The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1860-11-08

/
/ the Great West, referring to the immense ex-
tent Of sountry and the prodieious enterprise
with which it was pcopled and cultivated
| But not till the prcsent season have We
1 learned the true and full significance OF the
1 phrase. These occidental Districts are the
I great west emphaiieailv, as they are now
proving from day TO day by the reports of
| the Incredible productiveness OF the grain
| crops. Once or tslce before we have had
occasion to speak ef tho importance OF the
/ last hsrvest TO the commercial and political
welfare Of the natioa; and yet the more we
! consider it, the moi We are persuaded that
we have failed to impress upon our readers
/ oil the bearings OF the facts.
| The increased value of our exports of do
! mestie produce, from the lst of July to the
| 18th OF October, THE year, over those OF the
whole OF last year, Is shown to be 4,772,-
! 496 the gain being in wheat, -four, and corn,
and the loss being Of cotton, ST. $50, 600, and
| OF pork, $464 900. This export, providing
for the balance due England, by agricultural
products, manfests its effects at once in
decreased demand for the export OF specie,
to the amount OF upward of $40 900, 900, in
the lower ratee Of ex ohange, and the general
calculations of men OF business on both sides
of the Atlantic. Tho foreign creditor looks
claims, and the domestic debtor forwards
grain, instead OF gold, to make good bis in
debtedness.
In the face of this enormous drain Of bread
stuffs, however, no one 10 disposed to feel
uneasy in regard to the prices Of the home
market. Flour commands no more than the
average prizes Of the past ten or twenty years.
The consumer of il MT home is not alarmed
at the statement that England will require
twenty four millions OF bushels, chiefly of
wheat, to supply her deficiencies, or that Ir".
! land, since tho failure OF the potato crop,
will probably need some fifteen or twenty
! millions OF bushels OF corn in addition The
reason is that every one feels secure in the
/ possession OF the ine xhaustibe granaries OF
/ the west. few years ago that vast region
| had scarcely been opened to the wants Of the
world an unusual demand from abroad in
stantly affected our domestic suppl es the
price of -four rese 90 twelve dollars a barrel,
and of corn to nearly two dollars per bushel;
a painful stringancy Of tho market was ap
pretended, and manic more or less severe
was the consequence.
Now, We not only look without fear, but
with confidence and pleasure upon any de-
mand from abroad, because we know that no
demand is likely 10 cripple our own resour.
ees. A an evidence Of tho change, we may
refer 10 the city Of Chicago, which, al the
time OF the lrish famine, was in lie infancy
and struggling for existence, but which now
sends forth in single month more grain
than il did at that time 10 an entire year
From the crop Of corn alone of l8a9 TINT
center has already forwarded fifteen millions
Of bushels, white il to estimated that The
crop of 1850, untouched by droughts or
4 he nv =
OF last wear. Indeed, it may he said that the
State of Illinois alore could furnish within
the next twelve months to the consumers of
the United Kingdom the twenty -four mil.
lions of bushels Of corn, which it s supposed
will be needed, without interfering in the
least with the conditions of the grain market
/ ia the Eastern States.
! Up TO the 5th OF October. we are told by
the reports, Chicago has received 10, T94 ,947
| bushels OF wheat, and 40 ,085 barrels of
| -four; the daily receipts continue TO average
| $50 600 bushels OF wheat, and 4 900 barrels
| OF flour; and, at this rate, carried on TO the
LIST of December, whcn the water Transports
ton may close, the export will rise to seven.
teen millions OF bush Is Of wheat. But after
that, the conveyance Of -four will still be
made by rail, 50 that the shipments Of it
from Chicago this year may be safelysesti
mated ut seven hundred thousand barrels
These items put together will form an aggre-
ca of twenty mtii6ps Of husbels-nearly
eqnivall mt TO the whole demand Of Great
Britain. These extraordinary shipments are
only retarded By the scarcity Of lake tunnage,
and the consequent high price of freights,
the cost OF bringing the corn to Now York
during the period, having often exceeded the
) first eost AT Chicago.
That these calculations as to the future
are not exaggerated, is shown by the admit
ted fact that the SUPP ~ in tho storehouses oil
the farmers is larger at the present moment
than 1T the harvest time Of any Of the three
preceding years. Travellers tell us that the,
are aston,rhed by the stacks of untouched
wheat which still ino the sides of the rail
ways throughout northern and southern Iii
nois and we cannot doubt it, when we To
mombe or that the wages of laborers duriul
: the harvest ranged from one and half q
3 two and u half dollars per diem. At TIL
0 close Of navigation there will still be, W,
. think, from twelve TO fifteen millions of bush
] cls surplus 10 come forward early in tn
0 spring. This, added To the amounts we hav
/ gwen above, ~ill prove eonciusively the abil
J ity of the praircs to provide, through th
= port Of Chicago alone, for the full foreigi
4 demand. Chicago, however, though the lar
| gest, 10 not the only grain shipping port, bu
! being OF itself adequate to meet the prevail
ing wants, there is no occasion for our re
. ferring TO others.
: Cotton, it has been said, is king and n
3 one will dispute, who has observed the cours
OF politics Tor many years past, that cotto
is potentate OF tremendous power. Blu
/ another monarch of trade is rising, iu tn
form OF wheat, not 10 push the elder lnoum
bent from the throne. bur to share with him
!. to some extent, the homage and love OF man
0 kind. The great West is looming up on til
. horzoo,
"Liks new moon,
h,sen mid-noon.1
Cnmmarre ALREADY faels thu heoee oant l.,