The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-04
CHICAGO BOARD OF TRADE DENOUNCED
 BY 5. H. GREELEY
Is Weapon of Price Control ing Monopoly, Declares Former Member-Asks
 Federal Action

Washington. March 3.-The Chicago
 board of trade was arraigned as giant of fictitious wheat transactions
 and the weapon of price controlling
 who for more than 20 years was mem-
 Der of the board. Appearing before the
 House rules committee in behalf of
 several wheat growers organizations
 of the northwest, MT. Greeley urged
 federal action against an alleged mo-
 nopoly maintained by the public ware--
 house men of Chicago and other mar
 ket centers
 | Through memberships on the Chicago
 board and control of the storage of
 grain, the warehouse. trust" he de-
 clared had built up an organization
 which controls the wheat prices of the world more than any other agency | except war scares and financial panics." The key to the situation was dealing in futures where no delivery was intend ed, he declared, and in this business ths Chicago board of trade outstripped the other markets of the world combined. Began in 1887
 Evidence was submitted to the com
 mlttee designed to show that the ware house trust" began business in 1887, and had increased in power until to- lday the Chicago board was "throttled
 and controlled by the public warehouse men" MT. Greeley read into the record d recent change in the rules by the board removing certain penalties prescribed against warehouse members. This, he said, was done at the order of the ware-
 house mems combination.
 The committee had under consider ation Representative Manahan's reso- lution to authorize an investigation of the charges that monopoly existed within the grain exchanges of Chicago, Duluth and Minneapolis, founded upon the warehouse operations and future trading. It was said that if the hear inss bring out evidence to warrant the matter probably will be referred to the committee on agriculture with recom- mendations that it draft legislation to remedy the alleged evils.
 Mir. Greeley charged that public ware housing in Chicago was conducted openly and brazenly in violation of law without any organized opposition
 of state legal authorities to crush open competition.
 Chartered Illegally Tt is recognized" he asserted, "that so per cent at least of all cash grain which has entered public storage for many years has been controlled by the illegally operating warehouse proprie- tors. Innocent individuals are subject to many hardships of odds or per centages in the game which are cor respondingly in favor of the combined warehouse pan- -speciilator
 ''Glosely Associated with the ques .a tfons herein involved should be consid-
 cred the manufactures of so-called con
 tract grades of grain from mixtures of the lower graNes with better grades. Such mixtures Illegally placed in public
 storage by various subterfuges are easily discovered and understood and no
 doubt do exist, by authorities who
 should, but do not properly control the warehouse business of Illinois, The effect of this. he said, was to
 enable the warehouse men to keep in storage enough wheat to control the market in futures and establish the price on the farms at whatever they choose to make it.