Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1899-02-18


ers. and good neighbors. but felt JUST.
fled in bribery. to protect overlooking
bank accounts" He thanked the club
for It's refusal to discuss the franchises
until the Allen hill was off the statute
books
~eSA
Chicago is one Of the greatest grain
centers of the world. and conditions
here frequently affect prices every.
where. We have here a large number
of grain elevators. with a storage ca
paci,y of about 9OOOO,OOO bushels of
wheat. They are chartered by law. and
the owners act as trustees or custodians
OF other peoples grain. The grain Is in
spected by an officer of the State, and
is graded No. I. No. .. No. 3. as the case
may be. and generally Is sold by this
grading. and all grain of the second
grade Is then poured together, the ware.
house man giving a receipt for 50 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-there
will be No. wheat almost equal to No.
1. and there will he No. . 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.
ity of a 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 I'm case the owners of
any of the pile should wish to sell by
sample they would suffer In cOnse.
quence. The elevator owners went into
the business Of buying and selling grain
and mixing 1t with that Of their custom
ers. A suit was brought to enjoln them
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
grounds, among others, that the eleva.
OF other peoples property, that the in
terests OF the public demanded that
these custodians should he disinterest.
ed, and that II would be contrary to
public morals to permit them to stand
in n position where there would.be a
constant temptation for them to change
the character of the property they thus
held In trust: and, second, that II the
elevator men were permitted to act In
fhe dual capacity Of trustees and deal.
ers In grain they would possess such
advantages as would enable them to
soon drive all other buyers out Of the
market and thus give to themselves a
monopoly OF the grain trade Of Chicago,
and enable them, to certain extent, to
fx the price Of grain in the Chicago
market; for they could then, by cOmbl-
nation. agree on the price. and by rea-
son OF their enormous storage capacity
they could withhold or throw on to the
market at any time vast quantities OF
wheat, and thus depress or raise the
market at pleasure, which would not
be so II there were many owners. The
case was appealed 10 the Supreme
Court, and that court sustained Judge
Tuley, and, in long and able opinion
expressly held that II would be agalns,
public morals and against public pol
icy to permit the public warehouse men
OF this State TO carry on a grain bust
ness in the same warehouse in which
they keep their customers grain.
But in the meantime the warehouse
men secured the passage OF law
which permits them 10 do the very
things which the courts had held to be
against public morals and against pub
lie policy. The elevator people stand
together. They have an agreement no
10 Interfere with each others business
The moment n bushel of wheat goes
into their warehouses they are entitled
to two cents storage. When an outside
buyer offers 20 cents a bushel II vii
cost him ~ cents. The warehouse men
by giving up little OF their storage
charge. can offer II cents, and thu
drive the outside buyers ont Of thu
market. This done, the market Is a
the mercy OF the warehouse men. TIT
effect OF this legislation, therefore Is 4
create a monopoly and place all tina
section Of country which in grain mat
tiers "a tributary 10 this city at the mer
cy OF a combination OF elevator owner
In Chicago. This combination can cas-
lily combine with others elsewhere, s.
that this legislation lays the founda
ton for n grain trust that will draw
blood from every farmer in America
The question now is. members OF tn
Illinois Legislature, Does II meet you
spprovalf VIII you vote 10 sustain II
or will you vote for it, repeal:
A leading and prominent member o
the FOrtieth General Assembly VIII
made a good record, and Is known Z
be an honest man, said recently; ]
the next Legislature decides 10 lnYestI