The Dickinson press., 1885-01-17

use them; Let them alone. Cars viii be place. os
shipper gets. big or little, and You can sell you
wheat where you pleaseand sell II to whom yor
p EafSs t n this d,sBo w1y the s.r farmers eal
The elevator men may think I am beag:
ing down on them pretty hard, but I want iustic.
done to the farmers as we'll rs them. It is to tn,
business. and we will do all we can to bring Il
about. -
These assurances were repeated at othe,
places.
At q public meeting held in Mtlbank April
Z, 1884, General Freight Agent A. 6. Bird, o,
the Chicago, Milwaukee & St Paul road, said
"The road realized fully the necessity Of en-.
couraging settlement and of aiding the prosper.
ity Of the people as we'll; that while the farmers
need the road there is no future tor us withont
The farmers assistance. We viii not refuse an,
man the use of cars when it can be provided
There are emergencies when we cannot furnish
them. No general officer Of the road. I think
times when the road is crowded with work. an 4
the freight drifts the cars all In one direction
and at such times 1t would be impossible to fur,
nish cars to any one 1t often happened from
the causes mentioned that they could not obtair
cars to move their own property" But he gave
assurances that the request Of farmers and in
dividual shippers for cars should be considered
and granted the same as other shippers" Mr.
Bird gave like assurances at Alexandria, Red.
field and other points visited by us, at each Of
NAASA puOAiS AcCelAk W0kS uelu.
In every instance we have found thu
railroad companies willing and anxious
to promote the welfare of the producer of the
great cereal which has given to Dakota 8
worldwide reputation.
H QUESTION. OF GRADES.
But neither the most liberal policy thai
might be inaugurated by the railroad com.
panies, nor thep privilege Of shipment by the
individual farmer, W>ll give relief to the grea1
mass OF those who cannot thus ship, nor de.
termine the point upon which rests tinally
all, or nearly all, the trouble. We refer t.
the question of grades. 1t is of no kind Of
use for this board or any other tribunal tt
declare what shall constitute No. 1 harG
wheat unless some tribunal exists, to whom
disputes arising as to whether a certain loI
of wheat offered for sale be q certain
grade or not. In other words, to determine
whose Judgment, that of buyer or seller. ii
either is correct. Grading wheat mus
Judgment, and where the elevator agent re.
fuses to receive wheat at the grade the pro
Queer believes it to be entitled, the neces
stiles of the farmer will generally govern
nm IN selling at 3 grade below what he hon.
estly believes he should receive. We may
pernaps be pardoned for here suggesting thai
a remedy exists for this in the creation Of
some tribunal to whom this matter might be
referred. Pending the appeal. the wheat te
pc received by the elevator, a ticket stating
date Of receipt, number of bushels, ETC., tc
pc given to the seller. Sample to be carried
before the board Of appeals whose Judgment
to be final, and.wheat to be paid for at price
paid for grade determined, on. day of ware.
housing: We may suggest further in this
connection, that the interests of our neigh.
Dorlng State OF Minnesota are almost iden.
tlcal with our this matter, and that any
action taken Dakota, looking to, more
fully protecting md fostering the various in.
terests involved herein, ought to be in linz
with that of our neighbor.
DoCKAGE.
One prolific source of complaint, and in
our Judgment q just one; is the prevailing
practice of docking wheat some number Of
pounds to the bushel for dirt We found the
arbitrary rule was enforced, to dock two
pounds per bushel whether wheat was
cleaned or uncleaned. We saw at one ele.
vator some ,OOObushels of No. 1 hard wheat
that had been cleaned by the farmer by three
times running it through a tanning mill. Ye,
two pounds per bushel had been docked fol
dirt: Northumberland this as a swlndle. Nc
doubt most of the wheat offered for sale is
uncleaned, but no arbitrary rule should FL
the amount of dockage. We saw wheat a
various elevators in the territory that in ou
Judgment contained from eight to ten pounds
OF dirt. oats, buckwheat and seeds of weeds
pei bushel. We tried to provide against un.
reasonable dockage by adopting and publish.
ing in our aRules for 1854" The following
provisions:
Note B.-No arbitrary rule of dockaee shall
prevail, nor shall clean wheat be locked at all
Wheat not cleaned, otherwise at for any partic'
ular grade, may be locked the proper amount tc
bring it to grade, but the proper grade must In
all cases be given when locked for that purpose
1t would seem that this difficulty could in
great measure be avoided if the farmers
would clean their grain before marketing.
IVITc or 'NrYrN1 81
We have heard q great complaint in rela.
tion to mixing grades. We have no remedy
to suggest for this evil. 1t would seem that
the purchaser had a perfectr right to do as he
pleased with his wheat. mix it or not. YET
it is a fact that the value in the great marts
OF the world of our better grades of wheat
has been seriously injured by reason of this
practice. Wheat usually loses its identity
when elevated, and q lot of No. l hard wheat
that would SO grade in any market in the
world, may be mixedin the bins OF the eleva-
tor with an inferior grade, and shipped to
Minneapolis or Duluth as No. 1 hard. 1t
may pass inspection as such if there happens
to be a STRONG demand and short supply al
the time. but the chances are that on its arri-
val at Chicago or Buffalo it will be graded
down. The consequence directly is, that
buyers are instructed to be more rigid in
grading, or to drop the price a cent or two
per bnshel. Indirectly an injury is lone by
StAot 80 " VAAhV l. lily
No. l wheat is raised in Dakota. The most Sc.
rious injury, however, is done the farmer who
ships his own grain He must necessarily, il
he has any large quantity to ship, do sc
through the. nearest elevator, because of the
convenience of handling. If, as has beer
farmers No. l hard wheat with an inferior
grade, the cars will convey to the distant
market wheat that will not be up to grade
and the farmer will be woefully disappointed
in the returns of his shipment. 1t has proved
very difficult to trace an ofense of the nature
specified, for the reason given ,above-i e..
wheat loses it's identity when elevated.
We are of opinion that if it be true that
this crime has been committed land we con-
slider 1t a crime, indeed,) the perpetrators
should be punished to the full extent of the
law; and we believe Messra Pillsbury& Hurl.
but, George w. Van Dusen h Co. the Northern
Pacific Elevator company, MessxA Pratt and
others who own the principal elevators or
the lines of the railroads of Dakota, would
assist with all their power in the prosecution
of any agents OF theirs who shouldSo attempt
to cheat the farmers. ..
is a cure for the mostof the Ills 70 which the
farmer lis subject in sconnecttel w1ehsthe
marketing of wheat here in the Northwest.
BY q free, open market, we mean the priv
lege Of shipping his grain directly to any
point he desires, without unnecessary DELAY,
at the same rate per car load paid by owners
and proprietors of elevators; cars to be fur.
nished and facilities afforded forloading on
the side tracks of the railroads, when prac.
ticable, or through the elevators, us the ship.
per may choose, at a reasonable charge for
elevating, with proper safeguards agains,
mixing the grain, After this the great law
of supply. and demand yll regulate the
whole subject betterthan allthe statutes pos.
sible to enact.
RECEIPTS AND. SHIPMENTS.
We iaSe the honor to submit, in connec-
tion herewith, tabulated Statements of the
receipts and shipments of wheat at the diff
ferent rnilroad stations In Dakota, ;togethe,
with the number n capacity OF the eieva.
tors. Our total elevator capacitY is O