The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1881-09-14
Cotton.
Augusta Chronicle.

The rise in the price IF cotton has
attracted much speculative atteLtlon
to hat staple. We see it stated that,
in some parts Of the country, even
the clan, bernaids are investing their
little earnings for a rise, and that
some Of them have already realized
what Is, for them, a pretty sum.
Whether this will or will not spell
good cham bermaids remains to be
seen. One Of the principal business
reasons ascribcd for the rise is Brad
streets report Of the crop. Last year
Bradstreet was remarkably correct,
and the presumption is that similar
accuracy, in the same quarter, may he
relied on. This authority states the
shortage at p per cent. under last
years's yield. The controversy uow
is not about the shortage, which is
universally conceded, but the exact
amount of it. Men of good business
capacity and close observers Of all
commercial and atmospheric phenoue-
ma. though rarely venturing into spec
ulation, have gone into the cotton
market recently and realized large
sums on their experiment. Factors
are Of different opinions concerning
the fual output. Sowe think it will
be 100000, others take Dir. Brad.
streets estimate Of 4,S5O,000 bales.
The popular side seems to be that Of
Bradstreet, aud for the following rea
sons, as stated BY a St. Louis broker !:
:Brastrcet based the last crop at g..
100000 bales when no one believed
there would be 6,000,000 In July
the cotton crop everywhere was in good
condition, full of proa'ise Of being the
best ever made, but the August
drorth has been very destructive.
Foreign crops too were reported light.
The Uuited States might make mcra
bales than the lishtest years in the
last decade because Of the large acre.
age, but estimated by the acreage, the
crop would fall below that of any year
in the last ten 1t seems to be GER
tain that the drouth is practically un-
iversal, and its ravages have been al
most wholesale. It is feared that
vet weather, when It comes, would do
much harm in the path Of the drouth.
One factor said that parties in New
York and Liverpool who seem to be
ueditating corner, profess to believe
that there is nothing in the reported
shortage. 1t seems to be their policy
to bear the market until the farmers
are forced to unload. AS the crop
will probably be picked early and seut
to market early, they might possibly
secure large portion of it before they
become aware that the crop had fallen
short to such an extent that prices
must necessarily advance. 1t is be
lieved that a crop of lesss than 5000,
900 bales will advance the price to Is
cents pound. Other dealers looked
for an average price, for middling, of
IS cents in New York.
If reports from all sources are not
grossly wrong, the cotton crop of this
season will be not much in excess Of
100000 bales, aud the price ought
to be correspondiusly advanced. We
fear that, as usual, spectators will
reap the larger part Of the profit, be-
cause planters cannot hold, and indeed,
so long as they are in debt they
should not attempt to do so. Their
first duty is to the factors who carried
them through and to whom they have
pledged their crops. It may be that
large commission was demanded !;
but that has now nothing to do with
the obligation of the contract.