St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-01-04
NEITHER SATISFIED.
The Warehouse Law Obn OK
ious to Grain Men, Mill
epS and Farmers.
Discussion of the Matter Of
Appeal--The Illinois Law
Dissected.
City Attorney Seagrave Smith
Makes His Report to
the Council.
Goodnow Wins in Company
AS Drill--Joe Mannix'S
Attachment.

Doubtless there are a score OF bills
ready to be introduced, as soon as the
legislature opens the way, looking to
in the warehouse law governing grain
inspection; but none has received pub
lie notice that will meet the want OF
which so much complaint is now afloat.
Grain men and millers complain on
the one hand and farmers and
shippers on the other, and the arbitrary
decisions reached are often satisfactory
to neither side to the quarrel. The
questions of mixing and grading are not
the only ones which require definite
legislation. Warehousing of grain is
opening to irregularities, but inspecting
and weighing it are equally irregular.
Col. q. ID. Rogers writes sensible
article for the Market Record on one
phase of the question. that of
THE MATTER OF APPEAL:
Zone of the greatest defects in the
present grain law is that it makes no
provision for board of appeal that is
practical. 1t is practical impoSslblllty
for chief inspector for the state to
make such selections of deputy chief
inspectors and Sub-inSpectors as will
make no mistakes. That would be so,
even if the office were freed from pOliti-
cal control, but the difficulty is still
greater when the inspection system is
burdened, as this is, by having to carry
loads of both ambitious and disap-
pointed officeseekers. If an inspect
or of car of grain errs in grad
ing it and refuses or neglects to
right it afterWard, there is practically
no method of redress open to the ship
per or other party against whose inter
est the error is. There is in the law. as
it stands, provision that an APP
peal may be carried to the state
warehouse commissioners. but that can
not be done ordinarily, because the er-
rorS are mainly committed at a time
when the railroad tracks are blocked
with loaded cars at the principal ter
minal stations, and the cars cannot be
held on track to give time for the case
to be carried to the commissioners and
heard. The result is that errors of that
character go uncOrrected.
THE ILLINOIS LAW.
'Our law was copied principally from
the Illinois law, but when it comes to
the system of conducting appeals from
inspection there is radical difference.
The Illinois law provides for board of
appeals. made up of grain experts, and
of experts that can act upon the case at
once. The Minnesota law, also, has
provided for appeals, but in such a way
that appeals cannot be taken. The re-
suit is that one man becomes the sole
arbiter, with no practical restraint upon
his action but such as he may see fit to
impose upon himself. The Minnesota
law is wholly impractical. the Illinois
law is entirely practical. The two
methods carry with them completely
opposite results. the Illinois law
the results of satisfaction and the
Minnesota law the results of dlssatisfac-
ton. The Illinois law is practical and
encourages the grain trade of that state.
while the Minnesota law is impractical
and discOurages its own grain traffic.
The only way that has been found to
escape the blighting effect of the grain
law has been to introduce methods of
handling grain entirely independent of
it. Instead of depending upon inspec-
ton to establish values nearly all grain
has been driven to the sample table. In
stead Of having complete system of
public elevators, every elevator in the
city has been forced for relief to the
private SYSTEM"
THE WEIGHING TROUBLE.
There is also great complaint in the
matter of weighing, which Col. Rogers
does not mention. The GLOBE has
already called attention to this, and it
should be remedied. The final weight
given carload of wheat is that affixed
by the state weigher, and from that
there is no appeal. If a car weighs 49,
600 when shipped, and the weigher at
Minneapolis finds only 29,500, the latter
oto Nd 4 II.
weighed in the scale bins of the Mime
apolis mills by mill employees, from
whom the state weigher afterwards
gets his figures. Complaints of short
age have been frequent, and are not to
be wondered at under these circum-
stances