The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1877-12-17
SMITH, EDWARDS Il co = MONTHLY
COTTON CIRCULAR.

Sto9S
At the date Of our last report Middlng Up
delivery Ia DecemberJ january ED. A duh
feeling prevailed. owing to the great depression
In Manchester; and our market eased of about
counts Of the American crops continued. how
ever. very unfavorabe, and o rally of sd soon
occurred, accompanied with good trade de-
mand. This Improvement was lost the follow
ing week. and the market has since guctuated
20 little that 1t is not ,worth. while recounting
Its various moods. suffice 1t to say that the
range, Of prices has been between s-ied and a,
O Sled for December January delivery. while
cotton on the spot has sold freely at about cad
to 6Sd for the same style Of Orleans. The mar
ket to-day closes steady, with an Increased
as%an S and rFyss Ua dvepy s spot
Burats, owing to great and increasing scar
city, have had Q tendency. to harden and are
slightly dearer for the month
The Manchester market has shown but little
sign OF recovering from its prolonged de-
preston; Q somewhat larger business has been
done. chiefly for India, whore the copous rain.
fall has led to an active demand for goods, but
spinners and manufacturers have not Improved
their position In the least; they are still eneum-
ruinously small. Indeed, the position, OF the
trade is. simply this. that every week the pro-
duction is turned off Mt present prices there Is
dead loss TO Lancashire, which careful statists
have put as high as 100000, say 81 loss on each
bale consumed. Yet. notwithstanding this ex-
don't speak of short time: the policy seems to
be to run the weak members out Of the trade
and sooner or later 1t Is certain that many con-
Germs must succumb 1t trade does not mend.
The over production applies mostly to yarn.
especially the medium counts spun at Oldham,
where the Joint stock companies are reduced to
The general aspect of the trade appears to be
this-.hat we are consuming about 10000 bales
of cotton per week. whereas the demand for
goods does not Justify CONSUMPTION of more
than $4,000 bales per week: but how to cut II
down to this quantity Is the problem. and
probably II win not be accomplished till the
loes. heavy as 1t is, grows still more insupport-
able.
place in silver and Eastern exchange.whioh has
further depressed Manchester. Exchange at
has fallen to Is glsd, and as the sale Of Council
drafts IL soon to be resumed there will appar
emily be less demand for silver for remittance to
On the other hand, there is a strong party In
America In favor Of the reconciliation of the
silver dollar as full legal tender, and 1t Is posi-
bill to that effect. Should this happen. silver
would get inomentary Impetus. but It would
be 9 early so unsafe for America too, adopt the
bi-metallic system alone among the nations
that we do not expect she will run the risk.
What she cannot do single handed she might
adopt with great advantage in common with
other nations. and any labor to attain that re-
The money market has shown a strong ten
dency towards ease lately. and the bank rate
was reduced yesterday to per cent. but the pc.
sitton Of the Bank Of England Is not strong. and
country ma It is Impossible to contempIat the
decline In our trade, which has been going on
and Immense imports Of bieadstnfrs. The bal
ance against this country. as shown By the
Board Of Trade, has increased from an ayernr"
n atty to sixty millions s t. a6Ss t9 ste
ably, explained In letter to the Economist by
Mr. ". Rathbone, and though hitherto the effect
on our money market has been disguised by In
feryen1ng circumstances. 1t can hardly be
goubted that q time Of financial pressure Is be-
JJ?re us. There IL, however. 80 little. specula-
ton In any Quarter that we do not think trade
different from all that have gone before, and 1t
is impossible to predict how the next will orig
ipate or what form it will take suffice It to say
that eleven years have passed since the last
formidable crisis, and 1t may be that the time is
approaching, when sharp monetary disturb
ance may be looked for.
The prospects Of our market have not altered
much during the past month; the statistical
strength of the staple continues. to be extraor,.
binary, but the extreme depression Of trade and
the anxious state of affairs ON the Continent
quite neutralizes It,
Turning to the first of these we find that the
ing figure Of 100000 bales and In addition to this
is the considerable deficit In stocks held by
Yheh eompsep fher Judges
100000 to 900 900 bales less cotton in the world
than last year. 10 set against this prodigious
Is the ef pedeps at The
American ports and in the next Indian crop (
That hope. be disappointed we have q year OF
position SO strong and the price so low.
:. There is. however,, great uncertainty about
the American crop: the state q NE case we may
been one OF the wettest we remember: the fine
promise of crop which existed in septem-
4sns o oes and Ia the M t
sippi Valley: and indeed over most of the coun-
try picking has been impeded to an extraordi-
portion Of the crop. probably one third or more.
Is still In the fields. whereas last year picking
was almost finished by this time. La some
when much rain occurred In the fall followed by
a long, fine. open winter, which produced the
oo be but utGR Killing
In most of the cotton belt in the first half of No
vember and the damage. by rain has. In our
No doubt much depends even yet upon
future weather; perhaps 100000 bales more
or less Of, the outstanding cotton hinges upon
we incline to think that the chances are rather
against the crop reaching 100000: the final
bureau estimate puts the growth at per cent
below last year, and as the weather has been
bad since II was published, we doubt Ii there Is
ground for expecting much. increase upon that
low cotton In this crop, and the difference be-
tween the lower and better grades will widen
considerably when the spring shipments ar
favorable excepting Dhollerah and q moderate
increase Of shipments is expected. but it will
be late In the spring before they become visi
BILE, for the supply of old cotton seems quite
exhausted and shipments to Europe are almost
mil" at present
Altogether the prospects are that we shall go
through the spring with an unusually small
stock OF cotton, and unless we are wholly mis-:
taken about the American crop, that we shall
never come near to the figures of last year. AS
a consequence of this state of things, the Amer
lean receipts will be watched with great eager
ness the next two or three months; the falling
off this week Is thought to be temporary. and
1t is expected that December and January will
run much ahead of last year, and wipe out
large portion of the great deficit of 100000 bales.
Should that not take place. o rise In prices may
be expected in spite of the depression Of trade;
indeed, 1t will become self-evident that extern
sive and long continued short time will be un.
avoidable and the margin to the producer will
be drawn tighter and tighter till that Is brought
about
On the other hand. a strong restraining influ-
enee will be brought to bear upon the market
from the uneasy look of political matters;
France Is in the throes of a constitutional
crisis, and apparently the President is deter
mined to govern in opposition to the clearly ex-
pressed will of the ma ion. II may take con- |
time to solve the difficulty. but we do |
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