| OCR Text |
Show 1 COME TO THE ASSISTANCE OF THIS PAPER AND HELP MAKE IT A NATIONAL PUBLICATION WHICH WILL SPREAD THE N. D. A. IDEA FOR THE SALVATION OF ALL WHO SUFFER IN THE FINANCIAL AND ECONOMIC CHAOS OF TODAY. PUT YOUR SHOULDER TO THE WHEEL AND PUSH AND PULL UNTIL THE BIG IDEA COVERS THE COUNTRY LIKE A BLANKET. SS1VE COMMUNISTS DO NOT BENNION TALKS NOT APPROVE OF US Some who are incapable of telling truth, and others who know no better, have sometimes called us 'Communists." On the other hand. the Salt Lake Communists denounce ONECONOMICS ANDN.D.A. Praises Organization) Work, and Its Officials Its Dr. Hyrum Smith, efficient secretary and the balance wheel of the N. D. A presided at the meeting on Saturday night, Oct. 1. He reported what news there was from the trip East by President Stringham, Glad and Historian Curtis, saying that they had .found that the people of the East were not at all impressed by the newspaper" prosperity, but were looking for something more substan-- . tial and might easily be interested in N. D. A. These gentlemen are expected to return today, Friday, and will be heard at the Saturday, Oct. 15, meeting, where full reports will be given. Mention was made by Assistant Manager Dundas of how the local dailies refused to even acknowledge there was such an organization as the N. D. A. He mentioned the heavy demand for meat, stating that 330 orders were placed with him for one morning, but only those in line nt us as Depression Profiteers." ' There is only one grain of truth in their abusive article the fact that we are not Communists. We quote its crude misstatements to make that plain to our critics: Here is what they say: ,The Natural Development Association has now developed another plan of how to skin the unemployed and at the same time INTRODUCE SYSTEM OF FORCED LABOR. A questionnaire is distributed among the unemployed drawing relief from various agencies. In signing this card, you will be forced to Render Service to the N. D. A. for the relief you get Then you will be forced to accept your order in whatever produce the N. D. A. have on hand and at their own prices, which are much higher than the stores. Individuals controlling the N. D. A. collect your relief and make a nice profit for themselves. From Red Sunday Bulletin No. 1, Communist Party Campaign Committee. The only thing wrong with the criticism is that it is not true. could be served. A. E. Barlow reported the opening of a mechanical shop at 71 P. 0. Place. Music was furnished by the N. D. A. band; a one-aplay was read by Mrs. Holt, and Gen-eiv- e Morrison and No rah ' Bradley sang N. D. A. Forever." ct Mr. Bennion Talks Heber Bennion, Jr., gave the main talk of the evening; He said that before he became a member of the N. D. A. he had been a rancher, and that ranchers have more opportunity than city dwellers to think. While watching his sheep or cattle, or sitting on a mower he used to think over the economic problem. It had always seemed to him that it would be possjble to keep a group of men producing their food and clothing. He often wondered why there was not someone somewhere smart enough to set all to work efficiently. Some were of the opinion that there were men smart .enough, but they lacked the power. "The more I see of the N. D. A.,' he said, the more thrilled I am with it The bigger and finer it seems." Defects of System In the capitalistic system, a man cannot be generous and unselfish and He cannot obey his be successful. higher impulses. The capitalistic system forces us to do things we would not naturally do. We do them so as not to be the under dog. I am sick of the system where the best do not What survives is fittest for survive. the environment, but it is the wrong environment. A fine Percheron horse fit to win prises at the fair could not survive on our ranges where the cay-us- e pony will thrive, but the Percheron is a hundred times more valuable to the farmer than the cayuse. Histhe best of the tory proves to us thatsurvived. They race has not always were merely the best fighters. The 1 kind do not survive. am for the N. D. A. because it allows In an equal fight the best to survive. between a hyena and a man the hyena - d would survive. Sometimes, he said, he had been under the impression that some had come into the association for bread, but on getting acquainted with them and through heart to heart talks on the economic problem, he found them were thoroughly converted. These ranch men and women working on his and those who drive him to and from the ranch. He had been asked if the association would survive when prosit has perity comes. He feels that the leaders and members needed for survival. Felt free to speak of the leaders in their absence. Capable Officers President Stringham, in his opinion, is an unassuming man, riot high powered, but a quiet man of exceptionally clear vision who knows where we are going. In considering the matter