the federated press reliable news
pretended assistance of
farmers a camouflage to
gouge* government
(By Fhe Federated Press)
Washington.—How the war finance
corporation conspired with the bank
. . . ... , j £ j .l
ers m big western cities to defraud
government of hundreds of millions of
dollars, while pretending tc assist the
farmer, was told to the senate agricul
tural committee Dec. 12, by John F.
Sinclair, Minneapolis.
The witness, who is president of the
John F* Sinclair banking corporation,
appeared in Washington as spokesman
for 310 small bankers in the farming
districts of Minnesota, Ncrth and South
Dakota and Montana. When the se
nate authorized the war finance cor
poration to assist the farmer, he sai ,
it was urgeçl and generally believedj
that the man who tills the soil would
derive some benefit.
« a
"This was the process, he
"was the small town banker who ha
loaned money direct to the farmer. B
was the city banker who took the far
mer's paper from the little banker.
When* the bottom fell out of farm
prices, farmers were going bankrupt
and the federal reserve board under
Governor Harding refused to make]
more loans, it looked for a while as if
the village banker and the city banker
1,1.1 cc -1 ... m
would both suffer along with the far
iner who could not pay.
"Then came the big swindle. It was
iiii i , c
decided that the war finance corp ° ra "
tion should step m and save the day. |
But no money went direct to «te tar j
mer. The city bankar, B, said to the
little banker, 'You owe us $40,00°
and you got to pay.' The little banker
asked how he should pay. 'Very
simple,' explained the big banker. 'You
liave some securities; turn them over
to the war finance corporation, and on
our recommendation the war finance
corporation will advance you $40,000,
if you promise to use that money to re
pay us.* "
"In four northwestern states," Sin
clair announced, "the war finance
corporation gave the little banker loans
of $60,000,000 on condition that they
would use it to pay their debts to the
big city bankers. - The farmer got
none of it ; he owes more today than
he evejr owed. All that happened was
that the U. S. government now holds
the worthless farm paper unloaded up
on it by the city bankers of the west."
According to Sinclair, farm
mort
gages in the four states he. speaks for
have increased from $169,000,000 in
1910 to $530,000,000 in 1920.
Taxes paid by farmers in that region
have increased from $99,000,000 to
$206,000,000 in the same period.
Short-time loans raised by the far
mers at high interest have swelled
from Seven Hundred Million dollars to
One Billion, Two Hundred Thousand
dollars in that time.
"Consider this staggering load of pre
sent obligations," Sinclair told the com
mittee, and you will see that what the
farmer needs is not more credit. His
land and labor won't pay for what he
already owes; why give him more
credit ?
"The farmer needs and must have a
bigger price for his commodity. Prices
must be stabilized at a decent level.
We are here to urge the passage of
some law like the Christopherson bill,
which empowers the government to
purchase in advance the estimated sur
plus of non-perishable products (to
resell them at leisure at the best price)
and shield the farmer from speculative
raids."
The Norris and Ladd bills contain
stabilizing features which Sinclair in
dorsed.
the king can do no wrong
(By Die Federated Press)
Scranton, Pa.r—A 20 years' fight
by the people of the anthracite region
has been defeated by the decision cf
the U. S. Supreme court declaring un
constitutional the Pennsylvania law
forbidding the mining of anthracite
coal in such a way as to cause a cave
in of the surface of the ground. The
law was enacted last year.
Under the supreme court decision,
coal companies can—and of course
will—continue their policy of reckless
mining which has ruined millions of
dollars worth of property and endan
gered many lives during the last 20
or 25 years.
THE SHAME OF CALIFORNIA
(By The Federated Press)
Oakland. — There are 75,000 illit
erate persons in California, 25,000 of
them native born, according to statis
tics compiled by Superior Judge Lin
cola S. Church of this city.
english labor party gains
(By The Federated Press)
London.—The new Labor party
made a* vigorous start in the house of
_ . r . , ,
commons. On the very f.rst day of
lhe , new r s r essi ™- iabör : now recognized
as the official opposition led by Kam
thej^ MacdonaIdj ^ j R c , ynes as
deputy leader, made a fine attack on
the whole policy of "tranquility," on
which the Conservative party got re
turned to power.
farm-labor governor for
popular inauguration
(By The Federated Press)
Oklahoma City. — Two thousand
farmers are expected to gather here
/Jan. 8, from all ever Oklahoma to dis
(cuss agricultura ] measU res with Gov.,
Walton, who was elected for the com-l
; term by the Farmer .Labor Recon-!
