Bisbee daily review., 1909-05-27
CHARGES THAT
 GROWERS ARE
 FRAUD VICTIMS

CHICAGO, May 26.-Fiagrant crook edness of produce commission inter ests of South Water street. the sec ond largest produce market in the country, with which they are ac- cused in a recent magazine article has been taken up by the National League of Commission merchants for inyesti- gation and a great houseeleaning is at hand.
 Just now the commission men are busily establishing claim to ex ception from the general arraignment which was modified by the statement: There are, of course. honest commis- sion men in the produce business. many of them. but their standards are not the standard of the market street. and their practices are not representa- tie of the practices which have pre- vailed for many years to the extent of dominating the business"
 Mir. Crissey cites cases to illustrate his caustic charges that shippers and
 growers of produce all over the coul- try are victimized. The poor man hundreds of miles away and the widow are shamefully robbed by the crook Ch iiphStcs At pay D. hAt ddos- SNb
 important element in the game is the fact that in most states the laws per init he agen of a transportation com
 pany to make a forced sale of any re jected shipment and that without re-
 course or remedy so far as the ship per is concerned.
 The history of certain carload of
 potatoes originating ir a small town
 in the Wisconsin potato belt illustrates one phase of this device. This car was
 directed. on order at Chicago, 10 a provincial city in a southern state.
 The value of the potatoes was s211,
 and the freight $15S. They buyer
 made a peremptory rejection of the potatoes, and the agent of the trans portation company last handling them
 sold them 10 a local buyer for Sl50.
 In the course of the litigation which followed, the fact was established that the man who bought the potatoes from the transportation companys agent sold them for $3i0. No diagram is needed to show how pleasant and profitable a business in the exchange of favors these two men-or any two men. similarly situated-sould drive with the weapons of rejection and forced sale in the hands of transpor- tation agent. And in this case the shipper was out not only his whole car of potatoes, but also the differ euce between the full freight bill and the amount realized by the forced sale. The ingenuity displayed by the crooks of the produce business in de- ising new tricks which will take the big end of the shippers proceeds is little less than diabolical in its clever ness. Here is one of the most up-to- date schemes. which has been success fully worked in Chicago:
 "A concern sends out letters to dairy farmers and small creameries. offering a fancy price for butter-one or two cents above the market. After the butter arrives, either no account ing is made for it or it is rejected. A dispute is established, with the re suit that a check for an amount much
 smaller than the price agreed upon is | finally sent to the shipper. If he is normally unsuspecting, he accepts the check as a payment on account, be | iieving that the balance in dispute is
 a matter for later adjustment. He cashes the check at his local bank. In so doing he is. of course. obliged to put his endorsement upon the back of the check. Ultimately, when he re news the fight for the balance due
 him, he discovers that the printing upon the check is so worded that his
 endorsement constitutes receipt in full for his claim