The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1909-05-08
DOLLAR WHEAT HAS
!, COME TO STAY
IN LESS THAN FIVE YEARS CEN
TRIAL CANADA WILL BE CALLED
UPON TO SUPPLY THE
UNITED STATES.

{
umns that dollar wheat had come to
stay, and that TIE time was not far
distant when the central provinces of
/ Canada-Manitoba, Saskatchewan and
! AIberta-wouId be called upon to sup
ply a large part OF the wheat con-
sumption in the United States, there
] were many who laughed at the predic-
/ tions and ridiculed the idea Of wheat
+ reaching the dollar point and staying
/ there. Both of these predictions have
come to pass. Dollar wheat is here
/ and it is not only here, but is here to
stay; and at the same time, whatever
unpleasant sensations it mas arouse
in the super-sensitive American, Cen
/ trail Canada is already being called
upon to help keep up the bread sup
ply, and within the next five years
/ will, as James J. Hill says, literally
become the bread-basket OF our in
/ creasing millions"
There are few men in the United
States better acquainted with the
wheat situation than Mr.. Hill, and
there are few men, if any, who are in
clined to be more conservative in
their expressed views Yet it was this
|
who said a few days ago that the
price of wheat will never be substan-
TALLY lower than it is today'-and
when it is taken into consideration
that at that time wheat had scared to
| S1.20, we'll above the dollar mark, the
statement is peculiarly significant.
and doubly significant is the fact that
in this country the population is in
creased at the ratio of So per cent,
while the yield of wheat and other
products is increasing at the rate Of
only % per cent. For. several years
past the cost of living has been stead
lily increasing in the United States,
and this wide difference in production
and consumption is the reason.
This difference must be supplied by
the vast and fertile grain regions of
Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta
There is now absolutely no doubt of
this. Even the press of the country
/ comedies the fact. Results have shown
that no other country in the world can
ever hope to equal those provinces as
wheat producers, and that no other
country can produce as hard or as
good wheat. Said a great grain man
J
tains the dollar mark, Canada wheat
Will be we'll above a dollar bushel,
for in every way it is superior to our
homegrown grain
With these facts steadily impinging
their truth upon our rapidly growing
population, it is interesting to note
just what possibilities as wheat
grower" our Northern neighbor pos
Sesses. While the United States will
never surrender her prestige in any
manufacturing or commercial line, She
must very soon acknowledge, and with
as much grace as she can, that she is
bound to be beaten as a grain pro
Queer. 1t must be conceded that a
great deal of the actual truth about
the richness of Canada's grain produc
ing area has been kept out of sight,
as Mr.. Hill says by the strenuous eff
forts of our newspapers and maya
dimes to stem the exodus of our best
American farmers into those regions
1t is a fact that up to the present
time, although Canada has already
achieved the front rank in the world s
grain producers, the fertile prairies
Of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and AL
Herta have as yet scarcely been
scratched. Millions of acres, free fol-
the taking, still await our American
farmers; and when these millions are
some there are other millions in re
gfons not yet opened up to immigra
ton. A few years ago the writer, who
has been through those wheat prov
lhces several times, laughed with 9th
ers of our people at the broad
statement that Canada was bound tt
become John Bulls Bread Basket
Now, after a last trip (and though he
is a stanch Americana he frankly be
lieves that not only will Canada be
come John Bulls bread-basket, but il
Will within the next decade at leas
BECOME THE BREAD-BASKET OF
THE UNITED STATES. Perhaps this
may be hard truth for Aemricans tc
swallow, but it is a truth, neverthe
less. And it is at least partial com
pensation to know that hundreds OF
thousands of our farmers are profit
ing by the fact by becoming producers
ip this new country.
The papers of this country have nat
urally made the most of the brief pc
Rod Of depression which swept ovei
Canada but now there is not a sign OF
it left from Winnipeg to the coast
Never have the three great wheat rails
, ing provinces been more prosperous
Capital is coming into the country
from all quarters, taking the form Of
, cash for investment, industrial con
Germs seeking locations, and, best o.
. all, substantial and sturdy immigrants
. come to help populate the prairies
Towns are booming: scores of new
, elevators are springlng up; railroad!
are sending out their branch lines il
all directions; thousands of prosper
GUS farmers are leaving their prairie
shelters for new and modern homes
built by wheat" everywhere is
: growing happiness and contentment-
happiness and contentment built b!
> wheat-the dollar wheat which ha
, come to stay. Notwithstanding this
the Canadian Government is still Civ
ing away it's homesteads and sellin;
prescriptions at $500 an acre, and thu