stn|clion , eague on the Democratic tick
et " Walton has invited all Oklaho-|
ma locals of the Farm-Labor union,
^ a g r j cu ]t ura ] organization of the
southwest, to send delegates. Individu
als have also been issued invitations.
greedy taxicab companies
responsible for death toll
(By The Federated Press)
Jjß]
toll from street accidents m this, the
largest city in the world, is a
the greed of the taxicab companies
whose chauffeurs are compelled to'.
k cn a commiss j on basis, or on ex
| ^ ^ ^ fae
pieced out by tips _ William F. Kehoe,
and La b or
to the members of the board cf esti
mate and the board of aldermen, urg-i^
es regulations to do away with this con
dition, and the revocation of the oper
result of|
a ^7 to Mayor"Hylan7nd
ating licenses of the companies which
fail to obey.
THE
UNIVERSALITY
OF GOOD
will
(By The bederated Press)
Washington. — Love for all, regard
less of sect or social status, was the
keynote of an address by Archbishop
Michael J. Cùrley before the Catholic
charities organizations here this week.
"Love the Jews, love the Protestants
and love those or your own raitn, he
declared. "This has! been my program
m 'he past, and I am asking you mèn
iff Washington to take it up and carry
Speaking of the poor and needy,'
the archbishop said: "Nowhere in the 1
world is there more inequality in the
distribution of worldly goods. Vast
wealth is in the hands of the few, and
a small proportion is in the hands of
the ma«iy. It leaves us with many to
care for, many who are poor and need
our help. I ask you to be good to 'he
poor of all sects."
malt syrup in disfavor
with organized workers
(By The Federated Press)
Chicago. — Union bakers asked to
remember that the malt syrup manu
factured by the Pabst Brewing Co., of
Milwaukee, is made under non-union
conditions, the company being at outs
with the International Union of Brew
ery, Flour, Cereal, and Soft-Drink
Workers.
"This malt lyrup is being principally
sold to bakery proprietors," declares
the official organ of the Bakery and
Confectionery Workers union, and
being an unfair product it ought to be
avoided by our members as much as
possible.
what usury does
(By The Federated Press)
Sydney, New South Wales.—An an
alysis of the private wealth of the Au
stralian people, based on the r eturn
made by all adult mâles and females,
shows the folloying results:
359,724 persons possessed nothing
925,461 persons averaged $150
314,514 persons averaged $800
374,108 persons averaged $2,500
203,125 persons averaged $13,035
13,718 persons averaged $9^!,465
997 persons averaged $338,575
466 persons averaged $988,465
Thus 4% cf the people possess 60%
of the wealth, and 96% possess- only
40%. Over 15% of the people have
nothing at all save the weekly wages
they earn.
' IT IS WORTH YOUR WHILE to
study our Pure Food Ads. and get a
sample crate for your use. It
your health is worth anything, you
should eat pure foods.—Llano Pure
Foods Dept.
an egyptian hegira from x
profiteering commercialism
(By The Federated Press)
Cleveland. — Action to resist the
high cost of living is laying the founda
tion for a permanent cooperative move
ment in Egypt, according to the All-!
American Co-operative commission.
In 1919, when profiteering merchants
raised their prices to impossible levels,
native students began to copy the Brit
ish co-operative systems. Since that
time, the movement has spread throu
... , .
W !. ac
out Esypt, and is now composed of
■ .• -,i . , i • t o"j
fnnnnn f * L T °c $2 '"
3Uy,UUU and a membership or more
than 345,000.
The center of this Egyptian move
ment is the pioneer store at Damietta,
which has been so successful that it
all borrowed capital
with î n t J hr . ee y , ears ' meanwhile proyid
.i'ng ^od for the people at prices they
Can
constitutional convention
for oklahoma vanguard
(By The Federated Press)
Oklahoma City. — Demand for- a
(constitutional convention to be called
(in Oklahoma before Nov. 1, 1923, was
' ■ 1 I a. 1 • , s • * r
ivoiced by the legislative committee of
'»L r I L 1 £ D
Farmer-Labor League of Reccn
jstruction and seconded by the demand
| f al r . f , 1 . c 11U
|\ention at McAlester, Okla.
The taxation program of the league
. , . .
