The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1919-10-16
GO SLOW Is
YOUNC'S ADVICE ] ice


cided stand against the Plumb plan
for government ownership of railways,
and advises farmers to go slow. He
says:
ssMy study Of this question has con-
vinced me that the Plumb plan for
ownership Of railways is uneconomic,
and that it would be injurious to the
public generally and particularly to
the farmers. The plan proposed by
Mr. Plumb briefly stated is for the
government to purchase all railways
and turn them over to.a board made
up Of two-thirds railway employees,
one-third working in the general offic-
es, and one-third working along the
railway lines, thus giving the em-
ployes control Of the business.
Let us run this proposition over
briefly. You are a farmer. Transpor-
tation is the biggest Of all farm ques-
tions. The balance sheet is influenced
more by freight rates than by any
other item. Freight rates means more
to agriculture than to any other in
dustry. 5s N
Farmers pay the freight both ways
just now it is difficult to determine
where the price Of wheat is fixed. In
time Of peace it is Liverpool, the Min
neapolis price being Liverpool carriage
charges off. In other words the farm
ers pay the freight in time of peace
through to- Liverpool, and pay sinlil-
iarly upon other farm products thru
to the ultimate place where prices are
fixed. They also pay the freight upon
all merchandise and machinery pur-
chased. For their threshing rig they
pay Nhe Michigan price, plus freight,
for the auto Detroit price, freight add
ed, and upon the same basis for every
implement used on the farm. 1t is
even worse than that.
'.''All the freight paid, say by Mr..
{ Ford, in assembling the materials for
his cars is made a part of the price,
and so with all other manufacturers
of articles or implements for farm use
The items are mentioned by me in the
most brief way but you will readily
they are in the yearly expense of the
farmers. The same is true as to their
purchases of merchandise. The fac
tory adds freight in assembling ma
terials to the cost of production, Min
neapolis and Fargo jobbers add freight
from the factory to their price and the
local merchants adds to his price the
freight from Minneapolis or Fargo.
No farmer can afford to brush this
question aside with the thought that
it is one for someone else to decide.
The item of freight catches the farm
er both going and coming. It MEANS
his very existence. Jones, who
achieved celebrity by reason of hav-
ing paid the freight, must have lived
on farm. "a
There is another thing which far
mers must take into account. After
the conclusion of peace agriculture
will be one of the first industries thru
out the world to return to normal con-
ditions. The government will not guar
antee a price for wheat, and farmers
will not be able to fix a price for it.
1t will be governed in large part by
the law Of supply and demand. The
same will be true Of other farm pro-
ducts and the prices may fall surpris-
ingly low / did not begin growing
wheat as long ago as you and have
! not sold it as cheap as you but most
that I have raised has, been sold for
less than a dollar per bushel.S Farmers
must face lower price levels for their
products. Butter will go down; eggs
will drop; the price of wheat and
coarse grains will shrink It behooves
us to take thought Of the future. While
there may be serious times ahead for
all, there is special danger in the stu
alton which may confront farmers. 1t
is a time when members Of congress
should realize their responsibility, and
it is likewise time when those at
home who advise them should also feel
their responsibility, and prepare them
d selves to give just and patriotic YER
z dict. The farmer who has been in
doubt as to the wisdom of State own
4 ership may have concluded that it was
worth experimenting and that if a
failure the state could stand its loss
and get out of business. It win not
4 do to follow any such philosophy in
|. respect to national government owner
ship. The farmers, who have the big
\ gest financial stake in North Dakota,
are in the majority. They have the
power to vote themselves out Of any
proposition into which they have voted
themselves, if they find it is losing
money or is out of harmony with sound
principles of government. Not so in
the case Of national government own
ership. They will not have the power
to vote it out, because they are in the
minority, Farmers who clamored for
national grading Of grain would be
mighty glad to get out of it noW. It
looks as though that door is closed for
all time, and it.. should stand as a
warning that it's sometimes easier to
4 get in than to get out.
Another important fact to bear in
mind is that in a event of government
ownership the railways would pay no
taxes. This would increase the taxes
upon farm lands, and all other prop
erty. Would the freight rates be cor
respondingly reduced Ny belief is
they would not.
q want to. do the right thing by
all the people Of my congressional dis
trict and believe ] can serve them best
by helping to safeguard the interests
of agriculture. It is time to go slow
e