The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1911-11-14
ARBUCKLE Is
IN CONTROL
DULUTH DEALER CLAIMS THAT
CORNER lN COFFEE MARKET
is NOW coMPLETE-PRIcE TO
DEALERS HAS DouBLEp IN
LAST FOURTEEN MONTHS.

That the situation in the coffee
market is liable to become critical at
no very distant date is evident by
the following from The Duluth Eve
ming Herald Of yesterday:
1.-THE coffee situation is more acute
now than ever" said RI. L. Caldwell Of
the Caldwell Coffee Co. today. spot
coffees, green, are worth 16 cents q
pound at New York and New Orleans
A month ago the same coffees were
worth 1914 cents. The same grade.
roasted, is sold at wholesale here for
~ cents a pound ana retafls at the
groceries for % cents. Even at the
present high price, the retailer is
making no money out Of 1t at ell. 1t
takes gain OF about 10 per cent on
his investment for the coffees to pay
his expenses in handling 1t. II he
does not get more than Is per cent OF
the wholesale price in addition to that
price, he is not making any profit.
Nor is there anything in 1t for the
roaster under present conditions.
II have been in the coffee business
for thirty years and / never saw the
situation so bad as it is right now.
John Arbuckle practically controls the
spot coffee situation He owns most
OF the coffee that Is on the ocean,
coming to this country. He has made
the spot markets at New York and
New Orleans practically bare Of cof-
fee and stock. For that reason the
Brazilians are not easing up In the
least in what they demand for their
coffee. So II is. Of no use for the
roasters to buy coffee in Brazil and
import 1t. 1t is actually cheaper to
buy green coffee here from their COM
petitor, John Arbuclxle, the man who
is trying to freeze them out, and who
undoubtedly will in time freeze out a
vast number OF the smailer roasters.
Price Has Doubled.
Our company has two cgGs Of green
coffee, which have cost us $4,000.
Fourteen months ago ne could have
bought the same coffess for $4,000
Now / wonder where ahei'e is going
to be stop to this continual increase
In the price of coffee? 1t must come
to stop some time in the very nature
Of things. Those who are holding the
coffee viii. after a while, find such an
enormous quantity of it on their
hands that the market WIN have to
break. 1t will be an ole tale repeated.
When the break comes, thtt holders of
the coffee win be stung. Btcasters are
not buying any more cuffesb than they
have to. Already the denaiid has fall
on Off is per cent from what 1t was
year ago. The people are hot using It
so freely as they wer0
IT was four years ago that the Bra
lillian government started out to get
better coffee prices for it's planters. 1t
is because coffee is a foreign product
that the government of the United
States cannot take any effective action
to break the corner, esTen though It's
own citizens may be Among the bene-
ficiaries OF the corner. Coffee was
very cheap at that tinB The Brazil
ian government issued bends in the
sum Of $s5,000,000 and with the pro-
ceeds bought up s,000,0slO IIags of cof-
fee. What is usually understood as a
bag of coffee contains 1891 pounds at
the time of export. Tie bonds were
taken by banks in New York. Lon
don and Berlin. The coffee was put
up as collateral to insure the payment
OF the bonds. It was ggrGed that the
collateral should be sold from time to
time to redeem the bendlL
"This valorixation cOffde, as it is
called, must all be sold Iiy the year
1915, and none must lie Bold at less
than 10h cents pound. so. you see,
the corner must be maintained to
make the deal good. OF The original
100000 bags Of valorization coffee,
only 100000 bags remain. But there
are about 100000 bags of green cofEee
that have accumulated in the mean
time, and OF course the market must
dispose OF this It is this gradual ac-
cumulation to which look to see the
corner eventually broken. The Bra
lillian coffee trees keep on bearing. I
believe the corner would be broken by
the establishment Of new coffee farms,
had not the Brazilian government,
when It put the scheme int. execution,
placed prohibitive tax on the plant
Ing Of more coffee tress. The scheme
has certainly been success thus far.
The Brazilian planter. who used to get
tx TO 8 cents for his coffee, Is now
getting nearly twice that much"
M