St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-04-22
EUROPE'S SOURCE OF SUPPLY.
''Rigolo's" Gloomy Predictions Re-
garding the Future of Ameri-
can Wheat.
Opinions on the Subject by Prominent Chi
cago Operators.
Especial Telegram to the Globe. |

to Rigolos dire prediction for the failure of
American wheat: In its sin and out of
| Wall streets article the New York Sun this
morning presented some alleged startling
discoveries regarding the decline and fall of
the American, and particularly the Chicago
wheat markets. The effect of this article up
on certain representative members of the
board of trade and their opinions of the de-
auctions thereon were hastily noted this
morning and are given below.
The main force OF the article was directed
against Chicago spectators, and portrayed
Vividly the supposed fallacy of their hopes
for the future of American wheat. The
growing productiveness of India and Aus
tralia was enlarged on and numerous figures
quoted, together with the various reasons
why it was much cheaper and more con-
venient for Europe to get her supply of bread
stuff from India or Australia than from
America. The article acknowledges that the
highest grade of American wheat is superior
to that of Indian or Australian production,
but as an offset to this shows that the average
yield in those countries is more than double
that of this country. The difficulties here
tofore encountered in manufacturing -four
from tropical wheat had now been overcome
by machinery especially devised to meet that
contingency.
1.-THE advantages which all these countries
have over the United States in the grain
markets of the world, continues the article,
''are therefore incontestable, and it is only
pigheadedness that makes people still think
that wheat is still chep at 81 a bushel and
that Europe cannot get along without our
supplies. The wheat question was till now
simply question of transportation. Every
| new mile of railroad built in India Australia
and Russia brings several thousand bushels
into the market, and now it seems that the
Argentine Republic and South America are
sending large cargoes of wheat to Europe
| too.'
Mention is also made in the article that in
these competing, wheatgrowing countries
the masses consume no part of their product
but subsist chiefly on rice and millett; also,
that the cost there of producing wheat is
only about 36c, Coo in the Red River valley
and S0090c in the older states. The subject
is brought to a conclusion with the following
statement:
'All this does seem, however, to concern
the Chicago spectators. They say now,
barring the foreign demand, we have not
enough wheat for home consumption. Not
only is this absolutely false, but the fact that
the people at large don't buy wheat, but buy
| -four, and that there is more flour in the
markets than the millers and merchants
know what to do with settles this argument.
Mr.. A. M. Wright was the first man APP
preached this morning, and his expressions
were substantially as follows: s'The Sun ar
ticle probably exhibits as good q knowledge
| on the part of its writer Of the conditions set
| forth therein as is at the command of the
average Chicago Spectator who is short
large amount of wheat. The whole article is
well constructed bear argument; otherwise
| it doesn't amount to much. So far
as the growing productiveness of India
and Australia is concerned, it is
probably not in excess of the increasing
consnmptive demand. A few nuggets, more
or less, discovered in the Coeur d'Alene mines
are no more likely to make gold cheaper
commodity than is the com
petition of India and Australia in
| the wheat market probable to cheaper
that staple article. There is one thing that
never become dangerous rivals of the tenn
perate zones in the raising of wheat The
quality of the product of the
temperate zones never has been
and never can be superseded
There is as much difference between our
! wheat and that of India as there is between
woodland shoddy. Some people cannot tell
wool from shoddy, and the Sun writer is APP
parentIy one of them. The atmospheric con-
| ditions, so favorable to the growth of wheat
in the Uniled States, are utterly wanting in
the tropics, and the result is that while
American wheat is of heavy weight and full
of vital properties, that raised in India for
instance is light and brittle and yields spar
| ingly of flour that cannot compare with ours
in point of the actual amount of nutriment
contained in it. The small amount of
knowledge exhibited by the writer Of that
article is apparent from the way he talks
about rice and millet. 1t is not to be sup
posed that the inhabitants of any country
| will long subsist on primitive and inferior
! diet after they have become able to compete
successfully with other countries whose chief
product is their chief article of subsistence.
Then it is very foolish to talk about machin-
cry that can successfully reduce in
ferior wheat to superior flour. You can't
old story about the difficulty of making
whistle out pigs tail. That story applies
very well on this subject. We have wheat
very similar to that raised in India and Aus
tralia; 1t is called rye wheat, but the millers
wont look at it. There is another thing to
| be considered. England cannot always
transport her wheat for nothing. 1t will
take her ten years to build railroads for the
| conveyance of wheat enough to seriously in
convenience our market, and they couldn't
live from lack of other freight. Whatever
happens they have always the need of large
quantities of our wheat to mix with the
other in order to make it of any use to them.
If the New Workers have got caught in the
Chicago market, it is no more than natural
they should squirm, but all their talk will
not materially alter the actual condition of
affairs"
Mr.. Chas. Schwartz was not seriously dis
turbed in mind after having read the San
article He looked upon the statements con-
tanned in it as mostly conjectures, and while
not prepared with the necessary stastics to
refute them, he believed the situation was
hardly as bad as predicted. ''It is well
enough said Mr.. Schwartz, ''to make al
| most any kind of statements about Indian
wheat. Positive data ON the subject is rather
! difficult to procure. believe that wheat has
been too high, and have no doubt that when
| things adjust themselves, as they are bound
to do before long, the average price will range
lower than in the past. Improved means of
distribution effectually prevent the mainte-
nance of high prices in anything, so it is
pretty safe to conclude that
high prices for wheat is a thing of the past.
Mr.. Schwartz believing that the subject
merited the attention of some one better
posted than himself, and was somewhat IN
] willing to put forward wrong opinions.