The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-10-31
WHEAT WOODCHUCN.
Grower and Shipper of Grain
Tells Where 1t Is.

1Aucn 1oHhplsilht mas been made this fall in
regard to the discrimination in grading by
the state inspection department on wheat
coming to Duluth claiming that at Mime
apolls the inspection is not SO severe There
mas Always been a favoritism shown TO Min
neapolis by the department ever since the
writer has been dealing in wheat which COW
ers the time the department has been in ex-
lstence and several years before The whole
trouble Is this: In the fall, when the farm
ers' grain is being marketed the grading is
very rigid, and for years past cars would
De lowered one or two grades or more if there
were oats, barley, cookie smut or frozen
kernels In same to any extent Many cars
haylng only small percentage of same. and
! "hich could have been readily cleaned out
! III the regular dOckage have been lowered
| Inc cars would be quickly bought up by eIe-
/ Fators watching for cars of This kind Dut
INTO the elevator in special bins cleaned
! re-lnspected and raised from one To two
grades the cost Of cleaning being only one
! half cent per bushel and the gain in nrice
| III 10 10 cents. This alone amounts to a loss
! OF thousands of dollars to the farmers bav-
! ing grain Of this character to sell This
! caused so much dissatisfaction that fou,or
! cars are lowered now than formerly on ac-
| count or oats, smut bighted kernels IF
| thls rigid manner Of inspection was kent I'm
| the whole year 1t would not be 50 unfair
put II Is not. In the spring the farmers
J
interests own the bulk Of the wheat. then
! is seen entirely new deal in insnac+io,
Inc great trouble is the private or mixing
elevators. They have bought all the good
wheat, lowered for various causes and Tnix-
! ing one-fourth to two-ffths of two northern
three wheat and rejected, making it go one
| northern 1or 1t all. Of this mixed
/ KIND coming from a farmer or private shin
| per would be graded No. wheat or lower
but the big elevators get one northern for
! same. nave seen million bushels of this
| mixed wheat go out of terminal elevators
| ana sold on it's grade of one northern which
would nave been graded No. wheat if ship
pea by any private party. The inspector
! KNOWS to whom the wheat belongs for tbesa
elevators have a contract inspector following
/ the state inspector, and if a car is graded
! below one northern it is appealed to the
/ deputy or Chief CIausen, who invariably
| raises 1t to one northern. This is 10 10 %
cents gain for all low grade wheat so mixed.
| II me farmers wheat is only one northern
why should it still grade one northern after
! 1t mas been mixed with nearly 40 per cent
OF grain two or three grades lower?
Ihe reason the Duluth inspection is so
rigid IN the fall is to force one northern
wheat to go to Minneapolis where nearly
| all the private or mixing elevators are To-
/ Gated, and the elevators will paw q IittIa
more TO get this class of wheat for they
h
| ern to doctor up their low grade stuff 7
! have noticed for years every time Du1u+b
was getting the bulk Of the high grade wheat
ana minneapolis was not securing enough
one northern to mix with her low erada
wheat, the chief inspector would visit On
luth, which invariably resulted in a turning
down OF the grades in Duluth fnsDection
ana suddenly Us shippers would find our cars
go OF to two northern for the line of vybeat
we had been getting one northern for right
| along. We would then ship to MnneaDolis.
II II graded two northern there we could
Sell by sample for a better price than q con-
tract price OF two northern at Duluth Here
is where the woodchuck hides and the comm
try shipper and farmer who have not had a
chance to watch the grading at terminal
points all the year through are unable 10
locate the trouble.
Many of them say they feel that something
Is wrong. One elevator is said TO have Tna5s
100000 on mixing. alone in one season. A
lew years ago it was reported that Chief
CIausen was to be discharged, and it was
quite generally believed in grain circles bur
ne mas been retained and is still chief in
spector. Kumor has it that he threatened TO
expose certain things If discharged, that and
the lnnuence OF the big elevators interested
whom he has favored mas kept him in his
position. The inspection rules say: weight
alone shall not be sufficient to make wheat
grade No. northern" but when the big ele-
Vater men got caught last year in the Letter
corner, the mixing elevators made No.
northern wheat out of amy
old thing, just so it weighed 81 lbs to the
bushel, and the state inspection passed 1t
from the private to the public elevators at
No. l northern, all contract grade so if
coulc be del1V to Letter on sales made
by those elevators to him of December wheat
Ihere was not enough No. l northern TO fill
these sales, and Letter knew it, but he did
not Inquire on the pull those elevators had
with the inspection department. and that they
couId manufacture No. 1 northern wheat ''as
the butcher makes sausage" and this is
what broke the Letter corner
NOW, Tor remedy, some want TO repeal the
state inspection law and go back to sample
selling. That would be all right for Mime
apolls, for nearly all OF her wheat is sold
by sample, but at Duluth. wheat is purchased
by grade TO go 10 ali parts Of the East and
Europe, and the result would be board of
trade inspection, and the big elevator inter
ests would dictate the persons to be inSpec-
tors, and it would be ''out OF the fat into
the fire."
Now, for g. remedy. Some want 10 renea1 tho
ally to the campaign fund of the Republicans.
and have large influence in designating the
chief inspector and warehouse commission.
erS. The only hope Of the farmers couu+ry,
shippers and Duluth commission men is to
elect for governor a man who does not owe
his election to the Minneapolis elevator inter-
eSts, and one who will clean out the old riDr
that has robbed the growers OF grain in the
Northwest Tor years, and put in a chief in
spector ana deputies who will grade the grain
from private and mixing elevators Just as it
ought to be without fear or favor 1t is not
the rules, but the abuse of them that has
caused so much trouble with the growers
and shippers OF wheat; have grading uniform
throughout the crop year and nearly all COM
plants will cease. A bill was passed two
years ago putting the inspectors and weighers
under civil service, but was vetoed BY the
governor, and had this bill passed the depart
ment would have been out of politics. but
the Republicans did not want TO lose the
patronage and political pull the appointment
of the 100 inspectors and weighers gives them,
and every election they assess the employees
OF the department from five to five hundred
DOL airs for campaign purposes.
II there is nothing wrong in the inspection
of grain at Duluth, why has the percentage
of No l northern increased SO much since
the great kick was made all over the state
and Dakota? 1t will be so until after cleo
tion and when, if elected, they will make up
for lest time and the farmers protest in
vain.
Mr.. Clausen says this is cookie crop, but
the writer has not seen 3 per cent of the hun
dreds of cars arriving that had any cookie AT
all. There is always some cry to cut down
the grading 1t is smut blight. frost or
cookie, Or some other excuse. 1t is robbery.
"A Grower and Shipper of Grain.
Republicans Pay the Freight.
To The ST. Paul Globe:
The political treachery and vllainy Of Ig-
natius Donnely are boundless. His infamous
schemes to defeat John Lind and Judges