Jeffersonian Republican. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1840-1853, 1847-06-03
From the Philada. Daily Chronicle.
The Flour Speculation.


There are few matters of more practical i'm.
porance to every body, Than the excitement
which prevails in The grain and flour market.
Upon i, depends the size of every mans loaf
There are many, to be sure, 10 whom that is Of
comparatively small Importance but there are
thousands also, whose circumstances in life
render it otherwise, and they feel most deeply
interested in the fluctuations of the market
We have heretofore shown that those Guclua.
tons have been, in several instances, the resu.
of sheer speculaIioH, and that TO this cause wo
are largely indebted for he high prices OF flour.
Upon The arri,al Of each of the steamers from
England. The state of the markets abroad haYs
been ielegraphed from city 10 city, and The pub,
lie quotations Of prices have been each time ac,
companed with pretended priUate edeiees few
hours later, announcing farther rises IN prices,
and additional briskness in demands. This i
the scheme of the speculalors in flour, 10 run
up prices here, which they have each time
ceeded in accomplishing
For instance. the public accounts by the
steamer Caledonia, in the beginning of the
present month, reported -four at 80 to 40 shil-
Iings per barrel. This was an improvement Oh
previous prices, and therefore flour took con-
siderable rise on all our markets. IL was af-
terwards said, however, on the authority of pri-
uate aduiceS, that on Monday the l9lh Of April,
the day on which the steamer sailed, prices in
Liverpool had risen 10 42 shilhngs. This gave
TO our markets another upward progress.
few days afterwards another speculative letter
was published in some Of the newspapers, da-
led at Liverpool, on the 10Th Of April, express,
sing an opinion by the writer, that by June or
July, The scarcity would be so great in Liver
pool as to run the price there up TO 60 shil!ings
or more. This Of course produced farther
rise In our markets.
The Britannia arrived al Boston, on the 18th
ult., with two weeks later intelligence. The
commercial news broug ht by her represents
that after the sailing of the Cambria, Hour had
declined TO 3S shiings, but had again rallied
But we hear nothing abou, the prices having
been 40 10 40 shillings as stated in the private
advices. Ii is announced, however, that
ther rise had taken place, and up went The mar
kets again, higher than before A day or two
elapsed, and then appeared another edition Of
private adUieeS, dated al Liverpool, on the day
the Britannia sailed, professedly from the most
reliable sources. These announce new ex-
element in the London market. on the day pre-
vious; that purchasers had appeared from the
continent, and that -four had gone up to 45 shi-
lngs; and that the best household. in sacks,
had risen 10 equal SO shlIings per barrel. The
same private adrices predici, also, higher prices
before harvest! Flour was jerked up dollar
a barrel. in consequence, aud the specul4IoFs
came off, of course, right side up
Such are the siratagems 10 which this odious
speculation has given play, and to which the
people are no doubt indebted for the last rise of
one dollar per barrel, in The market price of
flour. few days more will prove whether or
not we are right in this conjecture aud the
people may then satisfy themselves. by the
next arrival of English news, how far The pr-
vate advices TO which we have referred, are
borne out by facts, and how far they have been
manufactured for the purposes of those interest
ed in the flour trade. Ii is worth while 10 OBJ
serve and test this point
Doubtless from the same sources have ema-
mated most of the croakngs about the forhcon-
ing crops, on this side of the Atlantic This
Is, 10 be sure, an annual business-to some ex-
tent, and one, therefore which is better under
stood than the other. This season, however.
has witnessed decided improvement in the
croakings Of former ones, and the cries of
" scarcity" and "poor prospcct' are likely to
increase in proportion as they may serve to
drive flour up, in the market. Flour speculation.
is just now one of the mania's Of the day.