that case it would only imitate the man who tried 
to make the legs of his trousers longer by cutting 
strips off the bottom and sewing them around the 
waistband. We are left, practically, with a short- 
age of 400,000,000 bushels in our wheat supply, 
even supposing that we consume every grain that 
we raise. This amount we should have to pro- 
cure from some other source. Where are we to 
get it, and how is it to be paid for? 
Canada can send us something, but not much. 
By that time her own popuation will have grown, 
and her needs with it, and so will the demand of 
all the rest of the world. Russia and India and 
Argentina and Australia together are scarcely 
keeping up with the world’s present necessities. 
Wheat bread and a high civilization go together; 
and as labor conditions everywhere improve, more 
and more people who once lived on black bread 
or rice will have the white loaf. But if we grant 
that the additional 400,000,000 bushels of wheat 
will be supplied from some now undetermined 
source, wherewith shall the bill be paid? We may 
assume that, by that time, an average price of a 
dollar and a quarter per bushel will prevail. This 
will leave us debtor to somebody in international 
trade to the amount of $500,000,000. We must 
be prepared to send abroad that amount of some 
commodity to foot the bill. We must also make 
good the deficit occasioned by the cessation of 
our exports of breadstuffs and provisions. In the 
. 6 
