The Ward County independent. [volume] (Minot, Ward County, N.D.) 1902-1965, 1922-09-07

pose that they were established" said
the governor in discussing the reten-
ton of the wheat crop in the state,
"but with crop of 1O3,O0O,000 bu-
shells of wheat in this state alone,
these organizations cannot adequately
meet the situation, and added provi-
sions for, solving this problem must
be devised if possible.
Cooperation Asked
"From talks with many farmers
and businessmen of our state, have
come to the conclusion that great
deal can be done by intelligent CO.
operation within each community. The
farmers want to pay just as much of
their debts as possible, and the store
keepers and bankers are anxious to
i collect as much as possible so that
they may pay their own debts, but it
is also apparent that with wheat at
! rs cents per bushel, much less Of
| debt paying can be done than when
wheat is 81, and for this reason it
becomes mutually advantageous to
; both the farmer and the businessman
to complete such arrangements as
! will make it unnecessary to sell very
much of the wheat before the market
! has materially improved.
"Various methods have been sug-
gested for the solution of this prob
lem, and each community probably
will evolve its own solution. Wher-
ever possible the farmers will keep
the grain stored on the farm. In
many places where home storage is
impossible arrangements will be made
for the payments of the debts of
farmers by transfer of storage tick
cts on such terms as the time of sale
and application of proceeds, as may
be mutually agreed upon so that the
men collecting will know that their
! claims are being paid wholly or in
part, and the farmers transferring the
storage ticket will know that they
,, will have chance of getting the adj
ditional market price that may accrue
before the time of sale, and therefore
have more of their debts paid.
Extension of Credit
"Many bankers and other business
men have discussed these problems
with me and they seem to realize full
~ that the present crop is not suffi-
Gent to pay all of the debts of the
farmers, but merely to reduce them
so that the paper may become bank
able and the remaining debt burden
less difficult to carry. With but one
or two exceptions these men have told
me that they are going to try to ar
range with the wholesale houses and
correspondent banks to continue to
give such extension Of credit on
portion of their indebtedness, that
they will be able to give their custo-
mers the fairest possible treatment,
accepting part payment of the in
debtedness and renewing the balance.
with improved security.
'These men say that chattel mort
cages should not be foreclosed and
execution levied this year except in
the case of those who show no dis
position to pay reasonable portion
OF the indebtedness and to give ade-
quate security for the balance. 1
sincerely hope that the collection
problem this fall will be approached
in that spirit and that while the COL
lector will naturally insist that the
debtor pay all that is reasonably pos
sible, that no unreasonable demands
be made and that foreclosure and
sacrifice sales Of property be espe-
cially avoided.
"The fact that the crop is so large,
anu LAoC a AoA AO1toSc CA1StS vi
most of the railroads will defer the
shipments and impede the marketing
of great deal Of grain anyway until
later in the winter, when prices will
unquestionably have improved, but
nevertheless it is my hope that the
farmers and businessmen of North
Dakota will cooperate in the task Of
making the present crop reach just
as far as in all fairness is possible,
toward the liquidation of the indebt-
edness of the people, By doing this
we will make great progress this year,
and leave our debts so decreased that
with a reasonable crop next year, we
will have most of our chattel indebt-
edness paid.
Fundamentally the economic con-
dition of our state is sound and few
years Of hard work. of thrift and fru-
gality, with proper community plan
ming along the lines of increased d.
versification, will establish our eco
nomic structure on solid foundation
a nd ino,,ro o,1y. continued v>rocno,ikr -