The Ward County independent. [volume] (Minot, Ward County, N.D.) 1902-1965, 1905-01-11
snWALLIN TAKES HARD
FALL OUT OF TRUSTS
Believes in Equal Rghts=-Tels Of the Beef
Trust--Would Compel Manufacturers to
Sell Directly to the Consumer

uiils. Aile liDtIlly klleW WIS
not a lumber dealer and did not
want to give mo their prices.
We are talking a good deal
about equal rights. Ii we had
such a thing as equal rights, why
should not one man have the
same right as another, to buy a
car load Of lumber from a lumber
company for the same price as
another? And why should not
the one man have Alright to have
a car load Of lumber shipped by
the railroad companies for the
same price as one who belongs
to q trust!
Here is another example: Not
long ago l had a fat COW butcher
ed. / sold one of the hind quar-
ters for seven cents per pound.
1t brought me $40. Had | sold
all the dressed meat OF the same
animal at six cents per pound, it
would have brought me 1886.
The same kind OF an ANNA, brot
me $18 clear in st. Paul thisfall.
It Is safe to say that those same
animals which are broughtdown
to the market, by farmers and
stockmen, at a loss, were sold
again in the form Of dressed
meats for three times the price
paid to the stock raisers. For
the last three years, live stock
has been going continually down
in price. But dressed meat has
not been going down any. The
beef trust is telling us that the
reason live stock is going down
in price, is due to there beingtoo
many cattle. Why cannot the
beef trust also let us know the
reason We never get too much
dressed meat, SO as to make
prices go down on that article
also?
Last summer, needed some
repairs for my farm machinery,
and consequently Iwent to Minot
to buy it. | went to the respec-
tive,,agent and was told that they
did not have it on hand, but they
would give me an order to the
wholesale house. | went to the
wholesale house and got it, on
the agents order. The reason
for this was Of course, that it
would be against the rules Of the
machine companies to let the far
mer deal with the wholesale
house. The agent had to have
his rake off on the deal.
For my part, l feel that we
farmers are treated like children
who aresunable to attend to our
own business. = We farmers are
the only ones using farm imple-
ments and if it was not for the
farmers, the manufacturers could
not exist. But we are not allow
ed to deal with the manufacture
ers. Ii the manufacturers and
machine agents were treated like
that, they would consider that
it was an insult which in reality,
it is. But the farmers humbly
submit to be treated like this.
The present method OF distribu-
tion has been in existence for
such a lorg time SO it has almost
become q second nature OF the
average people. And the un-
scrupulous men who do not hest
tate to take advantage OF their
fellow men for their own benefit,
avail themselves OF present con-
ditions and the result is that
large fortunes are gathered to-
gether in a short time. The far
mers and laboring classes are
toiling year after year, with COM
parativaly no betterment for
themselves and families. We
have laws against highway rob-
berry, and it is well that we have.
If it was not fer the laws against
it, no man would be safe against
highwaymen. It would in fact
be impossible for honest men to
exist. But it is lust as necessary