, 1881-09-25

] HIS SiiONS all iFtf;lSt llCEEASe Ill Tile
prices oil Sept. 20, 1851, of II per cent over
the prices Of these same commodities at the
slime date lust year.
| Tie cause Of this advance is, primarily, OF
course, the asccriaineI deficiency III the pro-
tluctlon this year of some Of the articles, and
| the abundance Ut money which authorizes
extravaEant Investments for speculative pur-
poses. Tic prices Oh grain in the Chicago
| market, including the cost Of transportation
to New York, are greater than the same can
be sold for III that city, aud still the sales in
this city continue to be enormous. Orders
from st. Louis and various other points IN,
the West are Increasing every day, showing
that I'LL abundance of money and confidence
in Il Further rise IN prices IS general.
Last year 1T this timo Germ was selling ut
various central points in Iowa anil elsewhere
fDr 70 cents bushel; while today corn is
purchased ut these SAINT places ut 81 cents
per b'lsIel. How much is uue to The antici-
patcd large reduction in production and to
Ill actual scarcity and to the great volume
Of money seeking investment as 4 specuia-
tion VIC cannot say, but the wonderful rise
in prices is 4 reality with which consumers
arc already painfully acquainted. The rise
in the prices of the articles named, and SYM
pathetically in all other commodities which
enttr into genera! use, averages 33l per cent,
Il most liberal advance III the cost Of living.
The shipments of grain by Luke have largely
fallen off during the last ten days, aMl this
to All extent that some few vessels have
already retired from the trade. The prices
here forbid shipments until prices at the
East shall have risen proportionatcly. This
shows that the grain, instead of going for
ward, Is held Ill the West there being money
enough in this city alone to hold the whole
Western crop. Ilis grain is stored all over
tile West waiting for an advance in price.
The rise In American grain has created a
market for the sale Of Russian and other
European wheat in the markets supplied
ordinarily from this country, This has i'll
terfcrel with the demand for our grain,
and, Of course, with the sale of our surplus.
Whether the American surplus can find sale
after the Russian surplus shall be exhausted
is tn be determined hereafter. 1t is certain. |
however, that our high prices have opened the
markets for the lowcr-priced Kussiin wheat, |
which will he bought in preference to the |!
American.
1t should he remembered that even in arti- |
cles of food any serious increase in their
cost will directly cause reduction in con- |
SUMPTION. An increase Of 40 per cent ,i the !
price OF wheat will force consumers tn use
rss bread of that description. In Europe
lie average means OF tie people is limited,
>e'il2 the Saline from Year to year. Their tx
pendltlres for food and other Necessary arti-
lies is, therefore, the same, and when tho |
'rlce Of bread is increased H. 10, or 90 per
:ent the quantity Of bread they can pur-
'llasc can only be in proportion to the means
q purchase. The foreign consumption or
1lnerlcan wheat last year WAS proportionel
q its Gust as compared With the means uf
'urcaase, and did not mark the number of
usiiels needed to meet IN absolute want;
I'D it Is likely that the consumption this
ear, with wheat 80 per cent higher in price,
Iill show great reduction in the number of |
'usiaeIs.
While the people of the cities and towns OF
he country who are hot engaged in a.ricut-
re are experiencing This great Increase in
he cost OF living, the farners-the men who !
rottlcc the wheat, the corn, the oats, and ;
0tatoes, the pork aud the beef and the but :
er and e5Gs, and all the other articles me,-
oned in the list-are gathering in the proiit
lie partial failure Of crops, rs compared
it'll l>last year, is immensely compensated by I
le present prices. Men in Iowa who had =,
vcragc crops of 'corn-forty btIsl,p;, I
! the acre-and who sold it prolitably at 20 ,
,rts ner' busheI, cln endure the llardslips 7
crop yielding only all average Of twenty ,
'e bushels I'LL acre when they can sell the |
llnc at their doors at 50 cents per bushe}. I
espite tie partial loss Of crops (and, III in {