Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1906-09-24
ketchum Says Elevator Men,
Not Railroads, Are Resrons-
ible to Farmers
CAPACITY NOT EVEN UTILIZED
Railroad Commissioner Gives His
Views of the Car Famine Situation,
Expressly as 1t Refers to Northern
Iowa-Farmers Should Be Able to
Thresh at Will.
pecial to Times-Republican.

Special to lmeS-ReDuDllcdH.
Des jMoines, Sept. 24.-Notwith-
standing the statements of George A.
Wells, secretary of the Iowa Grain
Dealers Association to the effect that
bigger elevators in northern Iowa
would not relieve the situation, State
Railroad Commissioner n. S. ketchum
holds to his original statement that
elevator capacity is the most vital
point in the controversy for cars in
the northern part of the state.
Recently Mr. Ketchum made a tour
of the northern counties and went to
special pains to ascertain the facts as
to the grain business in northern Iowa,
which caused SO much trouble
and brought about the Introduction OF
the reciprocal demurrage bill AS
d result of this investigation Mr.. Ket
chum discovered that the elevators in
northern Iowa are small, many of them
being of only 10000 bushels capacity,
when they ought to be of $4,000 BUSH
els. or more.
George A. Wells, secretary of the
grain dealers association took eXcep-
ton to Mr.. Ketchums conclusion, and
in an interview said that the railroads
ought to be forced to put the invest
ment into rolling stock rather than
that the elevator men be forced to put
the investment there, for the reason
that the needs of the trade were in
reaching the market and that the
storage of grain should be at the mar
ket centers rather than in the coun-
try elevators.
When Mr.. Ketchum was asked to-
day concerning MIR. Wells idea that
the investment ought to be by the
railroads in rolling stock instead of
by the grain dealers in elevators, he
said that no matter how many cars
the railroads had it would not solve
the problem. THE grain business is
simply a business proposition" said
Mr.. Ketchum. Il used to be in the
grain business myself, and l know
something about It, This proposition
will undoubtedly be raised at the COM
ing session Of the legislature, as it was
at the last session. and little investf-
SdlloI Will ISdulIy SHOW clyoiiC eiioS
the railroads ought not to be expected
to haul the grain to the market centers
as fast as it Is threshed. In fact just
at threshing time is not always the
best market price. When 1 was in
the grain business l used to encour-
age the farmers to haul their grain
in and put it into my elevators. They
would haul it when the wagon roads
were good, and ship 1t when the price
was high. That is just what they
ought to do in northern Iowa, but the
fact Is that the elevators are not big
enough to hold the grain. Some farm
ers have granary capacity enough on
their farms to hold their grain when
they thresh More often they have
not granary room. They must haul it
to the elevator when they thresh. Then
thew must thresh at time when they
can get their grain to an elevator. But
sunpose some of those farmers live
near one of these 10000 bushel eleva-
tors. The elevator is full. The elevator
man doesn't tell the farmer that MS
elevator is full, and he can't take 1t be-
cause his elevator is only little thing.
What he tells him is that the railroads
won't furnish cars to anything but the
trust elevators, and that he can't snip
his grain.
"There is another little point right
there that | want to call your atten-
tion to now that you have brought the
subject up, and that is that an elevator
ia never full, at least not once in
hundred times. For instance, here is
an elevator with a capacity of 10000
bushels. There are, say, five bins in It,
with a capacity of 1000 bushels each.
II is the season when oats are coming
in. Oats come in in grades. grain
man dumps his No 2 oats in and gets
two of the bins filled with No. oats.
There may be some No. oats in
third bin. In a fourth bin are 500 BUSH
els of corn, and in the fifth 500 bushels
of wheat. 1t is the season when oats
are being sold, and there is just one
kind of oats that the elevator can re-
ceiye. and yet there is capacity of
1 500 bushels in the corn bin and 1,500
more in the wheat bin that isn't occu-
pied but If you offer him No. oats
he has no room for them.
"For the best interests of the farmer
the elevator capacity for northern Iowa
ought to be such that the farmer can
fnreSn
He ought to be able to haul his grain
10 market when the roads are good.
and put it into the elevators. Then he
can ship whenever he thinks he can
get the best market price. | want to
repeat that with small elevator capa-
CITY the farmer is going to get the
worst of it every time. With big ele-
vator capacity he is in a position to
make the most of it, and take advan-
tage of the market when the price Is
up Now there is the bottom OF the
whole thing. Is the farmer going to be
at the mercy of the railroads and the
weather to the extent that when he
threshes his grain he must haul direct
to the market and sell? Suppose the
railroads are forced to put the invest.i
mept into rolling. stock and have en-