, 1877-01-01

TuE RANGE or THE MARK4r
has been Gnu.uaily small t,c variation T. prizes T,
course OF tho market in 1876, at least during the
first ten months, was governed more BY calru.
lation, less affected By what Is usually called
speculation, and ruled by fewer men. than In
aay former year since Tie War. T. has ~ bcsn s13
widely spoken Of as manipulated deal Al!
the was through; but tho movement Of The oid
crop seems to hare been perfectly lc1lttlnasc
one: Early in last winter certain PROMINENT
they .nw that the consumption 81 corn vas
capable OF being Indefinitely Increased IN Eu-
rope, u supplied on attractive terms. They SAN
that tho farmers Of Englaud, Ireland, and
tic % value @ oi corn ios iced, and become CON
ylnccd that with luw-prfced corn they can fattcn
stock mnch more eheaaply than the meat can bo
procured from tue United states. These Pr par
surplus OF the West was no greater than could
be successfully handled ut mulesatc prices, even
I there were no material increase in the Sew
EnS'n a eahs nod qna Fue serS low j. II s
especially il tho moving part OF the
corn crop should pass through few hands, so
shippers, In which cyent carriers would have
ltttn voice In the establishment Of freight rates.
The increase in tho demand for corn In tho
British Isles during the past few ycars, and the
fcsl Them that il corn could hu laid down In
Great Britaln Ut cGs per quarter, steadily md
continuously, thcrc. would be a demand for
ali TINT euuld be forwarded thithcr. On this
esttrnate thcy decided to buy alt corn offered,
50 long as they could make u profit On tt at Cos,
C. F. 4: I, to liverpool; and made some large
contracts to 1ay 1t down thcre at that figure.
These o'le!a were readily taken at frat, buyers
that they could work oil untoltf quantities.
at something abovc that price. The outlook
was certainly u favorable one for them; an.l. IN
England, Ireland, and France, extraordinarily
largo quantities wcre absorbed, taking the place
Of other and more expensive feed. But the
task was greater than had been bargalncd for.
A steady demand In this city. which was ncees-
iarecr M quantities. than lad been ssckoned on, u
shorn BY tho large Increase in tho volume OF
receipts In this city, md the offerings on tho
other side of the Atlantic were 50 much In ex-
fell to o5s on lots IN good condition, and so1no
parcels which had become moro or less
heated In the passage were sacrificed
At 10Sf2es per tsg ponnds. stu, tho snlp,
frcjghts l,clng maintained at very low point,
| with comparatively little competition from
other shippers, they ~cso able 70 operate In
such manner that the losses Of tho season, on
cQunlea By the gains on the favorable turns.
| and there was moderate profit On tile work Of
the year. Tie difficulties OF the situation
considerably increased ny the dasts tat
keeping as hud been calculated on, and was
therefore rushed forward to market very freely,
while tho poor condition Of several cargocs
nnllo transatlantic buyers less willing to take
hold than they would otherwise have bcen,
which caused a faillng-oG In the British demand
After the close Of navigation the movement
was slow. Tho new corn canc forward 40 taFl-
| lily as TO induce fcars Of d coruer OIL tho light
stocks Of old In December, aud the price for
that month rose to q premium, which kept the