St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-02-14
Another Exposure of the Wheat
Conspiracy.

Chicago Herald.
The disclosures in the Minneapolis
correspondence of the Herald, published
on Saturday, regarding the famous, or
infamous. Hold Your Wheat" circular
issued in Minnesota in July, 1891, reveal
the secrets OF one part of far-reachlng
conspiracy. The connection of that
scheme with the origin of the antl-Op-
ton bill in congress is close, and the
facts are thoroughly established.
The circular spread broadcast
throughout Minnesota and the upper
Northwest Just previous to the harvest
Of 1891 advised farmers to keep their
wheat i'll their granares instead of SELL
ing it from time to time at the market
price. 1t assured the wheat-grOWerS
that their grain would be worth $3.50
buShel AT the lowest, and that it might
be worth s. or even So bushel if they
should hold it long enough. 1t was
more dazzling bid in its terms than is
offered i'll kindred circulars OF the lot
terleS and the green goods" operators.
The object of this circular was to pre-
vent the sale of 60,000,000 or 10000 600
bushels of wheat al current prices in
that prolific year. 1t appears that Pills
bury was loaded up with millions Of
nuShelS OF wheat bought on the Chicago
market in the spring Of that year and
which he was holding for an advance in
price. The prospect of an immense
crop throughout the West was wreck
ing all speculative values in the market,
and he was liable to iEcur serious
loss on his immense holdings. Nomln-
ally he was alone in this deal. But it is
understood that Senator Washburn
was his partner, or that some sort of a
others. If the farmers could be per-
Suaded to store their wheat i'll their own
granares instead of selling it, sort of
natural corner would be created in the
market and a rally in prices might save
Pillsbury and his associate or associ-
ateS from serious loss.
Under these circumstances an alleged
bankrupt adventurer named Hugo
Mattullath appeared In the councils Of
the discouraged spectators. He in
vented the scheme of the hold Your
Wheat" circular, which he managed
to issue under the authority of the
Farmers Alliance. The cost was
paid by the PiliSbury gang. The plot
involved less expense than buying
enough wheat to establish real corner.
IL asked every farmer raising crop of
wheat to keep it away from the market.
L ie result NCulu Dc 10 creHte ali drlt-
fetal scarcity on the boards of trade,
while overlooking abundance was Wis
ibie everywhere in the country.
The scheme mis- oarried in some re-
spects. The farmers did not obey the
commands of the circular. But the
Russian famine and the short crops i'll
India created a foreign demand for
wheat which enabled the Pillsbury
Washburn anticipation crowd to get out
of their tight place at a profit.
The story is simple one, but has its
lesson. 1t shows the utter fraud and
supreme hypocrisy of the milling COM
bine who claim to be friends of the
farmers, but who betray the farmers at
every opportunity and by every scheme
which they find practicable. The anti
option bill is as palpable rascality for
dishonest speculative purposes as the
''Hold Your Wheat" circular. 1t is a
device of knayery which purports
to be in the interest of the
farmers, while its object IS, and its eff
fectS will be, if it becomes law. to shut
the farmer out of the commercial mar
ketS, and leave him at the mercy of
the millers and shippers, who would
take his grain at their own price at such
time or times as they could get it at the
lowest price