The labor world., 1899-10-07
MORE "CORNERS"
The F food Qurstion Getting to
be a Serious One.

price of meat until it is beyond thu
reach of thousands of poor in the large
cities, is about to raise the price OF
bread. He is behind corner in wheat
carefully planned and carried out, by
the Weare commission house. H9 is
reported as controlling all the cash
wheat supply. 1t is stored in the bins
and in the elevators Of the Weares,
which are scattered all over thev coun-
try.
In a few days,say New York daily,
the men manipulating the corner,
which is only another name for trust,
will be able to fix their own price 70,
wheat. Then the miller will raise tn
price of flour, the baker the price OF
bread, and, as in the case of meat, thu
consumer will pay the pennies that go
Ito swell the profit of the trust mag.
mates.
Simultaneous with the talk of cor:
ner on the New York stock markets
comes information from Chicago that
seems to authenticate all that is being
said.
The new corner is backed by more
millions than young Joe Letter could
control, says a dispatch, even with his
father behind him. The promoters o1
the corner are the Weares, head Of the
Weare Commission company, and back
Of them are the Armours, who helped
break Letter. T.
The Weares, especially President
Charles A. and Vice-President Partus
B., of the commissions company, have
been quietly filling their elevators with
wheat bought by Armour. The latter
IS interested in the scheme. He op.
posed that of Letter, for he knew
the young man could not win, as he
had to pay enormous storage charges
to the elevators, whose interests were
against him.
The weares have elevators Of their
own. With elevator room at Chicago
for fifty million bushels of grain, it has
been necessary for the warehousemen
to bring grain from the West to earn
storage for them. The markets nat
ural supply has been insufficient, and
Of late there has been especial necessf-
ty for activity on the part OF the ware
houseman to keep his income going.
Armour has for months owned the
bulk Of the wheat stock-grain that he
brought from the Northwest. some OF
it for Joe Letters benefit. and which
went into Armour's hands when the
''young Napoleon" went broke.
It is not probable that the Mississippi
valley wheat combine, which is now
organizing, will do anything to break
the Armour corner, notwithstanding
the reported antipathy Of western far
mers to trusts. The latter, possessing
the true capitalistic instinct, only op'
pose such combines as affect their mar.
row interests, and, besides, Armour sls
playing into the hands Of the farmers
combine by artificially raising pricei
by cornering the wheat supply.
Thus the situation is really becoming
grave when the peoples food supply is
being monopolized. Bread is the stat1
of life, and meat is necessity that tn
people will not easily surrender. The
additional pennies that will be extort'
ed from the working classes on every
pound of bread and meat that they
purchase will be piled up by the Ar
mours, and represent further power to
be used in making labor an absolute
docile slave.
Most people are influenced by the
condition of their stomach. They seen
to think with their stomach, and quite
likely they will have plenty OF oppor'
tunity to think during the coming Win
ter months while the trusts are work
ing earnestly to produce large vacuums
under their waist bands.