The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, August 18, 1919, Page 3

In the interest . of a square deal for the farmers Norn VOL. 9, NO. 7 A artigan Teader -Official Magazine of the National Nonpartisan League A magazine that dares to print the truth ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA, AUGUST 18, 1919 .WHOLE NUMBER 204 A $2,000,000 Loss in Grain Shipping North Dakota Taking Steps to Protect Farmers From Big Losses in Car Weights—Railroads Making Protests ' Bismarck Bureau, Nonpartisan Leader. VERY farmer knows that he loses on the weight of his grain when it is shipped to market. In North Dakota the loss averages from™ six to twelve bushels to the car. Last year, it is esti- mated that 146,897 cars were shipped out of the state. A ¢ : loss of 12 bushels and 30 pounds to the car, as reported by one line elevator company, means a shortage of 1,836,112 bushels in the differ- ence between the local and the terminal weights. Ever since J. A. McGovern became deputy inspec- tor of grain in North Dakota three years ago, he* has been studying this question. It was at once ap- parent that this great quantity of grain could not leak from the cars. It simmered down, finally, to a question of fair and efficient weighing. : So, at the last session of thé legislature, a bill was passed, one section of which reads: “The ~ commissioners shall- have the power to order and require the installation of track scales by common carriers at all points in the state where the same are deemed to be necessary and to enforce rea- sonable -regulations for the .weighing of cars and freight.” The board of railroad com- | ‘HRVE 1 FOOND - NOTHING . To FEAR missioners of North Dakota, IN THE armed with that law, called a | NONPARY(SAN conference at the capitol July - LEAGLE 22.. Every railroad entering the state had a representative there. Some of them had two. or three, such as a scale in- spector, a claim agent and an attorney. Local elevator men and managers of flour mills also attended and, together with the state officials concern- ed, threshed out the prelimi- naries of the matter. McGOVERN GIVES FACTS TO MEETING Mr. McGovern, who recently has ‘taken . up the duties of manager of the mill and ele- vator association, and is now at work on plans for the state system of marketing - and manufacturing wheat, was un- able_to be present. However, “he submitted all the facts he “had gathered in a letter to the commissioners. “This shortage has been rec- ognized by grain men for many years,” he wrote, “and has been handled in many ways by them. Some prefer to file claims against the transportation companies, some prefer to make up the shortage through weights; that is, they make the producer stand the short- age by taking a certain per cent out of each load that is weighed into the elevator. ‘The grain inspection department of this state has insisted at all times that correct weights be ~“given, and has published warn-: ~.ings against this practice, and When the old-line newspaper complains t has had to cancel licenses on account of short weights, * * * “J. ‘H. Bell, traveling grain inspector for the Great Northern railway, called at the grain inspec- . tion department a short time ago and stated that there was filed against the Great Northern railway company over $600,000 in claims for shortage in grain. ; - “There is another phase of this question that is, in my opinion, a very serious one, and it is one that has been called to my attention many times during - the last three years. Many of the buyers of ele- vator companies have been arrested for embezzle- ment, and many of them threatened with arrest for this kind of shortage that we are discussing here today. Men of unsullied character have had the stigma of embezzlement attached to their names by the fault of another. . . “The remedy, as I see it, is to have track scales installed at different stations within the state, and state weighmasters appointed by the I : AND BOTH ARE RIGHT! I THE NONPARTISAN LEAGUE HRS A. KICK To (T THAT] _ PAGE THREE . —Drawn expressly for the Leader by W. C. Morris. hat. the Nonpartisan league hurts business, it doesn’t mean legitimate business, North Dakota business institutions haven’t been hurt. business that wasn’t square, that wasn’t fair either to its employes or its patrons, was not pampered by the last legislature, But even they didn’t dare ask that the eight-hour law, . the minimum wage law or any of the other bills of that kind be referred on June 26. state inspector of grades, weights and measures to weigh these cars and issue certificates of “weights. “This would be to the interest of transportation companies as well as producers. It would place a car of grain for shipment on the same basis as other commodities. To start this season, I would suggest the following stations where track scales should be installed: more, Lakota, Devils Lake, Rugby, Minot, Stanley, Max, Drake, New Rockford, Valley City, Fargo, Wahpeton, Fairmount, Oakes, Wishek, Lisbon, Sel- fridge and Hettinger.” MANY TOWNS ASKING FOR TRACK SCALES < The places named by Mr. McGovern are junction points or places where the railroad lines leave the state. mission was designed to discuss the necessity for track scales and the most suitable places for them. . Several more isolated towns have made application for scales, but the cost is prohibi- tive of installing them in any be of general use. The cost of a set of track scales, weighing the loaded cars of grain, varies from WOouLD MAKE A/ $9,500 to $13,000, depending PIE DRIVER {}#“on the amount of trackage nec- essary. e : Early in the meeting it be- came apparent that the rail- roads did not take kindly to the idea of béing compelled to buy track scales. - One representa- ministration stated that often. shippers receive returns from terminal markets greater than they claimed to have loaded into the cars. He also observ- ed that on shipments to the great terminal elevators, the buyers did not have the cars swept, and as a result from two to four bushels of grain was left in each car. Inasmuch as the terminal elevators pay only for the amount of grain farmer. John N. Hagan, commission- “received many complaints, and “criticized the railroad rule that all cars should be put in shape - by the shipper. £ “Every bushel of grain leav- weighed,” said Commissioner - Hagan, “When I sell a car of cattle they ought to be weigh- ed. The grocer likes to weigh his -products before they go to a man’s residence. I do not see weighed before it leaves the state, especially more so on ac- count of the chances the ship- per takes. “My department regularly receives reports from elevators and individuals, and in check- ing these over with some of But the Grand Forks, Ardock, Lari- ° The conference called by the railroad com- - place except where they would taken in, this loss goes on the: ing North Dakota ought to be .. (Continued ‘on page 14) ° tive of the federal railroad ad- - | er of agriculture and labor, re-. _ ported that his department had why wheat should not be - - ]