The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-09-16
INFLUENCING THE PRICE OF COT

.
TON.
The farmers Of Spauldiug and Troup
counties have taken steps to influence the
price of cotton. They are satisfied, and 50
is everybody else. except the spinners,
that the price Of cotton Is much below
what it should be- The Spaulding and
Troup county farmers think the price
should not be less than eight cents
pound That would be a pretty fair price,
a price the spinncrs could well afford 10
pay They are getting excellent prices now
for their products and could very well
afford 10 pay a great deal more for cot
ton.
The farmers Of Spauldng, Troup and
perhaps other counties have determined
10 ho,d their cotton, and they expect the
local merchants and bankers to help them
do it by advancing them money There is
no doubt that the local merchants and
bankers will do this if cotton is given as
collateral. If there were a thorough sys-
TEN of warehouses for the storing of cot
ton all over the cotton belt it would be
possible to hold a very large part of the
cotton crop until prices became better,
The discussion that is now going on of
the practca bility of the warehouse meth
cd of holding cotton may result in an ex-
pertinent with that method. 1t is not prob
able that anything hasty will be attempt
ed. The whole matter will he very thor
oughly discussed before any decided steps
are taken towards building warehouses. It
is evident that warehouses TO hold cotton
l. g
greatly would cost a vast deal of money
As cotton would have TO bear this ex-
pense the cotton farmers could not afford
to go into the warehouse scheme until it
was settled beyond the question of a doubt
that it could be made successful. Besides
the cost of storage, there would be the cost
of insurance and CHASING and perhaps
other charges. Until the cotton was prop
erly graded warehouse receipts that would
answer as collateral at the banks could
not be issued.
And a great question: question of SUI
preme impor tance-is, could the price of
cotton be raised sufficiently by the ware
house scheme TO pay? That is a question
that must be given the most careful con-
sideration. The price is influenced now
greatly by the size of the crop. If, for in
stance, 1t could be authoritatively stated
to-day, that this seasons crop would not
exceed nine million bales, it is safe TO say
that before this time next week the price
of cotton would be eight cents a pound.
on the other hand, if it were certain that
this seasons crop would be thirteen mill
lion bales the chances are the price
would drop below five cents. 1t is true, as
some of the farmers say, that there can
not be an overproduction of cotton while
so many of the human race are only part
ly clothed, or not clothed at all, but there
is an overproduction at the price which
the farmer ought to get for his cotton in
order that it shall be a profitable crop. The
world has just so much money to spend
for cotton fabrics. That amount of money
will provide a good price for cotton If the
cotton crop is small, and low price if the
cotton crop is large.
A large part of the wheat crop is carried
in elevators and money is loaned on ele-
vator receipts issued on the wheat. 1t
would be an easy matter to find out wheth-
er the price of wheat is greatly influenced
for the better by the large holdlngs In the
elevators If it is, then it is a fair con-
clusion that the price of cotton could be
raised by holding back cotton in ware
houses, no matter how large the cotton
crop might be.
We want to see done what is best for the
cotton grower. II may be that at the
meeting of cotton farmers, which is to
take place in Atlanta next month, light
will be thrown on this interesting subject
sufficient to enable the farmers 10 decide
what is best for their interests.