St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1896-01-25
SEEK MARKETS IN DAKOTA.
ROT LESS THAN 10000 BUSHELS
OF GRAIN DIVERTED FROM
RIGHTFUL CHANNELS.
-FOUR ELEVATORS IN HALLocK
They Find Great Difficulty in Secur-
ing Cars to Remove the
Crop. -
Special to the Globe.


against the elevators at this point, al
though there was no uprising, as was
the case at Warren. Early in the sea-
son there was no serious complaint
against the prices paid by the local
elevators, as the difference In prices
between the local and the terminal
markets and the grades given by both
the line and the Independent houses
were considered fair When the houses
began to fill up and there was difficulty
in securing cars, the trouble began,
wheat was graded down and the prices
were spread. One of the results of the
unfair market here was to compel the
greater part Of the wheat grown in
the Western part Of the county to seek
market in Dakota. At toilette and
BoweSmount not less than 100000
bushels of wheat that would naturally
come to HaIlock has been marketed
from the crop Of 1896. This ought to
have come here, and would have had
the market been free.
The market at HalIock has been the
best on the st. Vincent branch, and
this is largely due to the fact that the
farmers have always shipped a great
deal of grain from the track, and that
will be the rule to even a greater eX-
tent in the future. There are four
houses at Hallock and their combined
capacity is 1876, 900 bushels. The st.
Anthony e. Dakota, 10000, is the only
line house and the others are: William
Kelso, $1,000, McCullum & Suffet, go
600; jacob, 10000.
Hon. w. f. Kelso is one of the best
known men in the Red River valley,
and at the same time one Of the most
successful farmers. Mr.. Kelso owns and
operates 3,000-acre farm, lying three
miles west of Hallock along the Two
Rivers. He raises wheat, oats and
barley, and is extensively engaged in
stock raising, believing in diversified
farming as far as is possible in this
section. Speaking of the method of
handling grain in force in the state,
Mr.. Kelso said:
Il am now and always have been
radically opposed to state inspection,
Tor L am opposed to drawing an arbi-
trary line In wheat. Wheat is often
sold grade or two lower than wheat
which makes no better flour, simply
because it does not look quite as we'll
as the other. The millers realize this
and that accounts for the large sales
by sample on the boards of trade
and chambers of commerce at the
terminal points. The manufacturers of
Hour do not look at the outside of the
grain nor at its surroundings, but
they inquire how much and what
quality Of -four will this produce. 1t
is the same as with men when an
emn1OVpr hires 10 IL
consider the quality of his clothes or
who his relatives are, but how much
labor he can perform.
Competition is the life of trade
and this is so universally admitted that
1t has become an axiom. The state has
practically
THREE TERMINAL MARKETS
and two of them the largest milling
centers in the world. This as a market
would invite competition and stimulate
trade in any product, and naturally
forces the manufacturer to pay the
highest prices. State inspection draws
arbitrary and rigid lines around wheat
which local boards of trade would nat
urally circumvent to secure the product.
This is evidenced by the small margin
existing between the off and rejected
product and that which bears the
stamp, as grade of the commonwealth.
Besides this it gives the line elevators
the opportunity to hoodwink the farm
ers under the mantle of state protec-
ton.
can individual, to operate successfully
a private elevator, must be a man of or
binary ability. The average cost of a
private house with a capacity of say
10000 bushels is at least SO, OOO To exist
he must handle 100000 bushels of grain
or more, and one can readily Judge by
the volume of business the additional
amount Of capital he must have at his
disposal. This year the elevator COM
bine has fixed an arbitrary margin, be-
tween the producers wagon and the
car, of about four cents. ANY deyia-
ton from this margin turns loose the
concentrated capital Of line elevators
which form the great octopus which
has oppressed the producers for so many
years Why, Great Britain in her DOM
ination of the weak is no more oppres-
sive. The independent buyer is a resi-
dent of the locality in which he does
business, pays taxes, votes and assists
In building up the community The
other corporation whose head NAV
be found in Liverpool and whose tail in
Minneapolis or Duluth and whose BODY
the most experienced scientist would be
unable to dissect; and, if the public
could have the christening, he would be
named Greed
Il have always made it rule to sell
my grain at terminal points When
ever it has been possible 1 have loaded
directly into the cars. When 1 have
been unable to secure cars I have al
ways, when storing grain, had it plac-
ed in a special bin in order that L might
be assured of the identical product
stored. This year I have already ship
ped over 10000 bushels of wheat and
1t has Melted me 441a cents a bushel,
not single bushel grading under No.
! northern, and much Of it going No.
! hard. The largest dockage was half
a pound to the busheI. Some Of this
grain was loaded through independent
and line houses and the net price men
toned above included their handling
charges. There is but one line house
here, and when [ requested a special
rate for receiving and shipping my
wheat, P. B. Smith, of Minneapolis the
general manager of the ST ANTHONY &.
Dakota line, wrote me refusing to low
Ell the arbitrary charge of two cents a
bushel, Notwithstanding the promise of
my entire shipments. If my memory
serves ne right, unfortunately 1 have
destroyed his letter. He stated therein
that there was a large crop and they
proposed to get all they could out of
it.. The superintendent Of the line
mao maze me an OIeT a rev Gays be-
fore the receipt of this letter which was
more favorable than the terms insisted
upon by the general manager Of the
company
"Track shipping has become almost
universal at this point and the only OBJ
stacle is the lack of facilities on the
part of the farmer to load car within
the specified twenty-four hours. So far