Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1920-05-25
TRANSFORMATION AND PRICES.

WIFI give llS - CduOl SuSAA
on the subject as 1t has.
MANIFESTATION AND PRICES.
Few of US realize how dependent
we are on the certainty and regular
ity Of transportation.for the uniform
ity and general fairness Of our prices.
Prices. of course, are neither entirely
uniform a moi. Absolutely fair. But the
prices OF. most Of the things which are
necessary for the maintenance and
comfort Of life, the great staples. are
kept lat fairly uniform levels, and the
level'mAintained is usually justified BY
the great basic facts of supply and de-
mand. And. when we pause to con-
slider the conditions under which we
live with those of one or two genera
lions ago.,we appreciate, in a measure,
the part that transportation plays both
in making goods accessible and In reg
ulating their prices.
Fifty years ago there was no such
thing as a wheat market in the Unit
ed States. There were a thousand
little local! markets. each dependent
on the local' conditions Of the commu-
nifty, and the prices in these markets
varied with those conditions. 1t was
no small task to get the surplus pro-
duct out ,of the locality where it was
raised to- a market where there was
a demand for it. A very large share
of such movement was by water, aft
err long hauls'by wagon to the river or
lake port. In the northern states, be-
cause water transportation is impos-
sible in the winter, the storage facili-
ties at each of these numerous little
primary markets were taxed during
the cold months, and the buyers at
those points were obliged to allow
themselves large margins in order to
be prepared for the exigencies Of the
final shipment of the grain to its ul-
destination. Local demand,
with a ~shor crop In a particular To-
would boost prices out Of sight,
and the opposite conditions in another
neighborhood would make 1t almost
to sell at any price.t
With the development Of our great
transportation systems, and with these
systems functioning normally, these
conditions. have disappeared. Prices
find their proper level because the
pressure is uniform, and local and ac-
occidental conditions no longer operate
tito cause consumers to pay famine
|,pricessin one section while the produc-
|+ers in~another ARE selling at a sacri-
ifice.
Conditions of late have recalled old
times. The railroad systems have
Ebeen ,demoralized and it has been i'm
possible to move freight properly.
Stocks of wheat at seaboard points
have been dwindling, while there has
been but slight movement from the
interior. The conditions tended to adj
hvance the price at the seaboard and
to depresssit in the interior. The in
equality in, prices was still further ae-
c~entuated by the peculiar marketing
conditions abroad. There. with few
exceptions, the purchasing is directly
or indirectly controlled by the gov
ernments, and the action Of these gov
ernments is based, not on the world
supply Of wheat and the requirements
for flour. but on a number Of other
conditions, social, political and indus
trial. removing entirely the element of
normal n natural competition. For
reasons of their own the. foreign gov
ernments have desired to increase
their supplies Immediately. They could
cause. while, the wheat was in the
country, it was not.at points where it
could be reached. Hence prices al
the terminals have been held at an
abnormaily high level. A few days
ago. on the announcement that steps
were being taken for the breaking
Of the freight jam, wheat prices at
terminals .tumbled precipitately at the
great terminals, because 1t wal u p
posed that an immediate supply wa
in sight.
This is but one Illustration of the
manner in which transportation and
prices are linked together. With
transportation at it's pest prices will
not always be uniform and fair, but
with the stream of goods flowing free
ly and smoothly, there IL removed one
element which works invariably to
the detriment Of the producer At one
end and the consumer at the other
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