.«»volves abolishing the advalorem tax
and substitution of a tax on the gros.sj
""IP* 8 of corporations, similar to the |
(California_tax statute. This can be ac
only by constitutional
j amendment. It is planned to distrib
te ^* e lax to school districts accord
to population, instead of to coun
of the Fa ™: Lal ? or state 'con-!
vention at McAlester, Okla.
| com P ! ; sheci
lies in proportion to their wealth.
A constitutional change will also be
necessary in order to have an adequate
workmen's compensation law on the
Ohio plan.
^^"Dj^ct'Tio. ' 1*7."U M. W. A.,
WHO IS THY NEIGHBOR?
(By The Federated Press}
Charleston, W. Va. — Families of
evicted union miners are living in tents
without flooring in some of the tent
colonies of Cabin Creek, Coal River,
and Elkins fields. Frank Keeney, près
has called on all locals to pay up their
assessments promptly sq that the un
ion may provide so far as possible for
jts evicted members
Continuing- its appeal to the public
to come to the aid of the miner fami
lies, The West Virginia Federationist
caustically says:
"Donations both stupendous and
small are being freely made for insti
tutions of a religious, educational and
benevolent character, funds 4 foodfr, and
clothing are being sent to the unfor
tunate of many foreign climes, but ne
ver a word or a whisper have we heard
from those in charge of these social
uplift drives anent the suffering and
the misery of the several thousand lit
tle children who are living in flimsy
and flcorless tents in the Cabin Creek,
Coal River, and Elkins coal fields of
West Virginia."
got under barrow's skin
(By The Federated Press)
Berkeley, Cal. —- President Barrows,
of the University of California, has
shown that criticism of the university
and of himself hit the mark. He has
expelled Roy Chanslor, editor of The
Laughing Horse, a campus satirical
magazine. Chanslor was within six
months of graduation when expelled.
court helps poor bankers
(By The Federated Press)
New York. — The court cf appeals
of New York state has held illegal a
tax from which the city of New York
derived a revenue of $5,000,000 a
year. The tax on incomtes of heads of
families earning $2000 a year? Hardly. !
The tax which the New York court has
nullified is a tax of 1 per cent levied
on the stocks of national banks. The
feel greatly relieved because
this much of the city's taic burden will
have to be shifted to the taxpayers in
general.
a judicial frame of mind
(By The Federated Press)
Stockton, Cal. — "If you don't stop
talking I'll come down from the bench
and give you a good beating." With
these calmly judicial words. Judge W.
G. Atherton, formerly an army captain,
addressed J. Lyon, arrested as a vag
rant and accused of membership in the
I. W. W. Lyons was protesting against i
the injustice of his arrest.
is it no crime to
kill union miners?
| ( By Tfce Federated Press)
( Wellsburg, W. Va. —Two to 10
years is the sentence facing Peter Rad
skovitch as a result of the verdict of
guilly of cons P' rac y returned by the
jury against him Dec. 6. He was the
second union-'mmer to be tried in the
Ciiftonvill cases covering the mine bat
Cliftcnville cases in which Sheriff H H
Duvall and six union miners we're
killed. Over 200 miners were arrested
but no arrests for the deaths of their
26'j_ c u f i • -n
comrades, shot by the sheriff s forces,
have been made
juries refuse to convict;
, judge dismisses cases
(By The Federated Press)
Oakland, Cal. —On motion of Dis
trict Attorney Ezra Decoto, charges
have been dismissed by Judge Samuels
against J..H. Dolsen, J. E. Snyder, J.
G. Reed, C. A. Tobey, Sr., and J. A.
Ragsdale. The defendants, members
of the now defunct Communist L^bor
party, were recently tried en bloc for
criminal syndicalism, and the prosecu
tion-picked jury disagreed, standing
n'u^VT '"' "TT"
Uolsen had previously been tried
u i • •
arately, with hung juries
Charges sti „ stand
® e
ul • d • i
omith, now in Russia, and against C.
ting communist literature.
against Edric B.
A _ ^ j cha ; d ;
L;„„ • ' T circula
BAVARIAN REACTIONARIES
.
workers aroused against
|
(By The Federated Press)
Munich, Germany.—The workers of
Bavaria are up in arms against the
government for permitting conservative
and reactionary organizations to hold
meetings and propagate their faith in
violation of the federal laws. They
have sent an appeal to their fellow
workers in other parts of Germany -to
supnort them in their protest.
