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Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce buildiné‘. beat down the price of grain in other ways. On August 6 the president of the First National, C. T. Jaffray, sent a letter to country banks in the ninth federal reserve district, urging them to gep their loans to farmers reduced at as early a date as pos- sible, “so that we in turn will be able to help- the movement of farm products to the markets by loans to all grain merchants.” In other words, “collect the money from the farm- er so we can lend it to the speculator.” Did the directors of the First National bank order Mr. Jaffray to write these letters? If so, why? Let’s sece who these’ directors are. Going down the list alphabetically of the directors of the First National we find the name of Earl Brown. Mr. Brown is noted as the “millionaire sheriff” of Hen- nepin county, in which Minneapolis is located. Mr. Brown doesn’t have to be sheriff for the money that is in it. He is a reputed millionaire in his own right, is in the loan and real estate business and besides being a director of the First National is & member of the Mineapolis Chamber of Commerce. CROSBYS AND PILLSBURYS HAVE PROMINENT PLACES A. A. Crane, vice president of the First National, is another director and another member of the Min- neapolis - Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Crane holds his membership on behalf of the bank. F. M. Crosby is the next name we come to on the list of directors. The name has a familiar sound. Mr. Crosby is connected with the Washburn-Crosby company, members of the Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce. C. F. Deaver, whose office is 312 Chamber of Com- merce building and who is also a member of the chamber, is next. 3 Then comes H. P. Gallaher of the Northwest Con- solidated Milling company. : Then “Eventually, Why Not Now”—a trio of gen- tlemen—A. C. Loring, president of the Pillsbury Flour Mills company, A. F. Pillsbury of the Union Terminal Elevator company and Charles S. Pills- bury of the Pillsbury Flour mills, all three directors of the First National and members of the Chamber of Commerce. 3 Also there is John D. McMillan of the Osborne- McMillan Elevator company, director of the First National and member of the chamber of commerce. Also there is E. C. Warner of the Midland Linseed Products company and Frederick B. Wells of the F. H. Peavey Grain company, directors of the First National and members of the chamber of commerce. And finally there is Mr. Jaffray himself, president ‘of the bank, who holds a membership in the cham- ber of commerce on behalf of the bank. Now the Pillsbury Northwest Consolidated and ‘Washburn-Crosby mills naturally want to buy wheat as cheaply as possible, the Midland Linseed Products company wants-te buy flax as cheaply as possible, - < the Union Terminal and Osborne-McMillan elevator companies want to keep their elevators full of grain and the other grain brokers want to buy grain as'. ' cheaply as possible so that they can make as much money as possible when they sell it for export. Do you suppose, when Mr. Jaffray wrote his let- ter, August 6, to country banks in the ninth federal reserve district, urgimg them to get their loans to farmers reduced at as early a date as possible “so ~ that we in turn will be able to help the movement of farm products to the markets by loans to all grain merchants”—do you suppose that the Pillsburys and the Crosbys had suggested to Mr. Jaffray that call- ing in the farmers’ loans would bé a good way to _ reduce the price of wheat for the millers? Or do you suppose Mr. Jaffray just guessed that the Crosbys: and the Pillsburys and the other direc- tors—who elected him to his job and keep him there—would like to have the price of grain reduced and sent the letter out on his own initiative ? i And do you suppose that the other grain traders and speculators on the board of directors, knowing that loans would be called in and the price of wheat lowered, took aavantage of this “inside informa- tion” to sell a few million bushels of wheat “short” —when they knew they could buy the same wheat later at a price 25 or 50'tents a bushel less? OTHER BANKS ALSO CONTROLLED BY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE - But here is a further point of interest. The First National bank is not the only one in Minneapolis well represented on the chamber of commerce. There is, for instance, the Northwestern National, with 12 directors who hold memberships on the chamber of commerce, directly or through their firms. Edward E. Decker, president of this bank, and Theodore Wold, vice president (the same Theo- dore Wold who was.formerly governor of the fed- eral reserve bank), both hold memberships \in the chamber of commerce in behalf of the bank. Other directors of the bank who hold member- . ships are James F. Bell, vice president of the Wash- burn-Crosby company and of the Rocky Mountain Elevator company; John Crosby, president of the Washburn-Crosby company; F. T. Heffelfinger, president of the F. H. Peavey company and the . British-American Elevator company, Ltd.; J. S. Pillsbury, Pillsbury Flour Mills company; T. W. Porter, president of the Minnekota Elevator com- pany; W. A. Ramsey, president of the Minnesota Linseed Oil company; F. C. Van Dusen, vice presi- dent of the Van DuSen-Harrington company, and E. S. Woodworth, president of the E. S. Woodworth g company. Two other directors of the bank who.are affiliated through their companies with the chamber are John Crosby, president of the Washburn-Crosby company, and E. P. Wells, president of the Russe?l- Miller Milling company. WHO WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR CALLING IN LOANS? Three officers and four directors of the Midland National bank of Minneapolis' own memberships in the chamber. The officers are: Charles P. Mills, president; Edgar L. Mattson, vice president, and George F. Orde, vice president. The directors are: W. T. Gooding, president of the Commander Mill company; H. S. Helm, vice president of the Russell- Miller Milling company; J. R, Marfield, president of the Marfield Grain company, and A. L. Searle, Globe Elevator company. Three officers of the Farmers and Mechanics Sav- ings are closely connected with the cham.ber of com- merce. They.are: John Crosby, precident of the Washburn-Crosby company; Alfred S. Pillsbury, vice president of the Pillsbury Flour mills, and F. C. Van Dusen, vice president of the Van Dusen- Harrington company. Mr. Pillsbury and Mr. Van Dusen both hold memberships in the chamber of commerce. Mr, Crosby is represented through this company. This is a Minneapolis bank. We might go down the line similarly with a num- ber of St. Paul banks. But the point is, with all these banks controlled by directors who are mem- bers of the chamber of commerce, do you suppose for a minute that the chamber of commerce said to these banks: “We want the price of grain reduced. You can do it by calling in all the country loans so that the farmer will have to sell his grain immediately, and then lending us the money, so that we can hold the grain until the price goes up again?” You don’t suppose the chamber of commerce did anything like that, do you? ; g Well, if they didn’t, what did happen? | HOW THE SYSTEM WORKS | . COUNTRY CORRESPONDENT mrLs ELEVATAR | Co AINGEUI'SY NYTIWSW ar JaNawvm D3 PNEEL i) CHAMBER BANKE 70 ‘ ' , Nwt<Caon Arewnes Co., RS SURY FLOUR /s =z o : > by} 4 Al 8]0l ® ') Q T o b3 o . m 3|5 &|]| @ oF COMMERCE This diagram shows how thé chamber of commerce, which has 12 members as directors of the_First Na- tional bank of Minneapolis, controls this bank, which in turn controls dozens of small banks in the Da- kotas, Minnesota and Wisconsin. The small banks, obeying orders inspired by the grain gamblers, are now calling in loans and ruining the farmers. ) PAGE SEVEN