The nonpartisan leader. [volume], October 28, 1915, Image 4

About The nonpartisan leader. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1915-1921

Image provided by: State Historical Society of North Dakota

                
(.Si)
Farmers in older sections of the
State may well take a lesson from
live live -ones around Sentinel Butte.
Nine years ago the land in "that
ticinity was open for homesteading,
.but was .riot thought to be worth the
taking up. However, a bunch of ad
ventu-rous ones took a chance at it
and today are making :good in more
ways than one.
Three years ago they organized
and built the largest farmers' eleva
tor in the state. It is run on the
patronage divided plan and feas prov
~ed bo successful that a further ex
"tension of co-operation was enoGur
aged.
1MS
year they financed and
'built a flour mill and have it in op
eration. It is a fifty barrel mill and
is turning out a high grade flour call
ed -Sentinel Butted Best" that makes
the big milling companies green with
envy. They used the Midget Marvel
mill.
The organization of the mill and
elevator are 'entirely separate al
though pzaattcatty the same farmers
-we ateok holders in both «ntenp)riaes.
As soon .as the farmers decided to
build xi mill, several dlifferent milling
»companies offered to build a mill xtt
that ^toint, hut their sudden inter
est .and friendship made the farmers
skeptical of their promises. (Have
jrou noatBced that as soon as the farm
ers readly organize to do anything,
Ail kinds of new found friends sud
iienly come forward .anxious to do
it £ox them).
Itet. other localities ^desiring ifo
co^BBBBbB may jacofit ,by the .Sen
linel Batte farmers' experience a (die
tail o£ their plan of opeEation is
£i«eiU''
The ruail was -capitaliaed at $15,
OOO. The shares at -$25 each and a
PAGE -P»U« THE WWPARTKSA-N LEADER
IMS] -exjanqole .of Poiscmfid 'Meswe itfaat we ^re«aaaanai®M^iaBti
week was ""{plate aaEKctifeerr,"" iaaret «aut and gmmtefl im aa. ntifaasoo-l
saonfl jaesraapagDers as
&,
vV
a
soietitu^c and matter «a£ Ifjactiartfaieie!
about ©ajihraads. In it ©ociairrRed ja {pamagnarpih 0OTitaABBi*g ttikese'
assert/ians:.
(1) "IDhe 'United States shas the largest mileage, (2 ttke Attest,
sea-vice, ^(S)) the-tsheajpest rates, (4) ip^ys iaihar ifche :%4g^oeest
itshe tmost ^efficiently tnoamnged maiilwatyB, aiiad ^6j) momst
nDihywrfts tin femeign countries ha*® keen Jauitt under .AaHexiksun
orders.
Imdnr If is BacEect, through )it .is amerely raculent&l to •emr
pesitiem snad «mea. Jks to tbae others, these iaate the facts:
~w,e
(2)) "SBfae Araeriaaan railroad GBTWBB is -the unost £ten®er®as in
the wenfifl. Stor iraDjy .years
for -©nr aiailroad accidents and our "bad rnmrercme -in Tfctbat megpect is
doe ®riyi|y to'itbefgldjp&sdJtofiffleaac^
a®emertt. The construction and management :are slipshod ^because
•the .fiiMUoitoject ,of an American railroad ifiaaterjarise is to juggle .se
curities, TWftoeseasjfche tftret'Ghjact of a. railroad :abraadis to oajrry
people and things.
Geaiaapease, Jar instance, the American raiLroad system with that
of Gei'many. Five.-sixths of the American lines
Sixty per eent of their-mileage-is-without-block or other adequate
signal protection. They haw wooden ties, so often rotten that
even on the "best railroads I have sometimes counted ten ties in
a rail length that were little better than but punk. "They have'
dirt ballast. The rails are merely spiked to the rotten ties. They
have more than a million unprotected grade crossings. They
often 'have Hflthy shacks for stations. They have wooden bridges
and culverts. They are not watched one-sixth as much as the
German lines.
German railroads have double tracks, trock ballast, steel ties,
rails bolted to the ties, complete signal protection, stone or steel
bridges, stone culverts, no unprotected crossings, and they enter
and leave cities on solid masonry viaducts.
