St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-09-23
K Correspondent Throws in Suggestion Regard
ing Killers Proits---Mr. Pillsbury Makes
a Correction of Date.

Before the Pioneer Press became the
apologist and attorney for the wheat
ring and its candidate for governor it
printed a story showing the progress of
a bushel of wheat from the farm to Liv-
erpool. and, summing up Its conclusion,
il said:
The indubitable fact seems to be
that prices do not rise here as freely as
they do where oGr produce is sold.
and that the farmer of the United States
has something more than dumb and
unreasOning sense of injustice-has q
fact on his side when he complains that
he does not receive the full benefit
which the worlds demand should bring
TO him, in better prices for his prod
ucts.''
As to how it reaches the conclusion
may he judged from this extract. show
ing conclusively that the big profits on
wheat are made before it is shipped
from Duluth and Minneapolis:
Beginning with Crookston as a pri-
mary market, the price Of wheat there
/ for October, 1889, Is given as 81 cents
per bushel. By the time the wheat
( reaches Minneapolis ii sells for n cents,
/ and at Duluth for IS cents, allowing for
difference OF grades. The Crookston
! price Is, therefore, from 16 to II cents
/ less than the Duluth and Minneapolis
, price. But the freight rate from Crooks
ton to Duluth or Minneapolis is 1715
! cents per hundred, or 101a cents per
bushel.
Similar Difference
of about Il cents prevailed in 1890. and
16 cents in 1891. The margin over and
above the freight rate in other years
seems to be in excess Of all reasonable
charges for handling. For November
| the difference was Is cents in 1889, 16
in 1890 and Il III 1891, and in December
the Crookston and Minneapolis prices
varied by 20 cents, % cents, and 20
cents in the three years respectively.
LAS these are not daily prices which
| are compared. but average prices for
| months, this difference is practically a
/ stable one. And why 1t should thus in
! crease with the season. rising TO from
! 20 TO % cents i'll December. or more than
| double the freight rate between the two
points, is question for some one to
answer. 1t is a scaling down of values
| upon the farmer that cuts heavily into
! his profits.
The bushel of wheat is now at Du-
! luth, ana was worth there, in the pres
| ent season. deductIng an average of
! cents per bushel to cover the difference
| between the grades of No. l hard and
! No. ! northern, 9l15 cents in Septem-
| ber. Ii was worth in that month Sl.04
! in New York. or 13 cents more. But
the freight rate on wheat from DGluth
I 10 Buffalo averaged 11-16 cents, and
| from Buffalo to New York
the canal rate averaged about AZ
| cents. The total freight charge
! to tidewater was, therefore. ap-
! prOXimately s cents per buShel; and
| the remaining cents difference in price
/ goes TO the account of insurance and
! other charges and TO the expense of
! handling in Buffalo. The difference be-
! tween the New York, which was S1.04
! and the Liverpool price, which was 81. 10,
for the same month was II cents, while
/ the cost OF ocean travel was 9 cents and
a small fraction. The difference be-
tween the Minneapolis and Liverpool
price was
ITO cover this we have freigbts, lake,
canal and ocean, aggregatlng about u
cents. Elevator and~loading charges at
| bnshel. TranShipment and eleyating
! charges on the way would amount to
! about 2 cents per bushel additional.
| Adding delivery charges at Liverpool,
| incidentals and losses, we have total
Of everything covering the whole Jour
| ney from Duluth to Liverpool Of, say,
| not more than q cents per bushel at
! the most liberal estimate. With diff
| ference of % cents per bushel III the av-
erage market price for the month, and a
net difference therefore of cent per
bushel, il seems reasonably clear that