Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 10, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 March 1891 — OUR FARMERS’ RIVAL. [ARTICLE]

OUR FARMERS’ RIVAL.

WHEAT AND CORN IN THE ARGENTINE REPUBLIC. Great Increase of Production—Reciprocity with Brasil Will Not Help Our Farmers— Argentine Will Take Urazi’s Market — Reciprocity with Kurope Wanted. While Mr. Blaine has been doing something to open South American markets to our farm products, a rival of our farmers is springing up in South America itself. Consul Baker, of Bueno3 Ayres, who has represented onr Government in that city for sixteen years, has recently sent a report to the State Department in which he says that “it is •only a question of*time and immigration for the Argentine Republic to become one of the great grain producing regions of thqworld." AVhen Mr. Baker went to that country, cargoes of flour from New York, Baltimore and Richmond were of frequent occurrence, but our treasury reports for last' year do not report a dollar’s w6rth of flour'sent there'. Sixteen years ago he found that the opinion was held that the Argentine pampas were unsuitable for cultivation and would always be devoted to pasturage. This opinion was based upon the scientific utterances of Dr. Burmeister, the great German naturalist, who occupies a position of high authority in Argentine. Not satisfied with this judgment of the scientist, the President of the republic laid out land into farms and established farming colonies. Large estates heretofore devoted to pasturage have been divided up into smaller tracts suitable for farming, and everything points to a very great development of wheat and corn growing at an early day. In 3875 there were only 271,000 acres in wheat, in 1889 there were 1,035,0)0 acres. Corn occupied only 249,000 acres in 1875; in 1889 there were 850,000 acres. Euports of wheat and flour in 1889 reached $2,100,000, exports of Corn $12,977,000. But the crop of 1889 was a failure, owing to a protracted drought, and exports of wheat were only onetenth as great as in the two previous years. This will be seen from the following figures of Argentine expoits taken from the “Handbook of the American Republics 1 ” which is issued by Mr. Blaine’s Pan-American bureau in Washington: Bushels. 1880 42,820 1881 5,772 1882 62,659 1883 2,292,352 1884 3,986,G68 1885 2,884,138 1886 • .....1,288,362 1887 8,730,981 1688 8,721,751 188) 834,232

After the small exports of 1889, the first three months of 1890 showed an enormous increase. Wheat and flour exported rose to $20,200,000, and the exports of corn for the three months were $9,897,000. An important fact to note is that Brazil was a largo buyer of these breadstuffs, one-seventh of the wheat exported; one-fourth of tho corn, and one-fifth of the flour exported in 1889 went to Brazil. As the Argentine Republic is so much nearer to Brazil than we are, it can hardly be hoped that our farmers will long be able to sell their breadstuff's in Brazil in competition with it. From Buenos Ayres to Rio Janeiro, the capital of Brazil, is about 1,000 miles, a voyage of only three to five days, while from New York to Rio Janeiro is 4,800 miles and takes from twenty to twenty-five days. This fact is all the more important when it is remembered that Brazil has no duty at all on wheat, and the duty on flour, which is to be removed for us, is only 10 per cent. It is thus seen that our farmers have a powerful rival on almost an equal footing, and fifteen to twenty days nearer the Brazilian market than we are. It seems at best to he only a question of lime when it will be impossible for us to ship breadstuff's to Brazil.

The capacity for the development of wheat raising in Argentine may be seen from Consul Baker's estimate, that at present there are only about 5,800,000 acres in wheat, while there are 723,500,000 acres suitable for wheat-growing. It is therefore almost true to say that for every acre in wheat now there are 100 acres that may be put in wheat. That the wheat acreage of Argentine will soon be enormously increased is certain. A year ago a firm of agricultural implement makers here in the United States had an order from that country for 25,000 plows to be used in turning over the rich prairie land of Buenos Ayres. At the same time it was reported that the activity in ship building on the Clyde was due to the demand for steamers in the trade between England and the Argentine Republic. While Mr. Blaine is chasing the will-o’-the-wisp of a market for breadstuffs in South America, it would be a good thing for him to devise ways and means for preventing Europe herself from going to South America for her supply of breadstuffs. So long as European countries are repelled by McKinley tariffs from selling their goods to us, just so long will thoy be forced to seek other markets. If they sell in. South America they are bound to buy grain there in exchange for their goods if they can find it. The more freely we admit European goods the more do we increase the demand in Europe for our agricultural products.