Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1912-07-26
the EXPERIENCES OF AN
IMPLEMENT DEAIsA

: by ". H. Green q casehtOS.. Ne
Draska; % 20
) / have been In the implement bust
ness twenty years and thanks to the
vigorous vitality Of my ancestry,
am alive ! was a pet ageCt Of four
of the different harvester companies
Before the amaIgamation. | contin-
ued for two Years after the trust was
formed. but l never failed to regis
ter my convictions about the ultimate
result3 that greed would follow power.
A we'll sIoomed young gentleman
called upon me in the early part Of
1905 and after getting my conv4c-
tons. Informed me that he was in
the secret service of the harvester
trust and that l would have to shut
my mouth. told him thought this
vas Tree country, but two weeks
after three representatives Of the
trust arrived and transferred the four
lines Of harvesters had been selling
70 my competitor who already had
the other two lines. | accepted the
gauge d battle and began a cam.
paigu In the newspapers. contract
ed with an Independent line of har.
yesters and made a contract for half
a page in our weekly newspapers.
must have produced original matter
a the Implement Age Of Philadelphia
and Farm Machinery Of st. Louis re-
produced my advertisement IN their
publications every week. / was
sweNed up IKE mushroom until one
Gay a collector for the international
Harvester company presented me
with a bill for the independent line
had been selling. and derisively In
forming me that the trust he'd own
ed the Independents all Of the time
and had carried on the campaign for
the purpose Of batting suckers like
mysef out onto the limb and then
saving the limb OF behind them.
Since that hour my warfare has Teen
Of the guerilla pattern.
There is a rule in bridge whist
which says when in doubt play trumps
and on some such theory, | bought a
newspaper and | have never been
idle since.
Swift says that the man who make
two blades Of grass grow where one
grew before is a benefactor, there.
fore the stockholders Of the harvest.
er companies must lcok upon George
W. Perkins as a patron saint for he
made one dollar into five when he
took property and old notes not wort
thirty millions of dollars and coined
them into one hundred and twenty
million of dollars worth of negotiable
property, on all of which the Amer
lean farmer pays a large dividend.
l furnished the evidence and ex.
Senator W. V. Allen drew the plead
ings for am custer proceeding against
the harvester trust in Knox county,
six years ago. Edwin P. Grosvenor,
the brilliant young special assistant
attorney general of the United States
mas taken several extracts from thds
petition in the preparation of the in
struments he has filed in Minneapolis
to dissolve the trust. For some rea-
son we could never get this case
brought to trial in Nebraska. The
trust lawyers would have to be alb
sent In Europe one term and the
next their wives were sick or some
thing and finally the case was dismis
sed by our county attorney between
terms without my knowledge or co.,
sent.
A year ago when the department
Of justice finally decided to prosecute
the harvester trust the department
requested me to come to Washington
and bring my data and papers wsth
me. l had an excellent opportunity
for three weeks to mix with men
who are specialists in this kind 0f
work.
Before delivering the papers I had
brought TO Washington, several prom
inent democratic congressman and
senators tried to prevail on me To
refuse the documents to the depart
ment Of justice, but to retain them
for the democratic investigation whid
was sure to take place. Two resolr
tons were introduced in congress
one the Foster resolution l prepared
myself, and a hearing was held be
fore the committee no rules, on Jan
uary 18th, which the New YOrk pa
Ders considered Rienafinanf enn10h IL