Montana labor news., 1936-09-03
FORECLOSURES ON
The BEAvERHEAD
By RODNEY SALISBURY,
President Holiday Association of
Montana

Especial to Producers News
Dillon, Montana
August 9Th, 1886.
Many of us farmers have been led
to believe that the drought is the
u of our financial troubles. But
history shows that as far as pro-
duction is concerned, the farmer al
ways gets more for less and less for
more. When he gets a big crop he
gets nothing for it and when he gets
a small crop he has nothing to sell.
A farmer cannot anticipate what the
weather is going to do next. Also
he is forced to gamble with gophers,
cinch bugs, hail, crickets, grasshop-
pers, cut worms, as well as drought
one time and floods another. 1t
rains sometimes when it should not
and does not rain when it should.
And on top Of everything eles it
sometimes frosts in the middle OF
the growing season. If the policy
of cutting down production were
best for him, then all of these above
mentioned pests would help him do
it, and naturally he would welcome
them, but being a practical man he
would prefer raising consumption
to meet production instead of low
ering production to equal consump-
ton.
No Crop Failure in Beaverhead
Around Dillon there has never
been a crop failure. Sometimes
there may be a scarcity of water or
a hail storm, but crop failures, they
have never had them. If there is
money in farming anywhere there
should be in such a locality. But
the difference between farmers at
Dillon and other parts of the state
where they have not had a crop in
seven years is this: Where a farmer
on a section Of dry land owes $4,000,
on a section of land in B%eaverhead
county, he owes $4,000, all of which
he is trying to pay taxes and inter
est on. When he goes to a bank in
Dillon and is able to borrow money,
he is given a check book and put on
a budget. When he buys groceries
he fills in a place prepared for that
purpose, groceries," if for labor,
he fills in the place, labor" and so
on. He is being rapidly reduced to
serfdom and it will not be long I'M
til the ranchers of this great pro
ducing valley will be herding the
bankers sheep, feeding the bankers
cattle, and farming the bankers
land. The banks here are all chain
and of course take their orders from
the big bosses, so while the ranchers
herd sheep for them, they herd the
ranchers for those who crack the
lash above their heads. 1t is moth
ing uncommon here to talk with
farmers who have paid more inter
est than their original loans amount
to, and now still owe more than
when they made the loans, and after
paying taxes on the other fellows
mortgage for a number of years, are
foreclosed on, and other farmers
who still have a couple of thousand
dollars to invest take their places
only to meet the same fate as their
brother farmers before them.
Federal Land Bank Ruthless
Grabber
Of all the unscruplous land grab
bers, the Federal Land Bank of
Spokane is the most ruthless. Of
course if one is going to be fore
closed on, it doesn't make much
difference whether it is by a big
bank or a small one. And if one
were going to be eaten by a wolf,
the size or breed of the wolf
would not make so much difference.
In order to distract attention from
the large number of foreclosures
and forced sales, farmers are
picked here and there, disposed
and sent down the road homeless,
only to swell the ranks of the I'M
employed. It's your neighbor that's
picked today, and then you, tomor-
row. And you fellow farmers, who
are fortunate enough to not be for
closed, cannot long remain free
while your neighbors are mort
gagged.
Holiday Association Has Remedy
The Holiday Association of Mon
tana has the remedy. First we
farmers organize for the purpose OF
declaring a moratorium on all debts
until the conditions are SO that we
can pay them. This does not mean
that we shall not pay small bills,
but keeps anyone from forcing us to
meet obligations that means our de-
struction.
One Big Meeting
You say that it can't be done
Well it already has been done in