The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1900-02-14
The Cotton Question Solved.

The following editorial review by
the New York Sun covers the case of
cotton SO cOmprehensivcly that we are
sure it will be interesting to our read
crs:
Events OF exceeding consequence to
the American business world are now
taking place in the market for raw cot
ton.
Early last December we called attcn-
tion to the fact that one of the chief in
flucnccs udvt.sc to the prosperity of
the country ,.aS the enormous dmnu-
ton IN our e.pOrts OF cotton. AZ that
time there rad hccna decrease. in these
experts. lis compared with the previous
year. OF nearly ,300,00O bales. repre-
srnting money value of about $40
00O,O00 The troublesome part of it
was nat at the time Il stringcncv pre-
vailed III the money markets. not only
IN New ork, but in all the great capi-
tails OF Europe. Relying upon The or
dinairy cNportation of cotton ut the
usual time, 0nr bankers and tlcnlrrs in
ahead large quantity of sterling rx-
change. expecting To make their sales
Eood, or as the market terms il. cover
them, later III the year, when the cot
ton bills came to hand But the cotton
bills did not come tn hand, and the
sales OF exchange had to he covered nj
loss, or ut least at II higher rate than
was expected. Our customary credit
balance in London was wanting, and
the transfer of gold from this country
to Europe cnSucd ut Il particularly un-
pleasant time.
The cause of the decreased cxporta-
tiOn of cotton. as we then pointed ont,
was Il great difference of opinion be-
tween the American growers of the
staple and the foreign buyers Of it,
The latter. trusting largely to the cS-
innate of MIR. Henry Neill, believed
that Il crop as large us the previous one
Tin round numbers about = | 900, 600
balcs), had been grown, and. that the
advance in the price of cotton was due
simply to speculation. The Southern
planters, however, maintained that the
crop was very much less than that of
last year and that the price established,
so far from being improperly high. was
much too low. On the other hand,
again, it was known that the interior
stocks OF cotton were large, and this
tion of the foreigners that cotton was
being held in this country for higher
prices and that it would "cOme out"
in great quantities when the effort to
hold it failed. There was, therefore,
q deadlock between these two contend
ing interests, and time alone could
prove whose claims were better found
ed, and which side would win in the
struggle.
The day has now come when it can
be stated definitely that the battle of
the southern planters and the Ameri-
can cotton trade against the foreign
spinners has been fought and won, and
that the only thing remaining to do is
to settle the terms of capitulntion.
Five months of the cotton year have
elapsed. Despite the fact that cotton
has advanced in price nearly three
quarters OF Il cent Il pound since De
cembcr, and has scored rise altogcth-
er of nearly three cents a pound from
the low prices of last season. with all
the weather conditions OF the winter
facilitating in an inOrdinate degree the
marketing and transportation of the
staple, the total amount of the Amer
lean crop now in sight is but G,So3, 1:}b
bales, as against S,9O4,370 bales at the
same time last year. 1t is as certain
as anything can be that the cotton
amounting to another 100000 bales,
is, approximately only about 9,O0O,0OO
bales, and the estimates of the cotton
trade now var. between J00,0G0 bales
above this figure and 500,0 900 below il.
At this advanced period of the cot
ton season. in nine years ont Of ten
three-quartcrS OF the cotton crop is in
sight. If the rule holds good the en-
tire cnttOn crop of the year will be
very recent period the English spinncrs
maintained their attitude of sccpticism
regarding the shortness of the .Amcri-
can crop. The total amount of our
exports of raw cotton is now nearly
1000, 600 bales less than last season,
and by far tho greatcr portion OF this,
OF course, is due to lesscncd purchases
by Great Britain. The English re-
serve supplies Of cotton arc now at the
being but G11, 900 bales. as against
100, 900 ut the same date in 1899, l ,054
600 in 1898, and !, ,i04 900 in 1897. This
is pretty near the danger point of the
English reserves, and the figures given
illustrate how large has been the Eng
llsh consumption of cotton during the
period of contest. In fact, the Eng
III it's history, and all the English au-
thOrities agree that the outlook for it
was never brighter than in the present
year. In addition to the strength of
the statistical position as given, the
Indian crop of cotton has proved fail
ure, while the Egyptian crop, though
comparatively large, has been absorb
ed by the unusually great demand for
it, and the stocks of Egyptian cotton
are now about 100000 cantars or 1OO,-
600 bales less than last year. The
Egyptian crop is. however, peculiar.
and is used only in certain specialized
manufactures. Its price is compara-
lively unaffected by that Of the other
kinds Of cotton in the world.
The bearing Of all this upon the
prosperity of our own country is OBJ
vious. The English spinnerS must
now come into orr markets and buy
cotton, as. in fact. they have already
begun to do; and, while they will still
buy as little as they can, they will
they might have paid. Put in plain
words, they must pay us during the