The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1929-02-20

Officers of States Largest Co.
operative Charged With
Mismanagement
S0LvENCY Is QUESTIONED
f. W. Mclean Says Organize.
ton viii Welcome lfnme.
date Investigation

Charges and counter -chargeS relat-
ing to the management Of the Nortl,
Dakota Cooperative Wheat Growers
association were heard by the senate
state affairs committee today.
The committee had under consid-
Grafton the resolution to appoint Z
committee to investigate the states
largest cooperative. The resolution
charges mismanagement of the CO.
operatives affairs and that It Is In.
solvent.
F. w. Copeland. Parshall. Mountrail
county. presented the case for those
opposing the present administration
OF the cooperative. r. w. Mclean oil
Grand Forks led q delegation appear.
ing In opposition to the reSolution
Copeland charged that the a-fairl
OF the cooperative have been kept
hidden from the members; that It i,
being manipulated for the benefit Of
its officers. who have used the funds
OF the organization and made every
effort to retain themselves In power:
that It has not met its contrac:: OBJ
legations to It's members, and that
were It required to do 50, 1t would be
unable to pay its debts.
He also charged that George E
Duis, president, A. J. Scott, secretary
and r. I. TAFT, cashier. own and con-
troll the North Dakota Wheat Grow
ers Warehouse corporation, Though
1t was financed with money advanced
by the cooperative and cooperative
members have been given the erronc-
Gus idea that the board OF directors
Of the association controls the ware
house corporation also. Copeland
went into great detail in support Of
his charges.
/ Mclean said the managcment oil
the cooperative does not object to an
Investigation, but that II one IS made
II should be made quickly md the
teenlts made public Immediately. II
cos1tended that the resolution would
put the cooperative under fire Tor the
next two years and make q football
OF It and its business. The result, he
said, would be disastrous to the asso-
citation In that 1t needs at various
times to borrow large sums Of money
and q continuing investigation would
impair its credit. He entered flat
denial to practically all Of Copeland's
charges. On his own account he
charged Copeland and other members
Of the cooperative who are opposing
the present managemer with being
disgruntled because the management
would not adopt their pet ideas and
theories.
The warehouse corporation, he said,
was organized as at present in order
to protect the cooperative itself In
the event the warehouse corporation
proved q failure. He commended that
the common stock Is held In trust
ard that the board of directors Of the
cooperative have full control o. the
warehouse company.
The matters which the legislature
has been asked to investigate have
been the subject Of two recent court
actions but the case has never been
tried. demurrers filed by the manage
me1t having been SUI Gained. McLe..1
said he could sc no reason why the
legislature should make IN investiga-
ton when the courts still are open to
the anti-administration group Of the
wheat growers.
The committee considered some
amendments to the house bill author
izing municipalities to use profits
from public utilities to expand their
utility properties, but reached no de-
ciSi0n