Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1907-02-23


may never have another bumper wheat
crop of the record breaking kind, and
this will not be because of any de
terioration ofsthe soil or any epidemic
of rust in the grain, or bad weather.
It will be due to the will of the farm
ers. The farmers are rising in their
might and demanding that they shall
receive a good market price for their
products. If necessary, in order to OBJ
3 tain it, they will themselves curtail
the production. There must be no
more over-production, which shall
make for low prices on the fruits of
the soil,
All this was plainly brought out at
the meeting held here yesterday after
noon for the purpose of organizing the
North Dakota branch of the American
Society of Equity.
The farmer is under no moral obi
CATION to feed the rest of the world at
an unfair price," said Theodore G.
Nelson, state organizer Of the Ameri-
can Society of Equity, in his closing
address before the convention and
words to the same effect were uttered
by several of the other speakers.
In the course of his brief speech, ac-
cepting the Office of president of the
state organization, to which he had
been elected. James Holes of Fargo
said:
IL it becomes necessary in order
that we may obtain good profits we
will cut down the production. When
j / stated to a friend of mine that one
Of the purposes of this organization
was to raise the price of wheat, he
said, You can't do it. ss
But I say, we can ] have been
in New Orleans when cotton was sold,
delivered at the leyee at 6, cents a
pound, and I was told that at that
time under the prevailing labor con
ditions, the planters could not afford
to raise it for less than cents a
pound. Later the planters formed an
organization similar to the one we are
now forming and since then the price
of cotton has been from to IL cents
a pound.
I'VE can raise the price of wheat,
3 and if it is necessary that we reduce
Z the amount of wheat we raise in order
to do this, I am willing to do my
share
Speaking along the same line, earl
Ter in the afternoon, o. G. Major Of
Hope, said !:
Tt is not the biggest crops that
make money for the farmers The big
gest crops we have raised have
/ brought us the smallest returns be-
cause the price has been so low, while
/ out Of the short crops we have made
money. Jim Hill and some others are
doing everything they can to have
every acre of ground placed under
cultivation and to induce the farmers
to raise as much ais possible. No
! wonder Mr.. Hill wants big crops He
gets the same price for hauling the
grain every year no matter whether
the farmer is selling his grain at a loss
& or not. He gets So an acre rent out
of every acre of land alongside his
lines But the farmer does not profit
BY the bumper crops.
There is no other state which has
/ been bIed so much as North Dakota,
for no other state in the union is rich
enough to, stand it,
Dollar wheat is the battle cry OF
{ the new association. North Dakota is
h the last great wheat state in the union
to be organized under the banner Of
the American Society Of Equity, and
according to the plans of the organic
ers there will be SO many members Of
the society in the state before the next
4 harvest that their action together with
tina Of he members in the other wheat
growing states will have material
effect on the amount of grain pro-
duced. q. n
Before adjournment yesterday the
North Dakota state union chose James
Holes Of Fargo to be it's first president.
The other officers elected were:
Vice President @. G. Hauan, May
vile.
Secretary o. d. Pauley. Hillsboro.
Treasurer Martin Erickson, Rey-
nolds.
The following board Of directors was
elected: George Murray OF Steele
county; G. w. Glasgow, Pierce; III.
steinberg, Grand Forks; Thomas Pen
dray. stutsman; G. B. Hanson, La
SMoure.
According to the rules governing
the national organization the annual
meetings of the state societies are to-
be held in October but owing to the
! fact that most Norh Dakota farmers
win be very busy at that time it has
been decided to call special meet
a