The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1894-12-26
S11,451.51
RODDY TO THE FARMERS.

$11, ,451. 81
RODDY TO THE FARMERS.
A New York Cotton Broker Telling E1-
change Secrets.
The Yorkville Enquirer gives the
following report of the speech of John
T.: Roddy, of the New York cotton
brokerage firm of Roddy & Watts,
before recent meeting OF York coun-
ty:farmers:
I am extremely grateful to you for
the kind reception you have given me
this morning. Though for the past
month or more I have been subjected
to all manner of abuse by New York
cotton men, and even by many of our
Southern newspapers, in the light of
this reception count their slurs and
ISLANDERS as nothing.
Did not so fully understand the
influences that arc at work running
the homes and wrecking the lives of
our Southern people, l would have
never raised my pen in protest, nor
would I be before you today. But
having seen and learned what I have
and believing so firmly that not only
understand the trouble, but can sug-
gest to you an efficient remedy, I can
not rest quietly under the burden un-
til have at least made the situation
plain to you as l see it.
Do you know the cause of the ex-
tremely low price of cotton? There
are those who will tell you that there
is no demand for it. I tell you this
is not true. It is due to the influence
of the professional bear operators on
the metropolitan boards of trade.
These men have so depressed the price
of all kinds of agricultural products
as to leave the producers without
means to create demand for any
thing. I know of one New Orleans
bear who has taken out of this years
cotton crop 81, 600, 900 for himself land
I could point you ahalf dozen bears
in New York, and half dozen more
in Chicago, who cost the South and
West not less than $3.50, 600, 900 ayear.
These men produce nothing, absolute
ly control prices, realize almost all the
profits there are in all our crops, and
are literally crushing the producers of
the South and West to seridom. And
there is no demand2 How can there
be a demand when the producer is
scarcely allowed living9 When cot
ton was ten cents a pound, man
could have three shirts where he is
now hardly able to own one.
The laws of supply and demand do
not control the price of cotton. The
laws of imaginary supply and demand
may; but not the laws of actual sup
ply and demand Go ask your cotton
buyer what is the price of cotton, and
will he figure on the supply and de-
mand2 No; he will tell you that New
y ork futures are off 25 points, and
that means that your cotton is off 25
points. On the New York cotton ex-
change, they sell 1000 bales of futures
to every single bale of spot cotton land
in this case the imaginary fixes the
prices of the real. If New York sells
$4,000 bales of futures at cents, that
means your cotton is 8 cents. Though
this is a fact and we see it, at present
we are helpless. New York knows
that by a certain time we have got to
dispose of so much cotton, no matter
what the price and so they fix the
price themselves.
And the mills are not going to help
you. I saw the other day where a
Russian mill was manufacturing
American cotton and paying its stock
holders dividend of 25 per cent. 1t
is the way with the mills of the North.
They are fattening off of low priced
cotton. The future contract system
is the greatest thing in the world for
them. They do not have to lock their
money up in cotton. They find it
more profitable to put up margin on
futures. If cotton goes up, they make
money by the speculation, just the
same as if they had the cotton on
hand and if it goes down, they let
their margins 60 and buy their cotton
from you. You have not got the sym
pathy or the support of these mills,
and you are not on an equahty VIII!
them. They are backed by plenty OF
money and are able to protect them
selves against spectators. The specu-
lators know it and let their products
alone. What they sell is governed by
the laws of supply and demand of
their goods; but not of your cotton:
The price of your cotton is governed
only by the manipulations of the pro-
fessional spectators.
Now what are you going to do about
it2 In the late war you fought be-
cause you thought the North was
trying to rob you of your property.
Then it was fair and open war on both
sides: but now it is different. Ten
years ago you put an s or 10 per cent.
mortgage on your lands to be paid IN
10 cents cotton. You find the mort
gage just the same except now you
have it to pay for with five cents cot,
ton. Look around you and you will
see that you are hemmed in by cliques
on every side. There are trusts on
everything you buy and combinations
against everything you sell. Why,
one man worth S20,0 900 can sell before
its planted, every bale of cotton to be
produced in York county next
year; and that is a fair sample OF the
estimates they put on the labor of our
people.
You say it costs cents a pound to
raise cotton. At 10 cents a pound,
YOUR lands are worth $25 an acre, and
at 5 cents pound they are not worth
the taxes. And you can't do any
thing? Eminent authorities are agreed