218 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 



been lodged against the associations of the various states be- 

 cause they attempted to compel the farmer to sell to their 

 members. The association rules permit dealing in grain only 

 by those who do a "regular and steady business of buying and 

 selling grain/ 7 A farmer who does not use the local warehouses 

 or elevators, but shovels his wheat from wagon to car, is guilty 

 of being "irregular," and he is known by the association as a 

 "scalper." Persons who take advantage of a good market by 

 buyiiig and shipping grain independently of the local elevator 

 people are also "irregular." In both of these cases, the firms 

 to whom the grain is shipped are irregular. In the main, 

 irregularity seems to consist in not using the local shipping 

 facilities, or in having dealings with people who do not use 

 them. Cars irregularly loaded are systematically traced to 

 their destination, and the names of the offending shippers and 

 receivers are posted. Such persons are then made the subject 

 of a systematic boycott by the entire membership of the ele- 

 vator association. Even independent dealers who are fully es- 

 tablished in the grain trade may become "irregular." An in- 

 dependent dealer at Malcolm, Nebraska, shipped two car loads of 

 corn to an Illinois farmer for feeding. For this, he was posted 

 as a scalper, although he had $15,000 invested in the grain 

 business, and had been a dealer for seven years. A Malcolm 

 member of the association had traced the two cars to Illinois, 

 and offered corn to the farmer cheaper than it could be bought 

 in Nebraska. 1 At Lakota, South Dakota, an independent ele- 

 vator was built which incurred the displeasure of the line ele- 

 vators. The merchants of Lakota decided to support the new 

 elevator in order to help the farmers, but when the old line ele- 

 vators opened general stores in Lakota and sold at cost all the 

 goods that the merchants handled, the farmers failed to sup- 

 port the merchants. Consequently, the independent elevator 

 was compelled to give up business. 



Railway Discriminations. There are three ways in which the 

 railroads can aid the elevator combination: By promptly sup- 

 plying cars in the busy season; by refusing to grant sites for 

 independent elevators along their lines; and by rebates. All of 

 these methods have unquestionably been employed. The recent 

 investigation by the Interstate Commerce Commission is said 

 1 Industrial Commission, 6:62. 



