The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1898-01-12
Washington, Jan. 4, 1898.
Copy
Charleston, D5c. 5, 1897 .

Ion. q. u. 6uJ.er.
Sir:-After reading your letter to
Mr.. W. T. Bradley, published IN The
State Of this date on the cotton situa-
ton, ! take the liberty Of addressing
you and giving some OF my views as e
business man in relation 10 the matter.
/ have never dealt in cotton but an
in the grain and -four trsoe, with
which I have been for years familiar,
and as grain and cotton are governed
by much OF the same inhuerces, I feel
that can at least understand some OF
the causes that work agsilst the rails
ers OF those articles.
It is safe to say that it would be in-
possible to enter into any arrangement
whereby the amount RAISED could be
controlled, and while Mr.. Roddey's
plan might possibly work cut to some
advantage, it seems TO me- that It
would be almost impossible to carry
it cut without great opposition and
unfavorable criticism.
Do you ask, then, what I propose?
It's simply this: Prevent By law the
dealing in futures in all agricultu-
raj products, for from a long expsri
ence n such dealings 7 sssert that
there is no cause IN the business world
today that is SO hurtful to the farmer
and mankind in eeneral-6emoral:z
ing legitimate business IN the trade,
and taking hundreds OF millions of
dollars from the tiller OF the soil. Not
q prominent crop do we raise but
what is depressed BY the shcrt seller
and the legitimate owner made TO take
less for his crop than be otherwise
would. Ny experience ir the specals-
ton ''pits' is that there are ct lesst as
rule five short sellers to cne buyer
and why is this so2 Because it takes
less capital to be ''bear" than to be 8
"bull." A ''bulr' must be prepared
to take and pay for tie stuff delivered
to him, therefore he must have some
cspital, Or if, perchance, he is a bull"
without capital he is made to run
quick and sell cut for iesr it will be
delivered to him, which is just ss de-
pressing an influence On Inc market
as be is compelled to throw his pur
chase overheard st anything he can
net, being unable to take and pay for
it.
Now. how can this be prevented2
Pass a United States law in the shape
Of a revenve law laying a tax of one
cent per bushel say on grain and one
half cent per pound en- cotton, on all
sales made for future delivery. In
other words mske all sales spot unless
the tax was paid. This would be no
hardship to legitimate trade, neither
would it prevent legitimate short
selling IS it would OILY put the spsc-
uistive'market On the same basis as
the New York stock market is now
conducte5, VIZ: If a man wants to
sell 100 shares St. Paul stock short he
can DO so and MS broker goes to some
owner OF tie stock md borrows 100
shares On ''calr', makes his sale for
his short customer and delivers the
borrowed stock on the sale. By this
process bear can never sell any more
Stock than he can borrow and so on
cotton. If there IS only 1000 bales
IL New York 10 ''besr" could sell or
no set Of hears" could sell more than
$4,000 bales, as they could no: borrow
) s1y more than wss actually on the
spot. By this plan speculative trade
could be kept down to tna actual
amount of cotton on Land. The law
should require that On all sales OF cot,
ton or grain g warehouse receipt Or
bill OF lsding Of the aciual property
should be delivered to tie buyer with
in, ssy, Is hours from time Of sale.
A provision in the law nisht allow
The actual raiser CT q crop to contrac:
i ahead.
Undzr such law tie business 0: the
exchanges would be driven into legiti-
nate channels AID houses CT means
and standing would take the business
and release s let CT YcnDg men for
other pursuits WHO now congregate
sround the pit" ard ''yawp" tie
market up an0 dovn-msny OF them
who cannot for the Life Of them raise
money enough to pay fer FIVE bales o:
cotton or 1C0 bushels OF wEea3, and
sill they can Influence the nar4a'
un6er present methods to the amouEl
Of hundreds ci thousands Of dollars
rer day.
have written this hurriedly arG
perhaps lave not made myself fully
understood, but the plan l propose Is
entirely practical as is proved oy the