Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1895-08-22
THE PRICE OF COTTON
GOVERNED BY THE LAW OF SUPPLY
 AND DEMAND.


 Free silverites Should Study This History
 of Production and Prices Since 1791. What the Record of Crops Proves-sil-
 yer Has No Effect on Prices.
 The spread of free coinage sentiment ill the southern states has been almost entirely due to the belief that the low price of cotton was caused by the adop- tion of the gold standard. The main argument of the advocates of a 50 cent dollar ill this section of the country has been that the alleged characterization of silver was the cause of the marked fall in cotton during the past 23 years.
 A bulletin just issued by the depart ment of agriculture giving the history of the production and price of cotton for over 100 years proves conclusively that the use of silver as money has nothing to do with the decline ill value of cot ton. Beginning with 1791, with a crop of 8,889 bales, worth on an average 2G cents per pound ill the United States, the production rapidly increased during the next ten years to 210, 52G bales, and the price at the same time advanced to A. cents In 1909 the crop was 241 22S bales, of which 120, 619 were shipped ts Great Britain. but, owing to the great ly increased supply and large stock l54, ,060 bales-on hand at the close of the year, the price dropped to 19 cents per pound i'll New York
 In spite of this remarkable decrease i'll price the crop increased to $40, 900 bales i'll 1910, worth 16 cents. Ill 1916 the crop was 457 ,565 bales, but the enormously increased demand from Great Britain forced prices up to 2919 cents, and tho next year to 34 cents. These high prices caused an increase ill the acreage of cotton, and by 1920 the crop was G06,0 bales and the price dropped to IT cents. The production in- creasing, prices fell, i'll 1929, to II. 40 cents, and i'll 1927, with q crop of 957, 281 bales, and with 562, 360 bales ill stock, to 9.29 cents.
 By 1884 all increase in the European demand for cotton had advanced the price to nearly 13 cents, with crop of 1,205, 394 bales For the next five years prices fluctuated widely, averaging from 714 to 20 cents per pound, and when, in 1840, the crop amounted to 2,17185 bales, the average price went down to 8. 92 cents. The great crops and the &C., emulation of large stocks ill Liverpool caused q still further decline, ill 1845 reaching 5 cents, the lowest recorded price, with crop of 2, ,394, 503 bales. By 1850 prices had advanced to 12.34 cents, and for the next ten years aver aged about Il cents, the crop increasing to 8, ,655, ,557 in 1856 and to 4,861, ,299 ill 1860.
 The war which broke out in 1861 brought on the cotton panic, , which lasted to 1866, when prices went as high as $1. 89 per pound. The close of the war left many of the cotton growing states in an impoverished condition, and it was not until 1876 that the crop was as large as that of 1860. Ill the mean time the price had fallen with the grad ual increase in production until in 1871, with crop of 4.352, BIT bales, it aver aged 16. 95 cents In 1872 cotton was badly damaged by excessive rains, and with crop of only 2,974, 351 bales, the price reached 20.48. h 1880 the crop was 5, ,761,252 bales and the price had fallen to 12.02.
 The increased European demand for a time prevented prices falling to the level of the decade previous to the war, but by 1889 the stock on hand began to in- crease beyond the demand, and in 1891 the unheard of crop of 8,652, ,597 bales forced the price down to 9.03 cents. In 1899 the crop was 9,035, 379 bales, the stock on hand amounting to 2,253, 900 bales. Prices fell to 7.64 cents, but ad- vanced ill 1893, when on account of un- favorable weather the crop fell off to 6,700, 365 bales, to SPA cents. An in- crease to 7,549,817 bales in 1894 was followed by decline i'll price, and the greatest crop on record ill 1895, amount ing to about 9,476, 435 bales, brought down the price to 6.26.
 The following table gives the compar- ative crops and stocks of cotton and the lowest and highest prices i'll the United States for two decades, showing that prices reached the lowest point during the years when the accumulation of sur plus stocks was the largest, and that those were the years of largest crops:
 1S41-185O.