New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-01-18
TO REDUCE THE ACREAGE.
GENERAL AGREEMENT AMONG COTTON
PLANTERS OF SOUTHERN STATES.


MATES OF THE CROP FOR 1895.
These are not lively days for the members OF
the New-York Cotton Exchange. Orders either to
,,, ~ call arc scantv in number and small in size
The men best acquainted with the cotton market
in New-York say that the condition OF s'as"a 'o'
into which II has fallen is likely to continue ioi
some time The operators who have been "o'h"e
to smash the prices OF cotton to the lowest "sue
ever reached have been able TO control huse
amounts Of capital and have succeeded in Stirring
up much alarm among the cotton planters Oh t"e
Southern States, and most OF these planters Ha'e
been eager get rid of their cotton al any P..oe
The bear operators the men VINO use every o"''
TO force down prices for wheat ana corn anu
oats and cotton and the other products OF '"e
country have peculiar advantages IN 'her 0"''
paions for the lowest quotations. Their resources
are vast the operators shrewd ingenious per
sistent determined and energetic; they p''is -
thing conceivable 20 bear on the miine'' - "
world to depress figures and TO plunge inc VIC"
growers. the cotton planters and other producers
into homeless and iretrievably bankruptcy Every
unfavorabe rumor or report that can De s"'"ei '
In an,~ ouarter of the globe. every ingenious iis-
representation that can be employed every ue,iv0
that can be conceived to impair ana oesuos pu
confidence In values and in prices Is useo VIII"
tnoplacable energy skill and shrewdness 10 iofce
down the prices OF "hca' Vo'''' ~
other products ,~,
The hear operators in the products OF inc 'n'eu
States have enjoyed combination OF exceptional
and peculiar advantages in their warfare aSdin''
values and against prices during the ias' t"el'e
roontbs The panic of 1893 the general business de-
pression the anxiety felt in all the markets OF 'he
World on account Of the business troubles so wldev
prevalent in this country-an these Things nave
worked for the advantage OF operators loi "Mei
prices In the staple products OF the Ihioh. I"e
complication the currency problem IN TINS ne
public the uncertainty as to the financial opohcy
Tho diStru
,,espair caused by the Democratic changes " the
,:ariff In the of revenue, In the "hoie Hd
.ial system of the country, have rad so serious an
influence upon the public confidence that the e'o''s
Of the bear operators FOR lower prices nave W
utuPendously successful.
INCORRECT REPORTS.
Tho assertions made in some quarters that the
Southern States have not been affected 10 the eN-
tent of tremendous damage by the amazins'! ~"
prices which have prevailed for cotton LOT man!
months are incorrect. The best Informed experts III
New-York say that the list of failures in the South
ern States due chiefly to the extremely low P'Ne
Of cotton is doefully long and serious In all parts
of the South in which five cent cotton represents an
actual loss TO the planter bankruptcies are NOW
taking place in large numbers, and the future Oh
the South unless the price OF cotton can oe iaSeO
at least two or three cents pouHu' seei"@ ~ "
gloomy and melancholy
II is generally agreed among the shrewdest oo-
servers and the best informed men in this city, the
men who know the most about southern aia"s'
that unless the cotton planters OF the South reuuoe
heir cotton acreage very heavily this year 'he "noe
South will be plunged into irreparable ruin But II Is
certain that the disposition among the planters 10 re-
duce their acreage very largely is gaining ground
10 an overwhelming extent. In the recent cohVen-
ton Of cotton planters at Jackson MISS was
voted to make important and extensive FeuuV''ON'
in the cotton acreage in 1895 by an almost unah-
imous vote The cotton planters see that they nave
m chance IN the markets of the world against the
vast resources. the amazing devices the constant
rnisrepresentations Of the big bear operators inc
producers Of the country have seen Pardrdgeol I'M
cago. batter down the prices of wheat a number OF
cents per bushel in the Chicago market IN lie"
hours because re controlled millions Of money
because he had big following, and because ne was
able, brilliant and successful In bear cahpalshs
The prices Of cotton. the experts say nave peeh
forced down in the markets OF the worid d! s'iia'
methods to those employed by Partridge ana the
other big bear operators in the wheat pit OF chi
cago All these things have combined to bring
about a most earnest, vehement ana ardent ieehhs
among the growers of corn and the planters OF COT
ton in this country that specuatons III
futures should be stopped and the outlook
as to speculation In futures on wheat
corn oats cotton and other products Is
that such operations in futures will probably De
suppressed by law In a few years. Carefu obserV-
ers who have travelled through the West ana south
saw that the growth of this feeling. the increase OF
shall put stop to the operations OF the pear spec
ulators In wheat, corn and cotton and the other
products Of the country will be absolutely irresls'
ibie in few years 1t is impossible to convince the
Western wheatgrowers and the southern coltoh-
planters that the operations of the great bear spec
ulators ought to be permitted In the exchanges or
this country They have made up their minds on
this subject and nothing will move them. and they
will probably compel such legislation by Congress
In a few years as will check the operations OF the
big bears in stocks and in the staple products OF
the country.
BIG DECREASE IN ACREAGE.
But until such legislation is enacted as will sup
press bear operations in futures. the wheat grow
ers of the West and the Gotten planters of the
South, so the best Informed experts say feel GER
tain that their only salvation lies in huge de-
crease In the acreage devoted to wheat ana 10 cot
ton Especially in the South the feeling is extend
ang through every State and II is OF the most III
tense and sort. that the planters must act
IN harmony and >ut down the cotton acreage IN
1895 at least 80 to 40 per cent, or one frightful
deluge OF disaster and bankruptcy will sweep over
the South. The fact Of the matter is that many
thousands OF planters in the South Will be abso-
lutely compelled to reduce their acreage to great
extent In 1895, because they cannot possibly pro-
cure fertilizers enough for nearly so many acres
as they have used for cotton in the past. All the
fertilizer companies In the South and In the North
ne e sou's since s ve cents began to be the ruling
quotation for cotton, is such that they cannot by
any possibility buy nearly so large quantity OF
of the Southern States 1t is impossible to raise
hve-cent cotton without loss especially upland
cotton and in most of the Southern States II Is
necessary to use fertilizers freely to produce a
fair crop OF cotton especially upland cotton.
The hears in cotton still Insist that the price
ought to 20 still lower. because they say the crop
OF 1884 amounts to much over 100000 bales But
the celebrated firm Of r. T. Wilson e. Co. who
have a vast army Of correspondents throughout
the Southern States. whose sources OF informa;
ton are excellent and whose connections extend
throughout the whole Southern country after
careful examination, and after receiving an I'M
mense number of reports from all the Southern
States estimate the cotton crop OF 1884 az less
than $4,000 bales II is that their estimate
year ago 100000 bales below the actual crop
but even IL they should underestimate the croI
Of 1894 much they underestimate the croI
~ he crop ~ he Southern States would