Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1875-04-11
THE APPARENT DULLNEss OF LIV.
ERPOOL COTTON.

Messrs. w. C. Watts & Co., Liverpool, in
their report of March 10, thus allude to the
new regulations Of the Liverpool Exchange
relative to the reporting sales Of cotton:
eThe Liverpool Cotton Brokers' AssOcia-
ton on Friday last passed aresOlutiOn, that
IN future only the cotton sold here on the
spot shall be reported in the daily estimate
Of sales, and that all cotton bought by spin
neTs in America, India, etc, or bought in
Liverpool, to arrive or landing, for spin
ners' accOunt-assumed to be forwarded
direct from the quay-shall be left out of
the daily estimate, and be counted only at
the end of the week under the
head Of forwarded Under the
operation Of this new rule the
sales reported here this week turn out 10 be
p per cent. less than would have been the
case under the old rule. That so impOr-
tant a resolution as this, which directly
affects the cotton trade of the whole world,
should be passed one day and 60 into Oper-
alton the next day, has been to us a source
Of great surprise. Liverpool is the chief
cotton market Of the world, and for years
past the daily sales have been telegraphed
b Europe, Asia, Africa and America, and
Rave in no small degree contributed to
Govern the course Of prices from day to day.
Now, be it understood, We have no
objection TO this new resOlu-
ton Of the Cotton Brokers' AssOcia-
ton per SC. We are perfectly
willing to see Liverpool, like any other
market, stand on its own merits; but what
We do most seriously condemn is that so
important a change should have been in
au9urated without ghing due notice TO the
10 nf hr.71-rvs1 to
have holiday they publish the fact one or
two weeks in advance III their weekly Cir
Cular; but in this case they pass a resolution
which has, We doubt not, a direct and pal
pable influence upon tens of thousands
who are interested in the trade without a
note of warning. But we are assured
that on Saturday last the brokers telegraph
ed a proper explanation to the New
York Cotton Exchange, and requested the
secretary Of the latter to telegraph the same
TO all other cotton exchanges in the United
States. This is all well enough as far As
it goes, but the men who attend these ex-
changes, and who read and understand the
difference between the old and the new
mode Of estimating sales here, are as but
one in a thousand of the great mass Of
producers and dealers scattered over the
world who will be weess, and perhaps
months, wondering over the apparent dull
ness of Liverpool. How long this
thing will continue TO act and re-
act upon prices no one can tell,
but that it has already been a source of
some depression We cannot doubt, and
we fear The effect VIII not pass away so
soon as some seem to anticipate. 1t is to
be hoped the brokers will soon make ar
by which the public will be
furnished with daily estimates of the cot
ton forwarded. Ii is said this cannot bs
evidently done, but it does appear to us
that the same machinery that is made to
work on one day in the week can be made
to work every day. Unless this is done
the new system will, we fear, introduce a
greater element of uncertainty into our
statistics than heretofore, and perhaps lead
10 individual and roundabout efforts to OBJ
tain approximate estimates of the weekly
figures Of cotton forwarded before they are
made public in the Brokers' CTculdr.