The Bottineau pioneer. (Bottineau, N.D.) 1885-1895, 1894-10-06
Wheat Raising And Values.

AT the request OF a friend who. believes
las we do not-in free trade, we repro
duce the following, leaving our readers to
judge Of its merits for themselves. :.
The continued depreciation in the value
Of wheat appears by the market reports
to take everybody by surprise on this side
Of the Atlantic. Although clearly foreseen
and precisely foretold, this uhwelcome
fact Of Americas competitive inferiority
is denied by some, qualified by others.
and doubted by all. . The question of
the cultivation of wheat cannot be treated
upon its own basis merely; in spite of our
selves we are bound to consider other
factors in the problem then those of soil
and climate. The matter Of locality, with
its necessary co-relative-thec cost of trans
poration-plays most important play in
this calculation. To this again is added,
the state of international trade, for it is
obvious that traders must be also buyers
Of each others goods. Here, therefore,
comes in the question of the tariff which
RESTRICTS IMPORTS. and endeavours to
make our trade one-sided only with the
out side world This 'one-sided" trade
has also to be considered in its effects
how by it transportation expenses are in
creased by cars having to be hauled back
| empty for THOUSAND miles-and by steam
ers having to cross the ocean neatly empty
in order to get cargo back. High polit-
ical reasons also have to be considered
Whether or not it would be judicious to
encourage the growth of a rival power to
an unmanageable strength. or whether by
insidiously using the power OF the gold
basis of the English Exchanges to under
mine and cripple the competitor without
the possibility of even complaint. Such
power was used. for instance, by France
towards Germany during the years 1871
to 1875. Quite as scientific as this
master stroke of finance has been the
action of Great Britain towards America;
and when once the plan has been recog-
nized, its action is understood, and one
can accurately predicate the future. This
plan is simply to permit competitors to
ruin themselves, if it conduces to the
supremacy of Great Britain Let us
examine this proposition. Up to the time
Of the Crimean war Us 54-5) the dream
of the peace at any price" Manchester
4 politician was, that if nations were per-
m;tted to trade with each other, that uni
versal free trade would shortly follow
tariffs be aboished-national diversions
disappear, militarism receive its death
blow. The Russian war altered those
foolish expectations, for at its close it left
Russia determined to strike at Britain in
India thong h the Persian trade (1857-8);
and it convined Britain that to rely upon
her late enemy (who might very soon
be her enemy again) for their wheat sup
puly would be unwise in the extreme.
: Precisely at this juncture great expan.
: sion of agricultural activity took place in
: America. The older eastern farms were
! deserted by hundreds for the new prairie
! states where land could be easily worked
and wheat raised SO cheaply.a Step BY
!. step with this expansion of wheat raising
went the improvements in rnachinery
making the new mode of sextensive'
cultivation cheap and easy. Britain en-
t couraged this by freely taking all tina
America could send. finding recompense
: in the increased employment Of her manu-
a featuring population, and in other operat
ions of international trade. In an evi
> hour for America they introduced a high
y ler tariff (Morill tariff 61-2). under whlcl
: Britain imports in some branches declined
' as was intended, and the trade becam
e lone" sided. The disturbing element o
:, the civil war in America, the Danish an
: the German war in Europe prevented th
! action of commercial politics from bein
! detected at the time, but it was 500
afterwards noticed those countries wer
. appearing for the first time as competitor
of America in other staples beside
cotton. The northwest of India. whic
: had been allowed to fall into barrennes
a for centuries was irrigated by skillfull
!, designed canals, and the cultivation c
u | Y ~ =
n from the smallness Of the patches, an
the utter absence of anything like prope
I appliances, the area of wheat extende
Q (she exported last year (266, 900, 90
/ bushels), transportation was facilitated b
" the network of canals and river branche
e (which permitted the grain to be collecte
!. at the shipping port Of Kurrachee AZ lo'
D rate. Wages were from 3 to cents pc
y day for hired assistants, and owing to tn
d climate the wants of the laborers wer
. few and expensive. A simple loin clot
: was the wbrkman's costume, both th
e summer and Winter--his food little rio
7 with clarified bu1ter-his drink waite
: At the same time Britain endeavored !,
il divert much Of the American trade
/. food products from the United States /
I. her own territory in Canada. and mad
~ huOWu " atAC WOkAo sIehe r. o'AASS SAaSSS
9 in Manitoba quite as good as Missouri
: and wheat could be grown there just ;
d we'll Unfortunately for Canada she il
L trcduced the !, National policy, and /
4 thus making the trade one-sided agai
! forced England to concentrate upon othe
i lconntries, where she could not only 6,
the food products she wanted but mai
/, the payment in trade in return. Th
"a piece Of self-evident necessity the n
!, cessity Of even sided and not One side
trade--and the consequent exchange ,
4 goods Of one sort for goods OF another sol
instead Of exchanging goods against mone
s,I only, seems TO be entirely unrecognize
;o by the average American whether IN Il
States or Canada Be-fooled by Il
Y Itwaddle Of their so-called patriots th
d were never weary Of dwelling upon th
magnificent possibilities Of their immen.
]. territories, they never deigned to consids
" whether other parts of the world had n,
!. equal or even superior advantage
z Countries as large as the United Stat
y that had lain dormant were slowly ava
ening and producing the modern stear
ship carrying as much as ten ships q
n years ago al one-tenth the cost brougl
all the products together in the difere
markets az the world; and America {
1877 the panic1 1began to wonder what II
new illness was that seemed to be sappil
!, her strength secretly away? Lower al
s lower fell the prices which the Amerlc;
4 farmers had Ia take for her products. q
| 9 iii wheat was only lately slig ghtly ADO
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