The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1901-07-05
COTTON IN THE PHILIPPINES.
Carmack Calls the Commercial APP
peal to a Show Down.
From the Chattanooga News

peal to Show Down.
From the Chattanooga News
Senator e. W. Carmack has been
putting some life into the erstwhile
dead editorial columns of the Mem
phis Commercial Appeal by asking the
editor of that paper few questions
about our trade in the Orient The
Commercial Appeal has been declar-
ing from the housetops that since we
acquired the PHILIPPINES our trade with
the Orient has been trying to push the
bulb out of the top of the tube, using a
hot weather expression, and thus at
tempting to create the impression that
American trade in the far east was
sluggish until we embarked ON our
campaign of conquest in that country.
Some days ago the Commercial Appeal
made the point blank statement that
our possessions in the Philippines had
given us larger market and an in
creased price for cotton. The inference
was that this increased price was
due to the enormous sales of American
cotton in the Philippines. " Senator
Carmack seeing this statement IN print
sat down and wrote the editor of the
Commercial Appeal polite note, ask.
ing HIM to give some facts in support
of the assertion. To this polite note
the aforesaid editor replied by calling
Mr. Carmack an "auntie and Amer.
lean Tagal - Replying to this dodg.
ing policy, Senator Carmack said il
part in signed communication:
Coming now to the issue | sought
to raise with you, | asked you to give
me some facts in regard TO our enorm-
GUS cotton trade with the Philippines,
which has had such an effect on the
price of cotton.
The very best that you can do is t.
show that in one year we have solo
about $40 600 worth of cotton goods t.
that country!
Reduce this back to raw cotton and
what does it amount to? Perhaps the
product Of single Mississippi planta
tion One ordinary boatload for 4
Mississippi river steamer sold in a whole
year Cost, two or three hundred
million dollars This is the 'phrenetiC
speculation of commercial imperial
ism reduced to figures
You are yourself compelled to Sc,
the utter inadequacy of your marke
and to admit that the Philippine
could not materially effect the marke
price of cotton, but you tell us that tbs
sleeping lion of Americanism has be
gun to roar, and that the said roaring
will drown the dolorous psalmody,
and so forth. and in this way indi
rectly increase the price of cotton. |
! you yourself were criticizing this pas
sage, you would say that it was mcr,
'phrenetic speculation and rhetorical
sentimentalism. | will only say tina
| the connection of cause and effect be
tween liOn-roaring and the price o
cotton is not visible from the view
point of practical common sense.
"You indulge in some more specula
tiOn when You tell us that the posses
sion of the Philippines has given us
market in China. You quote from
government report showing our in
creased trade with China for 1900, an,
tell us that this would not have beei
il we had not possessed the Philip
pines In order 10 make such a con
tentiOn even plausible. You would hav
TO show that the increase Of our trad
with China did not begin until afte
we had seized the Philippines. II. a
a matter Of fact, cur trade with China
japan and other Oriental countries wa
well established and rapidly growin