The producers news. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1918-1937, 1934-09-06
BY Edward NewhOuse


to function. That same Business +
Me- S Association has now COM
mittee of vigian es.
Ii you count five cents mile for
gas, oil, wear and tear on the en-
CINE, the Red Hill trip cost four
dollaLs. You know what that mans
to a farmer. Yet every car avail
able to he U.F.P.A. was running
all week before the Doylestown
meeting. Most of the people af-
fected by the sale had no way Of
getting around. Even so. $50 of
them came.
The chairman was Wilson Pit
man, crippled veteran of the Span
ish American War. swindled out of
his farm for debt he was willing
to pay. This is no fairy tale. Verl-
fy it. He opened the meeting and
Waldbaum. the LID. lawyer, got
UP with a heavy legal volume il,
his hand.
He haid "This is the law. Mon
day your farms and homes will be
sold and legally you will have no
kick coming. Unless you can stop
this sale by determined resistance
in the form of mass delegations
and mass &C ion you can say good
bye to your properties now
Lewis Bentley, farmer Of Perk-
aisle and president of the UFPA.
went up the court house steps and
outlined the situation. He is u
fierv and remarkable speaker. The
crowd laughed and hooted with
him. He proposed .hree large
delegations. one to Judge Keller.
one to the County Commission and
one to Governor Pinchot. When he
asked for volunteers. the crowd
surged forward.
N 1t morning we returned to
Doylestown and every man who
had signed up for the delegations
was here and we began our course
in sociology. We went into the
chambers of Judge Hiram Keller
who was most obliging and extra
curricular. Bentley had his say
and the Judge said. Just mo-
ment now. I'll look that up. Il
developed Judge Keller was scared
stiff. He had several legal vol
umes turned to exactly the right
page on his desk. He read a para
graph here and a sentence there
and his hands fumbled and trem-
bled. It was out of his jurisdiction
he finally said, the court had to De
petitioned first by the Count!
Commission. Would he act favor
ably on such a petition, we asked
Judge Keller was not at liberty &
say.
We went to the County Admin
stration Bldg. some 20 of US, an,
there too the corridors were file,
with alarmed clerks and panicky
Etenographlets. The Commission
: was just consulting with its attor
] ney to see whether it had the RICH
to call off the sales. County Cler'
Harvey said would we please wait
Yes. we would. although it did
. seem strange that the Commission
ers should be unfamiliar with tn
provisions of the law they had ir
j voked against thousands of citi
zens.
So we waited It was the heigf
= Of the threshing season and tn
farmers were fidgety. For sever.
" days Joe had had to put off til
transferring Of his pullets iron
the coop into the chicken hous
> and only that morning we had
u found two of them crushed to deaf
!, in the congestion. Joe's hanC
i hung from the straps of his ovel
& alls. After an hours wait he sal
They've had enough time to tai
IL it over, and he walked toward IL
conference room. The building SUI
ervisor said. You can't go in Their
g and Joe said, Go away, and oDent
le the door into the room. Count
= Clerk Harvey stood up and sal
u Come in. ladies and gentlemen, Il
= Commission will see you now.
: They sat on one side of thu
= table and we stood on the othe
u Again Bentley had his say al
y they sat through it without
( sound, the two stooge commissio
u ers and Chairman Roberts.
Roberts is a youngish, fat pol
" tician and when I say fat I dor
mean stylishlv stout or pleasing
De plump. He is all of three hundr,
ay pounds. When he mods, his Oh
ly works like an accordion. But
ne didn't nod under Bentzley's las
IN He said. "We have consulted wi
n our attorney as to. our powers
d this matter and we have decided
A. adjourn the sales of the 1882
e linGuents for one year, but IL
n 1881 delinquents will have to
no on"
n you're passing The buck" Bent
g ley said. "Judge Keller told |
Il you had the right to adjourn bot
Z Do you know that even so the So
ne affects 1900 homesteaders?"
TO ct know, but that's our decisio
nd The attorney said, ct suppose v
ne men are aware that these sold-o
H. farmers have the right to redee
"a: their homes within two years
: paying their taxes. interest and
Z a expenses Of this sale?"
z Meaning that men who ca
III get five dollars together now "
Us have the privilege of paying