The Bismarck tribune., 1919-03-22


program in operation before the
people had time to think" '8
"As farmer, | appeal to you
as farmer, to weigh these meas
1res carefully and if any are
found to be too much Of a gam
bic, to take advantage Of the
| referendum" ~'' "'"
"When statc-owned elevators
| failed in Canada, why should they
be a success in North Dakota?"
O00,0CH acres. would call for a tax of
| 43 CcltS an acre. There would also
be an "a. ..:onal tax Of . cents an
acre, making total tax Of 4G cents
for each acre.
7 Could Not Even Pay Tax
There are, perhaps, thousands of
farmers in the most seriously Strick
en- sections Of the state that have not
had crop worth 46 cents an acre
in the last three years. 1t goes
without saying that they have suf-
fered enough loss without paying 4G
cents an acre ($73G0 for 160 acrcs)
! insurance on such failures.
The bill as passed gives the farmer
the option to insure or not, but he
must pay Scent tax on each acre
regardless. This money goes, we are
toll to cover the expenses Of the
| insurance bureau.
The big BIZ insurance compa-
MES may be bad, but I have never
encountered one that was hog
enough to ask me to pay $3.50 to help
them pay their office expenses when
! I did not want to insure.
How is person going to get an
idea of what his insurance is going
to cost him, or how much insurance
he will get in case his crop is de,
stroyed? No one can tell to what
extent the state will suffer from
hail, nor how many farmers VIII III
sure their crops. '
It is we'll known fact that sev-
eral localities in the state frequently
suffer hail losses, While In other sec.
tions, such a catastrophe is almost
unknown. l don't think many farm
ers will he anxious to insure under
any such scheme. However, those
who do will be those who are living
ir communities where hail storms
are frequent.
Let us suppose that 100000 a oecs
were insured and that the crop on
Il quarter of thiS~area should happen
to be totally destroyed. Tho owners
of the 25O,00O acres would be entitled
tc an indemnity Of about $2,0OO,OOO.
But where would the money come
from? The maximum tax for this
purpose is so cents an acre on land
insured, but that would make only
$5O0,OO0. Where would they get the
balance of Sl,500,000?
Why Insure Before June
If am correctly informed, the law
provides that the insurance must be
taken out early in the spring. Why
should a farmer take out hail lnsur'
ance before June? Hail won't 10
much harm before that time, ana
there is always the chance OF wind.
frost and drought and in the event of
such loss farmer would be only add
ing to his burden by having hail in
slrance on a crop that previously ..ad
been destroyed or greatly reduced in
Weld. His taxes probably will be high
enough without this additional bur
den. Candidly, | don't think farm
,ers who have been complaining about
high taxes for the last twenty years
know what high taxes mean-yct.
Fellow farmers, think this mat
ter over and I believe you will
agree with me that you can't af-
ford to insure under this law
when you have so vague an idea
Of what it is going to cost you
and even less Of what the insur'
ance will be worth in case your
crop is destroyed. Think also,
of the .&ect that we are asked
to pay cents an acre for "officc
expense" even if you do not
want the insurance.
Profits in State Bank.
And, while you are at it, why not
try to figure out your share OF the
profits in the Bank of North Dakota
They are going to issue, SIC, 100000
worth of North Dakota real estate
bonds. at a maximum interest of I per
cent: This money is to be- loaned to
farmers at d rate that. will enable the
state to operate the system at cost.
/ nor no one else can tell what that
cost will be, but suppose 1t will be
one-half of l percent wonder that
a low estimate. That would make the
total rate IL percent.
| II remember correctly the Federal
Farm Loan bank leans money at IL
! percent. am sure that cannot
see where the profit will come in nor
where the farmers are going to bene-
fit. &.Ef
1t looks to me like a bit of what We
have so often called "frenzied fl.
nance" According to my way Of
figuring, there would be . loss Of
! 100000 a year, ,aa compared, with t
similar loan made Through the Fed
| eral farm loan, system. For that
matter, l obtained money from loan
company less than year. agoaat per
| cent. "a
Sees Failure Of State Industries.
| In regard to the state.o~ned instf.
tutions, such as packing plants, -four
mills, ets., it seems to me that if we
shall build and operate these on mon
ey borrowed ut 3 high rate of interest
VIZ viii stand nn chance whatever IL,
competing with s.Ihe Zig Five ami