The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1866-09-12
Review Of the Cotton Year l865-66.

! = The following remarks arc from the
New York Cotton Circular of Messrs.
VIM. Bryce g. Co.
The year which ends wi h us tonight
has been one which will be ever memo
table in the history of the great "sta-
ple.' The absence of data whereby es-
Inmates could be made at the opening
of the year, the violent fluctuations in
gold, the financial crisis In England,
and the Continental war, have COM
bined to invest operations in cotton
with more hazard than at any other
period in the peace annals of the trade.
! Under an erroneous impression con-
corning the amount on hanl at the
close of the war, and the Indian sup
| ply, prices advanced TO sixty-four cents
per pound, in October, (249d In Liver
pooD, and then begin to recede. Fifty
cents was the current price Of Mid
dlings, with slight variations, for con-
siderable period, until, in February,
the low rates of gol'l caused q decline
in the currency value. Ffom this
point the financial crisis in England
caused another decline, and for week
in April cotton was hardly quotable
here; some sales az Middling being
made at 81. Freeilg ourselves rom
the panic of England, and considering
the then poor PROSPECTS of the crop,
prices revived, and reached 40c. az; In !;
but when onr spinailg demand was IN
equal to sustain thu Ourthen we de-
clined TO a point wh,re the assistai ce
Of Liverpool was obtninable. In Jure,
under purely speculative excitement,
quotations advanced to, 4ac., and since
that time, in face Of coming crop, have
steadily declined t' present rates,
which have been but little varied dur
ing the present month. Such has been
the course of cotton, tho statement OF
which would be an uhinteresting reef
tai Of fact ii no deductions could be
drawn for future benefit; but the les
sons of the past must be charts for the
| future; and what Ii m ost to he avoided
is the ruling of the extreme price of the
year early in the season. If the crop
turns out to be short one prices viii
correspondingly advance with unerring
certainty, and under any circumstances
the prices current win be profitable to
the producer, and the merchants of the
Cotton States will be less liable to loss
than If cotton opens at abnormal rates
and sinks TO the proper level as deter
mined by demand and supply.
The year now ending opened with
the shadow of the war cloud still rest
ing on the people; transportation was
almost wholly inadequate, communica-
ton either by mail or telegraph irregu-
lar and unreliable, and everywhere
prevailed feeling Of Insecurity Of pro-
perry. This year all this is changed
under the benefcent sway of peace
American energy has rebuilt the rail-
roads and established mail routes,
and the even-ilandcd Justice of our
Chief Magistrate has given feeling of
security to all in the Ian 3, from the low
est to the highest. The terrible condi-
ton of the old crop, from its long ex-
posure, needs some com nent, and none
can more heartily rejoice than do the
merchants Of this city, that the days of
'mix pack eottons" ars past. Under
the new regulations which are to gov
ern the trade In this cit.f, the question
of bales containing two grades Of cot
ton will be most fairly adjusted.
Crop prospects for The past week
have been less favorable than for some
time past, complaints being heard from
every section of rust aid bolls she'd
ding. "First bales continue, however,
to arrive at the various cotton CEN
tres.
/ Gunny cloth has not been quite as
active, and 81 il the currency quota
tons for standard. The decline from
extreme prices has been caused by the
lower rate Of gold and the practical
uses to which our cable telegraph with
India can be put may hive had some
influence. Rope CONTINUES in lively re-
quest and prices are unchanged. Since
the close of the war to date, 2,4S0,0O0
bales of cotton have BEEN received ut
the ports, and 10000 bales yet re-
main on hand. An absolute count Of
the stock in this CIV Is now. being
made, and next years operations will
be based on more definiti, iiglres than
have been. available du ring the year
now ending.