Year: 1859

FOod---PrlCcs and Demand.


The West is gorgod with iood, and vet
pines for the means Of life. She has iust
roupcd a most magnificent harvest. and
yet Is without a spare dollar In her peck
ct There is no end 70 her produce; nor
any end apparently to her dcsttution.--
She is IN want Of the very first Of nll civ
ilizcd necessities. We don't moan bread,
for the savage also needs that, but a mar
net She knows not where to send hor
wheat, Europe has enough Of her own.
The Middle States have as much rs they
care for. Cold New England which caii-
not grow Il, will require some, and so will
the hot South but nothing like the quan-
tity the West would be glad TO dispose Of.
There is no demand corresponding to tho
supply, mother will there be, we iancy,in
time 70 come, except Ia occasional wears,
when extraordinary causes operate abroad,
like war or signRlly bad weather. In or
dinary years, the quantity Of wheat Eu-
rope will want from the West will be but
mere handful 10 what the West Ia able
TO furnish. The demand abroad, since
the ports Of Great Britain were thrown
open TO is irco admission, haa not increas-
cd In anything like the ration orthe in
crease OF supply, nor will Il In tho future.


What thou has The West 70 dol First
she must make up her mind to sell for
lower priccs, and do what she can In this
way to enlarge her market both at home
aud abroad. Wheat is no exception to
the general rule that cheapncss promotes
demand, As prices fall, consumption In.
evitably increases. And the prioo Of
wheat must continue TO fall, for the West
Is every year culerging her limits, bring
ing new land under cultivation, and hufn-
ishing new supplies, II Is as idle for Ohio
and Illinois 70 hope TO keep up wheat
TO the old standard az il was forty years
ago for South Carolina and Georgia 10
look for a continuance Of the old rates for
cotton when the States beyond were fill.
ing up with cotton-plRntors. Moreover,


there are other causes, besides the cx.
tending area Of cultivation, at work TO
lower the price ofwheat-particular the
almost universal use into which reapinp
machines and thrashing machines and oil
the improved agricultural implements of
the day are rapidly coming throughout the
great agricultural region Of the North
West. One OF these machines can do
the work Of ten or fifteen mon, and they
are completely revolutionzing the old or
der Of things when labor was the chiefel.
ement in the cost of production. Tho
steam plow, which has been recently
brought 70 great perfection, will prove an
other most powerful auxiliary in sRvna
labor and chenpening production. The
West then must reconcile herself to the
necessity Of low prices for her great com.
mercial staple, and not only for this year
but for oil ordinary years hereafter.


Het there is mode of putting a limit
to this downward tendency of gain, and
but one; and that is by cnlarging and
strengthening the home market. The
loom and the anvil must be recognized as
the natural allies of the plough and the
harrow. The mechanics arts aud manu-
iacturers open new spheres of emplV-
ment, and gather masses of population
who have need Of the products of the far
mer, and, through their own productive In
dustry are able TO pay good prices for the
same. A foreign market not only invol.
YES the loss consequent upon distant
transportation, but II is at best very linn
tied and very variable, for there Is not a
nation In Europe which does not nuke Il
a point to raise its own breadstufTs from
its own soil. The West In this respect
is very differently situated from the South.
The latter has virtually monopoly in hor
great staple; and other nations have no
home growth with which TO make them
selves independent of her. IL is of COM
par1tlvely little equence-thoughw we
think Of more consequence than she inn
agines-whethor she has homo market
or not; for she is sure Of foreign mar
ket, The West has no assurance. The
custom Europe accords to her Is nt best
but contracted and precarious. A home
market is her only substantial depend
ence.


The time is not far distant when she
will realize this as she has never yet done.
The great body of her Representatives
and Senators have hitherto acted in oppo-
sition 20 all measures calculated TO pro-
tect and foster the arts and manufactures
of their own section and the country at
large. They have been accustomed 20
regard free trade In Wheat as the suBinau
bOhUm Of their industrial life, and have
believed that tho barometer of their pros
perity and adversely hung nowhere but in
Mark Lane. Hard experience is, we.
trust, gradually curing the West OF this
great mistake. She is learning the les
son that without the advantages of large
and manufacturing population
in her own midst, or at least near at hand
as consumers, the demand for her prod
ucts must be small in proportion to her
supply, and that she is constantly drained
of her gold by paying for manufactured
goods which she must have, and yet can
pay for in no other way. She is fast find
ing that she will thrive best IN and with
the thrift Of her own hth and skin.