The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1893-06-16
COTTON FUTURES.
The Vicious System that Is Destroying the
Agriculture of the south.

Agriculture of the south.
MEMPHIS, Tenn, May 29.-The
pre-, cut condition OF he cotton mar
ket furnishes significant object les
son for Southern ptOp.e TO ponder.
Look at it. Last year, with crop OF
5000 900 bales in light Angus futures
were setlng IN New YORK. on May ~
at7:4l, ana the worlds stock greater
than ever known.
this year, with crop of only $780,
600 bales or nearly oue.thlrd short,
and with the supply on hand. "visi
bic and invi-ib e." reduced 1870 900
or 1000, 600 baes, we have August fu-
lures selling Ut 7:4l on May y, just
the same as last year.
What can Or the matter, that with
sucn vast reduction IA the crop,
such shortage IN the stocks, wltu
such disastrous weather for the grow
ing crop, with ali this aud more, that
August cotton should now Ue selling
as low as last year?
| haYe been u cotton factor twenty
five years aud my experience lcache IS
me that IN the ordinary course OF L.
gltlmate trade, such q remarkable
showing would certainly advance
prices at least 80 per cent Why is it
that the laws OF supply and demand
no longer operate i'll the trade cent-rs
This is a question Uf prOfuun1 inter
est Tor I've penp,e who produce the
cotton crop out OF the ground by hard
labor
Is 1t because the whole world is
still z utted with surplus cotton? Or
because goods are so cheap that there
IL no piUlit IA manu- acturiug? Ga
the contrary The supply is 50 model
ate ana c'nsumpuon So great that
there Is lear now being expressed tina!
in one year, or eighteen months, there
Will be complete exhaustion OF
available sock. Furthermore, the
manufacturers acknowledge that
their profit in making cotton goods
" unusually large, Que lille factory
M Mississippi, near here, recently re-
ported a clear p,otit.Of Is per cent
the past year.
Then what is the matter?
Let US consider.
II Is true that our cotton crop is on
~ $500 GOO bales--a decrease Of near
ly one-third.
1t is true that the yearly cousump-
zion IL at least 100000 bales 1t Is
true that the stocks nave been rA-
duced oRe and Une-half, or 100000
IN past year. It is true that the man
ufacturers are making great ptohts
and all these facts should keep he
price Of cotton at ten cauts or above.
But 1t l. also true, that there have
been 5O,0OO,OOO ba. es sold tn STA
son in New YORK alone, and they stIl.
have supply OF the same kind, that,
by It's nature, has no end or limit, and
New York is constantly Offering anu
selling this in competition with our
Southern cotton aud at lower prices.
10 be sure this IL not real cOttOn-it
Is only on papor-but by the iuggiery
OF the system in vogue there II has
largely the Same effect on the mar
kets a. Offering that much cotton. If
n spinner wants TO buy cotton to fiji
aprotitable contract tor goods three
months hence they tell him not to
buy the cotton, but to buy one OF
these paper contracts, which they
will sell them cheaper than he can
buy aud carry the cotton. II a specu-
latol wants 1000 bales they tell him
the same. So the spinner and specu-
atOr no longer take the real cotton,
but they take these futures" at
cheaper figures The speculator rare
~ takes the cotton thus bought, but
sett es ditf-rr nces at close of contract.
Thus an Immense speculation has de-
velOped in "Iuiuresn because it is
such au easy way of betting on the
market.
The New York ring does the sell
ing. The outside parties do the buy
ing, with some rare exceptions. New
York has the whole game in her
hands as well at the stakes; and as
profits on such sales are always made
by decllLes, she Systematically push
es prices down.
Thus it is that the old laws Of
supply and demand have been pushed
aside, and the gambling rules and
laws Of futures substituted. This
fully accounts for the strange condi-
ton Of the cotton trade and the low
prices, RId this alone does.
Through the "luturen system our
cotton market has been so mixed aud
dOve-,ailed with II great gambling
scheme that Z business man can no
longer tell anything abOdt it. We
only know that our people are robbed
most villalnJusly and the rings en-
riohed
II this is any longer a lard Of law
such things should be stamped out,
aud that quickly. The feeling of our
Business men here is almost unani-
KOus regret that the Hatch bill did
mt pass AT the last Congress. They
say We must have il next session.
Senator George, of Mississippi, is.the
new chairman OF the committee on
agriculture. He is now Investigating
tie subject witt a vie Y to preparing
CAL to suppress future gambling
SHr Southern people ought to back
nm mp in every possible way, and
see that our senators and representa-.
hVes do the same. We must push