Birmingham state herald., 1895-11-19

son will be practical drag on the mar ket. The circular, however. explains it. self more fully than 1t can be explained. It is as follows:
 Charleston S. C., Nov. 5, 1895. ''To the Cotton Planter:
 The condition of cotton at the present moment is one that should give cause for deep thought on the part of the planter. and he should pause before he enters in- to any arrangement for planting another crop. Today we see every indication Of a small crop; receipts are light and de- creasing every daE The great standby of the English spinnerS (Mr. NellD pre- diets small outturn Of the present crop. ALI reports from the cotton sections show the crop Is shorter than 1t has been for years, and the government report con- firms these other reports. The business Tn dry goods is good, and the demand Is increasing, and everything on its face shows that at least for this year the cot ton planter is to be rewarded for his toll by getting fair living price for his cot ton, but what are the facts? We see cot ton declining every day, January con- tracts having been forced down of a cent, or $3.75 per bale within two weeks. Of course, this was only the natural re- suit of an overloaded speculative market, and if 1t had not affected the actual cot ton would have passed by comparatively unnoticed but the foreign spinners from that moment seemed to have dropped completely out of the market, evidently waiting for such another move to force the spot cotton still lower and enable them to buy cotton at their own sweet pleasure and price.
 Thus we see that the speculators in New York are playing directly into the hands of the natural enemies of cotton. The situation seems now to be narrowed down to a battle between the cotton planter on one side and the foreign spin ner on the other, backed up by the spec ulatorS and gold powers of the north. It seems that either gold or cotton must be exported to avoid the issue of bonds and as another bond issue might imperil the chances of the democratic party, the cot ton planter must be sacrificed and the price of cotton beat down until he is com lpelled to sell. This is all wrong, and can be avoided by little judgment and com- mon sense.
 "One of the greatest clouds hanging over the cotton market Is the talk of a tremendous crop next year. Some predic- tions have already been made that the next crop will be II 100000 bales, the enc mics of cotton forgetting that the cotton planter has learned a lesson or two in the last five years, If 1t was known and un- derstood that the cotton planter had been fooled in to planting a tremendous crop for the last time and that the crop for next year would be only moderate one, cotton spinners would enter Into the mar ket; we would see better prices for the present crop and better prices for the next crop. A large crop next year means low prices for what cotton is not already sold this year and lower prices for next year.
 "Let the planter plant his crop on the same basis of this years crop; plant plenty of provisions and keep down the cotton acreage. The balance of this years cotton and next years crop under existing circums tances should sell at g cents, at least, at the ports. Keep down the cotton acreage and save yourselves from a repetition of scent cotton and disaster. Yours truly,
 MIDDLETON & RAVENEL."