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KNOTTY PROBLEM PUZZLEJF AGES Representative Democracy Has Become Recognized as Best in the Long Run. !S This is the third of a series of articles dealing with politics in general and the present political $ situation in North Dakota in par ticular. The author. Mr. L. J. Sil jan, lias been a newspaper innn for twenty years and as a writer $ on both dailies and weeklies he has had ample opportunity to watch politics at close range in most of the northwestern states. He is in position to discuss men and measures from a personal •f.- knowledge viewpoint. The fourth article will appear next week. —Editor. By L. J. Siljan Many important and interesting chapters in the histories of the world are devoted to buttles, by the various peoples, with the knotty problems of government. One after another differ ent systems have been tried and dis carded different combinations have been attempted and found wanting paternalism, communism, socialism, autocracy and more or less restricted monarchial forms of government have been adopted and thrown on the scrap heap in turn, until practically all the civilized peoples on earth now recognize a centralized government, delegated by ihe people, as the best average in the long run. This nation has been the standard hearer of the latter principle but we have also come to recognize the fact ihat usurpation of power is just as possible under this form of government 11s under any of the older forms. We have had, and we still have, our troubles with predatory interests and with ambitious politicians and politi cal machines, not to spealc of the many other obstacles in the way of modern democracy. If we would only stop kidding ourselves about the in terest the average man takes in af faita of state, we would soon be mak ing better progress. If all who are commonly accepted as leaders of pub lic thought would have the courage to' tell the voters that it is due largely 'to their apathy and neglect that scheming politicians gain their goal, the voters would soon wake up to their responsibilities and not permit would-be political, dictators and Office hunters to get by with cheap flattery and hypocritical averment of or de ference to the wishes of "the common ipeople." The cheapest grade of this kind of cheap politics is that of appeal to a majority class interest in a given 'community. In the parlance of pres ent day politics this is called psy chology, and it has been imminently successful in a number of cases. Not least so ID this state where the lead ers of the Nonpartisan League have carried on a wholesale business in this line. By featuring some of the things the farmers of North Dakota -wanted and were entitled to, and mix ing them judiciously with measures having in view the concentration of all power in the hands of a few ambitious dictators, the League leaders have managed to pull the wool over the eyes of a majority of the farmers of the state and thus to same extent realized their ambition. There is one thing the people will not stand for, however, and that is too much administrative interference with individual liberty. When the League leaders tried to wield a club over the people by attempting to enact the nefarious absent voters' ballot law, the state sheriff law and the smelling committee law, even a large number of the League members parted com pany with them, joined the opposition iiml snowed these measures under by I heir votes. Recently, however, it has begun to dawn upon them that the job is not finished, and Townley and his leeches tire due for a new jolt. The farmers are becoming aware of the fact that many measures have been passed by recent legislatures which give some of the state officials the very powers the people registered their disapproval of in the June primaries. The gover nor and the attorney general are through League legislation vested with •iucli authority that if men who have shown a disposition to use political powers to favor friends and punish enemies are elected to these offices, they can c*o almost as much snooping into people's private affairs as the smelling committee could have done if that law had not. been rejected. It is such usurpation of power lliat makes democracy a farce It is just as intolerable in a representative gov ernment as In an autocracy it is an autocracy In fact. Whatever may be said of the anti Townley forces in North Dakota, it must be conceded that they are carry on a real people's light for a sound measure of individual liberty, doing all their work in an opc^i and above board manner. While emphasizing the importance of private Initiative as •gainst socialism, they are willing to wse the resources of the state to try out such community problems as some of the voters insist cannot be satis factorily solved