The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1941-10-23
Arm, Ship Bill

On Friday last the House pass
ed the ship arming measure by a
vote of 259 to 139. The Minnesota
delegation was unit in voting
against it. Those who opposed the
measure did so because they felt
1t was but another step to war.
My older readers will recall that
on March IA, 1917, President Will
son ordered American merchant
ships armed and 35 were sunk with
a loss of SO men. It brought on
the incident that Wilson needed to
take us into the World War and
% days later we were in lock,
stock and barrel. Many fear that
history will repeat itself.
When merchant vessel Is arm
ed it becomes a warship under in
ternational law and may be sunk
on sight. If this happens let us
not forget that we asked for it.
The rules Of war work both ways.
Guyana Range Recognized
The need for strategic ores Is
great. No ore is more important
than manganese, of which we have
a considerable amount on the Guy
una Range. As my readers know,
I have been working since the first
Of the year to secure a concentrat-
ing plant for that area. Late to-
day, (Friday) the good news broke.
The Office of Production Manage
ment telephoned me and advised
that they have approved the build
ing Of a 5 million dollar manganese
concentrating plant at, or near
Crosby, with an annual capacity Of
one hundred thousand tons. The
OPM this afternoon sent a memoir
andum to the Reconstruction Fin
ance Corporation asking them to
arrange for financing the construc-
ton of the plant.
On the assumption that favorable
consideration will be taken by the
Reconstruction Finance Corpora
ton, the Office of Production Man
agement Immediately began prepar-
ing plans for specifications for the
new plant and it is expected that
everything will be in readiness to
advertise for bids early in Novem-
Der. have been assured that
there will be concentrating plant
in operation on the Guyana Range
within the next twelve months.
I have had many thrills in my
life but few greater than when Mr..
Leith, of OPM, called me and gave
me this information which will be
made public tomorrow Saturday.
Argentina Trade Treaty
On Tuesday Of last week the
governments Of the United States
and Argentina concluded a trade
agreement that Is to remain in
force for three years or until one
or the other countries repudiates
1t.
In the treaty Argentina makes
concessions to American fruits and
machinery and we in return reduce
the import rates on flaxseed, can
ned corned beef, coarse woods, case
in, tallow, cleo oil and stearin. AS
a result the price of flax on the
Minneapolis market has dropped 30
cents a bushel.
We hear little about tariffs these
days because the war has created
a scarcity in all necessities but once
the war Is over and the mad scram-
BILE for markets begins to rage the
tariff will again come to the front
as a major issue. That will be
particularly true in this country
where we have the best market in
all the world and the foreigner will
concentrate on his efforts to cap
ture 1t.
High Finance
It is a little known fact that the
Government, as trustee for Social
Security and Veterans Life Insur-
ance trust funds, Is using those
funds for its own purposes In a
way which would land an ordinary
banker or trustee In the peniten-
tiary. These funds are collected
from employed persons in the form
Of payroll taxes, and from veterans