Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1886-10-20
COTTON or WILLS IN TEXAS.


COTTON OIL MILLS IN TEXAS.
The cotton seed oil mills in Texas are
paying, this fail, from S. to 81 per ton
for cotton seed. One snd two years ago,
they were paying from % to $40. THE
GAZETTE has known them TO pay as high
as si2 30 to $40 per ton. But that was
vixen seed were scarce, and, what was
more important, when competition was
active. Eleven OF the mills in Texas,
over two-thirds Of the entire number, are
now owned or controlled by the American
Cotton Oil Trust company, the powerful
syndicate so often alluded TO by TEE GA
zKTrE OF late We have these figures on
authority. One by one they have cap
tured the mills In Texas, as they have in
Louisiana, Mississippi, and other South
ern states, until they control the produc-
ing capacity. The tendency is toward
lower price for cotton seed. To be Just
TO the mills, It must be said, they have
their side Of the question. They point
to the prices Of their product and assert
that II Is lower now than it has ever been
since cotton oil was manufactured. They
say that the price of their product is
governed almost entirely by the price Of
lard; as lard goes down cotton-seed OIL
declines too. When lard rises, SO does
the oil. 1t has been found that cotton
seed oil is an excellent substitute forlard,
jus, as oleomargerine is for butter. We
are perfectly willing the monopolied mills
shall have fair hearing, for 1t is not
right to condemn them without good and
sufficient cause. The law of supply and
demand must regulate the price paid the
farmer for his cotton seed, just as IL
should what be gets for his lint cotton,
or his grain, or his hogs. He must not
expect more than the intrinsic value Of
his seed, and sensible farmer does not,
He may deplore the fact that the intrinsic
value is not greater, but he will accept
the inevitable, as he does in other mat
tiers. The price OF all commodities fuc-
tuRtes more or less. But 1t Is not the
Huctuation or even the decline that wor-
ries the cotton-planters, so much
as the mouopollzing tendency AS
they see wealthy and powerful
corporation getting control Of all the
mills in the South--a corporation rich
enough TO close half its mills and ker .
them idle, II such a policy Is desirable;
rich enough to bid defiance to any com
petition movement likely to spring up--i.
is not astonishing they should view such
movement with apprehension. This
same sentiment applies TO other move
ments of a similar nature. Freight rates
on the railroads have been cheapened in
the last few years, but the people view
the consultations of railroad systems
with repugnance and alarm. II is this
sentiment that has made Jay Gould the
| greatest consolidator of the times, one Of
the most dreaded and best hated men In
the country, Mr., Gould is, perhaps, a
much better man personally than many
Of the men who abuse him; his enter
prises, immense in their nature, give EN-.
ployment to thousands OF people, develop
the country, and are helpful in many
ways. The rates on his lines are not I'M
reasonable, either, but for all this, he is
monopolist, and the people dread mo
nopolies. 1t is precisely this sentiment
of opposition to monopoles that i'm
pels cotton growers in Texas anC
other Southern states to lool
with distrust upon the operations
OF the American Cotton Oil Trust com
pany; and as the price OF cotton seeC
grows less, the feeling OF distrust grow
stronger. One of these days Armour anC
his clique will set the price of lard e
, climbing up, We want to see how tn,
explanatory theory OF the cotton oil mo
nopoly will pan out then. One thing 1
certain now that the syndicate has got
corner on the mills in Texas, and tn
farmer isn't getting near as much for hi
seed as he did last year.