Omaha daily bee., 1896-09-02
BRYAN AND HIS INDIA FAKE.


gains in buying silver and trading II
for India wheat to the detrimcnt of the
American farmer was reiterated and
cmbelished by his fervid Imagination
so as TO create the impression that the
decline of silver has made India the
most formidable competitor of the
American wheat and cotton growers
AS usual, Mr.. Bryan talked at random
without taking the trouble to acquant
himself with the actual facts,
The Bee now has the facts and the
figures that effcctualy explode Mr.
Bryan's India fake. over two months
ago the editor of The Bee directed a per
sonal inquiry on this subject to Hon.
James Bryce, who is now and has for
many years been n member of Parlia-
ment and was member of the
Rosebery cabinet as president of the
| British Board of Trade. Responding to
this letter. under date of August l, Mr..
| Bryce says:
You are quite right in thinking that Brit
| ish merchants gain nothing at all from the
closing of the Indian mints. The sharp
| competition, especially of the Hindoo native
| merchants cuts down their profits and they
lose heavily on the exchange between India
| and England in turning into English gold
| the silver prices they receive for the goods
they export to India The export of food
stuffs from India has not gather, increased
during the last few years and the closing
| of the mints has not increased it. Man
chester and our manufacturers generally
complain that business with India is un-
profitable. Our cotton industry is at pres
ent greatly depressed. So Britain at least
gains nothing. You will, therefore, be safe
in denying that there has been, or is, any
bonus or benefit to British merchants or
manufacturers.
This letter has been supplemented by
Prof. Bryce with an article prepared
by his brother J. Amman Bryce, very
prominent London merchant, who was
for many years Il resident of India. Mr..
]. Amman Bryce says:
For Mr.. Rosewater's guidance l have
made Up the annexed statement, which
shows in parallel columns the exports of
wheat from the United States, Argentine.
Russia and India up to 1873 before the fall
in silver and rupee exchange became pro-
nounced You will observe that while the
exports from the United States, Russia and
Argentine are on the whole increasing,
those from India are falling off, and that
in the year 1895 the exports from India
were the same in the year 1877. OF
course it does not do to reason on individual
years as there may be special circum
stances, such as famines, to account for
very short years. For instance, 1873 and
1879 were the years of the great famine in
India, and 1892 was the year of the famine
in Russia.
Dividing the last twenty years into pc
riods Of five years each, you will see that
during the last three fve-year periods the
exports from India have been falling Off
while those from the United States, Argen-
tine and Russia have been increasing, al
though all the while rupee exchange has
been steadily falling with silver The
figures prove conclusively as regards Indian
wheat, which has always been the great
bogy with the American silver man, that
the India export has had nothing to do
with the fall Of silver or rupee exchange.
The silver man would be more sensible if
he were to take alarm at the growing ex-
ports from Argentine and from Russia
But he could make nothing of the silver
argument here, for neither Russian nor Ar
gentine exchange depends on silver Both
countries. during the whole of the period
embraced in my statement had for the
basis Of their currency and of course for
eign exchange an irconVertible paper cur
rency and not either silver or gold.
Altogether the facts illustrate the sound
ness of Mr.. Rosewater's conclusion that the
fall in prices Of commodities is due to more
economical production and transport In
India, in Russia and in Argentine
wheat export became possible not be-
cause the exchange value of the rupee, the
rouble or the dollar fell, but because rail
ways were built into districts previously
inaccessible. In India the providing of rail
way facilities stimulated the extension of
irrigation. In the Punjab, for instance,
many million Of acres were brought into
cultivation under irrigation as soon as the
opening of the railway to Karachi made
the export possible. But In India there
no longer remains any large new field to
be opened up, and in most of the wheat
producing districts which depend on irri- |
cation l believe as much water is now
taken out of the rivers as they can give
America therefore need not fear India much |
in the future, even if silver and the rupee |
were likely to go lower, which they are not |
The statistical exhibit accompanying |
this statement is exhaustive and con
yincing in support of the conclusions |
arrived at by Mr.. Bryce. In 1873 the !
export of wheat from the United States
to England was 45, 791 ,666 bushels: from |
Russia 47.OiO,000 bushels; Argentine
made no exports and India exported n
fraction over 1,250,000 bushels. In 1877
wheat exports from the United States
had reached 107, ,426GG6 bushels: from
Russia 57,12O,0OO bushels; from India
15Gs3,333 bushels; Argentine still had
no wheat to export. In 1893 wheat eX-
ports from the United States had |
reached 223,s13,333 bushels; from
Russia, 09.375,000 bushels; from India,
27 7O66,666 bushels; and from Argentine
bushels. In 1894 Argentine
exported G5,O00,000 bushels of wheat to
England, while India did not increase
its export over the preceding year. In
1890 the wheat export from the United
States Wna 1TD DR9 992 hushnIo. f,or,