The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1915-06-03

tions of the state, gathered here to
discuss the question of the big ter
minal elevator which the society hopes
to erect in st. Paul this year. st.
Paul has given the society a 300-foot
site on the levee, with four railroads
passing the spot, to be for the use
of the society at the nominal rental Of
$40 per year as long as the society
operates on cooperative lines.
These meetings are for the purpose
of arousing the farmers to the need
of building that elevator for the hand
ling the crop of 1915.
There were fully $50 farmers pres
ent, about 200 from Barnes county and
a number of farmers elevator men
from other North Dakota towns who
are considering the matter Of placing
their grain this year with the Equity
society.
The meetings began bright and early
Monday morning in the city hall.
c. B. May acted as chairman of the
meetings, except as otherwise noted
Mr.. May is from Argusville, but he
used to be of Valley City. He came
here in 1872 and worked on the North
ern Pacific road in the vicinity of Val
ley City. He is now one Of the big
farmers of the state.
The morning meeting was mostly
taken up by the elevator men and a
lot of points were threshed out to the
satisfaction of those present.
The meeting Monday afternoon was
called for o'clock, but on account Of
the Decoration Day exercises it was
postponed until 4. At that time the
hall was crowded full, a number of
ladies being present and as interested
as the men. After a prayer A. H.
Frye, of Berlin, told of the necessity
as he, as manager of a farmers
elevator, saw it for the organization
of the farmers elevator men and for
terminal facilities free from the in
fluences of the Minneapolis chamber
of commerce.
Ernest Myers, who has. just taken
up field work for the Equity, next told
of the position of the middleman on
the bridge which connected the pro-
ducers with the consumers and of the
toll he took.
Delegate Kehler, of Valva, author of
the Equity song, favored the audience
with his rendition Of it, and answered
to a most enthusiastic encore.
Grant Youmans, of Minot, is the
author of cooperative credit plan by
which he eblieves the farmers may
finance their affairs. He called atten-
tion to the fact that they had not been
able to get help from the government
or from any other source, and thought
that the plan he detailed would fill
the bill
S. H. Nelson, who has lived at Fin
ley since 1880, told OF the way they
marketed their grain in the days when
they had to steal their cars. His re-
marks on the present situation were
forceful and he was greeted with great
applause.
S. H. Greedy then took up the bal
ance of the afternoon with a presenta-
tion of the iniquities of the chamber
of commerce and the public storage
system. He showed how the Equity,
with an elevator on the Mississippi
river at st. Paul, with storage and in
surance cut to actual cost, could mar
ket grain direct to the millers at
fraction Of the cost Of the present sys-
TEN. He showed the figures to prove
his contention that the chamber of
commerce and the public elevators
took about 46 cents of the price Of the
farmers grain and absolutely fixed the
price which his grain should bring. He
was heard with interest, even though
he talked for almost two and a half
hours.
After the afternoon meeting there
was big subscription taken for
shares in the st. Paul elevator.
Before the afternoon meeting the
farmers living just east of Valley City
met and organized the Equity Trad
ing Co., for the purpose of erecting an
elevator at the east end of the High
Line, the elevator to be erected on
the section line between sections 10
and 20, 140-57. The capital stock of
the company was fixed at $4,000 and
application will at once be made for
a charter. There are about so sigma
lures to the stock subscription list
and the elevator will be built in time
to handle this years crop. L. Nolti-
mier acted as temporary chairman and
Bert Bruins as temporary secretary,
which organization will hold until the
organization is perfected and perma-
mont officore oloctod n