The Devils Lake world. (Devils Lake, N.D.) 1911-1911, 1911-04-07
CARRY FIGHT TO WASHINGTON
500 North Dakota Men Voice opposi.
ton to Reciprocity at Grand
Forks Meeting.

Grand Forks, N. d., April 5.-Over
five hundred business men and farmers
met in this city yesterday to protest
against the ratification of the pending
reciprocity agreement with Canada.
After several addresses against reci-
procity, resolutions protesting against
the enactment of the pact by congress,
and communications to President Taft,
asking that he reconsider the matter,
were drawn up and approved.
A number Of North Dakotans will
visit Washington and make known their
objections to a reciprocity agreement
with> Canada. H. c. Hansbrough, w. T..
Purcell, T. Twitchell, J. A. Buchanan,
R. T. Kingman, N. G. Larimore and r..
G.. Copper were appointed as members
of general delegation, and they are
to be accompanied by representative
from each county.
Among the speakers were Treadwell
Twitchell of Fargo, former speaker; P.
v. Collins Of Minneapolis; J. NJ. De.
vine, former governor, and A. E. Cham
berlain, of Brookings, S. D. The re-
mainder of the evening was given over
to one-minute addresses by farmers and
business men.
The communication to President Taft
referred to the Republican platform on
which he was elected, and stated that
his party had the right to presume that
he would uphold every feature of it
and that the enactment Of the agree
ment for which he is sponsor was in
violation of his pledges. Following are
the resolutions adopted:
We; the farmers and business men of
North Dakota, in convention assembl-
ed, protest against the ratification by
congress of the United States of the
pending trade agreement with Canada.
In view Of this attitude the following
declarations were unanimously adop-
ted: ~
First-That it is unfair and unjust
to agricultural interests, Offering to
them no semblance Of reciprocal equiv
alent in return for what it purposes to
give. .
Second-That it will bring suffering
and disaster to a very large number
of our producers with no hope that the
price of bread will be lowered to the
consumer.
Third-That the duty on barley will
accrue in benefit solely to the brewer
mourning great loss to the producer
Fourth-That it places our farmers
in the position of competing in GU,
home markets with alien people, upon
conditions most advantageous to ou1
competitors.
Fifth-That the Canadian producer
with his cheaper land, requires small
er investment, while his new virgin
soil returns greater yields with cheap
er tillage, making the per bushel cost
of his product much less than ours.
Sixth-That it "blazes way' fol
emigration Of thousands Of our people
and millions of our wealth to a foreign
field.
Seventh-That it will reduce farm
values, increasing the burden of thu
debtor and destroying the incentive 70,
greater development of farm produc
ton, and .ure to the alien benefit Of
untold millions of our wealth tina
should and would accrue to this an
future generations if employed in thu
development Of those vast untitled
acres that lie between the Mississippi
river and the Pacific within our owl
borders.
Eigth-That it will lower the stan
dard of farm life, reducing it to on"
drudgery, lesson opportunities for bet
ter education Of farm children AM
drive from instead Of encourage then
to remain upon the farm.
| Ninth-That it will lessen the pur
chase power of our own producers ant
by SO doing, commercial interests will
suffer greater loss than can possihl,
be overcome by any gain in trade will