The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1917-07-23
SOUTH DAKOTA
PLANS TO MEET
|. W. W. DRIVE
Home Guard Companies
Being Formed to Act
Against Agitators

II
Pierre, s. D., July 23.-The prob
lem of filing the labor needs of the
state during the coming harvest sea-
son, while at the same time averting
the disorder and loss that ordinarily
comes in the train Of the migrant
army Of harvesters, is engaging the
attention of state and county defense
councils and of farmers organiza-
tions throughout the state.
While the first of the harvest
gangs are beginning TO arrive and
the states armed forces are MOBILIZE
ing for departure to Demina, N, M,
training camp, units of Home Guards
are being Organized in many locali-
ties, and the state defense council
has recommended the extention of
the plan to all counties.
Home Guard Formed.
These home guards consist mostly
of men above the conscriptive age
limit, but after the draft will be ahg-
n1ented by those whose names are
well down on the lists for military
service. The war department has
been asked to provide arms for the
home guards as rapidly as the local
organizations are perfected. These
armed companies under military dis
cipline, are expected to deal with any
situation that may be- provoked by
the ]. WV. or other 5disturbers.
Threats to burn the South Dakota
grain crops have been ascribed to /.
w. w. members, and federal as well
as state officials have counseled
watchfulness against such possibili !.
ties! \.
Situation Last Year.
Last year the /. w. w. members
invaded the harvest sections with
demands for wages up to So a day,
drove out practically all laborers
who would not affiliate with the
order, and were responsible for many
acts of personal violence.
Travelling in gangs on freight
trains, they looted cars, tdefied train
crews and kicked off all harvest
hands not Of their organization. One
murder charged to members of the /.
w. w. occurred near Vermilion.
Citizen posses finally were formed to
expel the I. w. w. agitators from
the state.
Cooperation Sought.
Cooperation with other states,
particularly Nebraska and Iowa, has
been sought in order to take care
of the annual menace. Plans for uni
form site laws governing the har-
NCSL SLdlIOIlS "SIS llOJ OuI
fully, but the discussion and COM
practical cooperation.
Troops on guard at the. Missouri
river railroad bridge at Sioux City,
Iowa, are acting under instructions
In stopping trains and, compelling. /.
w. w. men, to get off and dispense.
The gangs now are travelling over
land In many cases, pitching their
camps in the open at some distance
from towns and cities. i
Movement Much Slower
Hundreds of workers are on. their
way here from the Kansas harvest
fields, and households are expected
during the next few weeks. The miI'
grafton this year, with the familiar
practice of riding" freight trains
removed, will necessarily be slower.
In other years in season every
freight train coming into the state
from the south was alive with farm
hands, beating" their way to the
harvest fields. e.
The work of directing the labor to
points of greatest need will be CEN
tered at Huron, where statef free
employment bureau, headed by A. p.
Stowell has been established. Ehis
will be in operation at least three
months. Federal experts have aided
the state in this work.
|. w. w. Demands High.
Price finding for harvest labor has
been adopted as a measure OF fore
handedness by the Council or De-
tense of Beadle county, and similar
plans are being considered else
where. In that county the average
wage to harvest hands is set at SO
per day. That ranks fairly high as
compared to normal prices. put IS
well below the high figures set by I.
w. w. demands. @
Pointing out that there are not
and cannot be farmers enough to
cultivate all the available land In
South Dakota next year, the Beadle
county council also by resolution mas
recommended that every one owning
land which is not actually farming
it put improvements on it so that 1t
can be farmed by tenants.