St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-04-09
is THE BILL GOOD?
Many Flaws Discovered In the
"Governor's" Grain
Law.
Contradictions and Loopholes
That Make 1t Inoper-
atiVe.

One of the members Of the house
made on Friday what was considered to
be a great blunder. Yesterday morn
ing each house of the legislature spent
an hour or more in a post mortem over
the passage of Senate File 371, the
Peterson. or more correctly Govern
or's" grain bill. After the bill finally
passed the house Friday afternoon it
was enrolled without being returned
to the Senate, and received the
signatures of the officers of both
branches of the legislature, as
we'll as that of the governor
before the house convened at 9 o'clock
yesterday morning. OF the methods
used i'll securing the passage Of the
measure the less said the better.
Of the inconsistencies In the now law
much might be said. r. j. Hall, the
we'll known ex-president of the Farmers
Alliance, has taken a hand at showing
up the iniquities as we'll as the incon-
sistencies in a circular which he has
issued over his own signature. In this
circular he calls attention to the fact
that in the first section there is discrim-
ination between elevators on the right
Of way and those outside the right of
way of the railroads. In the same Sec
line elevators-the bill says "stored or
handled" All these large corporations
have to do is to say, "we buy grain aud
own it; we do not store or handle"
The second section he calls attention
to. 1t grants to the railroad and ware
house commission the same power as
that conferred upon the legislature by
the constitution of the state. 1t says
the legislature shall formulate rules,
etc., and continues, "And such rules
and regulations shall be binding and
have the force and effect of law"
Section he finds to be full of troub-
les for the farmer and the small elevator
man. In addition to these, the act in
this section seeks to stretch the author
ity of the state of Minnesota over por-
ton of the sister state of Wisconsin. He
also calls attention to the vital blunder
in the measure, also in section 4: mo
two receipts or orders bearing the same
date shall be issued during the sameyear
from the same warehouse" There can
be no miStaking this language. Any
one who issues more than one receipt or
order on the same day is guilty of
misdemeanor and shall be punished
therefor, as provided in section 10.
Section provides, with whole lot of
red tape attached, for sending samples
to the chief grain inspector in case of
dispute between the buyer and the
seller; but it make no provision for
Identifying the samples. nor can the
certificate of the chief inspector be of
value unless the parties in dispute
"agree."
Section goes a long way. 1t re-
quires the country elevator man to Issue
an order on any terminal elevator, and
makes it the duty of the latter, after
the holder of the order or receipt pays
the freight and other charges, to honor
the same. 1t says: 1.-THE grain rep
resented shall be delivered within
twenty-four hours after such demand
not whether the terminal elevator has
any of the wheat in store or not; neither
does it matter whether he is known,
or whether he is responsible. All
that is necessary, under the law,
is for the holder to present his order or
receipt whenever he sees fit and he
gets the wheat. This act makes the re-
ceipt of the smallest elevator man in the
state legal tender just as United
States treasury note or gold is legal
tender.
Section 10 Is another Just section.
1t provides one penalty, fine, for cor
porationS or companies, and another,
fine or Imprisonment, for "a natural per-
son." Corporations pay fine and an
individual, for the same offense, goes to
jail.
Did the drawers of the bill leave all
these loose ends and inconsistencies Ill
it on purpose? That evidently is just
what some of the projectors of the
measure intended in order that it would
not hold water. 1t looks very much like
a great big "bluff'' on the part of the
governor and his friends, and Mr.. Hall
deserves great credit for showing it up
as he has.