106 
Wheat  Prices  and  the  World’s  Production. 
who  were  operating  on  his  behalf  began  to  buy  at  64|  cents 
on  June  18,  1897,  and  from  that  time  prices  began  steadily 
to  rise.  But  while  his  holdings  of  actual  wheat  were  very 
large,  amounting  at  one  time  to  35,000,000  bushels,  he  bought 
far  greater  quantities  of  “ futures  ” from  speculators  who  con- 
tracted to  deliver  the  grain  at  the  end  of  May.  By  so  doing 
they  delivered  themselves  into  his  hand,  for  in  May  Leiter 
held  the  only  wheat  on  market,  and  he  was  able  to  squeeze 
his  debtors  of  every  dollar  they  possessed.  On  May  10,  1898, 
wheat  stood  at  the  enormous  level  of  185  cents  a bushel — 
a rise  in  one  year  of  nearly  200  per  cent.  So  great  was  the 
desire  to  take  advantage  of  the  conditions,  that  wheat  which 
had  already  gone  forward  to  Duluth  to  be  milled  was  actually 
returned  to  Chicago  to  be  delivered  to  Mr.  Leiter.  But  in- 
toxicated with  success,  Leiter  attempted  to  carry  over  his 
deal  into  June.  Early  in  that  month,  however,  it  was  evident 
that  abundant  supplies  were  coming  forward,  and  instead  of 
finding  the  dealers  who  had  pledged  themselves  to  deliver 
him  wheat  unable  to  do  so,  Mr.  Leiter  had  wheat  thrust  upon 
him  from  all  quarters. 
It  will  have  been  observed  from  the  preceding  table  that  the 
world’s  wheat  crop  in  1898  was  the  largest  ever  grown  up  to 
that  time,  large  contributions  coming  in  not  only  from  America, 
but  from  all  countries.  Some  may  think  this  a splendid  example 
of  poetic  justice.  More  prosaic  persons  will  be  satisfied  to  find 
an  explanation  in  the  price  of  wheat,  which  had  been  steadily 
rising  for  the  last  five  years.  The  Leiter  corner  is  in  fact  the 
best  example  in  history  of  the  response  of  production  to  a 
rise  in  price.  In  the  early  part  of  the  year  1898,  while 
the  corner  was  incubating,  Mr.  Leiter  was  the  hero  of  the 
American  farmer.  Deputations  waited  upon  him  to  thank 
him  for  the  benefits  he  had  conferred  on  agriculture.  A more 
profitable  price  was  at  last  to  be  had,  and  large  areas  were 
put  under  wheat.  But  this  farmer’s  friend  was  also  an  enemy 
of  the  people,  and  the  benefits  he  conferred  on  agriculture 
were  the  cause  of  his  ruin. 
From  about  this  time  America  loses  its  dominating 
position.  The  starting  of  regular  shipping  lines  all  over  the 
world  has  conferred  on  other  countries  the  benefits  which 
cheap  transport  conferred  on  America ; by  bringing  them 
within  reach  of  the  open  market.  We  are,  therefore,  tending 
more  and  more  to  rely  for  our  supplies  on  several  wheat  pro- 
ducing countries  instead  of  on  one  alone.  Argentina,  Australia, 
Canada,  India,  and  Russia,  are  becoming  extremely  important 
to  us  in  this  respect,  and  are  furnishing  an  increasing  quantity 
of  grain.  The  supply  from  each  one  of  these  countries,  it  is 
true,  is  unreliable.  The  Argentine  crop  is  subject  to  devastation 