along liues of private endeavor. /W£ ARE DOING THIS TO HELP THE. POOR: FARMER EXOVE. HIS WHEAT. CROP' 1 TAXES TREBLED AND ARE STILL GOINGSTRONG Latest Juggling of Tax Program Camouflage to Hide De pleted Treasury. The latest tax boost made necessary by the extravagancy of the league administration in Bismarck is begin ning to give the administration forces considerable cause for worry. League newspapers have'attempted to direct public attention away from the in crease by writing columns about the negligible decrease on land taxes, but it is beginning to dawn upon even the League members that the recent deci sion in Bismarck is another attempt at tax juggling for the purpose of get ting more money to squander. The reduction in farm taxes amounts to only a few cents on each quarter in the state, while the increase on real estate within incorporated limits runs into large amounts. The newspapers of the state are be ginning to call attention lo the real condition. The Independent (Fargo) has this to say 011 Where "The Farmers' Money" Goes. the subject: "Reports from Bismarck inform us that the state equalization board has reduced the assessed valuation of farms ffom Si ,072,167,053 as in 1919 to $1,036,103,62!), a reduction of $36,004, 024. This is a reduction of 31-3 per cent of the assessed valuation. In 1918 farm lands were assessed at .$221,459,525. The Nonpartisan board of equalization increased this assess ment over 450 per cent, making It $1, 072,167,653. Now the board relents and confesses by its acts that when it raised the farmers 450 per cent it was in error to the extent of 31-3 per cent. It should have raised tlie assessed valua tion only 446 2-3 per cent. Having made this correct ion the board'and all its toots appear on the platform bow ing and expecting bouquets and en cores. Sure, the farmers are willing to have the board do it again 125 times in order to get hack where they were in 1018. Three and one-third per cent out of a total of 450 per cent seems so very small a beginning. At the rate of 31-3 per cent each two years it will take 256 years to square up the 450 per cent, if that is what the Nonpartisan board wants the public to understand it is doing. "News also comes to the effect that the board lias increased the assessed valuation of business structures in Fargo and (Jrand Forks 40 per cent and proportionately iii all smaller cities. For Fargo this means an in crease in assessed valuation of $1, 763,088, an actual addition to the city's tax burden of 70 to 75 thousand dollars. For Grand Forks an addition of 45 to 50 thousand dollars. This will make it necessary for all business men in Fargo, Grand Forks and every city in North Dakota to add this extra burden to the expense of running their business, while the farmers and labor ers who are doing business with them must pay for the service just that much more. "Neither business men, farmers or laborers were asking the board to juggle the assessed valuation figures. What they want is reduction of taxes. When the Nonparitsan gang cuts down the list of parasites at Bismarck and all over the state and quits bleed ing the farmers and laborers and busi ness men of this state for money to keep the gang going as for instance $200,000 immigration appropriation to keep Liggett in the east working Townley propaganda and old Worst and his bunch of do-nothings at Bis inarck, asd similar unnecessary ex- WHEN WE HAVE PASSED OUR INITIATED LAWS WE WILL. STRAIGHTEN THINGS OVJ IN THERE! BANIK OF NORTH DAKOTA Reynold C. Anderson in the Independent penses, then and not till then will the business men's, the farmers' and the laborers' tax bill and many other bills begin to decrease. As long as a whole gang of jugglers and political blood suckers are allowed to exploit our people, there' is no relief in sight. Cutting down of expenses, grafts,.dues and stock sales, not piffling juggling of figures is wanted." One would have thought that the league leaders would have hesitated before putting additional tax burdens 011 the people of the state. In 1917, when the league had controlled the house, hut not the senate, the appro priation for state purposes amounted to about $4.225,000 this was too much said the league leaders and in the fol lowing campaign t*iey promised small er taxes. In 1911 when the league had control of /both houses as well as of the governor, the appropriations for stare purposes reached a staggering total of over $13,000,000. And' it is still going higher. TAXES ARE STILL GOING UP No Saving in Cost of State Govern ment, Says Former Commissioner. F. E. Packard, assistant attorney general and former president of the North Dakota tax commission, takes issue with Tax Commissioner Wallace in a statement issued recently. Mr. Packard says: "It will be recalled that George E. Wallace, state