The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, October 7, 1915, Page 10

‘ " A Four and o THE NONPAR TISAN LEADER : PAGE ELEVEN fiwuuuuuwwsyuufinw&uww&u&&u&&u&&ygywu!!uuwwusuuuuuuuuu! In our money, per 100 pounds. . . Spread between Duluth and Liverpool American oats, Liverpool, 45 pounds e— HE figures quoted above should start a revolution. They T disclose one of the largest steals of the age. They dis- close the startling fact that the selling price of grain in the foreign markets is no excuse for the shamefully low prices paid to the producer. : They disclose the fact that grain speculators take 39 per cent of the price obtained for wheat. That from the.selling price of oats they take 73 per cent. And this, in addition, over and above the “regular 2 per cent commission,” handling charges, freight, insurance and every other known charge. ; According to market reports of September the 8th, wheat was then being exported at the rate of 8,000,000 ‘bushels a -week, and oats at the rate of about 10,000,444 bushels a week. Ac- cording to those figures and on the gasis of profits made the farmer of this country is robbed out of about $4,500,000 a week. The only reason for this is that the speculators have the power todo it. Signs of peace in Europe is no reason for there is not a sign of peace can be seen in the war clouds that now envelop that country. Danger of the opening of the Dardanelles is no reason for not a discernable dent has been made in that fort yet. - " Yet, with all this demand, down goes the price, practically to the same level of former years. . A farmer near Harper’s Ferry, Virginia the other day shipped a carload of fruit to market. His broker wired a bill for $18 deficit for freight and brokerage. And tons and tons BELGIAN REL[EF - London, Sept. 25. The first complete report of the ' commission for relief in Belgium, cov- ering the first eight months of its existence, reveals that in income and -expenditure the organization forms the greatest relief movement of his- ~tory. The commission has collected and disbursed $50,000,000, $15,000,000 of which has been contributed in the form: of money or gift food by theé people of the United States, the British empire and Belgium itself. A remarkable feature of the report which has hitherto received but little - notice 'is the effort being made by the Belgians to help-themselves. More than 50 per cent of the money ex- pended by the commission in benevo- - lence is being furnished by Belgians abroad, and a large amount also is being ‘supplied by the Belgians in Belgium. = - In discussing the report Herbert C. Hoover, chairman of the commission, isalds i 2 s U. S. Donations: Small. . “It may cause more surprise among - “Americans, who believe that the Unit- $6,000,000 in food, clothes and money has come from the United States. However, the American public should realize that the commission in its or- ganization, working ‘personnel and political aspects is distinctly Ameri- can. ; “The American charitame support, so early and promptly given, came at the very inception of the movement, when ‘such backing was vital to the success of the organization in giving it time to build. This support gave the commission ‘its foundation, from which ' it acquired 'the 'normal pres- tige that.enabled it to secure vitally necessary concessions from the vari- ous belligerent governments. “Nor is the necessity for this val- ued support at all over. The prob- lem becomes more difficult every day, for the number of destitute has- in- creased from $1,000,000 last October to 2,750,000 in June, and now grows at the rate of 200,000 a month. And our resources, large as they are, can- not keep ‘pace with the rneed if the charitable public loses interest in our work. § : More Is Necessary. “Moreover, the continued support of ‘America is necessary to provide f | the commission with the moral pres- e as an American institution, which WHEAT Wheat, American, No. 1 Northern Liverpool. . Duluth, same grade, 93¢ per bushel, or pe'r. ioo pounds. ....... S e s v e “ et s e Handling cost, insurance, ocean freight, Amount taken over for fair profit and al OATS Reduced to our money, for 100 pounds. Oats, Duluth, No..3, 33 cents, or per 100 pounds St Spread between Duluth and Liverpool. .. ........... . .. = AT ....$1.30 Cost of handling between Duluth and Liverpeol .. .. Amount taken above a fair profit, costs of all kinds. . ... .. g&s&uww&uw&!!&!&!&uu&&uw&uuuuu&&!&wum&&uwyu&!&&!aws&!/ l 1 costs of handling.......... .. 61 cents TR R G e R 4s 4 1-2d N e T AP O v R .......... SN s e SR a0 elevator charge....... ... 54 cents 54 cents 76 cents of such fruit lie on the ground rotting. Many train loads of potatoes remain unmarketed on the Minnesota farms while thousands of families in the cities g0 without potatoes. Growers cannot afford to market them for the prices received and the consumer cannot afford to eat them at the prices for which they sell. " And these afe samples of the highway robbery that is now carried on in this country under the dignified name of “business.” - Public officials know all about it and do nothing. News- papers know all about it and say nothing—except to tell the farmers to raise more, o In the meantime the steal goes on, farmers continue to strug- gle with mortgages and newspapers scream ‘“crook,” “grafter” and “fake,” at every man who lifts his voice against the rotten game or who tries to get the farmers to organize and protect themselves against the robbers. It is to the interest of every person living in the Northwest to put forth every possible effort to put a stop to this wholesale raiding of our greatest industry. Facilities for financing, hand- ling, marketing and storing grain must be provided. This will never be done until the farmers do it themselves. If that steal continues for three months, the wheat and oats grower of the country will have been beaten out of $54,000,- - 000, approximately half of the wheat crop of North Daketa if it sold at a dollar a bushel. Have the farmers got any kick coming? ———e T Ter e PerEade oA e o N iyse el tfl(l(((fi&fiflfifl&&flfiflfi&fifl(&&fiflflflfiflfl \ it now possesses in the sight of the warring powers; and the maintenance of this prestige can only be secured by the continued sentiment and prac- tical backing of the American peo- ple.” e The report includes detailed state- ments of the commission’s work, such as complete accounts of the disposi- tion of 195 cargoes of foodstuffs and clothing, and other ‘statistical data, as_well as’'a general survey of the situation in Belgium. Destitute Increasing. “The provisioning department,” says the report, “is charged with e duty of revictualing the whole 7,- 000,000 ‘people with necessary im- ports, and up to June 30 had either delivered or had .in stock more than 600,000 tons of foodstuffs for the Bel- gian section ‘to the gross value of more ‘than $45,500,000. The whole of these foodstuffs are resold to the pop- ulation through a broad system of reticulation, and the profit earned on these operations. is devoted 'to the support .of the destitute. Such pro- fits bave-been made possible by the volunteer executive, commercial and transportation services; and = the amount of these profits—about $4,- 800,000 to da,tqri.;rj:hé‘ measure of the value of such' volunteer service, = | “Through the benevolent depart- ment the charity of the world of the Belgian people themselves .is mobiliz- ed to the support of the destitute, and through it more than 2,750,000 persons are- now being assisted - in some measure with food and clething, The total -resources made available to the commission from abroad fér the support of the destitute was more than $31,000,000 to June 80, and the expenditure from these sources was at that date $25,000,000, and is now proceeding at the rate of about $5,- 000,000 per month. Beyond the ex- penditure lies local charity, now ex- ceeding $10,000,000.” “Theé response of ‘the American, British and other people to the plea on behalf of the Belgians has been without parallel in international phil- anthropy, amounting’ today to near- ly $15,000,000 in cash, food and clo- thing.” ; . — e BANANA SKiN, Salesman—This is our ‘new patent buttonless tan boot, sir—Banana Skin brand. ; Customer—What ever makes you give it such a peculiar name? . Salesman—Because, sir, it is yel low, and 50 easy to. slip on. ¥