from all sides, there is not a man in the state he would choose ahead of Mr. Stringham to lead the N. D. A. to He feels the same about success. Owen Woodruff. There is not a man in the state who do the work for the association do it as well. Mr. ruif l0nB and business n ideal man, alert, full of eiurgy and clear in his ideas. of the same type. Dr. cIuiT1 ' . association balance u '!.i splendid, sound judgment They are well balanced for the leadership of the association, and he feels safe with them. Their integrity guarantees that there will never be any fraud in the N. D. A. 1 he trouble with ns, according to that none of us has been one lady, doing any thinking. During the prosperous years things went along so well we did not need to think. Present conditions have set a lot of people thinking. Debt and Economics He heard many of the men in public positions in the state speak at the Uintah Industrial convention during the summer, but was disappointed in what they had to say. They do not (Continued on page Five.) PROSPERITY NOT J STAY JUST SIXTY DAYS OF IMAGINARY GOOD TIMES Those who let this wave of imagprosperity fool inary them are due for a sad awakening. It is purely psychological, created by financial powers to sway the vote in the coming election. It is the same old wave of prosperity we enjoyed two' years ago, just before the congressional campaign. We have had two bitter winters since the glow of those false promises died on the political horizon. Today we are facing another winter in which campaign promises will make a mighty poor substitute for food and fuel The Remington Rand corporation gives the show away in a big quarter page advertisement 'advising other corporations to take on all their old workmen for sixty days. Remington Rand, according to its advertisement, is doing this itself. Sixty days of false prosperity to work up the desired election sentiment then back to the breadline and the bitter hunger of a jobless winter. How many voters will such tactics fool? The big magazines and dailies, all corporation owned, are full of this false optimism false as the smile on the face of a street walker. Hints and suggestions there are aplenty of reviving nusiness or business soon due to revive. But of men actually put to work there have not yet been enough to make up for those turned off last spring. And perhaps most of those are to be kept on only sixty days. When we tear away the glowing curtain of propaganda and bare the actual facts, what do we find? Here it is in the words of Walter Lippman whose reliability cannot be questioned: However hopeful one may be as to the likelihood of definite improvement in business, it is none the less certain that in the coming winter human need will be greater than at any It is a time within our memories. conservative estimate of the prospect to say that the number of those who need help will be at least as large as it was last winter, that the intensity of their need will be many times more acute, and that the normally available resources of public and private charities will be seriously reduced. These words are confirmed by government statistics, which, in spite of the brave show of recovery made by Wall Street, record no appreciable gain in employment. The government has been able to relieve the corporations of the threat of bankruptcy but none of these benefits have seepec down to the working man. Nothing but a mere problematical sixty days of work that may never be his. SALT LAKE to PHOENIX by TELEPHONE $2.05 After 8:30 P. M. Only $1.15 rates) Plus Federal Tax on amounts of 50c or over. (Station-to-tatio- n TELEPHONE GREAT THINGS ACCOMPLISHED ON TRIP national DR. GIBSON WALKER ADDRESSES MEMBERS N. D. A. College Opened FARMER TELLS US HIS OWN STORY Word comes from the N. D. A. party in the East that they found conditions worse there all along the way than here at home on account of the country being more crowded. When they arrived in New York they found that the program for the convention of the Consumers' Cooperative Movement, which they went East to attend, had already been made up. So only three minutes were at President Stringhams disposal to present the plan of the N. D. A.. President Stringhams talk brought a whirlwind of applause, and crowds of questioners who bought up every paper and pamphlet available. The fact that it was the feature of the meeting is proved by the following paragraph about it in the New York Times, which devoted only seven paragraphs to the whole convention: New plans presented to the delegates included that of the Natural Development Association with headquarters in Salt Lake City, which under the direction of Benj. B. Stringham and a board of directors had developed an exchange of professional services atid commodities on the basis of systematized barter. It was started with no capital stock and has developed an exchange of goods and commodities valued at $4,000 