The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-06-21
GIANT MERGER OF GRAIN FIRMS IS FARM PLAN Cooperative Elevators To Be Linked With Chi
 cagO Houses SEEK REMITTANCE TO BOARD OF TRADE Bradfute Heads Group Named To Examine
 Proposal
[l,x AssociatNd Press. ]

CHlCAGO, June zU.-A aeCalleu plan under which five large grain concerns and 5000 cooperative elevators would come under pro- ducer control was formally sub mitted today to the executive conn mittee of the American farm bureau federation.
 Under the plan submitted, CO., operative grain marketing organiza- tions eventually would be accorded the trading privileges of the Chicago board of trade.
 The corporation resultant of the consolidation under the proposed plan would become 'grower-owned financed and controlled"
 The plan as submitted to the Farm Bureau Federation contemplates acc quiring the mechanical and managerial facilities of the following firms:
 Armour Grain Company, Rosenbaum Grain Corporation, Bartlett, Frazier ( Company, Rosenbaum Brothers Grain Corporation and the J. c. Shaffer & Company.
 With Established Rules.
 'The proposal contemplates using the facilities of existing exchanges and op- erating in accordance with their estab- lished rules" says the announcement of the farm bureau. ser#.
 The statement does not reveal by whom the plan was submitted.
 Tt is understood that the tentative plan has been presented to other farm organizations" the farm bureau an. nouncement said.
 A selected committee headed by Presi. dent o. E. Bradfute of the American Farm Bureau Federation, has been ap- pointed to examine the plan and shape the legal details of the merger. The personnel of the committee probably will be announced within the next few weeks and the report of the examiners will be ready for the entire farm bureau mem bership @hefere fall, according to the present plans of Mfr. Bradfuteg
 f+s To Use .Tcbate" Funds.
 The financing of the consolidation is expectetd to De cared for with the funds which ordinarily make the rebate" to the producer under cooperative market ing systems.'
 While the legal and financial details of the plan were not made public by the federation, it was suggested that the rebates" might be diverted into a sink ing fund for the amortization of the consolidation debentures, stocks and bonds.
 Details of financing reaching to hum dreds of millions of dollars will make the chief demands upon the efforts of the committee ir- the view of those who hoVa fnIInvyaA khn 1e tiations in the grain trade.
 Prominent figures in the grain trade predicted that at best the consolidation plans could not be cOnsumated in less than three months after a final agree ment on terms. E
 Control Elevators
 The five grain firms involved con- trol virtually the entire elevator ca pacity of the Chicago market and con- siderable capacity in other primary markets and export bases. All the elevators owned and leased by the five companies are included in the tenta- tive plan which is understood to in clude virtually all elevators in the Chi cago market with the exception of sev- eral owned and operated by railroads.
 The submission of the tentative plan was regarded by important grain trad CTS as "a purely business proposition" |"
 One plan for financing the transac- tions which was understood to have received the favorable consideration of farm bureau. officers provided for a stock issue to producers which would distribute ownership and participating rights concurrently.
 423, 1000, 900 Involved
 A careful estimate by local grain merchant of the value of the physical properties involved placed the figure at approximately $15,0O0,O00 for the elevator properties of the five concerns and about $8,OO0,OOO for the other real property such as office equipment, wire facilities and board memberships. These figures, of course, do not include the five thousand country elevators all ready comparatively owned, which would figure in the unified grain mar keting system.
 Trade estimates of the normal busi- ness volume in cash grain transactions of the five grain companies during re- cent years place the figure well over one billion bushels annually.
 Vague rumors of an impending an- nouncement of wide geerak interest in the trade reached the floor of the ex- change today shortly before the close of the session and were slightly un- settling influence in the market. La ter, however, it developed that the trading factor was in the uncertainty surrounding the nature of the anti cipated announcement rather than in the nature of the. plan submitted to the federation.
 John J. Stream, former president of the Chicago Board of Trade, said to- night that the merger was inaugurated by the five companies.
 Plans call for q capitalization of $20, 900, 900, he said, one-half of this sum representing the purchase price of the properties and the other half the actual cash working capital.
 The five concerns, he stated, control nearly all the public elevator space in Chicago and more than aBe-half the total elevator space here and have a
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