THE STORY OF THE NONPARTISAN LEAGUE 



ship away the grain that is accumulating with- 

 in them; both apply to the railroad company. 

 If the "line" elevator gets the cars and the 

 farmers' does not, who is to prove that the 

 request of the "line" elevator was not in 

 first? And if thereby the farmers' elevator 

 becomes choked with grain so that it can buy 

 no more, and the whole situation passes into 

 the hands of the "line" elevator, which can 

 now pay what price it pleases and exact what 

 dockage it may elect, who is to say that the 

 railroad company is at fault? Cars are hard 

 to get at the season when the wheat is moving ; 

 every railroad company is put to its utmost 

 of ingenuity to meet the demands made upon 

 it. First come, first served, according to its 

 managers and press agents, is its rule, and if 

 the "line" people were smart enough to dis- 

 tance the farmers about car applications, that 

 is no concern of the company's. Something 

 like this is the ready answer to every com- 

 plaint, and there is no way to refute it. 



3. They organized the local banks against 

 the co-operative and thereby let loose a tre- 

 mendous power. Far too little has been said 

 about this phase of rural life in America. 

 Taking the country by and large, the power 

 of the bank is second only to the power of 

 the press, and, so far as mere newspaper edi- 

 torials are concerned, goes immeasurably in 

 advance. I should think it no exaggeration 



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