One of the buildings that is now
be'ng guarded night and day by work
ers' guards is the plant of the Muen
chèner Post, the leading socialist news
paper of Germany. There is said to
be a plan on foot to raid and plunder
the building in much the same manner
as workers' newspaper headquarters
were wrecked by the Fascisti of Italy.
a follower of rooseveltism
/By The Federated Press)
New York.—Mrs. Dora Margowski,
36 years old, is- the /mother of 22 chii
dren. Her husband left her four years
ago. She earns $8 a week. She
arrested because her daughter, Leah,
15 years of age, didn't go to school,
The magistrate scolded her, and then
asked her what she had to say.
'It's pretty hard to watch all the
children when you^have 22," she re
plied. The magistrate looked surpris
ed. She went on:
'When they were all home Ï often
brought home 18 loaves of bread at
night, and that was all we had to eat.
Now some of the children are dead.
Hebrew societies have five of them."
The magistrate reflected, then his
face brightened.
tence.
'*Your children must attend school,"
he said impressively, "but I wish Col.
Roosevelt was alive to give you a med
al."
He suspended 'sen
united they'll win;
divided be knoçked out
(By The ' Federated Press!
St.* Louis.—A new and solidified
lineup of organized labor in this city
is seen in a joint conference board per
fected by the St. Louis Central Trades
and® Labor union and the Building
Trades council. The joint body is com
posed of the president and the secre
tary of each of the two central bod
ies. The new organization will, its
sponsors point out, weld the organized
[wage earners of St. Louis together for
! joint action in matters that effect their
mutual interest. This get-together
move eliminaes a gap which for some
years has existed between the two fed
erated organizations o'f St. Louis labor.
"This is the first step to remove the
friction which has existed for some
years between these two central bod
ies," says Thorfias McNamara, presi
dent, Building Trades council. "La
bor will insist on receiving what it is
entitled to. For these reasons, and
with such a program, the conference
board is organized." ,
women jubilant
Washington. — Leaders of the Na
tional Woman's party here are jubilant
i over the Wisconsin supreme court de
cision upholding the state's equal rights
law.
jobs and foreign markets
(By The Federated Press)
At the end of November, there were
approximately 1,400,000 registered
unemployed among the industrial po
pulation of England. This represents
a considerable increase during the
month. Announcement h^s- been made
that unemployment will be considered
the principal domestic problem before
the new parliament.
national unemployment
league organized
in new york
city
(By The Federated Press)
New York. — To advance human
welfare "by endeavoring to assure to
every man and'woman, chiefly through
the inauguration of public works by
federal, state, and municipal govern
ments when necessary in times of in
dustrial depression, the opportunity
for employment," the National Unem
ployment League, Inc., has been o
ganized here. The organization call
was signed by 100 men and women in
church, labor, social welfare^ and ju-!
P"jand of Washington.
. ,
ncunces, will be by legislation, the use|
operation public works, the league an
"ounces, will be by legislation, t)
G f t h e po ], ce power> t ] ie r i g ht cf
ernin
ent domain and taxation. Neither
bonded indebtedness, says a statement
of the leagues purposes, for snort>
terms nor taxation for such sorely
needed public improvements, would be
felt by a people given the assurance cf
permanent employment.
100 % PROFITEERING PATRIOTS
IMPORT STRIKE BREAKERS
(By The Federated Press)
New York. — The importation of
strike breakers from Europe by the Le
high Valley read and the New York,
New Haven and Hartford, will be in
vestigated by the U. S. department of
labor, according to a letter received
here from Secy. Davis to David Wil
liams, secretary of the striking shop
crafts committee.
monotony of industry
causes over-fatigue
(By The Federated Press)
Washington.—Shorter working hours
. t0 counteract the over-fatigue of body
ar| d dullness of mind resulting from
the monotony of many of the indus
wastries in which women are employed,
'are advocated in a radio broadcasted
j'y thë woman's bureau, U. S. depart
ment of labor,
u. s. senator james couzens
(By The Federated Press^
Detroit. — James Couzens, who re
signed as mayor of Detroit to accept
the seat in the senate left vacant by the
resignation of Truman H. Newberry, is
one of the most uncertain strangers to
appear in Washington since the stan
dard political parties became clubs for
the leading lawyers.
He has had no legislative experience.
