Cavalier County farmers press. (Langdon, N.D.) 1920-1921, 1921-06-09

way. Now, at the end Of the lane, by
Jupiter, we've got you dead to rights
you and your id railroad"
"Cut out as many of the PERSONAL
ties as you can, and come to the
point" suggested the boss quietly.
"You think | haven't any point to
come to?" barked the CRATER, with
rising anger. "Il show you! You
thought you were the only original
t~rust-buster when you started your
scheme of locally owned elevators and
warehouses and coal and lumber
yards and ran us out Of business. But
I'm here to tell you that your fine
haired little deal to.rob US began to die
about as soon as it was born"
How so?" inquired the boss.
'It wasn't a month before your little
local stockholders began to get to-
a=ther and swap stock and sell it. In
a very short time the control of the
whole string of local plants was in
the hands of a hundred men. To-day
it's In the bands of less than twenty.
With John Marshall at the head of
them. Citizens, Storage & Warehouse
is now u consolidated property, and
John Marshall, Henckel and / control
a majority of its stock. How does
that strike yOu?'
1T strikes mt that the people most
deeply interested have been exceeding
lY foolish to sell their birthright. But
that is strictly their own business, and
not mine or the railroad ~company's.'
"Wait!P Hatch snarled. Its go
ing to be both yours and the railroad
company's business. before you are
through with it. Marrow, here, rep
resents Marshall, and I represent
Henckel and myself. What are you
going to do about those ground leasesY'
Nothing at all, except, to insist upon
the condition under which they were
granted by the railroad company
Meaning that you are going to try
to hold us to the fixed percentage
charge for handling. packing, loading,
and transferringg
Meaning just that. If you raise the
proportional market-price charge on
the producers and merchants, the
leases will terminate.
Il thought that was about where
you'd land. Now listen: we're tt
Marshall and Henckel and land
what we say, goes as it lies. We are
going to use the present G. S. & w.
plants and equipment, charging our
oWn storage and handling percentages,
based on anything we see fit. If you
pull that ground-lease business on us
and try to drive us out, we'll fight you
all the way up to the Supreme court.
II you beat is there, we'll merely
moye w to the other side of your
tracks to u old Red Tower houses
and yards and go on doing business
at the old stand N
The boss sat back in his chair, and
1 could tell by the set of his jaw that
he was refusing to- be panic-stricken.
"You are taking altogether too much
for granted, aren't youT he put In
mildly. "You are assuming that tile
courts will eventually nullify the terms
OF the ground-leases. Sor, if they do
not, that the railroad company will
do nothing to save its patrons from
falling into this new graft trap.,,'
Hatch snapped his fingers. "Now
YOU are coming to the milk In the
coconut z he raped out. 'sI'hat is
exactly what we're assuming. You
are going 10 let go, once for all, Nor.
cross. You are not going to fight us
IN The courts, and neither are you go-
Ing III arass MS out 0f existence With
short 'srs 0yar.chnrues and the tilnus