The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1911-06-15

WAh 80 10 fdfBo WITHIN the next ten
days to attend meeting Of the board
which has been called for a special
purpose. At this meeting. representa-
tives Of the Dakota Trust Co. Of Fargo
must appear before the board and
show cause why forty bonds on eleva-
tor companies which the trust company
has written should not be cancelled.
Mr. StutsInan has no personal feel
tngs against the trust company nor has
any other member of the board. The
case has arisen over the Kiltner case
Of Turtle Lake. In speaking of 1t, to
The Tribune's Mandan correspondent,
Mr. Stutsman said in part:
Last fall the flat house which was
managed by Mr.. Kiltner at Turtle Lake
went bump and left a large lot of
farmers Of that vicinity with a number
of storage tickets and nothing to show
for them. The reason that some of
these cooperative elevators 60 bump
is that the grain which is brought there
Is not always properly graded. For
instance here is a farmer who is a
heavy stakeholder in the elevator COM
pany and has several hundred bushels
Of grain which he takes to the elevator.
The manager of the elevator Is man
whom the farmer has helped to en-
ploy, and hence in a sense is the farm
er's hired hand. The farmer goes to
this manager and tells him to grade his
wheat as No. hard and the employee
whom the farmer has helped to give
the job to usually does as he is told.
However, when his wheat it shipped to
market at the twin cities the exper-
fenced buyers there grade about three
quarters Of 1T as No. 8, a little of it
as No. 2 and maybe some OF II as No.
!, so the elevator company out In North
Dakota loses money. After five or six
months when the manager goes to
check up he win find that the company
is in debt about $4,000. and there will
be trouble ahead for the stockholders.
This may not have been the case IN
Kiltner's elevator, and again it may
have been. 1t is the case in large
number Of the farmers elevators
throughout the state. However, the
Kiltner elevator went bump and the Da-
kota Trust CO. was on its bond in the
sum Of $4,000, as provided by law.
The commission learned that the
trust company, instead of settling up
for the full amount of $4,000. sent an
agent out to Turtle Lake and secured
releases on all claims against the
trust company at a rate of abouts so
cents on the dollar.
when the warehouse and railway
commission heard of this last Febru-
airy, the trust company was notified
that the farmers who held storage
tickets should be protected on pro
rata basis on the full amount Of
the bond. The company was there
fore given thirty days notice to make
full settlement on its bond. The
time limit on this expired week ago
and the company had taken no notice
of the order. They claim that they
hold releases on ali claims and are
under no further obligations.
Accordingly an order has been is
sued for a special meeting Of the
board which will be held at Fargo and
at which time officers of the trust COM
pany must appear before the board and
show cause why all the rest of the
elevator bonds, about forty in number
should not be cancelled. In addition
to this protest will probably be filed
with the commissioner of insurance
that the trust company made unsatis-
factory settlement and 1t may be
barred from writing further insurance
of any kind within the borders Of the
state.
The premium on the warehouse
bonds is not very high, and this is
one excuse which is given, but that
is no affair Of the boards. The board
is established to see that the people
get their rights and the board will
see that the Turtle Lake case is set
tied as it should have been. For in
stance, there was one storage ticket
holder at Turtle Lake who is a poor
widow, who harvested only seventy i've
bushels off her farm last year on ac-
count of the poor season. She took the
grain to the elevator and received her
storage ticket and when the trust COM
pany settled with her she was paid
for only thirty-seven and one-half
bushels when she was entitled to pay
for the full seventy five.
When the present board first went
into the Office two years ago and raised
the bonds of elevators to $4,000, there
was a howl among elevator people.
That year there were no failures
among the elevator men. Then last
year there We're five or six elevators
which went broke and the drain upon
the bonding companies has been very
heavy The $1,000 bond has not been
near high enough to protect all of the
holders of the storage tickets in some
Of the cases. and there is strong
sentiment for increasing the amount of
the bond to $4,000 If the bonding
companies feel that they must increase
their premiums that is their lookout.
There is great deal OF interest being
taken in regard to the board meet
ing which will be called soon to set
tie the Turtle Lake matter.
Trust Company Explains.
Max Stern of the Dakota Trust
CO., said today
Our attention has been called to the
above interview of Hon. w. III. Stuts-
man, chairman of the state railroad
commission published in the Mandan
Of The Bismarck Daily
Tribune and while It not the policy Of
this institution ito publicly notice
such matters, yet owing to the many
contained in the inter-
view and the unusual illegal methods
the board il taking to enforce It's orr
ders and their chadrman's seeming.
desire 10 bring the matter before the
public and to decide the case in the
tribunals and not in regu-
lar court Of justice as the statutes
and laws Of the state have made and
we are therefore induced
to make q short reply to the interview
that the public may better know and