Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, November 14, 1909, HALF-TONE, Page 2, Image 18
Corn is King of American Crops and IN THE DAYS 1IOSO shall rob the crown of any 1 A M part of Ha Juat due, ihall surely yY I be adjudged guilty of treason io me King;. Ana unaer mat finding of the court what I-nalty may we not assees anaium tno man who conspires to dethrone King Corn, and who, forthwith, halls Wheat as the heir-apparent to the crown? In the October number of Printers' Ink, Philadelphia, comes now a writer who is devoid of ram or caution In the handling of facts and fisures. To quote him briefly: "Wheat Is kinif. Last year It was corn. The wheat districts this year will have tho most money, generally speaking." Caielcssly rpeaklng, would have been a bitter expression. Wheat has never been the klnj of crops In this country, nor is It at all likely thut It will ever be elevated to that proud position. Cotton was crowned kins in an earlier day. wnen the planta tions of the south were worked by slaves, but Its kingdom paled Iniu a dopendent principality, when the first bnctery of corn planters crossed tho Ml.isissippt river, and li. vailed tho fertile fields of the west. W hat is the fcxact Yield f It Is never possible to determine the exact, yield of wheat or corn In any year but the best estimates obtainable, from government ri ports and other sources, place' the yield of wheat In the United Htates for 1909, at approximately, 724 million bushels. Its vuluo Is about 688 million dollars on the farm, or 7'i0 million dollars on the Chicago market. On the first dny of last August, crop prospects Indicated a yield of three billion bushels of corn. Dry weather In August reduced the yield to approximately 2.TC0 million bushels, worth on tho farm about l,3o0 million dollars and on tho Chi cago market about 1.C50 million dollars. In any normal year the corn crop of this country Is worth twice as much as the wheat crop. Tho Chicago board of trade Is largely responsible for all this fusa over wheat and for muoh misapprehension as to the relative value of our two treat cereal crops. Wheat lends Hself readily to specu lative deals. Owing1 to the fact that only a small per cent of tho toial yield Is consumed on the. farm and that the larger part of the crop finds Its way Into the China Wages Unrelenting Warfare on the Curse of Opium Habit (Copyright, 1509, by Frank O. Carpenter.) UPI'OSE that President Taft and SI our national congress should I send out an edict tomorrow that employ of the government must give up the drinking of liquor or be dismissed from office, and that no new appointment should be made to any one who hii contracted the liquor habit or who would not sign the pledge. Let this edict relate not only to Washington, but to every postofflce and custom house, and let Its effect be so extended as to Include every state official, even to the county clerks, sheriffs, and their subordinate em ployes. Let another edict provide that all must show government permits before a glass of whisky, wine or other liquor will be sold to them, and so that every saloonkeeper be subject to fin and Imprisonment If he breaks this law. Let the edict summarily shut hlnc-tenths of the saloons, and pro vide for the absolute destruction of all within the course of ten years. Let there be laws forbidding the distilling of liquors and their Importation; and. In short, the inauguration of a scheme of government restriction which would entirely wipe out tha manufacture, selling and drinking of anything Intoxicating within the space of ten years. It would be a good, big contract, would it not? Well, that Is Just what China la trying , to do as to blotting opium and the opium traffic from the face of Its country. Tha AatUOplaaa Edicts. W have had crusades against liquor, but, tlity uav bteu mostly begun by the l l I -4 - - , ! .'.HI! '4 . r i. LADirS OF I i in. ;-v r u u o w " " " .. ..' OF THE HARVEST A WHEAT FIELD hands of the millers, the gram merchants and the exporters. It la easier to estimate the yield and to control Its progress to market Great Staple Crop. Corn Is the great staple crop of the American farmer. It is food for man and beast. It Is the raw product which the farmer manufactures Into beef, pork and mutton. It Is the basic element in the pro duction of milk, butter, eggs and poultry. It la the foundation of bone, sinew and muscle In the fleet racer, the toppy road ster and the giant draft horse of com merce. It is the dally ration of the patient mule when he plods his weary way across a peaceful field; It Is his mainstay and his Inspiration when ha gallops ' Into battle with a monster cannon