Jamestown weekly alert. [volume] (Jamestown, Stutsman County, D.T. [N.D.]) 1882-1925, 1917-09-20
n MEN NAY CONTROL
WHEA I BUSINESS Of U. 5.

I. as55 - -5sts
,s. 20 " ;. By f
which cannot be done this year. It
must be remembered; too, that that
was the chief way In which a com
mission man, II cDnscfe fentious, could
earn his commission; that Is to say,
..,by finding buyer who would pay a
, semium fo4 the wheat above the
i Ne which would ordinarily go to
IL. upon the regular grade. This
leads me to the most astonishing
thing Of all. 555S
" sion Men. 4.
While this arbitrary change in
the rules by the. government will
make the services of the commission
merchant :of little or no value the
government has helped them to
boost their commission charges over
100 per cent. In other words, where
they got lc per bushel heretofore,
they Will now get one per cent, which
will mean over 100 per cent in
crease.
The farmer pays the commission
While the price committee was in
session at Washington, It was under
stood or nofiicially reported that
the government would pay the com
mission charges. L did not have any
direct word with Mr.. Barnes upon
the subject at the time and so can
not quote him direct as to his in
tention at that time. but have his
word now that the commission
charge must be paid by the farmer
whether the shipment is made to
the commission merchant or direct
to the government. This ts 9 mat
ter of tremendous Importance to our
wheat growers. In addition to the
great losses which they will sustain
this year by reason OF their refusal
to consider the milling value OF the
wheat, 1t will be setback to the
whole idea of bringing about even
tually reformation In the grading
system, built upon the theory Of let
ting every farmer have the true mill
ing value OF this wheat and one per
cent will be lost in commissions.
The Washington papers q feWsday
ago carried a. statement that Mr..
Hoover had requested the ttorney
General to have secret ssrvice men
here to watch the farmers. MY sug-
gestion to- Mr.. Hoover is that the Sc
cret service men can be much better
Eempl0yed investigating the men he
has,hfm1eM emp pl0yed, A0mefot them
|Yworkin1 ftsout q salarya under s1nsosas' a'
|tentatious show 'of patriotism.
III am talking, gentlemen, of these
things which the Food .Administra.
tion should remedy in order to save
It from being wrecked. It cannot ex-
pect to have the confidence of pro-
ducers and consumers unless its ac-
tivities are solely in their interests.
This leads me to the third cause of
disaster to the Food Administration
coming from within, namely the
Tightening Of the grip of exporters
upon the grain business and their
power to control 1t and fix prices.
The greatest. exporter of wheat in
the United States, Mr.. Julius M.
Barnes, has been placed at the. head
OF the U. >. Grain Corporation. Otn-
ss ,4s sepfsssSes tha - havn We bsan @ salact @
ed by him. such as Nj. Irving Of the
firm Of L. G. Graf & Son, the big
gest operator at Philadelphia. The
s. 4ha.a uusness - Attar nt - .onSe ar theu
win W i have q tighter grin on the busi-
ness than ever before. They will
have 2 strangle hold. ! am not Of
- Deie l ana
Ing , + this war receive a any pecuniary
benefits. He stands high in the bus
mess world. But venture to say
tnat aIter tnis war az. Is 9ver' 1gepa., u no
and dnf those asaociateii % | with him viii
have a control Of the wheat produc-
ed in the United States such as they
never nad before. ana Dy t reason s,eI Q.
wiii ' far .1vy n,'treach ea % an1thine NTH thav have
made in the past. All Of these mat
5ters which have been discussing.
to my mind. are OF equal importance
y sonsuMs.s S.h nstntans as ~s.. as smesE uaeeis
81 90 arass,an - Iobn psar = North
\, ~. s,.,.,s a. aa.t "a 49,