The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-01-05


cussion Of the matter. and Mr.. John
son took issue with Mr.. Donnelly and
everybody talked at once. giving the
meeting the appearance of one Of the
old time alliance meetings.
Mr.. Donnelly thought that Mr.. John
son was laboring under a mlsapprehen
sion. as it was only possible for the
committee to place the proposition be-
fore the meeting in regular form, as
many details were to be decided upon.
Mr.. Donnelly then presented the fol-
lowing resolution as the result Of the
committees labors. which constituted
the basis Of the organization:
MR.. DONNELLY's REPORT
Resolved. That the Grain Growers Cooper
alive Association of Minnesota be and the
same is hereby organized.
Resolved, That the preparation Of con-
stitudon and bylaws for the said association
abundant time, which cannot be had in the
hurry and confusion of this convention.
Resolved, That this committee shall be
continued and shall. within thirty days. pre-
pare such constitution and bylaws and send
copy of the same to each member OF this
association who shall examine it, and return
1t to the secretary OF this society within if
teen days from date OF receipt, with his ap-
prevail or disapproval or proposed amend
ments.
Resolved, That this association shall pro-
coed at once to elect temporary president,
secretary and treasurer, and shall appoint
a board OF directors Of seven members.
Resolved, That a meeting Of the commit
tee shall be he'd as soon as the returns are
received from the members; and shall can
VASES the same, and majority shall agree
upon the final form of the same. which Shall
endure until the first annual meeting of the
Grain Growers Cooperative association.
PROPOSED ELEVATOR SCHEME.
Mr.. Rahilly drew an illustration Of
the operation Of the proposed elevator
scheme. A farmer would haul his
wheat to town and be offered cent per
bushel mora than was being paid by
the farmers elevator, by an elevator
outside of the cooperative association.
This advance in price paid by the out
side elevator by reason of the grange
competition put money in the pockets
of the farmers, while the patronage of
the elevator would pay a nice dividend
to the farmers. If the rival houses con-
tinued to pay more that the farmers
elevator could afford to pay, which was
not at all likely as regular thing, why
the farmers would still be money in
pocket. Mr.. Rahilly explained that he
had 10000 bushels of wheat one year,
when but 80 cents was being paid by
commission men. He visited Mime
mlllerS for 81 per bushel, f. o. b., from
Lake City. The other farmers in the
vicinity Of Lake City went into the deal
with Mr.. Rahilly and they froze the
commission men out and got 20 cents
per bushel more for their entire crop
than they otherwise would.
M. P. Moran, Of Graceville, corobo-
rated the statement made by Mr.. Ra-
billy. Such farmers cooperative
scheme would put money in the farm
ers pockets. If successfully worked it
would reverse the order of things: in
stead Of the farmer asking the commits
sion man how much he was paying for
wheat, it would be the commission
man who would seek the producers
trade.
Henry Feig thought it not practical
to buy wheat off the wagons and load
1t on the cars, as grain was very rarely
of a uniform character, and for that
reason elevators were an absolute ne
cesstty. MIR. Feig thought the organi-
cation should perfect plan instead Of
leaving 1t to the committee.
Mr.. Donnelly asserted that the reso-
luton declared the grain growers as
ISOLATION duly organized, and that
which was left to the committee were
the details, which could not be Perfect
ed on legal basis without the assist
ance of a competent attorney.
Mr.. Hanley stated that the first an
nual convention of the grain growers
|
by the officers Of the provisional Or
ganization.
S. w. Powell of Saltwater said there
We're 100 farmers elevators in the state,
all were formed on the stock plan He
inquired if it was the intention to make
these elevators members of the grain
growers association, and issue 500, 900
shares of stock to these granaries scat
tered through the state operated by the
farmers.
Mr.. Hopkins then read his plan,
which has been explained heretofore at
some length in The G o b e.
DISCUSSION ON BONDS.
J. c. Shields thought that the eleva-
these bonds, and if anything of that
kind was attempted the association
would fall Of its own weight. He
thought each farmers elevator should
be operated on the same plan as car
ried out by the patrons of the 700 CO.
operative creameries in the state. near
ly all of which were money-making
schemes and eminently successful 1t
should be strictly a cooperative move
ment on the part of the farmers
Mr.. Hopkins further explained for
the information of Mr. Powell that
under his plan, elevators would issue
shares of $25 each, and no more than
one share was to be issued to each
member. A Commission of 5 per cent
would be deducted for handling and
selling the grain. A reliable man
would be employed at the terminals,
temporarily, until elevators could be
constructed from the surplus funds Of
the association, to take care of the
shipments and dispose of the grain.
thus giving an absolutely open market
The earnings of the house would soon
pay large dividends, and the farmers
would get higher price for their
grain, ranging all the way from 8
cents to 10 cents per bushel
The expenses of the terminal eleva-
tors would be met by a pro rata as
sessment of the country elevators, who
would also share i'm the dividends of
the terminal elevators, which would
more than pay the assessments. The
elevator men got rich at the expense
OF the farmers, who had stood it until
they would put up with it no more.
Mr.. Hanley thought the idea of
stocks and bonds for the construction
of these elevators was far from the
intention of the majority of those in
tereSted in the movement. He shared
the views of Mr.. Hopkins that the
scheme should be purely a cooperative
one.
Mr.. Donnelly suggested that some
members of the association were try
ing to cross bridges before they got
to them. The terminal elevators were
contingencies of the future. as they
could not expect to secure enough
funds to build them until the scheme
had been In operation in the country
for some time. Mr.. Donnelly thought,
II the convention succeeded in putting
the plan in operation in time to mar
ket next years crop, they would be
doing all that was required of them.