The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1892-04-15

| wheat in question, that the said ele-
vator companies incurred an expense of
about 100000 in providing for the
warehouse receipts outstanding against
| the same.
STATE OFFICIALS EXONERATED.
| Inspection and Weighing Departments
Are o. X. Says the Committee.
The committee finds that the record.
as whole, does not reflect upon the in
tegrity of the state inspection and
weighing department. With very rare
exceptions the employees of the state in
| the two said departments, so far as the
record discloses to the contrary, are
gentlemen of high character and abil-
| ity; and that in those instances where
the integrity of any of these servants of
the state has been drawn in question,
the testimony is 100 conflicting and in
conclusive to warrant the committee in
finding such persons guilty of bad faith
in the performance of their duties.
1t appears from the record of the
committee that complaints have fire.
quently arisen on account of what has
been deemed improper weighing and
docking of grain. The committee find
that after listening to testimony of wit
nesses of large experience and unques-
toned veracity that such complaints,
while at times well-founded, failed to
show any disposition on the part of in
spectors or weighmen to impose upon or
favor any interests whatever.
Docking Is at Times Excessive.
There is evidence which tends to
show that docking is at times excessive.
AS the amount of dockage to which
shipment of grain is to be subjected in
O given case is largely dependent upon
human Judgment it will be always a
matter OF approximation, and the COM
mittee is unable to find that there has
been an abuse of discretion to serious
extent in this regard. The witness,
Charles Canning, man OF very large
experience both as a producer and
commission merchant, testified that he
had no fault to find with the state serv-
ice in that regard.
Causes of Shrinkage and Shortage In
Shipments.
The attention of the committee was
called to the number of instances of
grievances based upon shortage of
weights in shipments made to public
warehouses. The committee find that
such complaints are frequently well
founded, but are not prepared to say
that their number is out of proportion
to the volume of business transacted.
Among the many causes to which
shrinkage in weight in shipments of
wheat may be attributed the following,
no doubt, constitute the more impor-
tant, as evidenced by reliable testi-
mony:
l. Shipment without weighing by the
local buyer.
2. Weighing at place of shipment
with small or defective scales
3. Mistakes necessarily incidental to
weighing on small scales, as where
draft is inadvertently repeated.
4. Defective coopering of cars re-
sulting in leakage to marked degree.
5. Abstractions by petty thefts upon
cars en- route to and at destination.
&. Change in atmospheric an climatic
conditions between place Of shipment
and that of destination.
z. Loss of moisture by grain.
8. Defective scales at terminal
points.
1t is the opinion of the committee
that very few instances of such shortage
have arisen which should not, if the
committee were in possession of all the
facts, be attributed to one or more of
the above named causes.
Wheat Shipped Under the Name of
Screenings.
The committee find that during the
year 1889 a large quantity of wheat was
shipped from the said public warehouses
at Duluth under the name of screenings,
the amount so shipped aggregating up
wards of 10000 bushels. The wheat so
shipped was, no doubt, the average of
$4,000 bushels, to which attention has
already been called. The committee is
aware of no evidence tending to show
that any other wheat than such average
was ever shipped in clandestine man
ner from the said houses. The commit
tee studiously endeavored to ascertain
whether or not it was common prac-
tice of said companies to dispose of
average under the guise of screenings,
and arrived at the result above indi-
Gated. Likewise it became matter of
interest to ascertain whether the said
companies have been, or now are. reap-
ing excessive profits from the sale of
screenings. This, however, is not es-
tablished by the record. 1t is doubtless
true. that until recently, screenings
were not a source of profit to elevator
companies; the record disclosing that
they were either burned or DESTROYED
otherwise by such companies.
Alleged Combustion to Control Prices.
When the attention of the committee
was first called to the existence of a
combination or conspiracy designed to
control the wheat markets of the state
it was represented that certain testi-
mony was produced tending to show
that Such markets ara oovorpod hx,