The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-01-11

world Our attention Is frequently cali
ed TO the enormous balance of trade III
our favor; in other words, the amount of
money we receive for what we sell is
above that which we pay for what we
buy. thus making our country rich be-
Vond all precedent. If we carefully in
quire into the source from which this
enormofs balance of trade comes, We
lind that about three-fCurths of our eN-
ports are furnished directly and indi-
rectly. from the cultivation Of the land.
The farmers have done the work and
have benefited the nation.
NO INTELLIGENT EFFORT
TO GET NEW MARKETS.
Now let us consider what the nation
has done in return for the farmers, or
what il 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 it will bring. l viii ask you to
look over the statute books of the ma
ton 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
1hese records carefully, and up to the
present time / do not tind~one intelligent
sentence or line, the object of which has
been TO find new markets for the prod
sugar and rice, and some wool.
In Older to advance 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 buyer
the price must remain low and whenever
there is a shortage and the demand is
greater than the supply, it follows that
prices mast advance. Great Britain buys
about 20 per cent of all our exports. She
~
ton that does not in her markets or
through her tariffs discriminate against
the product of oar soil. In order to buy
from us she must be able TO sell her own
products and get the wherewith to pay
for her purchases
England and Germany seek for markets
all over 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 fifteen 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 con-
sular agents are comparatively few and
their action in that regard limited.
GREAT OPPORTU MITES
IN THE ORIENV.
ANchbS SstiS dSO TIE IOI0lSn lIdQe OL
Japan was not to exceed 81 per capita
of its population; today this trade is
equal 10 So or s. per capita of its pOpula-
ton. Twenty years ago it amounted to
about $40,C090tO and today it amounts to
about $-50,0000J0, of which the United
ctates' share is less than one-fifth. The
total foreign trade in China in 1890 was
about 20 cents per capita; should it in
crease in the next twenty years in the
nf hal hot 1o
,apan has increased in the past twenty
years, the foreign trade of China would
amount to $12,00),000.
The Chinese race is q commercial race.
Their merchants in point of commercial
ability and integrity Will rank with those
Of any other nation. The Russian-Siber-
an line viii soon extend through Siberia
20 ManchuTia and Port Arthur, an open
port all the year round. This viii give
Russia an opportunity to distribute many
Of her products in China and Will place
her in strong position. The treaty be
tween China and Japan at the close of the
Japanese war secured to Japan the rights
TO trade in China and TO make use of
Ports and flyers ana provide facilities for
that purpose Under the most favored
nation clalse in the treaty, each has the
same privilege, as respects trade rela-
IONS as is scared by Japan by its
treaty.
If we are to enjoy a fair share of the
benefits Of the development of Oriental
trade it must come from finding a market
for the necessities of life, nearly all of
which come from the farms.
The farm bears a relation TO the mar
ket, and vital point of national pros
perity and happy social condition will
ne in proportion to our success in Sc
curing our snare of this trade. In the
Orient men get from 10 to 50 cents per
day; they cannot buy luXuries; their
wants are restricted to the mere necessi-
ties of life-foOd and clothing. A few
years ago ] sent man to China and
Japan keeping him there year. to find
'ut and report upon the commercial con-
dhlons of these countries and to learn
what was necessary for this country to
do in order to create a new market for
our rapidly increasing products which
were being sent to Europe and sold, not
to the highest, but, I might say, to the
lowest bidder, because of the surplus
we had to sell.
CHEAP OCEAN RATES
MEAN MILLIONS TO Us.
During the past six years the -four
trade of the Orient has grown to Is 900 -
Eo or 2O,0N,GO0 bushels of wheat per an
mum, and if there was q supply of CHEAP
ocean transportation, this amount could
in my judgment, be very much in
creased. If we could take o OO0 600 or
"tOO,OO bushels a year out of the sur
piuS that is sent to Europe. it would
nearly offset the average exports of the
Argentine. If the new order of thin 8
following the recent war in China is to
secure stable government and protec-
ton for fe and property. the deveIon-
ment of China cannot fail to be very
great. and I see no reason why it NAV
a 4lo,+
that case we would be called on to fur
nish one-haf of our entire surplus grain.
taxing this amount out of the European
markets and greatly advancing the price
OF every bushel exported from this conn
try
A few years ago some very intelligent
japanese gentlemen were in nv Office
ana asked them why they did not
use American cotton to mix with the
snort staple cotton from India? They did
not seem to know that our cotton was
so much superior to that which thav
were in the habit of using. l told them
IL they would try a few carloads of our
cotton and il they did not find if to
their advantage to use it. I would nav
the cost of the cotton. They ordered .
few carloads, The result has been that
We have net been able to find transporta-
ton to supply the Oriental demand for
American cotton from that time to This
During the months of September, Octo-
Der and November just past we Skinned
about $1,000 bales Of cotton to the Orient.
This was all we could find shiproom Ia
carry The amount could have been don
bled had the shiproom been available
During this time other roads have also
carried their share of cotton to the Fast
and their experience has been practicalIv
the same as our own.
REMARKABLE INCREASE
IN LAND VALUES
Five years ago land in the Red River