trailing in his dusty wuke. Wheat is the favorite plaything of the peculator In futures. A clique of "bulls." by clever manipulation and misleading re reports, may easily send the prices soaring on the board of trade. A strong coterie of "beais," by rushing a large amount of cah raln into the markets and Ty magn'.fylng reports of Increased production, may tem porarily depress the price. The markets of the world at large, exert a strong Influ ence upon the price in America, for this Is an exporting country and wheat Is a world's crop. It Is grown In every land and ripens in almost every clime. Tha Harvester In .All Lands. The sun never sets upon the harvest of the wheat. In some part of the world the self-binder Is gathering In the sheaves on every day of the year. The names of Mc Cormlck, Deerlng. Marsh, Osborne and others, have become household words In every foreign land. The American harves ter has penetrated to almost every corner of the known world. It Is raced across the fields of Argentina by the sturdy little ponies of the pampas; it has lightened the labor of the peasant women of Europe; It is drawn by elephants in India, and by camels In the valley of the Nile, It has penetrated the bush lands of Australia, the wild steppes of Russia and the veldt of South Africa. It has crept into the orient and has made a strange, new trail across the plains of Abraham. Wherever women and carried out with the opposi tion, rather than the assistance of the government officials. This crusade of China begins at tha top. Three years ago the great empress dowager and the chief board of the empire at Peitr.-ia1 sent out edicts cutting down the sise of the opium farms, sUutting up the opium dens and requiring all dealers in opium to take out licenses. The government commanded all farmers to reduce their opium fields by 10 per cent every year, and provided that no opium at all should be cultivated after the end of ten years. It required that the merchants decrees melr opium sales M per cent every yeur, und close out their whole business In i:io space of five years. It ordered that all public opium dens should bo BUtnn.m riy closed, and that tho retail opium shops should gradually be abolished. At the same time it inaugurated dlpnsarle v.:ieie free medicines might be had to take away the opium craving, and encouraged the estab lishment of opium hospitals for tnose who had contracted the habit. lu the name edicts It was provided that all uaui s of opium should be registered; that they should be examined by the police, and the habitual users should be allowed only a given quantity of the drug, at cer tain fixed periods. Thuse allowances were to be gradually reduced so lust at the end of" live years all persons under sixty years of age would be free from the habit. All ureas of opium were required to wear badges, so that every one would know an opium fiend as he walked through the streets. All government officials, Including prince.', dnkej, viceroys and generals under sixty had six months to give up the habit or to tender their resignations; and all teachers and scholars were required to stop - AV I iwa. THE PALACE ARB WARDED TO aTTOF 'a TIIE OMAHA 1' l p I - .Is -tr . IN NEBRASKA. the harvester takes its toll of golden grain, the telegraph and the cable flash the esti mates of probable yield to the market renters of the world. And the greatest of these Is Liverpool. It la the nerve center of the world's wheat market, the final arbiter of price. When there la a shortage, and the price Is high at Liverpool, there is a scraping of bins and a hurrying of wheat to tide-water from every quarter of the globe. - Not Do with Cora. It is not so with corn. The United States is the great corn producing country of the world. Two-thirds of the world's sup ply Is grown In this country; one-half of the total la produced la tea of the treat ,-' N -' N ; '' ( iV THE GREAT STAPLE CROP opium smoking within the space of one year. As to the officers ot tne army and navy, Ihcy were commanded to abandon tho hab.t at once. This Is what China Is trying to do. Tha above proclamations have ueen followed by others, and today the prince regent and thj guard council are doing all they can to have these laws put Into force. They are proseoutlng their Infringement art! they have Inaugurated such a reign 0. terror aa would create a revolution In the United States and turn our people 1. r.i government upside down. Offlrlavle Made to Stop Nuioklna-. It makes one laugh to think what would happen If Uncle Sam should cut off every congressman's toddy, should prohibit cold tea in the restaurant of the senate and not allow the clerks of the government