The Oakes times. [volume] (Oakes, N.D.) 1906-current, 1915-02-11
WILD SCENES ON
FLOOR Of HOUSE
Question Of State Owned EIeva-
tors Cause Of Trouble.
FARMERS ARE OUT N FORCE

Debate Marked BY Exchange of Bitter
Personalities Between LssIsia-
tors and othsre.
Observation-Disclosures the leg.
stature reconvened after its weeks |
recess It came together with . bang.
and the opening day was marked by
. scene the like Of which has seldom
been witnessed 1t any previous ses.
sion. Before proceeding to an &C.
count Of the climax on the floor Of the
house It is best to look back into his.
tory and recount the steps that led
up to the remarkable exhibition be-
fore mentioned. North Dakota has
long believed that the grain grading
system Of her sister state has been
inimical to the farmers Of this state:
that the officials In charge have been
under the control Of the grain gam.
hlers Of the Twin Cities. and that un.
der this system the farmers Of this
state have been robbed Of millions Of
dollars In years gone by. This feel.
Ing was not at all allayed on the show.
ing made By United States Senator r.
]. McCumber. when he introduced his
bill to provide for federal grain grad.
ing. and when in arguing for his
measure he showed how little Of
No. hard wheat over reached Twin
City markets and how millions Of
bushels of grain graded az No. hard
was sold by Twin City grain dealers.
10 great became the agitation that .
remedy was proposed in having North
Dakota build her own terminal eleva-
tors In Minnesota or Wisconsin. or
both. It was necessary to amend the
states constitution to accomplish
this, and in 1909 the proposed amend.
|..Asnt was ratified by the Legislature.
d It was by the 1911 legislature. The
matter was submitted to the people in
1912 ana carried with more than 37..
900 majority. In 1913 the legislature.
to carry out the program. provided
for the levy Of tax Of oneeighth OF
mill. the money 20 raised to be used
in the building Of the proposed eleva.
tors. Tho same chapter made 1t the
duty Of the state board of control of
penal and charitable institutions to in.
vestigate the matter Of location Of
such buildings. the cost Of buildings
and sites. and to submit plans for the
equipment, machinery. methods and
rules for their operation. together
with recommendation - to the most
favorable locations.
I. f. +
The Boards Report-ln compliance
with the Law the board made o volum
inous report. which was nothing more
or lees than Q large. heavy. wet blan
ket upon the whole affair. The board
decided and recommended that such
an elevator be not built: that It would
and could not benefit the state or its
farmers: that its cost would be far
beyond what the state could AFFORD. Il
It were to be ct all efficient. and tina,
the cost Of its upkeep would be q
burden that neither the state nor ita
farmers would care to shoulder. Fur
ther the board cited the example Of
the Canadian governments attempt
along this line and asserted that the
attempt had proven . failure In oil
respects.
Another Amsndment-This was mo-
tho only terminal elevator plan. In
1911 and 1913 another proposed
amendment was approved by the two
Legislatures. providing for the erection
and maintenance Of terminal elevator
within the state. This amendment
was voted on at the general election
In 1914 and received . majority In
proportion to It's elder brother Of 1912
Then the Oeiuos-The farmers ol
the state. and particularly those be
longing to farmers organizations such
as the Society Of Equity. were certain
that relief was in sight through legis
lation that would be enacted under
the two terminal elevator amendments
to the constitution. They we're salts
fed that now they would have some
protection from the exactions which
they felt they had to bear in selling
their grain. Judge then Of their dis
appointment and indignation when
the report OF the board OF control
reached them and when they learned
that the legislature contemplated &C
cepting the report and giving over
any hope Of building an elevator either
within or without the state. After sil
years Of anticipation. to meet such a
realization was more than most strong
men could stand without wincing
Therefore when the legislature recon
vened there gathered in Bismarck
over 500 farmers from all parts OF the
state. mostly officers OF the local so
cieties. and headed by George s. Lof
| tus Of St Paul and J. N. Anderson OF
Fargo. chief officers OF the societ.