St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-12-24

Lei nO-. IlcrclOrt. lIe movement III
OF system OF inspection dwarf or obscure
the main cause OF complaint. Official infur-
nation win not warrant any such couclu-
sion. Accusations against the companies
predicate the evils on The prohibition placed
upon free shipping and free buying by the
railway companies. thus giving to the great
elevators exclusive privileges in the
buying and shipping of grain.
This Is the root of the whole matter, the diff
Guilty in grading is but sprout which comes
from this root OF evil. Under the present
system the man at the elevator is king, and
a system Of inspection alone viii not de-
throne him so long as be holds exclusive
SHINING privileges. In the days when every
merchant in town was a buyer, and every
an who chose had his fat warehouse and
received cars to ship. little was heard about
the present complicated system of grades.
The new exyedient of a grand ELEVATOR sys-
tenn ms gradually barisded all the small
competitors, aud the great elevators are left
monarchs OF all they survey.
That large elevators are convenience in
the movement of grain no man will deny.
Tnat they will be built and operated under
an open and free system, is amply proved by
the experience or all other states.
But when some OF the roads declared no
one shonid have the privilege of shipping but
thrOug a 10000 bUshel elevator, thev viz
tually Enacted sumptuary law. The vital
principals, that railways are public high
ways, constructed Tor the benefit OF the peo-
pie, OF whom each individual has a right to
claim equal privileges in the matter Of
shipping and transportation. There
can be no favored parties as the panies
have determined these elevator men shall
be. The result of this system of favoritsm
has been 10 Kill petition and drive out
the independent buyer. This, it is contin-
uaily asserted tO this Office, is the foundation
and essence of the evils complained of. The
roads bave actually assumed to forbid com
petition in the purchase and shipping of
wheat. No law on earth can control the
single elevator man who alone buys and who
alone possesses the privilege of shipping
from a station. He is law unto himself.
The present system has reduced the number
Of actual buyers who control the markets of
the state toa very limited number. They
confer together every day. The telegraph
aud telephone make their action unit.
This syndicate OF men are practically
present at every station, controlling prices
aud grades. All other competitors have long
since disappeared, under the operation of
the cast iron rule. II was the little buyer
with his fiat warehouse, aud the merchant
who were formerly buyers, and who, like the
regulator In a watch, adjusted the markets
and the grades. Under that free and iex-
Die system, grades adjusted themselves,
aud there were no complaints. The Missis-
sippi river towns, from Hastings TO Browns
vile, are open aud free markets, everyone
buying who chooses, and everyone shipping
that desires, aud not complaint has ever
cpr1n from a ii ole pna ~ fhrsa r,Iacas III,
record shows that they have paid the highest
average price for grain aud with no com
plants as To grades. This is proof of the
benefits of commercial freedom, which blows
the theories of the railways TO atoms.
Under the existing system, prices and
grades are dictated exclusively by the selfish
interests OF one party, while the other is not
invited or permitted to take part in the trans
action. Such things occur in no other bust
ness transactions of lie. The railway rule
has organized this exclusive elevator system,
into one great monopoly. Where there
should be numerous competitors there are
none.
II It be said that the elevators are open and
free to all who desire to ship grain, that they
are in fact public elevators, the reply is,
first, that where the parties owning and run
ming them are themselves engaged in the
purchase and shipping of grain, they are
substantially private grain houses to all in
tents and purposes. Such are the elevators
belonging Ito the Millers' asso-
citation. Nor are there any
which are not run exclusively
in the interests of those owning or leasing
them. Again, If an outside buyer has pur-
chased, aud desires to realize by shipping, he
is refused ears on one pretext and another,
Till annoyed and discouraged, he is at last
frozen out" and retires from Il contest
where further effort is useless. This is the
history at numerous stations where we have
exa mined the condition of things. Our law
should more specifically declare that eleva-
tors shall be public elevators, and prescribe
severe penalties for any evasion Of their du-
ties as such.
Elevator men should have no rights super
ior to those of other avocations. They should
expect to put their money into the enter
prise subject 70 all sorts Of competition, as
other men do in other pursuits. The true re-
formatory measure is to throw the whole bust
ness open 10 free cOmpetitiOn and let il regu-
late itself, like other avOcations, on the basis
of free trade. Instead of building up a few
favored men who at present control the whole
business OF shipping grain, let all enjoy an
equal opportunity Of buving and shipping If
they may so choose. This constant sol CT
tude for the welfare'of the elevator men,
while the farmer is shorn and forgotten,
looks bad. Be- rendering the business free
to all they will inaugurate policy which, in
stead OF making few men wealthy, will add
to the wealth of men generally, and so stimu-
late business for themselves and for tine
people. The wealth of the railway is the
wealth of all Of lis customers. Every man
cannot build an elevator which costs from
Eve 10 ten thousand dollars; he must not,
therefore, be prohibited from the shipping of
grain in mis- own way because he is poor.
We deny that the elevators, as run, are free
to all. The present system exposes the roads
to the charge of collision with the elevator
men, and the methods prevailing justify the
charge. Every consideration, therefore, of
public policy would open the widest privilege
to those desiring to ship grain. These are
some of The strong practical points which 90
with the legal ones presented in the commits
sioner's report for 1882.
In view of all the facts, and the increased
hostility of the public against the existing
rule of the roads, and as a matter of sound
public policy, it is again urged that such leg
islaton be bad as will mpel the companies
to perform their duties as common carriers.
Our neighbOrs, Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois.
have, aud enforce, just such a measure as
is here respectfully recommended. Indeed,
in no state in the Union does such an arbi-
trary rule prevail as in Minnesota and D2-
kota.
All APOUND TUE CInPE