FALSE WHEAT QUOTATIONS, 85 



erpool, were below the real market rates prevailing there, and 

 that false telegraphic quotations had been intentionally made 

 for the purpose of further depressing prices in California, was 

 confirmed on the arrival by mail of the &quot;Mark Lane Express,&quot; 

 the representative of the produce interests of England, both 

 agricultural and commercial. The loss to the farmers for 

 August amounted to $168,870, which went into the pockets of 

 the operators. For the year it would not have been less than 

 $1,560,0002,340,000.* An attempt was made to excuse these 

 discrepancies, by the statement that the higher quotations 

 from the &quot;Mark Lane Express&quot; were for &quot;club,&quot; and those 

 telegraphed for &quot; average white, wheat;&quot; but inasmuch as the 

 amount of &quot; club&quot; raised or shipped is trifling, this explanation 

 only served to stimulate further inquiry, when it was found that 

 these misquotations had been continued through the fourteen 

 months, with one single exception. On the 28th of November, 

 1871, the true average price of wheat in Liverpool had been 

 telegraphed. All the rest were from 1 cent to 22 cents, averag 

 ing 10 cents lower than the real quotations. Our own dailies 

 had innocently published these fraudulent reports, based in 

 some cases also upon grain circulars issued in England in the 

 interest of the buyers. The &quot; Mark Lane Express&quot; alone re 

 mained above suspicion. What could be done about it ? The 

 farmers might protect themselves by the establishment of a 

 Wheat Bureau in Liverpool, or of an agency authorized by the 

 State Board, whose business it should be to tabulate imports, 

 exports, crop returns, information as to prices brought by 

 different grades, etc., etc. 



The Rural Press summed up the subject in its issue of 

 November 16, in a manner which gave the people at large an 

 understanding of all its relatio ns : 



The average rate of tonnage for the last four months for char 

 ters effected in this port has been 4 15s., and the difference be 

 tween this, and that really paid for ships chartered previous to 

 arrival, has been 1 15s. per ton, or 42 cents per cental. This has 

 been the average profit of those who received the principal part of 

 the tonnage bound to our port for the last six or eight months, on 

 every cental of wheat exported this harvest year. From the 1st of 

 July to the 3d of November, the exports have amounted to 3,855,318 

 centals, which at 42 cents each, gives a profit of $1,409,235 55, at 

 least one million dollars of which must have found its way into the 

 pockets of a single firm. If this came out of the pocket of one 



*See &quot; liural Press &quot; of October and November, 1872, 



