Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1919-01-22
Farmers ] 1ose
Hundred Millions.

culture under the Democratic Allminis-a
tration with inefficiency and unfair.
ness In the grading OF the wheat and:
potatoes Of the farmers, Congressman
Halvor Stevenson, Of Minnesota, has
voiced what he declares to be q ..uni-
versal complaint" Asked at meeting
Of the editors Of the farm journals
with the Chief Of the Bureau of Mark
cts to state his views frankly in crfti-
cisna, he did SO with facts and figures
that are somewhat startling.
The substance Of the charge Of the
tall legislator from Minnesota, who
will be chairman Of the Postofices and
Post Roads Committee in the next
House, is somewhat technical, but It
reveals. a loss to the wheat producers
Of the country Of more than $1,000, OOO,-
900 every year. This is due to a
change in the grading of the staple
from the older and simpler state meth
DDS practiced at Minneapolis and other
central points up to a year ago to the
more complex system adopted by the
Department. In Minnesota, for in
stance, there had been five grades for
designating wheat. Numerous inspect
Ors carried out the Details The meth
cd pursued was perfection Of twenty
five years of experience during which
time there had been developed expert
mental laboratories, bakeries and mills.
AS the result of this, when the farmer
sold his wheat as No. 2 grade and it
was found under inspection at the mill
to be No. i, he was given the benefit
and was paid the larger return.
But under the new method devised
by the Bureau of Markets ninety-six
varieties were established and under
the food administration act the inspect
ors, Of Minnesota were taken over by
the federal administration. There had
been an appeal board under the state
but now there was also federal ap-
peal board. Under the new grading,
penalties were imposed against the
farmers for slight amount of mois
ture, for damaged kernals and for mix
ing. Hence the buyer Of the wheat
from the local farmer became afraid to
take any risk, lest he lose in the trans
action and gave the grower the lowest
grading possible in order to make sure.
Having but few bins to differentiate
the grades, there was no local means
of determining whether mistake had
been made.
8. Ridiculous and Unfair Rules.
STEVENSON charges, and he is backed
up by experts in and out of the Depart
ment Of Agriculture, that when this
wheat, in which the farmer has been
deprived of an average profit of about
ten cents per bushel, gets to the miller
it is there properly graded, with the
certain net result that the miller gets
the advantage which the farmer has
lost. The farmer gets less and the con-
sumner pays the same for flour and
bran. The Department of Agriculture,
then, just as it worked against the
wheat farmer and in favor of the cot
ton planter during the war, has work
ed against the farmer in grading his
wheat and in favor of the miller Re
Gently representative of the Depart
ment said: complaints come from all
parts Of the United States regarding
all classes of wheat. The least com
plant was in the Pacific Northwest,
but complaints have come from all the
territory east Of the Rocky Mountains,
and they come principally from country
grain dealers and producers. We for,
mulated the grades which are now in
effect, and when fixed prices and other
measures came in we received COM
plants from everybody except the mil
lers.''
1t is the expectation of the Minneso-
ia man that when he and his Republic
can colleagues come into power at the
next session Of Congress they will find
a remedy for this and other injustices
now done the farmers by the Depart
ment through arbitrary rulings. He
believes there win also be a stop made
to the practice of grading potatoes by
screening them to such fine point
that the farmer is unable to harvest
the smaller ones before the frost comes.
He has presented evidence to show that
in one county in Minnesota the grow
ers lost $4,000 by arbitrary and exact
ing rulings Of the Department, and de-
clares that the loss throughout the en-
tire country from this source has been
enormous. He reports that in several
states the agents Of the government
actually ordered cars unloaded and
stopped the loading Of other because OF
the failure to comply with the rules OF
the Bureau Of Markets which have
come to be regarded as unfair y not
ridiculous. It is likely that as soon as
the new Congress conyenes the Repub-
licans will make, through the Commit
tees on Agriculture, a thorough inves ti-:
CATION Of the methods Of the Depart
ment in officiously retarding the Efforts
OF the farmers in marketing their crops
to their just advantage.
FITTING MEMORIALS