The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1892-04-15
INVESTIGATION ENDED.
THE LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE FIN
ISHES ITS LABORS

And Gives the Result of It's Deliberations
to the Public-Duluth Elevator Com
panies Not Thought to Have Practiced
ANY Fraud-No Combine Between Ele-
vators and Observation-Disclosures Rec
lamentations.
The joint legislative committee,
charged with the duty of investigating
alleged wheat steals from grain eleva-
tors in Dulsth and other Minnesota
cities, submitted its report to Governor
Merriam last Thursday afternoon. Rep
resentative Moore did not sign the
report but will submit minority re-
port to the governor, and it is under
stood that the document will be pre-
pared by Lawyer Erwin, of st. Paul.
The majority report, in full, is given:
Organization of tho Committee.
The joint legislative committee con-
vened at the capitol on May 4th,
1881, and then and there duly or
ganized by the elevation of Hon. George
Geissel as chairman and Hon. Andrew
French as secretary. The attorney
general was selected by the committee
as its counsel and that officer was rep
resented by his assistant during all its
deliberations. The committee was fur
ther aided in the performance of its
duties by Hon. Henry Plowman, the
sergeant-at-arms of the the house Of
representatives, by which officer the
several mandates were executed. Gray
Richardson was appointed page. The
several interests involved in one form
or another in the work of the commit
tee were represented by counsel as fol-
lows:
The Grain Growers association.
Messrs. Erwin & Wellington the Lake
Superior and Union Improvement Ele-
vator companies, Messrs. Davis, Kellogg
& Severance; the several elevator COM
panies at Minneapolis by John T. Nc
Ghee, ESQ; the State Inspection and
Weighing Department by Hon. A. G.
Clausen, chief grain inspector for Min
nesota.
Liberal Rules Governing Evidence.
At the outset the committee was
pleased to adopt very liberal rules as to
the admissability of evidence, and en-
deavored to afford every opportunity to
any one who felt so disposed to appear
and testify before it; neither time or ex-
pense was spared in securing the pres
ence of witnesses deemed by any of the
interests involved in the investigation
important to the ascertainment of the
truth. The adoption of such a policy
necessarily resulted in encumbering the
record with large amount of irrele-
want and immaterial matter which has
tended rather to conceal than to dis
close the truth. Although this result
was foreSeen at the commencement of
its labors, it was deemed injudicious to
adopt any other course.
Cars Not Always Properly Cleaned.
A large part of the time of the COM
mittee was devoted to an investigation
of the charge that the elevator COM
panies at Duluth had been grossly neg
ligent in cleaning out cars in which
grain had been shipped to their houses
and that thereby serious loss had re-
suited to the shippers.
AS a result of its investigation as to
this charge the committee find that dur
ing the earlier years of the state inspec-
ton service proper care was not at all
times exercised in cleaning out cars in
which wheat had been shipped to the
warehouses at Duluth; there is no evil
dence, however, which indicates that
this fact involved either the integrity
hing 90
companies operating those houses. Fur
thermore, it sufficiently appears that as
soon as the attention of such companies
was called to the subject appropriate
measures were adopted to correct the
evil The committee have no reason to
believe that OF late years any substan-
tial grounds for complaint have existed
to any considerable extent.
Evidence was introduced tending
to show that at times, and especially
during the press of business at the
height of the shipping season, the said
companies at Duluth were also careless
in cleaning the floors of such ware
houses after cars had been unloaded;
and it is not unlikely that in some in
stances shippers may have suffered to
some extent. 1t is not the opinion Of
the committee, however, that any seri-
Gus loss ever resulted to the shipper
from this source or that it was matter
OF much gain to the elevator companies.
Alleged Fraudulent Shipping.
A very serious charge was preferred
sgainst the Lake Superior Elevator
company and the Union Improvement
and Elevator company, of Duluth,
based upon an alleged fraudulent ship
ment from those houses in 1886 and
subsequent years of large amount of
wheat, aggregating some 10000 bush
els. This was by far the most serious
charge involved in the work of the COM
mittee. From the magnitude of the
charge and the fact that it was made the
basis of an investigation by commit
tee appointed for that purpose by the
last house of representatives and sus.
tanned by majority report of that
committee, the present committee felt
called upon to conduct most thorough
and careful investigation with refer
ence thereto. 1t is no reflection upon
said house committee that its results as
to such charge are at variance with
those ar which the Drasant cop,,o;++ oa