The Ward County independent. [volume] (Minot, Ward County, N.D.) 1902-1965, 1919-06-19

X X : < :: :: X ! < :. X !. j. + X +
Editor of Independent,
Minot, N. Oak.
Oh me! oh my What shall a poor
farmer do? He has so many friends.
Nearly every week from one to three
solicitors or stock statesmen, all claim
ing connection with the Nonpartisan
League, call on us to urge us to buy
stock, ETC., from them and get rich
quick. Probably they try to sell stock
in the Equity Packing Plant or the
new newspaper that they are going to
start in Minot if enough of the farm
ers sign up to buy the plant and then
give it to them, provided they will &C
cept 81 per cent of the stock in the
corporation. All are friends of the
farmer. Sometime ago another friend
of the farmer had his stock statesmen
out selling stock in Farmers Bank
in Minot, and l see by the daily paper
that he is great friend of union labor
also and that he could blow both hot
and cold with the same breath There
are not many farmers nowadays that
are foolish enough to think that Lobor
is very particular friend of theirs.
We also remember the street
speeches some years ago that started
the l. w. w. riots in Minot. The /.
w. WIS told their listeners how to
make the farmer come to time and pay
three or four dollars more day in
wages by putting rocks, spikes and
matches in the bundles of grain and
emery dust in the gears. Youmans
claimed in his bank law suit and in
his book that he was closed up be.
cause he sympathized with those I.
" VIZ . o,J Lo1,,oJ kooJ 49,
archist Isle which was owned at that
iator and leading socialist friend of
manager for the State of Montana.
That Youmans is certainly a friendly
man to be both friend of Labor and
also Don't Labor or 1 Won't Works.
R,'t then again, there is Townley. We
all know that Townley has been known
to admit that he also was friend of
the farmer. Now. in St. Paul, where
he lives, just like Youmans, he is also
a friend of Labor. We remember
when in May. 1913, Townley wired
Washington that his friends, the
farmers of the Northwest, were salts
fed with the 1917 price for the 1918
crop of wheat after the Senate had
already passed bill making it $3.50
at the elevator. This was at the time
of the street railway strike that Town
ley and LeSueur were promoting. I
have been trying to figure out ever
since, how Townley knew l was sat-
isfied with the old price for wheat.
At the same time read in the Twin
City and ether city papers that Labor
was demanding 5 cent loaves of
bread and were striking for higher
wages. | know that if they keep on
getting higher wages. | will have to
Keep on paying more and more for
what | buy and it is going to be hard
to buv if Townley and Youmans get
their labor friends 5 cent loaves.
! also see by the papers that friend
of the farmer Youmans and friend of
the farmer Townley are having some
argument about $4,000. That is
lot of money for plain ordinary
friends Of the farmer. The papers
say that friend of the farmer You
mans says that friend of the farmsrs
To7vn!ev is ga whelp" who tried to
bride and blackmail him, and friend
Of the farmer Townley says he thinks
that friend of the farmer Youmans is
not a sincere man Or safe banker
and that he stopped him from
selling stock in new comparies
TO be organized. 1t is rertain-
" too bad that there should be any
strife between two good friends of the
farmer. 1t is lucky for US farmers
tho, that even tho they are having
trouble between themselves they are
still our friends, because they say so
themselves and they are both out
hard to put the seven laws
ov"r on the Goth.
There is such thing as being bless
ed with too many friends That is
lust the case with the North Dakota
farmer today. In the olden days we
used to go to town, buy our goods, get
credit, borrow money and sometimes
wait good long time before we paid
it back. In those days the merchants
and others were not always hollering
that they were the friends of the
farmer. Neither were they trying to
sell us stock in every kind Of prop
osition. We were happier. more friend
ly with our neighbors and if we differ
ed with a man on the tariff question
we did not hate him for it, Neither
did we WORRY about what our taxes
were going to be. But times surely
have changed Various friends of the
'armer have tried to make us enemies
IF every one else. The merchants and
7arkars who carried our accounts for
months and years, the socialist agi-
letors tell US. are robbers. thieves, etc.
r'ownlev asks us to give him $1OO for
he privilege Of buying for cash at
7is store and now it commences to
ook as if the farmers have bought
he stores once. they will have to buy
7hem again in the name of the State
J presume that the reason that all
he laws passed at the last session of
h" Secret Caucus provided for so
,oanv thousands Of employees is to give
nee Jobs to all Of us farmers. see