The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1889-02-22
SSUED EVERY FRIDAY MORNING.
Rms, 900 PER YEAR
FRIDAY FEBRURY %. 1850.
THE NoRWEsT FARMER.

En1Da1 VLDhO IL lSSv.
THE NoR'WEsT FARMER.
The communication from the edi.
tor of the Nor west Farmer, last week,
is really its own best answer. lie
says "May ask what did say that
was improper" "1f1have exaggerat.
ed or garbled kindly prove It," II
copied what the Minneapolis Tribune
said about the starving settlers of Da.
kota and told my readers that Dakota
was no paradise" "You unfairly in.
sinrmted that have disparaged your
soil and climate" II have used facts
which l know are facts.' "IIit us rs
hard as you like in the same way.''
These expressions sound to us about
like this. didn't hit you. only did
what others did, didn't hurt you, if
did hit you, didn't mean to hit you.
Hit me in the same way.
The two first expressions quoted,
are equal to saying, there is nothing
wrong in copying from other papers.
This is false proposition, because
granting that only the truth is copied,
any mans character or country's rep.
utation, can lie bclicd and ruined by
the truth. when that truth refers to
impcrfections and these only. No
man, no country should be judged by
imperfections solely.
Then us to the truth of the copied
statements. We quote. "You say.
that the story (of the starving settlers)
was disproved three weeks since, l
submit that u disproof of that state,
mcnt has not been made" This is
pretty near saying that the PIONEER
EMPRESS IS liar, but we will again
repeat, that the story of the suffering
and starvation in Walsh county has
been denied by every paper in the val.
ley, by U. S. officer sent to inyesti.
gate. Ivy the authorities of Walsh
county and by the residents in the vi.
entity; and further. these denials and
dlsproofs were published by the press
at large. two or three weeks previous
to the issue of the last Nor'west
Farmer.
Again he quotes from the letter of
the New York Herald correspondent
and from an extract said to lie pub.
lished by the PIONEER EXPRESS, both
of which refer to the paying of 30 per
cent interest OF borrowed money. lie
says these he knows to be facts, leay.
ing the reader to suppose that this is
the regular rate of interest in Dakota.
Let us see; of the thousands of Cana.
dians, who have settled on this side of
tie line, nearly all have contracted
large Indebtedness during the first
years, a large proportion of them ow.
ing at times more than their property
would sell for. To-day. they are pros.
porous, their possessions have increas.
ed many fold, their debts in proper.
ton, have largely decreased and thous.
ands of them, who had but little be.
sides what brought them here, arc to.
day worth from one to ten thousand
dollars above their debts. They have
done this largely on borrowed capital.
Could they have done it and paid
thirty per cent interest? 1t is absurd.
One half of the borrowed money in
this country is OH farm security and
hears an average of ten per cent i'm.
terest. One half of the remainder, at
least, is purchase money on machine.
ry and stock OH which the interest is
about the same, never more than
twelve per cent. On the rest, where
it is for short time and OH personal
security, the rate, plus the bonus
charged by the agent, is sometimes
higher, but ordinary bank loans at
thirty, sixty and ninety days are
twelve per cent. OF course there are
exceptions, where the borrower is
needy and the loaner sees an opportu.
nifty to drive hard bargain, it is done
and we have never seen u land yet
which was entirely free from this
class of extortioners. However, if a
man pays more than twelve per cent
he does it willingly; because hy the
statutes of Dakota, 10 matter what
agreement has been made, only legal
interest, twelve per cent. can be col.
lected.
The editor of the Farmer further
says we unfairly assume that he dis.
paraged our soil and climate. In our
original editorial, we referred to other
papers in Canada who misrepresented
Dakota and it was these We had III
mind when speaking of soil and eli.
mate. But what is the inference that
will be made as to the soil and climate
Ut Dakota when it is read in the
Farmer that money is worth thirty
per cent and that settlers are starving
because their crops were frosted.
They know the majority of farmers
here are Canadian.born like them.
selves and if they cannot get along
any better then represented by the
Nor'west Farmer and other papers of
Canada, there must he something
wrong with the soil or climate. There
remains no other reason.
The Nor'west Farmer copied mis-.
statements to the disparagement of
Dakota. Its attention was called to
these mis.statements, and its editor
comes forward and says. II know
them to be facts" and closes with the
absurd statement that lie does not be.
lieve in disparaging any part of the
valley.
Why these .disparaging remarks
about this end of the valley were
made can be guessed by the 10000
Canadian.bOrn American citizens