The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1907-08-22
CENTRALIZED CREAMERY TRUST

The writer has just returned from
a hearing and before the Nebraska
Railroad Commission on a proposition
TO raise the rates on cream delivered
TO centralized creameries in Nebraska.
The claim being that the rates nov in
force are discrimitory in favor o. the
centralized creameries and against co
operative or local creameries in the
country. The claim was made by the
railroads that the rate now in force
was established when there was very
little cream being shipped and that it
has now grown to such a business
that it delays passenger trains, which
causes a complaint To be made against
them by the postal authorities at
Washington for delay in delivering
mail, and that the rate is Improbable
ness testified that taking into oonsid-
GRAFTON the repairs on the cars which
are set aside and used exclusively for
this cream traffic, that the revenue Of
said cars was a. average of Is 10
cents per mile when taking into con
sideration the hauling of ten thousand
pounds on each and every trip. that
the canS were returned free and hat
the express companies were held re-
SnnnEihln for thA lnGG nf nrAa IN anI
cans. Evidence was introduced to
show that before the centralized syS-
tenn was put in force there was coop
erative creamerieS doing a good bust
ness in Nebraska and that by reason
of the low rate obtained for long haulS
the centralized plants were enabled to
ship the product a long distance in
the form of ceam at a lower price
for express passenger train service
than would be charged local creamer
les on the finished product of butter
made from cream from the same dis
tanct. the butter being by freight.
The evidence disclosed the fact that
at Alliance. Nebraska a local cream
cry having customers in Omaha. Lin.
coin and Denver. il was possible for
the centralizers to ship cream to Den
yer under the long distance traffic and
there have it made into butter cheaper
than the product from the same cream
in the finished product butter could
be shipped from Alliance to Denver.
When the cream was shipped to east
eru markets and the butter was ship.
ped to eastern points the centralizers
had an advantage over the local cream
cries by shipping cream to Omaha and
Lincoln, Nebraska cheaper than the
finished product would be shipped by
local CreamerieS as freight. This is
but one of the features that has driven
out the local creamery in Nebraska
and instituted the centralized cream
cry plants, which in the writer's Judge
ment may be called The Creamery
Trust" The evidence disclosed the
fact that it VAS possible by reaso Of
this discriminatory express on cream
for the centralized plants to pay high
er prices for Cream at the point where
the local creamery was doing business
than the local creamery could stand
and at other places where there was
no local creamery the price paid was
much less than that paid by the local
creamery, practically running the bust.
ness of the local creamery and build
ing up the great monopoly OF central
izers.
The creamery industry was started
in South Dakota. Iowa, Missouri, Kan
sas, and Nebraska about the same
| time. Cooperative creameries were
built and fourished in South Dakota,
Missouri and Iowa, while the central
izers proceeded to m~onopolize the bus
mess in Kansas and Nebraska. After
the local creameries in Nebraska were
nearly all compelled to cease doing
business by reason OF this extremely
low rate on cream to the centralizers,
the centralized plants proceeded to
establish the price for butter fat so
that il was highly r~emuneratiye to
| themselves and ~ruinous to the dairy
| farmer. The result OF this is the cause