The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1920-06-17
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LII Trying TO DOlSCer up lCS IalllnS
cause the Courier News published in
it's Sunday issue of May 30th a sup
plement page of claims of savings
made under the laws passed by the
Townley gang. Most of these claims
are such stuff as dreams are made of,
and no one is expected to pay any at
tention them.
Two items, however, merit some at
tention because Professor E. F. Ladd
of the Agricultural College has been
dragged in to godfather them. They
are as follows: A savings of seven
million dollars on dockage and saw
ings of twelve million dollars on
grades and weights both based on
'estimates of Professor Ladd." These
savings are made on the 1920 crop.
This, of course, amounted to some
where between IS and so million BUSH
els, probably an average of 81 million
bushels. Seven and twelve million
equals nineteen million dollars. Most
of the wheat was in the Red River
Valley. Nineteen million dollars saw
ings on a fifty-seven million bushel
crop amounts to thirty-three and a
third cents a bushel.
Unfortunately for the fabricators
of this fantastic yarn there are few
cold facts within the reach of every
man who is seeking the truth. If you
want to know whether such a saving
was made or not, just consider the
following:
Produce always seeks the best mar
ket. If one store keeper pays cent
dozen more" for eggs than his COM
petitor, he gets the bulk of the eggs,
if he pays a couple Of cents a pound
more for butter he gets the butter.
Just as water seeks it's own level so
produce seeks the best market.
1t so happens that along the Red
River there are two series of wheat
| markets, one on either side of the riv-
er; the North Dakota markets under
the blessed protection of the Nonpar-
tisan laws and Minnesota under the
old regime. The markets are Wahpe-
ton-Breckenridge, Christine Wolver-
ton, Fargo -Moorhead, Rendan-Hen-
drum, Hillsboro-Halstad and Grand
Forks and East Grand Forks, and so
clear on to the Canadian line. If the
| North Dakota elevator paid 33 1-3
cents bushel more for wheat, why
ibid they not get the Minnesota wheat.
If farmer brings 100 bushel tank of
wheat to Breckenridge, Moorhead or
East Grand Forks and could get $33. 80
more by driving it across the bridge
and quarter of a mile to a Dakota
elevator, would he not do so. If the
Dakota elevator had paid thirty-three
and a third cents more bushel they
would have received practically every
bushel of wheat for twenty miles
across the Red River and every COM
petting Minnesota elevator would
| have been closd up and put out of bus
mess. AS a matter of fact the Min
nesota elevators shows larger receipts
than the Dakota elevators and many
Red River farmers on the Dakota side
have hauled their grain across to the
| Minnesota side, because they found a
better market for their product. Any
| farmer who wants to verify this state
ment can do so by questioning any
elevator on either side of the river.
This is not matter of opinion, this
is question Of fact. Even if the Da-
kota elevator had paid only five or ten
cents more a bushel they would have
received the bulk Of the Minnesota
wheat in adjacent territory, but it
seems that Townley kept it dead
secret. He did not even inform the
members of the nonpartisan league on
the east side of the Red River about
the wonderful financial advantages
which would be theirs if they came
across to the Dakota elevator.
The only conclusion that can be
drawn regarding people putting forth
such claims is that they are firmly
convinced that by repeating lie Of
ten enough sine Of it may stick some
where and help the cause.