The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1918-01-10
DAKOTA in THE
0LDEN DAy'.'s!

0LDEN DAsS..S!! !! !.
Issues Of the Present Day Farmers
Organization Outlined by Loucks
Thirty Years Ago.
FARMERS RAILWAY PROJECT
From the Great Lakes to the Gulf,
and How and Why it Proved to be
Failure.
edwin c. Torrey, in Minneapolis
Journal.)
Thirty years ago H. L. Loucks,
president Of the Dakota Farmers AL
lance, in an address before the an
nual meeting at Huron, struck the
keynote for all the farmer move
ments that have developed since. The
principles he advocated at that time
are those today Of the Society Of
Equity, the Farmers Union and TO a
large extent the Nonpartisan league.
1t was at the Huron convention in
the winter Of 1898 that he recon-
mended the following planks in the
Alliance platform:
Construction Of terminal elevators.
Political independence and support
Of men rather than parties.
Conservation of natural resources,
particularly public land Containing
coal or timber.
Reciprocal demurrage charge
governing the furnishing Of cars for
the shipment of grain.
Repeal of import duties on every
article for the manufacture or sale
of which combination or trust has
been formed.
Independent candidates for office
whenever the old parties nominate
men known to be hostile or indnfer-
ent to the purposes Of the Alliance.
Construction and operation Of coz
operative flour mills, packing plants
and other industries within the state
to the end that the finished product
only Of the faYmers should be shipped
out Of the state ,s is's@ = =
Here then was embodied the Non
partisan idea Of political action. He
said:
E IT would like to see the day when
our wheat will all be ground in Da-
kota and the flour only sent abroad;
when our livestock instead of being
shipped out alive is slaughtered in
Dakota and the cured product only
exported" 1.
Certainly the Loucks leadership did
not lack for initiative and aggressive
ness. True, it made no effort then or
later to overturn state constitutions
and to write new ones, so that the
bonds and the credit of the state
could be used to establish mills and
packing plants.
But in another respect these men
set the pace for Nonpartisan league
leaders today. They undertook to
build railroad from the head of the
Great Lakes to the Gulf. They called
It the Gulf & Interstate. Mr.. Loucks
urged # in his address at Huron, but
it was not until in the -'90s, when he
had been elected president Of the Ma
.tional Farmers. Alliance, that the the
project took tangible form.
Mr.. Loucks wanted trunk line
constructed and operated by the gov.
nrnment .sar. the states as am expert
ment, in government ownership. The
I Yraf0ht rates CHARGED III North Da;
!. kota were then higher than rates .foI
like service on the eastern ends q
the same roads. AS the traffic fdr!
nished BY the Dakota pioneers was
I chiefly Interstate, power TO- regulate
by state legislation was lacking. i.
I : Port Arthur, Texas, Oh the Gull
az, Mexico; was to. be the southern
terminus Of the proposed road, anc
either the Canadian twin ports o.
Port Arthur and Fort William, oe the
American ports Of Duluth and super
ior, were to be the northern ter
minus, thus assuring water colinec.
..tions. It was planned to- build thu
line parallel with and as near the
eastern boundary rs practicable q
StOe 0IBlI1G, StACSS Va ANVAt4A N.s~e 49,
Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoms
and Texas. The railways Of thess
states generally run east and west
and MI. Loucks contended that, witt
" i great north and south road cross
ing them, it would be easy Tor tn'
states to regulate the rates on freigh'
\ originating ia western districts 9
the junction points. Each state couls
control traffic within its own jurisdlc
tion, while traffic outside would y
regulated by the interstate board.
The project was supported BY hum
dreds of communiti ties, and for yea
81 so made great .headway. Port AZ
thur provided terminals without cost
and even helped q build : sectio'
I. % the roadbed. The executives q
I the states gsnerslly rave approva
,ud the governor q Nebraska calle'
4 ! conference.
Matters seemed % b going alonl
4 4 -, - r0lv r,nfil Warf3nll and Othe