Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-02-05

The statement Of Congress smen Chace,
of Rhode Island, and Grape, Of Massa-
chusetts. as cotton manufacturers that
Southern planters bought iron ties for 1our
cents a pound and sold them for cotton at
eleven cents. was accepted, doubtless Dy
goOdlv number Of people. not because
there was ANYTHING reasonable in the as
sartion. but simply for the obstinate per-
sistcncv with which it was adhered to.
No sensible man ought for a moment to
believe that Northern cotton manufac-
turers paid. as Chace asserted. $S50,0O0
wear as clear profit on cotton ties which
were sold at a profit of at least seven cents
a pound. but the Rhode Islander stated it
as an exact fact within his own knowl-
edge, 50 his party generally applauded
him and accepted his nonsense as merean-
tile history.
The letter Of Mr.. J. :. Moore, to the New
York Times. republished elsewhere in this
issue. shows exactly what the tare is for
bagging and ties and just where it is adj
/ iusted. Taking a bale Of cotton weighing
+ 45OpOunds as an Illustration. and January
I 27th as a date Mr.. Moore shows an appa-
rent profit between the New York and
/ Liverpool quotations. after allowing for
/ all the usual charges connected with the
/ shipment from the former to the latter
/ port. of So a bale to be gained by any CON-
/ mission merchant or speculator who chose
I to sell cotton by telegraph in Liverpool
and buy it i'm New York. The reason why
/ he does not do this is that when this bale
I reaches Liverpool it is not sold for the
four hundred and fifty pounds which 1t
weighs, including bagging and ties, but
for four hundred and twenty-three pounds
only, the remaining twenty-seyen pounds,
! six per cent. of the whole, being taken of
for tare. 50 the Liverpool man does not
pay a penny for anything but the cotton
itself. This is plain enough. But Messrs.
Chace and Grape may still insist that,
whatever Liverpool buyers do, manufac-
turers here not only pay for the weight OF
the cotton, including bagging and
ties. but they give the cotton price for
all. This is shown to be not in accordance
with the facts, just as well as the Liver
pool story. In the case cited the price in
Liverpool less the freight charges would
be IL O3 cents a pound. which ought to be
the price in New York if Chace and Grape
know whereof they speak, whereas the
figure was 10 Is cents. S7-100c. less. Why
this is 50 it would puzzle Chace and
Grape and their aRiers and abettOrs tC
explain and sustain at the same time
their own theory. Mr.. Moore saves
them the trouble by showing that
the S1-1OO cents is accounted for
by adding 10 the 10 Is cents the New York
price. the 6 per cent. tare and the charges
for shipment other than freight. On both
sides Of the water the percentage is taken
of for bagging and ties. In Liverpool il
is done by reducing the weight Of the
bale: in New York by lowering the price
per pound. In neither case are the bag
ging or ties paid for by anybOdy,~sO that
instead Of the Southern planter getting
eleven cents a pound for what cost him
four cents, he does not receive therefor
one single cent. the bagging and ties
being a dead expense 10 him. There
would not be the slightest confusion about
il if the simple method of Liverpool was
resorted to here instead of the somewhat
perplexing one used in New York.
II is hard to believe that men engaged
in cotton manufacturing as Grape and
Chace are so ignorant Of their own bust
ness As not to know there is no fOunda.
ton for their assertion. and on the other
hand it is not pleasant TO reflect that these
friends of monopoly are so determined
upon the imposition of an outrageous
/ duty as to resort to the aid of arguments
known 10 be false. At all events this
case shows that one cannot afford to
take their statements for granted when
bOlstering zap an uncalled for tax and
that it Is better to probe their facts in
every instance in order to be on the safe
| side