The producers news. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1918-1937, 1931-01-16
FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 1881
FRENCH FALLS DOWN

When the votes were counted and it was found
that Carl Hansen the Farmer-LabOr candidate for
county commissioner had been elected to succeed
Ed Iverson, the renegade, the French-Dolin-PoW-
ers Medicine Lake Machine were quite down In
the mouth They knew their control of the county
had been cracked-how badly they did not know
Much depended on Victor Anker. The machine
was not too sure of him.
The Medicine Lake Machine knew that it could
not operate as it had dOne-it knew it could never
depend on Anker to go the whole route with It,
as Iverson had done. However, it deluded itself
with one hope: that Carl Hansen could be handled.
Dolin built great hope this. Somebody had as
sured him that Carl could be over to the ma
chine However, Joe has not bought any pigs In
a poke Just before election, are informed
from a reliable source he made deal with Har-
w Polk and Burly Bowler to buy the Herald, the
deal to be completed after election. The machine
was sure of VERSIONS election but decided to wait
for the count. If Iverson had been successful Dolm
would take over the Herald office, dlscon-
,iinued his plant at Medicine Lake, and printed
the Wave, for time at least at Plentywood, and
mailed it at Medicine Lake, where Joe would have
maintained his residence If in time, anything
had happened to The Producers News the ma
chine planned also to buy it and the plant of the
Peoples Publishing Company and then buy the
pers, sell the excess printing machinery and pub
lish one paper from the Peoples Publishing Com
pany's plant, that plant being of the best in
the eastern part of Montana. In fact the machine
had man approach the board of directors of the
Peoples Publishing Company with a proposition,
the idea behind which was to get control of the
Producers News soon as possible.
Also the machine planned having Jack
Kudrna of Ed Powers First State Bank of Medi-
cine Lake appointed deputy treasury with the idea
of divertng the major portion of the county sink
ing fund monies to the Powers bank. Whether
this has fallen thru not, is not yet settled. 1t
is rumored that the present deputy treasurer is
badly worried about his job. However, the insist
ance the part of the taxpayers that the sinking
fund monies be invested in county and school dis
trict and other legal warrants may change all of
this for if this is done the banks wont be getting
the july graft which they have enjoyed for the
past two years. Then, there not being much
money to deposit at one half of one per cent,
Kudrna may hold his job at Medicine Lake.
On the first Monday in January, the fifth,
when the board organized Dolin and Powers and
their henchmen were all in Plentywood to see
what the first meeting would produce French was
reelected chairman of the board This much was a
victory for the machine But when HOLMAN could
not get his budget raised, and the bankers were
cent on county monies deposited in the bank which
rate had been raised by the old board at the reg
yular December meeting from 12@O TO go, back to
NO things did not look so good.
The total results of the first meeting of the
new board was not satisfactory to the Dolin-Pow
oers-French machine. Doln and French had Ions
conference Monday and Tuesday nights. Dolin al
SO had conference with Niels Madsen a
Madsens house. They had long talk out on tn
porch They all came back Wednesday and Wed
nesday night they had another conference. Han
sens refusal to go to the commissioners conven
ton was upsetting-upset their plans for that &C
scasion And Hansens nsistance that culverts an
supplies be bought on bids and his support in thi
by Victor Anker was disconcerting-f it ind
Gated that when the printing contract comes up /
June, that bids would be asked for and the cor
tract let to the best bid
The traps set for Carl Hansen had not bee
sprung for he did not nibble The machine is at il
wits end to shook him. in some way and the
are ingenious in such activities. Every pressul
is being applied from every imaginable source
line him up and involve him in way so Il
gang can hide behind him in their work to feath
their own nests. But Hansen is getting next
the ropes and he is too willy for them.
So, the slick Mr.. French and his machine a
licking their hurts and wondering what the sta
examiner is going to do about the deplorable CO
ditions in Sheridan county.
So, as far as Hansen is concerned French Il
down.