AuftrsT 1, 1898,] 
THE TROPICAL AaRICULTUEIST, 
89 
CORNERING WHEAT: AND HIGH PRICES. 
Corners generally di not commend tiiemselvea 
to ordinary folk, tliouj-li some superior persons, 
who are too fond of expressions like "rant" 
and "cant," and consi<ler betting and gamljling 
naLuial .and legitimate incidents of lior.se -racing 
and otlier forms of sport, may consider every, 
tiling fair in trade and in war. Specially ob- 
jectionable is the cornering of food stufts, so 
that men — generally very rich already— may 
grow ricl'er on the abs.olnte nece.~sities of orhers. 
Very few, we fancy, will sympathise with tiie 
promoters of the wheat "cornpr" in America, of 
tlie collapse of wliif-h we have learnt by wire, 
even it they are not among those v.lio lose lieavily 
by what we cannot, but consider an inimoral exhibi- 
tion of cuLeness. The worst of ii is that tlie fall in 
prices is sure to iiijure so many more than tlie 
greedy adventurers, and to some extent unhinge 
legitimate trade ; but if producers olitain, 
for some time to come less than a fair market price 
for tlieir corn, they may have already been, to some 
extent, compensated by the prices that prevailed 
under arHticial conditions. At the same time 
consumers must greatly rejoice at the heavy decline 
in prices which iias immediaiely followed the 
collapse of the "corner." It would be a mistake, 
however, to suppose tliat the sharp rise in the 
price ot bread in England — and, we fancy, the 
experience has been the same in most European 
countries — is due to the outbreak of hostilities 
between Spain and the United States, though 
the war has possibly tended somewhat to ag- 
gravate the situation. We find in a London 
weekly a very sober and thoughtful considera- 
tion of the chief cause of the rise in the price 
of bread which, happily, has led to no distur- 
bance in the United Kingdom, though in some 
quarters almost a panic had arisen, from a 
recollection of the troubles which had to be 
overcome through dear bread not so very far 
back, and from the knowledge of what was going 
on in parts of the (Jontinent, notably in Italy. 
Our home contemporary points out that the upward 
tendency in the price of wheat had begun 
since last harvest, before war wa« declared or 
considered to be inevitable. The explanation 
is that la-:t harvest wris defic-ieut) in Europe 
(incluoing Russia), in India, and in Australia ; 
and, in the opinion of tlie best authorities, the 
world s crop of wli^at for 1S97 was fully 30,^00,000 
quarters below the average : and thit unfortun- 
ately meant a good de il below aetua requirements. 
It is only in good years, when the outturn is above 
the av'.-rag*', tliat reserves can be stored ; and 
when tliese betrin to dwindle, piices naturally 
go u)). This result was anticipated at the begin- 
ning of this year, and even at the end of last 
year: and although America was able to fuinish 
the United Kingdom with all it wanted, it 
became a question, two or three months ago, 
whether she could send enough to Europe to 
meet requirements till the new crops from India 
began to arrive. It is calculated that France alone 
required to inijiort '20 million qiiavtcs ; and of that 
she was able to secure only .5 millions during the 
iirst four months of the year. Her home supplies 
being exhausted, France began buying abroad: and 
the result of nearl}' all the cargoes available going 
thither, was the further lowering of British 
stocks, and the rise in prices, but this began 
12 
before there was any alarm of war. When 
war was decl.arcd, it proved "a nervous shock 
acting on a feeble constitution," and the sudden 
jump in prices was out of proportion to the real 
need. There was thus no canse for undue 
anxiety, much less for alarm, in tiie situation in 
England, with heavy shipments coming steadily 
from North and South America and the expect- 
ation of the new crops from elsewhere, due this 
montli and the next. I3ut the food supplv of 
the United Kiiig.lom is always a matter of 'con- 
cern, seeing how large a proportion has to come 
from outside ; and very opportunely are two 
cunsideratluns pressed oti jniUie auuritio:!. 
li.e lii-i -^.ticguai.i rii^ggc^ied i-: ihe e:>va!)]ish- 
ment of national granaries, v/hieli v,-onld render 
possible the storage of something more llian 
|irovision for a month or two whieii is now the 
liiiiif of the crocks known in Great Britain 
Tliero are difficulties in the way of carrying oiir 
this suggestion, one or the most obvioiis hpin.r 
that the preservation of grain for long period'" 
is by no means an easy task. The oilier an 
chief safeguard, however, must remain the nava"^' 
supremacy of Great Britain. Lrnder most conceivibi'^ 
conditions, there need Ije no apprehension of 
actual famine from shortage of the world'sl 
croi). The highest bidder will always command 
grain, and Great Britain is better able to pay the 
highest price than perhaps any other country. It 
tlien becomes a question of transport ; and that 
can be secured only with the full command of 
tne sea. Naval supremacy means something 
more for Great Britain than commercial supremacy. 
It means insurance against famine, and even the 
very existence of the Mother Country and Empire. 
It is held to be pretty certain that there will 
be no permanent reversion to low piices for 
wheat for some time to come : as it takes more 
than a year for granaries, exhausted by short 
crops, to be filled, while current cousum'ptiou is 
being met frjiu good liai vests. But scarcity and 
high prices have done this great service. Tiiey liave 
made more clear than ever that there shouhrbe no 
relaxation in slup-building, that the naval .supre- 
macy of England siiust be maintained at all costs. 
Not only has the policy of the tioverniiient been 
abudantly justitied, but its hands cannot fail to 
be strengthened by the experiences through which 
the country has recently gone. 
■ ^ = — 
PllODUCE AND PLANTING. 
A C'HEEnFUL State of Things.— The feeling of sym- 
pAtby svith West Indian sugar planters ruined by 
foreign i^ounties should be extended to tea planters 
iu the East. la India aud Ceylon the tea industry' 
is suflering not from the action of foreign govern- 
ments, but by reason of the financial policy irJopted 
by the Indi;iu Government with the sanction and af- 
proval of the Government at home. The effect on 
tea ia illuitrat-d by the speech of the chiirman at 
the Lunula meetinc;, a report of which appears else- 
where. He referred to the serious effect on the in- 
dustry of the bigh qnotation of the rnpe?, unci men- 
tioned that, so far a? his company was concerned, 
every rise of one penny in the exchanife me.ant a 
loss of £2,100. Seeing that since 189.5 there has 
been an advance of 2id, this means that, as com- 
pared with three ye.^rs sgo, there is a loss equivalent 
to £.1.000 per annum, which is crrtaiuly very con- 
siderable iu view of the fact thst the ordinary 
capitnl amounts to flOO.COO. He also pointed ou"t 
that to the industry as a wliole this appreciation of 
the exchange has meant a shortage of income of no 
less than 1:1,0(0,000. Then .ngaiu, as regards the 
lower price of tea, lie mentioned that every fall of 
one penny meant to his company a loss of f 8,0C0. 
