Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1914-05-08

to about two and one-half million dol
lars, That's far too small, for by the
multiplication of profits through the
device OF double commissions they
"catch 'em coming and going" and
somebody, either you, MIR. Farmer, or
YOU, Mr.. Consumer, pays five million
dollars a year or more for the expen-
sive and doubtful privilege of sending
bread stuffs through this public mar
ket place"
want to show a brief example of
how this multiplication of d%istribut-
ing agencies and multiplication OF
profits results in a reduction OF real
service to the producer.
A Tight Little Combine.
While there are SIS members OF
the Minneapolis chamber Of commerce
this does not by any means prove
that there are 51S different men en-
gagged in competing for the farmers
grain. rar be it from these astute bus
mess men to waste efficiency in this
reckless manner. Many memberships
are owned by large firms! Washburn.
Crosby company alone W twenty
four. In the main, these separate, sub.
sidiary companies, owned by a veal
thy and powerful parent organization.
operate ostensibly al commission
houses and receive grain from the
country on consignment. Before the
recent investigation made by the legis
lature Of Minnesota they had a very
natural and friendly habit Of selling
the farmers consigned grain to them
selves-or, what amounted to the
same thing, to their parent companies
And that was a very handy thing
for the big millers.
The Minis of Minneapolis handle
about 102, 000, 600 bushels of wheat
yearly. The commissions IN this at 1
per cent per bushel amount to the
tidy sum of 100000 1t is good bus
mess to keep this money in the family
Especially wnen the selling commits
sion, which doubles the amount, cal
be avoided by the subsidiary company
Commission house" scheme.
Did They Do It?
The revelations of the Legislative
Investigation showed co%nclusively
that this was a common practice. 1t
was 3H' stated in evidence before the
congressional investigation at Wash
ington in March that the Van Duzen-
Harrington Co., which owns the Star,
Crescent and Pioneer Steel elevators.
as well as the National, Atlas, Inter
state and G.. w. Van Duzen country
lines of elevators, sold 1917 cars OF
grain consigned to it's subsidiaries in
a single month. This firm owns TWEEN
ty-one memberships on the Minneapo-
lis exchange.
This revelation, sprung before the
Minnesota legislature. was a bomb
shell of high explosive power. On
March Is. 1913, the directors of the
Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce
promulgated a rule, whitewashing the
and declaring that the ship.
pers were satisfied but prohibited fur
Their practices of this sort under pain
of discipline The failure to discipline
for actual known offenses in the past
does not tend, however, to strike ter
ror to the hearts of the offenders, for
they still W the memberships which
control the policy of the Chamber of
Farmers Getting Busy.
Two years ago the farmers organic
ed an independent grain exchange at
under the management of
The American Society of Equity. They
have about $4,000 capital stock sub
scribed and 100000 paid up. The past
year they have handled over 1000, 900
bushels of grain for country shippers.
The CHAMBER of commerce men de-
clare that the independent exchange is
III the hands of bOld, bed men, and
that the salvation of the farmers de-
peads on sticking to the good old way
they are having a hard time to
the farmers believe it.
On March 1921, 700 cooperating
farmers from eight states met in mass
convention at Minneapolis and declar-
ed war on the grain combine. They
to Washburn-C Crosby and the
.Pillsbury mills and asked them to buv
wheat which was then IN track, Off
cially inspected and graded. The mills
refused to buy unless the grain was
consigned to members of the cham
Der of commerce.
And that did not tend to make the
farmers feel peaceful.
They have challenged the chamber
OF commerce to defend it's position be.
the farmers, but thew decline
resting securely on the special statute
Which was granted to them when the
people of Minnesota we're asleep at
the switch.