Helena weekly herald. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1867-1900, 1882-11-16
AMERICAN COMPETITION.
European Producers Driven from Their
Own Markets. An Interesting
Problem.
TSt. Petersburg Zagranichny Nestnek.

st. Petersburg Zagranichny Vestnek.
The competition of the United States in
| the grain trade and in other agricultural
products is now rightfnlly regarded as gen
eral European question of the greatest inn
portance. Learned men have always won
dered at the rapid and unprecedented de-
yelopment of that country; but lately even
practical men, European farmers, have begun
to study it, for American grain, meat and
cattle fill the European markets, and threat
en- the farmers with ruin, or at least impov-
erishment
| Russia, Austria and the countries on the
Da nube, which used to supply Western Eu-
rope with grain, now find themselves in a
very serious position. Formerly these coun-
tries paid for the goods they imported with
their grain, cattle and raw materials. But
what will they do now in view of the Amer
ican competition in these articles? How
will Russia, for instance, now pay the per-
centage on her immense foreign loans? And
what will become of her 100000 farmers
in case the European markets are closed to
their products by American competition
We Russians, too, must study the agriculture
of our transatlantic friends.
Since 1850 the population of the United
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wheat and corn has increased five times.
Their surplus of grain they have sent to
Europe. The grain market of England is
now in the hands of the Americans. They
send their grain also to France and Germany.
Even at Fiume, the Austrian grain export
ing port, American grain has appeared Our
own alcohol distillers are beg inning to i'm
port American corn. 1t is evident that the
A or hv DRIVING their
competitors from the European grain market.
The Americans have perfect system of
transportation. To their lakes and rivers
they have added numerous canals and num-
berless railroads. The grain freight from
Chicago to Hamburg is lower than from
Pesth (Austria) to Hamburg. The grain
market of our neighbor, Germany, is more
and more occupied by our transatlantic
friends. In 1880 we furnished to Germany
"a per cent of wheat, and the Americans "a
per cent; of barley we furnished 10 per
cent and the Americans % per cent; of corn
we furnished 2 per cent and the Americans
% per cent.
Now, what are the particular circumstan-
ces which enable the Americans to drive
away European grain producers from Euro
pean markets? 1t would be quite wrong to
attribute their success chiefly to the natural
qualities of the country of the Yankees. In
our opinion the free American citizen of a
free country has done more for his own well
fare than nature has done for him. The
Americans hold their destinies in their own
hands. Their government costs them very
little The soil tillers can get plenty of
good land. They are educated, all of them.
They have no huge standing army to con-
sumo their substance They save mans la
Dor by substituting for it the forces and ma
ture of machinery, thus preserving him for
the field of labor in which there can be no
substitute work. This is the pic
ture that the country of the Yankees pre-
sents, and the European countries are on the
other side of the medal. Young America is
going, in good earnest, to thrash old Europe.