Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1915-06-22

that this grain was being sold t
members Of the Chamber of Con
merce and were SO advised, and tina
1t was not being sold to consumers
for the reason that Enge testified dul
ing the months of July and August
1914, he sold AZ cars Of grain, givlnI
the numbers Of the cars, etc, for tn
Equity, at a brokerage fee OF 81 pc
car; that the most of these cars wer'
sold to the Cereal Grading company
a member of the Chamber of Com
merce; that he sent the confirmation
Of the sale and price to the Equit!
Exchange, they collected direct whel
they could, but in a few instances
the purchasers objected to having an!
dealings with the Equity, they made
checks payable direct to Enge To-
their purchases, he in turn endorsed
them over to the Equity, therefore
the Exchange had knowledge ant
were advised that they were selllns
their grain to members of the Cham
Der OF Commerce and not to millers
and MASTERS and original consumers
as was given out as the objects Of
the corporation. BY this method, the
shippers were deceived and were also
paying double commissions.
The Method Used.
Enge further testified that he com
menced handling grain for the Equity
in the form Of purchases and resales
in August, 1914, giving a list of cars
which he bought from the Equity and
afterward resold. this list gives the
number and initial Of the car, the
date which he gave the Equity credit
on his books in some instances, the
price he paid the Equity, to whom
resold with the date and price which
he received from some Of the mem
hers of the Chamber Of Commerce.
Enge swore that the dates Of all pur'
chases Of the cars OF grain from the
Equity was the same day upon which
he resold them, excepting in one in
stance. and that was two cars OF bar
ley, which he carried over until the
next day and then sold them to Nc
Cabe Brothers.
He further states that nearly all Of
the carr which he purchased from
the Equity were sold to members of
the Minneapolis Chamber Of Com
merce, giving the anne Of Quinn
Sherperdson e. Company and McCabe
Brothers. Handling the transactions
in the following manner: Secured
samples Of the grain from the Equity,
he would then make inquiries Of COM
mission merchants, getting bids on
the sample, he would then call the
Equity over the prone. making them
a bid on the grain sufficiently below
the price offered him by the members
of the Chamber to net him a profit,
stating that his profit varied, he tried
to buy as cheap from the Equity as
he could and resell it as high as he
could; that his profit ran from a half
a cent p,hand On one car was eight
cents per bushel:s aE5a. ,
In addition to this, the Equity would
take on cent commission out of the
price paid by Enge. It would seem
from this evidence that the shipper
was strictly getting the worst Of itsby
dealing with the Equity Exchange;
that they We're not only paying double
commissions III some cases which
would represent fwo%cents commits
sion on Yheat hut that they lost as
high as eight ardsRine cents per bush
ell in some instance. Further, that
Lotus instructed him not to sell to
any mem5ergo f the Chamber, undo"
these instructions Enge made The
members of the Chamber agree not
to sell these cars Of grain on the floor
of the Chamber; that he always made
this arrangement with members Of
the Chamber. for the reason that he
could buy this grain from Lotus, at
a better price when he made this ar-
rangement, generally 3sthis arrange.
ment resulted Ing The cars being sold
to the members of the Chamber for
a less price than they would have
sold for if the member of the Cham
Der who purchased them could have
resold them on the floor of the Cham
Der; that he received no bids from
the members Of the Chamber for
grain to be resold on the floor; but
was told by the members who pur-
chased the grain that if they could
take them over and resell them on
the floor Of the Chamber they could
give him a better price for the grain,
as a matter of fact, he, Enge accepted
the lower bid in order to avoid having
the cars resold on the floor, as he
was instructed by Lotus, and that he
in turn bid lower for the grain to
the Equity accordingly. ~
]. J. Kennedy, buyer for Quinn
S~herhardson & company, member Of
the Chamber of. Commerce, verifies
Enge's testimony in an affidavit filed
with the district court Of Cass coun
ty, n. D., giving the numbers of the
cars which he purchased from Nels
Enge Independent Grain company,
stating that he made certain bids for
this grain to Enge' at a price two
cents higher than the bid which was
accepted by Enge-Enge accepting
the lower bid rather than to permit
the resale of these cars on the floor
Of the Chamber of Commerce, for the
reason that he had been instructed
not to see these cars to be resold on
the floor of the Chamber Of Com
merce. BY this arrangement the ship.
per lost two cents in addition to what
he had already lost. The reason Lof-
tus did not want these cars sold IN
the floor Of the Chamber vas for the
purpose OF preventing the shipper of
grain to the Exchange from knowing
that his grain was being sold through
the Chamber gAof &Commerce, which