The herald., 1895-02-24
TROUBLES OF THE PLANTERS
Cotton Growers in the South Said to Be in
Bad Shane

D1u shape
| Washington, Feb. 23.-During the Fifty
! second Congress the Senate committee on
agriculture and forestry was authorized by
the Senate to make an inquiry upon the
existing depression in farm products, and
Senators George, Bates and Proctor were
selected as a subcommittee to take in
hand the portion of the inquiry concern
ing the depressed price OF cotton, and the
! testimony taken was today reported to
the Senate by George. To ascertain the
| financial condition of producers of cotton,
| the committee addressed a circular con-
tanning inquiries to a large number of
| farmers and merchants in each of the cot
ton states.
The report was demonstrated that with
the prices prevailing in the years 1891
92-99, in nearly every part of the cotton
producing region, the cost of production
equaled, if it did not exceed, the value of
the cotton raised, and that applied even
to the small farmers, who raised their
cotton by their own labor, and the condi-
tlons have grown worse instead OF better
since. The committee concluded that
while there is no destitution, there is lit
tie acucmulation and enterprise fails
under the present adverse conditions to
make that steady and sure progress to
which until now the people have been
accustomed. The result has been to pro-
duce widespread discomfort among cotton
producers and disposition TO discredit
their ofttime conservative methods and to
induce u too ready acceptance of plausi-
bic theories for relief.
While the committee comedies that the
obvious, apparent and proXimate cause of
these low prices is over production
the report goes into the matter eXten-
sively to prove thar there has been in the
case of cotton at least no real overproduc-
tion, but that there has been an increas-
ing demand equaling the increasing
supply.
After briefly discussing what the com
mittee deems the depressed effect of a
high tariff policy upon the production of
cotton. the matter of futures" is taken
up and gambling" inprices unreservedly
condemned as contributing to low prices.
The committee, in arguing the right of
the Federal Government TO legislate on
the subject, declares the business of deal
ing in futures in cotton can only be trans
acted in two the exchanges of New York
and New Orleans. and that the latter is
merely an annex to the former.
The committee concludes that the deal
ing of thesesexchanges interferes with in
terstate commerce, and the power of Con-
gress should be exercised to abolish them.
In this view it declares it is the manifest
interest,of the whole country that all ar
rangements customs of trade which arti-
tically depress the price OF cotton should
be abolished.
1t was declared in conclusion that deal
ings in futures generally depaess the price
to considerable extent, and that Con-
gress not only has the power to aboliseh
them, but it is in duty bound to do so.
One-half of the report is devoted to what,
to quote the language of the report, I'VE
now consider that the cause for the low
price of cotton which we deem the most
potent is the decentralization OF silver"
1t is declared that production is suffer-
ing from extremely low prices, the result
of the appreciation of gold.
The committe says that as there appears
'no immediate prospect for the great
remedy needed to raise the price of cotton
or the reconciliation of silver" they
feel called upon to suggest certain pal
liatives which could be adopted"
4 One of Hthese is the repeal of the duty
on cotton manufacturing machinery, but
they also consider it i'm mpossibl to secure
this relief, and fall back on the suggestion
to the cotton raisers to keep their money
at home by raising their own supplies
and diversifying their crops, and invest
the money now spent for these in erecting
cotton factories, and other factories which
they say can be made successful in the
cotton states.