Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-06-23
ATLANTA's COTTON.
Receipts Little Short of so 900 Bales
Cause of Savannah's Recent Decline.
Ahaata Constitution.

Cause of Savannah's Recent Decline.
AttGata Constitution.
The meeting of the Savannah Cotton
Exchange last Wednesday to consider
the recent decline in the cotton receipts of
that port has attracted the attention of
the Gotten trade all over Georgia and
throughout the country generally
\ lew weeks ago Galveston passed Sa-
Vanah and took rank next to New Orleans
and usurped Savannah's place as the sec
ond port in the country. Nat 1rally the
savannah Cotton Exchange began to in
guire into the causes of the decline, to see
n any remedy lay within their reach.
Inc nam reason attributed by the Savan-
nah Exchange to account for the loss of
cotton this season was the diversion of
the staple from its old ports by the opera
tons OF the railroad pooling system.
yesterday a Constitution man talked
with a gentleman well informed i'm the
movements of cotton and asked if he
thought Atlanta stood in any danger from
the causes which effected Savannah dele
teriOusly- Il do not" was the repIv.
''The pooling system, it seems to me on.
crates rather to the advantage of the in
terror towns as against the ports"
"What will Atlanta's receipts be for
the season just clOsedY''
I've counted on 200,0 600 bales but will
get hardly so many. The total will fall
somewhere between 10000 and 14S, 900
bales.r
How do you account for sayannah's
decline.'
'There have been three reasons for it..
First. the low quotation. That properlv
understood would not have been much in
nuence, but when Charleston is offering
lO14 for ordinary and Savannah only 10 it
naturally goes to Charleston. A better
grade OF cotton goes to Charleston, and
what would be ordinary there might be
good ordinary or middling i'm Savannah
This reason has more effect than you
would suppose. The second cause is
probably due to the low freights given to
Norfolk. Cotton is carried from this cOun-
try to Norfolk for 56 hum
dred, while 40 is charged to Savannah.
Norfolk is 600 miles over the mountains
and Savannah is only 800 miles on an easy
run. Not counting the difference in the
distance there is another disadvantage
for Norfolk thus overcome for the same
motive power that would carry u cars
800 miles toward Norfolk would carry 20
cars to Savannah. Norfolk has many
natural advantages besides this artifi-
cial one. She is enabled to command
the territory from Memphis to New
Orleans by means of the railroad
systems that radiate from her. The Coast
Line, the Richmond and Danville, the
and the Chesapeake and Ohio, give her
easy access to that vast territory and
matchless facilities for reaching it. AS a
port her advantages are even more strik-
ing. She is on the direct line to Liverpool.
She is north of Hatteras and gets cheaper
insurance on that account. She has
ocean rates, so low that they more
than cOunteract the IL cents additional
inland freight from this territory. The
1rn ic
found, l suppose, in the superior enter
prise of Charleston merchants. They
seem somehow to handle the cotton bet
ter, and their reputation for doing so has
diverted some of Sayannah's former re-
ceipts."
''Are there not special reasons for the
gain Of GalvestOn?'
''Yes. The enormous crop OF Texas ac-
counts in some measure for that. Calves
ton is holding her own and gaining among
Southern ports because she has a vast ter
ritOry that cannot be taken from
her. 1t supplies an excellent cotton
too, better than that which goes to
New Orleans. This side of Galveston
the cotton movements indicate a shift
ing toward the North Atlantic. New Or
leans lost first. Then Mobile lost heavily.
Savannah is complaining now, and
Charleston, though keeping relatively
ahead of these towns by her enterprise, is
losing by competition with Norfolk. This
seems to be the drift of cotton and it may
be that railroad combinations are promot-
ing it,
SWhere does most of Atlanta's cotton
gOg"
'sTO Charleston. There are three natu-
raj ports for it-CharlestOn, Norfolk and
Savannah. Charleston has managed to
gam control OF the bulk of it, and seems
determined by the activity and enterprise
of her merchants to hold it.''