Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1878-10-01
THE WHEAT RING.

THE WHEAT RING.
ANOTHER TILT 4TIT BY THE CHAM
BER or COMMERCE.
Bill Kings Representative Wants to Hear
from the Committee-The Member of the
Committee Who Owns An Elevator Re-
sponds-A General Verdict that MIR.
Hodges Should be Heard-Two Weeks
Time Given the Committee-Our Railroad
Interests.
At the meeting of the chamber of COM
MERGE yesterday, the following letter was
read
TO the Secretary of the Chamber OF Commerce
of st. Paul.
DEAR SIR:-Whereas, members of your hon
orable body have seen proper to characterize
the Minneapolis Milers' association as whole
sale robbers and swindlers;' and whereas the
offense complained of seems to be in the grad
ing of wheat. grading No. s, that which
should be graded as No. 2, and grading as No. d
that which should be graded as No. 3, and of
making the difference in price between these
two grades greater than it ought to be, thereby
swimming t1lc producers cUC., GCC., L am IN
structed by the Minneapolis Millers associa-
tion to offer to the st. Paul chamber of COM
merce, any member thereof. all of the No. g.
No. and rejected wheat bought by the said
association between this date and January l,
1879, at actual cost, delivered cars at the
stations along the different lines of railroads
where bought.
In view of the serious nature of the charges
thus made against this association by members
Of and before your honorable body, and of the
further fact that your honorable body have so
far entertained such charges as to make the
same pretext Of committee of investigation
upon the acts of this association. we would re-
specially request that you will make this
proposition and your decision thereon, as pub
lie, and through the channels as the
charges against this association have been made.
Respectfully yours, %. b. ANDREWS,
General Agent Minneapolis AIillers' Association.
Minneapolis, Sept. 25.
This communication was referred to the
committee appointed at the last meeting,
without debate.
Mr.. Driscol then desired to know what
the committee were doing. Mr.. Hodg was
absent, but the majority of the committee
were present.
Mr.. Hodgson promptly responded. Mr..
Hodges had issued his circular without con-
sulting other members of the committee.
lie regretted the acrimonious spirit of Mr..
Hodges and condemned his language, in fact
he INDUCED in personal TRADE on his CO.
1aborer on the committee until called to Or
der. He then proceeded to say that be had
10000 acres Of land on the st. Paul 81
Pacific, 1000 under cultivation, and he
didn't want to see any swindling. Still he
thought the millers had done great good, and
was afraid if the Chamber proceeded it
would prevent mills being built In Red
tta mill 10 fuo
between grades, and he thought that was
fair.
MIR. Lee said the gentleman had told us
how much land he had, but he forgot to
mention that he was also interested in the
elevators on that road.
Mr. Banning said Inasmuch as Mr.. Hodg-
son, members of the committee, has
made partial report, and has chosen to
mlngle with it some of his personal opinions,
l ask the indulgence of the chamber.
In the first place [ desire to say, that the
attacks made ON our friend Mr.. Hodges, who
1nstigated the inquiry in regard to the alleg-
ed outrages committed on the wheat produc-
ers OF this State by the wheat buyers and in
spectors, is most undeserved. | may say
Just here, that, not only he, but other gentle
iiioA. iiNo LII pOSolt TO Q6I6nQ CleS0 pro-
ducers, have of late been continuously SLAM
dered by men who have not the courage to
write over their own signatures preferrine,
like the assassin, to stab men in the dark.
DO you not know and recognize such man
IN this chamber? | do not agree that Mr..
Hodges, in his circular to the people, has
used coarse and abusive language, or used
any expression not fully justified by the
circumstances and the occasion. He said.
In effect, that it was charged that by manipu-
iatlon and management in widening the
grades, and testing the quality of the wheat,
that the grades were reduced so that No. l.
wheat was reduced to No. 2, No. 2 to No. 3,
No. 3 to rejected, and thus from fifteen to
twenty cents bushel knocked
off its actual value, and he
further said that if this were
true, the men engaged in this nefarious prac-
tlce were properly denounced as a band of
thieves and robbers I will add to ard en-
phaslze what he said in this. They are
worse than common robbers who plumber
the Individual, for they strike directly at the
prosperity of the State.
Let me not be misunderstood. There is
no just complaint to make against the for
nation of the Millers' association of Mime
apolis. 1t stands upon the same basis as
other formations, whether corporations, com
panies, CO. cooperative societies, aggregate in
telllgence and capital to cheaper the cost of
their products, and more economically carry
on their business. AS in Minneapolis thew
can cheaper their warehouse charges by doing
business in one OF two, instead of a larpe
number. They have to employ fewer buy
ers and agents in purchasing wheat and con
Quoting their business, thus lesseninp the
cost of the manufacture of flour and en-
abllng them to pay a larger price for the
wheat. The objection is not to this. The
great question Isl whether when this agore
CATION OF capital and power is organized. it
is used as means to pillage the producers.
as is charged by the settlers on the St. PAM
q Pacific lines.
learn the plan of operating in wheat, in
large portion of this State, IS about like
this, and if it be thus, you may readily COM
prehend how this great interest is at the
mercy of a combination which must be
broken up if we would have prosperity.
Wheat is our great production. On it de-
ponds the value of our lands, the success of
manufactures, the business of our mer
chants, the employment of labor, and in all
Its forms, the prosperity Of the State. This
great product of the country is gathered up
and carried out by certain lines of railroads
which Will not carry either to the Mississippi
River or the Lakes, but by arbitrary rules.
force it by unnatural routes to market.
Again, it is said-and I presume it will not
be disputed-that the business of buyino
wheat, inspecting, grading and valuing It. is
also becoming monopoly of the worst de-
scription. The plan is somewhat TINS