The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1919-06-12

eclares President Mann.
haired roamers who infest North Da-
kota today. @
"They put nothing on the land; they
left to the generation that succeeded
them less of happiness and less of
prosperity than they enjoyed, and for
that reason they were wiped out to be
succeeded by a more intelligent peo-
|ple, and that will be the fate of their
prototypes of today. The whites came
| to stay because they came to hand
down tie same liberties and the same
rights they enjoyed. In no part of the
state today is there assembled group
Of men. who can be so powerful in in
surfing these rights and liberties as
the members Of the North Dakota Re-
tail Merchants association gathered
here tonight, if they will only stand
firm and united in the defense Of con-
stitutiorlt 1oHernment and right in
this critiSat THE in our own state,
"The men who served in France
came back with the idea that their
town was the best town in the state;
that their own state was the best
state in the union, and that their coun-
try was the best country in the world,
and they are prepared to fight for
these ideals"
sots From South Dakota
a,Y The president of the South Dakota
Retail Merchants association spoke
briefly, declaring he had travelled 36
hours to- cover $50 miles, changing
trains four times ip order to reach
Mandan for the meeting and that he
felt well repaid for the trouble. His
first experience in Mandan, he said,
was in 1887, when he awoke one morn
ing in his "side-door Pullman" to look
out upon a depot and a few scattered
buildings which then constituted the
city. He spoke on the wonderful
kf6wth and development which Man
dan showed and complimented the
men responsible for it. Tom Welo OF
Velva, introduced as a section boss
who had become a great merchant,
.modestlys begged off.
Oscar, Schultz brought greetings
from the Twin City johbegs and pr whole
5salefs. He spoke, Of pioneer days
when the merchant was the only
source 81 aid to whom the homesteader
could turn. "There WsA no banker
in those days, no railroads. The mer-
chant kept the farmer from season to
season. If there was q crop, ne got
his money in the fall; if there was
none. he had to wait another year, and
back Of the retailer stood the jobber.
They worked hand in hand all these
years. There have been times when
The retailer deemed the jobber unnec-
ressary, but there is today q better
spirit of cooperation, and in this
spirit I believe we stand on the eve. 0f
such prosperity as we never before
have known in this great northwest.
We have heard much Of the passing of
the little town. i don't believe it.
The little town Is here to stay. We
have only to look upon such successes
as those Of Mr. Hart Of Long Prairie,
Mimi, or Mr.. West of Jordan, Mont,
who is doing $3.50, 1000 year in a town
Of 3OO."
West Of Jordan, Mont, and Jordan
Of Minneapolis, were called upon IN
turn, and J. T. Nelson, pioneer mer,
chant of Glen Ullin, was asked to tell
Of merchandising as he saw it IN MS
long career. He declared the making
Of North Dakota depended upon each
and everyone doing his part. He paid
high compliment to the sacrifice
shown by Major J. M. Hanley IN the
service of his country and Launched
for him tentative senatorial boom.
The Toastmaster
Frank X. Gravel, veteran business
eetter, without whom no gathering OF
North Dakota retailers is complete,
welded the gavel, presiding with an
ability which contributed much to the
success of the banquet. His quips and
stories and personal "digs" kept the
crowd in laughter between talks. Nor
man Black sang several numbers, in
Guiding "Annie Laurie" as only he
can sing it, and he led the bunch IN
the community singing of songs made
popular by the way and in which fl 4,
everyone joined with vim. b
The Lewis & Clark was highly COM
mended for the excellent service which
Il gave. The viands were deliciously
prepared and tastefully served, and
j. i. Nelson declared that something
would be lacking were not the young
ladies' who so graciously ministered
to the needs Of the ravening horde
given their mead of praise.