Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1902-01-16

I the source from which this enormous bal
| ance of trade comes We find that about
| three-fourths of our experts are fur
| nished directly and indirectly from the
| cultivation of the land; the farmers have
| done the work 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
| i. will bring. l 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. ] have examined these records
| carefully and up to the present time !
| do not find one intelligent sentence or
| line the object of which has been to find
rev markets for the products OF the
| land except as to Southern sugar and
| rice and some wool. In order to adj
| 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 own prod
| nets ard get the wherewith to pay for
| her purchases. England and Germany
| seek for markets over all the world; they
| are nations of merchants, and their ships
! go to all parts of the earth where a
| harbor can be found and trade relations
| established During the past ten or fiji
| teen years our consular service has been
| 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 its populations; to-day this trade is
equal to Sc or 81 per capita of it's popr-
laton. Twenty years ago it amounted
| to about s40,0Oo.OO0 and to-day it amounts
to about $3.50, 100000. of which the United
States share is less than one-fifth. The
total foreign trade of China in 1890 was
| about Is cents per capita; should it in
crease in The ne1r twenty years in the
proportion of one-..alf that the trade
of Japan has increased in the past TWEEN
ty years the foreign trade of China would
amount to 81, 200, 100000. The Chinese race
| is a commercial race. Their merchants
| III point Oh commercial dDlllty ana 1nCeS-
| 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 SINE privilege, as respects trade
! relations, as is secured by Japan by it's
| treaty.
= 80 = = . . . . . . 80
| = II we are to enjoy a fair share Of 9
| q the benefits of the development of q
| q Oriental trade it must come from q
| q finding a market for the necessities q
| q of life, nearly all of which come q
| q from the farms. q
49, . . <<%<~%&
The farm bears relation to the mar
ket. and vital point of national pros
| rerlty and happy social condition will
| be in proportion to our success in secur-
! ing our share of this trade. In the Orient
J men get from 10 to so cents per day; they
| cannot buy luxuries; their wants are re-
| strlcted to the mere necessities of life
! food and clothing. A few years ago I
| sent man to China and Japan, keeping
! him there 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 new market for our rapidly in
creasins products which were being sent
to Europe and sold. not to the highest
| but ! 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
| the Orient has grown to fifteen or twenty
| millions bushels Of wheat per annun, and
| IT there was supply of cheap ocean
| transportation this amount could, in my
| judgment, be very much increased. If
! VIC could take twenty-five or Thirty mil
| lion bushels wear out of the surplus
| that is sent to Europe, it would nearly
| offset TIE average exports of Argen-
| tina. If the new order of things follow
| ing the recent war in China is to secure
! a stable government and protection for
| life and property the development of
! China cannot fail to be very great and
/ see no reason why it 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
brshel 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 80
| much superior to that which they were
in the habit of using. J told them If they
| would try a few carloads of our cotton.
and ii they did not find it to their advan-
tage to use it would pay the cost of the
cotton. They ordered few carloads;
the result has been that we have not
been able to find transport alton to supply
the Oriental demand for American cotton
from that time to this During the
months of September, October and
November just passed, VIC 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
have also carried their share Of cotton
to the Far East and their experience has
been practically the same as our own.
4 . = . = . q . . . = ><>><>%
q Five years ago land in the Red &
q river valley and in North Dakota &
q was selling at from So to 500 per &
q acre; to-day the demand for these &
La have m