The Coconino weekly sun., 1896-09-24
BRYAN'S INDIA FAKE. His Repeated Assertions Concern ing India Wheat Proven
 False. HON. JAMES BRYCE SPEAKS.
Denials by Members of the English Parliament and Prominent
 London Merchant.

Tn the speech ueHNereu Dy W lllaIn Jennings Bryan to the farmers of New York assembled at Chautauqua, the h. dia wheat fake was revamped by the silver candidate for president. The as sertion made by Mir. Bryan in his Omaha debate last May that the Eng fish spectators could drive great bar gains in buying silver and trading it for India wheat to the detriment of the American farmer was reiterated and 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, Mir. Bryan talked at random without taking the trouble to acquaint himself with the actual facts.
 / The Bee now has the facts and the figures that effectually explode Mir. Bryan's India fake. Over two months ago the editor of the Bee directed per sonal inquiry on this subject to Hon. James Bryce, who is now and has for many years been a member of Parlia- ment and was member of the British board of trade. Responding to I, Bryce says:
 "You are quite right in thinking that British 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 Eng land 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. l gather, in- creased during the last few years and the closing of the hints has not increased It. Manchester and our manufacturers generally complain that business with India is unprofitable. Our cotton indus try is at present 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 bis brother. J.s Amman Bryce, very prominent London merchant. who was for many years a resident of India. Mr. J. Annah Bryce says:
 "For Mir. Rosewater's guidance I have made up the annexed statement, which shows in parallel columns the exports of wheat from the United States, Argen- tine, Russia and India up to 1873 be-
  change became pronounced. You will observe that while the exports from the United States, Russia and Argentine are on the whole increasing. those from h. hia are falling off, and that in the year 1895 the exports from India were the game as in the year 1877. Of course it does not do to reason on individual years, as there may be special circumstances, such as famines, to account for very short years. For instance, 1878 and 1879 were the years of the great fam inc in India and 1892 was the year of the famine in Russia.
 Dividing the last twenty years into pe- riods of five years each, you will see that during the last three five-ycar periods the exports from India have been falling off, while those from the United States. Ar genuine and Russia have been increas- ing. although all the while rupee ex- change 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 ey- port 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 cx- ports from Argentine and from Russia. But he could make nothing of the silver argument here. for neither Russian nor Argentine 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 foreign exchange an inconvertible paper currency and not either silver or gold.
 Altogether the facts illustrate the soundness of MT. 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 exports became pOssi- blc not because the exchange value of rupee. the rOuble or the dollar fell. but because railways were built into districts previously inaccessible. In India the providing of railway facilities stimulated the extension of irrigation. In the Punjab, for instance, many millions of acres were brought into cultivation under irrigation as soon as the opening of the railway to Karachi made the export pos sible. 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 irrigation I believe as much water is now taken out of the rivers as they can give. Amer- ca therefore need not fear India much in the. future, even if silver and rupee wcr!c, likely to go lower which they are not"
 The statistical exhibit accompanying this statement is exhaustive and con vincinG in support of the conclusions "'Ntu at DS MT bryce. Tn lSl0 the export of wheat from the United States to England was 45,T91 ,66G bushels; from Russia, 47,O40.OOO bushels; Argentine made no exports and India exported a fraction over 1,250.OOO bushels. In 1877 wheat exports from the United States had reached 107.42G.GG6 bushels; from Rnssia. 51, l2O. 900 bushels: from India 15.G33333 bushels: Argentine still had no wheat to export. In 1893 wheat ey- ports from the United States had req cbcd 223.Sl3.333 bushels; from Russia. 1i,9. HhOOO bushes; from India, 27,OGi. .CIa; bushels, and from Argentine, 42.OOO,OOO bushels. Tn 1894 Argentine exported @GOOO0 bushels of wheat to England, while India did not increase it's export over the preceding year. Tn 1895 the wheat export from the United States was 10,333 ,333 bushels; from Russia, 1h6.333.3 .333 bushels; from Argentine, a2W0O0O bushels; from India, 15,12O,- poo bushels.
 The. average price of wheat in Bom- bay from 1869 to 1875 was $1.20 per