daily, with only 2 per cent of transactions done in cash' The three minutes allowed were pretty well used, if we can judge by the relative value given to our association by the New York Times reporter. The party is now headed for home, and are making valuable contacts all along the way. Auspices Having been notified, Mr. Heber Bennion was called out of town on business, Mr. Lamoreaux, acting head of the N. D. A. educational department, was fortunate in securing Dr. Gibson Walker to address the N. D, A. members at their Forum meeting Wednesday evening, Dr. Walker has been working at the University of Utah in the Bureau ofEconomical Research. He is a fearless thinker who approaches his subject with an unbiased, objective attitude of mind. In dealing with the subject, "Distribution of Wealth and the Factors Affecting the Distribution of Wealth, Dr. Walker, by means of charts prepared by the government department of the interior, clearly illustrated and explained the Ratio of National Resources to Population in the United States and other important countries. He named the three important factors affecting the distribution of wealth as follows: Population and Production The population as compared with the natural resources. Statistics show the population of the United States to be one hundred million of the world's which is 1. population. In India where ithe population is far greater in proportion to the resources the people die at the rate of eight million a year. The average income is five to eight dollars a year. Fifty to sixty per cent of their income is taken by taxation. The 2. Productive Efficiency. United States has more than one' third of the water power in the world, one-ha- lf of the the coal, of petroleum with but the worlds population to enjoy it, enough power to be equivalent to two (Continual on page Five.) two-thir- ds th THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH AND THE STATESMAN (Editors Note: President Hoover has said that the country needs great poem. So we have rummaged around to find it. The following was published in the East many years ago and with a few changes is, we think, very appropriate for today. We recommend it to the president as a great poem. We use the word statesman to mean all the ruling powers.) said he, Scenes like this are common enough; what do they mean to me? "Look again, spake the Spirit of Truth, and spread before his eyes A smiling land of abundance that stretched to the circling skies, with richness, a kingdom of luxury fine. A land Where bounty waited, enough for all, in forest and field and mine. But cunning and graft had seized the wealth with greedy talon and claw And set it aside for their private gain, and fenced it round with law. Look well," the Spirit commanded, and the statesman answered flat, A threadbare subject, my shadowy friend; where is the story in that? eer-heap- God pity your stubborn blindness, man, and forgive you the chance you missl Away with your dead traditions! Is there never a story in this, Hut greed would garner the harvest, leaving the owner guant; That the masters would rob the toilers and thrive on the toilers' want? But the statesman spoke of property rights and of customs hoar and old, And argued the dread of a flag blood red that would rise if the truth be told. You fool, the Spirit in anguish said, must history make it clear That yours is the hand that sows the seed of the pestilence you fear? For ages long I have striven and toiled to free mankind from wrong; I have pleaded and prayed for human aid to save the weak from the strong. I have starved and fought and watched and wrought that the truth might enter in To end the sway of falsehood and banish the curse of sin; And men have gone to the stake for me and scorched in the cannon's breath, And women have writhed in torture and welcomed the arms of death. That the truth might live to serve the world and then, when the fight seemed won, I gave the standard to you to guard, to you, my gifted sonl I trusted you with my work to do, I gave you a charge to keep; I placed in your hand a shepherd's staff to comfort my hunted sheep, But now you turn it against me and the truth must go untold While you devote your stewardship to the will of the power of gold; To the pleasure of those who burden the poor, to the greed that fosters crime, Oh I turn you again my statesman, be true while there pet it time. For this is the cry of a million souls who down to the pit have trod, Who keeps the truth from the people stands in the way of God. But the statesman slowly shook his head with a look disconsolate, Fur his was a mighty position, a pillar in the state, And his was a fame that had borne his name to the whole word's furthest ends, A powerful man was the statesman, with powerful men for friends. AUDITOR'S TALK In one of our local dailies, crowded into an inconspicuous place by a flood of prosperity propaganda, we find the