Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1906-05-21
OMAHA MAKES GOOD STRIKE
Local Grain Exchange Men Favorably
Impress All at Iowa Meeting.
LARGEST AND MOST ACTIVE DELEGATION
Secretary Mcvann Replies TO Chi
Cages Speeches, showing Advan-
tnEes 20 Iowa to PatrOniEe
Omaha Market.

Omaha Market.
Omaha's Grain exchange created an i'm
preston among the grain dealers across
the Missouri river, when II sent nineteen
representatives to the annual convention
of the Iowa Grain Dealers association last
week Though there we're in attendance
delegations from Chicago, Minneapolis
Peoria, Kansas City and st. Louis. Omaha
sent the largest delegation of them all.
The men who went returned with the be-
lief that their visit eventually would
suit in much good for the local exchange.
The interesting feature of the meeting, to
the Omaha men, was the rivalry between
J. j. Stream of the Chicago Board of
Trade and E. ]. McVann, secretary Of the
Omaha Grain exchange, in presenting the
claims Of their respective markets Mr..
| Smart delivered an address at the banquet
] and Mr.. MoVann replied to him in a speech
the next day. and when IL was over his
friends declared he had the better of It.
! A part Of Mr.. Mcvann's speech follows:
! l was particularly interested in the paper
banquet last evening. Mr.. Stream had
something to say about Chicago being the
natural gateway for your farm products
| artificial diversion of business by reason
OF unfair rates made by certain railroads.
want to say to the members of the Iowa
Grain Dealers association that j believe
| Mr. Streams use of these words, natural
| and artificial, arises from wrong concep-
! that all the great railroads which cross
the state of Iowa have their termini in
Chicago, very large proportion of your
/ farm products has been marketed In Chi
/ cagO. This has been the case for so many
years that Chicago people have come to
! believe that they have some right to the
| handling of your products regardless of
| circumstances. In claiming this right they
| overlooked the fundamental fact in regard
| to transportation that was so well stated
| by James J. Hill, when he said, some years
| ago, that you could give kick TO bar
roll to New Orleans without any further
| effort InIg is a profoundly philosophical
statement and fully illustrates the propo-
| sluon thai commerce always seeks the line
! Of least resistance. When the Omaha grain
market was established two years ago and
as a result the 6OOO.OOO bushels of storage
| capacity which now have, was created,
the railroads leading from Omaha to the
! Gulf of Mexico. which have no particular
interest in the Chicago market, availed
themselves of the opportunity thus afforded
by making what they considered TO be fair
rates for the transportation of Nebraska
and Iowa grain to Galveston ana New
! Orleans.
Proof of same Old Thing.
The Chicago people regarded these rates
as artificial; they regarded the condition
arising from the making of them as arti-
/ fetal, but it was only another evidence
of the strength of the proposition that
| commerce always seeks the line of least
| resistance. The distance from Omaha to
! New Orleans is no greater than from Chi
/ cago to New Orleans, and the distance
! from Omaha to Galveston is less than
! from Chicago to Galveston. The rate from
I Omaha to New Orleans and Galveston,
| Plus tue vessel CARRYING ChdrBes rom sew
| Orleans and Galveston to the ports OF the
! old world compared favorably with the
| rates to Chicago plus the carrying charges
! from Chicago to those same ports, and the
result the grain moved direct from
! Omaha through New Orleans to Galveston
The Chicago people have had a great
deal to say about the magnificent facilities
| that their market affords for taking care
| of your grain: they have mentioned their
great storage capacity; they have exploited
the perfection OF their weighing system and
| they have praised their whole system of
| doing business as they see 1t. We have no
| quarrel with these claims, but / want to
say to you, gentlemen, that the Chicago
people have neglected to mention one thing
which is the greatest barriers to their
growth as a grain market and as COM
petitor of the Omaha grain market for
| the business of the state of Iowa, and
| that is the narrow policy OF the traffic
| executives of the great trunk line roads
leading eastward from Chicago, which rail-
roads have refused to consent to reduce
| or shrink their revenue to any considerable
| extent to meet the condition created by the
| action of the Omaha gulf railroads in re-
ducing their former paper rates on grain to
fair and just basis The time was when
| Chicago enjoyed the advantage OF its great
/ stretch of water transportation on grain
] shipments. DQI now these same trunk line
railr Dads have purchased practically all of
the grain carrying line boats on the Great
Lakes, and have greatly narrowed the
margin between the cost of all-rail trans
portation and rail and lake transportation
These two facts viz The Willingness OF
the lines leading from Omaha direct TO the
gulf to accept a fair rate for the
transportation of your grain and the I'm
willingness OF the lines leading eastward
from Chicago to reduce their charges ac-
cordingly-these two factors, | saw. have
had great influence in diverting business
for the ''natura " Chicago gateway. through
the artificial gateway of Omaha.
No Toll Into Omaha.
While speaking upon this question OF
strongly to the Iowa gentlemen one fact
with relation 10 the various markets that
may possibly have escaped your attention
and that Is this: In shipping your grain
to Minneapolis, Chicago or ST. Louis vol
must pay the tolls eXacted by the great
railways that transport the grain: they AZ
these to suit themselves. In shipping voIn
grain to the Omaha market, alone Of ali the
markets Represented here, you have the
satisfaction of knowing that you are ship.
ping upon rates that are made by the
people of Iowa themselves; in fact, rates
that are made by yourselves. Sometime
ago, when Iowa grain bega', to move
towards Omaha, the railroads naturally
being 10th TO lose such a splendid business
endeavored to hamper the movement by
exacting a charge OF s. per car for cross
ing the Missouri river bridge at Omaha
After a great deal OF argument and much
discussion OF the question we succeeded IT
convincing them that II would be Improper
and impolite for them to insist upon mi
charge, and we have succeeded in obtaininI
a reduction of the charge from Sc 10 s
per car.
violate no confidence when ] say to yo,
that we hope TO be able to announce befor,
long to Iowa shippers who desire to us
the Omaha market that they can shin thei
j grain from their station to Omaha at M,
\ straight Iowa distance tariff rate for IN
exact distance cannot promise that thi
- ! Will be, but | have very good reasons 10
= believing that we will succeed in brinRini
( II about In the meantime, your presen
4 Iowa distance tariffs, made by the peopi
Of Iowa, are very low and the charge q
" for crossing the bridge is not an ex
Y orbitant one
Boy Knocked Down by Auto.
Curtis Binkley, aged p employed by m
Nebraska Clothing company, was knocke