The daily Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1878-1???, 1879-11-08
LONDON LETTER.
Regular Correspondent,
| DN-nn,. nptphar !


lie IN the corn trade last week Prices rose
some two shillings and quarter in the case
of parcels suitable for milling, and all over
that is to say, taking good and bad gram
togethcr-thcrc was a rise of eight pence
and quarter. Barley, too, more than
shared with wheat the curious upward
movement" Grain Of good mating quail
ity, it seems, is very scarce; so much so that
masters are not able to get on with their
work for the year, through deficiency IN
the supply Of the raw material. What is
true of wheat and barley seems alsoto hold
good with regard to oats; and for this rapid
rise in prices 1t is not easy to account.
Some authorities hold that the movement
is due to consumphye rather than a spec
ulative demand yet it is noteworthy that
in the London market at any rate, country
milers have been the most eager dealers,
the great milowners of the town holding
back, and waiting to see what will turn
up They appear TO doubt the permanence
of this rise in prices, and some of them seem
to look upon it as the result Of not very
rational speculation. There is, indeed,
great doubt as TO whether the high rise will
be maintained; for, certainly, though the
supply of English wheat in the market on
Monday was small it was very much fuller
and of better quality than during the pre-
ceding week. Side by side with the re-
markable increase in prices, we see statist-
cal statements published to the effect that
the imports from America have fallen off
and show signs Of something very like stop
page. Lord George Hamilton the other
night, in his Uxbridge speech, Lard great
stress on this fact, and inferred from it that
bright era Of hope was dawning for the
British farmer. Such expectations, how
ever, if fulfilled, would hardly be to the
advantage Of the consumer, for a failure in
the American supply would make every
man, woman, and child IN England feel the
effect of the bad harvest Yet though signs
are certainly apparent Of falling off IN the
Russian supply, there is no sufficient evil
dence of failure on the part of the Amcri-
can Weld ofbreadstuff. Even if there be a
seeming decrease in the deliveries of Amer
lean wheat, il can be accounted for in a
simpler way, since the prevalence of con-
trary winds has prevented the arrival Of
corn-laden ships bound for the otf-coast
markets.
When, however, two faces are
considered; first, that the Russian harvest
is supposed 10 be below the mark; and
secondly that the American supply is eX-
pected to fail. The extremely rapid upward
movement in the price Of corn seems far
less surprising, The Spectators who study
the fluctuations of the Russian trade most
closely, would naturally be eager to buy
up as much of the American produce as
they can. The growers who fancy that tho
American shipments TO this country are
going to cease, are inclined to hold oveI
their stock until they can dispose of it adj
vantageously People who must buy ir
like manner, are apt to purchase in panic
fearing that q. time of dearth is coming
when they will only be able to get grain a
vastly enhanced prices. All these causes
aided by the low rate OF dscount-usually
a strong stimulant to reckless speculation
have probably been at work, and they
would acc5unt for the upward leaps and
bounds of prices in the corn market. How
far the data on which the spectators arr
founding Their calculations are trustworthy
aiior,o IAN interesting topic for inquiry. |
will be noticed that the one idea common
TO the strategy of buyers, growers and spec
ula,ors alike, is that America, in some wa,
: or another, will not be able to send III
, amount Of breadstutfs that shall be wanted