The Goodland republic., 1907-01-11
e REReILESs GRAIR TRuSI
IS PRACTICES ASTOUNDING
WHEN PROBED.
cheats the Farmer at Every Turn and
short Weights Him Out Of
Millions.

EDITOR kansas EaEm6E- me
trust IS one Of the most diabOIical
crimes Of the present time It seeks
TO- and in fact does, pra. dcaIly mono
polize the entire grain production OF
the United States This is a broad
statement, but one has only to refer to
the records Of the recent invesdsa-
ticns that have been made by the in
terTtate commerce commission at chi
cagO, Minneapolis, De- M,,iI IS. 6r.s-
hs, and Kansas CIV {; cOnEiRee him
self OF the truthfulness Of this state
ment- I believe the practices OF the
trust should be given wide publicity
and the farmers and pco1Uce-s of
grain be made acq Iai1rsd with ihe
true situation
Referring to the commission and
the hearings at the different points, 1t
was found to be the practice at Chi
cagos BY some at least, OF shs most
prominent COMMISSIONER, to di5cOur-
age the building and operating 'sf far
mers elevators as well as JheshOpping
and marketing OF their own grain and
the shipment Of grain to market by
individual producers and raisers, as
the members Of the trust stated (using
their own words for it, the farmers
were unworthy OF credit and stand
ing IN the commercial world. It was
shown that some railroads built large
elevators for the use ami benefit %
members OF the trust, for which they
made no charge for rental, but on the
other hand agreed TO pay to those Of
Grating such elevators 1 4 cents Fer
hundred on all grain passing through
said houses, no natter to whom g. bs-
longed or by whom 1t may have been
shipped; il was further shown thar the
Chicago board OF trade openly and
boldly made rules by waica the p:fce
sf grain was fixed from day to day,
and IS now under a severe penalty for
the violation thereof. At the, hear
ing at Des MOines 1t was shown that
the Iowa Grain Dealers association
fixed the prices TO be paid in that state,
and In the course Of the proceedings
the secretary Of that association was
actually. dismissed from the witness
stand by the commissioners on &C
count Of the very apparent untruth-
fulness Of his statements, endeayor-
ing to mislead the commission
In q recent decision handed 1Cwn
by Judge SanbOrn, in g case that was
tried in the United States court at Du-
luth, it was shown that, according to
the evidence in that case during a
period Of ten years there has been
something like twenty-six million
bushels more grain loaded out Of the
Duluth elevators than was unIOaded
into them, or, in other words, the un-
loading weights for the same period
were short Of the IOading-out weights,
twenty-six million bushels. This fact
was commented on by Judge SanbOrn
in rendering his decision, and as far
as we know there has been no effort
made on the part Of the trust Insn-
ayers in control OF those elevators to
make a satisfactory explanation OF this
matter. According to this evidence,
there was twenty-six million busnels
OF grain taken into these elevators that
was never reported nor paid for.
At Minneapolis It was shown that
the movement and distribution Of
grain in the northwest was absolute
" controlled by the trust, and the re-
port Of the investigation by the inter
state commerce commission was sup
pressed and not One-tenth Of it pub
nshed by the newspapers Of that city
The attorney general Of Minnesota
states in his annual report, that the
Minneapolis and Duluth chambers Of
commerce exert q monOpOlisUic con-
troll over the grain trade OF that state
and urges the enactment OF some law
to stop It
It was shown at the hearing OF the
commission in Kansas City that one
railroad employed a large shipper Of
grain as its grain agent at a hand
some salary; Il was also shown that
the use Of its elevator at Kansas City
was furnished this shipper together
with all the running expenses, free Of
charge They we're not satisfied with
this, however, and IL was further
- q -
this hipper, together with the rental
Of his office, were also paid by the rail-
road company. II was further shown
that another railroad centerfng at
Kansas City and whose rails gridiron
the state Of Kansas employed as its
grain agent and superintendent Of its
elevators, a man who was a member
OF the Kansas City board Of trade and
who admitted, IN giving his testimony,
that he personally owned a half in
terest n q grain firm doing business
over this company's line and through
its elevators. It was shown that an
other member OF the Kansas City
board Of trade was a director In still
another railroad centering at Kansas
City and over which he was doing
business Not only were these grain
men assisted in the various ways
above mentioned by the different lines
but the fact was developed that they
carried annual passes on the respec-
tive lines covering this territory.
Il was shown by the testimony Civ
en- BY the president OF the Kansas
City board OF trade, that they were
undeniably bOycOtting the farmers in
dependent company, preventing this
company by that practice from selling
any OF its grain to the mills Of kan
sas City, which have a capacity oi
something like 1900 barrels Of fou1
per day, under q penalty Of expulsion
from the trust or board OF trade
which Is equivalent to a fine OF from
one to two thousand dollars and an in
calculable loss Of business
The trust representatives are trav.
cling throughout the country boldly
telling the farmers that the independ-
ent terminal company, organized bS
them for the purpose OF handling the5l
own grain direct to the consumers o.
this and foreign countries, cannot sci
their grain, that they must ship Il L
the members of the combine or boardi
oe trade and pay them a tribute to dis
pose OF II to the mflIers OF Kansa.
City and other cities. The time Ia.