The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1893-08-02
AN EXPLOSION.
The Minnesota Wheat Thieves
go for the Eastern
Banks, for
One Million Five Hundred ThOus.
and Dollars. A PrOdig-
Gus SWindle.

lSuG ever Illuminated mas Deen Une
subject of more robbery than the
good people of Minnesota. For
twenty-five years the state has been
the DEVILS dancing ground. Fifteen
years ago we used to tell the old
Granger meetings that there had
been, at that time enough treasure
stolen from the farmers of this state
to pave all hell with a floor of gold
Elevator rings, millers' rings, lumber
rings, Indian rings, binding-twine
rings, pine-land rings, half-breed-
scrip rings, railroad rings, political
rings, usury rings.-all have had full
swing at the unfortunate people;
and the only wonder is that any of
them have been able to live through
the heroic treatment they have re-
ceived. Many of them have not.
Many died under the knout; and
thousands more have been squeezed
out into the Western wilderness or
to the Pacific coast. The worst of it
was that the leading thieves were
the leading politicians. The head of
the Millers' ring became governor
of the state. One political party do
minated; and the other cheerfully
played second-fiddle, while it's lead
ers scrambled, in the mud, for the
bones of plunder that was thrown
to them. You couldn't tell where
republican party ended and demo-
crat party began. The old Pioneer,
the democratic organ, was run by re-
publicans, in the interest of the
thieves; and the farce became so ri
diculOuS that it was at last merged
with the republican organ; and the
two became the 'Pioneer-Press:"-
the hyphenated monstrosity of
northwestern corruption.
Well the people of Minnesota have
at length been plundered into such
depths of poverty that there is not
enough left to satisfy the immense
greed of their colossal despoilers.
They have broken loose. We are
like the fellow who raised a cub tiger
until it grew big enough to eat up
his whole family, and then jumped
the fence and proceeded to ravage
the outside world. Our state is be-
coming famous for the tremendous
villains it is letting loose on man.
kind. Read the following:
NEW YORK, July 3O.-The Worlds
Boston special says that huge con-
spiracy has been unearthed, whereby
seventy-three banking institutions
in New England were victimized.
The story is to the effect that GER
tain employees of the Northern Pacific
Elevator company, Of Minnesota, is
sued $1,5O0,OOO dollars worth of
forged duplicate certificates for
grain in storage in the country"
elevators. owned by the concern,
where the inspection is not so strict
as at the terminal elevators. The
forged certificates were deposited
with Eastern banks as collateral
About $S00.00 was secured in New
England and the balance in New
York. Some of the Eastern holders
of the paper became suspicious, and,
on an investigation being made, the
true state of affairs came to light.
The stockholders of the elevators
were dumfOunded when the facts
came to their notice, and offers of
settlement with the banks were at
once made and terms of compromise
offered. The company was then re-
organized as the Lake Superior Ele-
vator company, with George Cook
sey, of David Dows & Co., New York,
as president. The terms offered to
the banks were 60 per cent. cash, the
remainder to be paid
IN FIVE ANNUAL PAYMENTS.
A committee of bankers, whose in
stitutions hold large blocks of the
elevator certificates, was appointed
to consider this proposition. 1t is
impossible to say exactly what course
the bankers will pursue, as they are
loath to talk, and, in fact, they have
done all in their power to keep the
whole affair from the public. The
few who do say anything-and they
been swindled, and declare that the
swindlers ought to be sent to prison.
At the same time, they say that
SOOU UuS1uOoo pO1lCy, uAOO1 pAOCCut
conditions. fOrbids such severe action,
especially as the stockholders of the
elevator company are ready to make
compromise settlement. The
Northern Pacific Elevator company
is now in the hands of a receiver
and the frauds of it's employees have
wiped out it's existence. Among the
New England banks swindled are
nearly all the state institutions
here, which
WERE HIT HEAVILY:
banks at Portland, Me-, and various
banks in the towns about Boston.
OF course the rascals are trying to
lie out of it. They say it was not
forgery. Perhaps not; for the fel
lows who signed the certificates had
right to sign them-if the wheat
was there's but it was not. An
TssA II ss;