St. Paul daily globe., 1892-10-07

FNlN1ANkE0
the British syndicate. Mr.. Pillsbury's
explanations are better than such mat
ter as has been sent out under the head
ing shipping Wheat"
In all the plate matter sent out by the
Republican managers to explain the
wheat steals nothing has been printed
about the mixed wheat scandal. The
Chicago Herald, however, tells most
interesting and damaging tale on this
subject. 1t follows:
Mixed Wheat.
AS affecting a much larger circle and
as being more extensive in its effects,
the subject of mixing wheat is one
which the Herald proposes to take up.
In 1SS6-'S7- 'SS the Minneapolis Union
Elevator company. of Minneapolis, in
which Charles A. Pillsbury q Co. was q
large stakeholder, was public ware
house. and as such public warehouse
that company mixed wheat for ID. C..
Moak. George Kirkbride Il Co., n. w.
YerXa & Co. and others. Among these
others was a gentleman in the grain
commission business i'll Minneapolis,
who, on account of his intimate knowl-
edge of the methods of ''miXing," was
in a position to give some very
damaging evidence against G. A.
Pillsbury & Co. as the holders of the
| largest interest i'll that company. 1t
should be understood that the mixing"
of wheat is an OtfenSe punishable by
the forfeiture of bond of $4,000. This
bond is given to the state according to
the amount of wheat handled. The
Minneapolis Union bond, for example,
G CT lay
listed in Chicago against mixing milk
| and water and selling it as pure milk.
! With laws which prohibit the mixing of
grain the prosecution and conviction of
the companies so mixing wheat is q
matter of ease, providing always that
the railroad and warehouse commits
SionerS, upon whom is conferred the
power and authority to enfore those
laws, do their duty. In the case of the
Minneapolis Union Elevator company
the railroad and warehouse commission
Did Not DO Their Duty.
1t seems that G. A. Pillsbury, upon
ascertaining that it had been made pub
lie that wheat had been mixed for kirk
bride d Co., Moak d. Co., YerXa and
others, went to one Of the parties who
had had wheat mixed by this company,
upon the floor of the chamber of com
merce i'll Minneapolis, and stated that
he understood that this gentleman was
going to be. Subp9naed before the rail
road and warehouse commission to tes-
tify regarding the mixing of wheat by
the elevator company. Mr.. Pillsbury
said he desired that this dealer should
say nothing about the matter, as 1T would
cost him $4,000 through the forfeiture
of the bond of the Minneapolis Union
Elevator company. The commission
man said that if the railroad ware
house commission subpGnaed him
he would have to tell the truth.
Mr.. Pillsbury said: "Well, it will cost
US $4,000" The commission man sug-
gested TO Mr.. Pillsbury that he ought to
be able to see some other way out of the
difficulty, aud Pillsbury replied that he
would have to see what he could do.
About three days afterward, according
to this commission man, ,Pillsbury called
on the latter and said that he had
'fXed'' the railroad and warehouse
commission so that. it would let the mat
ter of mixing wheat in the Minneapolis
Union Elevator company drop. And it
was dropped SO far as PillSbury 81 Co.
and the parties for whom the wheat was
mixed were concerned. HOlcOmb, who
was manager of the elevator, was. it is
true, found guilty and sentenced to the
penitentlary, but there are very few
men in Minneapolis without the pale of
Plllsbury'S dominating influence who
do not believe the story to the effect
that Holcomb was a scapegOat Tor the
parties most interested, and served his
time to spare them.
How Wheat rs Mixed.
The methods of wheat mixing are in
teresting. Suppose there are three
grades of wheat on the floor of the Min
neapolis chamber of commerce. The
''miXer" is a commercial parlah. He
hardly has the dignified position of the
curbstone broker. He is an illegitimate
trader and amenable to the laws. but
with laws enforced as they are in Min
neapolis. so far as wheat is concerned,
he is exactly in the position of any other
person who Goes all illegtimate busi-
ness. He takes his chances on being
found out and punished. The mixer
finds that No. hard wheat is credited
with three pounds of dirt to the bushel,
No. l northern wheat is credited
with five pounds dirt to the bushel,
and No. 2 northern is credited with, say.
ten pounds of dirt to the buShel The
commercial pariah buys that wheat as
follows: No. hard at 90 cents, No. l
northern at Sc cents and No. northern
at so cents. He buys 500 bushels of
each, making 1,50O bushels in all, and
orders that they be delivered to Ger
tain elevator company, and that the
wheat be mixed by that company. The
mixers dependence for sustenance in
this world is the dishonesty of the
agent at the terminal elevator and the
influence which that agent has over the
inspector. whose duty it is to inspect
the wheat when it goes out of the ele-
vator as we'll as when it goes in. This
elevator agent receives the wheat and
mixes the three grades tOgetheA When
IL is time to weigh out, the influence
which he eXerts
Over the Inspector
and for which he gets a quid pro quo
from the mixer is exercised. The agent
the inspector with humility,
and says to HIM in that smooth, affable
manner which certain men know how
to employ when seeking to secure the
performance of a dishouorable act:
''You have frequently graded in wheat
higher than it would pass. Now, the
elevator companies get the worst of this
Continued ON Fifth Page.