The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1914-05-14
ST.PAUL WANTS
farmers Grain
! Equity Cooperative Exchange.
May Move From Minneapolis. :
ORGANIZATION GROWING FAST
Expects to Handle Large Percentages
Of Northwestern Crops Within
Few Years .h...

luulCdllOuS dIS ludt luc Equity W.
operative Exchange, the farmers ter.
minal grain marketing agency. wi.
move from Minneapolis to St. Paul.
Business organizations Of st. Paul
are negotiating with the farmers and
if present plans are carried out the
headquarters Of the farmers Go-opera.
tive grain marketing movement will
locate in the Sanity City. This means
also that St. Paul will be headquar.
tiers for the cooperative marketing
movement in various other products
in which farmers are interested.
The many Northwestern farmers
who are back of the farmers cooper.
alive marketing movement feel that
--.eir terminal grain marketing agency
has never received fair deal from
business men Of Minneapolis. The
Equity Cooperative Exchange has
made steady progress since it was or.
ganized in August, 1912. but it; has
had the fierce opposition of the COM
Bined grain interests in the Mime.
apolis Chamber of Commerce right
from the start. The Chamber OF
Commerce interests are closely aftil'
lated with banks and other business
institutions of Minneapolis.
At the big cooperative marketing
convention held in Minneapolis few
weeks ago, St. Paul business men in.
vited the farmers to locate their CO.
. operative exchange in that city. The
fact that the large volume of grain
handled by the Equity Cooperative
! Exchange is sold almost entirely to
mills and buyers outside of Mime
apolis, which would make it possible
for the farmers exchange to establish
it's. headquarters in either city. gave
St. Paul its opportunity. St. Paul
business men see in the Farmers
Equity Cooperative Exchange an op.
portunity to get for st. Paul good
share of the grain trade.
Movement Grows Rapidly.
It is predicted by men who have
| given the matter careful study that
| the Cooperative Exchange will be
handling large percentage of the
| Northwestern grain crop in a com
| paratively few years. The farmers Of
| Western Canada entered the teNminaI
grain markets with their own agency
only a, few years ago and are now
| handling almost one-half of Cana
/ annual grain crop The Equity
operative Exchange has shown that 1t
| can build up market for grain out
side the Minneapolis Chamber of Com.
merce and Duluth Board of Trade
and with adequate terminal elevator
facilities and fair treatment in bank
ing accommodations the volume OF
! grain handled by the Farmers Co.
operative Exchange is expected to In
| crease rapidly This business cleared
through St.. Pau1 would add nightly
to the Sanity City's trade totals and
subtract just that much from the bust
ness, of Minneapolis.
Farmers Want Open Market.
The farmers interested in the CO.
operative marketing movement are de-
i termined to- secure better terminal
! marketing conditions. The recent CO.
! operative marketing convention ID
Minneapolis took steps to carry on the
fight for an open public grain market
and to reform abuses which they say
have grown up in the grain trade
Some of these abuses they propose tt
reform by legislation, others by ere
ating an open board of trade, which
will be established in St. Paul In case
the Equity Cooperative Exchange
moves to that city.
Exchange Entirely Cooperative.
The Farmers Equity Cooperative
Exchange is entirely a cooperative
organization. 1t is owned by farmers
The men in charge of the exchange
work on salary. The profits. over and
above the per cent dividend on CAPT
tai stock, are shared among patrons
according to the amount Of graiE
shipped to the exchange.
The movement to establish a farm
ers' cooperative grain exchange II
the terminal markets originated amoni
Equity farmers in North Dakota bu
the movement rapidly spread to othel
states and there are now on the boart
, of directors of the exchange represen
tatives Of the principal farmers CO
operative organizations Of Minnesota
North and South Dakota and Mon
tana. The exchange has the endorse
ment Of the genuine farmers ca
operative organizations of those fou
states.
The farmers cooperative termina
grain marketing movement is the out
growth Of the farmers cooperative
elevator movement, which establishe,
the farmers elevators as importan
factors in the local grain markets a
hundreds Of points in tho Northwest
These farmers cooperative elevate
companies are now carrying their &C
operative marketing of grain into tn
terminal markets with the purpose O
controlling the marketing of thei
grain from the fields to the actus
consumer.