In his executive experience as mayor
of Detroit he enjoyed the free hand of
a popular dictator, riding into ofice on
a new constitution and a non-partisan
ballet. His experience in organizing
the street railway department, follow
ing the purchase of- the traction lines,
made him a confirmed proponent of
government ownership of public util
ities, at least on a municipal scale.
wilson responsible for
invasion of siberia
(By The Federated Press)
Tokio. — The United States, under
President Wilson, is blamed for the be
ginning of the disastrous Siberian ad
venture from which Japan has now
ignomirfiousiy withdrawn.
An American-owned and edited news
paper, The Japan Advertiser, makes
the charge in an editorial entitled Vlad
ivostok Russian Again.
-officials violate state law
\6y The Federated Press) *
Los Angeles. — Eighteen members
of the I. W. W. have been arrested
here and given sentences of 50 days
apiece because they picketed employ
ment agencies to inform prospective
workers of the strike at the Southern
California Edison Co. construction
camp. The state law requires that
strike conditions be mentioned; but
the authorities refuse to recognize the
existence of the strike because it is
called by the I. W. W.
premier jan smuts
and savage repression!
(By The Federated Press)
Johannesburg, So. Africa. — Peti
tions for amnesty bearing 35,000 sig-
natures and asking for the release of
strikers now in prison and the dropping
of all charges growing out of the" ris
ing of last spring have been presented
to- the governor-general of South Afri
ca.
The petitions read in part:
"Arising out of the recent industrial
trouble . on the Witwatersrand, large
numbers of citizens, British and Dutch,,
including a large proportion of return
ed soldiers, have been tried and are
still awaiting trial in magisterial courts
as well as in the special treason court
appointed by your excellency and be
ing held at Johannesburg.
"The sentences passed and the con
tinuance of these trials are preventing;
an assuagement of the bitter feeling
•which culminated in the recent indus
trial trouble and which is still in exist
ence.
"Vcur petitioners believe that a re-
IhT'senTenc^pasVd "and the
declaration of' a general amnesty for
,w,i,i„ g ,„,1 i„ co„„ e ci,o„
; with the recent industrial troyble wouldf
jtoad to allay the bitter feeling which
exists and would help to establish
pea d happiness jn the Union of
'South Africa.'
p rince Arthur of Ccnnaught, the
governor . general , agreed to rece ; ve the
petition8 after p rem ; er Jan Sn)Uts ha<r
>efused tQ haye anyth; tQ do ^
lhem _ Smuts js conducti thg ga
repression which set in after airplanes
had bombed , he ^ councjf ha „ an( j
compeiied the stnkers t0 surrender.
ITALIAN REFORM
(By The Federated Press)
Rome. — The Mussolini regime has^
decided to make an assessment dit
workers wages. Telephone services
are to be handed over to private en^
terpnses. Mussolini has guaranteed^
that socialist and communist deputies
who were banished from their constit
uencies shall be reinstated. While'
the government has not definitely sup
pressed the communist papers, their*
fuilher issue has been prevented "iir.
present circumstances."
emasculate ship subsidy bill
(By The Federated Press)
Washington. — If it consents to pay
the price the Harding administration'
can probably jam the mutilated ship
subsidy bill through the lame duck sen-^
ate.now in session. The price it must
pay is a special session of the new con-
gress, to be called immediately after
March 4.
But a special session of the new con^
gress is, above all things, what the
Harding administration does not want.
Moreover, the subsidy bill as amended
in the house is no longer worth fight--»
ing for m the minds of its intended
beneficiaries. *
fur workers win
(By The Federated Press)
New York. — Following a four
weeks strike in Philadelphia, conduct"
ed by the International Fur Workers'
union, 58 members of the Fur Mfrs,
Assn. have signed agreements with the
union to run for two years. These
establishments employ 90% of all the
fur workers in Philadelphia.
one big union
for plutes but
competition f0rî workers
(By The Federated Press)
St. Louis. —George White, former
chairman, Democratic national com-
mittee, new a spokesman of Standard
öil, addressing the annual dinner of
the American Petroleum Institute here,
advised his fellow oil kings to "get in"
to politics if you find yourselves the
victims of unjust taxation and unwar
ranted government interference."
\i A i" president of the Stan
ard Oil Co. of Texas, defended the
idea of one big union of,business. Hfr
spoke of the follies arising from com
petition. He mentioned the needless
antagonism between companies con
structing pipe lines and declared that
pipe lines should be built and main
tained under joint ownership. Other
speakers denounced the trend toward
socialism.
have you a friend who is in
terested in real co-opera
tion? see that he becomes
a reader of the llano colon
ist at once. order a bundle.