The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1961-03-10
Accuses COP of Wanting
To Enslave Farmer
Voice Publishing Co.


1 have been listening to Mel Engles
the COP chairman from Helena, on
what he calls Informative, on what our
state Legislature is doing and ask my
| self Informative ito what?
| First he stated this increase in graz
| ing leases was drawn up by some
greenhorns who were not familiar with
the stock industry. 1 have read differ
ent time statements by Rep. John Leu
! thold, a Republican from Saltwater
county, that he was one of the authors
of this lease bill, that rates are, very
unfair at present and should be in
creased. Mr.. Leuthold has lived on a
farm almost all if not all of his So
years of life. So I ask, what informa-
tion are we getting?
We have been brain washed here
through the Billings Gazette at short
intervals the past two years that farm
co-ops do not pay any taxes. 1 believe
sent The Voice a clipping some time
ago that one of these brain washers
put out That was the reason his and
other peoples taxes are so burdensome
was because co-ops do not pay taxes.
| had a person whom you could call
as smart as the average only he looks
to the Billings Gazette for most of
his news. That a farm coop was just
like church or veterans group, they
paid no taxes.
Mr.. Engles, in referring to this coop
tax, said: it would finally bring them
so they would have ito pay some of the
tax load. Then he followed up with
Senator Rex Hibbs, who told the radio
audience we are receiving ample reve-
nu to carry on and thre would be no
new tax on anything. So again L say
informative ITO what?
This evening, Tuesday Feb. %, 7
heard Engles maligning our state Sen
ate for not abolishing the state hail
board and turn the hail insurance over
to insurance companies. / have. never
carried any hail insurance in my life
with company or the state But was
told today by a person who is not
big farmer and who I know who does
carry hail insurance and has for sew
eral years, that on his coverage that
1T would cost him over 500 a year
more through "a company than what
it does through the state hail. When
you look at all these fat loafers repre-
senting these insurance companies you
wonder why there isn't more spread
than there is and no doubt there would
be if the state went out of the hail
business.
Going back to the farm co-ops: In
1858 / visited one of our central states
had left in 1906 This was not-too-
good farming country with no very
large towns. In one town the farmers
had started a coop cheese factory. In |
another not far away they had a coop |
feed mill. / heard business people in |
both places tell what wonderful asset |
these farm co-ops are. They had made |
q much better market for the farmers |
products. They had given regular en-
ployment for number of people who /
had built new homes and made a big
ger tax bases They had kept the |
money in the locality. If some company
lad had these enterprises, which they
lid once, the company would have paid
AR less, and the surplus money would /
lave left the community.
1t would seem to me the Republican
machine that is running the party at
'resent in Montana wants the kind of
better business climate that would
make slave out of the farmer-A. w.
RICE, Joliet.