The Memphis appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1886-1890, 1886-10-13
THE GIGANTIC MONOPOLY
BY WHICH THE PLANTERS ARE
BEING SQUEEZED,
In Other Words, Forced TO Sell
Their Cotton Seed Below
Its Real Value.

@NAN ONA--@ANbt A-sAsY ONAOpGl IL
The Times Democrat ediiorisily gays
How much the Southern planters are
interested in this cotton seed problem
is well sho wn by the many letters re-
ceiyed by the Times Democrat On this
subject. A correspondent who writes
US spplovingly of cur first article,
which, by the by, has been generally
republlshed in the Southern press,
says: Such articles must soon bear
fruit. Already there is feeling of
distrust, Of unrest. of positive dis:atis-
faction among the cotton farmers of
the South at what they consider an a.
tempt, 30 fer successful, on the part of
the American Cotton Oil Trust to OBJ
tsin the seed crop st much less than
its real value. To avoid taxation
the company is called a trust,
instead of a stock company" Our
correspondent declares that tie
Oil Trust was started with the mills of
the Howard Oil Company. The mills
of this concern were valued at several
ii mes what they were worth and trust
certificates issued therefor, which were
taken III payment for these mills
which already belonged 10 thems elves
at 20 cents on tbs dollar, o. % per
cent fot their par value. This done,
they began on the most timid mill
owners they could find and bulldoz5d
them into takirg a low price for their
mills, taking their pay ia certificates
at high prices. In this way they have
sc. uJed all the large mills of the
country, paying for most Of them
with trust certificates. The plan is to
force all the mills that are now cut in
to the trus. This is the way they
propose TO do il: Whenever an out.
eide mill makes shipment Of oil or
cake on agent of tie trust will follow
it up and offer the same amount at a
price so low that the shipment will
lose money. In this way they expsct
to kill the mill men off without ad-
vancing the price of seed or in
any way bsnefiting the producer.
The Times Democrat has already
shown that the immense CAPT al OF
this company is nearly all water.
Mills worth at most $1,000 900 and
capitalized at $4,000 or SO, have
been wateYed up to $95, 100000, and as
there is no limit to the capitalization,
as 1t can keep on grinding out stock
as long as it chooses, there is no rea.
son why the capital should not finally
reach $50,000,0J0 or S75,0O0,000. By a
careful system of boosting, the certIf-
Gates have been forced up to nearly go,
and it is claimed that they will be
driven to rs before January. This has
been accomplished by saying that the
Standard Oil Company was backing
the Trust, and by pretending in New
York that the monopoly is complete
master of the situation, has the plant
ers at lis mercy, aud it can dictate to
them the prices to be paid for seed
The South has little interest ia the
stock jobbing part Of the undertaking
in New York; what it wants is to see
the planter protect d and getting his
full share OF the profit from the cotton
seed and to prevent the impoversh-
ment II the soil by taking from it the
elements OF fertility in the seed. Tue
crop OF 1869 will aggregate 100000
tons. OF this 10 per cent, or 450, 900
tons, win be ctuahed; per cent, or
10000 tons, will bs required for
planting, making total OF 100000
tons thai comes 10 any legitimate use,
leaving a balance of 100000 tons
that is practically wasted. If this seed
was manufactured by the men who
produce it, and all of the product lex
cept the oily ustd by them, it would
be worth millions of dollars to the
South. Our correspondent, after con-
sidering the whole question, comes to
the same conclusion reached by the
Times Democrat some days later, that
the monopoly OF the seed by the Trust
Company can be best prevented and
the planters most benefited by the
plan proposed years ago by Mr.. At
kinson. He says:
II see but one way out of this di fiji
Guilty, that is, for the local capital OF the
country to combine with the cotton
farmers and build central ginneries
with oil mills attached and handle the
business on large scale, using none
but the best improved machinery for
the purpose. By doing this a saving
Vi UO DGl NObbs Nah DO lndJC III Vic
cost Of gins, as 10 per cent. of the gins,
if properly arranged, are sufficient to
gin the entire crop. Again, by the
employment OF such improved ma
chinery, together with skilled labor
to suuerintsnd the ginning, The crop
OF 1SS6-S7 would bring stleast $50, 000,-
600 more than it would sell for rs it
is now ginned, This sum added to
the loss on the seed would make the
cotton farmer Of the South, what his
occupation entities him to be, a primes
in the land"
This states one feature of the case
very we'll, and will recommend itsef
to the producers of cotton. From the
communications that come in to US,
from the many suggestions made al to
how the Vaccinations OF the Trust
Company can be defeated, we feel as
sured that the planters will yet be
able to preveot this monopoly from
carrying out any plans injurious to
their interests aud those OF the South.