The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-02-18
.CHlCAGO...A DYING GIANT

re- -. sd
1t is not often that city that Is
losing its grip upon particular trade
or industry, advertises the fact to the
world. yet that is what Chicago did
when her board Of trade members voted
on the commission rule changes. 1T is !
proposed to increase the rates Of com
mission for trading in wheat futures by.
100 per cent. 1s5.s 's,
" Chicago has q good many firms ii
the grain trade, and they are not doing
business. enough. The recent failure OF ]
the McReynolds people, partly case
Of dry rot, Of expenses eating up prof
it's, is an illustration. There must be
more money brought in. Twice the
money would put the Chicago firms in
easy position, and SO, 1t Is as simple
as common addition that Sthe thing to
dos.is to double up rates and make ev-
eryone happy. ss. SIS s.
Whether it will work out as the OPP
timists think is another consideration
It may do Chicago more harm than
good. 4. s s !, 8 >
The interesting thing about it, how
ever, from the broader economic view
point, is not the matter Of rates or com
missions, or minorsdetails, but the open
acknowledgement on The part Of the.
Chicago board Of the decline that has
been on for several years, that 1t has
publicly belittled, even If recognized
in all seriousness in privacy. Chicago
once. dominated the grain trade aid sat
like a. giant debating to all other par
kets Today she is fighting to main
| tain her present position, which in all
grains combined is, barely predominant,
and now quite secondary, in 50 far as
| wheat trade is concerned,
Numerous things enter into Chicago s
decline, but; theyr may be condensed
into three main causes, two Of which
are distinctly economic and beyond her
control, and the third her own crime
brought home to her. There Is, first,
the rise Of other markets. Minneapo-
lis has the consuming capacity, and SO
gets the wheat Chicagovstill does. an
Important export business, especially in
winter wheat, and, has shipping advant-
ages, but the actual business Of maxi
ing the wheat into! flour has long been
i working against her, and every new
! mill or elevator In Minneapolis, or else
where outside, is another nail ii Chica-
i COS coffin. s<-:s7..
Then there Is che; great shifting in
the movement of raw material from the
interior to the seabord. This changing
| Of transportat ions routes is one Of the
most interesting igfof the commercial
phenomena Of the day. Formerly New
York land the northern Atlantic sea-
board ports did the bulk Of the export
:; business, and Chicago was the gateway.
Then came. the rise q Newport News
and the-> aggressiveness, Of Baltimore
and otheT ports, and loss ofSbnsiness
i thru the other outlets. Following this
came the shifting southwark. Today
Il New Orleans and the gulf ports are like
great magnets drawing from the inter.
I sior, and Chicago is losing ground. A
II dozen conferences of merchants and
4: railroad men have been held to conside,
II the matter, with view of regainine
j, Chicago 3 prestige, butt appears te
be artificial effort against nature. There
: are reasons why, in the course Of the
i natural evolution Of economical method
;, a greater proportion Of the produce Of
the west should find an outlet thru The
/ gulf ports to the southwark than pre-
: viously had gone that way, but how Sc
rious this competition IS for Chicago
was never so fully illustrated as JUS
within the past few days, when thu
gulf roads, in connection with lines en-
tering Minneapolis and connecting witt
feeding lines via East st. Louis AM
J, other points outside Chicago, came. ii
! here with an 18-cent rate on oats from
, Minneapolis to New Orleans for export
!. and took out considerable business. rs
!, The third reasons for the DECLINE o
Chicago is the gross manipulation tina
) has long been permitted y Too homes
: to trade in 'sputs and calls Chicag
has nevertheless been the center o
manipulation that tended to unsett1
, Legitimate business. HOld Hutch.p an,
! Partridge and Letter and Gates hav
:. used the market roughly at times, an
!. both the bull side and. the bear sid
have been worked for the profit of Chi
, cago traders and the losses Of the out
+ side. This manipulation gave Chicag
great publicity and such prominence /
the mind Of the world, that to this da
a majority Of all who think Of whea
imagine Chicago as the center Of til
a business-but things are changing, an
$ since Chicago has herself began pull
: licly to recognize her decline, the Worl
:, : will not be slow to recognize 1t fro1
!, now on.