South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1914-09-12

j. A. PATTEN.
The American farmer" Patten
continued lis still holding so per
cent at least of the present wheat
cent of the coming winters wheat
crop.
and the price of that wheat is go
ing TO climb to the dizzy price of one
dollar and a half before spring
maybe higher! That means fortunes
for the farmers. and they know it!
THE European war has caused an
extremely serious and almost unparal-
leled situation in the wheat market.
In the pit were all bulls; we know
wheat must keep climbing higher and
higher But-Tm not buying wheat.
I'm afraid"
The great James a Patten, who
was once said to have made $4,000,
000 in wheat pit gambling; who in
1903 risked his all. braved public
cOntumely and federal prosecution in
one of the most daring and spectacu-
lar wheat corners" ever attempted,
avows that he is afraid" of the pres
ent situatiOni
Patten Is afraid"
Just go over TO the board Of
trade Patten went on. You'll see
men there who used to buy wheat by
the hundred thousand bushels, timid-
ly taking ten thousand. In other
words, the very gravity of the situa-
ton has killed reckless speculation,
and the trading is on an absolutely
legitimate basis. Suppose peace were
to be declared tomorrow The bot
tom would drop out of the price of
wheat, and millions would drop out
of the reckless SPECTATORS pockets.
But of course the price of wheat
would pick up again. The public
may just as well get used TO the fact
that the price of bread is going to
rise, fast and high
Look at this map. See this north
ern region of France. around Lille
and Nancy? That is where France
grows her grain. And you know what
sort of a harvest is taking place there
today! And as for Germany, here's
her granary-East Prussia. Think of
those vast fields Of growing grain. just
at the harvest time. all trampled
down, burned, or left to rot.
Argentine wheat is short this year.
Russia's crop is poor, and where will
Russia find men to harvest it? Mean
while. Europe has millions of armed
men who must be fed.
THAT is why Europe is buying ire
mendOus quantities of American
wheat and buying it without regard
to price The foreigner isn't looking
for bargains He's looking for bread.
And his broker in this country has
orders to buy it, and never mind the
cost.
with a demand of that kind, moth
ing can prevent extraordinary prices.
An embargo on exports of wheat has
been suggested. but that would dis
turb our international trade at the
very moment we are trying to enlarge
il.
There is $4,000, 600 deposited in
New York banks today which belongs
to Europe. 1t is the price for the
stocks which were sold on the New
York exchange by foreigners in the
few days before the exchange closed.
The exports of wheat are balancing
that debt And the debt must be ball
anced. as the first step in the great
movement for increasing our interna-
tional trade
Sees Benefits i'm Rise.
And finally. remember that the
high price of wheat is beneficial 10
the country in two ways:
First. it is the farmer who is go
ing TO make big profits from it.
Secondly, il is making people
economical of wheat. and will prevent
the famine which would otherwise re-
suit from the waste and destruction in
Europe"
\ double row of loaves of bread.
placed end 10 end and reaching from