The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1893-07-06
ADSTlNs CO7TON MARKET.

The STATESMAN to give additional
emphasis to 30 important a subject
herewith repeats something its excel
ent agricultural editor had to say il
Farm Notes" yesterday morning. Ii
Is as follows:
1t Ia too soon to figure on the mum
her of bales of cotton we are gong to
make this seat on, but 1t IL sale &c
reckon that some will be made. When
made they will be sold, and buyers
will be found in every city, town and
village in the state. 1t has been OBJ
served that most centers of population
are anxious to have as much OF tne
marketing OF the crop as possible zone
with them. Business men know that
where farmers sell their COT on Chey
are liable 20 buy their supplies, ana I'D
most towns business men lay them-
selves out to attract the farmer ana MS
cotton. But as every other rule is
said to have an exception, so has this
one. Some towns rely upon their
"natural advantages" which, by the
way, are not advantages as applied
let things slide along, and trade slip
through their fingers, to be grasped
by the ready hand of more energetic
rivals.
Austin furnishes practical illustra-
ton of this proposition. With natural
advantages of location and transpor..
tation facilities, superior to those OF
any other city in Central Texas, she
ought to be one of the largest country
markets, and was 80 once. But from
various causes her merchants and
bankers have been content to let
those of neighboring towns allure her
trade away, till now she handles @
very small proportion of the cotton
raised In her natural territory, and
her business is suffering in about the
same proportion. ,
have year after year pointed this
out and suggested remedy, but my
efforts have had about as much e1ect
as water poured on ducks back, and
have had no hope of action being
taken now, as the average citizen Is
now satisfied that Lake Mcdonald Is
enough to build up the city as big as
he wants it, and create as much Ousl-
meas az her merchants can handle
without injury to their health.
write merely to keep myself on record
as an advocate of Austin's Interests.
Surely Mr.. Eogar has mis- calculated
the temper of our Austin people,
True, from the inattention they have
given this matter IN the past, he may
be warranted in his structures upon US
and in having lost hope that we
would ever do anything to right our
selves on this important question. But
he should not carry this too far. He
perhaps hits upon the cause OF our IN
action when he refers to the lake and
what we expect to flow from it. Our
peoples attention doubtless has been
distracted from the present to the fu-
ture because of that lake and The
power it contains. We have been
counting on locating cotton mills along
its banks and through these
mills drawing here every pound
of cotton raised in this
and over adjoining counties. Deeply
interested in the progress of the dam
and hoping for this immediate result
from it, we doubtless have been negli-
gent Of the cotton question in the inn
mediate present.
But because of existing circumstan-
ces at the dam it Is out of all question
to expect it to have any bearing on
our cotton market this year. Is it
then not the part of wisdom to give
ear to Mr.. Edgar's warning and ad-
vice? Should not our merchants and
bankers cooperate at once and win
back for Austin the cotton market she
used to have and make it bigger?
This would be of practical and
immediate benefit to us this
year and would furnish a
better basis to begin operations
on when cotton factories are started.
AS careful business men, must we not
see in this plan our wisest and most
profitable course? 1t will not take very
much money, but only thorough CO
operation and then to make the fact
known through all the Immediately
surrounding counties, that Austin is
prepared to give the best price
offered anywhere for cotton. 1t will
be big money in Austin's pockets and
profitable business for our merchants
shall we not do it, and at once
for no true is to be lost?
.ur, r,rrnnI c,rrrInN