The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-11-06
Flour Trade Possibilities.

L louI OSSlDlHIltSs
Speaking directly on the flour trade,
Mr.. Hill said that the entire surplus
of the United States would not be suf-
ficientto make doughnuts for those ORR
entails who were logically In our mar
ket. The millers were urged emphatic
ally for the best interests of continued
trade to keep UP their brands and
to be satisfied with a. narrow margin.
SO far as the carriers were concerned,
| he could guarantee that they would do
| their share, if not prevented. 1t was
now possible to lay down a barrel of
Minneapolis flour in Hongkong cheap
err than the Chinese could bring the
wheat from 800 miles inland to make
| their flour.
Some significant figures were quoted
by Mr.. Hill to show the growth already
noted III the oriental trade. Five
Years ago Puget sound was exporting
$12,000,000 annually, while the figure
for San Francisco was $40,0O0,O0O.
/ Systematic development increased the
bounds and in three years it had near
ly equalled the decreased exports of
lSan Francisco. This year Puget
sound exports had passed San Fran
cisco, never to be overtaken again.
The Carriers Problem.
Mr.. Hill did not claim direct credit
for all this development, but his
theories of the promotion of trade
lseemed to have been worked out in the
Puget sound proposition. The great
! problem of the carrier, he said, was to
find a market for the produce ~of it's
territory. A road thru an unpro-
| ductive territory was a hopeless
proposition financially. railroad in
the Garden of Eden, for instance, with
only Adam and Eve there, would be
a wretched property from a dividend
standpoint.
| incidentally he gave sidelight
upon some of his methods in finding a
market for the products of this coun-
! try to give them a west-bound business.
| The first cargo of cotton, for instance,
which was shipped to India to be
mixed with their short staple fibre
had to be guaranteed to him, he agree
| ing to pay for the entire lot in case it
was not found satisfactory. 1T proved
acceptable, however, and large ship
|ments of cotton are now being brought
up from the south thru the Minnesota
| Transfer, and then being sent on to
the coast over the northern lines.
Mr.. Hill evidently did not wholly
approve of the ship subsidy. He said
! that the present laws were extremely
/ unfavorable to American shipping, and
1 that the American shippers believed
/ that they could not succeed unless they
made direct connection with the
limited States treasury. His own idea
was that if the shipping had to de-
pend upon a subsidy it might better
| be tied UP. Business, not a bonus
was the solution of the whole problem
to his mind. If the ships could get
the goods to carry, they could be
operated successfully. For his own
part. he was determined to make the
experiment under conditions which
would demonstrate whether the thing
| were possible.
Speakers of Kindred Interests.
4 Among others who appeared upon
the toast list were L. M. Miller, presi-
dent of the Zenith Milling company
of Kansas City, Mo-, who was intro
i duced to speak for the milling trade
outside of Minneapolis, and who, ii
a very witty speech, conlplinnente6
the northwestern mil1ers and the
/ Northwestern Miller; J. S. Bell, who
in speaking to The American Milling
Trade, devoted himself largely tt
the prospects of securing a Canadian
lswheat supply on a better basis thar