Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1890-11-27
HARDWARE INSTEAD OF WHEAT
What Exports Americans Must Substitute
for Farm Products.
New York HardWar,

new 1Orh ndTuHdFe.
The imports of flour from the United
States at a single Brazilian port (Sac
Pedro) declined in a recent twelve months
$500, 900 pounds The people there have
begun to import wheat and make THEN
own -four, and the next step doubtless will
be the growth of enough native wheat tC
supply all demands. Indeed, nothing is
more probable than that South America
will, at no distant day cease to draw upon
the outside world for b-eadstuffs. Mean
while Russia and India are threatening
to displace American wheat in the markets
Of Western Europe. Ali of this need not
alarm our farmers, however. 1t long has
been the fashion to discuss our exporta.
ton of wheat as if upon that depended the
prosperity of the American farmer, where
as IN comparison with the immense ag-
gregate Of farm products, it really cuts a
small figure. There are even now we'll
Informed authorities who expect to
see every bushel OF wheat grown in this
country needed for home consumption, Just
as the great state of Illinois, which once
bOasted for being ''the granary Of the Ma
ton, now falls short of supplying all her
own population with breadstuffs. The
farmers should Welcome the change which
increases on American soil the number of
possible consumers of their surplus wheat,
for the same classes will also consume
and make profitable the growing of many
minor farm products which cannot be ex-
ported.
1t is vain hope that reciprocity or
any other legislation can make a market
for "a single bushel of wheat" abroad
No country which can grow It's own wheat
will ever want ours, except to make up a
deficiency now and then. F0rty-five years
ago, Robert J. Walker, then our secretary
of the treasury did much to get the policy
adopted of trying to make market abroad
for American wheat. The result was to
stop the building Of furnaces and rolling
mills and to close hundreds of those al
ready existing. while the expectation of
breadstutf5 declined, during five years.
more than two-thirds. 1t is plain that
our country has been more successful in
making home markets than foreign
market for grain.
The problem of the period is what shall
be exported instead Of wheat More than
half the world is just becoming fully
awakened to the need of other manufaciur-
ed wares than knives and cotton goods,
and many new fields are fresh for the de-
velopment of trade This is understood
by the manufacturers of Great Britain, who,
as soon as a new industry is established
in the United States, begin at once to
look about for a new market for their dis
placed surplus products. For instance,
the Iron and Coal Trades Review (London)
is of the opinion that within year tins
valuable market" will have been lost to
tina British tin-plate manufacturers, but
it counsels them to keep up courage, be
cause ii may be possible to create new de-
mands for tin-pate in China ard India.
The use of tin for tea chests has been sug-
gested already.
The American manufacturer may rest as
sured that long after South America ano
Australasia, and even Africa, have be-
come Independent of the rest of the worlo
on the food question they will remain
buyers of foreign factory products. Tn
contest Of the future for export trade vii
not lie between the farm laborers of the
Dakotas and the peasantry of Russia, but
between our metal workers and tex
tile manufacturers and their competitors in
the old world. The makers of hardware
term wonderfully far reaching in its
scope-have more reason than any other
class to be interested in this contest. II
will depend upon them to no small extent
whether, when American wheat is nc
longer needed abroad, the columns OF
American export figures will continue tC
show an increase instead of falling off.