Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1900-10-18

ieertainly. He asked me how much
1T was, and said 14 cents q pound.
Wei. he said he thought that was
rather high, but It looked REASONABLY
good, and he thought he would buy
Some anyhow. He took that Irvine
home. He had three eighties In one
field and had just made one round,
which would make two miles and
hall, the whole round OF three eighties.
The man is farming over 600 acres of
land. He put one ball Of the manila
tWane In one reaper. They were Of six
loot cuts, and one of each OF the other
machines had the old Saltwater twine.3
He started to so around this two miles
and a half on the same piece and the
machine that was at the head of the
procession was the one that had the
manila twine, SO, If there was anything
IN favor of that, it made the longer
turn around. He made three trips
around that piece with the manila
tWtne, and he did not get around twice
with the sisal Irvine. His boy had
been to school and he figured 1t out
and saw about how it compared in
price. The sisal cost him here, with the
freight added, 10h cents; mine cost
him IA cents "a pound, and he found by
figuring 1t out that my Irvine was
cheaper at IA cents pound than the
Saltwater Irvine was at 1O12. So, you
see that he paid 31a cents pound less
for my Irvine when you come to con-.
slider the amount of work it would do
and was also making a fair profit. d
was not, selling it at cost So you see
that this tWine, instead of being
cheaper than it had been before, upon
Investigation is found to be higher, and
the farmers of Minnesota are COM
PEELED to pay the state higher price
for the Irvine than they could pur-
chase it at all over this country from
their local dealers, to say nothing about
wholesale prices. 81 #5., III
Future Danger to the Plant.
But that is not the serious feature Of
this controversy in regard to our Still
water Irvine plant. We can stand
loss, it is quite small to each farmer,
but the serious thing about it is this:
Hoy many Of the farmers who ordered
that kind Of Irvine that year will send
in their cash orders this year or next
year? How many, do you suppose, will
do that with the knowledge before
anything but sisal Irvine, anufactured
by a lot of men who don't know the
difference between good and bad
Irvine? Do you suppose they are going
to send their money there next year,
and in the month of January, February
and March, to pay for that Irvine or
the product Of that Irvine plant? So
the consequence is that we will meet
with the same conditions that any
other manufacturer does when he can
not dispose of his property, and when
the next legislature meets it will meet
under a condition altogether different
from that which confronted it when
Gov. Lind took hold of that plant
There was a surplus at that time Of
some 100000. and to-day according to
State Auditor Dunn, the fund is over
drawn over 10000. Now. what will
be the overdraft year from now, pro-
vided we do not dispose of the Irvine?
And in order to dispose of 1t we must
sell it at least as cheap as other COM
mercial tWines are sold or else the
farmers Will not patronize us. Then
you will see the enemies Of the Irvine
plant from all over the country, and
there are, as I say, a good many of
them, applying for the Wiping out. Of
the whole institution, and they will
have all these facts and figures before
them to back them up and show that
the state is running behind. Up to the
present time we can say that it is the
only plant Of its kind in the state that
was making a dollar and that was the
situation when Lind got hold Of it; but
no Cff Inn - -1oxy to- = No
way behind MS
Now, then, what he promised was a
reform. He promised this Irvine at
cost, intimating all the time and con-
veying to your minds that you were
not getting 1t at fair and reasonable
rates. The price charged at the time
that he was making these charges was
5a cents for sisal, 6A for the half-and-
half, and Z cents for pure manila, when
every commercial Irvine dealer at that
time was selling it at from II to II and
up to Is cents pound.
: Now, the farmers were not satisfied.
A great many of them thought that
they were being wronged and robbed
at that time, and thought chat perhaps
with a change they would be a great
deal better off. What has the result
been? Either Gov. Lind, at the time
he made those charges, was mistaken,
or else he had not investigated the in
stitution at all; for, if he had: he could
readily have found out the facts. s,tsztl
Gov. Lind Directly Responsible.
& But you will say he is not to blame
for that. The men who are handling
that business are to blame for it. Now,
hot 3r ~ o11 Ivy fyryyaN hYIfd To- ny