Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-03-24

London, Feb. 17.-(Correspondence
of The Associated Press.) Great
Britain and her allies have gone into
the wheat business on a very extern
sive scale, the government them
selves buying vast stocks of wheat
100000 tons in Australia at a cost Of
$16,000,000; 100000 tons in Argentine
at a cost of s20,OOO,0OO and the whole
remaining crop of Rumania at $780,
00,000-in all about sS6,000,000, prob
ably the largest bulk expenditure for
wheat ever made.
This is a new departure-govern-
ments buying up the wheat supply. 1t
has a special interest to the United
States for two reasons, namely:
First: The rate of American ex-
change, which went so strongly against
England last fall, is dependent on
keeping down imports of American
wheat, cotton and other products. In
this way the balance of trade will not
be so heavily against England as it
was last fall; the drain of gold to meet
that balance will not be so heavy, and
the exchange rate will remain steady.
One of the highest officials of the gov
eminent told the Associated Press,
when the rate of exchange crisis oc-
CURED last fall, that one of the surest
ways of steadying the exchange was
for England to stop buying wheat in
the United States and buy it instead in
Australia, Canada and elsewhere. He
intimated strongly, too, that this would
be done; and apparently it has been
done, although the Corn Exchange is
flooding the London press with queries
as to why these government purchases
are made.
Second Irrespective of the ex-
change rate, the government purchase
Of wheat discloses the tremendous
weapon which the quadruple allies pos
sess in the control of that fundamental
food product. AS it stands now, the
countries forming the quadruple al
lance have an enormous stock of
wheat, about one-half of the total
worlds crop of 1915; the neutral coun-
tries come next with about half as
much as the quadruple allies possess
and the central powers come last with
a comparatively insignificant stock of
| the great food staple. A rough sum-
mary showing the wheat holdings OF
the various groups is as follows:
Quadruple allies, 323,452,O0O quar-
| tiers.
Neutral countries, 1S9,1S1 900 quar-
| tiers.
Central powers, 56,739,000 quarters
That is, the quarduple allies have
the bulk Of the worlds wheat supply
and are buying up good deal of the
neutral's share, while the central pow
ers have about one-sixth the supply OF
their opponent with little chance of
buying from neutrals or getting it de-
livered if bought.
The details of wheat holdings bv the
two war groups, and by the neutrals
can be approximately figured out from
reports obtained through the Corn Ex-
change, as compiled from all available
sources, including official. Rearranged
according to groups in the present
WARRIOR this is a struggle between
war groups-the stocks of wheat. in
quarters, is as follows:
Quadruple allies: France. $4,000.
600; Algeria and Tunisia, $500, 600;
United Kingdom, 100000; India. A..
1900; Canada, 100000 Egypt and
the Cape, 100000; Australia. 23.20O.-
600; New Zealand, 100000; Italy, 81
$4,000; Russia. 133.0O0,OOO; Japan, Q.
100000. Total, 323,452 900 quarters.
Neutrals: Spain. 17,000,O 600; Portu.
gal, 100000; Rumania, 1880 900:
Greece, 100000; Holland. 7li.OOO;
Switzerland, $4,000; Sweden. 1000.
1000: Denmark, $1,000; United States