Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1871-03-02
The St. Louis Trade /.

The st. Louis Trade.
We would remind our merchants,
and the people of Iowa generally, OF
the fact that the Iowa Central Rail-
road now gives us direct access to st.
Louis. There is no longer any reason
for our merchants paying such enor-
nous railroad freights and charging
them up to our people on sugar, cof-
fee, rice, cotton, tobacco, and various
other articles that naturally come to
ms from the Southern markets. For
a number of years it has been the
practice of shipping groceries from
New Orleans to New York, and then
by railroad to Chicago, and there dis
tributed out to the West with all Of
the accumulated freights and profits
of the various hands through which
they passed. Many of us have
known this, and have groaned under
it; and we have longed for the day
when we would be relieved by direct
access to the st. Louis market, and
beyond that to the Gulf, by water.
Freight from I;uropeto New Orleans
is very low, owing to the fact that a
large number Of ships come there for
cotton. Some times ships depart
from Liverpool to New Orleans with
rock for ballast, as no freight could be
had, when there was gorge of
freight for New York. For this
reason freight from England to New
Orleans has sometimes been not eX-
ceeding one-third what it was to New
York. When once at New Orleans,
it can be brought to st. Louis by
water for trifle in comparison to
what it costs by rail from New York
to Chicago. And, too,our people are
smarting under the impositions prac-
ticed on us by the business men OF
Chicago, in the weight and storage OF
our wheat. But more especially can
we recollect the arbitrary conduct of
some of the railroads running to Chi
cago, in refusing to take wheat to
any warehouse except some one they
owned or had an interest in; and the
roads refusing to weigh what when
shipped, and receipt for the weight, as
well as various other oppressive and
swindling practices which have
driven many men from the business
of shipping grain, stock, &c. These,
and various other practices, some oil
so recent date that the gals are not
healed over, have aroused our people
to the necessity of another outlet, as
well as another inlet to the vast de.
mands of Iowa's thousands. We
know of some men who have stored
their grain for three years with
determination never to ship it I'M
til some other market was found,
and some other road was constructed
to ship on. Those men for the past
month have been sending their
wheat to market; and the business OF
the country, in some places has beer
greatly benefited by throwing tho
proceeds into circulation.
We hope then our merchants will
abandon the old ruts they haze been
running in to Chicago, and fleeing
thereby our people, but will seek
other, and we hope and trust better
markets.
WHAT re- ST LOUIS DOING?
While we are demanding that our
merchants shall look for other depots
to purchase their groceries, what Is
st. Louis doing to gain the vast trade
of Iowa? They should know that
Iowa raises s0,O00,0OO bushels of corn
per year, most of which is converted
into hogs and cattle, and must be ia
ken to some market. And we raise
80, O00, 900 bushels of wheat per year,
and which in seven years more, will
probably reach 10000, 900. To whom
shall weship this wheat? Are there
any warehouses in St.Louis of capac-
ity to do this kind Of business ?
Have they men there with means to
handle the vast trade Of Iowa?
We publish about the only paper
at the Capital Of the State-it circu-
lates all over the North.west--goes
into the homes Of 10000 families
along these rich valleys and over fer
| tile prairies, and by reference to our
columns we find but meager show
of st. Louis advertisements, calling
the attention of our people, while we
have column after column from Chi
cago. And, too, if we meet an inso-
lent upstart, OF loose morals, at our
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