The Dallas weekly herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1885, 1875-08-07
GALyESTON'S

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.
GALyESTON'S OPPORTUNITY.
The merchants Of Galveston d,
not appear to be alive to the i'm
portance of securing the grain trad
Of Northern Texas, and rs yet W,
near of no effective steps bein!
taken in that direction. 1t is u ricl
harvest which New Orleans seems
likely to garner, unless Galveston
shows more enterprise than she ha'
yet done.
Tho Galveston NcnS some days
ago, in treating this subject, con
fcsscd that rs yet there is no mar
let for grain in Galveston, and says
t-that one must be created. But il
does not point out how this is to be
done. The local consumption Of
! -four is, of course, too small tc
afford u market for more than the
hundrcdth part of the wheat which
will be shipped this year from Dal.
las alone. Then, it must be for the
supply of the foreign demand that
Galveston, if ever, is to become IL
grain market, and there is always
more or less demand for wheat in
Liverpool and New York,
But the truth is, that at
present, Galveston is unpre.
pared, in the most vital particu
lar, for the Inauguration of any such
tradc-She has not the men, qualified
to conduct such Il business success.
fully. Her merchants and business
men. know all about the cotton
trade from A to Z, but they are,
with few exceptions, profoundly ig-
norant of the whole subject of the
grain trade, and scarcely know
even its classifications.
Asa proof of this. we will merely
cite the fact that three weeks ago
Galveston dealers rated our Dallas
oats as inferior, and fixed the price
at 40 to 40 cents, when New Or.
leans dealers, being experienced in
the business, found them superior to
Western oats, and worth from GO
to 20 cents per bushoI.
This is not to be wondered at,
for the development of this enor-
nous grain trade has been so sud-
den as to be n genuine surprise all
round the compass; and of course
scarcely y anybody was prepared for
it. ST. Louis which had already an
immense grain trade, conducted by
men of lcng experience and large
capital, and regulated by n Grain
Exchange, was botter prepared to
take hold of our North Texas sur
plus, and has done so successfully.
New Orleans, with her less perfect
organization, and slower means of
is eagerly reaching
out for her share, and when she
railroad connection with
our net work Of roads, will get it;
and unless Galveston besters her
self will absorb hers also. Should
this be the case, its loss will involve
the loss of the brilliant opportunity
she now has of controlling the coffee
trade Of the South, Southwest and
West.
Before the war the little city of
Richmond, Virginia, hundred and
fifty miles from the ocean, and with
out shipping, sprung into such sud-
den importance us to nearly COM
mand the coffee market of the AT.
Iantic States. Ont of the profit of
This trade, she built aud owned
ocean steamers and considerable
feet Of sail vessels, and was rapidly |
increasing her population and
wealth when the war came on. The |
secret of this sudden and solid pros
perity was tho monopoly she enjoy
I'd of the -four markets of South |
The Richmond -four was
made from the wheat grown in the
region lying along the Blue Ridge,
rom the Roanoke TO the Potomac,
md was found to have certain
of which the North
,rn and Western wheat is deficient,
preserving the flour from deteriora-
ion in tropical and equatorial Amer
ca. While the war was in progress,
If course, this market had to be sup
Piled from other sources. Balti-
more fell heir TO the lions share of |
L, and has retained it ever since,
her the undisputed mistress
Of the coffee trade of the States east |
Of the Allegheny mountains. Rich
mond is fcebly striving for her lost |
prize, but the metal of Baltimore is
loo heavy for her at such short
range.
There is no doubt that Texas
wheat, in the necessary qualities Of
1ryness and weight, with less
starch and more gluten than ordi-
nary western grain. will be folhd
equal, If not superior TO the hest
Blne Ridge, or South Nonttain,