The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-07-12
WHEN WHEAT
WAS In POLITICS
MIR. wILLIAMs's CONVENTION REM
INISCENCE OF 1909.

0--~s
Story OF the "Brysn Years-Swift
Flight from Low Level Price Of
History to Dollar wheat-How
the Political Influence
Was Felt.
New York Evening Post. -
There Is d class OF observant public
men who in every Presidential cam
course of events in the harvest dis
triots. Experience has taught them
that, while the out turn. Of the crops
may in a given election make no great
difference ip'the November vote. 1t may
become the dominant influence. In
1880, for example. the great prosperity
which was assured the grain belt by
the marketing, at good prices. Of the
largest wheat. corn. oats, and cotton
crops ever harvested. were distinctly a
factor in Garfie1d's great victory.
Crops were abundant in the United
States in 1884, but so they were In
Europe, and the resultant low prices
caused enough discomfort to make some
considerable difference in the poll OF
Mr.. Blaine. Harrisons defeat in 1892
was at least helped by a 432,0o0,000 de-
crease in the seasons corn crop and a
100000 bushel decline in wheat yield
The figure cut by the great crops OF
1900. and the brilliant prosperity Of the
old Populist communities, will not have
been forgotten by any one.
As Told to the Convention.
But Of all the Presidential elections
of this generation, the one whose re-
suits were most notably affected by the
harvest out turn of the year was 1896.
This fact was strongly brought out by
John Sharp Williams. in his speech tc
the St. Louis Convention last Wednes-
day-a speech. 1t may be remarked
which displayed a thoroughness OF
knowledge and accuracy of reasoning
on recent economic history, very rarely
attained by political orators. Mr.. Will
liams thus recalled the accidents of ma.
ture which contributed to the sound
money victory of eight years ago:
'The first OF these was famine ir
indiana Indian wheat to compete ir
the worlds markets with ours, stimuli.
taneously with an immense American
crop Of wheat and small crops else
where. Wheat rose from about As tt
about 10 cents in few weeks during
the Bryan Mckinley campaign. while
Cleveland was yet President. There 4.
not man within the sound of my voice
that does not remember that. Will
70-cent wheat farmers could pay tn,
retailers the debts due them. and the
retailers could buy more goods; the re-
tailers. with empty shelves or shelves
becoming empty by sales, could ordel
from the jobbers; the jobbers, who hat
been overstocked, were enabled then t,
order from the factories. When tn,
factories got orders then they had {
| reason for making goods. and they pro
ceeded to make them and then tn,
al 20 l,I
This curious chapter of events Il
worth some more detailed "Reminiscences
In August. 1896. wheat sold on the Chi
cago Board of Trade at almost the low
est price in history. The actual mini
mum on record was the As IA cents PEI
bushel quotation of January. 1895, bu
the midsummer price of 1896 was only
So. and this compared with prices abov,
a dollar u bushel in 1891, 1890, 1889 ant
1888. 1t was not at all strange thai
Bryan and his friends should have ap
pealed to the wheat market as the cor
nerstone of their argument.
Wheat's Low Record for History.
The low price of wheat was reached
on August 8, when prospect for 9
bumper" home crop coincided with ca.
BILE predictions of an abundant foreign
harvest. Europe in actual fact pro.
duced more wheat than the year before
and so did Australia. though both fell
below the normal average. But on the
heels of the August 6 low record price
came news of drought in, upper India
and OF touch of unreasonable frost In
our own Red River Valley. In the end
India yielded 100000 bushels less
than in 1895, and 72,000.000 less than in
1894. and our own crop fell $1,000, coo
bushels below the preceding year. Eu-
rox t.tH IL
by three years of high production and
slowly increasing consumption, had
fallen to a figure 100000 bushels be-
low the year before. and much the
lowest in half a dozen years. From
SO cents a bushel at Chicago, wheat
rose before the month was over to
SO Is. Before the close of October, II
was up TO 81, and It touched "a 3-S Il
few weeks after election.
The "Object Lesson In silver.
The moral effect of this dramatic
change was such as Mr.. Williams de-
scribed at Chicago. 1t was none the
less striking in that silver. which, by
the Bryanite theory, was linked in
price with wheat. fell in the same pc
riod from 81 as to 20 ga pence an
ounce. Mr.. Bryan's orators and or
gans filled the air with protests that
wall Street was putting up wheat" to
deceive the agricultural voter. Some
believed the explanation and some did
not. but both saw wheat advancing, and
conceived a distrust for Mr.. Bryan's
theories. The result everybody knows.
The curious things about that episode
were. first, the fact that the farmers
apparently did not object to some loss
in their harvest, If prices' only rose.
and. second, that for once returning
agricultural prosperity helped the par
ty nominally In opposition.