Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1903-06-12

from the dense population on the sea
coast that it cannot be carried there.
MAY perhaps fear that Russia,
with THE Siberian Railway COM
may enter into competition
with Us and the Asiatic -four or
wheat trade. The transportation
question settles that. The average
rate on the Russian state railroads is
LIS cents per ton per mile. If the
actual u)st of operation amounted to
out two-thirds of this fgure-1.2
cents per ton per mile-this rate, APP
piled to the distance from that part
of Siberia where the wheat is gown,
would give a transportation charge of
"a. 20 per barrel for flour, while it
should be Carried from our Pacific
ports to Yokohama, Nagasaki, Kobe,
Shanghai and Hongkong for 25 cents
p hundred, s. a ton, so cents a barrel.
"Rpssla is not in a position to
compete with us at all, even if the
wheat and flour were carried for the
naked cost of transportation to the
government. What applies in this
respect to our wheat applies to cotton
from the South and to every other
article we export, even to iron and
steel.
eff our home market, which we
have nnrsed so long for iron and steel
industries, is of so much value, let us
now go Oh and take some care of our
agricultural interests, and not leave
them where they are today-without
an iota Of assistance from any point.
"A year ago you could buy nails
for s1.9] a keg; now they are S3.25.
You know how lumber has gone up,
and all other articles of prime neces-
sity on the prairie farm. Fuel has
advanced. Everything made of iron
has advanced But the--whest crop
has not advanced. because it is sold
in open competition with the product
Of the world. And until we get
other people to eat wheat it will not
advance and we will go IN hoping
against hope. We will not get a
: high price for our wheat until wheat
is made scarce. If we could increase
our export to the Orient by 80, 600, 900
bushels l have not the slightest doubt
that it would advance the price of
what we do send to Europe 10 or 20
cents.
In the first place, what we would
send to the Orient would go from the
Pacific coast. The grain of that
Coast is handled at present in a man
ner entirely different from that which
prevails east Of the Rocky Mountains.
Having to cross the equator twice, it
must be carried in sacks to prevent
heating, and not in bulk in the hull
Of the ship, as on the Great Lakes or
the Atlantic. The grain is practi-
cally all bought by three concerns,
two of them located in Liverpool and
also interested in a line of steamers,
so that they can furnish their own
shipping. The wheat is sent to
England and sold for what 1t will
bring. 1t acts as a damper--a wet
blanket-on the entire market. The
voyage around the Horn is fcue
months long, and by the time the
first cargoes are reaching port the
last are leaving, Sc. that it is all
ahoat at the same time. The buyer
in Europe knows what is aioat.
There the buyer must send over and
place his order in advance Of ship
ment. With the Pacific Coast grain
it must sell for what it will bring.
The ship cannot be delayed and the
grain cannot be stored in sacks.
1--WE can never get away from the
practical proposition that we are in
competition with every wheat raiser
in every countryside peasants on the
stepes of Russia, the ryots of India,
and the Argentine farmers, most Of
whom went from Italy. We are in
competition with them on an even
whif1etree. We always will be so
long as we have to sell outside of
our own country; and that our own
country will never consume our en-
tire product no intelligent man will
believe, at least for half a century.
"Our farmers can do nothing in
the way of getting a market. I can
do very little. The price of trans
portation has come down, but the
price of wheat has come down with
it. Compare the cost of carrying a
ton of wheat to Liverpool or Antwerp
twenty years ago and now and it
will be found that the fall in the
price of wheat from year to year is
just about the difference in this rate.
It has made wheat cheaper for the
other fellow. He is not compelled to
] take your wheat. He can take wheat