to take a friendly tipple together. That Is what is going on here, 1 am told that no less than 2. W0 officials, more ur loss piuiiiliieiil connected with the government service In Peking either have broken or are endeavoring to break oft the use of opium. Some of these ar habitual smokers who have tried so hard to quit that they have died In the attempt. Take, for in stance, Wen Hat.. He was one ot tha highest scholars of the empire, and waa connected with the grand secretariat. To hold his Job he signed a declaration that he waa not an opium smoker, and then stopped using the drug. He died a few ' months ago. Tsal Chang, another noted official, was cashiered tor smoking. He Is 111 In consequence, and It is said will no recover. Chi Chang, the acting governor of the province of Anhwal, died the other day for the same reason, and there are many other old smokers who are said to be 111. Acordlng to the new laws, which are n.Wl 'V VMOiaMO SUNDAY BEE: NOVEMBER 14, 1909. . I J' Si m ' 'iii' it "i ii - ii -i i ". PRODUCTS OP THE PRAIRIE LAND. states of that section commonly called "The Corn Belt." To sot It forth In figures: The world's production of Corn In 11X18 was 3,525 million bushels, and of this amount 2.608 million bushels were grown in the United States. The yield in the ten states mentioned above was estimated at a grand total of 1.807 million bushels, or considerably mora than one-half of the world's crop. On the other hand, the world's yield of wheat for 1908 la xlvcu at 2. US inlillon bushels, and of r-. A'.V ' i ' ' OF THE AMERICAN FARM. OUT-OF-DOOR OPIUM GKOIP UNDER THE WALLS OF MAN KING. more or less evaded, the smoking of opium means Immediate dismissal. Govern ment detectives or censors have ben In structed to shadow the officials, and those who claim to have broken off the habit are rigidly watched. Just the other day a private secretary of one of the cabinet ministers was found to have several ounces of opium on his person, and a request for his dismissal was promptly sent forth. In one of the papers this morning I see a dlf patch stating that Prince Chung, one ot the Imperial opium commissioners, bus Ju; t denounced twenty high officials who have lied as to their use of tlie drug, and that h demands their dltminsa.!. I.n it October two of the Imperial prlius were ordered t resign their posts that Uiey niljjht glv their entire time to the eradication of their nsvtng for the druK. and at the samo time, as an act of mercy, three months of extension were allowed to cer tain civil and military cff.cials who hud not obeyed the Imperial edicts. The cruB.de Is bilnK extended even to the ladled of the Valacc. They have beta wunicd llittt they munt ktop smoking, and certain of these danef, who have been secretly xelllng opium to their friends, have been told that If they continue they ill bo Itnprisoni d. : 5 Among; (he lorru)!, 'i lit work ni Kiopinn the evil among the c-lcrks ouiH.ile l'kln; has been delegated to tho vlcero.va and governor. There are twtr.ty-two piovincea in China, and the work 1. 1 eac:i of these is going on rapidly, or the rever.., according to the energy of the K.ivernor. In zechwan, a slate in the far west Loidiriug on Tilut, one of thu new d. strict otflriuU InMted all of his subnrd'nute to a cMnner. He feasted them m il. but, as they i r about to leave, he closed the door, baylr.g that he Intended to keep all with him under lock and key fur the lie t three days lo learn whether they v.eie fre from the opium habit. He knew thuse who were not would show tiervoumebs; and in this way he could lern how to enforce the new laws. It Is believed that many of the vice roys are still secretly smoking; and the anti-opium commissioners have asked the prince regent to call a meeting at the cap ital of all the viceroys, governors and geu erais of the army who have reported that Wheat Holds Second Place ' f' l -.1 . Of 1 y .ex. .1 this amount the United States produced about one-fifth, or 664 million bushels. Corn atands at the head of the list of all crop of the world In quantity, but yields first place to wheat In money value. The oats crop of the world for 1908 waa 2,220 million bushols, and of this amount the United States produced 807 million bushels, worth on the farm, about 230 million dollars. These figures show the acreage and es timated yield of our four great cropa for 10: Acres. ..lOB.OOU.OOO .. 46.K3.000 .. 32,423.000 .. U.818.000 Bushels. 