Omaha daily bee., 1898-05-07
OMAHA AS A GRAIN CENTER
Discussion Of tho Elevator Situation Revived
by Port Arthurs New Rate.
MAY YET BECOME A LEADING POINT
Milling In Transit Rntc would Mako
it nnd Little Push ON the
North aud south Plan
Would Help Greatly.

rate to the gulf, which was made by the
| Pittsburg & Gulf system some days ago.
has renewed interest in the proposition to
put in new grain elevator at East
! Omaha. The effect Of the Omaha conncc-
tion with the new system is to- afford an
outlet for export shipments from Omaha to
the gulf. with haul of about 500 miles
as compared with the haul of nearly 21O0
miles that is neccssitated by the devious
route by which most of the grain goes from
Omaha to the eastern seaboard. Local grain
men who are familiar with the situation
see in this an opportunity to make Omaha
! the great grain point of this part OF tho
west IL the business men and property own
ers of the city would take hold of the mat
! ter with an energy sufficient to overcome
! the tremendous opposition which the prop
osition Is bound to meet from the corpor-
atons whose grip on the long haul would
be loosened by such an enterprise.
That the opposition to the scheme would
be powerful and persistent Is evident when
the situation is understood The thing
needed to make Omaha q great grain center
is admitted to be a milling in transit"
rate on grain shipments. In other words
! the railroads must agree to allow grain to
! be shipped to Omaha, stored or cleaned here
and then shipped to the seaboard, the rate
on each haul to be the proper proportion
| OF the through rate from the original point
of shipment to the place Of final delivery.
| According to the statements OF grain men
| the principal reason why Omaha has never
: been able to secure this rate was on ac-
count of the 3 per cent diHerontial wnich
was maintained by the Gould interests in
favor of St. Louis. The haul from Omaha
to st. Louis is about the same as that from
! Omaha to Chicago. AS the grain could be
shipped to st. Louis B cents n hundred
cheaper than to Chicago the railroads were
afraid that IL they gave Omaha milling
| in transit rate the grain that was stored
| here would go out to st. Louis and they
would lose the haul from Omaha to chicago
| Another Incentive to Hold On.
While this dfrerential is still supposed to
exist it is alleged that II has been prac-
tically nullfed during the last ten months.
! But it is asserted that the low rate now
offered by the Port Arthur system would
be a still more potent factor in inducing
| the railroads to refuse to make the rate
that would allow grain to be stored in
| Omaha. If large elevator business was
| built UP here the producers would be able
| to ship their grain to the southern seaboald
and save a large per cent Of the cost of
shipment over the eastern lines. This would
| take the business away from the lines be-
|
result which the roads would endeavor to
prevent by every means in their power. In
this they would be assisted by the local
grain men who represent the big Chicago
| houses and who would also have an inter-
est in keeping the business on the eastern
| lines.
The grain dealers who are not associated
with these interests declare that the con-
| summation of tho enterprise would make
Omaha a bigger grain market than Kansas
City and so further toward buil ling up
| the city than anything else that could be
suggested. One of the largest dealers said
| yesterday: Whenever The railroads can be
induced to give this point n milling in
| transit rate. elevator capacity for h.cG0, 600
or 100000 bushels more than we have now
| could be used to ADVANTAGE Until such A
| rate is secured, however, we have all the
| room we need. AS the matter stands now
! the proposition will undoubtedly encounter
a tremendous opposition from the railroads,
| especially II 1t is proposed to put in an
| elevator that will be used exclusively for
the benefit of the Plttsburg G. Gulf system.
But IL 1t could be pushed through it would
be the biggest thing for Omaha that has
| occurred in years.
Natural Shipping Center.
| Omaha Is naturally adapted for a great
grain center With the low rates to tina
s'ii' IL ought 10 be the central point be-
| tween vast tributary stretch of country
and the seaboard. With railroad rates thar
would allow extensive storage here. there "a
no reason why we should not deyelope into
the biggest grain point west of Cbicapo wo
| would get the speculative trade first h,,t
as our storage capacity increased we would
| nave mere to do business on and the local
! gram trade would increase in proportion
ihey taik about doing this sort of business
| on Wind, but as matter of fact we must
nave some substantial basis II we havo
a certain amount of grain in the elevators.
we may sell 1T back and forth several timea
put there must be something in sight IN
'raue on. When the city becomes n bip
| storage ana shipping point then It Is bound
| 10 become big trading point"
1t Is noticeable that while the on,n,o,
Of the brokers who do not represent oo.,-
ern houses Is unanimous that additions,
elevator capacity with proper railroad rates.
wouid De tremendous benefit to the pro
ducers and help to build up the grain busi-
ness IN Omaha they are not inclined ia
enter into any controversy with the rail.
roads. They assert that there ia not a
state In the union that has enioyed tba
same advantages at the hands of the rail-
roads during the last ten months that Ma.
| "'"'h" hao' lHcy call attention to thA
fact that the roads have allowed Nebraska
shipments to be made direct to the sea-
board for export thus avoiding the ter.
minal charges at intermediate points and
allowing the producer an extra profit of
from to cents bushel on his corn Tbav
admit all the advantages that would accrue
from an increased storage of grain at this
point and that there is an abundant on
portunity for three times the business that
is now transacted. They state that this
could easily be brought about IL the rail-
roads would give Omaha the rate that is
made for other grain centers but Intimate
that the roads are doing what is right. and
that 1t is not to be expected that they will
make a rate that will build up the Omaha
gram trade and give cheap haul to the
producer when the result of such action
might be to divert the business that thew
now enjoy to other lines.
Terminal Company'a Interest.
The elevator enterprise was taken up bv
the Commercial club some time ago. but
nothing seems to have been ACCOMPLISHED.
Secretary UT said yesterday that he thought
that the East Omaha Terminal company was