Consequently our railroads arte dangerous and German rail
roads are safe. But our dangerous service is slower and less'con
venient than the German safe service.
A Sample of Co-operation
By B. O. Henry
teve held ttifee weiMfe neeard
!ape
limit of ten shares to any one indi
vidual, but only one vote to any
shareholder regardless of the number
of shares. Pledges were taken, from
the farmers for the shares until
enough had been subscribed to assure
the project. They then tried to raise
the money at the bank, but failing in
that a number of the fanners -with
the right kind of backbone promptly
came forward taking the pledges of
their neighbors as security and ad
vanced the money until fall.
The mill as it stands today in op
eEation cost $9,000 but electric lights
and a reservoir to complete the plant
•vviil put tlic cost fi niched at £10,000.
Flour was selling at $4 per hun
dred with wheat at 80 cents when
they started the mill. They axe now
selling flour at $2.70 per hundred
with wheat at 90 cent?. Their prin
ciple business is trading flour and
feed for wheat at the following rate:
For a bushel of wWeat they exchange
thirty-two pounds of flour, four
pounds of. Shorts and eight pounds
of brash Or if the customer^ does not
wawt the feed stuff he may fjet thir
iy-five pounds of -flour for one bushel
o£ wheat.
Figure this up with the prices in
your locality and -remember this is.
from strictly North D^bota "wheat
wiiich is the best hard -shiest pro
duced anywhere in the "world. It
is so geod that it often commands
a premium in the market to mix with
-the isoft -winter -wKeact that the big
filing companies use" quantities ot in
Minneapolis.
The big booster in this co-fiifiierative
work has been J. H. Stecker of .Sen
tinel JButte. He was born in Penn
sylvania 69 years ago, and homestead
ed in X906 on his jsresent farm, Bee.
2-141-104.
"L
/vwJ 1
Specimens of Poisoned News
By Obantes JEdward Bms&ell
here.
($)
'singile -tracked.
Almost sail the countries of 'JEmreaae ibeat ais in asaiilroad safety
and effiioie»cy.
(3) TEtoe average tnates jpadd Jor jpassen ger -tnaEspoctation in
.every Ekrraapean ceumtijy ame fowser than ottes. TBbe fdkaxges for
ifiEst class "traweil ao® in tsome instances ihigOaer. Itat BGameely any
Taafty in iEuregoe "trowels elasB.
(4|) "[Rafcing irate icramsMfasrartiiTan the -drffierence in the «ost of
iEKramg, 'Eaiih'oad .employees in ESfogfand, iflnamee and •.Gerroaffljy are
aas wdil paid as ifche a-ven^tge :®ai]»0ad iemjplcsyee in JAimeiiica. En
igijaaseEs will asearae .a ilitltfe iakuwae this avterage, bat 0ther inailroad
mien wM ®ot.
(51) IDhe tRet^jleEsneas of itaramican usuil-road amaia^geiiaerat aander
the present -system is the wanfter~of «eve^y fomeign xailneaifl man
that jEQuaes
'Gtotside of Meaoieo and some parts '.of -(Geaitml jaaadSouth
Arnericainaaae ©iftfche Taifeoafe ©if Janeign ^oeumtiwes fcave ibeseai sbuilt
under Aimerican ^GrodeErs. IDhe asseitbion that TtSaqy 'ha^vfe would
icaaase «BT\y iEturoipeain usiiiirsiad mam ito shrieik witjh lai^xhesr. To
iibean ithe American railroad is the ideal of ex^erytibing a xailiroad
.shold -not %e.
The American efficiency and .ability that 'gave us the Panama
*caral worald Emdouibtedily give oas the best caiiiroads if oar rail
roads -were conducted 'Hkeiflie canal, ^for-the Common 'Good. The
trouble with them is that they are conducted—and ruined for
private greed.
The same article most adroitly misstates the facts about
freight rates, creating the impression that the average payments
for freight transportation in Europe "are much higher than with
us.
