The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, July 20, 1916, Page 5

i vt sl PR i AR Y _.This picture shows i'view of the excavation for the terminal elevator of the Equity Co-operative Exchange at St. Paul, now in process of construction. This is a genuine - co-operative effort on the part of farmers to rid themselves of the evils of having to chip their grain to “old line” elevators in the Twin Cities. No matter what action the . state of North Dakota takes in-the matter of termjnal.elevators co-operative marketing. concerns such as the Equity Exchange will still fulfill their important function of ~ fupnishing a marketing agency for the wheat and other products Jf the farm. i | . R..E. F. LADD; president of the 1 North: Dakota. Agricultural. col- lege and one. of the world’s o7 greatest authorities on' wheat t grades and milling, favors.the establish- B> ment by the state of North Dakota of a ! stateowned or a state-supervised terminal elevator. : He believes the establishment of such 8 terminal elevator would be a great state. Nl “Whether such an elevator should be " i state owned or privately built is a com- mercial proposition which 1 am not as 0 well prepared. to determine as those AR more familiar with that phase of the o A problem,” said Dr. ik added ‘that state-owned terminals would . offer certain advantages in the way of supervision -of = grades that privately built’ and state supervised terminals probably would not possess. : Dr. Ladd’s preference as a location for the proposed state-owned terminal ‘elevator. is not Minneapolis, St. Paul or Duluth, but the city of Fargo, North Dakota. ‘The president of North Dakota’s great scientific ' “institution = expressed ‘these .opinions during the course of an inter- view granted ‘to the representative of the Leader. SRR -Dr. Ladd sat at his desk at the ‘chemistry building. on = the college < campus’one of the sultry afternoons last week and . discussed freely questions .and the welfare of the farmers of the state, subjects that are the closest to his heart. P ot ‘DR.-LADD FAVORS FARGO = 'FOR GRAIN TERMINALS = _with authority on the commercial side question,” said Dr.’ Ladd. “T */* have not made the necessary investiga-. ./ tions to say that the:state should build its proposed grain terminals in Fargo. will ‘say frank o its “am ed to is 3 &. 3 ;‘ gain for the farming industry of the Ladd, but he. Significant Statements by President Ladd: “I will say frankly that I am inclined to favor a location within the state and Fargo seems to me to offer the greatest advantages if any one city is to be selected.” E T “I think the farmers of the state will never be able to get the best price for their grain until they can retain ownership or control of it until it gets to a central market.” : : § ARG R : “The millers and grain dealers of Minnecapolis did not devise these unjust grades, but they are interested in perpetuating them. Commercial grain grad- ing as practiced at these terminals has made no progress in many years, doubt- less because of the fact that there are great profits for certain large interests in maintaining the present system.” - ? ; * * % % % “The producer is robbéd in the sale of his grain and he is robbed again through the bad influence exerted on the price of his product by this leveling of the grades through the mixture of different qualities of wheat to get a grade which will just pass inspection as No. 1.” - 4 R ydiated 1o the development .of the - resources of the state of North Dakota “I o’ mot almtobe able to speak ® K dealt with the grain gambler.” 900000000000 " mever be able 'to get the best price for their grain until they can retain owner-. ship or”control of it until ‘it gets to a central ‘market,” said Dr. Ladd. “That is one of the factors that has seemed to: make state-owned: terminals-a necessary relief. . = - .. _ “The other factor is the question of grades, in which I have been' especially interested for many years. There is no ! doubt ‘at all that a great injustice is .done . the farmers: of ~North ."Dakpta s prices . established “by the’ big ‘grain® deflq?fs‘? for the various grades of grain.: Mbars 1a a certain price established - wheat: which itself Jor tisplowey “It seems to me that if the state owned its own terminal storage facilities there would be better opportunity to establish fair and just grades and to get those grades recognized in the world markets than if we attempted to estab- lish a North Daketa state grading system at privately owned terminals,” o % 7PN, * * k¥ k¥ vy “I donot fhink it will always be said that we have no millionaires or rich men in North Dakota. In my opinion many fortunes have been built up in Minneapolis and St. Paul that should have gone to North Dakota men.” : 3 * % % : '.‘We shall never have solved the wheat m#rketing problem until. we have ® X Xk X ¥ “North Dakota to my mind has a great future as a manufacturing state, not in industries related to grain growing alone, but in other lines that I can mention, I am positive that in time there will be a readjustment of the course of railroad traffic that will mean a tremendous advance for this state.”- : 5..............’.....“.......‘......0... ‘no grade’ . and * % £ R matters for the growers of this state to deal 'with.. The present system of grading grain is one established many- years ago. It may have suited the conditions . of the 'grain and milling industry then, but it does not suit the conditions-now, “The millers and grain dealers of Minneapolis did not devise these unjust grades, but they are interested in per- petuating” " them. Commercial grading as practiced at these terminals e 8yS les. in- force . has made no. progress in many ' years, ~-at the Minnesota terminals and: inthe - doubtless because. of the fact that there are great profits for certain large interests in maintaining the present system, ; : PRESENT GRAIN GRADES = ° ARE RELICS OF PAST grain The group of men in the picture includes J. G. Crites, manager of the Equity Exchange, G. A. Thiel, secretary and M. F.reie of the Equity Elevator company of Berlin, An Interview With President E. F. Ladd of North Dakota Agricultural College :.....0..0...'.....0..‘.......QQ.O...........Q........... as bran, shorts and ‘middlings,’ will reduce the difference in value between the low grade and the high grade wheat. It will make ‘the ' low-grade comparatively worth ‘more. “Many years ago, when I did my first work in milling tests in Geneva, New York, bran was worth only $8 a ton. That was with the Hungarian milling process, which left a very much higher proportion of food value in the bran and other mill feed. Bran and other mill - feeds have more than doubled in price since then, but the system of grad- ing wheat has remained practically the same. “But that is not the only loss the farmer suffers between the time his wheat gets to the terminal elevator and when it gets to an ultimate consumer. ROBBING THE FARMER BY MIXING GRADES “I can take the records of the Miane- sota’ elevators and show you the huge discrepancy between their records of -purchases of wheat and their shipments, No. 1 Northern wheat shipped out of the elevator is very different grain from No. 1 Northern as received by the ele- *vator. The elevator man, to say noth- ing of the miller, makes his big profits by the mixing of wheat, a thing he is well able to do by virtue of the fact that the present system of grain grading is obsolete and well adapted to juggling of just ‘this sort. “This is doubly unfair to the producer: The producer is robbed in the sale of his grain and he is robbed again through the bad influence exerted on the price’ ~of his product by this leveling of the grades: through the mixture of differens qualities of wheat to get a grade which will just pass inspection as No, 1. “I think we ought to seek a way to remedy these things by the authority of the state. I can not speak = with authority of the commercial side of the question. I can not say just what we <;ught to do and what we ought not to do. “It seems to me that if the state owned its own terminal storage facilities there would be better opportunity to establish fair and just grades and to get those grades recognized in the world markets than if we attempted to estab- lish a North Dakota . state grading system at ‘privately owned tecrminals,” NOT NECESSARY TO BUILD OUTSIDE OF THE STATE Questioned 'as to whether in . his opinion a state-owned terminal elevator ought to be located wi ] grain terminal markets Dr. the statement quoted near PR ot this drticle. Ladd. made ] thin the state or - outside ‘of it at one of the recognized Sl