The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-10-08
ANY FIRM CAN DO IT.
THE ALLIANCE PLAN OF ADVANC-
ING ON COTTON EXPLAINED.

The Montgomery (Ala) Exchanges
Scheme to Put I'D Money Nothing
More Than ANY Cotton House in
Savannah Can Do-The Way 1t Is
Done.
General Manager Gather of the alliancs
exchange in this city, says q Montgomery
(Ala.) special to the New York Sun
offers to advance money on cotton to the
farmers of Alabama He has. it is said,
enough money at his disposal to advance
$35 a bale on 500, 900 bales, and be says that
all be asks is that the farmers shall hold
their cotton for his agents.
In this weeks issue of the Alliance
Herald a notice, addressed 20 "Alli-
ance warehOusemen, and TO every
individual alliance man throughout
Alabama" and signed by John B. Harris,
manager Of the cotton department Of the
exchange Mr. Harris states that he is
daily receiving more letters than he can
answer from farmers desiring advances on
their cotton. he adds:
81 wish TO say to alliancemen: When you
have cotton to sell get it in lots Of 100 TO
1000 bales, and while you are bulking it
place it where there is a railroad station
agent, and tell this station agent to write TO
mis- general freight agent and give you the
through rate on cotton from that particular
station TO Liverpool, and when you have
this rate write or wire me, and then can
tell you how much l can pay you on my
basis. will pay for the cotton through
the nearest bank"
The movement among the alliance men
to secure an advance of two-thlrds to three
quarters Of the value of their cotton upon
large number OF bales, with the purpose OF
storing the crop in the warehouses and
Withholding it from the market to cause
decided rise in price, which has been agl-
tated in alliance circles for some time,
seems to have materialized to some extent
in Florida, where the managers OF the ALL
ancs exchanges are now offering an ad-
vance of $35 per bale upon cotton TO be
shipped direct to Liverpool
A Savannah cotton factor who stands
among the highest for means, experience
and reliability, let some light into this
scheme yesterday in talk with MORNING
NEWS reporter, which seems to make it
very plain that there is no mystery as to |
where the money comes from. II under |
stand,n he said, that man In Alabama Is |
offering to advance cents pound, basis |
middling on cotton to be delivered in lots |
of from 100 to 900 bales to be shipped to |
Liverpool and held for a certain length OF |
time and then sold, and proposes to charge |
per cent interest on money advanced He |
just want to say that any reputable |
house in Savannah is able to |
do the same thing, and great deal better, |
and any of them would be glad to have |
500, 900 bales on the same terms. 1t would |
beat our present profits in handling cotton |
way out OF sight and we could make a |
fortune out of such thing as that.
"Any good house in Savannah" the fac
tor went on, "can advance cents pound |
on cotton, middling basis, or two-thirds |
to three-fourths of the value of the |
cotton and ship the same to any reputable |
house in Liverpool, to be held for any sDeci-
fled length of time, six months If desired. |
They would charge no interest on the money |
advanced for the seventy days following |
the advancement, and only per cent. until
the cotton was sold. The reason that
the seventy days being that drafts
against cotton are drawn payable
sixty DAYS after sight, and it usually
takes about ten days time for the draft to
reach the European house. The best
houses in Europe are glad to get cotton on
these conditions and the best houses in Sa-
vannah would be glad to make the ship
ments on the same terms.
There is no mystery about where Mr.. |
Gather will get his money from. He |
doesn't have to have any great amount of
money to do that kind Of business on. Any
large banking house will advance him
money on cotton to be shipped on the terms
mentioned and be glad to do it, The cotton
brings the money. But how can Mr..
Gather do any better for the farmers than
any good firm in the business, which
has the advantage of long standing
experienced According to his own
announcement he will charge the farmers
interest for seventy days more than the |
factors. All Mr.. Gather can do is to make
the same terms with the European houses
that any large cotton firm can, and will re-
ceive the same commissions, about 90 cents |
per bale. 1t is a snap for Mr.. Gather, and |
if he gets 500 900 bales of cotton this year
he will clear about $500, 900.
ut is simply another scheme to profit by |
the farmers credulity, and they ore always |
ready to rush into anything that appears TO |
promise relief financially. There are
always lot Of sharks and demagogues who |
manage to get in the lead in such move
ments, and profit at the farmers expense
81 would not say anything against the alh- |
ance itself" the factor said, because it is |
good thing, and If were q farmer / would |
certainly be an allianceman. The alliance |
has done great deal Of good already, and |
II rightly managed will do more. but If the |
farmers think that they have discovered a |
scheme for handling their cotton which |
viii give them larger returns than when |
handled by men who have long experience
In the business, they viii find themselves |
sadly mistaken