The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1900-11-02

Iner0 ID no subject ABOUT which
more mis-statements have been made
by the administration speakers, in
GLIDING Gov. Lind and his railroad
commission, than the grain inspection
while the methods Of inspection have
been discussed to quite an extent, the
Weighing department has been over
looked. This department is just as
important as the inspection, for what
profitsth It q shipper to gain a grade
on a car of grain and lose fifty bush
els in weight?
Unfortunately, the work Of the
weighing department is so utterly de-
void of merit that if the whole truth
should be told it would hardly be be-
Neved.
Prior to Gov. Lind's administration
the weighers represented every shade
OF political opinion. Out of fifty
weighers in the Minneapolis district,
twenty-one could be named who were
not Republicans and did not vote the
Republican ticket: yet not an In
stance can be found in the whole his
tory Of the department where one was
removed on that account.
The first rush Of new grain in the
fall Of 1899 found lot Of new and in
experienced weighers. They had all
carried their precincts at Democrat
ic caucus or been delegates~to Dem
ooratic convention. This was the prin-
cipal qualification. The reports OF
some Of these new weighers were gor.'
gsous with red-ink corrections. Mis-
takes aggregating 10000 pounds were
frequently made in weighing a car
load; car numbers were crossed. twist
ed and transposed; complaints Of
shortage were made by shippers, and
general CONSERVATION prevailed. Two
men were taken from the Weighing
force and transferred to the inspection
force because they were unable to d.
vide by go in reducing the pounds in a
car load to a bushel. AS a result
shippers became vehement in their
denunciation of the weighing service;
dealers were distrustful or dissatisfied,
and the lack of confidence was so far
reaching that many shippers Of other
states who had been shipping to this
market began shipping elsewhere.
But, in the face of all this, Weigh
master O'Brien, whose knowledge OF
the department is confined to political
service rendered and money contrib
uted by each employee, was instructed
to keep chopping off heads until his
assistants were obliged to protest, be-
cause there were no longer old weigh
ers enough to instruct or watch the
new ones!
Gov. Lind and the commission un-
derstood this condition of things, but
those who had rendered political SER
vices had to be rewarded, regardless Of
qualifications.
Not every one can make a successful
weigher. The business is peculiar. "A
good weigher is born, not made. He
must be- first, a man of keen percep--
ton, quick and accurate in figures, a
fair mathematician and a good pen
man. He must make reports of his
work which constitute the basis Of
settlement for the commodity weighed,
and he must have a fair knowledge Of
the mechanism of scales and elevat-
ors, in order to know whether or not
they are working properly; and, last
ly, he must be on the alert to see that
everything done at the elevator or mill
Is just and businesslike, for the inter-
ests Of the shipper are wholly in his
hands. Men past the age Of forty
five or fifty, particularly those not ac-
customed to writing or figuring, sell
dom become accurate as weighers, al
though one who becomes a good
weigher at thirty or thirty-f1ve can
continue a good weigher until, per-
haps, sixty.
But men continued to be appointed
as weighers who were anywhere from
ffty-five to sixty-five, and had none
of the necessary qualifications. Meth
er did old age constitute the only
source of disqualification. Some were
disqualified for physical reasons and
some by dissipation. But in the face
of all the Disqualification and in
Competency of the new men, not one
was removed on that account except
the two men who we're unable to d.
vide by go. Weighmaster O'Brien's
disqualification for the position he
holds is so we'll understood by the rail-
road commission that an outside man
is employed to do the most RESPONSE
BILE part of his work, heretofore done
deputy supervise all the work, and
Mr.. o'Brien simply deyotes his time to
editing his newspaper. The work of
the office would go on just the same,
perhaps better, If he kept away all the
time. O'Brien, however, attends well
and faithfully to the duties which he
was appointed for-the political du.
ties.
\ AS an instance Of the peculiar meth
DDS in vogue, man who had been
weighing for more than a year loaded
a scale so heavily that there was not
enough scale weights to balance it.
He went to another mill and carried
weights enough from another scale to
pull the beam down. There have been
Rf6e worst criticism that can be
made, however, is that the department
Is a political machine. Weighers are
cree to leave their work at any time to
attend convention, or primary, or to
spend what time is, in their opinion,
necessary for the welfare Of the party
In their respeoti~e precincts. Night
weighers have often been allowed to
attend caucuses, and not only the sub
stitutes, but the men who were re-
lieved, drew pay. It would be aston
ishing to know how many instances
there have been where two fees have
been paid In this manner for one
mans work
Among the delegates who attended
the Democratic convention in Hen
nepin county in June. to elect dele
gates to the state convention next day
were fifteen state weighers. and most
of them were elected. as delegates tG
the state convention. This does not