St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1894-12-29
COTTON OUTLOOK.
TIE SITUATION A. VIEWED u \
LEADING OPERATOR.

COClON W kAOOAs
Tas SITUATION ~ viewed II 4
LEADING OPERATOR.
~ would rather be among the
bnlls than the bears after the hrst
az next month"; said Mr.. George
Chapmaa, the veteran cotton oper"
ator, yesterday. meaning that In .
few days the men who have cotton
to sell will. be in . better position
than those Who want to buy. Mr..
Chapman il an old-time New Or
leans cotton man now doing busi-
ness in his native English home,
and his success in the business
both here and abroad have Won tor
him . high standing - - we'll
nosted man His views, there
fore, are generally received - car.
rying weight. ~ do not care to
saw Just how much, but I believe
that cotton will 90 up high - COM
pared with present prices BY June
i. and I have advised my millionaire
friends in New York and London,
to put their surplus funds in the
staple . offering the best sort OF
financial chance during the next
six months. OF course, | am liable
to make mistakes, just - other me''
are, but believe that my views
are correct. I have drawn my con-
illusions from what I know Of con-
dit,ons on the other side Of the
ocean and from what I get from
leading men here, and I am gong
ahead and filling such discretion
ary orders Is hold.
"NeiPs estimate OF ten and .
half million bales for this years
crop think excessive. Before l
left Liverpool, basing my opinion
on conditions there and on the con-
tinent, l estimated the crop 1t nine
and ) quarter millions OF bales -
IN outside conservative figure, and
from Whist I have learned more
recently l am sure that my figures
will not be fifty thousand bales out
OF the way. Iconsider the general
outlook very favorable.
Especially on the continent lots
Of cotton has been sold ahead.
The spreading OF Neil's figures
caused continental buyers to stop
buying and to sell not only what
they had bought this year, but
Whatever else they had on hand, 80
that the supply Of the staple is be-
ing fast reduced. They are now
fast getting to the point where they
must buy, but they are waiting for
confirmation Of Neil's figures be-
fore doing 80, and when that con-
firmation fails and cotton is in de-
mand, the price will 70 up.
cit should be born In mind that
the planters have been showing for
ward their crops, and thus Cutting
the market, and that the present
low prices are enough to freighten
the most sanguine bear. There
are two reasons Why the investor
could not put his money into any
more favorable investment. In >
matter Of this sort We must take
into consideration the planting Of
the crop, or whether or not it has
been q favorable year for picking.
Everybody knows that this year has
has been q good one for the move
ment Of the crops, and that the
season has been unusually good for
picking. Therefore the crops have
been moved rapidly forward. The
staple has come in rapidly, but the
whole OF the local market cannot
buy two hundred bales Of good q.
binary, and the oldest planters in
this section say that tw0.thsrds Of
the whole crop il in. The receipts
will begin to fall OF after Jan. I.
and then the market will improve.
ut will improve, I mean, II you
people will let up on your tariff
agitations. Every few years you
have . new tariff. The kepubs;-
cans run the country and Ok their
high tariff. then the Democrats
come in and lower it after . long
time OF talking that no one can
forsee the outcome Of. Then We
think that matters are settled for
awhile, At least, when the Repub-
licans rise up and almost sweep the
Democrats of the face Of the earth,
and then financial ciicles here and
abroad are again put on the snxiou:,
sal ,le! You have sso @us ny; tsria
agitation. What you Want t. regu.
late the market and give > general
feeling Of security is . more staple
government. With these changes
every little while neither the home
nor the foreign investor knows what
the relative value OF goods and
money is to be after the investment
has been made.
"As to actual present conditions.
We have discounted the price Of
previous years Of big crops, and
the stock on hand il about used up.
In figuring on cotton prices We
average for years back. and to-day
We find that never before have
prices been the same ~ now since
1874. And then only under extra
ordinary conditions that do not to-
day exist. I have advised my
friends, many Of whom are million
aires, to put their money In cotton,
IL only to buy spot cotton to future,
and will execute al my discre-
tionary orders before. Jan. /.
Some Of the local factors are even
now rolling up their samples.
They show me what they have. and
say: we just want to let you
know what staples We have on hand,