The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1896-10-09
WHEAT AND SILVER

4
: and silver have ever held close 10 eac
other, that the price per ounce of silve
bullion was the price per buShel G
wheat. 1t looks now if nature or tn
; immuuable law of supply and deman
had stepped in most inopportunely fo
the professions of the Popocrat party I
: demonstrate the utter emptiness o
that calamity claim. Within thirty
five days wheat has advanced in tn
markets Of the world from - TO /
cents per -bushel. In the same tim
silver has gone down one and three
eighthS cents per ounce. He VIII
doubts our assertion is referred to TIT
market reports for the time specified
1t is a fact of well nigh universe
knowledge, and it is a most timely il
lustration. On September 4th last the
commercial price Of bar silver was 81
cents per ounce. On September 30tf
it was 653s cents per ounce. Yester
day it sold at 50 cents. Yet in the
same period wheat advanced from 6:
TO 10 cents in the central markets OF
the United States.
The cause of the marked advance in
wheat is the fact that the crop OF
Russia, India and Argentine, Amer
! ica's principal competitors, have fallen
far short of last years yield. The
/ Baltimore Sun says that the Russian
wheat crop alone is reported to be 40
I per cent below the crop of 1895. The
| supply of wheat being thus consider
ably curtailed, and the demand for
wheat by the people of Europe in gen.
eral. and Of the British Isles in par
ticular, remaining about the same,
there at once arises an extra demand
for American wheat The old rule,
which nothing ever has or can set
aside. that plentiful things are cheap
and scarce things dear comes at once
into play and up goes the price Of
American wheat.
But why not also the price of silver?
We have been told from thousand
free silver platforms that wheat went
down in 1873. and has been going down
ever since. entirely because silver went
down, and that silver went down SIM
ply and solely because it was not coin
ed as freely as gold in this and other
countries. The logic of this argument
requires that, silver being still down
at nearly its lowest price, wheat should
remain down also; or else, if wheat adj
vances, silver should share in the rise.
With supreme disregard of the POpu-
list philosophy of prices, however,
wheat walks right up from 62 to 75
cents per bushel in thirty days. while
silver not only remains wallowing in
the slough of deSpond, but actually
drops d little lower than before.
A very little reflection on the phys
zeal conditions that have produced this
abrupt ascent in the market price of
wheat without compelling silver also
10 advance in price will show every in
telligent voter how natural it all is.
The quantity of wheat produced in the
United States rose from 292, 000, 600
bushels in 1879 to Gil 100000 bushels
in 1892, having thus more than doubled
within seventeen years. The result of
this increased production WAS that in
the same seventeen years the exported
surplus of American wheat increased
from 100000 bushels in 1915 to d.
100000 bushels in 1892. Thus we see
that, beginning at about the same time |
as or shortly after the general suspen- |
sion Of silver coinage by the nations
that control the worlds commerce. our |
American wheat-growers began to |
heavily increase their production out |
Of all proportion to the increase in the |
of American wheat consumers. |
Hence, from year to year, right along |
to the present time, they have been I
upon the European market |
larger quantities of their
surplus crops. Since 1870 n date quite
close 10 that of 1.-The crime" they have
tripled the annual amount of their
exports to Europe. But that is not
the whole story. The rest of the world
has been increasing its wheat produc-
ion at the same time, so that whereas
IN 1891 the worlds total production of
wheat was stated at :, 433. 10000 bush
lis. in 1894 it was stated at 2,645, Co.,
400 bushels. This was an increase in
he worlds wheat supply of 212,oO0,-
100 bushels within three years, and in
hat short period Russia and the wheat
growing countries of South America
alone increased their annual wheat
production by 2j6,000,000 bushels. The
Argentine Republic sent J0,000.0oo
bushels of wheat to the European mar
Gets last year. and it was grown at a
,ost estimated not to exceed 81 cents
yer bushel laid down at the Argentine
eaboard.
Last year Europe had more wheat
dfered upon her markets than she
leeded TO buy. and prices ruled low.
IS they always do when there is more
# anything TO be sold than anybody
eally needs To buy. This year Europe
leeds more wheat than is being offer
d. ana prices go up. as they always do
when there is less of anything in the
market than people actually want to
NY.
The reason silver does no go up in
rice with wheat at this time IS plain
nOngh. The people of the British I
sles DO not want silver 10 eat There
; no known way by which silver can
e cooked and eaten. Ii cannot be :
round into -four, nor made into bread
r cake. The entire silver product al {
ne world might be landed on the l
-harves of Liverpool or London with '
Ut adding one cents worth 10 the {
lock of food on which the British peo- I