Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1906-11-22
Gets WORST OF IT
James J. Hill Declares Farmer is
Bied From All Sides in
Grain Trade.
EVEN VICTIM OF THE LAWS
Is Willing Witness Before Interstate
Commerce Commission at Min
neaPoiis.

Minneapolis, Mimi, Nov. 22.-PrOof
that the farmer gets the worst of it in
marketing his grain was offered by
James J. Hill. president of the Great
Northern railroad to the interest COM
merce commission.
Mr. Hill said the farmer is the vic
tim not only of grain spectators. of
the railroads, of the elevator men, but
of the laws.
To show the extent of the injury TO
the farmers the veteran railroad man
pointed to the terminal charges. He
said that at Buffalo the terminal eleva-
tors charged 11A cents a bushel for UNI
loading and shoVeling grain. He put
up an elevator and reduced the charge
to Il cent a bushel, saving the farm
ers who shipped over his road and
steamers S1000,000 year
Saved Elsewhere.
In a similar way his terminal elevG-
tors at Duluth saved the farmer II cent
bushel until the Wisconsin Legislature
passed a law prohibiting his railroad
from operating the elevator. The Wis
cOnsin law. he said, also legaliZes the
mixing of grain
President Hill was a willing witness.
He was the first witness to take the
stand yesterday, when Commissioners
Lane and PrOuty of the interstate COM
merce commission began their inquiry
in Minneapolis into the relations which
exist between the railroad companies
and the grain companies in the west
Does Enormous business.
Mr.. Hill told of the tremendous grain
traffic on his road, equaling each year
twice as much as the grain hauled into
Chicago in year by all roads running
into that city. He said that the Great
Northern in 1879 hauled 2,S7O.000 busn-
els, while in 1906 this had increased to
probably 115,OOO,0O0 bushels.
rs it the policy of your road, Mr..
Hill, to delay freight for any reason?'
was one of the opening questions.
mo. it certainly is not was the re-
ply. IF the connecting roads would
move freight faster we could do great
deal better. The fact that the traffic
is sometimes congested on our line is
simply the fault of the immense
amount of accumulated business. 9th
er lines are more open to criticism than
the Great Northern. In Chicago a few
days ago | took special pains to make
inquiries about traffic, and could not
get a single line which would agree to
move 100000 tons of freight to New
York before December. The Great
Northern can right along handle all
business received from the east prompt
/ y. The congestion comes from traffic
from the west
His Policy Toward Elevators.
On the specific subject of grain eleva-
tors. Mr.. Hill testified:
Yes. it is our rule to permit any one
to erect elevators at stations of our
road on the right of way. We now
make our contracts, however, not trans
ferable, as we have found instances
where such applications were not made
in good faith and afterwards sold at a
good figure.
I'VE have found trouble in keeping
elevators from combining, and some
times in tracing down applications for
elevator sites have found different APP
plicants to really represent one inter
est.
when we have found Objectionable
elevator combines We have sometimes
built elevators of our own and placed
some man in charge. In such instances
the combines have tried to freeze our
man out. We have such an instance at
Litchfield, but were able to help our
man out. But that, gentlemen" Mr..
Hill said with smile was before the
passage of the interstate commerce
Iouy