The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1897-04-08
President Hill of the Great
Northern Railroad
Presents Some Figures Regard
ing the Wheat Market.
IN CHINA AND JAPAN.
Two Million Bushels We're Sold
Last Year.
This Amount Can Be Raised to
100000 Bushels.

New York, April s.-James J. Hill,
president of the Great Northern rail-
road, who is also interested largely in
the transportation to the Orient, has
written a letter to a western senator in
which he points out the possibilities of
trade in China and Japan and suggests
that tariff duties be so adjusted as not
to prevent or cut off trade with the
countries across the Pacific. He says:
1.-The Asiatic trade is of the greatest
Importance to this country and par
ticularly to such portions of it as are
interested in raising wheat" and con-
tnues: "A year ago last fall
wheat sold for from Is to % cents a
bushel in the Palouse country, south of
Spokane Falls, and this year it has
sold for from So to 20 cents. About three
years ago I sent an agent to China and
Japan to investigate thoroughly what
steps could be taken to introduce the
general use of wheat flour in those
countries as against their own rice and
found that it was simply a matter of
price. 1 then took up the cOnsidera-
ton of building a large steamer for
that trade, designed to carry cargOes of
flour or grain at low rates. I found
that we could build the ships. but that
owing to the Sailors union fixing the
wages of sailors at $50 a month and
engineers and other ship employees at
about twice the wages paid by Euro
pean steamers, it would be impossible
for US to compete with the English,
German, Italian and scandinavian
ships already on the Pacific ocean.
After the war with China, the Jap
anese appropriated a large amount of
their war indemnity for a subsidy to
their merchant marine, and we opened
negotiations with the General Steam
ship company of Japan, which is owned
by the leading men of the empire. We
found their subsidy was about equal
to the cost of their coal and the wages
of their sailors. They pay their sail
ors IS a month, Mexican, or $3.50 in
gold, enabling them to hire twelve good
sailors for the wages of one American
sailor. After some prOtracted and diff
fcult negotiations we concluded a con-
tract with them for a. line of steamers
between Chinese and Japanese ports
and Seattle, on condition that they
would carry flour from Puget sound to
the Asiatic ports at SO per ton, against
81 to IS per ton formerly charged from
west coast ports in the United States.
This low rate fixed the rate for all
other lines between the Pacific coast
and Asia and has resulted in carrying
about 2, 1000. 600 bushels or its equivalent
in flour from the last crop There is
left, understand, about 100000 bush
els to be moved between now and next
harvest.
Thus you will see we have been able
to find new mouths which have never
before used wheaton bread to take the
entire California, Oregon and Washing
ton wheat crop out OF the European
markets. This will reduce the amount
going to Europe about 20 per cent ana
in bushels about 10000, 900, three times
the quantity shipped to Europe from
the Argentine during the past crop year.
The prices of wheat this year as COM
pared with last, are about 20 to Is cents
higher, and think it may be said that
from Is to IS cents of this rise is clear
~ due to the withdrawal of all Pacific
wheat from the European markets. I
see in this mornings market reports
q telegram that European ships are
loading with barley, rye and merchan-
disc from San Francisco to Europe, af-
ter waiting four months for cargOes of
wheat, and that no more wheat will go
to Europe from the Pacific coast. The
only way we could bring about this
great reduction in the cost of transpor-
tatiOn of flour to Asia was by diVerting
the tea and mating business which has
heretofore gone mainly on English ships
from Asia direct to New York and
bringing those commodities to the Pa
cif1c coast by a low rate of transpOrta-
ton inland by rail to distribute the
commodities to points between Mime
sofa and New York.
Il have given you the details so that
you will understand the situation and
be able to see that unless these ships
can bring their main cargOeS of mer-
chandise to Pacific ports at rates that
will compensate them for the traffic,
the business must go as heretofore, to
New York, and the raLes ON -four to
Asiatic ports will be again at the old
figure, or an advance of about so cents
a barrel which would, in my judgment
destroy the business that has Just be-
gun to be built up with that country.
The province of Annoy alone, which is
near the coast, contains over SO, 600 900
of people, and at 20 pounds of -four per
capita per annum, would consume the
product of 10000. 900 bushels of wheat.
The large districts of Tien Tsin and
Shanghai, both easily accessible from
the sea, would consume about as much
more as soon as the trade can be fully
opened.
TT is not outside the range of posi-
bility that we could ship wheat from
Devils Lake to the Pacific coast for
this trade. We certainly could at So
cents a bushel cost for the wheat at
Devils Lake or points west as long as
the demand for flour continues to grow
as it has for the past six months