The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, August 3, 1916, Page 11

e S a - Good. roads boosters - from all over the state were present Monday, July bridge over the thtle Missouri at Medora. tion' to the scenic Red Trail route. The pictures show the bridge and a scen E Umted States department of ‘agriculture has * discowered another evil of the present grain marketing system. . American grain - has - been and .is -arriving on European markets under grades so unreliable that the Anmnierican farmers’ product is being - discredited in the world’s market.- This has tended to force down the price paid for American grain in foreign markets, where the product of the farmer of the United States has to compete with the reliable and fairly graded grain of the other great . grain exporting countries—Can- ada, Egypt, South America, etc. This condition is probably hxttmg ‘the farmers of North. Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota harder than most other grain growing - districts, because these states produce the finest spring wheat in the world—wheat that, properly and ' fairly graded and unmixed with' the less valuable product of other ‘states, ought to bring top prices and establish a reputation for itself that would assure . much higher prices than heretofore paid the farmers. Instead, the fine spring wheat of this " territory, usually mixed and remixed by the mampulataons -at aneapohs and other gram markets, is arriving in Europe in poor, often rotten condition, and graded so that the European buyer half the time doesn't know what he is buying. , This of course has.prevented the American hard spring wheat having the demand and reputation it by right ought to have in foreign markets, and probably has robbed wheat farmers of untold millions. The grain trust finds it more profit- able to bring up the. grade of poor wheat by adding the necessary amount of Northwest hard spring wheat than it does to keep the product of northwest farmers separate and -fairly graded and thus build up. a demand for this class of wheat to the profit of the ! farmers of thé hard spring wheat states. REPEATED COMPLAINTS : BY FOREIGN BUYERS g ~“For . many years,” says a recent bulletin’ of the United States depart- ment of agriculture, “the Federal government has been receiving serious complaints from Europe relative to the . unsatisfactory quality and ‘condition of gram sshipped from ‘the United States. under cdontract ‘of ‘American’ certificate final’ These complaints = have come from ‘European grain trade organiza- . tions, - grain dealers’ and millers’ asso- - ciations® and 'indiyi importers; they have - formed : basis - of .numerous reports from Amencan d:plomatlc and . States, wrote the followmg to the Umted h The Jtad f?*cx;i ne:xr 24,"when Governor Hanna and other public officials formally opened to traffic the Red Trail The bridge is a great boon not only to transcontinental tourists but to farmers on the slope and forms an important acquisi- e on the Red Trail near Beach ' Giving the Farmer a Black Eye Double Cheat in Wheat Exports Exposed by Department of Agriculture Reports consular representatives abroad, and in,. several instances the dissatisfaction has become so great as to lead to diplomatic communications from embassies of foreign countries.” \ A complaint was made last March by the Italian embassy to the United States state department about the condition in which American wheat was arriving in utterly = discredited in one of ‘the big wheat markets of the world, of course resulting in the hammering down of the price and the consequent loss of untold amounts to American farmers. The wheat mixers and grade manipulators make their principal profit in the mixing and grading game, and “they should worry” about the American farmer and When Rotten Wheat is Shipped to Europe by Greedy Exporters Who Pays the Penalty? The Farmer, Say Uncle Sam’s Diplomats and Grain Experts Italy. News reports contained reports of several shiploads of Amcrican wheat arriving in-Italy in wretched condition; though _gra.ded, as_good wheat and bought as such.” The ]Italian buyers rejected whole shiploads and the contents had to be thrown overboard. ' . The : Italian.. embassy ..in the Umted N Stabes state department. ’ “The . Italian kembasky begs to inform the state department -that:in the last few- months there ’have - arrived in ‘Italy from: the -United States quite a number- of shipments - of wheat which were found to be in very poor condition, largely unfit for consumption, nothwithstanding the fact that they were accompanied by regular k inspection certificates ,issued by competent state . authorities. “These occurrences have created "a most unfavorable impression in: Italian commercial circles, where it ‘ig felt’ that some: American export- ers of ‘wheat have not-been: dealing with that degree of correctness cus- ‘tomary in commercial transactions,” .'This is a polite diplomatic commun- ication from the Italian government to the © American = government. - In plain words it means that American greed and .commercial piracy- have ' manipulated wheat Shipments and grades until the prodnct of the America.u farmer is * the grain - exchanges his product losing prestige and money by low prices. GRAIN CERTIFICATES REGARDED WITH DISTRUST Here . is' another complaint ’ from ! Europe that will be. interesting to. the farmers of the northwest,. who -are pro- . ducing - the finest: wheat in .the world . and - not - - getting - anywhere near . the - price for. it they, deserve.. .- “The - certificates of the inspectors of of the' United States shipping places are considered on *our side with the greatest posmble dis- trust, as they <are not giving the slightest -security- for. good condition of - the grain shipped. From year to year the standard seems to have been lowered, just as it suited the shippers or members of the exchanges.” What chance has the farmer to secure fair prices for his product through European demand and consumption when such distrust of the.American product and grades exist abroad, due, as this . complaint says, to the manipulatio‘ns of “the shippers or members® of the exchanges?” European - buyers want American wheat and will pay a good pnce for it if it is properly graded and in proper condition on arrival. A number of English importers of American grain last winter made formal complaint about. the American grading syStem. They were not getting No. 1 Northern hard spring wheat. when the grade they bought on called fot 1 that, nor were they -getting other ship- ments on the grades called for. SHARP PRACTICES CONDEMNED BY BRITISH BUYERS Speaking of a specific shipment this British complaint said it was ‘“neither dry, nor sound, nor sweet.” The com- plaint continues: “By the export of grossly inferior and improperly graded wheat some United States shippers have secured an immediate advantage on contracts then existing, but the loss of good repute is serious and deplorable. be fleeced with impunity. Buyers naturally base their price on the poorest quality they may receive.” This is the kind of a deal the Amer- ican farmers are getting in Europe . under the present marketing system. Commenting on these and a great . number. of other specific complaints, the United States department of agriculture states that the complaints do not con- cern isolated cases but are representa- tive of /general conditions. This.is what the department says, continuing: “It is evident that after repeated experiences with grain which arrives in an unsatisfactory condition, European importers will not, and do not, bid as high a price for grain covered by certificates, in which there is such a widespread lack of confidence, as they would be willing to bid for the same grain if assured that the grain of the quality indi-- cated by the certificates under the grade rules would be delivered.” Now listen to the following from the department “It is likewise clearly evident- that this lack of confidence in American grain certificates is of the highest importance to our grain producers, in* that the price they receive for their grain at the country elevator is, in a large measure, under normal conditions influenced by quotations from Liverpool.” - i THEIR IDEA The Fargo Blade says every farmer who wants a side-track at his farm can' get it from the Nonpartisan railroad commission. Jud is sometimes wrong in his calculations. The farmers are' not going to take a leaf out of the book of the old-line ‘politicians and make the, state offices .a means for the promotxon for private graff. It is not their idea. to. use the public’s money - for them-" . selves but to .get real service for: the’ whole people at the least cost.—NEW ‘ROCKFORD STATE CENTER. . A BIG QUESTION for YOU to Dec1de—See Page 24 of This Issue PAGE ELEVEN Pl Buyers can not . & & g