The gazette-times. [volume] (Heppner, Or.) 1912-1925, 1922-10-26

SIR. Pierce's transactions on that busy
day. Evidently. they we're having a
sell-your-farm" day on November
10Th, in Union County. for Walter on
that day sells to one George W. Tate,
q business associate, another Of his
numerous Union County farms, re-
eeiving for this one SIT 10000. This
amount received for this place would
indicate that Walter drove a harder
bargain with his business associates
than he did with his relatives.
But, il November 18th was sell
your-farm-dayn in Union county, Nov
ember 23rd was also "mortgage-your-
farm-day" for the State Land Board.
For the records show that George W.
Tate, on that day, borrowed 100000
from the State Land Board, the mort
gage note being acknowledged in stat
utory form before Walter NJ. Pierce
himself, as Notary Public for Union
County.
How the minds of the purchasers
Of these various tracts ran willingly
along" together, is indicated by the
fact that Mr.. Tate, on November Both,
seven days after he made his real es-
tate deal, sold his newly-purchased
place back to Walter NJ. Pirce, for
S17,2 .00-the same amount he had
paid for it, Mr.. Pierc again kindly
agreeing to assume and pay the mort
gage.
In spite Of these large transactions
in Real Estate that occurred at that
time, it will be noted that none Of the
parties to these transactions made
any money off each other-all of them
reselling the farms bought from Wal
ter back to him, for the same prices
they paid for them.
Evidently Walter did not propose
to be outdone by those to whom he
had sold his property for, on Novem-
Der 23rd, the same day hat the others
borrowed money from the State Land
Board, Book 20 Of Mortgages for I'm
ion County, shows that the future
n~on-partisan candidate of the Demo-
cratic Party for Governor, also bor-
rowed IS, 000.0 90 from the State Land
Board, and, having assumed the mort
cages of the other five farms which
he had sold to his relatives and
friends, Mr.. Pierce now had 100000
90 of the States Sacred Irreducible
School Fund for which he was paying
interest at the Insignificant rate of
6 per cent.
There were other farmers, how
ever, in Eastern Oregon who were not
so fortunate as to secure even $5.000,-
90 or smaller sums, from the State
Land Board, or any other Board, at
6 per cent; but the records of that
section show that loans were being
made extensively at that time, at
rates OF interest carrying from 8 to
10 per cent In fact, the mortgage
records show that John NJ. Lightfoot
and wife, on the 9th day Of November
OF that same year, borrowed from
Walter M. Pierce, the sum Of $4,000
for a period of five years, at 8 per
cent interest, giving a mortgage on
their farm therefor. Hundreds of
mortgage records show that no
money was being loaned in Walters
section of the country at that time
for less than eight per cent.
The state law requires that money
borrowed from the sacred irreducible
school fund must not be held for
than a ten-year period. The
records show, however, that all of the
mortgages, held by Walter NJ.
were not paid until September
l, 1915. In other words, because their
relatives unloaded their mortgages on
him Walter had $50, 100000 of the
irreducible School Fund
when he was entitled to only 100000
for not more than ten years. Other
farmers, in Mr.. Pierce's section of the
country, and other parts of Oregon,
were making applications for loans to
the State School Fund, and were I'M
able to secure money because of the
fact that the available money in the
fund was all loaned out.
The records in Umatilla County
show that, during this period, Eastern
farmers, however, were not
allowed to go without money entirely
for Walter, himself, was accomo-
a great many of them, with
carrying up to twenty thousand
dollars and that at rates of interest
running for from s to 10 per cent.
For example, on May 81, 1905, Mary
E. Cooley mortgaged 1920 acres of
land to Walter in the sum of $40, 000.-
90 for 8 per cent.
On November End, the same month
in which Walter conducted his nu-
merous deals in real estate, he loaned
to ]. S. Shuterneal another sum of
on a farm mortgage, at 10 per
cent. In fact, there are so many rec
ords of this kind, showing Walters
evident frantic endeavor to ccomo
date his neighbors at 10 per cent that,
like the articles of the auction bill,
they are "too numerous to mention"
There are those tools of "the in
tcrests" who have the temerity to say
that Mr.. Pierce is a lawyer and there
not really the friend Of the farm
er but that he is merely pretending
to be a friend in order to get the far
mers' vote, Those who know point
to his record in the Senate as evt
dence that he has been the chief tax
booster in the State of Oregon. But
these unfriendly souls do not know
whereof they speak-for the above
transactions in real estate and mort
cages show, beyond a doubt, that
Walter is a real honest-to- God-friend
of the farmer and hat that farmer is
Mr.. Pierce of Union County.