REPOKT OF THE STATISTICIAN. 



167 



named above — Eussia, Germany, and France — will fall behind in the 

 movement, but we will be able to occupy but a i^ortiou of the field 

 vacated by them. Other countries are sending their products to this 

 market — countries in which the cost of production is less than in either 

 the United States or Europe. In 1876, Turkey increased her import 67 

 per cent, and Egypt 42 per cent. ; but the present Turko-Eussian war 

 will paralyze this trade. Chili raised her contribution nearly 50 per 

 cent. ; India nearly tripled, and unenumeratcd countries with small 

 importations nearly doubled their previous aggregate. All the great 

 wheat-producing countries, including the United States, fell off in 1876 

 from the i)revious aggregate. The sudden increase of the import from 

 India attracted special attention. Some attributed it to temporary 

 causes, especially to the decline in the value of silver in Europe without 

 any correspoutliug decline in India. It was stated that during 1876 an 

 English wheat importer could procure by exchange 10,000 rupees for 

 about £833, whereas in India the former retained their full purchasing 

 power of £1,000. This difference not only paid the cost of transporta- 

 tion, but added considerably to the margin of profit. It was very sen- 

 sibly argued that such a state of things could only be temporary, and 

 that the equilibrium between supply and demand would speedily adjust 

 itself in such manner as to absorb this extra margin, and to place this 

 trade on a par with that of other countries. Others argue that the 

 great improvements in internal transportation in India and the con- 

 struction of the Suez Canal have created a class of economic conditions 

 which will give this trade a permanent vitality, especially as the cotton 

 production of Hindostan has begun to decline, leaving capital, cheap 

 labor, and cheap land available for cereal j^roduction. 



It is evident that wheat-culture is constantly seeking the cheapest 

 possible conditions of production. Our vast area of virgin land annually ^ 

 brought under culture by our i)ioneer settlers and our extended com- * 

 munications by water and rail, together with our immense labor-saving 

 machinery, still give us measurably the advantage in the supply of 

 wheat and other grains that will bear distant transportation -, but it is 

 still a question how long this advantage will remain with us. For the 

 immediate future, however, indications are sufficiently strong that our 

 export trade in cereals will greatly increase. 



Our exports of wheat and flour during the last fifty-one fiscal years 

 were as follows ; 



