Los Angeles herald., 1892-05-17
COTTON DETHRONED.
THE ONCE ROYAL STAPLE OF THE
SOUTH KING NO LONGER.

rne ONCE ROYAL STAPLE OF THE
SOUTH KING NO LONGER.
w>rts With Statesmen About the Depres- |
.soo and Its Remedy-Fictitious Trad |
ine. Customs Duties and an Insufticient |
Circulating Medium to Blame.
The Washington correspondent of the
~ Louis Globe Democrat furnishes his
paper q symposium of views on the con-
dition of the farmers and suggestions as
TO the cause of the present depression in
that great staple The interviews were
had with congressman representing
southern districts, and the following ex-
cerpts from a whole page in The Globe
Democrat will be found interesting:
Mr.. Hatch, of Missouri, has some pro-
nounced and interesting views on the
cotton problem. AS chairman of the
committee on agriculture he has given
thought to the cotton planters condition
1T is ridiculous" said Mr.. Hatch
promptly and positively, when asked
what he thought Of the proposed agree
ment to cut down the acreage of cotton
20 per cent "It isn't practicable. Some
men might sign such an agreement and
Keep it. Others might sign and not keep
it. More would neither sign nor be in
duenced by it.
What has brought cotton down and
what keeps it down isn't excessive pro-
duction. It is this speculation-this tic-
titious trading. The men who gamble
in cotton are bearing it the year around.
You can buy now on margins August or
September cotton remember the time
and 60 do you when the cotton planter
had the finest collateral that grows.
Then cotton was as good as bullion. The
planter or the merchant put his cotton
bales into q warehouse and got money
ON it up to within a cent or two of its
value. He put insurance on it and time
did the rest for him. There was no danger
Of deterioration. The planter got his
money ON his cotton almost to the full
value The insurance and the interest
less pound. There the cotton remained
as good as gold until the market prompt
ed the sale. All over the south this ware
housing Of the cotton crop was done, and
there was no limit to the money seeking
it. Then came the era of gambling in
cotton futures Capital grew nervous in
the presence of system that ran cotton
down or up at the will of the manipula-
tors. Planters in need of money were
forced to send their cotton to market
Now the result of this is seen in the
marketing OF almost the whole crop in
sixty days. Prices are knocked down
ruinously and they remain down. Figur-
ing on the prices when the cotton is de-
pressed by this crowded market, the
speculator sells for delivery six or ten
months hence. With such system, de-
probation lower and lower is the most
natural consequence. Stop this gambling
in cotton and the value will become
steady and natural. Money will seek
such safe Investment. The warehouse
system will be restored. Cotton will be
put upon the market as there is a de-
mand for it and as it will bring living
profit to the producer.
NOTHING FUNNY ABOUT IT.
The country knows John Allen, of
Tupelo." as man with keen appre-
citation of the ludicrous But there is
nothing funny in the condition of the
cotton planter. Mr.. Allen was alto
gether serious and very much in earnest
when he was asked about the depression
in his state. He replied with candor
and with thought to the questions asked
him, and he said some things about the
situation which are worthy Of more than
passing consideration.
Il have recently returned from Mis-
sissippi." Mr.. Allen said in response to
query, land there is no doubt about it
the farmers engaged in raising cotton
are in bad fix and are disheartened
and dispirited. Some of them are al
most in despair. It is really very Sc
rious condition that confronts them.
l saw and talked with many farmers on
my recent visit south. l attended the
Cotton Growers convention, which as
sembled in Memphis early in January,
and met there several hundred earnest
and Intelligent farmers. am in full
sympathy with them, for l occupy the
position Of a representative of this class
Of people and am also fellow sufferer
with them. / am a cotton grower N.Y.
self, and as sometimes tell them, to
illustrate the full measure of fellowship
between us, work a mortgaged farm
Representative B. F. Grady is an Al
lance congressman from the Third
North Carolina district. When asked
about the condition of the cotton plant
ers in his district he said: "They are
not, as general thing, bankers, but
have to live by the toll of their hands to
make a bare living. The extreme low
prices Of cotton have cramped them
very much. We cannot afford to raise
cotton for less than nine cents or ten
cents per pound at the ginhouse, but
we have to take whatever the speculator
and buyer will give, so you see with the
present price at six cents per pound
where we stand financially. As to the
remedy, should think we need more
money in circulation and some change
in the tariff laws by which we could
receive in return such articles as we
most need from other countries ct low
duty"
When the Summer palace at Peking
was sacked head of Buddha, carved
from magnificent ruby, fell to the
Duke of Brunswick as his share of the
spoils. After his death it sold for $50, ,000