66 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



other points of accumulation, are sold against here, so that our market 

 feels the weight of the entire world's surplus. This condition is 'only- 

 made possible by the enormous and unnatural hoard brought and retained 

 here to satisfy the avarice of half a dozen corporations, the largest of 

 which is owned in London. A system that permits the proprietors of pub- 

 lic elevators, directly or indirectly, to deal in the property of which they 

 are custodians, is essentially immoral. The temptation to reserve for 

 themselves the best of a grade is one to which the law never contemplated 

 that they should be subjected. Indeed, the principal motive of the ware- 

 house law was to prevent their ownership or control of grain in public 

 warehouses. Yet it is notorious that during the past year the proprietors 

 of elevators have had for sale and have sold millions of bushels df grain 

 at a large premium, net one cent of which in equity belonged to them. 

 The grain bought elsewhere by elevator proprietors is promptly sold here 

 to you for some future delivery, so they become the custodians of your 

 property, which, however, you can only get on payment of such premiums 

 as the urgency of the demand may enable them to exact. It is an unwel- 

 come task for me to criticise the methods of any class of our members, 

 but this is an occasion for plain speech and honest, earnest effort to restore 

 to this association its vanishing glory and traditions. The elevator mo- 

 nopoly is the same blight on legitimate business that anti-option legislation 

 would have been if enacted. The old-time open competition of thousands has 

 been superseded by new conditions under which each railroad terminating 

 in Chicago is practically controlled by a single buyer. Special rates are 

 made to favored individuals who have the further advantage of elevator 

 control, so that rates charged to the public are rebated to themselves, thus 

 enabling them to outbid or undersell all competitors. This charge of 

 three-quarters of a cent per bushel for the first term of storage is retained 

 only as a protection to elevator managers against the competition of legi- 

 timate dealers in grain. It is a charge that you cannot avoid, but which 

 is ignored by them in their own transactions, thus forcing every one to 

 sell or to buy of them. The fact that this charge is not bona fide, but only 

 a foil to competition, proves that it is unjust and should be abolished. 

 While elevator proprietors are willing to pay one cent per bushel more for 

 grain "to go to store" in their own warehouses than the market price 

 of the same grain in store (and subject to the charge of three-quarters 

 of a cent per bushel), is conclusive that the first storage charge is not 

 legitimate, and also that the subsequent terms of storage are unduly profit- 

 able. The charge for the transfer of grain from cars to vessels, a dis- 

 tance of perhaps 100 feet, is greater than the average rate of freight, 

 during the past season, from Chicago to Buffalo. The same grain is trans- 

 ferred on track by the railroads themselves from western to eastern cars 

 for nothing. 



A proper solution of our difficulties must include facilities by railroads 

 entering here for free warehousing of grain on arrival, and fair rates for 

 storage on naturally acquired accumulations. The device of collecting 

 storage in advance of delivery of grain has supplied largely increased cap- 

 ital to elevator proprietors to be used against you in the unequal compe- 

 tition for business. There is no legal or moral right in this practice, and 



