The producers news. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1918-1937, 1920-03-12


THE PRODl
IT'S Indignation and cha8rin oozes ol1f
g the outside world. The eha1nher
g really in such an awkward position
that the best tactics Of hicfr finance
will be needed TO make its dirty lin
en- look white again.
All these wears the noiphtv nne,n-
bers Of this body have been more q
less quietly conducting what the Hen
nepln county court has now character
lzed as gambling business, while
the farmers outside engaged IN the
Wlid-eyed agitation Of calling it
gambling. And now a traitor from
within has spilled the beans and Civ
en- this august body a black eye to
escape paying q little gambler
miserable $1,000.
This traitor" ought to be disci-3
pinned by fine and expulsion, The
rules and the exalted business spirit
Of the chamber called for such treat
ment. But if that is done, the trait
or may look like martyr to ignor-
ant outsiders and he might do a lot.
Of squawking on family secrets.
The chamber leaders have long adj,
vertised themselves as foes Of anar-
chy and all that sort of thing, but we
should not gather from this that
the will give up that profitable part
OF their business which a court Of
law has held to be illegal.
All during 1919 we were told that
the ridiculously high prices for shoes
were caused by the scarcity Of leath-
er. The packers, tanners, shoe manu-
facturers and shoe dealers told the
papers just how it all was and the
papers told us. We had good reason
to expect to be out of shoes altogeth-
er and going barefoot BY the summer
of 1920. Perhaps we would have
been if we had not accumulated what
a financial expert would call a "very
gratifying increase in hides" during
this same year 1919.
Government reports give compare
sons between the stocks on hand on
January 81, 1920, and January 81,
1919, as follows:
Whole horse fronts, 506.27 per
cent; kid skins, PIT per cent; horse
hides, 217.1 per cent; cabretta, 213.6
per cent; goat skins, 208.1 per cent;
horse butts (pairs), 155 per cent; kan
CARGO and waIlaby, 1888 per cent; kip
skins, 87.3 per cent; sheep and lamb
skins, q per cent; calf skins, 21.3
per cent; cattle hides, 10.6 per cent
The only decreases shown were horse
shanks, 59.8 per cent, and pig and
hog skins (pieces), SAG per cent.
| While we were worrying so about 9
barefoot future our market men were
laying by this nice surplus for US
And there must have been a little ex,
ira money made somewhere too.
President Wilson's signature to thu
conference railroad bill has made it
law, and the rest Of US can sit bach
] to study the new era of railroad EN-
cheney which Wall street is prepared
to render unto US. Perhaps It is no
. quite correct to say that this 1O0
percent efficiency is the direct wal
Street object. The direct object is t
make as much money as possible on
Of the roads, but all the financial ex
perts assure us that the 100-per-cen
efficiency will come to us as a by-pro
| duct Of the direct object.
| Some of us may be little skeptlca
about this by-product, but we can a!
| see how the direct object IS we'll mel
They are to get fair return on rail-
road value. And value here mean
the paper values piled up to !ust11
stock and bond issues. The railroad
nut; up the "value" at about $50, 600
900 600, and the guaranteed earning
mean that this value will be, res
: val,1e in the coin of the realm.
In January, 1919, the market valu
OF railroad stocks and bonds combines
after they had been boosted by the Q!
government war guarantee, was Sl3
900. 600, 900, or less than the 900
value by over $4,000, 100000. The iii
, anciers thus get not only sure earl
nigs but a great boost in prlnclpa
: which is earnings for them. With
. a wear they ca nskim this cream an
then they ma ybe entirely willing
: let the government take the roae
5 back. Then there are a lot of hit
T pickings to keep the boys. busy Il
q year: The $500, 100000 to take cal
of the supposed government deflc1
;, the claims for damages, the reyol'
; ing fund to aid railroad financing.
College graduate engineers otfert
$50 month after two years<of Sc
vice are typical Of the remarkab
: condition in which most Of the. $
e called brain workers find therlselve
t College professors, ministers, docto
!, to a graet extent, bookkeepers, OH
t men, bank employees are getting lie
il than hand workers. A milk wage
t driver in Minneapolis, for instant
i gets over 500 a month and coI:'m'
+ sion besides.
T. But this does not mean that hal
: labor is overpaid. In terms OF iivl'
5. conditions statistics show that Wfe1
o as the wages Of organized labor ha
Il