The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-11-20


the express companies or railroads TO
his services as witness according t.
his own testimony. Here is the Hon
Mr.. Whites testimony before the in
terstate commerce commission at Chi
cago:
Received Pay from Express Companies
Mr.. White on cross-examination b.
Attorney Isaac H. Mayer before in
terstate commerce commission, Chi
cago, Ill, June 10. 1908:
Mr.. Mayer: What were you pait
by the railroads in connection will
the Nebraska matter? (Referring t.
Whites testimony on cream rates be-
fore Nebraska board of railroad com.
missioners.)
Mr.. White: 81 was paid expenses
Mr.. Mayer: Just tell about how
much in dollars. please. Everything
that you got directly or indirectly
| What remuneration ?"
Mr.. White: 81 made out an item
| lied expense account. L think the to-
tai expense was in the neighborhood
of $1,000
| Mr.. Mayer: "How many days were
you gone from Washington on that
| trip?"
Mr. White: 'six or eight days pos
| sibly.''
Mr. Mayer: "How did you present
| that bill?"
MIR. White: 81 believe I presented
or sent it to Mr.. Dewitt. if I am not
mistaken" John Dewitt is general
baggage and express agent c. B. &
@. railroad in charge of this cream
and milk business)
Mr.. Mayer: Mr.. DEWITT"
Mr.. White: Eyes, sir
Mr.. Mayer: "Who paid your trans
portation?' %
Mr.. White: 81 do not remember"
Abstract of further evidence of B.
D. White before interstate commerce
commission:
THE centralizer is a necessary part
of the commercial life of this country
in some sections. This is true of some
sections of Nebraska, Kansas, Okla
homa Missouri, the southern Fart of
the state of Illinois, western portions
of South Dakota. a small section of
Iowa, the extreme northern part of
Minnesota and Wisconsin. and I do
not know much about Michigan. One
of the determinative factors although
not the principal determinativc fac
tor, in arriving at this conclusion is
whether local creameries are there
and are established. (Record pages
S29-S31.)
"a farmer who makes cream with
a hand separator has product for
which he has many markets. He has
the distant market, he has the cream
cries at long distance, he has the small
centralizerS within five to a hundred
miles and has the local creamery, If
separator there is in fact a large mar
ket in which he can place his product.
The centralizer gets only hand separa-
tor cream. (Record page S43.)
I'm 1906 the local creameries in
Minnesota paid twenty four and a
fraction cents on an average to the
farmer for butter fat" (Record page
1859
Mr. White and his allegations do
not loom up so big now. do they?
Mr. White is quoted further in the
boards published articles as denounc-
and of being a centralizer creamery
and of paying Kansas farmers too lit
tie for their butter fat.
Under Ss-examination before the
interstate commerce commission this
same Mr. White testified as follows
as to centralized creameries like the
Continental of Topeka:
81 do not recall the name of a sin
gle person who ever owned local
creamery anywhere in the United
up because of competition with CEN
tralizers.''
Now the railway board base their
contentious for higher express rates
on cream upon the fact that the Con-
tinental Creamery of Topeka is a CEN
trailer. is part of a trust and hurts
the little creameries making butter
from whole milk and not using sep
arators. And also that it does not pay
the farmer enough for his cream. The
Continental out of business that the
farmers, then placed at the mercy of
local corporations, and not enjoying
any competitive demand for their
cream, will be better off.
The charges against the Continental
Creamery company's practices and
methods should be answered first.
A1,arxf tho (scnfroIi1orS
The change from the whole milk
system to the hand separator system
used by the Continental is described
in Farmers bulletin No. 201 of the
United States department of agricul
ture, entitled "Cream Separator on ,
Western Farms
This subject is treated in this bull
letin wholly from the standpoint of
Western practice. The sections in
which observations were made along
this line lies almost altogether within
the boundaries of Kansas and Nebras- |
ka. Not formerly in the list of dairy
states these two have had history |
in dairying both unique and interest |
ing. The first lessons in the industry |
were paid for by the farmers at the |
rate of about 500 each in co-opera- !
tive stock creamery companies, which |
had been organized by persuasive and |
persistent promoters. These lessons
were well impressed and are remem- !
bered even to the present day. al
though the creamery, with its $4,000
or $1,000 investment has long been |
used for purposes quite foreign to its
intent. No doubt farther |
east, where there were more dairy |
men, investments of this sort made by
the farmers turned out better, and |
such ventures were often successful. /
West of the Missouri river the farmer
was not often a dairyman. yet when
a creamery was to be established in
his neighborhood he not infrequently
was a subscriber to its stock, although
he had no faith or interest enough in
1t to become a patron and contribute