THE FARMERS IN CONTROL 



target, and made the most fuss about; but 

 this was no more than tactics. The terminal 

 elevator meant more than the rest because it 

 was the emblem and ensign of the old fight. 

 Three times its enemies had defeated it over 

 the expressed will of the people; if now the 

 people should win what they wanted it would 

 mean that the old machine was hopelessly 

 beaten. What was of still greater practical 

 importance, it would mean the establishment 

 of free markets for grain and the cutting out 

 of the system of commission forwarding, 

 which was the basis upon which the Chamber 

 of Commerce in Minneapolis was erected. It 

 struck, therefore, at the incomes and lively 

 expectations of a great many men, and most 

 seriously threatened the profits of banks, mills, 

 and railroad companies. In view of these facts 

 it is not strange that injunctions began at once 

 to obstruct the carrying out of nearly all the 

 measures that I have cited, but chiefly directed 

 against the elevator and flour-mill act. 



Nevertheless, to a certain extent the new 

 program was soon seen to be undeniably a 

 great reform. Doctor Ladd was summoned 

 from his laboratory to be state inspector of 

 grades, weights, and measures, and installed 

 within the boundaries of the state a new sys- 

 tem of grain grades based upon laboratory 

 tests and milling value instead of weight and 

 appearance. His miniature mill and bake- 



273 



