The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, January 10, 1921, Page 5

R "~ using their * is brought as the result 6f a preliminary probe - ‘country elevators and: other " ‘ber of commerce -of Minne- .. loans . from' country banks, . ~prices, ‘was exposed in the - Nonpartisan Leader of ' No- ~ Minneapolis ,:Gra\ilvl "‘G‘émblérs‘i Face Federal C harges Chamber of Commerce Cited by Federal Trade Commission— _____ . Lcader _Charges. to Be Probed by Government §|HE grain -ganblers of the Minneapolis -Chamber of Cothmerce, who for years - have been:a law unto themselves, fix- ing prices on the farmers’ grain, fight- . ing the Nonpartisan league and farm- _ers’ 'co-operative organizations ‘and elevators to force the farmer to sell when prices . : were low, at last are to be brought face to face _with the law.: le A _The chamber of commerce, its officers and di- rectors, are summoned by the federal trade com- * - ‘mission to appear before that body at Washington, D..C;, February 7, to answer charges of unfair and illegal’ practices, carried on ever since the time * . when:the laté George Loftus was campaigning through the Northwest for farmer co-operation. - Loftus was branded as a erook by the grain gam- blers and their organs, just as A. C. Townley is now being branded as a crook, but when Loftus died, because he-had not gotten proper medical atten- tion, it-was found that he was almost destitute and ~the farmers of Minnesota and North Dakota set about to obtain a fund to support his widow. control over city and country banks and ing “Let’s Study Up- a Little on * Banking.” - “That the said members of the respondent cham- _ ber of commerce are possessed of great financial power and that by the use theéreof, and with com- - munity of stock owmership, interlocking interests and directorates among themselves, together with the assistance of said chamber of commerce and other so-called regular grain exchanges with inter- locking memberships and intimate community rules, purposes and action, now have and for sev- eral years have had a monopoly in the selling, buy- ing and distributing of grain at Minneapolis, Minn., and within a radius of 100 miles thereof.” 7 'BROKERS CHARGE FARMERS FOR ‘ The ‘Manager Publishing company of Minne- ‘apolis, publisher of the so-called ( “Co-Operative . Farmer and Manager,” and: its officers, are also = - cited to appear before the federal trade commission. This pretended “co-operative” paper, which led the -attack on the late George Loftus, is charged by the federal trade commission with having conspired : with the chamber of commerce to break up the <. Equity Co-Operative exchange and other co-opera- tive enterprises, with which Loftus was connected. John - H. Adams, editor of the “Co-Operative Farmer and Manager,” one of the men charged with conspiracy, is the same Adams who raised the funds federal courts. ASHER HOWARD WILL BE PUT ON GRILL BY COMMISSION " “Another of the individuals cited by the:federal . trade commission and charged with illegal conspir- acy against the organized farmers'is Asher Howard, “author of an anti-League book called “Leaders of the Nonpartisan League,” published and circulated, ‘apparently, at the expense of the organized grain *- gamblers, during the recent campaign, .In this book Howard attempted to prove that leaders of the Nonpartisan league were all Socialists. and" I W. Ws. : : .. The case against the chamber of commerce by investigators of the federal trade commis- sion assigned to investigate charges by north- " western farmers and also charges that ‘the ...grain exchanges - were manipulating wheat _ prices. = Apparently the investigators & found plenty of facts to back up these €‘ (_ “charges. The complaint of the federal Pfl\"’ trade commission covers 16 -closely - / & S ) typewritten pages and if printed in “’é’ full would fill half of the = . /&F reading matter space in this ) b issue of the Leader. 0T Y2 Following are the princi- ' ¢ \{ 4 ' pal charges made by the fed-. 7 "3>>¥ eral trade commission: ~ WA 57 . That members of the cham- ber -of commerce, by holding interlocking = directorates in banks, terminal . elevators, ) & corporations = = “within’ and without = said- chamber of commerce,” have been able to unduly control “country ship-. ‘pers in the manner and meth- od' of both purchasing and disposing of grain? ; “The ‘control by the cham- apolis banks, which-called in =~ - thereby forcing farmers to sell their grain at bottom ~vember 29, under the head- . to fight the North Dakota industrial laws-in the - SERVICES NOT RENDERED .That members of the ehamber of commerce have instituted a system by which exorbitant fees are charged for handling grain, that brokers are com- pelled, under the rules of the chamber, to make charges for switching, inspection, weighing and freight, whether these services are actually ren- dered or: not. > ; S That the chamber of commerce has adopted its own criminal system by which'members who charge commissions less than those fixed by the chamber, or who