Audubon County Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Audubon Co., Iowa) 1885-1894, 1891-12-31
CORNERS IN WHEAT.
A FARMER NAPOLEON" WRITES
ABOUT THEM.
They Arc Difficult To Obtain Says II. Il.
iIutchinson---Tho Visible supply u Dan
gcrous Chimera to Misioad Spectators
who Attempt TO Conceal Matters.

Among the grand enterprises whose
accomplishment ut some future period
engrosscs the brains of visionary men
is that of controlling the prices of
staples like wheat and corn. Men some
times discuss the chances of being able
10 buy all the wheat in the market, by
which they mean all the visible stock,
There are two enormous difficulties In
the way of such performance, either
of which must always remain nearly
insurmountable, but which, acting to-
gethcr, as they always do, form an alb
solutely impossible barrier, The fact
Is that no single individual or combina-
ton of individuals, no matter how
much capital he or she may control
has ever been able To buy all the wheat
in the market; the second Is that the
visible stock Is an uncertain and UNI
known quantity, and forever expands
just in proportion rs the needs of the
speculator call upon II to contract, or
ut least 10 remain fixed, The visible
supply Is u Pigment Of the agricultural
reports; the agricultural reports
are really hearsny, and IN our
courts of justice hearsny, even II sworn
To, is not admitted as evidence, There
fore uusworn henrsay must he worth
less indeed. Aud whoever Speculates
on worthless information IL liable To
get the worst of u,
As rule farmers are u shrcwd class
OF men. II is for their interest that
people should believe that there IL II
scarcity rather than an abundance of
grain so when they give in their an.
swers 10 questions rs to the supply
they, ns u rule, do more or less of the
Anunias business, which they think
they have u perfect right Ia do; not he,
ing on oath, and having n lawful pur-
pose To carry out, namely, the further
ancc of their own interests. There
fore, " u farmer has something like u
Thousand bushels of wheat in his bins
he Is liable To report five hundred; and
satisfy his conscience In this way. lie
saws 10 himself: at looks Ms IL there
might bc n thousand bushels, but mp
pearances are deccitful. At any rate,
there are surely 500, and when report
500 don't assert that there may not hc
more; and anyhow, I'm not on oath.
Besides, before ! get the grain To mar
kct the berry may shrink or the Iuts
may get In, and ~ I'll say 800 and let
IL go at that"
This IL one Of the reasons why when
there IL an attempt ut u corner, and the
price of u cereal goes up, the stock
Keeps pouring In on the Spectator, just
as IL "a pint bottle so called, were Ia
give ont n quart Of the fluid, The hap.
less spectators who fancied they had
the whole of the visible supply find that
there exists an unknown invisible sup
ply, which all ut once takes ON shape
and becomes nlarmingly visible and In
sists on being bought and paid for at
the highest prices. II Is the unexpected
that always happens, and II expected
wheat has been contracted for and de-
liyered at 81 n bushcl, along comes the
unexpected wheat and clnmors for ~. 10,
or the market will be broken, and then
where will the spectators be? The
agony Is always piled upon the spccu-
lators Just at the end of the deal, when
the rich profits seem 10 be about In sight.
But this sort OF sight h like the mirngc
on the plains of Arizona; you staggcr
along hungry and thirsty,and u splendid
lake with vcrdnnt shores seems 10 be
about two miles distant, and when you
| have travelled those miles the view
breaks and you are in the middle of
heated sands and the nearest wnteg
| many miles away.
Let me say right here, whoever at-
tcmpts 10 control any one Of the great
food products Of the world, whetcr
corn, wheat or rice, puts himself in the
place of man or set of men who
| should set out 10 dam the Niagara
rapids with bulrushes. They loose
their labor and are swept away be-
| sides.
The trade In future or options has
its headquarters in Chicago. Chicago Is
really the heart whose beats send the
blood of commercial activity coursing
through the arteries of trade all over
the body Of the great Northwest When
you go where the wheat is raised, and
where n larger part of IL Is, you find
more business men than spectators,
| Men buy the grain. store IL and grind
the flour. In Minneapolis the harvest
indeed means something TO eat. As