St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-08-12

have deliberately given it as their
opinion that, "for numerous dis
trcts it would be advisable to
solve this problem i'll the negative"
Nay, more; il now appears that many
landowners refused last year to gather
i'll the harvest, and are determined not
to remove it this year either. One land
lord, for instance, who owns large
estate near Odessa, and whose facilities
for export are therefore exceptionally
numerous, foreseeing the fall of prices,
purchased 1000 sheep and unhestat-
ingly turned them into his fields of
wheat. He is said to DO so salts fed
with the result that he means to do
likewise now that further fall In
prices is probable. az
The Odessa Novosti. journal which
is usually very well informed upon
agricultural questions, has published
series of articles TO show that to gather
in the harvest this year would be tanta--
mount to throwing good money after
bad. for II can only be done at heavy
loss to the farmers. A pOod thirty-six
poundS) of barley. for Instance, when it
reaches the port of Nikolaieff from the
neighborlug government Of POltava
costs the producer S64 copecks, whereas
the market price is at present sc Cos
pecks, and is bound to become less as
SOON as the abundance Of this years har-
vest is generally known. \ very severe
agricultural crisis is anticipated in
consequence, and the we'll meaning
efforts of the government to keep down
the price of the ruble with a view to
facilitating expectation, will avail moth
ing. The results Of such crisis may
be gagged by the circumstance that
Russia is an agricultural country, which
cannot hope TO find in the increased
profits of manufactures compensation
for the falling off of corn exports. The
situation is critical, and will make itself
sorely felt in more forms than one be.
fore the present year comes to close.
Unfortunately. dispasSionate study
of the causes that have combined to
bring about the present crisis fails to
bring to light single consideration
which would warrant hopes of
brighter prospect in the near future.
Some authorities maintain that the pro-
hibition to export grain which was is
sued by the government during the
famine enabled American farmers 10
triumph over their Russian competitors
by leaving European markets without
Russian grain for a year. But most
Russians hold that this was no more
than the OCCASION; the real cause lay
deeper, and is to be sought for in
the manner in which the Russian pro.
Queer is handicapped by domestic laws
and conditions, i'll the negligence of
Russian grain merchants. who sought
to enrich themselves rather than acquire
a high reputation for the native produce
and in the resulting inferiority OF Rus
sian grain. Thus Russkaia Chisn,
well Informed agricultural organ, uns
hesitatingly declares that the ''foreign
demand for Russian grain was the re-
suit of a misunderstanding, for the
grain itself, owing to its quality, could
not compare with that of America or
even Austria and East India, and those
who transacted the sale, if judged
by the staudary of conscientious
ness or by the commercial
methods they employed would lose by
comparison with their foreign col
leagues" The journal then goes on to
say that the export from Russia was
artifi cial. due exclusively TO the mis-
taken agricultural policy of the govern
ment. which made it possible to forward
grain from the fartheSt corners of Rus
STA to Germany, England ana Belgium
for nominal freights, while it was prac-
tically impossible to distribute it in the
neighboring Russian districts where
people were dying of hunger. Thus on
the one hand it was scarce at home.
where sorely needed, and plentiful
abroad, where it was not really wanted.