following news item: SHOWS A BIG 7riut Diet Brings BUSINESS Death and Illness Independence, Happiness, Standing, a Land Bank Loan, Bankruptcy In the current number of Colliers Weekly is an article on the destructive work of the federal land banks. In it a farmer, Williamson, by name, of Alabama, tells his own story, and that story is, in substance, as follows: I had 400 acres of the best land worth $25,000. I was happy, content and prosperous. Along came a Fed' eral Land bank agent who tempted me to take a $10,000 loan with which to make things city like. I fell for it. Five per cent was held out and the deal was said to be cooperative, making me believe that the government was working right along with me and for me. I made improvements which brought the value of the place to $35,' 000. For three years crops were good and I paid my installments regularly. But in 1930 came a flood, drowning my live stock, washing away some of the buildings. Then the short crop and the low price of cotton and the depression. When the yearly installment of $617 came due in November, all I had' to my name was $300. I went to the bank, paid the $300, asked them to let the balance go over until next year, as they had security of $35,000 for $10,000. They let is go over, but, they had to have additional security and made me give a chattel mortgage on all my live stock, machinery, automobile, and all my equity in my stored cotton. Well, 1931 was such a bad year that I could not, to save my life pay the $317 and I was entirely without hope when I went to the bank. I told them I would work hard and if they would take a mortgage on the 1932 crop I believed could make it. Then congress passed a bill and it was signed by the president, appropriating $25,000,000 to help delinquent farmers. I applied for a loan to cover my delinquency, but did not get it Why? Because they wanted my choice farm. It was so easy to get $35,000 for $10,000. Well, to make a long story short, I walked off the farm tramp and my family facing starva- tion. The statesman he was a leader of thought in a country proud and great, Multiply that by a million. The And the statesmans solemn opinion was a pillar in the state. And the statesmans fame had borne his name to the whole worlds furthest same bank mentioned did that kind of a job against more than 16,000 farmends, ers in one year. And in (very instance A powerful man was the statesman, with powerful men for friends. the government could have saved the farmer. Is that a good policy? No, A spirit stood by the statesman's bed, one early autumn night, it is the most senseless and inhuman And the statesman lifted a startled head and stared at the thing in white It has been denounced by policy. I Away with you To the devil with you! he gasped in sleepy dread. Senator Borah and when he came You have sent me away a thousand times; Im tired of the trip, it said; home to Idaho the other day and saw A thousand times you have heard me pray for half a chance and the light; what greed was doing, he said: A thousand times you have turned me away you shall hear me out tonight. We going to refth the point Though you waved me away with your hand today, you shall listen now for- some ofare these days when these debt' sooth; ors, in sheer despair, will adopt 'You shall harken well to the tale I tell, I am the Spirit of Truth. method which will be an unhappy in cident for all of us. It is not sound A phantom picture flashed in air at the foot of the statesmans bed. business judgment, it is not sound And the statesman gazed with mild amaze, and his eyes grew big in his head. economics, and it is not just or fair He looked at the homes of poverty, the hunger of many a child. to force conditions in the midst He saw the young girls sunk in shame and the mother who never smiled; this depression. Some of the deThe sons bowed down and sullen with no where to find relief, mands which are being made upon And over the picture, in letters of fire, WANT" was the word he read: the would make Shylock And the statesman scowled to the Spirit, What business of mine?" he said. look mortgages like a gentleman. He looked and saw where, overtime, women and children toiled Till worthless human hands grew weak and precious goods were spoiled. He saw the boss with ugly eyes threaten the women there Whose hollow cheeks foretold too well the end of their struggle and care. And he looked, and he saw the death in the driven workmen's race, While hungry ones stood waiting near to enter the empty place. He turned once more to the Spirit of Truth, and Away with your show! CHILDREN STARVED i Under Favorable N.D.A. WINS THE APPLAUSE IN CONVENTION NOT IN HEADLINES; No Meeting This Saturday Night. MAKING THE PAPER OF NATIONAL USE It was with a degree of pleasure that we received recently the request contained in the following letter. Also we received requests for 25 papers from Oakland and a dozen from Shcl