The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1902-01-17

the source from which this enormous bal
ance of trade comes, we find hat about
three-fourths of our experts are fur
nished directly and indirectly from the
cultivation of the land; the farmers have
done the w Nrk and have benefited the ma
ton. Now let US consider what the ma
ton has done in return for the farmers,
or what it can do in their behalf. The
first and great object is to provide them
means to sell the product of their land
and their labor, at the
Highest Possible Prices
il will bring. / will ask you to look over
the statute books of the nation and the
different states, and find, if you can, any
intelligent step that has been taken to
find new markets for our agricultural
exports. l have examined these records
carefully and up to the present time l
do not find one intelligent sentence or
line the object Of which has been to find
new markets for the roductS of the
land, except as to Southern sugar and
rice, and some wool. In order to ad-
vance the price of every commodity the
first step is to increase the demand for
it.; as long as there is a surplus in the
market seeking a buyer the price must
remain low, and whenever there is a
shortage and the demand is greater than
the supply it follows that prices must
advance. Great Britain buys about 20
per cent of all our exports. She is our
one great customer, and the single nation
that does not in her markets or through
her tariffs discriminate against the prod
uct of our soil. In order to buy from us
she must be able to sell her w prod
ucts ard get the wherewith to pay for
her purchases. England and Germany
seek for markets over all the world; they
are nations of merchants, AID their ships
go to all parts Of the earth where a
harbor can be found and trade relations
established. During the past ten or ff-
/ fanr n,1r rnru,tlnr. cGrUica has hppn
greatly improved, and is now furnishing
valuable information as to the conditions
under which
Our Trade Relations
might be extended. but our consular
agents are comparatively few and their
action in that regard limited.
Twenty years ago the foreign trade
Of Japan was not to exceed 81 per capita
of it's populations; to-day this trade is
equal to Sc or 81 per capita of it's popu-
lation. twenty years ago it amounted
to about $40. OOO. 900 and to-day it amounts
to about $3.50, 600, 600, Of which the United
States share is less than one-fifth. The
total foreign trade of China in 1880 was
about IS cents per capita; should it in
crease in the next twenty years in the
proportion OF one-.,alf that the trade
Of Japan has increased In the past twen-
ty years the foreign trade of China would
amount to 81, 200, 900, 600. The Chinese race
is a commercial race. Their merchants
in point Of commercial ability and integ-
rity will rank with those of any other
nation. The Russian-Siberian line will
soon extend through Siberia to Man
churia and Port Arthur, an open port
all the year round. This will give Russia
an opportunity to distribute more of her
products in China and will place her in
a strong position. The treaty between
China and Japan at the close of the Jap
anese war secured to Japan the right to
trade in China and to make use of ports
and rivers and provide facilities for
that purpose. Under the most favored
nation clause in tire treaty, each nation
has the sAme privilege, as respects trade
relations, as is secured by Japan by it's
treaty.
If we are to enjoy a fair share of .
= the benefits Of the development of
q Oriental trade it must come from Q
. finding a market for the necessities .
. of life, nearly all Of which come .
q from the farms.
The farm bears a relation to the mar
ket, and a vital point of national pros
rerity and a happy social condition will
be in proportion to our success in secur-
ing our share of this trade. In the Orient
men get from 10 to so cents per day; they
cannot buy Injuries; their wants are re-
stricted to the mere necessities of life
food and clothing. A few years ago /
sent a man to China and Japan, keeping
him there a year, to find out and report
upon the commercial conditions OF those
countries and to learn what was neces-
sary for this country to do in order to
create a new market for our rapidly in
creasing~ products which were being sent
to Europe and sold, not to the highest,
but I might say to the lowest bidder, be-
cause of the surplus we had to sell. Dur
ing the past six years the flour trade of
V1@ 0x,.1~A 49, -~~ry - - A-r--A-y
millions bushels Of wheat per annunl, and
if there was a supply of cheap ocean
transportation, this amount could, in my
judgment, be very much increased. If
We could take twenty-five or thirty mil
lion bushels a year out of the surplus
that is sent to Europe, 1t would nearly
offset the average exports Of Argen-
tina. If the new order of things follow
ing the recent war in China is to secure
a stable government n protection for
life and property. the development of
I China cannot fail to be very great, and
/ see no reason why 1t may not be as
great as that of Japan. In that case
we, would be called on to furnish one-half
of our entire surplus grain, taking this
amount out of the European markets
and greatly advancing the price Of every
bushel exported from this country.
A few years ago some very intelligent
japanese gentlemen were in my Office
and / asked them why they did not use
American cotton to mix with the short
staple cotton from India. They did not
seem to know that our cotton vas 50
much superior to that which they were
in the habit of using. ! told them IL they
would try a few carloads of our cotton,
and If they did not find it to their advan-
tage to use it I would pay the cost of the
cotton. They ordered a few carloads;
the result has been that we have not
been able to find transportation to supply
the Oriental demand for American cotton
from that time to this. During the
months OF September, October and
November just passed. we shipped about
sixty thousand bales Of cotton to the
Orient. This was all we could find ship
room to carry: the amount could have
been doubled had the ship-room been
available. During this time other roads
rave also carried their share OF cotton
to the Far East and their experience has
been practically the same as our own.
. Five years ago I'M in the Red .
. river valley and In North Dakota .
. was selling at from So to $40 per .
= acre. to-day the demand for these =