The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1915-12-04

II Valley City's chance Of securing
the 100000 North Dakota Equity So
ciety packing plant depends alone upon
the enthusiasm of that town and
Barnes county, the remainder Of the
towns Of the state will have to keep
things stirred UP considerably to meet
its competition.
This was made evident at a mass
meeting which was held at Valley City
last evening for the purpose, and which
resulted In the appointment of a COM
mittee OF fifteen. which has the power
to go out. secure options on sites and
to raise the amount necessary to pay
for any site that might be acceptable
to the committee from the Equity that
has the power of locating this great
plant. There was no limit set by the
boosters on the amount OF land the
committee should buy or the amount OF
subscriptions it should raise to pay for
1t, the only instructions to this com
mittee being that there be enough land
of the right kind.
The committee appointed Is COM
posed of the following:
Mayor L. s. Platou, Lee Combs, D
S. Ritchie, Harry Green, Nels Olson
Martin Thoreson, ]. H. Whitcher, T.
A. Duff, Sam Aandahl, John Tracy
VIM. Olson, J. ]. Farley. James Grady
T. Melvin Lee, c.. E. Batcheller. VIM
Burchiii. H..'. .--.
The meeting last night was called
to order in the city hall with fully 300
business men of Valley City and farm
ersr of Barnes county present. The
farmers were present in goodly num-
bers considering what a farmer has to
do at this time of the year and this
was an evidence that the town has the
backing Of the entire county. the resi-
dents OF which undoubtedly realize the
great value 1t will be. to them as farm
ers and stock raisers. @.t
DIR. L. S. Platou, mayor of Valley
City, called the meeting to order and In
the election which Immediately fol-
lowed he was chosen permanent chair
man of the mass meeting, with Percy
Trubshaw, editor of The Valley City
Courier, as secretary.
In a rousing address Mayor Platou
stirred the meeting UP to a consider
able pitch of enthusiasm and It was
not a great while before 1t was decided
what to do.
''The North Dakota Society OF Equity
is Going TO build great packing plant"
said Mayor Platou In his opening adj
dress. so far there Is no preference
In the minds OF the committee, which
81.
this plant, where 1t shall be located,
except that it is going to be located in
North Dakota. There are a large num-
ber of towns and cities OF the state
after this plant, but regardless of this
fact and with the right spirit, do not
see why Valley City and Barnes county
cannot go out and get 1t. 1t is up to
us to put up a good fight now and If
we make up our minds now we are go
fno 20 NIB
ing to have 1t.
TN a great many respects Valley
City has little the better Of the prop
oSition than the other contending
towns. In the first place there is the
matter of sites. Sites can be secured
here that have all the requisites, such
as drainage and plenty of good water.
Then there is an abundance OF electric
power and last but not least by any
means, are the rail facilities. We have
two main lines and there are prospects
that a third railroad will be in here"
After dealing with the proposition
in a thorough manner Mayor Platou
called on a number of the others for
talks. Q. P. Emerson spoke on the
proposition as 1t would affect the
farmers Of Barnes county pointing out
that the securing of the plant would
not only be of great value to those
it would also provide a splendid mar
ket for fodder, hay and grain.
Atty. Lee Combs, who is also an
extensive stock raiser. brought the
meeting to consideration of the ways
and means of going about the securing
of the plant and stated that he believ-
ed the proper thing to do at the meet
ing was to get down to business. ap-
point a committee which would be
empowered to take the necessary
steps. This was followed by the
making of several motions and amend
ments to the motion, features. of which
were discussed at length.
Before the question was put. how
2 ever. G. ]. Lee of Valley City. who is
member OF the Equity locating COM
mittee Of three. was called on.
Mr.. Lee stated that the Equity does
not want a cash offer but that IL
wants a site. This plant is one that
concerns all Of the people Of North