Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1914-10-23

Europe, accustomed TO our gilded
tourists and their tips, seems to inn
agine 1t.
America needs that gold because
cur own affairs can not be managed
without reasonable supply of cash.
The effort to buy up the bargains Of
fered by the Europeans soon started
stream of gold flowing to the other
side. That gave rise to fear Of los
ing too much of our gold.
Even if we get higher prices for
what we sell during great war we
must in large part pay Tor them with
our own money.
1t is of course profitable to sell a
Dutchihan a block of stock at 500
per share and then buy It back-it
being lust as good d stock as ever
at $50. We have made big profit
buying up the bargains the panic
stricken aliens have offered to us.
But it has been taking our gold
away from US; and we need that
gold. Suppose Europes demand toi
our wheat forces the price up to
$3.50 a bushel; who benefits and
who is injured-in this country?
The American producer of the
wheat assuredly benefits. There is
no analysis that can lead to any
other conclusion. The man with
hogs, beef, corn, wheat, and the 9TH
er things that Europe must take at
the very outset is going to profit. OF
course the advance will not all be
profit to the farmer He will have
to buy what he buys in a market
where higher prices will rule, in
sympathy with foreign prices. When
a big part of the producing world
quits producing and goes to destroy
ling, prices have got to go up. But
they will go up for all of us.
That is why the American con-
sumner stands to suffer by an era of
war prices. The farmer will get the
immediate benefit because his are
the things Immediately wanted
abroad Farm products will go UP
while investments go down, because
of the rush to trade investments for
the farmers things.
Yet in the early days of the war
scare the most important OF all
American farm products, from the
standpoint of international trade,
fell fast and persistently in price.
That was cotton. Why?
Because, first, our cotton goes
largely to the countries engaged in
the war. The Germans buy a vast
amount of it; and one of the first
results of war was expected to be
blockade of German ports. The
cotton could not get into them. Th~
German cotton industry would be
largely suspended. Even if the raw
cotton should get il. the products
could not be shipped out to the Ger
man foreign markets; it would be
too likely to be seized by hostile
naval vessels.
The people in Germany must eat
three times a day. 1t isn't absolute
ly necessary for them to spin and
weave and sell and ship cotton every
day. They can afford to take any
sort of chances to get food. They
can't take such chances to keep their
cotton Industry operating.
Same for the other countries.
Hence wheat went sky-hooting
upward while cotton went down in
price.
The world has been spending it's
spare cash, and a lot it couldn't
spare, for half century building
warships with which to destroy COM
merce whenever a time like the pres
emit should be ripe So il need not
be surprised ri its exchanges and in
dnstry get mussed up when these
dogs of war are turned loose to seek
what they may deyour.
| nut plOttSlS lub man whose
voice is for war, 'if the Germans
can't so on making and selling the
cotton goods in the markets they
haye been supplying, isn't that the
golden opportunity for the United
States to jump in and grab off that
business while the Germans are too
busy to attend to it?''
1t is exactly that.
If the United States can pull itself
together and seize the opportunity,
il will get a good thing just about in
proportion as the war is long and it's
effects on the commerce of Europe
are destructive. But pulling our
selves together for that effort will be
a tremendous test of the national
nerves.
We can't send our gold to Europe
and at the same time use it at home
to finance the new commerce that we
hone tn take away from o,r Lr,,r,