The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1898-05-11
What, Ri,s NotD,u a Wa.

War conditions are not such as will
Justify the abnormal advance in wheat,
much us some people may regard 1t as
one Of the natural results OF war. There
10 reason for the advance. but war IL not
the reason that May wheat reached 81 IS
yesterday. None OF the conditions OF
war exist which can at present advance
farm products to an abnormal figure.
Such conditions could only come when a
war Is prolonged SO as to withdraw pro-
ducers from the work OF cultivation, or
which would interrupt agriculture by
laying waste the country. Another con-
dltion might be the prevention OF the
foreign trade, which would undoubtedly
affect prices at home. The remarkable
prices OF wheat that are quoted are due
to other causes, some OF them perhaps
unjustlfable. but others quite natural.
A study Of the wheat situation elbows.
that the supply OF wheat Is now very
small In both Europe and America. and
the Spectators at Chicago are taking
advantage OF 1t. The New York Press
notes that the total supply In this coun-
try, Canada, Europe and atloat for Eu-
rope reflects closely O tremendous lower
Ing of the American stock, which Is now
100000, being 100000 bushels less
than the year previous. Our coEtem-
porary says:
Other elements have contributed 10 the
great rise. There is tho Spectators
tradition that any sort of war mean
high wheat. There Is the extraordinary
success for months OF the most spcctacu-
lar OF Chicago operators m disposing AZ
a profit of his enormous purchases.
There Is the long-suetalned return OF
this staple to old prices, lasting, with
brief i~ntermiss1ons, since the fall OF 1896,
when the author OF the Chicago platform
delivered an deliberately documented
speech, proving beyond the shadow Of a
doubt that dollar wheat" owing to the
"dlshonestlng" OF silver, was q thing OF
the past. But these colncident elements
of strength will avail little to keep the
presen.. corner unbroken when the es-
Inmates OF foreign crops come In and are
digested by the market.
These are elements that are worth
considering as entering into the remark
able rise we are Just now witnessing.
stlll other phases OF the question are
touched upon as follows:
Meantime It is to be noted that the
last fragment OF the blmetalllst theory of
prices is demolished by the quotation.
IT Vhan u.hpof t,Nt,NhaI 1orI h,,rp D., tla
dollar mark 1t was %plaintlvely urged
that with silver restored" It would be a
two-dollar mark. That, Of course, was
neverla normal price. but the certain
sign either OF n colossal. corner. or n we'll
nigh worldwide calamity. The 81 Il OF
1872 was. a phenomenally high quotation,
even under inflated conditions. And.
there are only two ~two-dollar marks in
wheat history. One was In the fifties.
1t was due to almost universal crop fall
ures. The other marked the success OF
"Old Hutch's" corner Of ten years ago.
But whatever virtue there Is in a brief
squirt of a fanatically upward movement
in the wheat market may now be conf
IDENTIFY claimed by the Supporters Of the
gold standard. The last poor. shaky
prop has been knocked from under the
iiimsy edlfice OF their opponents. This
Is the only good thing which can be said
about wheat at 81 10.
These are thoughts that are incident
to the boom in wheat prices and are out
side Of the causes that have contributed
to the rise. The main point is tina. war
conditions have had little real conaec-
ton with the advance.
#