tax commissioner, made a statement some weeks since, which was blazoned abroad by all the Town ley newspapers, to the effect that the tax levy for state purposes for the current year would not exceed seven tenths of one mill. This statement, of course, was tortured by the Townley press into a contention that there had been a great saving in the cost of state government by the Nonpartisan league administration. "I wish at this time to challenge the truthfulness of both Mr. Wallace's statement, and the conclusion arrived at by the Townley papers. "In the first place, the levy for the general fund will be in excess of one mill it will have to be from 1.2 to 1.5 mills if existing deficits are to btf taken care of. Practically every state institution, and practically every de partment of the state government has a more or less healthy deficit, which it will take hundreds of thousands of dollars to wipe out. In addition to this, there will have to be levies for interest and sinking funds, and the soldiers' bonus levy. One cannot con ceive of an adequate levy of less than two mills the reconstructed levy last year was 24.125 mills. "In any discussion as to a reduced cost of state government one must take into consideration the new sources of revenue. Roughly, these are for the current year $510,000 in come from the income tax $120,000 from the stock and bond tax $416,000 from the oil sales tax, making a grand total of $1,046,000 which has been poured into the general fund from eu tiroly new sources. "Prior-to last year property was as sessed upon a 25 per cent basis it is probably now assessed upon a 75 per cent basis, which would be equivalent to an increase of 200 per cent. In other words a two mills levy under the present valuation would be equiv alent to a six mill levy under the old valuation, and in addition we have more than a million dollars from other sources which, if raised under the kl system, would bring the levy up to about nine mills. In other words, if we had no new sources of income and a 25 per cent valuation, it would take a levy of about nine mills to raise tlie money which will lie necessary to sup port thi! stall! government during the current year. "When Mr. Wallace talks of econ omy ami reduced tax levies, 1 am from Missouri they have been increased pructic-ully 200 per cent" THE HOPE PIONEER WORKMEN ASK FACTORY SEIZURE Confederation of Labor Is Session In Milan, Italy. In INDUSTRIAL CONFLICTS Workmen'* Conference Claims Indus trial Situation Has Taken on a Political Aspect in Italy. Milan. Immediate convocation of the Italian parliament for the purpose, of passing laws under which workmen may take over management of1 Indus trial plants has been demanded by the confederation of labor in session here. Resolutions favoring a compromise of the situation resulting from occupa tion of plants by workmen throughout Italy were adopted at a stormy ses sion of the confederation, which de manded that the Socialist party assume control of the situation, which, they claimed, had taken a purely political aspect. When the Socialist Democrats were rejected, an additional resolution •was passed by the confederation which asked the president of the chamber of deputies and Premier Giollttl to call parliament into session. "We demand," this resolution read, "immediate convocation of the cham ber of .deputies in order that the situa tion may be examined and laws pro posed which will bring about radical legislative measures, which, through requisition of Industrial plants and participation in their management by workmen, will prepare the way for direct control of workers in the inter ests of collectivity." This resolution was telegraphed to the president of the chamber and premier. Turin, Italy.—Anxiety by the au thorities lest the world ugmen engaged in the industrial plant controversj here might attempt to take posses sion of the dynamite works at Avigll ana, 13 miles west of Turin, has led to protective measures. The garrison was strengthened with caribineers and troops equipped with machine guns. 1 Unknown persons fired several rifle shots into the villa of Signor Diben detto, engineer of the metal works here. The engineer replied with his revolver and killed two persons. The police arrested Dibenedetto. Tht workmen evacuated the plant. MEXICO TO SUPPLY OIL? Government Survey Predicts Future Supply to Come From South. Washington.