Waterbury Democrat., 1901-09-12
CLEVER KANSAS FARM FRS.
How They outwitted Some rain-Buy-
 ing Syndicates.

E a The farmers III WoSIeFH 1lChlnSOh and the eastern part of Saline county, around Solomon. have solved the ques- ton of coping with the so-called grain trust The grain trust has been repre- sented at Solomon by three syndicates one operating in each of the three lines of railway entering Solomon. These syndicates, with a large number of owners of private elevators, form a state association, which has been able for the past two years to fix arbitrarily the price of wheat at nearly every ship ping point in the Kansas wheat belt. Because of their strong organization they have been. able to keep farmers from securing cars from the railroad in which to ship their own grain, and also to stifie competition on the part of buying outside of the association.
 For two years the syndicates which control hundreds of elevators in cen tral and western Kansas have kept the price of wheat at Solomon fourteen cents below the Kansas City market, whereas if the farmer shipped his own grain he would receive within. 10 cents of the Kansas City price, after paying freight and commissions.
 Early last spring, after legislation against the grain trust had failed of passage, there was a general uprising among the farmers throughout the state against the trust. At the begin ming of the movement the farmers around Solomon organized co-opera- tive association to fight the trust, and while many similar associations have since been formed in the state, none has been so successful as the one at Solomon. It has practically driven the trust out of business at Solomon, and has paid the farmers an average of six cents per busheI more for wheat than the syndicate would have paid, besides accumulating in the first two months it did business profits equal to half of the capital stock of the association, which will be divided among the farm CTS at the close of the year.
 The success of the association is due to three things: Placing men of experience in charge of the business, making friends instead of enemies of the railroad companies. and placing provision in the bylaws which keeps the trust from driving it out of busi- ness.
 IedtuIG q rpIONlSIOh compelling each member who sells wheat outside of the association to pay into the association treasury one scent a bushel of whatshe receives. Soon after. the Solomon association leased an elevator and began to do business one of the syndicates attempted to drive it to the wall by forcing up the price of wheat. From the time the farmers elevator opened it received 90 per cent of the wheat marketed in Solo, mon, while the three syndicate eleya- tors received less than 10 per cent.
 On July 6 the farmers elevator was paying B cents a bushel for wheat, cents higher than the syndicate. The day following one of the syndicates opened the fight on the farmers ele vator by offering 55 cents a bushel This was immediately reported to the manager of the farmers elevator, but instead of trying to meet the price, as fast as the wheat came in he weighed it, gave the owner the correct weight, and then sent him on to the syndicate elevator to sell it at 55 cents. When he got his money the farmer return led to the farmers elevator, and paid in l cent per bushel. thereby netting him 54 cents. For, several days the syndicate not only bought wheat at loss, but virtually paid expenses and profit besides to the institute it was trying to run out of business. In less than three weeks it gave up the fight, locked it's elevator, and withdrew it's agent from Solomon. !
 Another syndicate, realizing that a fight by raising the price was futile, started. a blockade on the farmers ele-. vator by Keeping it from securing cars. It was this that the farmers most feared. A car famine always follows big wheat crop, and it is sometimes impossible to secure cars for weeks at time unless special pressure can be brought to bear on the railroad com panies. There are to-day thousands of bushels of wheat piled on the ground along Kansas railroads because of the lack. of cars.
 1t was therefore no surprise to the manager of the farmers elevator when an order for cars was not filled by the railroad on which the elevator was To- cated. Instead of entering com plaint, however, and engaging in quarrel with the railroad company as most shipping associations have done under like circumstances, the Solomon manager ordered cars on another road. The other company, eager to secure business from a rival line, promptly filled the order, and the manager set teams to work to haul the grain to the cars.
 A few mornings later the farmers manager found string of loaded coal cars in front of his elevator, so that the approach to the chutes was shut off. Still no complaint was entered. but carpenter was summoned, and in two hours new chute to the other side of the elevator was built and the work of hauling away the grain went on. During the day a travelling freight agent came around and inspected the elevator. No allusion was made to the shortage of cars. nor to the coal cars, but he was allowed to see the great amount of grain that was going to rival road. He left soon after, and the first freight train that came along took away the coal cars and left an abundance of empty cars in their place. The farmers have had no trou- ble since Solomon Correspondence of. the Omaha Bee.
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