The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1928-06-06

lin competition for grain, he said
and insures shippers the best
possible price. A read;ustr,ent Of
freight rates, he said, has improved
the position Of persons shipping
grain to Grand Forks by permitting
them to have it cleaned, tested for
protein and graded in transit at
slight extra cost.
Storage Aids Marketing
Farmers, he said, are making in.
creased use Of the storage faci'itie1
at the terminal. One Of the fac
tors contributing to low grain
prices, Thoresen said, is the flood
of grain which comes on the mar
ket at harvest time. ITO provid,
a reasonable and orderly marketing
system for our products it is neces-
sary that we have sufficient storage
capacity within the state, on the
farms, at local elevators and at our
terminals, to properly handle our
products and place them on the
market in an orderly and reason
able manner" Thoresen said.
Recognition Of this fact, he said,
is evident from the fact that a pri-
vate enterprise is contemplating
the erection of another terminal at
Grand Forks. He expressed the
"hope and desire that around this
terminal market of the state may be
built many other terminal elevators
operated by private enterprises to
provide storage facilities for the
grain of the state" He said that
when such additional elevators are
established tn" state terminal would
"act as regulator so that the price
paid for the grain is according to
it's worth"
Premium Wheat
Before the state terminal was
established. he said. mo farmers
back in the country received any
premium on their wheat over and
above the grade price. Today our
wheat is sold on a protein basis and
has brought as high as So cents
above the grade price and has an
average Of 10 cents a bushel more
than was paid for the SINE wheat
on the grade basis before the mill
and elevator was established"
Since many farmers and elevators
Of the state cannot be served
the Grand Forks terminal by rea-
son Of its location, the question
arises as to whether it would be
advantageous to establish another
terminal to serve people who cam
not take advantage of the facilities
Of the one already in operation,
Thoresen said. He declared the
Nonpartisans believe it to be the
only solution for the farmers of
North Dakota in order that they
may be able to increase their in
come and to equalize their income
with their costs. When proper
terminals and storage facilities have
been established, then with the
cooperation Of the farm organiza-
tons now existing in the state
educating the people through their
local units, and local organizations
to make use and take advantage of
the opportunities offered by and
through the state, we shall rapidly
develop a marketing system for our
North Dakota products whic! shall
not be excelled by any place in the
union"
Progress and Prosperity
This will naturally spell progress
and prosperity, better development
of the resources of the state and
better business conditions SO that
not only the farmers but the other
business people in North Dakota
may prosper and progress as it was
intended they should"
Commenting on the proposal to
turn the terminal market over to
some private enterprise, Thoresen
asked: What organization or what
institution have we in the state
which is strong enough financially
to cope with the combine of grain
trusts and milling trusts of the
United States? Better, it seems to
me, to establish state terminal
market and maintain it as such and
then, with the active cooperation Of
various farm organizations, all
working toward the goal, provide
for the producers of this state q
better market for their products"
The cost of the enterprise Thore-
sen declared to be unimportant in
comparison with the work it is doing
in helping North Dakotans to mar
ket their wheat. He likened it to
an elevator in a high building which
produces no profits and is an ex-
pense 20 run but which is necessary
to the successful operation Of the
structure.
The Tax Levy
The tax levy for the mill in 1927,
he said, was 46 of mill of which
20 is for sinking fund and principal
and &c for interest. Only the
charge for interest can be con-
sidered loss, he said, since when
the property is paid for it still will
be there and in operation and the
state will have received more than
value received for its money. The
total levy for the mill this year, he
said, amounts to As cents on each
$1,000 of property valuation. The
cost this year will be less, Thore-
sen said, because in 1927 the mill
paid to the state 100000 which has
been applied on interest charges for
1923.
Denying that the Nonpartisan
League favors 'limitless expansion
of the Bank of North Dakota
through a system of county banks,
Thoresen declared this is neither
the language nor the spirit of our
platform. We are for the develop
ment of the industrial program only
so far as the same can be sanely, in
diligently and conservatively man.
aged. Our program as now writ
ten. read in connection with exist
ing laws, is a direction and a
limitation; direction in that our
program prescribes that storage
should be developed along the Cana
dian plaza system which has been
tried and proven-a limitation in
this, that the industrial laws now