—Mexico promises to become the oil reservoir of the west ern hemisphere, the department of commerce declares in a review of the petroleum Industry In the southern republic. With increased consump tion In the United States likely to ex haust producing fields in this country within 20 or 25 years, Mexico, the statement said, "offers the most en couragement to the American oil in dustry, both for present production and geographical situation." Exhaustion of 40 per cent of the producing fields of the United States, the department's review stated, has caused Mexico to take second place in 011 production, although only about 12 per cent of the potential capacity of Mexican wells is being actually pro duced. Oil exports from Mexico during the first six months of 1920 totaled 60, 000,000 barrels, an increase of 72 per cent over the previous year. At this rate total exports for the year are ex pected, according to the department, to reach 135,000,000 barrels. MIN0T FIGURES IN BIG RAID United States Agents Make Big Haul in Well Planned Campaign. Mlnot, N. D.—A heavy blow was struck at the illegal liquor business in Minot when 30 U. S. prohibition officers, under direction of P. C. Dar by, group chief of Fargo, conducted a general raid on suspected places. Twenty-five or 30 warrants were Issued and about 10 places were raid ed. Several arrests were made and $6,000 or $7,000 worth of liquor, a five passenger Overland touring car, and a Chinese lottery gambling outfit were confiscated. Judge S. L. Nuchols of Fargo, assis tant U. S. district attorney, is in the city and the cases caipe up before R. E. Hopkins, U. S. court commis sioner. There was no resistance to the officers during the raid, although in the Sam Loomis place were found two sawed-off 12-gauge shotguns and a box of No. 4 shot cartridges. Booze Cases to State Courts. Pargo.—Judge Charles F. Amidon of the United States district court for North Dakota, says that hereafter it will be the policy of the federal offi cers to have nearly all the prosecu tions of the national prohibition amendment and the Volstead act con ducted In the state courts. "The pro hibition amendment," said Judge Amidon, "provides that the law shall be enforced by joint action of the nation and the states and such a pro vision will be found in 110 other part of the federal constitution." 0 MINNESOTA HAS GREATEST FAIR Receipts of 1920 Exposition Reach the Total of $545,000. ATTENDANCE 536,155 famous Northwest Agricultural^ and Carnival Event Considered the Biggest and Best in the World. 1920 MINNESOTA STATE FAIR Attendance, 536,155. Receipts at outside gates, grand stand and horse show, approxi mately $420,000. Receipts from sale of exhibit Space, approximately $75,000. Receipts from concession priv ileges, approximately $50,000. Total receipts, approximately $545,000. Expense of staging fair, exclus ive of permanent improvements, $350,000. Profit, approximately $195,000, which will about replace surplus drawn on to complete the $500, 000 cattle barn. St. Paul.—When Minnesota statt fair officials gathered to review the record of "the world's greatest state exposition," their speech was full of superlatives. "The state fair board considered that the 1920 fair has been the most successful In almost every respect of any heretofore staged," said Frank W. Murphy, president of the fair board, in a statement summarizing the accom plishments and results of the fair. 536,155 in Attendance. "A total of 536,155 persons attended this year, and had it rfot been for rain two days the extraordinary attendance record established in 1919 would have been exceeded easily. We had hoped for an attendance of at least 125,000 persons on the opening Saturday, but the all day rain cut the figures to 51,183. A turnstile record of 90,000 or 100,000 on Saturday would have enabled the fa a- to have established a new record. "The fair was under heavy financial responsibilities this year. This is the only fair in the country that has ever attempted to put on a $1,000,000 show. The money actually spent for per manent improvements and producing the exposition this year falls just short •of $1,000,000. An appropriation of $300,000 was obtained with which to build a new cattle barn but the ex traordinary expense incurred in its erection compelled the management to dig into the surplus for $200,000 with which to complete the structure. Financial Success. "From a financial angle the fair has been more successful this year than any of Its predecessors. It "is esti mated by the treasurer that $420,000 was taken in at the outside gates, grandstand, horsesliow and attractions operated on a percentage basis. "The Minnesota state fair is a public institution. Every cent of the money made by it is deposited with the state treasurer, to be drawn on in a man ner prescribed for new buildings and fair expense." Not only in attendance was the 1920 state fair a success, but the exhibit, educational and entertainment fea tures all were on a higher plane thnn ever before, and there were more sound and practical demonstrations, the Influence of which will be reflected In thousands of homes and on thou sands of Minnesota farms during the ensuing year. WANT AIR ROUTE TO ALASKA North Country Seeks to Profit by Recent Flight to Nome. New York.