The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1920-08-07
CROP MOVEMENT.
BIG JOB AHEAD
OF NORTHWEST
Biggest Minds in Railway,
Banking and Official Circles
Study Problem
DAKOTA SHIPPERS ACTIVE
Formation of Permanent Organ
ization Expected to Come
on August II

Moving the northwest's prospective
65OOOO,00O bushel prospective crop is
the big problem now confronting the
biggest minds in federal, state bank
and railway circles.
The car shortage is critical, the
most serious in the history of the
northwest, experts SAY. With bum
per harvest upon us there still re-
mains in country elevators and farm
granaries close to 100000 bushels
of last years grains still to be moved.
The northwest's plea to the Inter
state Commerce Commission to issue
priority orders to assure alleviation
OF the car shortage will be presented
to the commission in Washington on
Monday by committee OF northwest
officials and citizens.
Permanent organization Of the
North Dakota Shippers association,
an outgrowth of the meeting recently
held at Fargo to discuss the car short
age, will be effected at another meet
ing to be held in Fargo, probably on
August II.
Has Broad Plan
This association, according to plans,
will embrace representative OF each
farmers, shippers and livestock organl-
zation in the state with purpose of
facilitating the marketing Of crops,
studying the finances which affect the
farm and livestock business, and to
investigate freight tariffs in various
states of the northwest and take steps
to aid traffic and secure reasonable
adjustments in all cases.
Repairing Cars
One of the big efforts now being
made by the railway men is the
repairing of every available grain car,
extracting every possible car from the
eastern and southern traffic and
louting them as rapidly as possible to
strategic distributing points in the
northwest.
Officials of /. the Federal Reserve
bank are urging the immediate con.
struction of granaries, on farms to
care for grain the railroads will be
unable to haul.
Some solution Of the problem, most
likely priority order. will be made
at this hearing, the officials believe.
Recent aduces from Washington in
dicate that the commission Is aware
of the grain car crisis, which, In the
proportion that 1t affects the North
west will affect all the rest OF the
United States that depends on wheat
for it's bread. Realization Of the Sc.
riousness of the situation is believed
to have prompted the advancement
of the date of the hearing.
last Years Leftover
The first of July there were 39,SOO,-
600 bushels of last years grain valued
at $83,337 900 in country elevators and
on farms in the Northwest, accord
ing to statement issued yesterday
by John H. Rich, chairman OF the
Federal Reserve bank of Minneapolis.
"This amount OF grain still to be
moved from elevators before they
will be clean and ready for the new
crop and the amount still held on the
farms are factors which tend to hurt
the prospect of the free movement OF
the new CROP" he says in his state
ment.
Market From Farm
"In view of this situation. it is Of
the utmost importance that each
grain grower investigate at once the
possibilities of the prompt marketing
of grain from his own farm this fall.
If he cannot satisfy himself that the
elevators at his local shipping points
will be in position to receive and
move his grain, he should take i'm
mediate steps to provide dry, clean
and weather-proof storage on the
farm. There is sufficient time to erect
new grain bins and take other ap-
propriate steps for the safety Of the
grain after it is threshed."
Failure to market the 1920 crop
promptly will place another serious
problem on the banks, that of max
ing loans to the farmers to tide them
over until the grain is turned into
money. This problem, too, is receiy'
ing the attention Of the financial b.
Another angle of the car shortage
which came to light yesterday was
the report from Seattle, Washington,
that empty freight cars are being
rushed to the Pacific coast to clear
up the congestion of Eastbound lum-
ber traffic before the new freight
rates go into effect on August 26.