Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1919-02-14

cause YOU cannot get n nnoney Ut.
Of this bank except on q hrst non
gage farm loan; secondly' wv have
borrow this school money ma. vii
referred to here Of twenty-seyen oan
lion dollars at five per cent: eaderal
borrow millions now from the ner
government at five ana q na.l neil-
cent. You are doing to sen .e nxaaad
sir mar cent. The federal govern
ment today is planning on issuing an ay
other great loan and is going 10 pay
fiye per cent, on these bonds. ~
NECESSARY to do 1t, because as tne
gentlemen have said. on this moor :.
day, the federal government pohus
are selling today below pal. Ihey az /
selling below par today .ne
interest rates in other countries,
which largely determine the lnteles.
rates all over the world are hlsnel
than our government bonds bear: AS
other countries arc paying a hlgne.
rate Of interest on their government
securities than the United States II 10
necessary for our country to pay d
higher rate Of interest on the next 10
sue Of its bonds in order to Keep tneni
from selling below par on the mar.
ket. Therefore. If it is necessary 1or
the United States government TO pay
five per cent on its bonds certainly inc
state" of North Dakota cannot eNpec.
to sell its bonds at five per cent anu
must therefore, pay six per cent;
The gentlemen Of the majority would
not agree to an amendment offered
today by the minority which wouio
propose. the state Of North Dakota
from selling bonds below cost, as they
said it would We the hands of tho
state government. The answer was
clear that either the state would sell
the bonds for less than par or PROB
ably pay a higher rate of interest IN
order to make it's bonds marketable.
"It seems queer therefore that IL
will be necessary for our state to pay
six per cent, on the bonds and prob
ably give a discount. Now, 1 want 20
ask you how much it is going to cost
the farmer to borrow this money from
the bank. Under these conditions
you cannot loan the money to. the
farmers at six per cent, as you Will
pay that amount when you borrow
the money and there will be the ex-
pense OF administration. The estab-
lishment of this bank is not for the
purpose of ~loaning money to farm
ers as you already have millions OF
dollars borrowed in this state from
the federal government and you pay
five and a half per cent. You also
have the school funds Of approXi-
mately twenty-seven million dollars
which is available for farm land at
five per cent and of this amount APP
been loaned to the farmers, there
fore it seems to me that the greatest
reason for this bank would be to
gather these millions in one place to
be used to finance the various indus
tries in which the state is about to
engage.
Il shall detain you but a moment
longer. When the gentlemen of the
majority and the gentlemen of the
minority come to eason out the mat
tiers in view the cold hard facts that
we are interested in the same thing,
the upbuilding Of North Dakota. In
n heat of debate remarks have been
made which would not be made if
mel were not under high pressure.
North Dakota has been my home
since territorial days. Here my ia
ther and mother came with eight
children, of which l was the young
est. We all went through the hard.
oAllpS Oh IdTm lie IN our early days.
We raised wheat and sold it for prac-
tically nothing and tried to pay the
interest on the mortgage and the
taxes. 1t was necessary for us to
walk three miles to tie school house.
over the dusty roads barefooted I
travelled in order to get the educa-
ton afforded by the country school
There is nothing in my heart but
North Dakota If some of the re-
marks that have been hurled from
to time, across this chamber to
effect that big business, directed
some of the activities on this floor,
were Intended for me, 1 emphatically
state that it is a lie. That big BUSH
ness does not control me. Little
business does not control me. NO
man living controls or can compel me
to follow any course against nv iudg-
l shall vote my own convic-
lions on every without fear,
without favor and trusting to the
Judgment Of the state for vindica-
ton"
Representative O'Connor's address
was greeted with applause from
galleries.
Discussion continued for several
minutes when it developed an inter-
estlng turn as Representatives Ness
Patterson became involved in a
heated argument that threatened for
several minutes to develop along in
teresting lines, but which quickly
subsidized. 4