The enterprise. [volume] (Harlem, Mont.) 1899-1926, 1915-03-18
THE EQUITY MEETING.

The society called special meeting
and advertised Mr.. George Lotus of
Minneapolis to speak. Mr.. LOTUS, we
were told, would explain to us the
merits of the Equity Cooperative
Exchange, instead both he and Cook
lngham spent greater part of the
afternoon in an attack on the Cham
ber of Commerce and in an attempt
to spread suspicion amongst the far
mers of this community against the
bankers and merchants and the two
elevator companies and the personal
character of those who had been re-
ported to him by his local agent, be-
cause they had dared to express
doubt on the usefulness of this
Lotus Exchange or the sincerity OF
| Mr.. LOTUS or MIR. Coollingham.
We received a personal invitation
to attend the meeting and we ac-
cepted, only to find out that we had
been marked out for chastisement
and had been ranked by the mama
ger of the Exchange on the side of
big business -
We need scarcely tell the people
Of this community that we are not
the agent for the Chamber of Com
merce or for the railroads, nor for
the Amagamated Copper Co., and
do not own dollars worth of stock
in any Of them. Neither are we op~
posed to the farmers getting the ton
prices for their produce and will at
any tine help them in any way we
can. l admit being guilty of pointing
out to Cookingham certain things
I did not favor and considered
wrong in the Equity movement. /
very much disapprove OF the Equity
agent telling the farmers that the
merchants of the town of Malta were
not honest, of expressing doubts of
the efficiency Of the Equity Ex-
change in getting better prices for
farm produce.
We believe we were even bold
enough to doubt the entire disinte-
RESIDENCES of Mr.. Lotus. To eX-
press any doubts Of this kind is trea-
son in the eyes of Mr. Lotus and
Cookin CHAM and must not be allow
ed to go unpunshed Hence we had
to take our turn along with Mr.. 81
monson and the bankers, who We're
made to feel the disapproval Of
LOTUS and COoGingham.
I The Enterprise has been charged
! with fighting the farmers interests.
Just exactly the opposite is the case.
- We do all we can at all times for
. the interest of the farmers and
\ will cotinnue to do SO as we see it,
3 and in this case we are firm believers
y that the Equity is not the thing the
: trmers want and they will find 1t
4 out of time. The t armers want a
Z union the same as any other trades.
Il people and in that union they will
y find strength We do not think
) however, that the farmers aroun(
Y Malta need the like of Lotus and
Cookinghem to tell them where tt
Il head in, and especially when the,
\, are the ones who have to do the pay
n ing for the heading. Lotus get
|: his share of the spoils and his lieu
!. tenant Cooknigham gets the rest.
Y Five years ago we came to Mon
4 tana from North Dakota and at thu
IL time we landed here we possibly hat
= as much ready cash as the most o
/: the homesteaders who came at tha
a time or since. A little better thai
&. three years on a claim and one crol
q in three years was our experience
N For a time we paid cash for every
I: thing we bought and after that ou
{. cash ran pretty low and we wer
N forced to ask credit. We knew o
q the workings of the Equity fro,
(: North Dakota, had been in the news
N paper business for about twent
y years and was thoroughly acQuainl
81 ed with the various mail order hous
u es. 1t was credit we needed an
= the thought never entered our min
III that the Equity was in the busines
" to help out the needy farmer, neitl
Is err did we try to get credit from tn
~ mail order houses. The merchant
~ of Malta carried us for eVerythin
81 we needed until we were able to pa,
M People coming here from North D;
S kota, Iowa, Minnesota and Othe
t1 states in the south and east wei
H quick to remark how much hight
Il things were here than at their O]
w homes This is true to a certain e.
tent. 1t costs more to get car loa
- of food products or machinery he1
from the Twin Cities than it dot
}, several hundred miles further eas
We have been pretty well up an
e down the line from Malta and fir
4 the prices in the various towns con
= with the prices in this town an
= have come to the conclusion th'
q costs the people of Montana more
= do business than in the east whe
. wages and freight and interest a
= lower.
= Cookingham and LOTUS spent tt
entire afternoon in saying nj
a things about the editor Of this pap
< O.W Simonson. the bankers and me
. chants and never in the entire tn
, did they tell the farmer anythil
. of the Equity workings, and VIII
= Mr.. Kirkman, a farmer of the sou
country, asked him to give some
. the workings of the society he Cal
= fully evaded the question and t
= farmers and rest of us came aw
= no wiser excepting for the new sla
words wehad learned COOkingh;