—Military and civilian aeronautical experts (Teclare that the completion recently of the trip of four American army aviators from New York to Nome, Alaska, was as epochal In its military and commercial impor tance as Bleroit's first flight across the English channel, since it opens Alaska to aeronautics. Reports say that the Alaskans are -determined to bring about regular communication through the air, and now look to the government to foster the new project. As the result of the flight, it is said an aerial route has been photographed and charted diagonally across the United States, Canada .and Alaska, with tentative supply and air service sites. The air board says that the follow ing has been accomplished by the flight: An effective aerial route to the northwest corner of the American con tinent and Asia has been established. Inaccessible areas in Alaska which had never been mapped have been charted and photographed. Usefulness of the airplane as a means of transport for mail, passen gers, and freight, has been demon strated. Necessity of landing fields and service supply stations In the United States and its territories has been shown. 'SHIU Threshing Shows Increase Ovei Expected Yields. The Winnipeg Free Press of a few days ago contained a cartoon of whld the following Is a copy: •WwllunBTWIt Hiwto BtotK On Swtkfc Baft 6w fw| This probably as much as anything else will give some idea of the state of mind of the Western Canada farm er, as he watches the tally from the thrashing machine while his wheat la being carried- to the elevator. From ail sections of the country, the most optimistic reports are re ceived, the local and city papers are filled with reports from twenty to thir ty bushels of wheat to the acre, while In some places oats are showing a rec ord of as high as 120 bushels to the acre. Referring to Saskatchewan, it Is con fidently expected that the wheat yield' will be nearly 125 million bushels. Heavy rains which fell in districts that did not promise so well in July, had greatly Improved the prospects there, and there Is no question that paying yields will he produced. The yields In the eastern part of the province may not show to the advantage that will those of the western part, but too much cannot be said of this, for tt Is the results as they come from the machine, and often these prove happily deceptive. There is now every reason to believe that the wheat* crop of the three prai rie provinces will approach 250 mil lion bushels. Alberta will exceed the 70 million bushels that had been looked for. The nverage yield will be considerably higher than It has been in the province In any of the last four years. The Department of Agriculture in a recent report gave the opinion that It cannot fall below twenty-two bushel* to the acre, and that it might easily_ pass the, twenty-five bushel mark. Most of the wheat in the province when the report was written, stood well up to three feet high, and on some fields was still higher. The re port goes on that in parts of South ern Alberta forty and fifty bushels to the acre yields will not be uncommon, while there will be a good many yields of from thirty to thirty-five bushels to the acre. In the northwest part of the prov ince, In the country surrounding Bat tleford and adjacent to the Canadian National Railway line to Lloydminster, and .south the crops are excellent and the yield will be heavy. A larger than average wheat crop Is being thrashed In Manitoba. It has been estimated that the total yield of the three provinces will not be less than 225,000,000 bushels, and it may be that somewhere between 250,000, 000 and 300,000,000 bushels will be the final figure. Oats is a good crop In all three provinces. This crop has also grown rapidly during the last two or three weeks. Excepting from those fields which were sown late for gr?en feed, the yield will be heavy and the grain excellent. Barley and rye are above the average. There was sufficient help to harvest the crop.—Advertisement. CeriPJnly luck counts. So do brains and pluck. The Cuticura Toilet Trio. Having cleared your skin keep It clear by making Cuticura your every-day toilet preparations. The soap to cleanse and purify, tile Ointment to soothe and heal, the Talcum to powder and per fume. No toilet table is complete without them. 25c everywhere.—Adv. An indolent man Is a dead one who can't be burled. Relief WDlGESnOHl 6 BELL-ANS Hot water Sure Relief RE LL-ANS Mfor indigestion 'IQINF Night sad Morning. Have Strong, Hualth} .#/ Ey*- they Tire, Itch Smart or Burn, if Sore Vki,n rv/rC Imitated, Inflamed oi IUUR LIU ?rce Granulated, useMurini sften. Soothe*, Refreshes. Safe foi 'nfantor Adult. At all Druggists. Write foi Eve Book. Unit En larirCi.,C)dia| I W. N. U., FARQO, NO. 38-1920!""