, 1890-11-20
Grind the Surplus at Spo-
kane Falls.
A LETTER FROM Mr.. REAVIS
We Have the Wheat, the Power,
and Exceptional Railroad
Advantages.
TO rnr Epiroe OF THE review.

issue of to-day. The writer presents
very forclbly the case of the farmers,
who certainly are not ge etting as much
for their wheat as they ought to.
lie says tue elevator companies at
Fairfield were paying 40 to AZ cents
per bushel Tor wheat one day last
week when wheat was selling the
same day in Chicago Mt 9sl to $L05.
He says the difference, after allow
ing 81 cents for difference of grades,
is eaten up by the elevators, COM
mission men and transportation
companies.
Whatever may be the truth as to
where the difference between the
price of wheat at Fairfield or Mt Oak
dale or at Palouse City, or anywhere
else In the Palouse country or East
ern Washington and Chicago, the
case is n bad one and one that must
be remedied in some way or other
wise wheat growing in the most
productive wheat growing country
in the world Is failure. Farmers
can not make money growing wheat
even here in Washington, where the
yield Is greater than anywhere else
in the United States, at 40 cents per
bushe!.
"Oneidan thinks there must be a
clear profit of 10 cents per bushel on
handling wheat between here and
Chicago after making allowances
for carriage, commissions, difference
of grading and storage costs. This
is not the case. If it were, there
would be an abundance of capital
TO, Incoming to handle the business.
What are the facts?
Flrst-The Northern Pacific Ele-
vator Company, which has ample
capital and which has an inside ar
rangement with the Northern Pa
cific Railroad Company, If anybody
has, is not buying u bushel of addi-
tionul wheat for the reason that
there Is no money to be made, tax
ing delays aud risks into considcra-
ton. They now have 800, 900 BUSH
els of wheat piled up Mt stations
along the railroads throughout the
Palouse country, which they can
not get to market because of II lack
OF transportation.
Second-The Northern Pacific
Railroad Company can not, or will
not, furnish cars to ship wheat to
Minneapolis or Chicago or Duluth.
They claim 1t does not pay to haul
wheat SO far at the price charged.
This IL reasonable. 1t takes about
ten days to get a train-load of wheat
from any point in the Palouse coun-
try to Minneapolis or Duluth. Look
at the time the cars are held i'm
service, and the N notive power con-
sumed. The only cars the company
can use for this work are ''empties,"
which for the time being are out of
employment. Such u service must
necessarily be fltful and uncertain.
Third. The Northern Pacific will
supply cars to take wheat to the
Sound, but there Is very limited
market at Tacoma and Seattle.
They spent $3.50, 900 on storage
warehouse at Seattle last summer In
of the export wheat
trade that way this winter, but they
actly one ship, with no immediate
prospect of getting another. The
big $3.50, 900 elevator stands almost
empty to-day, with 100000 BUSH
els of wheat in Eastern Washington
cryin ng for export. Things are not
much better at Tacoma. Fifteen
vessels have been chartered for
wheat there, but they have not yet
arrived and will not come in time
to furnish the required relief.
This, then, is the situation to-day.
What is the chance for the future?
Things will right themselves,
have no doubt, but | believe the
shortest, quickest aud best way out
of the difficulty is to establish great
mills here at Spokane Falls and
grind the surplus wheat into flour. !
Let us furnish the Palouse and Big |
Bend wheat-growers n market for |
their wheat right here at home. In
support of this let me name few
plain, simple and self-evident
reasons:
First,-We have ample and cheap |
water power to run the mills.
Second-We can get n market for |
all the flour we can make, ut home |
or abroad; the greater our product |
the better the market, according to |
the law in trade that great produc- |
ing centers are an advertisement in |
themselves and create n momentum |
of their own. Minneapolis is known |
as flour producing center, therefore |
the world goes to Minneapolis for |
flour. We shall never make more |
-four in Spokane Falls than we can
sell. The more we make the better !
we shall be known as source OF |
supply.
Tnird-We can have better CON
troll of freights from common and |
center like this than |
could be had from weak and scat. |
tered points in the whcat-growing |
get better rates OH flour out of Spo- |
kane Falls than II shipper at Fair
field can get on wheat, because we |
have larger product for shipment,
because II IL n more regular and con- |
centrated form, because we have |
more general influence and because |
we have better methods of making |
that influence effective.
Fourth-rhere would he no lack |
of transportation facilities. There
would be short haul from all the |
districts to Spokane |
Falls. While II would take ten
days to get train load of wheat |
from Moscow 10 Duluth it would |
take three hours to get it from
to Spokane. Look