The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-01-17
would advance the price of wheat from
ten to twenty cents per bushel"


ten to twenty cents per bushel.''
The great public service which Mr..
Hill then rendered as a pioneer of this
movement he supplemented by appear
ing before the senate commerce COM
mittee Thursday, the 18th inst, and
arguing in behalf of the BILL which so
well carries out the results of his OBJ
servations and Investigations.
Among those appearing the same day
before the committee We're ex-senator
Edmunds and F. w. Thurber president
of the Export Association of the United
States; but cogent as were the argu-
ments of these distinguished gentle
men. and favorable as was their re-
ception, they were not accorded that
close attention and weight that the
committee eagerly yielded to the words
OF Mr.. Hill.
MIR. HILLS EVIDENCE.
Mr. Hill spoke of the present condi
tions in the Northwest and on the Pa
cific coast and of the rational promises
o. the future. He asserted that by
1920 the population of the United
States would be at least 12O, 900 600; and
our export trade. What then would be
the cost of employing foreign shipping.
when it was remembered that the peo-
pie of the United States We're now pay
ing out $500, ,000, 900 a year? Should not
such an outlay be saved-an outlay
which could be only possible in coun-
try where credits were SO good that
| buying nations also borrowed the
money with which they made their pur
chases? He showed transportation on
land was a little less than 40 per cent
Of the average cost on the continent of
Europe and that While the commerce
of the Atlantic might not be extended
without protracted effort, yet to the
west of US, at our very doors, were
third of the population of the
world. The limit of the export trade in
that direction was simply set by the
lack of ships. Here, in answer to a
question from Senator Gallinger, Mr..
Hill stated that cotton expectation was
vastly increasing through the ports of
Puget Sound, though hampered sorely
by insufficient means of transportation.
Such also was the case with flour,
though recently a subsidized japanese
line was carrying 1t for So per hundred.
Mr.. Hill gave the committee a prac-
teal demonstration of his faith in the
potential might of American commerce,
by saying that should this bill pass, he
would be inclined to establish line
of ships across the Pacific ocean. By
| means of such a line. he argued. the
wheat growers Of the Northwest would
be benefited, since the Pacific coast
wheat would be sold in Asia, instead
of being ratified off at auction to any
bidder in the marts of Europe after a
four months voyage. At the present
time, too. he said, states east of the
Rocky mountains sometimes offered
heavy shipments of wheat to his rail-
roads for export to Asia, but these had
to be refused for lack of marine trans
portatiOn.
SHORT OF SHIPS.
Mr.. Hill particularized that lie knew
of one firm which had an order for
100000 barrels of flour from China,
which could not be filed, because it
could not be shipped. And yet, he
maintained. that the Pacific coast pos
sessed all the facilities for shipbuild-
ing such as iron, coke and lumber, and
that under the nurture of this bill it
would construct it's own ships The
capital will be forthcoming, he added.
significantly.
1t was impossible, Mr.. Hill continued.
to over-estimate the extent of the field
which would be opened in the Orient
At one time, he had had fears of the
fall in price which might ensue from
free expectation of flour to China;
but after careful investigation he found
that they were without foundation one
eminent Eastern merchant instancing
a single province where consumption
of one ounce per day by each inhabi-
tant would more than exhaust the
wheat output of the Dakctas. In con-
clusion, he hoped to see the day when
not one bushel of wheat, grown west
of the Mississippi, would reach the At
lantic seaboari.
Many congressman, conspicuous
among whom were Senators Davis,
Hansbrough and Mcbride, were among
Mr.. Hills auditors, following his argu-
ments with keen interest. They throng-
ed about to congratulate him, and the
comment was frequent that if there
had been those from the Northwest and
middle West who had looked with in
difference upon the measure, believing
that it did not contribute to the en-
couragement of the farming interests
of their sections, they were now fur
nished with proof that an immeasur-
able market would be opened to Ameri-
car cereals through it's instrumentality.
Mr. Chamberlain, commissioner of
navigation, expressed himself as pc
culiarly we'll pleased by Mr.. Hills ap-
pearance before the committee and by
the force of his speech. 1T was one of
the most powerful and effective argu-
ments that has been submitted said