108 



ESSAYS ON "WHEAT 



^^IV. The Geographical Position of the Grain Exchange 



Owing to the peculiar geographical features of western 

 Canada, the main lines of the railways in this vast ter- 

 ritory have been built so that they converge toward Win- 

 nipeg and lead to Fort William and Port Arthur on the 

 lake front. These ports are the natural points for the 

 delivery of grain to be sold in bulk for export or for 

 transportation to the eastern part of the Dominion. How- 

 ever, the Grain Exchange, where this wheat is bought 

 and sold, is not located at Fort William or Port Arthur, 

 where the wheat is stored, but at Winnipeg, a city situated 

 420 miles west of the lake front and therefore far from 

 what would seem to be the natural market. Nowhere else 

 in the world does a parallel case exist: in other coun- 

 tries the grain exchanges are all to be found where the 

 wheat in which they deal is delivered. The separation 

 of the Grain Exchange of western Canada from its ap- 

 parently natural market is unique, and it is therefore of 

 interest to inquire as to its cause. 



Port William and Port Arthur are far away from the 

 prairie land which produces the grain. For 400 miles 

 immediately west of these twin cities the country is rocky 

 and unproductive. On the other hand, Winnipeg is a 

 large metropolis and a great railway and banking center, 

 and it is situated between the grain fields and the lake 

 front. It is therefore much more convenient to operate 

 the grain trade from Winnipeg than from Fort William 

 or Port Arthur. Exchanges of letters can be made much 

 more quickly, and telegrams sent more cheaply, between 

 country points and Winnipeg than between those same 

 points and the lake front. Moreover, Winnipeg is the 

 center of a set of long-distance telephones which radiate 

 in all directions and thus enable many farmers and their 



