The Dickinson press., 1884-01-05
DA0KTA NEWS NOTES.
GRADING AND FREIGHT RATES

sAS oy-0u W1lu YOUR
permission l wish to say to say a few words on
She subject; but before doing 80. as facts aid
as In the search for truth, I will speak OF Inc
condition in my own immediate vicinity. The
pes Judges, taking the assessors returns for
:h9 acres sown to wheat in this county and
the known yield per acre, place the amount of
gram In TINS county CGranh available for market
rtl,oOO 900 bushels. The market. as things
now are, TOR the farmer means the nearest ele-
vator on the Hastings g. Dakota railroad He
aas reason to expect to receive for his product
me market price for wheat in Minneapolis. ST
Paul. Milwaukee or Chicago. less the freight
sharses to those points and . fair margin to the
elevator man for handling. The schedule rate
from here to Minneapolis is about ~ cents
per bushel (What tho millers' %associa-
inteligences and two or three railroad mem. The
Inference on the average between the price
paid here aud the market quotations i'll
Minneapolis for the past three months has
been ~ cents per busheL The most serious
wheat las been graded, not by any known rule,
but simply at the caprice of the elevator men.
10 illustrate, wheat weighing sixty-two pounds
10 the measured bushel, FREQ from
foul seed, bright and in perfect order. graded
little smut IN it. Wheat bought at the elevator
in he spring as "hard" when taken to market
after harvest graded soft" Wheat taken
from tho same bin, IN all r spects alike, would
grade from No. 3 up to No. l; and in one case,
eddy to get q grade of No. l for a sample of
beautiful wheat, and being unable to get over
No. 3. employed his neighbor to haul for him
the same lot, who had no difficulty in getting
raised here is soft wheat, and the buyers have
talen advantage OF this fact to lowor IN buying
neA:ly all the grain bought here at least one
grade. Samples sent to Minneapolis and Mil
waukee, which would only grade No. 5 in this
market, invariably. graded there No. I.
A very low and conservative estimate
of the amount the farmers have Sc
cured for their graln-tak,ng into account
the wide margin between price here and IN the
market cities. az we'll as loss in ~grading-wil
make the loss to the farmer 10 cents on each
bushel. It is doubtless much more than this;
but, at this low estimate, the farmers of this
county have received 100000 less
than they ought to have done, after paying
schedule rates for freight, commission, and a
business profit to the mon who handled the
grain. This one hundred or one hundred and
fifty thousand dollars means a good deal to the
settlers III a new county like this. II they had
it, it would mean more land improved, better
buildings, more home comforts, debts paid to
merchants and manufacturers, and last but
not least, o feeling Of comfort and encourage
ment. j..
Now the pertinent question is, how comes it
that this condition If things exists in q country
where it is supposed there is q government
which protects the weak against the strong,
rather than the exception? Ihs answer is very
simple. Because the Chicago. Milwaukee i
st. Paul Railway company will only furnish
cars to ship wheat for elevator mon. Every
effort u, has been made; men have been
the road. letters and kilograms without
number; but The only answer (when any answer
was given) was: 'lf you want to ship wheat
you must do it through the elevators" Mer-
chants having grain in warehouses other than
elevators-farmers-all have exhausted effort,
but the elevator mon and millers' association
seem to be masters of the situation. There
was an entire willingness to pay the regular
rates of freight; to load the cars in the
shortest possible time; no special favors were
asked. Men simply wanted the privilege OF
sending their produce to such markets as
their pestintsrests demanded. This is a simple
and moderate statement Of tho condition OF
affairs in this locality, and if report can be
relied on, we are no worse os than most other
places in tho Nor Invest. 1t has been sail here
that the officers having charge of this COM
pays ruads west Of the Mississippi river
would have corrected the abuse, but were over
ruled in Milwaukee. How much truth there
tiun of affairs must be changed, and thai
speedily. no thinking man can deny. Ii would
be impossible for any combination to exist,
having it i'll its power to talk. from the COM
mnni,y the profit for a years hard work, like
the combination of the millers' association and
elevator ring, unless sustained by the railroad
company. Without this the natural law of
busiu, So would remedy the evil. 1 am truly
j, glad that yon have decided to discuss The ques
, ton, and with most of your article ], in COM
mon with a large majority Of our readers,
agree. l think, however, you are in error
when you state t'lat the r ason why res rain
ing legislation has not been bad before is be-
cause farmers and business men have been 80
unreasonable in their demands. The real rea sou
is not difficult to find OR far to seek. l think l
know the sentiment Of the Northwest on this
question, il twenty years of intimate acquaint-
ance is Of value; and l have never yet
found the man, unless smarting under
the effects of immediate injury, who in his
anything to impair the value of railway PROD
erty. Men as u rule comprehend and give full
credit for the blessings which railroads con-
fer upon tho country, except when they are
safe rule to mistake the feelings of . few men
smarting from oppression for the senti-
mcnt Of the whole community. There
have been doubtless many attempts
at foolish and unwise legislation, but . law
which should require and compel the railway
alike would satisfy ninety out OF every hundred
men in the Northwestern States. Freights in
some cases are excessive, it is true; but it is
not this which is complained of, but disorim-
luatlOu UotWeeu suAppoTs' Az Aease IuIeS-
fourths of the evils of our transportation sys-
tenn may be traced to this cause alone.
When, IN addition to the evils which natural
, ly grow out of large aggregations Of capital
centralized in q community of as large and
diversified interests as ours. is added the
building up through them OF other corpora
tons to tax the industries OF the people,
thoughtful men may we'll ask whore is to be the
end? But the eimple enactment Of a law to
compel the railroads to treat all its patrous
alike will not be worth the paper the Ill Ii
written on, unless means sre provided for Its
enforcement.
To make q law. and leave it to the men whe
do business with the road to see it observed,
would be simply cllld's play. There is nj
principle which has been oftener decided by
our courts than that railroads are common
carriers, and muet therefore treat all alike;
and yet it is powerless. True, a shipper who
has been refused cars, OF who has
had to pay. SO per cent more
tisan his neighbor for like service,
conduct his suit not retained by the com
pany), and if he has money enough to follow
the case through the many months aud years tx
the court of last resort, recover damages, bu
every man knows this is simply impracticable
NV own opinion on this subject is that it is wist
to ignore all these questions of 'long and shor
hauls," s'cast-iron rates" AMI the nunlberiess
comparatively uDimporiant matters involved
and Only require that all shippers ehould bs
treat-d alike But to make even this regulation
effective the state must provide for its enforce
ment. The penalty for the violation OF Law
must be such as to command respect, and III
enforcement must be bJtn sYift aud speedy
This may be done by a commieslon or other
" -..- 3. a. lana Fh