The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1900-12-04
RALEIGH, N. C.. TUESDAY, DECEMBER Z, 1900.
Smith

clpaI address to the Cotton Growers
convention at Macon last Tuesday
morning
1t was repIete with good advice lie
said in part:
Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen::
congratulate YOU upon this gathering
Of planters. merchants, bankers and
professional men 10 consider our
greatest product
The cotton crop viii this year bring
a cash net profit TO he planters of this
ectiOn larger han ever before. II Viii
| furnish a volume of money for invest
ment belonging 10 the people Of seven
States and two territories which
should give wealth and strength to
every line of business and make pos
siDle the growth of many needed man
ufacturing enterprises that Will use
the varied raw materials TO be found
in the South.
Judge Kelly. of Pennsylvania. a few
years ago, after trip through the
South, truthfully said: This is u
section upon which the Almighty has
with lavish hand, bestowed his richest
material cifts.
Ten cent cotton has come. not ONLY
TO Deneht the planter. but 10 stimulate
| the development Of material resources
not yet handled and made productive.
! While cotton today brings ten cents
q pound, it has only been three Years
| since the crop was selling at five
| cents a pound. What are the elements
! which have caused this variance i'm
| price? The thee natural rivals of cot
ton have had but little effect. because
at ten cents q pound for lint cotton,
wool, flax and silk cannot be produced
to make successful competition. Re
! cOgnizing the laws of demand and
| supply, we must see that the Geprecla-
| ton in the price of cotton res been
| due to production of the ss~p'r in
| excess of the demand for manufactur-
| ed goods. \ ,.4lOwiedge Of the supply
| OF cotton ana Of the demand for cot
| ton goods for consumption will ena able
! the producer TO tell at the time of the
| year when cotton is picked. the price
| at which lint cotton should sell.
Another cause which has facilitated
! the depreciations of price at the time
| cotton left the hands of the planter
! has been the unbusiness-like plan Of
/ selling cotton.
] More than seventy per cent Of the
| cotton which is used in the great cot
! ton mills Of the world is raised in orr
! section. The mills run during tie
| twelve months. They need the cotton
as much in July as they do in Decem-
/ ber. The plan Of selling mas disrc-
! earded the time of consumption. IN
/ stead Of handling the crop 50 that it
would be sold from month to month
| during the year as the mills required
I it for use it has been the practice of
| the planters in the South to rush their
| cotton into the market during a pc
| liCd limited almost to two months. for
cling its purchase by spectators, rath-
| OF he hp
| consumer or mill owner came after t..
| | am thankful to say that east Of
!! the Mississippi river during the pres
| ent year the planters have been in
! formed as to the extent Of the crop
and 10 the worlds demand for their
cotton. Realizing that it was worth
! at least 10 cents a pound or more they
| have declined to sell il for less They
| have received 10 cents for what they
have sold.
| BY the cooperation of the mer-
| chants and the bankers they were
| enabled so soon as the buyers sue
| ceeded in depressing the price TO
/ take their cotton off the market. and
as Il result they today see the price
| of cotton going back to the figures at
which it sold during the month Of
September. and | have no doubt the
| balance OF the cotton crop thus cared
| for bv our farmers Will bring them
over 10 cents q pound. This price.
however. could hardly have been real
lied had the farmers raised 1O.0O0.000
bales Of cotton. Then with a surplus
Of cotton in sight the buyers might
have afforded to wait until the sellers
were compelled TO dispose of the
crop. and when the supply of cotton.
whether raised from foreign fields or
, pNcpndS volume
which the mills can manufacture. or
exceeds the volume when manufac-
tured the mills can sell. then dcprc-
citation Of price must necessarily fol
low. and our planters viii find that
they have decreased their income by
increasing their labOrs. and that they
have received less return for large
amount OF cotton than they won!a
have received had the crop been much
! smaller.
accurate information should also hc
prepared by the agricultural depart
mentS Of the States which are engaged
in producing lint cotton. 10 the end
that the planters may obtain before
planting their crops the probable
worlds supply. and later on the sea-
son. when the time for beginning to
sell cotton arrives. the planters should
be reliably acquainted from these and
other sources with the probable pro
duct of our cotton raising section.
There is. however. within the reach
Of the planters themselves protection
that is all-important from low prices
and from losses through oyer-pro-
duction
Ours Is a section in which corn and
wheat can be raised, in which the
planter and the farmer can produce
all Of the food that he requires for
himself on his own soil. Only when
The cotton is made a surplus crop is