The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1896-01-29
4 SHAMEFUL CONDITION.
Confined from Eir.t Pa~eA

Continued from First PaEe.)
D. A. Whitney was another of the mer-
chants who took an active part in break
ing the blockade and breaking the bands
OF the elevator combine. Mr.. Whitney
said the business men of Warren were
honest in their endeavors to secure an
open market and to hold the business
they were naturally entitled to. 1t was
movement of self-protection which they
had every right to make and they did
not propose to be bluffed or bulled by
the elevator men or anyone else. When
the elevator pople announced their in
tentfon to start a store, a bank, a ma
chinery yard and sell goods at prices
that would compel the merchants to dis
continue the fight. the merchants decided
to carry the war into Egypt and to
send delegates to every town in the Red
River valley and organize the merchants.
They would have used every endeavor to
induce them to do as had been done at
Warren and in that way extend the ben
eft to the farmers and merchants OF this
section. They stood together and called
every bluff of the elevator men. They
were prepared to fight them to the bitter
end and would have built an elevator,
had it been necessary, and pay all there
was in it for the wheat. The merchants
knew what the elevator men had done
at Lakota, N. D., and what they might
expect at Warren At Lakota A. j. Gron-
ma, the leading merchant of the town,
vator combine and they threatened to put
| in store and sell goods at prices that
would ruin him. They did put in the
| store. and attempted TO carry out their
! threat to ruin GrOnna, but he had MS
| fighting clothes on and refused to be
| downed. When they offered to sell coffee
| at % cents a pound he sold it at 20 cents,
| and when they were willing to part with
| eighteen pounds of sugar for dollar
| he saw them one better and gave nine
| teen pounds. Gronna met them all along
| the line, and the result has been that
| the elevator people have tired of playing
| a losing game. and the store is for sale.
| while Gronna is still buying wheat and
| selling the farmers nearly all the goods
| they buy.
! Warren were prepared to carry their end
| of the fight and would have done so to
| the end of the chapter. They won sooner
| than they had expected. and he beleVeo
| the entire northern part OF the state mao
| been benefited by their victory. He sad
| the elevator men had a good margin OF
| profit from the beginning of the harvest
| and thought they ought to be satisfied
with il. Mr.. Whitney said that the aver
age difference in price for the same graue
| of wheat at the local market ana al the
| terminal markets at Mimi apolls, Dulutn
| and Superior at the comm 2ncement OF the
season was between IA and Is cents. Ad-
| ded to this was the differ nee in dockage'
between the local and the terminal mar
| kets which ran from half pound 10 a
pound and half on every buShel, max
| ing an average loss to the farmer or AT
| least a half cent a bushel, an amount
| about equal to the switching, inspection
! and weighing charges at terminal points:
This left practically the freight charge OF
| II cents a hundred, or 10 is a bushel, as
| the only one to be deducted from the dlf-
| ference in prices. leaving a margin or
| from four to FIVE cents bushel Tor the
| elevator men. They were not satlsl,eu
| with this however. and their buyers De-
| gan to knock down the wheat Sraue
| or two and then the wheat was taken TO
| other points where the market was open
| With all the elevators full to the ROOF,
| except the line houses. ana with tnehn
| receiving nothing better than NO. = or NO
| wheat, no matter what its actual grace
| was the prospect was anything but en-
| cOuraging.
| When farmers went to other towns 10
market their wheat they made their puf-
chases there and Warren was getting a
| very black eye. When the cars cdinE
and the blockade was raised there was
| immediate relief and the line houses mad
! nlenty of room for the higher grades
| 1t was surprising how quickly they DIS
| covered more room in their bins, and that
| for the better grades, which day or Two
| before could only be taken in when the
! farmer would sacrifice his wheat ana
take the difference between its actual
| grade and one or two lower.
| w. E. Wood brought in lot of wheat
| during the blockade. and when he wanted
| to sell it the highest offer he could get
| from the line house was 35 cents. Then
| the cars came, and he secured one ana
| loaded his wheat into it. He sold the
| wheat to the agent OF Duluth comln!s-
| sion house before the car was moVso lor
43 cents, saving cents on bushel by tne
| operation The offer of So cents and the
| sale at 43 cents were made on the same
| dav so there was no room for argument
| and the result is the best evidence that
| the grievances complained OF were too
| real to be denied or explained away.
| L. LambertSOn, secretary OF the DOaro
of trade, is the cashier Of the Bank OF
| Warren, and knows as much about the
| troubles and the results as any one IN the
town. Mr.. Henderson furnished the pic
| lures from which the cuts IN MONDAY
| Globe was made, showing the wheat piled
w along the right Of way during the
| blockade Henderson said the board or
| trade has made an unsuccessful ei1ort 10
| secure the site for an elevator. RE toio
| how they had looked forward to the WISH
of the railroad commissioers, expecting
| they would show them way out OF the
| Wilderness The board of trade certainly
he said. had proved all that it had al
| legged, and when the hearing was ad-
| jourred and the commissioners mad al
| forded them no show Of relief, they were
the commissioners had told them, for
they had studied the laws relating to
| the grain business
Then came Mr.. Burdick with a request
for a hearing before the board of trade,
and his presumption in defending the
| elevator people. dscrediting the quality
| of the wheat raised in this section and
| finally giving us the lie as to the amount
Of grain marketed when there was nearly
three times as much in store at the time
as he was willing to admit had been re-
| ceired during the season.
When there was talk of grand jury
to look into the charges that had been
| made some of the elevator people thought
the matter had gone far enough and
were willing to call the matter off. and
abandoned the project to establish
| store bank. machinery yard, etc.
Andrew Melgaard cashier Of the State
| Bank of Warren, said that every business
| interest in the town suffered on account
of the course pursued by the elevator
companies and the ina bility Of the farm
ers and other independent shippers to Sc
| cure cars to haul their wheat. The farm
ers were the greatest losers. but every
| dollar they lost was just much taken
| from the wealth of the county. and the
| loss meant much to the people. for it
was just so much money that would
| never be replaced in circua ton there.
| The detection of the wheat to East Grand
| Forks and other points meant a loss in
| the purchase Of goods from the mer-
| chants Of Warren. but the loss incurred
| when the farmers sold their wheat at
| or s cents below what it was worth was
a loss to every one except the elevator