Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1898-09-15
WHEAT AND SILVER.


1850, anu over osVVVsVVO OF Tie luudp1-
| tants of that unfortunate land died of
starvation before another crop was
raised. The drought in that country
was so severe that it caused the crop
of 1897 to be exceedingly short, fall
| ing far below the demand for home
consumption. In addition to the fall
| ure in India, there was short crop in
Russia, failure in the Argentine Re-
| public. and an exceedingly short crop
Of both wheat and rye in all the Eu-
| ropean states, especially Austro-Hun-
gary. The United States was favored
| last year with more than an average
| crop, and instead of meeting compe-
| tition in the English market and other
places where the worlds surplus is
disposed of, India, Austria and other
countries that had formerly been our
CHEF competitors had to buy wheat
| from the United States. These facts,
together with the foolhardy attempt
of young Letter, of Chicago, to corner
| the wheat market, caused the price
| of wheat to advance during the past
year to a point which brought back
| to our farmers the memory of better
| days when wheat raising was profit
able industry.
| loudly proclaimed throughout the
land that the advance in the price of
wheat was due to republican leg
islation and republican congressman
sought diligently to impress upon
their constituents that credit was due
10 them for bringing about the adj
| vanced price of wheat, and claimed
| that it was but the beginning of an era
of better prices generally, that would
| place the nation on the high road to
prosperity. The republican press
claimed that, as wheat was advancing
| IN price at the same time that silver
bullion was falling in price, it fur
nished complete and conclusive evil
dence that the argument advanced by
| the democrats in 1896, that there was
some relation between the price of
wheat and silver bullion, was COM
pletely exploded.
They forgot, however, to tell the
people that the only ground upon
which any silver advocate claimed
that a relation between the price of
silver and wheat existed was that
wheat from both gold and silver stand
ard countries was being sold in the
same markets in competition. Under
this condition they claimed that a
bushel of wheat from Russia, India,
the Argentine Republic or the United
States would be sold in the common
market for a like quantity of gold.
It must be borne in mind that the
cost of wheat or any other commodity,
| that is the seed, labor, land rents and
interest on capital, together with the
profits to the producer are reckoned
| in the money of the country where the
| wheat or other commodities are pro-
duced. It is an undisputed fact that
silver in India and Russia will pur-
| chase as much labor and material at
| the present time as at any time IN the
| past. Therefore, when the wheat of
India or Russia is sold in Liverpool for
| gold that can be exchanged for double
| the amount of silver money that it
would command before silver was de-
monetized, it can be sold for lower
| price in terms of gold and yet return
the producers sufficient silver to pay
| them good profit. It is also true that
in proportion as silver bullion falls in
| price they can sell their wheat cheap
er for gold and still get the same re-
turns and the same profits that they
formerly received, and that every de-
cline in the price of silver brings them
additional profit. The advantage ac-
cruing to silver standard countries
from a favorable exchange of moneys
stimulated the production of wheat in
| such countries and made wheat raising
Improbable under the gold standard
while the profits to the silver-using
countries continued on the increase
The price in gold that the people of
India and Russia are willing to accept
for their wheat in the Liverpool mar
ket is all that the American can obtain
for his product. The wheat from all
countries meeting in the market where
the surplus is sold sells at common
price in the money current in that
market. Therefore, the gold price of
the wheat of America is fixed in Liver
pool by the surplus of wheat of India
and Russia so long as those countries
have wheat to sell.
Last year the silver standard coun-
tries were buyers and not sellers of
| wheat, hence the connection between
the price of silver bullion and wheat
was severed for the time being and no
relation between the two existed. But
this year Russia has large surplus to
sell and India and the Argentine Re-
public have surplus and the price of
silver bullion will again fix the price of
the American wheat crop, because our
surplus must be sold in the markets
of the world in competition with the
surplus from silver-using countries.
Last year the silver standard coun-
tries had no wheat to sell and there
fore were unable to purchase silver
from abroad, but on the other hand
were forced to sell silver in the worlds
markets to buy wheat, thus the
scarcity of wheat, in those countries
compelling them to be buyers instead
of sellers operated to make silver go
down at the same time it made wheat
go up.
The Dingley bill had no more to do
with the high price of wheat last year
than it has with the low price of wheat
this year. Republican legislation on
the money question has made the price
of wheat low, and will make it continue
to go lower under conditions of nor
NAL crop throughout the world. I'M
der the gold standard nothing will
make wheat bring fair price, except
o famine abroad that will create an
abnormal demand that must be sup
piled from this country. Drought and
farn;na n, otl,er lands and Uood craus