The enterprise. [volume] (Harlem, Mont.) 1899-1926, 1915-12-16

- " asesfaaaf III Ser-Si a-aF4sSsr
ADVANCE PAYMENT MADE BY
THE WOMEN OF WOODCRAFT.
Two weeks ago was surprised
ing placed in the way of the pur-
chase BY the Women of Woodcraft
OF the 100000 Montana Farm Loan
ton.
Information that I then received
caused me to go to Portland, Ore
gon, to meet there the new attack
and If possible discover the source
of the malign influence operating
against the Farm Loan Law.
found a letter there from w. c.
Rae, state treasurer of Montana, adj
dressed to the secretary of the
Women of Woodcraft, calling his at
tention to what the treasurer de-
scribed as 'Section 121 of the Con-
stitution and Bylaws of the Wom-
en- of Woodcraft," and asking the
secretary, If the provisions of that
section would not prevent the wom-
en- of Woodcraft from purchasing
the Montana Farm Loan bonds?
That letter was dated November 18.
The secretary answered that no
such provision existed in the con-
stitution or bylaws of the Women
vof Woodcraft.
found also, that Mrs. c. c. Van
Orsdall, the grand guardian, chief
executive officer of the Women of
Woodcraft. had received a letter
from e. r. Harper, insurance COM
missioner of the state of Colorado,
inquiring as to whether or not y 1t
was q fact, as he had been advised,
that the Women of Woodcraft con-
templated investing 100000 in
Montana Farm Loan bonds, and in
timating that he was in very great
doubt as to whether or not the
Women of Woodcraft could invest
in those bonds-which, coming from
the source it did, was tatamount to
a warning to the Women of Wood
craft not to invest.
She advised the Colorado Com
missioner of Insurance that she con-
sldered the Montana Farm Loan
bonds entirely available for the in
vestment of the reserve funds and
contemplated making the purchase
of which he had information.
! found that a Portland attorney
had advised Mrs. VanOrsdall, in an
elaborate opinion, that he believed
the Farm Loan Law of Montana was
unconstitutional in it's entirety.
In his speech at the Lewistown
convention the State Treasurer hint
ed that the part of the Farm Loan
Law which set aside $4,000 as a
revolving fund to protect investors
under that act, might possibly be
unconstitutional, but he stated in
answer to interrogatories from the
floor that it was his unqualified
opinion that the remainder of the
act, including the appropriation of
$1,000 to meet the expenses of the
department, was entirely constitu-
tional.
The Portland attorney had gone
very much farther to discredit the
Montana Farm Loan Law than
Montana enemies of the law ever
dreamed of going.
While there is nothing of sub
stance to all these inuendoes, hints,
suggestions and whispers of possible
pitfalls, they are intended to have
and they do have far reaching in
tluence towards discouraging timid
investors and did have their inuence
upon the minds of some of the ex-
ecutive officers of the Women of
Woodcraft and did cause them to
hesitate and doubt, and they again
carefully reviewed every feature of
the investment before taking final
action. And then they did act.
l was present at the meeting of
the executive committee of their
grand board of managers, at which
they took final action and at which
they directed that an advance pay
ment of $4,000 be made into the
state treasury of Montana to be ap-
piled upon the purchase price of the
100000 bonds not yet executed.
Such is the abiding faith of these
officers in not only the value of the
investment but that their action will
be approved by their membership.
In view of these persistent efforts
by some body or some interests to
discourage investment in these
bonds I deem it proper to turn back
a few pages and review little.
There is cause for every result
The state treasurer totally and dis
mally failed to make any sale of the
bonds or even to secure any favor
able consideration for his tentative
offers to sell them. There is another
cause that has not yet been pub
lished.
The secretary of the Women of
Woodcraft called my attention to
what purported to he a notice of a
bond sale which the state treasurer
was careful to send to the secretary
under date of October 26, in a