The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1884-09-25


the farmer may have TO forfeit the whole
profits on his entire crop. lie might just Al
well trace back bis paternity to a man that
was hanged, as to have the buyer feel around
In his sack and say triumphantly, There's
Lost Nation!" IGreat laughter.
THE LITTLE BRASS KETTLE.
And then these fellows have contrived
another fraud AS the question OF the price
OF the farmers wheat turns upon the weight
Of bushcl Of 1t, one would naturally sup
pose that they would ascertain this by weigh
Ing bushel, or at least half bushel. Not
ut all. To find out how much bushel Of
wheat weighs they weigh quart Of wheat;
like the Greek philosopher Who wanting to
sell his house, carried around one OF the
bricks to show to purchasers to give them an
idea ofthe house. [Great laughter and APP
plansc. And to find what this quart weighed
they used little brass kettle which, (as was
shown before a legislative committee), could
be made to yield, In the hands of an expert,
three different grades Of wheat out Of the
same sack. [Applause.l
plLIsBURY's VETO or THE ANTI-KETTLE BILL.
And when the farmers rose up in their
wrath against this th.mble- rigging operation,
and forced the legislature to pass an act to
make 1t penal offence to use such kettle.
the millers rushed in and induced them God
only knows how, on the same day, to pass
another act which declared that the buyer
could use such kettle, provided he had on top
Of it what was called 'stacy fllcr,n named
nar ~ y1a Al, ~, Ia
vented 1t, aud called 1.-THE Stacey 1ller'' be-
cause II has filled Stacey's pocket and the mil
lers' pockets ever since. Long continued
laughter and applause. And they
sent these contradictory acts to the
governor Pillsbursl, who was a member Of
the millers' ring, and he, Of course, vetoed
the first bill and signed the last. Applause.
And now, instead If manipulating the wheat
in the kettle, youmanipuatc the wheat in the
hopper, and, as wheat ceases to flow at
given angle, 1t never fills the kettle under
the hopper to a water level, and thus the far
mer is certain to lose grade every time any
how. IApplause.l
SHIPPING WHEAT TWENTY MILES AND PAYING
THE FREIGHT FOR 400 MILES.
" nat else 10 THESE knhFeS u0t
We have railroad running through the
greater part Of this district the Hastings Il
Dakota road; 1t is part OF the great Milwaukee
& st. Paul system.
The millers' pool their shipments of flour
(poolng-pooling in every direction), and say
to this company, 'if you do not fix your iates
SO that We can get all the wheat raised on
your line, you shall not have barrel of cur
aour to handle; We will send it east by CON-
peting lines
"Nhat do you wanta' asks the company.
ave want YOU to refuse 10 receive wheat
for shipment from anybody 10 any point in
Minnesota, unless tAe shipper pays the freight
on ii to Milwaukee,
''But how vii that help you."
want You then to give us rebate on
all wheat that goes to Minneapolis, and this
rebate We can use in paying the transporta-
ton Of our -four 10 Milwaukee; then II any
outsiders ship to Minneapolis they will have
to sell their rebate certificates at such price as
we may choose to give, and this will
discourage outsiders from buying aud
/ farmers from shipping their Own
wheat. and force the entire crop into
! our eleyators.a our own price [App!ausc.
Aud this gigantic iniquity has succeeded ,
| they have forced the railroad company into
this scheme: reluctantly, for their real in
terest Is the prosperity Of the people along
their line: and to-day it is a shameful and
an outrageous fact that these common car
riers refuse to take a busael Of wheat to any
point In Minnesota, from any point in Min
nesota or Dakota, unless the shipper pays the
| freight to Milwaukee.
Think Of it In nv own county you can
| not ship bushel Of wheat from Farming ton
to Minneapolis, twenty miles distant, unless
you pay the freight to Milwaukee, four hun
dred miles distant, where the wheat does not
20 at all and where the shipper does not want
it to 90. And this Is true of the whole line
Of road. What would be thought II
when you went to your depot here In Glen coe
to buy ticket to st. Paul you were COM
PEELED to pay your fare to Milwaukee, and
then had to send the rebate TO Milwaukee to
sell, for whatever the scalpers would givei
Is not this precisely parallel easel
LOSS OF SEVEN CENTS PER BusHEL.
think the history Of modern times can
be challenged In vain to produce . greater or
more abominable injustice. And this rebate
paper crowds into Minneapolis. Again the
millers are masters of the situation; nobody
else wants it, they fix their own price; and
this fraud alone, it Is estimated, makes q
difference of seven cents bushel on every
5ushel raised in the country tributary to this
road, for the outside buyer has to put down
the price to cover the anticipated loss on the
rebate, aud the millers avail themselves oi
the fact And the Republican party of tn.
state, To its shame be 1t spoken, has been sc
dominated by this and kindred rings, that Il
has not raised single note of protest against
it. With full power in its hands to redres.
these wrongs it has met year after year. in leg
islative session and adjourned without even
attempting remedy.
WHAT Is THE RESULT OF ALL THESE RoBBER
Plethora In the center; poverty
In the extr,mities. We see, on
one hand, men who few year.
ago were poor and In debt, rolling up their
millions; We turn on the other hand to thu
offices Of the registers Of deeds and towI
clerks, and We ind the whole farming com
munity covered with debts; almost ever,
farm, horse, COW, OK, pig and farming i'm
plement plastered over with mortgages.
SAMPLE CASE.
Let me give one sample Of the condition
Of our farmers. Thomas C. Hodgson,
prominent and able farmer Of Grant county
writes me under date Of June "a, 1854:
1.-The records of our towns and countie
show 4 most deplorable state of things, u
regards the financial condition Of the people
, Ny own figures show. Ire Is town assessor)
that the personal property Of the whole towi
| live In Is, in round numbers, $50, 900
The town clerk assures me that there are un
discharged chattel mortgages in his office fo
about $4,000. This is terrible. The count
! recording office reveals just as bad = stat
of things
i II must be remembered that property Il
fneyer mortgaged To its full value. IL is there