The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-09-25
RISING PRICES.

Inefe has been no free coinage OF
silver, and the prospect of it is growing
beautifully less day by day Yet the
effects which we have been told could
be produced only by big addition TO
the circulating medium are the promi-
nent feature of current market reports.
The farmers of this country are richer
today by millions of dollars than they
were few weeks ago. Not legislation,
but the great laws of trade, have
brought about this change. Decem-
Der wheat went up in the Chicago
market to Sc cents yesterday, and
it is going to be higher yet This is
the consequence of a short crop and a
small surplus to satisfy the worlds de-
mand. Not one bushel of wheat"
said one of the leading millers of the
Northwest the other day, Ought to go
out of this section between now and
spring. Every grain of it will be want
ed for milling and seeding purposes
If this is the situation, and there is
no difference of opinion among those
who are best informed, the rise of
wheat prices is no temporary phenom-
enon, but it has come to stay. The
great staple of the South, cotton. is
travelling in company with the great
staple of the North. A short crop prom
1ses to leave demand unsatisfied. and
prices have advanced accordingly. Mer-
chants abroad who foresaw this con-
dition have been making huge pur-
chases in our markets for weeks past.
and our export list shows the change
of trade balances. The flowing in of
fifty million dollars in gold is a partial
measure of the swinging of the pendu-
lum to the other extreme.
Had it not been for this financial agi
tation, and the uncertainty and appre-
hension attending it, this consequence
would have been visible long ago. Had
there been the usual ample supply OF
funds from Canadian banks, as well
as from our own, to buy wheat and
carry it in the elevator to await the
certain rise in price, that rise would
have begun earlier, and the farmers
who have thus far marketed their crops
would have received not less than 10
cents per bushel more than they did.
Let them, with us, thank Heaven that
at last the crisis is over, and the sway
OF natural laws is restored. With the
passing of the nightmare of a possible
Populistic success trade resumes its
wonted course. People have ceased any
longer to fear the election Of Bryan.
or the deluge Of free silver. Regard
ing the result in November as already
practically settled, they have gone to
work in the normal way, buying and
selling and calculating profits which are
not endangered by a possible depre-
citation of the currency.
With the first word Of certainty. see
how commercial conditions respond.
Look at the magnificent advance in the
prices Of farm products the moment
that the hand Of Populism is taken
from the throat of capital and business
enterprise. All along the line there
sounds the note of confidence and en-
couragement, and day after day adds
value to the wealth stored in the far
mer's granary. The G o b has told
him again and again that the first con-
dition Of greater prosperity for him
self was to end the free silver agitation.
The proof of it is here. The moment
that the laws of trade are allowed to
act unchecked by artificial interfer
ence, or the fear of it, trade movements
correct one another, prices seek their
natural level, and prosperity shows
her shining face to us once more.