The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1910-07-22

to 1869, farmers We're paying two and
three per cent month interest on
i loans, though the legal rate was only
IL per cent per annnm, tea was ~
pound, sheeting as high as 30 cents
yard, and other merchandise as high.
in proportion. To pay that usurious
interest and those high prices the farm
ers sold wheat as low as "A cents per
bushel oats for 10 cents, barley for
20 cents, corn for Is cents, pOr, dress
ed, for less than So per hundred
pound, cattle for lH cents per pound,
butter for 6 cents per pound, and
eggs for cents per dozen. This
says nothing about cheating on weight,
grades and bookings. What "sheep"
the farmers have been to their shear
ers. They have made governors, sen
atOrs and placed in other positions
OF honor and trust the very men who
have robbed and spoiled" them and
other benefciaries of the evil condi
tions. Of course, the burden was n
great deal more than great many of
the farmers could bear, and they lost
their land that Uncle Sam, had so
generously given them under the home
stead law. Paying the interest they
did and buying and selling in fixed
market it did not take much of a
debt to swamp farmer, for at the
time ! am writing of $500 was all he
could borrow on ne-fOurth section
of land. Hence with the prices of
machinery, ETC., up in the air the debt
! ridden farmer soon reached the ''lim-
it" and that without having received
very little value for his homestead
| There is Il lake in Martin county
that is named after a farmer who
lost his farm under mortgage he
gave for sulky hayrake. Others,
TO my knowledge, were "swamped" by
team, a barn, house, a pasture
fence, reaper, harvester, many a
one by threshing machines, and more
still by mortgages they had given on
their lands to secure store bills. 1t
was credit until after harvest. Moth
ing to pay with then. The book account
put into note secured by chattel mort
gage. Nothing to pay note with when
due. Then to save team, live stock,
ETC., from being taken under chattel
mortgage real estate mortgage. Moth
ing to pay mortgage on farm when
due, a foreclosure, and down and
ont farmer, a laborer or renter
McCleary says, AL Ward is one of
the upbulders of Southern Minnesota"
AT any rate he is master at build
some twenty years ago. At that
time AL. wanted an "organ" badly in
Martin county, and as Frank A. Day
owned the only one in Fairmont, and
as Frank and AL were at outs, Frank
would not let Al. play on his "organ."
The Sentinel.
Nothing daunted, (you cannot daunt
AL Ward,) he went to work to build
up an organ of his own. And with
his usual thriftness he sent around
the hat among the wheel horse demo-
Gratis to get the building material"
If he had named the paper right he
would have called it "The Al. Ward"
but that name would not have fetched
the ''where with" and as Frank A.
Day was absolute monarch of the G.
o. p. at that time, in Martin county,
! AL. perforce named his organ The
Martin County Democrat.
Some thought that the mission of
the Democrat was to "pulverize the
ring" to smash the machine of Boss
| Day. It's real mission was to elect
/ of register of deeds. A register of
deeds knows the financial standing
OF every real estate owner in coun-
! ty, hence the Importance to a money
loaner merchant, and machinery deal
err having a friend in office. But
Franks machine was too strong for
APs, The Martin County Democrat fail
ed in its mission so it climbed the
fence, and now is known as The Mart
in County Independent. 1t is still
''The A. l.. Ward;" but for the time
being will train with the G. O. p.
And his old enemy, Frank A. Day,
has seen a great light since then, and
has become a political ''whale" in the
party of Jefferson and Cleveland. So
he can afford to be friendly and "po.
little" to the old man, for Frank knows
the voters of the second congressional
district won't do thing to AL. if
they can get at him with their votes.
A certain eminent Southern Mime
sofa railroad attorney" thought once
he was running for judge of the dis
trict court until the votes were count
ed. A. l.. Ward might take a lesson
in discretion from him. Standpatism
of the McCleary brand is dead in this
district and neither he nor any after
his kind can resurrect it.