Jamestown weekly alert. [volume] (Jamestown, Stutsman County, D.T. [N.D.]) 1882-1925, 1891-09-10
ANOTHER SIDE PRESENTED
What u Conservative Agricul-
tural Editor Thinks of
the Markets.
Not Even the Best Posted Care
to Back Their Opinions
in Speculation.
Farmers Should Consult Best
Sources Of Information and
Act Accordingly.
A Conservative View.

A Conservative View.
The Alert is desirous of placing both
sides of tho wheat marketing question
before it's readers, especially those who
reside in the country and have no access
to daily papers, and other means OF IN
formation. Extravagant statements are
no doubt made on both sides.
The papers making specially OF re-
porting the conditions OF the market
rely principally for subscriptions upon
dealers in grain, and would not please
their patrons if they brought inf orma'
ton interfering with their wishes and
plans. On the other hand parties inter-
ested in bulling the neutrality-suspicious.
are equally unreliable where any infor-
nation fayoring their side is concerned.
All agree that there is great European
shortage. but to what extent it will affect
prices in this country is as yet only to be
guess ed at. The Russian shortage is
large, and the London papers declare
that famine in some parts of that empire
is now actually witnessed, and that much
greater suffering will follow. All of
these facts seem to point to unquestloned
high prices for the surplus from the great
crop of America, which surplus has been
magnifed, however, by the press and
other agencies. until it is said that the
ridiculous impression prevails in Europe,
that we have raised 700 million bushels
of wheat this year.
Be this as it may. The Alert commends
the following article on the uncertainty
of the markets, to it's readers, so that if
high prices should not follow this harvest
and farmers be disappointed, it cannot
be said that this journal did not give a
fair opportunity to consider both sides
of the question. The article is from the
Orange Judd Farmer-one OF the most
careful and trustworthy farm papers in
the country,-and the opinions expressed
are quite conservative in character:
Our experienced market editor, with
his trained assistants, is at the board Of
trade and other produce markets, and at
the live stock yards, during all the busi-
ness hours of each week day, and is on
the alert at all other hours, watching and
studying every source of information.
These men do not speculate and have no
personal interests to color their reports.
II they did, other men would be put in
their places Immediately. The senior edi-
tor not only gathers from our market
editor and reporters all the information
they can give, but he daily studies care
fully the general sources of information,
the best commercial and other Journals,
official reports, domestic and foreign tel.
egrams, ETC., just as he has been doing
for nearly forty years. In his viewot
THE SITUATION OF TODAY,
as to future prices, it is very uncertain,
and if he had abundance of idle money
he would not buy 1000 bushels OF wheat
or corn or oats with view OF making O
profit by either the advance or decline
upon current prices The most intelli-
GENT skillful men at the board of trade,
those whose life business is buying and
selling for profit, and have large sums at
stake, will sell now at an advance OF only
a cent or two busEel, or buy at a sim
liar small decline. There are abundant
reasons for the present uncertainty. The
general crops of our country are un.
doubtedly large-just how large and how
good no one fully knows up to this hour.
The corn crop as whole is far from be-
ing entirely safe against frost which may
diminish 1t several hundred thousand
dollars from what is now hoped for and
expected. But the great factor affecting
prices ls
THE AMOUNT OF FOREIGN DEMAND.
The shortage abroad is undoubted;
that it is quite large is we'll ascertained-
exactly how large the best reports do not
agree. There is disposition on the
part OF the bulls" and in some leading
Journals, to make this entirely a ques.
tion of statistics. They figure up the
total present years crop OF wheat and
rye, and compare this with the average
consumption, and call the difference the
amount that we shall be called upon to
supply. This is
ERRONEOUS AND MISLEADING.
One prominent journal which figures
out worlds deficit of fully six hundred
million bushels OF wheat and rye, taken
together, puts one-third of this deficit in
Russia, including it's dependencies of
Finland and Poland. But who supposes
that those countries will import the 2eO
millions? They will buy very little If any
from abroad. They have not the means
to do it with. They will try to live on a
scant supply of roots and other cheap
life sustaining stuff, will suffer hunger,
and some will perish. France will simi
larly economize. England will want 16O,-
100000 bushels, and will get most Of it,;
business is fair there and the richer class
will help the poorer ones, and nearly all
OF that or it's equivalent will 60 from
America. The working classes, and al
most all other classes in our country, are
prosperous, and this prosperity will en-
able manufacturers to make larger sales,
employ more operators, and pay them