Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1916-07-13
ELEVATORS ARE FAVORED.
Time is Now Ripe to Try Bulk Grain
Plan and Elevators.

With the Panama canal completed
and m operation Except for an occa-
sional slide, etc.) and with the changes
In transportation conditions and ter
mial facilities, and an almost prohibi-
tive Price of grain sacks, it appears
that The time for handling grain in
bulk in the Pacific Northwest is at
hand. There have been several bulk
grain hgitations in the last couple dec
AIDES. but they have been premature.
Now, conditions are ripe for a good
try out of the propositin. Several
modern elevators are going up and
many farmers are equipping themselves
with grain tanks.
Robert Bridges, president of the
Port of Seattle commission, in an ad-
dress on "Seattle s Public Terminals
and Their Relation to Northwest
Wheat" at the Washington State Grain
Growers, Shippers and Millers conven-
tion at Pullman last January, made
some interesting remarks along this
line, i'm part as follows:
The habit of the Northwest has been
to ship grain in bags. Profits taken
from the wheat grower in supplying
this useless garment for the grain
reaches even to far-away India. The
arguments why the bag system cannot
be abandaned are numerous and vocif-
erous according to the profit involved
Invested Capital cries with exceed
ing great pain at the thought of Wash
ington farmers shipping their wheat in
bulk These interests cannot conceive
that the waste incident to the shipping
of wheat in bags can be prevented.
"Whatever is, is best,' they say, "let
us not change the rules of the game.
We might lose our job. !"
We do not quite agree with Mr..
Bridges in his intimation that the bag
system has been unnecessary and might
have been abandoned before this, ex-
cept for the opposition of the finter-
ests. y In the beginning of the Pacific
coast grain industry and for many
years thereafter, transportation condi
tions Especially the lack of specially
built bulk grain ships for this coast
and The long, rough voyage around the
| Horn) necessitated and warranted
shipping grain sacked. But conditions
are changing-in fact, have changed
and some of the big developments Incl
dent to the change were also referred
to by Mr.. Bridges:
The people of Seattle organized q
Port commission and authorized the
expenditure of $6,300,000 in public
wharves, warehouses and ferries. More
important yet from the standpoint OF
the wheat growers is the construction
by this commission at tidewater OF
practically the only modern grain ele
vator on the Pacific coast-a concrete
structure with a capacity of 100000
bushels of bulk grain.
Extensive work is being done by the
government of the Dominion of Canada
in providing elevator facilities, botf
on the west and east coasts. The
latest undertaking is the elevator al
Vancouver which is to have capacity
of 1,250,000 bushels.
Mr.. Bridges is rather strong in hi
denunciation of the methods of the OLE
line y independent grain companies an'
affiliated interests" and OF cours'
strongly advocates farmer cooperation
and government ownership, or at leas
government supervision and financia
assistance in getting the grain trad
! "out from under' the iniqultous
control of private interests. Thi
| feature does not particularly concerl
us. There is probably two sides to tn
: question. We mention the above refer
enees merely to show the well define
movement toward bulk grain. The ba
? system is uneconomic and it does hi
{ the farmer and when the bulk systeI
+, once gets a foothold, it will "come in
! fast and the west coast will then neve
t 90 back to sacks. Probably the oil
line companies will not be slow to joi
the procession when they see that tn
change is inevitable and due.-Ne'
!. West Trade.