The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1900-10-17
Cotton Again is King;
Expert Says It's Scarce.
A. B shepperson Returns
From a Tour IN Europe
and Gives Interesting
VIEWS ON THE WORLDS COT
TON SITUATION.

The cotton men OF South Carolina
and the south will be deeply interested
in what A. B Shepperson, the
famous cotton statistician has to say
in last weeks issue of the Manufac-
turers' Record about the scarcity of
cotton.
He has just returned from q trip
to Europe where he studied the
worlds cotton situation. BE says
"On the 18th instant middling
cotton sold in New York at IL cents
per pound and e pence in Liverpool,
being the highest price here since
August, 1890. Quotations are DOW
I cent lower here and 7-16 of
penny lower in Liverpool, but this
is only a natural reaction after the
sharp advance since Sept Of 1s
cents in New York and II pence in
Liverpool. The upward movement
in ,ts pronounced development was
started and simply followed in the
wake of the greater market The
advance in Liverpool in 80 brief
time was unprecedented but when
all the circumstances are considered
it cannot be said to have been un.
warranted The Liverpool market
for cotton futures was largely over
sold, and while the actual stock Of
cotton of grades that could be de-
livered upon future contracts was
ridiculously small, the light stocks
in this country, the lateness of the
new crop and the interruption OF
shipments by the Galveston storm
prevented any relief from America.
Futures for the near months ad-
vanced at first and most sharply.
Then there came a good demand
from spinners for actual cotton, and
this demand increased when it was
fully realized how very little cotton
there was in Liverpool such as spin
ners required.
1.-The greatest part of the unsold
cotton was Of grades lower than
spinners wished te use. and Of very
fancy grades, of which the spinners
buy only small quantities at time
English spinners held very small
stocks of cotton, and when they
tried to buy they found the ware
houses of the markets as bare of
desirable cotton as the storehouses
of the mills The supply being ex-
tremely limited and the demand
large from spectators and spinners.
the advance which occurred was In
evltable.
"On Sept 13 the stock of Ameri-
can cotton in Liverpool was only
10, 900 bales. On the Goth this
insignificant stock was reduced to
105, 900, against 100000 bales at
corresponding date last year. Of the
los, 900 bales of American cotton
probably not over 10000 bales Of
the grades desired by spinuers could
have been secured and, as the British
mills now consume about $4,000
bales of cotton per week, there was
less than weeks supply of Ameri-
can cotton in Liverpool available for
them. It is not strange that some
of the Lancashire mills purpose to
suspend work wholly or partially
until cotton is more plentiful .1nas
much as they can't spin yarns out of
futures or crop estimates (even if
for 12,O0o,0e0 bales). there was
nothing else to be done. fully
realized this situation when in Liver
pool and Manchester several weeks
ago While the English mills with
out cotton will have to suspend
work until they can get it, those
having fair supply will most proba.
bly, continue at work in spite OF all
talk to the contrary. as idle mills
can't make money The pinch for
cotton is more acutely felt in Eng
land than elsewhere, as | wrote last
December it would be While the
visible supply there is now only one
seventh of what it was a year ago,
the visible supply of American cot
ton throughout ali Europe and
America is about one-third OF the
quantity at this time last year, being
in round figures 100000. against
100000 bales
After several years Of depression,
caused by ovcrprodnction of cotton,
the consumption of the world has IN
the season just ended pot only over
taken the production, bat so trench
ed upon the reserves that Che visible
supply Of all kinds is now equal to
only about four weeks consumption
Of the mills of Europe and America
Cotton is again king 1t heads the
list of our exports, and the wealth
which it mas brought and will con
tinue to bring to the south will also
increase the prosperity of every sec