2,760.000.009 724.743, Ono W3.618.000 11,000,000 Corn Wheat Oats Cotton Bales A bale of cotton weighs about 500 pounds, and the price Is now about 14Vi oents a pound on the New York Cotton exchange. This Is the highest price since the season of 1W3. The lowest price in recent years was 6Vs cents a pound, In 1894. The United States is the greatest cotton producing country of the world and the farm value of the crop this year will be about 770 million dollars. India stands next to this country in the production of cotton. Its crop of 1908 was 8,G!3,000 bales from 18.690,000 acres. But we have wandered far afield from ur slipshod friend of Printers' Ink. After making a fairly accurate statement In reference to the wheat yield of several states, he rambles Vn in this blind fashion: "As for corn, these are the leading 1909. Pet. 1908. North Dakota 92 .66 Minnesota 91 .78 Bouth Dakota 90 .88 California 0 Indiana Oregon W .90 In the hands of soma people (to slightly ehange an anoient axiom) figurea are al most aa dangerous as edged tools. Doubt less thla writer has confused the percentage of gain or loss in the condition of the growing orop, aa reported monthly by the Department of Agriculture, with the figurea for the estimated yield by states. Of the aix states named above, only one, Indiana, is really a great corn producer. Indiana's crop thla year la estimated at 172 million bushels. Illinois leads with an estimated yield of 223 million bushels, Iowa comes next they have broken off the habit. When they appear they will be subjected to a test to show whether or not they have lied. Binoe this one viceroy has asked for time for some of his officials, and others have es- tabllshed opium hospitals and cures. In nearly every province of China there has been a general closing of the opium dens, In some cities a back-door business r-1 ; : i ' c 5 ' - . .."-" IN NEBRASKA. WHERE CORN IS MORE) with 287 million bushels, Nebraska follows with 212 million bushels and Missouri brings in a harvest of 207 million bushels. Texas was parched by a drouth this year and only produced 116 million bushels, as against 201 million bushels in 1908. So much for the six leading corn states. Orea-on Hot Msch on Corn. And Oregon, land of red apples and timber fraudal Why refer to Its most Inconspicu ous product? Its total corn crop In lees than one-half million bushels. Several counties In Nebraska produce more than that In an off season. California produces less than I million bushels of corn and North Dakota llmpa In witn a paltry S million bushels. Tha whola state of Oregon does not produce aa much corn aa one farm in Missouri. David Ilankin's 20,000-aora farm near Tarklo, has produced 1 million bushels of corn in a sin gle season, and only a little patch of 19,000 acres was In corn at that There Is no telling what ha might do If he put it all In corn and got up real early In the morn ing. He grows more ctrn every year than Oregon, Idaho, Nevada. Montana and Wyoming combined. Wouldn't a Missouri farmer laugh right out loud If he happened y read that story In Printers' Ink? Kansas la another of the great corn pro ducing atates. Its yield, last year and this, approximated 156 million bushels. And yet Kansas Is best known as the greatest winter wheat producing state in the union. Winter wheat has advertised Kansas to the world at large. From tha time of Its feeding until the last field la harvested the Kansas wheat crop Is closely watched by the big operators of every grain ex change in the world. Every spring the "crop killers" go out from the Chicago Board of Trade and ruin the crop In Kinsas. Every fall the crop comes rolling In, showing a gradual Increase in quantity and a marked Improvement in quality. All thla serves to advertise Kansas as a wheat state, but th corn crop, one year -with another, Is worth more In money than the wheat and all tha other cereal crops of the state combined. So muoh for the specu lator and the publicity which ha seta afoot. Nebrauskm Fourth In Wheat. Nebraska stands fourth in the list of la still gwlng on. but the publio smoking nan before and after he has become tha has become unpopular and dangerous, and slave of the drug are published, and tha tha chief opium used Is now behind closed horrors of the practice are vividly painted, doors. In Shanghai all the dens in the Mcny of the societies require their mem native town have been shut, and fully half i,er, to wear a badge and algn tha pledge, of those In the foreign concessions wiped nd mliVy Q( them offer rewards for the out. The foreigners propose to clean out delPCtlon of opum smokers and of the the evil in tneir pan oi ene cuy m In Wuchang the shutting up of the dens has considerably diminished the arrests for crime, and one of the policemen says this Is largely because he does not know where to go to look for criminals. - Closing; the Dens. In Foochow there were 