St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-09-23

III November, 1888. also, the price Oh
wheat at Cro0kston was 60 cents. AT
Duluth it was 79 cents. The difference
was 19 cents.
TN the same month the price in New
York was 81 cents. The difference be-
tween Duluth and New York was five
cents.
he price in Liverpool was 81 cents.
The difference between New York and
Liverpool was 13 cents The cost of
ocean carriage being 9 cents, the diff
ference was 4 cents. against which
there is charge for transhipment, etc.;
5f cents, making the net cents.
"The freight between Crookston and
Duluth was only 1019 cents. making the
i1et difference eight and half cents bs-
tween those points.
"The net difference, after subtracting
cost of carriage between Duluth and
New York. was only cents, against
which there is further charge for iii=
surance and handling at Buffalo, bring
ing the net down TO cents at the very
most. Looked at from any standpoint,
The Big Profits
are made before the wheat leaves Miti-
neapolis and Duluth, and it should al
ways be borne in mind that the eleva=
tors make living profit out of their
charges for storage, cleaning, etc.
Taking the prices of grain in any
month of any year at Crookston, Du=
luth, New York and Liverpool, the re-
suit is always the same. The big profit
is between the farm and Northwestern
terminal points. While the profit is
very nearly standard one OF cents
between Minneapolis and Liverpool, if
Is in very many other cases Is to 20
cents between The farmer and Minneap-
oils and Duluth. If the elevators in a
certain month bought the wheat at 66
cents at Crookston, and sold it at Du-
luth and Minneapolis at 9115 cents, do
not the elevators make the profit? There
is difference for 25115 cents. Is that all
eaten up by freight rates? If SO, the
case is an even more serious one.
a"Here is a table which further place s
the robbery between the farmers point
of shipment and Minneapolis. 1t shows
the difference in prices between the
two points in September, 1889, 1899 and
1891:
's9. go 90. Freight. Net Total
Crookston d
Mime p'Is16 II 16 1Ola 5la, 6la. Sly 17la
Duluth and
New York II 10 S S
Against the price between Crookstou
and Minneapolis there is a charge Of
only 1015 cents, while between Duluth
and New York there Is charge Of s
cents. The distance in the one case is
300 miles. The distance from Minneap-
oils to New York is 1,5O0 miles. Allow
ing for part of the distance being by
lake and canal. the Northwestern rates
are therefore no less outrageous and eX-
cessive than are the profits made by the
wheat elevators.
''Is not this whole showing convine-
ing enough of the claim that the farmer
does not get full value for his wheat.
and that the profit is made by the COM
bine when the wheat is bought from the
farmer, and not necessarily when sold
to New York for export SHIPMENT"
Going further, this newspaper says
Finally. we may take the winter
month of December. when prices were
settled and navigation was entirely
closed. In December a bushel of wheat
at Fargo was worth 20 cents less than at
Minneapolis. difference too great to be
accounted for by the freight rate. The
Duluth price was less advantageous, the
lakes being closed to steamers and ship
ment being subject TO storage. The New
York price was Is cents per bushel
higher than the Minneapolis average.
which would fairly meet the cost OF all
rail transportation.
The Liverpool Price
was 14.7 cents above that OF New York,
while the ocean rate was little less
than 10 cents per bushel. As before,
the indications of these figures are
that, during the season of heaviest
rush of wheat to market, the difference
of price between any two markets is
more in excess of the freight rate be
tween them, plus reasonable terminal
charges, than at any other time. And
there appears to be larger shrinkage
III the value of wheat between the tar n
and the ultimate market, a very
much larger shrinkage, that can
be accounted for by allow.
ing for transportation charges
and then assigning a liberal amount fol
all other expenses and for the trouble OF
handling. VINO has obtained possession
of this it would not be easy TO say. Bul
it is easy TO show That freight rates IN
general are on the decline, that lake and
ocean rates have advanced only slightly
at times when the demand for shipping
facilities was extraordinarily great, and
that the extra profit must either have
gone TO shippers and handlers of grain.
or been absorbed in the beating down
Of the market by the speeulatOrs Of the
grain trade.
Easily Enough Explained.
''The 10 per cent dividends of the ele-
vator companies ought to settle beyond
the question of doubt that it is The
shippers and handlers of grain, and no
the beating down of the market, that is
responsible. How, then, can Mr.. Pills.
bury say that his elevator agents fix ths
price of wheat based upon the price
paid by the markets of the world? If
wheat is II cents at Minneapolis, il
would be that price less 1015 cents f0l
freight at Crookston. That would be
&C., cents at CreokstOn. But it was not.
1t was 81 cents, so that 515 cents went
into the pockets of the elevator
men. not to mention what they
robbed the farmer of by dockage,
grade, short weights, etc. 1t Is
not necessary to dwell at any greater
length on proposition which is so self
evident. These figures are merely 6
stronger link in the chain of evidence
against the combine.
The elevators, as is well known in tn.
Northwest, stop shipping wheat anl
send braadcast reports that there is M
more wheat in the country. The fact il
that there Is any amount of wheat in lhe
farmers hands, and that the country
elevators are full. But the reports ad.
vance the prlce of wheat. The elevator
companies then flood the market. AM
their earnings are necessarily big. Con
tinued flooding sends the wheat down,
and the elevators buy from the farmers
at the bottom price and stock up tn.
elevators, and repeat the operation"