ley, Idaho. This shows there is a national field for the paper. Help us to make it cover the U. S. A San Jose, Calif., September 23, 1932. C. N. Lund, 206 Scott Bldg. Salt Lake City, Utah. Dear Sir: Kindly find enclosed a subscription to your paper. The Progressive Independent. We have formed a Cooperative Exchange, in which we try to do what you have done in Salt Lake City. We heard a lot about you through Mr. Spencer, who has visited us and who went all over the Pacific Coast investigating this sort of movement. The women in the exchange have formed themselves into an auxiliary and have decided to take your paper on account of the many instructive articles therein. Kindly mail your paper to the Women's Auxiliary of the Cooperative Exchange, 772 East Santa Clara St., San Jose, Calif. Yours very truly, San Jose Cooperative F.xrhangi-- . ANNA B. KRIF.SFKI.D, Manager. TEACHERS BID FOR JOBS Nebraska counties are trying to avoid bankruptcy by opening school teachers' positions to bidding. Many teachers have got jobs in 45 counties by bidding as low as $45 a month. Three children were seriously ill at the Salt Lake general hospital, and their sister, Doris Jeanette Nichols, 3, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Nichols of Bingham, was dead Tuesday as a result of acidosis produced by a diet of raw fruit, according to hospital attaches. Mr. Nichols has been unemployed for a considerable period and the family had been reduced to a diet of raw fruit, hospital authorities were told. Doris Nichols died Monday after a three-da- y illness. Her brother, Jun-- 1 Nichols, 4, and two sisters, Virginia, 4, and Mary Jane, 2, while still a serious condition, are reported LIVELY SATURDAY NIGHT MEETING SEPTEMBER 24 The Saturday night meeting. Sept opened with (a) and (b) numbers from the Male Trio: River, Stay Away From My Door," and Somebody Stole My Gal. Dr. Smith, in charge of the meeting, told the audience of the trip of President Stringham, Director Glad and Historian Curtis to New York to attend the National Cooperative conimproving. vention. He said that while in DeDoris Nichols is troit the members of the expedition only one of thousands of victims of had a long and interesting talk with a cruel, ignorant economic system Henry Fords secretary, during which which itself is doomed and dying. they were able to give him a detailed Had she been the victim of kidnap- account of the N. D. A and were as- -. ers, racketeers or any other sort of ured that it would be relayed to Mr. thug, her story would have been head- Ford, who is deeply interested in such lined. But the newspapers whose mis- organizations. Dr. Smith read a brief sion it is to uphold and defend the but inspirational greeting from d. The party had done some old economic system do not care to in the way of sleeping in emphasize the deaths of its victims. straw stacks and on the ground, and had been able to trade literature for fruit and vegetables as they went. Mr. Nate Christophcrson, head of the Lehi Cannery, said N. D. A. scrip had become a common thing now down in his locality, and that residents of Highland had said they didnt know what they would have done if it hadn't been for N. D. A. American Fork, Vineyard and Provo Bench farmers are all beginning to trade ITOW WIT T with- the N. D. A. He said the Lehi is still running, and is selling PROSPERITY AFFECT cannery canned goods for coal, etc. The peoTHE N. D. A. ple of his community bope that the city division will get going in manufactures, so they can be exchanged for farm products. People Are Beginning Presented to Wonder No Danger Under thePlaydirection of Mrs. The Mayor and the ManiBy WILL DOBSON cure was next presented. In this one-aInvestigators who imagine the N. comedy, Marlowe NielD. A as a mere temporary aid for happy son as Mayor, showed real ability as victims of the depression usually a laugh-gette- r. Rowena Moncur, as ask: What will become of the N. the mayors sons sweetheart, was D. A. when prosperity comes again and Oliver Smiths and your members leave you to take as the convincing, mayors son, and Carol Nielson better jobs? as the manicure, made up a capable In the first place, the N. D. A. is cast. The audience showed its appreIt accepts ciation with plenty of applause building for permanence. and members remain to likely loyal, laughter. only who have become genuinely converted Dr. Edmund Gale, who had reto its teachings. There is bound to cently arrived from San Jose,just Calif., be a certain percentage of falling for the purpose of joining the N. D. away, but so small as to be negligible. A., was asked to speak. He told of As for taking better jobs, some of our hearing of the amazing growth and most useful and valuable members are efficiency of the N. D. A from Arthur Where they Spencer of Oakland, who held his auemployed elsewhere. Work is immaterial, because all they dience spellbound for over two hours can spare