St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1896-01-20
GRADE IND CRIB
Ills GRIM.

who felt absolutely safe in his strongly
constructed castle. The result Of the
struggles was that the baron COM
manded his vassals tc levy heavier
tribute upon those who had dared to
oppose him. That is precisely what the
elevator barons are doing today, and
the vassals must either obey or they
viii feel the masters lash
WON THE BATTLE.
The people along the ST Vincent line
owe debt to the merchants and other
puollc-spirited men of Warren. They
1ought the elevator companies, won the
battle, and the effect has been felt from
one end Of the st. Vincent branch to
the other The wheat combine desisted
rrom their intended establishment Of
stores, banks, etc, at Warren, to COM
pete with the merchants of that town,
because they had dared to take UP the
ngn1 When they saw the farmers, whose
market naturally should be at Warren.
haui1ng their wheat to East Grand
FORKS, a distance four or five times as
great The elevators were full of
wheat, or, at least, claimed to have
no bins for the higher grades, although
they could usually find a place for a
iCad OF No. l hard or No. 1 northern if
the farmers would sell it for the price
tHey choSe to give for No. Q northern
or No. northern. The buvers at the
elevators claimed that these were the
oniy grades for which they had bins.
ana the farmers had to submit to a loss
IN actual value of their wheat averag-
ing at least six cents a bushel. Then
they began to haul their grain to East
Grand Forks, nearly thirty miles west
Of Warren.
Early in the coaco, +boro o.
blockade at Warren, for at that time
there was prospect Of the keystone
spur OF the Northern Pacific being ex-
tended to this place. When the work
or grading was begun there were plenty
or cars here and the elevators had bins
Tor all grades of wheat. They main
tanned spread on terminal prices that
together with excessive dockage over
that at terminals, and squeezing on
grades, gave them a wide margin of
pfoht. This profit, even when there
were plenty of cars, was, including hand
ling charges, from four to five cents
a pushel. Early in the season the
wheat naturally tributary to this place
all came here and while the farmers
We're dissatisfied with the prices real
lzed for their grain, they were able to
Keep up the prices by Independent ship
ping. Inc merchants were enjoying a
PERIOD OF PROSPERITY
and the farmers began to see a raw of
hope and to believe that the davs of
oppression from the wheat barons were
near at hand.
"A little later In the season, however.
the supply Of cars in the territory along
the st. Vincent branch was practicallV
cut of. The elevators at Stephen and
Argyle, north of here, as well as all
the warehouses in this town, were full
ha fe,
buyers said, at all events The strange
part or 1t was that there was always
room for No. and 3 wheat, while the
bins for No. hard and No. 1 northern
were invariably full. Nearly all the
wheat grown in this locality was of
the two higher grades, and the farmers
naturally objected to selling it for the
price offered for from one to three
grades below its actual quality, in ad-
d1tlon to the other shrinkages Whom
they did sell their high grade wheat
for the price offered for No. Q or No
they were still compelled to submit TO
the dockage for dirt and other causes,
imposed upon them by the wheat buy
erS.
When they tried to get cars for IN.
dependent shipping they found that the
elevators had orders in ahead of them
ana they could do nothing but submit
to the terms offered by the agents of
the wheat barons or haul their grain
back to the farms. Many of them did
this and then hauled it to East Grand
Forks, nearly thirty miles aWav This
state of affairs continued to grow vorse
and the merchants. saw their business
going to town that had no right to
be a competitor to Warren. Leading
merchants wrote to Gov. Clough, to the
railroad and warehouse commissioners
and to railroad officials, urging them to
intercede and afford them some relief
They were Informed that nothing could