The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1899-02-15
THE SPECULATERS' WHEAT
COMBINE.



In "Joseph's Dream" his contribution
to the January Cosmopolitan, Grant
Allen sets forth in q most interesting
manner the possibility Of famine in
England by reason of grain corner in
the United States. In his dream" Eng
land is at war. Her enemy Is not named,
but is presumably Russia The war cuts
of every source of breadstuff supply ex-
cept America, and there syndicate OBJ
tains control and holds every bushel of
grain in the country, intending, of
course, to dole it out eventually at enor-
nous prices.
London Is famine-stricken. Mobs sur
round the house of the premier. He
tries to explain that the president of the
United States Is powerless to break the
combine. as there is no constitutional
authority for the seizure of private prop
erty for the succor of foreign nation
The premier is killed by the mob, the
parliament is driven into the Thames,
and as the starving wretches wreak their
vengeance upon those in authority, they
shout: 1--WE are going to make you
swing. just as a warning to all ministers
hereafter to keep us supplied with food"
Very often there is not more than six
weeks supply Of food in England, and
the frenzied, starving men curse the
ministers as they kill them for not fore
seeing just this emergency and taking
care that there should be at all times
at least years supply in the country.
The possibility of famine in England
has been set forth before; not quite so
wildly as in Grant Aliens terrible
dream" but just such a combination
of circumstances could occur, and it Is
interesting to speculate upon the fate of
the people of England in that event.
Let us suppose the conditions described
in the dream" have come to pass.
Congress is not In session, and the
president is appealed to for aid. There
is not time to call an extra session;
grain must be started at once, or thou
sands of the citizens Of friendly ma
ton will perish. The president will do
the conclusion he will reach: This
emergency is not contemplated in our
constitution and laws. Technically, I
am powerless; practically, guess I'll
have to get busy. We went to war with
Spain for the succor of suffering HUI
mainly. War carries with it the power
to seize or even destroy the private
property of our own citizens, II neces-
sary, to the public defense or the sue
cessful prosecution of the war. If we
had a right to go to war for humanity's
sake, and the concurrent right to seize
private property for the purposes of that
war, we have the moral right-now that
a great conspiracy is starving the people
of England, our best friend among the
nations-to condemn at a fair price and
seize all wheat in warehouses wherever
found, and ship the same to England"
The president would then place price
of, say, a dollar bushel on the wheat,
and soon 1t would be moving merrily
along to the seaboard and across the
Atlantic.
But would the president be safe?
Well, let us examine probable conditions
in this country. Would not wheat and
corn be several points too high for COM
fort here? Would the conspiracy have
many friends among the general pub
lie? Would mobs gather to resist the
presidents agents when they went to
unlock the elevators. Would the people
elect a congress pledged to impeach the
president for his violation of the law?
Quite the reverse
The famine pictured In Grant Aliens
ingenious dream would not last long
with president of any spine In the
White House-and most of our presi-
dents have been vertebrates.