209 
The immense aggregation of wealth in the hands of fortunate stock and pro- 
duce gamblers enables them to accomplish what would never have been at- 
tempted years ago. ; 
As we have repeatedly shown, there has been a gradual decline in wheat pro- 
duction for three years past, more from diminished yield than decreased acreage, 
yet still leaving for the past year’s consumption about five bushels per capita 
of population. This is ample for the people’s bread, a little for export, and a 
surplus so much reduced, in comparison with former stocks in granary or store- 
house, that speculators have been led to believe that they could control it, and 
compel, for a time, enormous prices from unwilling hand-to-mouth consumers ; 
and very well have they succeeded, as $18 to $20 for a barrel of flour will 
attest. 
California, with eleven millions of bushels of wheat, nearly half of which was 
surplus, was compelled to go abroad for a market; and owing to high prices,caused — 
quite as much by a cornering process as by legitimate scarcity, was induced to 
make repeated shipments to New York instead of to Liverpool. Straightway 
telegrams were circulated, designed to show the dependence of the States upon 
California for wheat, the reshipment of wheat from Liverpool, the transmission 
of these extraneous supplies to Buffalo, and even to Chicago, until timid peo- 
ple were taught speedily to expect a famine. 
With the first intimations of moderate success in the coming wheat harvest 
came a collapse of prices, as a matter of course. It now appears that there 
was not only wheat enough for sowing an extra breadth of spring wheat for 
the demand caused by heavy emigration, for the bread of our own people till 
harvest, but also for a larger exportation than for a similar period of last year. 
A statement of British exports for the first three months of the calendar 
year, which is received at the Department, shows the following result, from Jan- 
uary 1, 1866, to April 1, 1867: 
1866. | 1867. 
Wiest eWle Cree acer ers eee hea eee 302, 084 680, 361 
Wiener rOwil\:. star. fete See ees cre oe Chee 162, 412 78, 464 
This is equivalent when reduced to bushels, to 917,786 bushels, in the first 
quarter of 1866, and 1,456,192 bushels in the same period of 1867, showing an 
actual increase, in this era of speculative famine of 494,406 bushels; fifty per 
cent. increase of wheat exports furnishes a good commentary upon the mendac- 
ity which has cost consumers more than half of the increased cost of their 
recently purchased flour. The invoice price (in gold) of this wheat averaged 
$1 32 in the former period and $1 42 in the latter; of flour, $6 41 in 1866, and 
$6 71 in 1867. 
It is everywhere reported of late that farmers are bringing out hoarded wheat, 
from 100 to 200 bushels each. They are content to take prices much less than 
those recently offered. 
It is unfortunate that newspapers are so much at the mercy of panic makers. 
The constant iteration of specious but deceptive facts, not to mention pernicious 
falselfoods, naturally begets a growing belief in the statements made, until the 
whole community is fearful of prospective starvation. Great care should be 
taken to guard against such mischief-making. 
