The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1890-04-11

n a Heavy De-
who are in Mr.. Pillsbury's place it is
the wrong SYSTEM
| Now as to the case in question.
You give the price OF wheat at
CrOokston at 60 cts. on the date
mentioned. l think the price at
that time was 81 or 81 cts.
You do not allow a buyer anything
for the cost of buying, handling,
cleaning and shipping the wheat.
Now / am interested in an elevator
at that same station, and right here
would state that every bushel we
have bought at Crookston for the
past three years has actually cost
our company fully five cents per
bushel, without allowing cent for
interest, repairs or depreciation OF
the elevator property, or interest on
the money used to purchase the
wheat, that is to say,-it would
take five cents per bushel on the
wheat we have actually handled at
CroOkston to pay the actual ex-
penses of running that house for the
past three years.
There Mr.. Pillsbury makes re-
markable statement. If it be true
that it has cost five cents a bushel to
handle wheat at Crookston, then in
deed the railways and elevators OF
the west are a tremendous failure
Five cents bushel simply to pur-
chase wheat? Impossible. That
means that the simple transaction OF
putting the wheat crop of Minnesota
and Dakota on to the cars costs
FOUR MILLION, FIVE HUNDRED THoUs-
AND DOLLARs!
We have submitted this statement
to five different wheat dealers, and
they all declare it an exaggeration.
There is one possible cause for such
an expense at one statiOn-that he
has employed an enormous elevator,
and wheat buyer, ETC., and handled
but very little wheat. We are now
investigating the. cost OF hauling by
caravans in the east, and am afraid
that this item cheats the caravan
Let us see: An elevator carrying
from 80 to $4,000 bushels of wheat
costs from $4,000 to $4,000. We
have the actual records of an eleva
tor OF above size, operated by a
County Commissioner, who charged
1c a bushel for above items and y
CLEARED ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS.
The Company kept one cent q
bushel for repairs, shortage, leakage
interest-and declared 8 small diVi
dend on that 1c. The cleaning" is
a source of profit. In the first place
the wheat is locked for cleaning
and then the cleanings are some
times sold and sometimes used fol
fuel. The expense OF cleaning is al
most nothing, per bushel. We car
give instances where docking has
cost five to ten pounds per bushel al
the elevators, and parties shipped
themselves after the first load anC
the same wheat from same granary
was locked only two pounds
Just to give your reader some ides
of the expense we are under at that
station, would say that we generally
keep the elevator open there during
the whole year, when we could make
more money, or in other words, LOSE
less, by only keeping open during
the months Of September, October
November and December. Now W.
have actually paid for taxes on ou1
elevator at Crookston during the
past three years an amount equal te
more than one cent per bushel or
every bushel we have bought at that
station. The amount paid for in
surance on our elevator has beer
about half a cent per bushel on thu
amount handled, and the amount
paid for fuel has been over a hal
cent per bushel on the wheat hand
led. Now when we take into consid
Grafton the agents salary, repairs
superintendent and other expenses
will leave it to your readers to.say
, how much of margin it is fair to al
low local buyer.
well. if left to us, while realizing
the possibility OF such a case. w
deem it due to the fact that eithe
Mr.. Pillsbury didn't pay enough tt
get his share OF the wheaton Their
was no wheat there the past year t,
get! Because his elevator shoult
have shipped or purchased 1OO,OO'
bushels OF wheat-and certainly tn