New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1896-02-19
What Is Wheat " orth2

The question often asked is what wheat
ought to be worth. OF course to answer
that question correctly would require an
amount of information outside the posi-
.bility Of human lligence. is COM
petent to approximate nearly what wheat
ought to bring. If the question be con-
sidered with respect to what ought to be
the normal prices in Minneapolis it might
not be far QUITO the way to say 60 cents, for
one year with another. The cost of rails
ing wheat varies according to the differ
ence in the cost Of seed, cost Of labor, a..
mount raised per acre and the difference
IN cost of all other things that go into
the production.
Like any other business, wheat rails
ing should be based upon cost and rea-
sona5le business profit. It might not be
far ito say that wheat one year with
another costs Csc bushel in Minneapo-
lis, including say 4c a bushel as proper
business gain. If that be correct, then
the normal price in Minneapolis ought
to be Csc, with variation from it from
year to year depending upon the produc-
ton of the Northwest, of this country
and of the world. To adjust them to
current conditions, supply, and future
crop prospects would have to be consid-
cred. Necessary changes from year 10
year in values are naturally based upon
each particular years conditions, influ-
enced by speculation. 1t may be argued
perhaps, that 4c a bushel clean profit is
too little gain on the production of bu-
shell of wheat. This may or may not be
so, depending upon whether that amount
of profit is above or below the average
profit of all business operations, that are
we'll conducted. If profit from wheat
raising be placed above the normal pro-
fit of general business then, the natural
drift of industry is to the production of
wheat and to the neglect of such indus
tries as suffer loss from it. The natur-
al result and in truth the necerrary result
of drawing attention from one industry
to another is to create surplus of the
latter and shortage of the former.
Thisis rule which prevails in all places.
From this, it is plain that the PROPOSE
ton mentioned is correct; that the profits
of wheat raising or the losses of wheat
raising adjust themselves from the prin-
cipal of withdrawing from it and going
to other classes of business, or of with
drawing from other business and going
to wheat production. All this is clearly
illustrated in the drift there vas from
other business to bonanza wheat farms
in the northwest when the wheat was
high, land cheap and yield heavy. 1t
was that condition that rapidly filled
Minnesota and the Dakotas few years
ago. The same high prices that stimu-
lated the large production in the north
west stimulated also the opening of new
lands in the Argentine, in Australia
STA, in Russia, and its attempt in India.
From that activity wheat prices have
suffered IN late years and are still suffer-
ing. As to the future it is probable that
there will lie no great shortage in the
production of wheat unless, as is general
ly claimed, prices are now below the us
ual profits of business so that attention
will move from this TO other directions.
Late indications, with the we'll known
short crop in some countries and short
prospect for a crop in others, lead to the
that prices will be at the
normal and that wheat cultivation will
not materially be neglected.
1t was up in Strasshertz' headquarters
in the great, high building. There were
several persons present-encugh, at any
rate, to provoke speech from the man
with the weedy whiskers. And so the
man with the weedy whiskers rose and
defantly delivered himself Of certain
statements, arguments and refutations,
and concluded by saying viii. all the
force of a politicians rhetoric:
Il am for Strasshertz, and don't care
who knows it, --
Whereat there was applause, and the
man got down with his weedy whiskers
to the tidewater level of the floor
But that sentence rang in the ears of
one person who had heard it, and he
called the weedwhiskered man aside and
said in low tone: II should like to
know more about your trouble with
your enemies. Tell me the whole thing.
am strong and can bear it,
The weedy whiskers looked in dazed
way at the other fellow and que1ied: