St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-05-23

i'm the market of the world, it is neces-
sary 10 know and consider the cost OF
the production of wheat and cotton III
India. During the first session of tho
Fiftieth congress there was published
by it series of reports Oh taxation III
foreign countries. prepared by the con.
sular officers of the mutual states, and
from the report on India, In the appen-
dix to the same page $50, quote the
following:
''rhe wages of agricultural labors in the
Northwest provinces and the Punjab vary
from annas (about D centS) day Tor man,
and Ia annas g cents) for woman, ana
anna C2t2 cents) for child, To Is rupees ana
= rupees (S7.2 cents) FER month, and some
times even rupees per month. The orul-
nary income of n plowman is computed as
l16S rupees per year, and his expenditure as
1872 rupees, leaving balance OF 1O.4.o ru-
PEGS.
In Bengal the wages are generally PAID
partly in kind and partly In money. Inc
laborer lives from hand 10 mouth. But
wages have risen somewhat. There is no
record of the amount of wages paid.
"In Bombay laboring men get in some dis
trictS annaS % cents) per day; IN others .,
and in others 1. in harvest the men get
eight to ten pounds of grain day, and the
women half that sum- In Madras the rates
are about the same. In Hyderabad the wages
for common labor are annas @ cents) for
man and l for women and boy"
The wages in the other portions of
Asia and Africa algeria and Egypt
where wheat and cotton are raised, are
correspOndingly low.
Demonstration of silver Made
This Rivalry Possible.
ANY one who studies the causes which
contributed to the creation of this great
ASatc rival of the farmers OF our coun-
try in the production of wheat cotton
and rice, must conclude that the princi-
pal one had been the demonstration of
silver. Whatever may be our opinions
of Great Britain and her government,
we must admit that her statesmen, dur
ing the past half-century, have been
among the ablest and shrewdest of any.
Monarchical as her form of government
is, it cannot be denied that i'll no cOun-
try is ability sooner recognized. No
matter what party triumphs, the man
agement of the government will pass
into able hands. If the Tory party,
with Lord Salisbury at its head, is
forced to retire in favor of the
Liberals. Gladstone will become
prime minister: with cabinet as
able as the present one to support him.
And it must be admitted that they have
all been as loyal to British interests as
they have been able. 1t is not to be
wondered at, then, that the statesmen of
England should have long ago realized
that they could only hope 10 compete
with US in growth and wealth by hav-
ing produced in their own dominions
those great staples, the production of
which made the United States the mas
ter producer of the world.and compelled
them to pay tribute to us. For half
century they have been laboring to have
such portions of their own domiuiOns
as were adapted to the purpose become
grain and producing. l had 1t
from her celebrated African explorer.
Capt. Burton, himself, that his eXplOra-
lions In Africa were undertaken and
prosecuted by direction of his govern
ment. for the distinct purpose of aScer-
tanning as to its adaptability to the pro-
duction of cotton. These matters have
been watched by them with that sleep
less vigilance with which English
statesmen watch the interests of Great
Britain, and they have never failed to
notice what is an advantage, and secure
it if possible.
/ When the SueZ canal was completed,
and it was demonstrated to be a sue
cessfnl and permanent connection of the
MEDITERRANEAN and Red seas-giving
her an almost direct line of communlca-
ton with her distant Indian and ASiatic
pOSseSSionS-it did not take England
long to determine its Importance and
value to her, and she, in short, bought it.
Yet, with even the SueZ canal, the
transportation facilities, from the in
terror of India to the seaboard, have
heretofore been so deficient and eX-
pensive that our wheat could be deliv
cred at Liverpool from Minnesota as
| cheaply as the wheat from the interior
of India could be delivered at its sea-
| port cities-Madras or Bombay; and
| the distance from India, even with that
canal. is so great that it gave our farm
| erS an opportunity to compete with the
aforementioned cheap labor of that
| country until the demonstration of sill
yer gave the wheat producers of India
a great bounty and an advantage over
them that makes India more than a
! rival to our country, as l shown it to be.
1t will no doubt surprise many when
| | tell them that the first time India
shipped any wheat to Europe was in
| 1874, the year after silver was demone-
tized. Such-is the fact. That year she
exported 100000 bushels, and has been
increasing it ever since. 1T has in
creaSd as the price of bar silver or silver
bullion has cOrrespondingly decreased.
The decentralization of silver stimu-
lated and encouraged the production of
wheat and cotton in India, and gave
that country a great advantage over
ours, as to these products, in the mar
kets of the world. In the first place,
the only standard money of India is sill
yer coin, and its unit of value is the
rupee, the par value of which is 4S
cents. There is no gold coin used or IN
circulation there. From figures re-
Gently given by our director of the
mint, l find that the entire amount of
its money (Silver) was last year equal to
$500, GOO, 900, which is only 1888 per cap
tia of its great population, 2S6, 900, 900.
When we remember that the popula-
ton of India is $4,000, 900, and that
prosperous France has silver money
amounting to $3.50 per captain addi-
ton to its gold coin of 1888 per capita
we can see that it will be long time
(if ever before there will be enough
silver coin in India to meet the requsre-
ments of its trade.
Another important fact to be borne in
mind in this connection is that this sill
yer coin has always passed at par in the
local traffic of India, and that silver
rupee did there buy as much wheat as
a gold one. This being the case, il will
readily be seen that, if the wheat buver
| in India can manage to procure these
silver rupees at less than par, he has a
corresponding advantage over the wheat
buyer of this country. which has the
gold standard. That precise advantage
he has.
How the India Buyers Reat Ours
In 1873 1.-THE year it was demonetized
silver was worth Sl.29 per ounce, but il
has declined yearly until it is now
(here and in England, worth only about
90 cents, or less. For the past ten years
this depreciation in the price of silver
bullion has averaged more thav 80 cents
an ounce. Now. the price of wheat is
fixed and regulated by the Liverpool
market-whlch is undeniably the grea
central wheat market of the woodland
when the Liverpool. or other European
wheat buyer, has proposed to buy wheat
in India he purchased silver bullion, al
say 80 cents an ounce, and sends it tC
the India mint (where free coinage pre-
vails) and has it coined into rupees,
L. i =