from a modest living is de- as he told of the wonders he had seen voted to building up the N. D. A in Salt Lake. Dr. Gale, who has been In the next place, an association convert to cooperation for many that can thrive in a time of deepest years, was so impressed by Spencers depression, when corporations on all story he set out for Salt Lake at once. sides are going to the wall will not Here are my two hands, he told the suddenly become helpless when pros- meeting, and whatever talents I may perity comes. On the other hand, possess. They are yours to use as prosperity will only hasten its pro- you wish. gram. It is a virile, efficient building Auditor Reports. unit capable of competing with all C. D. McAllister, head of the accomers. counting dept, of the N. D. A, was No Fear of Prosperity called on. He said it was the accountBut the big reason we have for hav- ant's business to grind out figures and ing no fear of prosperity is that the let the other fellow do the talking. working man is not going to see any He explained that the N. D. A. is orprosperity outside of the N. D. A ganized on entirely different lines What little prosperity is on the way from the usual stock company where is for big business exclusively. All it men with a few hundred dollars of amounts to is a moratorium putting capital organize a company with an off the reckoning day for our vast inflated stock, vote themmountain of public and private debt. selves fatcapital use a portion of salaries, All the jobless will get out of it is their to hire laborers and buy capital the meagre prospect of sharing the material to be worked up, and in three wages of those already employed transactions are able to trade their that is, if the employed can be forced laborers out of nine-tentof what to share with the unemployed. their labor has created. Each workall Capitalism has at last given up man in the N. D. A is worth several hope of creating those new jobs so thousand dollars to himself and five Now the jobless. long promised to times as much to the corporation. they have turned to the problem of That the N. D. A is needed is proved divide the to their workers forcing by the small percentage of the popuwages with their jobless brethren. lation who are independent at the age is to do to willing Capital anything of fifty. In the N. D. A all the wealth help Labor out of the slough of un- created by the members goes back to off Labors employment except get so that they will not be turned back Wages must be cutto impos- them, as they get too old to out as sible smallness so that dividends can work. paupers be paid. That is why there will be He explained how the association no real prosperity why the old eco- has steadied the market by buying up nomic system is doomed. and has helped the farthe No one who sees and understands merssurpluses, by allowing the market price for have can England's plight any hope their surplus products. of an American revival. England In January, he told the meeting, the dole to association her the gave unemployed did a business of $56l77, and tide them over what was supposed to in the month of August it had grown be a mere depression." That was in to $34,639.45. It is still increasing 1921. That depression has only deeplike a snowball on a steep hill in wet ened, until the hope of ever putting snow. As for the scrip her unemployed to work is now dead. outstanding, the redeeming sooner people have What was then taken for a temporary it redeemed the better, for the only depression, is now recognized as the way you can redeem it is to set peoecobreakdown ' of the old permanent ple to work. nomic system. Dr. Smith said that in connection Today America is in the same boat with Mr. McAllisters reference to the with England and all the other capi- redeeming of scrip, the question was talistic nations. It is up to the, N. D. often asked, What is there back of A to organize the new economic sys- the scrip?" The service of every tem on the ruins of the old. Industry member is back of it, and since it is can stagger no further under its old not redeemable in gold you cannot burden of interest and dividends. It break the N. 1). A. by making a run must be rescued from its financial on the association. wreckage. Mr. Myron Smith, a new member, Natural Development, by bringing was introduced as the double of Asthe producer and consumer together sistant Manager Roy Dundas. Mr. in one cooperative organization, is Dundas told of Mr. Smith as his reorganizing industry along rational neighbor and friend, giving many inlines. Neither will profit unduly at stances of their regard for each other the expense of the other, and neither and an account of their teamwill be forced to pay tribute to capi' work inamusing wearing shoes and suits, as (Continued on page Five.) (Continued on page Five.) Three-year-o- 24, Mer-Mar-D- ee ld Mr-Gla- pio-neeri-ng ORGANIZATION SOUND, STABLE Loh-hold- ct er, |
