Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1910-02-18

east, Cne nome VI DcHJoAAA i NoAA.S
ly, and Denver, on the west. the
home of Charles J. Hughes, and be-
tween Jefferson City, Mo-, on the
south, the home of William ]. Stone,
and the Canadian frontier to the
north; great reach of territory
either way, with $4,000 900 inhabi.
tants, perhaps-the wheat field, the
gristmill and the -four barrel, it
might be said of the republic.
Tall, angular and wide-shouldered
Mr.. Thompson is plain mantle
kind that Abraham Lincoln used to
talk about He has large hands
plough handle and pitchfork hands
big chin and an oratorical mouth,
and yet he rarely talks. His eyes
are gray, his voice is low, and his
manner is leisurely and reserved.
Black rust got into the wheat dur
ing the early summer of 1907. In
terest money on mortgages came due
in the autumn. But there was fl
nancial panic, and banks up and
down and across the country had sus-
pended cash payments. A mercen-
ary man, keeping within the letter
of all the canOns of business. might
have foreclosed and bought himself
rich at the cost of his delinquents.
But the Cando money lender, simply
factor for Eastern capitalists, ad-
yanced the interest out of his own
pocket and waited the next harvest.
A cheerful incident but not mention
ed to me by himself. nor limited. So
Fountain l.. Thompson, large OF
hands, chin and mouth, is also big
hearted.
/ Without a particle of art or any
of the flummery of self-compliment
or moralistic speculation. Mr.
Thompson solemnly gave the reas-
ons that Influenced him to abandon
the legal profession. His father was
country merchant at Scottsville, in
Illinois.
II worked on farms and clerked
in a bank during my boyhood.' he
said while in the employ of my
father read law with an uncle.
was admitted to the bar, but made
no effort to practice. Business suit
ed me better. At the age of twenty
four, a specialist in St. Louis ordered
me out of doors, saying had bron-
chitis and possibly tuberculosis
Therefore, with cash and credits
amounting to about 100000, I moved
to North Dakota, taking up quar-
ter section of land, in the hope that
living in the air would cure my all
ing throat and lungs. After I had
built one.room shack Of rough
boards and had ploughed the land I
returned to Illinois for the winter
In the spring took my family, a
number of horses and some machin-
cry to Dakota. bought and pre-
empted more land, and settled down
to live and die farmer.
In three years was elected
Probate Judge of Towner county,
and moved to Cando, seven miles dis
liant. The country was new, the SET
tiers we're. young, and there were
Few orphans and widows, and no
Wills to file or estates to settle. The
fees Of the probate judge, according.
ly, we're hardly worth mentioning.
So I began to loan money and deal
in real estate. The people were
poor, the land was being broken to
the plough, and the prices of farm
products were so low that there was
very little profit in agriculture. No
money came in from the outside un-
til the year 1897. Since then we
have not had any difficulty in get
ting all the capital needed to devel-
OPP the country a.
"You own a great deal. Of land
yourself" I said. "Does it pay?"
I'm North Dakota, at least, If the
land is good and ones renters are
energetic men, the returns Of agricul-
ture ought to be considerably more
than 10 per cent annually. Some of
my renters have been with me for
sixteen years. Several of them have
farms Of their own, but they rent
to Others and remain with me. A
mean landlord seldom makes any
money. He pinches his tenants. and,
without knowing it, pinches him.
self. ;"
''In my country it is the practice Of
the land owner to supply the seed
and to pay half of the cost of
threshing. The crops are divided
equally between him and the ten.
ant. A renter, IL he is worth any
thing at all, wants to make money.
Such man is the one to keep. The
livestock belongs to him and he ia
supposed to feed it out Of his share
Of the crops. It is well, therefore,
to encourage him to increase tho
number of his cattle, pigs, and
horses-to give him every opportun-
ity, In short, to become capitalist,
Farms managed in that way are very
profitable investments"
How do you explain the dear
prices of food?" ;
II might attribute the high cost Of
what one eats to the protective tar
Ill.," Mr.. Thompson answered, (which
You could take seriously or as a joke,
but I won't. As I see the matter,
the demand for food is growing fast.
er than the supply Of food. Every
city and large town in the country
Is drawing men away from the land.
!" Farmers sons are going Into the
milk, and factories. The railroads,
employing millions OF hands, are
draining the farms of their best la
Dor, % ).
9"While the cities are booming, the
country in a sense, is languishing.