The Bismarck tribune., 1919-04-01
T0WNLEY CHAIN
STORE SCHEME
is SMOKED OUT
Consumers United Forced to
Call Meeting of Its Certifi-
cate-HOlders
EXPLAIN FIGHT ON LANCER
Big Boss Touched in Raw Spot
by Efforts Of Blue Sky
Board to Investigate =

Smoked from cover by the impOr-
| tunities of the state banking board,
or. blue sky commission, the Cansum-
ers' United Stores CO. has called its
Icertificate-h holders to meet at their
stores Thursday to select delegates
to a state convention to be he'd in
Fargo on Saturday, which meeting,
the notice says, will be held to in
vestigate. and examine the books and
| records '}of the Consumers United
stores Cos .. 81 ~..
~ Upon the same date the officers Of
the Consumers Co. have been in
Nited by the blue sky commission to
appear before it at its offices here
to open it's books, reveal it's manner
of doing business, and show cause
why it should not be compelled to re,
organize on cooperative basis, or
dissolve and distribute it's assets
among the 1900 certificate. holders
who have subscribed the S1,50000O in
resources to which President John J..
Hastings recently testified before the
blue sky board.
,. Ignored State Authority.
Tie Consumers Co., has ignored
two previous invitations of the same
tenor 1t is unde! stood to be the sen
timent Of at least two OF the three
members of the blue sky commission
that, should this third request meet
the same fate as it's predecessors, &C:
tion be started against the COnsum-
ers' Co., with view to holding its
officers criminally liable for the viO-
lation of the blue sky laws with which
they are charged.
The local meetings called for Thurs
day ut the "store points" ana the
state meeting called for Saturday,
both for the alleged purpose Of giving
the farmers an opportunity to go over
the books, are the first recognition ac-
corded the certificate-holder in the
Consumers Co. since they paid in
their 500. A few meagerly stocked
stores, in which the average invest
ment is said to not exceed $4,000,
have been installed BY the company,
but in number Of instances, such
as Strasburg, where $4,000 was SUD
scribed last August, months have
elapsed without bringing the su2scrib-
ers even semblance of store. In
the meanwhile, the Consumers Co.
has accumulated, according to its
president, $1.5C0,000, which has been
entirely at the disposal of the board
of directors OF the parent company,
consisting OF Hastings, Job Brinton
and two or three other Townley satel-
ties. These funds have been used.
Hastings testified, to buy stock il
league banks and in other enterprises
Directors of the parent company ap-
pear to have done well, as Brinto.. Is
said to have acqired in his own name
more than $4,000 worth of stock in
two Stark county banks.
Cause Of Langer Feud.
The attempt of the blue sky com
mission, directed by Attorney General
LANCER and Secretary of State Hall,
to investigate the affairs of the Con-
sumers' United Stores Co.. close
corporation whose operations have
been very closely guarded, is general
ly admitted about the stateheuse. to
have been the cause of the personal
and direct campaign which President
A. C. Townley is waging against At
tOrney General LANCER. :.
The attorney general has never in
timated that he is opposed TO any
feature of the league program. He
has never questioned the validity of
the state bond issues. In every pub
lished statement he has taken pains
to make it clear that he stands firm
ly back of the leagues industrial
program The Townley drive upon
LANCER did not begin until the blue
sky commission had commenced nos
ing into the business ef the Consum-
Continued on Page Three