Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1898-12-03

/ aggravated condition, Its abolition
! would be made the substance of a pop
ular demand backed by a force of arms.
The speaker laid the responsibility for
the condition he deplored at the door
of the railroads. accusing them of fOs-
tcrlng monopoly by granting special
privileges to the warehouse men. lie
said in part: "The grain trust in Chi
| cngO. as represented In the public ware
house men, Is one of the most gigantic
| and harmful trusts in the world. The
great public warehouses are now under
the management of men who derive
their power from the railroads. Prior
| to 1885, before these men obtained their
| power. there was free competition on
the floor of the Board of Trade. At
that time the public warehouse men en-.
tered the grain business in competition
with dealers who were forced to pay
storage in the warehouses. The public
warehouse man Is licensed servant
Of the State, and owing to the advan.
tage he derives from not having to pay
this storage toll, he Is enabled to con.
troll prices. The warehouse man can
also sort the grain stored in his Gle.
vatOr, remove the best and obtain 15
cents busiel more for 1t. Great quan.
titles of grain stored by dealers In these
warehouses are boarded for storage
charges. The market Is 'beared until
prices are such that the warehouse
man can buy the grain at a low price,
besides reaping the storage profit. The
present methods are an enco,ira cement
to bucket shops, and buckct-shop gam.
bling serves the purposes of the ware.
house men in bringing the price of
grain down below the cost of prOduc-
ton. The warehouse men are virtually
the railroads, who reap the profits"
The Ice trust, a menace to everybody.
Will come In for dose that will shake
1t to the foundations.
There are several other trusts just as
bad that will receive much attention.
RumOrs Us to bills TO be introduced in
the next Legislature IRE already cur.
rent. 1t is said that the Illinois Dairy
Union. which secured the passage of
the anti.buttcrlne bill by the last Leg.
lslature. will cause to Dc offered q bill
providing for the appointment Of u
State dairy inspector and the apprO-
prlatlon OF a sum of money to secure
the enforcement of the anti-butterlnc
law. 1t Is probable also that q bill
amending the law may be introduced.
and 1t Is certain that bill repeating 1t
will be offered. The present status of
the anti.butterlne law Is not satisfac.
tory to the farmers. The attempt to
enforce 1t by the arrest of several but
terlne-makers was practically n fail.
urc, as the prisoners were discharged
by the court on writs OF habeas corpus.
The farmers will have to make a
strong fight In the coming Legislature
II they wish to keep the law on the
statute books. 1t Is said that one of
the gas bills, but whether the frontage
or consolidation bill, the man who told
the story could not say, has been found
defective by the companies attorneys.
A bill to cure the defect will be intro.
duced, II Is said, soon after the Legls.
laturc meets. A dozen or more bills to
: repeal the Case garnishmcnt law will
. bc introduced rs soon rs members can
catch the Speakers eye at the first ses-
sion. and nearly every Democratic
member from Cook County has ready u
bill repeating the clvil.scrvicc law.
Chicago Is one of the greatest grain
: ccnters of the world, and conditions
here frequently affect prices every.
: where. We have here large number
! OF grain elevators, with a storage ca.
paclty Of about 00.000,O00 bushels OF
: wheat. They are chartered by law. and
the owners act as trustees or custodlans
Of other peoples grain. The grain Is In.
spected by an officer Of the State, and
IL graded No. l, No. 9, No. 3, as the case
; may be, ana generally Is sold by this
grading, ana all grain Of the second
grade Is then poured together, the ware.
house man giving receipt for so many
bushels of that particular grade. And
when this receipt Is again presented, he
does not give back the same grain, but
) simply SO many bushels Of that grade
1t was soon found that all grain Of the
same grade Is not equally gOOd--therG
will be No. 2 wheat almost equal to No
I, and there will be No. 2 wheat falling
close to No. 3. And In all those cases
where wheat is sold, not by the grading
but rather by sample--as for milling
purposes-the best quality sometimes
brings several cents bushel more than
the poorer quality, though Of the same
grade. The warehouse men saw that
they could sell by sample the best quail
4, ity of Il particular grade and supply Its
: place by lower quality of the same
grade and pocket the difference. This
would reduce the average quality of the
: whole pile, and in case the owners OF
! any OF the pile should wish to sell by
: sample they would suffer In conse
. Qucnce. The elevator owners went into
t the business of buying ana selling grain
+ ana mixing 1t with that of their custom
: crs. a suit was brought to enjoin then
t from doing this. Much evidence was
+ taken, and after full hearing Judge
< Tuley, the Nestor of the bench Of Chi
! cago, granted the injunction on the
r grounds, among others, that the eleva
+ tor owners We're trustees or custOdlans
OF other peoples property, that the In
terests of the public demanded that