The representative., 1896-02-05
INDEED.

last, says editorially:
The article which we publish from
special correspondent, detailing the
result Of his investigations at Stephen.
into the outrages upon the farmers
by the elevator companies, contains
facts enough to convince any fair
minded man that an open market
does not exist in this state, and that
TO secure one is first necessity il the
producer Of grain is not to be cheated
annually out Of practically the whole
margin of profit upon his years la
Dor. These are no general charges in
which the Globe INDUCES, no wild de-
nunciati0ns aim d at the world at
large, out specific state mentS Of facts
which are a disgrace TO this age and
This country. They show systematic
oppression Of the farmer, regular
aud premeditatcd appropriation OF his
property which goes on year after
year, and from which it is, as a rule,
impossible for Hlm to escape. Our
correspondent estimates the loss to
the farmers in the vicinity Of Stephen
alone, as far rs his inquiries have ex
mean sacrifice TO unfavorable condi-
tons: it is a straight transfer Of mon
~, belonging to the farmer. to the
pockets Of the elevator companies. 1t
l. made up by the difference Of four,
five, eight and ten cents per bushel on
wheat realized by the elevator COM
p MES over and above freight charges
ana cost OF handling 1t is the
amount which the elevator com
rauies, take from the farmers by grad.
ing their wheat down, eXacting an
excessive dockage, the local elevator
and the terminal, market, at their
pleasure.
The process by which this is done is
made perfectly clear. In ordinary
times, when there is no rush and the
farmer is not compelled to market his
grain unless he wis hes, the difference
between selling to the local elevator
and shipping direct to the central
market is small. Then comes the
rush Of the harvest season. Scores or
hundreds Of farmers are offering their
grain at the same time, under COM
pulsiou of maturing obligations which
they have to meet. They have no
bins in which to store their grain.
Thev bring it to town, with their
creditors dogging their very footsteps,
in order to appropriate the first re-
ceipt. TO haul it back to the farm is
impossible. There is no place t. put
it. Their creditors will net wait.
w udU UllCy uSU have Is CdSil III CA
change for their product. The eleva
tor man k.ews this. Now he changes
his terms. Instead of offering fair
price, he turns he cold shoulder to
| the farmer. He tells him that he
| cannot store his grain except at a
very low grade, because all the bins
for the better grades are full. He Of
| fers him price which is far below
the actual market value. He insists
| on dockage that is unreasonable.
Adding together the shrnkage by
grading down. by the spread Of prices
and by excessive dockage. the farmers
| choice is between taking about ten
cents less bushel than his grain is
worth and finding another market for
| it. The town is full Of wheat otfe red
| for sale, and there is no remedy for
| his case. He takes what lie can get.
pockets his injuries with sore heart.
pays over his receipts to his creditor
and starts in with another years la
! Dor, kuwing that for the last year he
has simply been Shaving for the bene-
| fit of cOnSciencclesS taSkmaSterS.
| And yet the Globe bad nothing but
| hostility to the efforts of the farmers
to escape all these robberies, by hay
| ing tue state build, at Duluth, with
the surplus funds e1acted from them for IN
/, SD cti1tq their ,rhedt,a terminal elevator,
to which the farmers could ship their
wheat. And when the Peoples Party
men in the Legislature secured the
passage OF such bill, which would
not have cost the taxpayers a cent,
the Globe joined in the howl of de-
| light which the scoundrels set up
when Republican Supreme Court
wiped out the bill, on shallow techni-
caities, and turn the poor, strug
! Cling agriculturists over to the ten
der mercies Of the vexy men it is now
| denOuncing.
And the Farmers themselves, we are
sorry to say, joined in, to keep in pow
er the very party which was robbing
it, by $4,000 plurality, and to re-elect
| to the supreme bench some Of the
very men who had made that decis-
ion!
And now, when the crop Of 1895 is
pretty much disposed Of, and there is
very little more wheat to steal, the
Globe has a virtuous tit,and denounces
the thieves, who laugh with their
pockets full. But the chances are
nine out Of ten that if the next Legis-
lature. which meets in January 1897.
should make an honest attempt to
punish the robt ers, or stop their eX-
actions in the future, the Globe, and
all the rest Of it's kidney, will be
found rising up behind the breast
works, with gun in hand, to shoot the
reformers.
The whole thing is porous with rot
tenneSs, and there is no remedy but a
reformation that will reach down to
bedrock. Let the people rise en- masse
and bury the two old party frauds a
thousand fathoms deep, and take
possession Of the government Of the
state, with fierce dete mutation to
send the thieves to the peni-
tentiary, where they belong, and let
the people keep the value OF what
they produce.