If we are to believe the more or
less carefully veiled insinuations of a
•few newspapers, this state at present
contains some few thousand, suckers
who have parted with six dollars of
their hard earned money in a most
easy, foolish if not absolutely idiotic
manner.
Ridicule is hard to face and use
less to answer. But in inquiring into
the cause of the ridicule perhaps we
can find some excuse for the so-call
ed rubes.
This trick is done by concealing the fact that heavy freight
taking by far the lowest rates, is carried in America by rail and
usually in Europe by water. This, of course, seems to bring down
the average American rate. With other facts concealed is also
this that the classification and routing swindles, utterly un-*
known in Europe, often take more from the American shipper
thanithe European -shipper pays for the same weight and distance,
although on paper the American rate may look .the lower.
This is the kind of dope the railroads ate ifeed-ing to "the
press free of charge and ready to print.
Look out for alj^such poison.
Those Six Dollar Rubes
The six dollars went toward financ
ing a farmer's organization. Unlike
other associations among farmers this
one is openly a POLITICAL organi
zation. Hence the ridicule, the of
fensive and defensive weapon of those
whose poverty of mind is onfty "equal
led by their want of argument.
None of the -so-called "fcept" press
4»s -bad any -fault to find with the
Equity or -other farmers' -erganiza
tion so long as "they kept out of p«li
ities. *©n the contrary ^they-were fiat
teted «nd ti»eir members t»ld wihat «n
-eaioeiUent -Mimg -opgamztftion tamoag
^farmers would fee so $ong «s they iflid
not jet ipolities eeme in -to aet ibhem
•qaanreliHg. 03»e eteroty^ed tby4MMr
Mnfily -provided for «ur jtauunwi'
•dubs contain a jjtragBaph
fwBlacs to -enter into' iite ^diBcusai«i|^
«f the Members, ^he "dispteasove
nertaiin powers has 'been
shown when farmers'
have wandered away fcom the lady
litae JKBiywiaes .poeseribed if or ibhem.
Will some one sufficiently gifted^
Jellus Just wljy the farmers should
jiot .organize ^politically? iiaving the
powzer ±o vote, is the welfare of 4:he
jommunitjy anenaced If they jneet to
oansider bow best to use that vote?
Are the farmers a .class plotting the
destruction of the state .and ^nation?
Or^do they ^possess as much.intelli
gence as their neighbors of other vo-'
-r'
cations and are they not as patriotic
and peace loving as the rest?
The fact is, the farmer, in agricul
tural states like North Dakota, car
ries all the others on his back and
talking politics is bis hope of making
the other fellow get off and assist
him in carrying his burden. As long
as he keeps mum the other fellow
Will ride.
The present six dollars have not
been separated from the farmer so
•easily and uselessly as other dollars
we wot of. And perhaps the farmer
after all, is not always to xemain so
foolish and idiotic .as she has been in
the past.
•OLOF IHaBB.
LAHID «F 6EHTONAHHIHS.
Serbia is the country of centena
Tians. One man in -every 2,260 bis
•seen 190 years, and, in -ail, Serbia
boasts 575 men (tf 1*00 $rears -or over.
'Ireland ranks next with one -centen
arian in every 8,130 of the popula
tion,-or 578 in aW. 'Out of «every 48,
000 -Spaniards -one is a 'centenarian.
^Norway numbers 28, oite «bout
«6,000. England, fSeofW&iid anS Wales
rank next with 192, or one in ®T7jOOO.
France has 218 centenarians, wr one
in ISOfSO. "Swefien rBn 8evenHi with
JO oiiiy, ^r-one' in ^150,-«00. '-^Germany
fhas 76, -or -one in*702^000.'
IT.
©uring: the Orimean war collar:
•weftked into a Biiondda shap, and ask
-«d ifer a pound -candles.
^Gantfles are igj -a *penny -pound
today, «ir," said giecer.
"Why?" a^ted, Abe jhewer «f coal.
'Because .of the .Russian war, sir."
"Then why wdonTt the devtls %ht in
the daylight?" came the Jinal ^oser.
—Cardiff Western "Mail.
M£M§
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