830 dens at the time the edict was Issued, iney were an Canton there Is a temple which baa been closed on the first of tha fourth month of glvtn ovtr t0 the anti-opium crusade, antl the year followlnu and are still shut The oplura pictures being pasted upon Its walla, same ia true of Ichang, although tho shops Jn Yunnan opum lecturea are everywhere for the sale of opium are still open. Ka- anJ a u number of refugea have shlng, which 'or year, was one of tha Jb oonflrm,a mmo1un worst opium smoking Place, in h. prov- Hundred, of opium pipe. Ince of Chekiang, ha. abolished Its opium ' shops? and the day of the closing tha " lamps are nailed to the wall, of tha ; ere burned In nubile and the government building, and tha viceroy 1. people rejoiced. The same is true or many other cities, In not a few of which the opium dealers have slnca secretly resume-d business. A Mlvhty Crnsade. Outside the officials a mighty orusade has been going on over China to .top the use or opium among me people, inu.ro, "T ?n S nr "L'T. that 1 b"iy know where to bgln. Every Province ha. Ita antl-oplum aocleties. These regularly; they print and distribute anti-opium literature and send out men to lecture upon the opium evil. There Is one society in canton wnicn nas atstrtDutea million, of pamphlets showing the terrible fate of the opium user. Pictures of the u "iiT--! Trrxr - SSaSSBBBBSBSSSBS- S " - T f Bf TTPICAL KKXRMERa ALL HIGH OFFICIALS MCBT P ''.. : ' THAN KINO. wheat producing states, with a total yield f winter and spring wheat approximating W iitllion bushels. The crop this year is worth nearly 60 million dollars. Only three other states, Minnesota, Kansas and North Dakota, surpass Nebraska in the annual out-turn of wheat About one-tenth of the winter wheat produoed in the United States la grown in this state. Nebraska also pro duced 61 million bushels of oata In this year of exceeding grace, and In thla cereal la only aurpassed by five other state. All tlria .maTkes for a great and growing pros perity, but what shall we say of tha corn? If corn Is king of all the crops in the United States, It Is more than king In Ne braska. Estimates on August 1 Indicated a yield of 254 million bushels, but unfavor able weather, In the melting days that fol lowed, cut down tha estimate to a measly 213 million bushels. And it Is worth, on tha farm, where a large part of It will be turned into finished products for the mar ket, only a trifle over a shabby 106 million dollars. Would that we could find a really profitable crop for these fst pralal lands! Comparisons are generally odious, but in this cas tha temptation is not to be re sisted. Just analyse these figurea: Nebraska produced more corn this year than all tha New England atates combined have pro duced In the last quarter of a century more In one year than twenty-six other states and territories combined, including all New England and such states aa New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Vir ginia and South Carolina. Nona of theve states is noted for its production of corn, and In order to afford a more striking ob ject lesson, we shall carry the comparison Into the heart of "The Corn Belt" Nebraska produced this year mora than Kansas and twenty other states and ter ritories; more than Texas, Oklahoma and seventeen other states and territories. That's doing fairly well with tha bandloap of a dry spell in August. These comparisons might be carried along indefinitely, but we don't want to tlr you, or to further annoy that thought less one who scribbled. Idly and aimlessly, for Printers' Ink. In all thla controveray wa have only a passing concern. Let's keep the record straight J. T. DTJNLAl. ,., ., of onlun. In some of the provinces the most rigid laws have been enacted against tha users of the drug. In Klangsu no habitual smoker under 60 can appear In oourt aa a plaintiff. He cannot Institute a suit and can have no proteotlon from tho laws as 0Dg a he continues to disobey them. In rapidly reducing tha area, of the opium farms. At the capital of Fuklen province there have been eight burnings of opium and opium fixtures during which l,23fl ouncea werft troyed and tha foUowlng itema DUrned. Plpe8 tm. plp, bowla, 4,aj Un,pa J a93. boxegi 84W; Tessel. for opium C00i,inKi coo. About 9,000 needle, used for morphine Injections were all given up and troken. m that province it I. absolutely ec.aMry io nave a certificate to buy 0piulni and the same person can only get nlt ,uppiy 0nce a month, the allowance being fixed by the opium commissioners. I find a general belief among the Chinese (Continued on Page Four.) ".si s tmt c , CilVfi UP TliM UABUJt Ill If ( i. I 4 si i