fail to charge for switching, inspection, weighing, freight, etc., when these services -have not been rendered, can be tried, found guilty and fined from, $250 to $1,000. That the chamber of commerce authorizes the payment of $1,000 rewards to “informers” who will give evidence showing the violation of any of these unfair rules. C i i That the chamber of commerce refuses to admit to membership any co-operative faimers’ organiza- tion which prorates its' earnings back to. the farmers. . TS 1 ‘That since the Equity Co-Operative exchange was founded by farmers of Minnesota, North™ and - South Dakota, under the leadership.of George Lof- tus, the members of the chamber of commerce and the “Co-Operative Manager and Farmer” have been " “engaged in a confederation and conspiracy among 4y In the issue ét‘.Novem’ber other unfair and fll_egglfi Practices. It themselves, entered into, carried out and conducted with the purpose and effect of annoying, embarrass- ing and destroying the business of said competing exchange.” J : _That in pursuance of this conspiracy the chamber & <\ 8\ A ewt =3 & T X = \Vaey SN ) e BB R S Tm -ll‘\.““ ? - 29 the Leader exposed the control of the chamber of commerce over Minneapolis banks, by means. of which farmers’ loans could be called and the farmer compelled to sell his crops when prices were low. Morris has pictured here just how this “squeeze play” is ‘worked. Now the federal trade commission has cited the chamber of commerce to explain this and will be interesting to see what the chamber’s “alibi” will be. of commerce and the paper named printed and cir- culated ‘“false, misleading and unfair: statements concerning such competing exchange, ‘its officers and members * *.* and their financial responsi- ° bility and methods of transacting their said busi- ness; that such statements were so published from time to time in various newspapers, periodicals and pamphlets.” : That traveling solicitors and agents of the cham- ber of commerce and its members also have been engaged, as part of the conspiracy, in making “false misleading and unfair statements” against the Equity exchange (just as the traveling men have been organized to attack the Nonpartisan league.) That in pursuance of this conspiracy members of the Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce “instituted and carried on almost entirely at their own expense during the years 1914 and 1915” three lawsuits ° against the Equity Co-Operative exchange. One of these was brought in the name of the attorney gen- eral of North Dakota, thus showing how the power of the chamber of commerce controlled the political affairs of that state before the Nonpartisan league was organized. - In addition the federal trade commission points out that the chamber of commerce maintains a tele- graphic market service which it supplies generally to “thousands of brokers, hotels, restaurants and persons who are not its members,” but that “pur- suant to the said conspiracy and as part of a gen- eral plan to embarrass said competing exchange” (the Equity), it has refused any service to the Equity and its members and has induced other ex- changes to do likewise. ; It also points out that a systematic boycott has been maintained dgainst any ‘grain handled by the Equity, and cites in full the rules and regulations of the chamber providing for this boycott and fining members who do business with the co-operative in- stitution. % ) .CHAMBER MUST FIGHT FOR ITS LIFE IN 'MINNESOTA The commission charges “that respondents, cham- ber of commerce, its officers, directors and mem- bers, are materially aided in carrying out said con- spiracy and general plan to destroy said competing exchange .* * * by means of contracts and ar- rangements binding country shippers to ship all or the greater part of their grain to the . said chamber of commerce members financing such shippers; . that such contracts and arrangements are made possible. and effective by reason of said respondents’ ‘control of great financial power and by interlocking -in- terests within and without said cham- ber of commerce and used for the pur- pose and with the effect of unduly con- trolling country shippers in the man- ner and method of TIN both purchasing and fi‘,fewg‘%?zm'a disposing of grain. Pvt PWRE . “That by reason of the foregoing facts respondents have been and’ are using unfair methods of ' competition - in = commerce within the intent and mean- ing” of the aci; creating the federal trade commission. In addition the chamber of commerce will have to fight for its existence before the Minnesota legislature this’ winter. Realizing that the price manipulations and fu- ture gambling, forcing the - price of wheat down far be- low its production cost, have made thousands of members for the Nonpartisan league, -some of - the . anti-League members have framed a bill to prohibit “futures” trading by any but actual holders of wheat. ‘With the League and labor. forces supporting this ‘bill: the' chamber will have a ° hard fight for its life, o N Hooret