, community
room, on November 6th, at 8:00 p.m.
Mrs. Genevieve Adair, program
chairman, has announced that mod
erator of the forum on federal aid
will be Dr. Kenneth Bryson, of the
English department and director of
Forensics, Montana State College,
Bozeman. Panelists will include two
favoring federal aid to education and
two opposed to federal aid.
A1 Libra, Helena, a graduate of
Montana State University School of
Law and former county attorney of
Sanders county, now practicing law
in Helena, will oppose federal aid
to education, with the assistance of
Mrs. Elinor Taylor, a Butte housewife
and mother. During the 1961 session
of legislature, she served as secre
tary to the Business and Industry
and Labor and Compensation Com
mittees of the House of Representa
tives.
Mrs, Frances Logan, National Dem
ocratic Committeewoman from Char
lo, Montana, a former school teach
er, mother, and long active in the
Farmers Union, with Lloyd Markell,
research assistant for the Montana
Education Association in Helena, and
former county superintendent of
schools in Sheridan county, will pre
sent the side favoring federal aid to
education.
Mrs. Virginia West, president of
the Women's Division of the Lewis
& Clark County Democratic Club,
said that the past panels have met
with much enthusiasm and many kl
terested people from other cities have
been in attendance. A capacity crowd
is expected to attend the meeting,
she said, since the subject is so con
troversial, even among party mem
bers.
As in the other panels, the various
aspects of the subject will be cov
ered by the panelists, with the mod
erator leading the discussion, and a
joint discussion between panelists
will be followed by an open floor
discussion.
A social hour will follow the meet
ing, and all. interested Montanans
have been invited to attend.