St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-01-04
DULUTH A SHIPPING CENTER.
The President of the Chicago Board of
Trade Expresses Himself on Wheat,
Saying Duluth VIII Henceforth be the
Hub OF Shipping Operations
The Chief Cause OF Trouble Discrim-
fnation in Freight Rates.

CHICAGO. Ill, Jan. 2.-The recent arti-
cles as to the general condition Of the board
of trade and the depreciation of its busi-
ness of speculative nature have caused
various opinions pro and con TO be given
by its members. Ex-President Hobbs,
in speaking of 1t to reporter
this morning, threw considerable light on the
subject In his opinion the speculative in
tereSt in wheat, in comparison 10 the I'M
mense proportions it assumed years ago,
challenging the admiration and envy OF the
world, is dead beyond all hopes Of revival,
the chief cause being the discrimination in
freight rates and the distribution OF similar
markets throughout the country. Mr..
Hobbs has been in the business for thirty
years and intends 10 get out or 1t. BY
speculation farmers have been assisted TO
the extent Of millions and millions OF
dollars, but that lemon has been thoroughly
squeezed. II believe" said he. THAT Chi
cago has ceased to be the principal wheat cen
ter of the Northwest" TO show the reason
for his belief he referred to a map, and
traced the movement of the wheat belt
from Maine. where il started. TO the Mo
hawk valley. New York, and west 10
Michigan, Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska
In these states wheat has been superseded
by corn, and now the belt lies In the northern
part of Nebraska and Minnesota, and in the
whole OF Dakota, and Is consequently much
nearer Duluth as an outlet than Chicago. To
show that the shippers are aware Of this you
have but TO look at the exports OF that city,
when you will see that they have been mucn
greater since August of this year than from
Chicago, and the receipts OF wheat In Mime
apolis and Duluth, from that time TO date, are
three times larger than here. In the treight
rate between the Missouri river aud Chicago,
there is
DISCRIMINATION AGAINST CHICAGO.
Of about 81 cents per busbel must be addec
TO this for elevator and commission charges,
which makes IL necessary for the shipper TO
pay over cents per bushel 10 have his wheat
shipped through here. Stocks are pilng up
here at a great rate. Where in former years
our stock of wheat in Chicago would aver
age from 100000 10 100000 bushels IL IS
now between 100000 and l5,OOO,OOO oush-
els. Now, 10 bull wheat is terribly expensive
and will cost at least "a cents per bushel
year for storage, so that wheat worth 81 now,
If kept four years, would be worth about moth
ing. am confident If this immense supply was
not on hand, the price would be $l.25, but so
long as IL remains as large as II IS II Will De
impossible to convince England that II Is
worth over the present price. If j. V. Far
well were to stock his warehouse full OF
goods at a high price and refuse TO sell until
the market went still higher while there were
smaller houses willing TO sell for less, the
chances are he would have little TO do and
his smaller competitors would absorb his
trade. Wen, this is the same with Chicago as
regards the rest OF the cities. They are get
ting our trade away from US. There is
wheat that has been in store here Tor
three years, and over 80 cents per bushei
charges have accumulated. The price will
probably stay up as long as the bulls are able
10 keep it there, but when that power fails
them, and they conclude to unload II, IL Will
produce a panic In q month. This is simply
as regards wheat. AS for corn and oats
IL is different. i still think we will con-
tiuue ahead as regards those. We are in the
midst 1000, 000, 900 bushels OF corn, but specu-
lators are paying no attention TO IL, and II Is
too low. which, with the freight discriminA-
ton against us sends immense shipments to
the south Of US. expect TO live 10 see corn
as high as wheat.