The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1912-02-01

very able plea before the committee
Of the Fargo Commercial club. which
met this week to discuss the Fargo
market proposition. MI. Flewell said
in part:
Mr.. Chairman and honorable gem
tiemen OF the commercial club of
the city OF Fargo: / can assure you
It Affords me q great deal of pleasure
to De present today to present to your
offlcial meeting these three petitions,
one from Grandin, one from Hunter
and from Gardner representing
SO worthy a u The petitions by
h way are very generously signed.
not only by the farmers, but by local
merchants in the small villages along
the line Of railroad tributary to Far
so.
These petitioners are praying the
assistance and cooperation of your
honorable body to use every legitimate
means to induce the aldermen of the
city OF Fargo to have as soon as con-
yenient a farmers public produce
market established in the city OF
Fargo. In the past we have appealed
directly and indirectly to the city OF
Fargo through the press to have this
market, but I think this is the first
time we eve came after it.
1t puts me in mind of the very
common story told Of a darkey pray
ing several days for a Chicken" but
no chicken came; finally he prayed
that the Lord would send him after q
chicken, and, gentlemen, that very
night a chicken came. While past
history repeats itself many times in
the life time OF even one generation
Of the human family yet we seem slow
to derive the benefits designed by ex-
periences. Many of US who are old
enough to remember when we used
punk and flint for lighting purposes
and when these were superseded by
matches, the tallow candle by coal
oil, the grain cradle by the reaper,
and 1t by the harvester, and again
the hand feeder by the self feeder, the
straw carrier by the blower and the
small cambria needle by the sewing
machine, etc. Now, all the time that
this revolution was going on there
was a certain class of people con-
tinuously crying out, eff this or that
device is introduced 1t will interfere
with our craft" Yet in a very short
time these same parties were asham-
ed that they had ever been so narrow
minded as to express such opinion
whatever.
Take for example just a few years
g when The Fargo Forum sent out
its agents to establish the rural free
delivery, how the local merchants
along the railroads cried out with one
prrprH tTP kIAzo 4ar-11r1 .n4 3. ~ a.,
mail delivered they will not be COM
PEELED to come into town to buy our
goods, but will consult the catalogues
and send away for their goods and
u craft will be brought to naught."
Therefore with one accord they raised
their voices, Great is the calamity
that will befall us If we consent to
have this rural free delivery establish
ed" But, gentlemen, It has come, and
come to stay, n instead of a yearly
deficit in the treasury postofice de-
partment of $780, 900 as in the past,
there is today a surplus of some thou
sands under the wise management OF
Postmaster General Hitchcock.
There was a circumstance similar
to this, to the speakers own knowl-
edge in of our local hotels. A
merchant declared he opposed this r..
f. D. for reasons stated above and
referred the question to me for my
endorsement, If there was virtue In
farmer being compelled to go five
or six miles twice a week for his mail
why not a mutual agreement between
the farmer and local merchant to dis
with the Grandin postoffice en-
tirely and all get on a hand car and
to Fargo for mail twice q week. !
If there raj virtue in going six miles,
there must be four times as much
virtue in going twenty six miles.
The subject Of a farmers public
produce market established at Fargo,
N. d., seems to meet with much APP
prevail by the farmers and local mer-
chants tributary to that city for the
following reasons, viz:
The educators Of the various agri-
cultural institutions which are or
ganized and kept up by our local and
federal government for the purpose
of experimenting to find out what
crops are best adapted to our eli
mate and various conditions Of soils,
and they have been unanimous IN
their advices at the tri-state con-
ventions held at Fargo and other
cities throughout the state to 'tdi-
versify" their crop products, and by
so doing would return to mother
earth the elements which have so
naturally robbed her Of her fertility
by a continuous small grain CROP
ping, and mo doubt these same edu-
Gators have been tried over the slow
that us tiIlers of the soil seem
to make under their instruction, but
1t seems to be customary for all great
reforms TO move slow.
Now. I have often thought when l.
sat in former tri-state conventions
that it was a wonder that these same
educators could not see the difficult
ties from our side of the fence. But