36 



able to maintain the minimum price, will be obliged to 

 allow the exportation of our crops at any price, that pos- 

 sibly the only remedy for the moment is to offer our 

 crops at whatever we can get for them, even if we have 

 to pay a bounty. ifThe State will lose a few millions but 

 the country will be free of the bugbear of unsold har- 

 vests. 



There are no measures possible, at. present, to main- 

 tain the prices . The attempt has been mada by dozens 

 of States before in the course of ages, unsuccessfully. 

 It is better to cut our loss and have done with it. 



But it will be argued that such a course is impossible, 

 its effects will be disastrous, and it will lead to a gen- 

 eral decay in our agriculture. 



One year of relatively low prices will not ruin our 

 agriculture, but unless measures are taken several years 

 of such will undeniably do so. 



We have had several years of agricultural difficul- 

 ties and a number of attempts at remedying them. 

 Things have always remedied themselves, that is, dis- 

 astrous crops in the rest of the world have always been 

 our salvation. 



Can we go on affording to trust to this to get us 

 over our difficulties ? What are our difficulties ? Are they 

 not eternally the same thing? If we look baqk over the 

 records of years we see that they are. 



Having reviewed the past and the difficulties which 

 have beset agriculture for the last ten years at least, arid 

 the calculated advantages which, were to result from 

 adopting other methods, before preceeding to .study the 

 elevator question in the development of the United 

 States, let us enumerate the chief complaints of our farm- 

 ers and dealers to-day. 



The complaints from the farmers are : 



1. High prices of Sacks. 



2. Low price of cereals in the camp. 



3. High* cost of living and labour. 



4. Lack of confidencee _in the future. 



The complaints of the ' ' acopiadores ' ' are : 



1. That there is no outlet. 



12 . That labour is dear, and handling more expen- 

 sive than ever. 



3. That the" cereals are not dispatched rapidly at 

 the ports and by railways ; also freights both by land and 

 sea are high. 



4. That the wastage from delays and the losses from 

 "merma" reduce the value of the cereals, and when they 



