Evening star., 1921-05-19
.SEESF|N|SHF|GHT
|NN0RTH DAKOTA
Senator Ladd Tells City Club
People Will Win Over Fl.
nanciaI Interests.

The sovereign rights Of the people
vs.. dic:ation by outside financial inter-
! ests" is the issue that is being fought
out today in North Dakota, Senator E.
F.. Ladd told the City Club Forum yes
terday in his first address in Washing
ton outside the Senate chamber.
The Misrepresentation that finds it's
way to the public is all an attempt to
becloud this ISSUE" Senator Ladd
said: The fight centers today on the
Is allowed to succeed in its activities
for the people of the state, the bank
ing interests fear there will soon be
other banks like it springing up all
over the country.
These interests say that the so
cIalistic' activities financed by the
Bank of North Dakota are economic
ally unsound. but the fact that they
are determined to prevent the state
from going ahead and proving
whether this is true or not makes
me believe that their real convictions
are just the opposite. At any rate.
they have instituted nationwide
boycott on the bonds of the state and.
although backed by all the resources
of the state. these bonds cannot be
nels. AS a result an effort is now
being made to market the issue of
s6.2oO.0Q0 directly to the people, both
inside and outside the state
Farmers Fighting for Rights.
Senator Ladd described the present
flight as the elimination Of a long
standing struggle of the farmers to
get justice in the marketing of their
products. From the time when North
Dakota was a territory. he said. it's
legislation had been controlled by the
milling and financial interests of
Minneapolis and ST. Paul.
THE farmers who make up so per
eent of the population Of the state.
were practically unrepresented in the
legislature" Senator Ladd said. For
twenty-fiv years they aske,1 in vain
for remedial legislation which would
give them the same protection af-
fordcd the elevator men and shippers
wheat their principal product.
After being defrauded out of mil
lions of dollars annually for all this
period by unfair practices by the
grain interests. the people finally
enacted a protective law. and later
endum vote.
People Finally Gain Power.
Even then the legislature would
pie. The law was set aside for two
years. The result was the orEaniza-
ton of the Eon-partisan League. a
farmers movcmt mt designed to gain
ccntrcl of the legislature 50 that the
peoples will could be enforced. A
Partial victory followed in 1917. and
clean sweep in 1919 placed the peo-
pie finally in power.
They then proceeded to enact their
program. 1t Is a progressive program.
but it is not radical It has been ap-
proved by the majority of the voters
in the traditional American way. Not
one law has been enacted which does
not have a counterpart in some other
state. And every one of these laws
has been upheld up the Supreme Court
Of the nation. Yet this simple. logical
American action has brought down on
the heads of the people of North Da-
kota accusations of bolshevism, COM
m munism. free love. anti-Americanism
and a score Of other libelous denun-
cations"
The gist of the farmers program
Senator Ladd said, was contained in
seven laws. These are the grain
grading law, the authorization of
state bonds to build -four mill and
storage elevator, the hail insurance
law, the bonding Of state officials, the
home builders law. the labor COM
pensation law and the law establish
ing the Bank Of North Dakota.
No fewer than thirty-seven nation