St. Paul daily globe., 1892-09-18
INSTRUCTED TO ROB.
The Startling Testimony Given by
Young HOlComb

The book carries the proof of this sys-
stematlc course of robbery directly to
the doors OF the officers of the elevator
companies in an affidavit by Young
man named Holcomb. This affidavit
asserts that Holcomb mixed wheat for
many firms while employed by one of
the Pillsbury elevator companies, and
that such mixing was done by and with
the Instructions of the officers of the
company. The latter gave such instruc-
tionS. he SwearS, with the knowledge of
and by the consent Of the directors OF
the company. He also says in his affi-
dayit that he was instructed by Charles
A. Pillsbury to ''skin" all wheat and
.'raise' all grades on all wheat which
was loaded out for shipment to other
mills than those of Charles A. PilIsbury
u Co., but to be very careful and not
mix any wheat intended for the mills of
the firm of Charles A. PilIsbury IL Co.
1t is alleged that Charles A. Pillsbury
was member of the elevator company
which employed Holcomb.
There are forty or fifty letters from J,
ii. Hiland, general managerof the Min
neapolis Millers' association. the So
called trust, United States Senator
Washburn, Charles A. Pillsbury. c. NJ.
Amsdem, general manager of the Min
neapolis and Northern Elevator COM
pany, owned by the Pillsburys; S. A.
Harris. president of the Northwestern
National bank, of Minneapolis; E. Car
din, general manager of the Northern
Pacific Elevator company: D. M. Rob-
bins, president of the Northwestern
Elevator company, and others. These
letters all agree on the point that the
elevator companies of the Northwest
have made enormous sums of money
during the last few years, and each
letter is cOrrOborative evidence that the
profits ranged from % to so. 40 and so
per cent OIL capital stocks ranging from
$500. coo to S1.000,00O. Mr.. pillsbury and
others who wrote the letters probably
never imagined that those written to a
Paris bank in 1889 would get back to
America and be used in the presidJltlal
campaign Of 1892, nor did it occur to
Mr.. Pilisbury himself that the letter
written to Arnold, the Larimore farmer.
and the letter to the Paris bank, the
FIRST to point far distant in the North
west and the second to point
thousands Of miles away in Europe,
would ever come together and be used
as proof that Mr. Pillsbury and those
associated with him had deceived the
farmers and the rest of the world on
this side the Atlantic as to tue profits
which they were making out of the
wheat business.
/ From letter written by Mr.. Pilisbury
to the Paris bank, it appears that the
Minneapolis and Northern. one of his
elevators, averaged during six years
little more than 30 per cent dividends;
that the Empire Elevator company, in
which Mr.. Piilsbury owned half the
stock, averaged for several years 40 per
cent dividends; that the Northern
P :eific Elevator company. the leading
line on the Notthern Pacific system of
railroads, averaged $50 or 40 per cent
dividends" to quote Mr.. Pillsbury's
exact language. and that the North
western. Elevator company averaged %
par cent dividends for five wears on
s7o9, eco capital. Mr.. Pilsbury said that
Van Dusen e Co. owned the largest
Ane on the Northwestern railroad sys-
TEN in Minnesota and Dakota, and
without Knowing much about it, he
would not be surprised if they made