The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1894-06-27
GRAIN GROWERS ASSOCIATION
Secretary Hendricl<sOn Discusses the
Question of Organization of Wheat
PrOducers.

touching on this subject, but with me, as
with all other farmers of the Northwest.
the question of how to sow and till our
farms so as to raise the greatest number Of
bushels has SO far been the uppermost
AS the spring work is now completed and
the prospect for a good crop never was bet
ter, is 1t not proper that We begin to pom
der on how to get the best prices for. if not
the worth of our products? Certainly it is
right that We should talk about it, even to
abuse the gamblers and the wheat thieves
will not do any harm, and to be sure they
don't care for that. as long as they are al
lowed to rake in $4,000 900 annually on our
wheat, which 1 claim they do, and think
every fair minded farmer will agree with
me when I say that the wheat gamblers
now have, over and above a fair profit, %
cents on every bushel of wheat raised,
which belongs to the farmers, and that will
make sum total of s200OO,000, assuming
the amount of the annual production of
wheat to be SO,OOO,O0O, as stated by the Min
neapolis Tribune last month. And now we
all know men are disposed to stand a great
deal Of abuse for less money than that
Yes, talk all you are mind to, decry every
one in the wheat business from the inspec-
tor in the local elevator to the option gam
bier on the Chicago Board of Trade, curse
everybody, scold your grandmother, but
you must not think, for if you do, you
might come to the conclusion that it is pos
slbie to do away with the overcharge.
Can the farmers raise the price of their
grain, is now the great problem before the
70 .,f< I,~
throughout the world. We are told that it
Is impossible because the price is fixed in
Liverpool and London. If that is true, who
is to blame? And is it natural that it
should be fixed by the buyer? If this a
rule, 1t should work both ways. Let us APP
ply 1t to something else and see how it will
work. A hat manufacturer in London man.
fractures a hat and he sells that hat in
London for what it cost him to manufac-
ture 1T and as much profit the COMPETE
ton will allow him. The English merchant
who buys that hat from the manufacturer
sells that hat to a wholesale merchant in
this country for the original cost to him.
plus freight, duty, and such profit as the
competition will allow him, and he will al
ways endeavor to get freight rates as low
as possible at that; and in the same way
from one to the other till finally your local
merchants adds up everything, and if you
want the hat you must pay the original
cost of manufacturing it plus all expenses
and expense and the profit of all the mid
dlemen. If it costs your merchant IS you
cannot get it for So. If all should refuse to
buy that hat for at least the cost price the
probability is that you would have to be
without any hat, and the merchant, if he
could not sell his goods would have to make
an assignment, but it would not affect the
| manufacturer. If you want a pound of tea
you will find the price to be cost of raising
1t plus all expenses and profits, and you
cannot fix or even alter the price.
But the price of all your produce is fixed
by the consumers or at least in Liverpool
or London. we are told How does that
sound to the patriotic ears of an American?
once upon time the price of tea in this
country was fixed in England and We know
what the result was
But let us not be deceived. The price of
your wheat and other products is not fixed
in Liverpool and London. 1t is fixed by
gigantic combine comprising every railway
company, every elevator company, from
your local station to Liverpool every mil
Ter from Minneapolis to England, every
board of trade from Duluth to London. 1t
comprises Wall street and even the RothS-
childs themselves. But bear in mind the
greatest number of them, the majority of
this combine are American Benedict Ar
nolds. This combine fixes the price of
grain at Liverpool and elsewhere and from
that they subtract their own profit free
from all competition, they control the
whole worlds output, and from this is
again subtracted the various freight and
elevator charges and the remainder Is the
price given to the farmers, provided always,
that the farmer throws in two or three
pounds on each bushel or 20 per cent gratis.
Suppose now, the farmer should refuse to
sell-no, it is already sold-that they should
refuse to deliver the goods, what then? Oh,
England would buy elsewhere The ships
would sail empty? Why, no, they would go
elsewhere. So far so good, but how about
all the elevators, railroads and canal boats
in this country? Would it all be transfer
red to India? Oh, no! Closing up the ele-
vators and running empties do not pay divi-
dends, and please bear in mind that it is
the dividends they are after. If we do this,
we can clearly see there is yet hope for the
grain growers, if organized.
Well then the next question will surely
be, What good will come out of discuss
ing the question, or what good can be &C
complished by the Grain Growers Associa-
ton if organized? In the first place it
can keep all its members posted and to a
great extent regulate the price by refus-
ing to deliver the goods sold by the gamb-
lers when they want it and sell when the
wheat gamblers don't want it sold Second
the Association can assist their members
to do their own shipping and in this way
enable the producer to sell his grain di-
rect to the consumer without the aid of
the legion of middlemen and let me say
that the question of getting cars to ship
grain would be solved, as no railroad
company would ever dare to think of re-
Iuslng cars to this association contrary to
law as they do to farmers now
ana II there is any truth in the scare
that India will compete with our wheat in
the great markets of the world to the ex-
tent that prices cannot be raised there.
be sure every elevator man and railroad
company in the country will do all in their
power to bring our grain there to COM
pete with the prices even if a reduction of
freight rates should be necessary and if
we could get the same rates as elevator
companies can, 1 mean same rates as
those in force, on those reads over which
elevators only, ship grain.
And not only that but have no doubt
that inside of 20 years the farmers, if or
ganized, will own their own shipping facii-
ties and do their own shipping through
their own elevators without asking any
favors-not even of our supreme court,
There is a good story told about Gen.
Grant. When in his teens his ia Their sent
him to town to sell a colt and gave him
such instructions as he thought neces-
sary which the young man took great care
to remember and when accosted bv the
first would-be buyer with the question,
How much do you want for your horse?
the young man said: "Pa said I should
get $5 for it if I could. but if 1 could do
no better l should take $65 for it, and rath-
er than to bring it home should take $50
for it, and queer to say after hearing this
there was not a man who would pay more
$50 for the colt. The farmers have for
years been offering their product in the
same manner.
Now brethren shall we keep on any
longer selling for what we can get or shall
we rise in body and fight for our rights?
Answer this question by your number in
attendance at the Grain Growers conven-