Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1902-12-08
GOVERNMENT REPORT OF 1901

L have contended all along that the SOW
eminent crop report on the estimated yieio
OF cotton for the year 1901 would be found
upon thorouEh Investigation 20 be much
nearer the truth than the commercial re-
port On the third day OF December lsol,
the government issued its annual bureau
estimate OF the probable yield Of the cot
ton crop for that year, placing the total
figures At s61o.co commercial bales IL
must be borne In mind that this estimate
was based solely upon the cotton grown
in the field or 1901. and TO be marketed BY
the producers. while the so-called city
crop. that is. samples drawn from bales
By buyers and afterwards converted into
marketable cotton. was not counted,
neither were the Enters turned out from
the oil mills that we're put into merchanta-
BE bales. counted IN the estimate. The
department. took the position and rightly
50, thai samples drawn from bales and
repackad. II counted. would be counted
twice. as sssch samples had already been
counted n the ORIGINAL bales from whence
they we're drawn. The department did not
count the lint cotton slnned from cotton
seed BY TIRE cfs mills. because such cotton
vas O. an irferlcr grade, not used Tor req
ulnr rufaeturin< purposes and had not
heretofore teen considered a factor In the
regular chaEne.s nf understandable cotton
IN viii be remembered that the estimates
OF snfurers. dealers and SPECTATORS who
were Interested IN depressing the price OF
cotton Eere Far IN excess OF the bureau
estimate. many such reports indicating
thai the crop would exceed u.ooo.N0 bales,
and that class Of dealers IN our cotton Sc
veTcly condemned tine bureau report, stat
irg trat Il had been purposely made In the
interest 81 me growers TO keep up the
TIE Commercial Report.
Tho Commercial report. that is the an
nual report rla6e Up ~ Secretary Hester.
% The New Orleans Cotton Exchange. Is
INTENDED - cover all TIE cotton which
comes into sight and Is marketed between
ire fret tay o. September Of one year and
TIRE sa-ne date az the following year. COW
crtnE q period Of = months The CONNER
cal reru-- issued on th@ 1st OF Septem-
tcr. lrCt end which claimed under its ar
bsfra-t rulings &c cover the crop OF 1901.
save a yield Of lolssSe24 bales. Immediate
IS upon tia issuance OF this report cover
Ing az 4 did the actual sales OF cotton for
the past Il months. and showing a differ
ence a. more than Ices. GO bales between
the commercial report and the estimate
81 the government bureau report issued
December :. 19ei. a great hue and cry went
~ a-olg the dealers and spectators all
over the country that the bureau report,
having missed the estimate OF the yield
more than I.neoe10 bales was absolutely
unreliable and should not in the future
receive consideration at the hands Of the
suinners and exchanges. The statistician
81 the department. Hon John Hyde. real
izinE that no such error IN the bureau re-
ports could occur on account 81 the splcn-
oil facilities rsed 20 gather information.
a. once undertook an elaborate investi-
cation 20 6nd out where the trouble was.
The following Is the result OF the depart
ment's Investigation and shows upon a
careful analysis u the same that the bu-
reau estimate Of December. 1901. was near
CT correct than any other estimate made
at that tfrur or afterwards:
WASHINGTON. Nov STE final report Of
fhe statistlcian % the Department % aErfcul-
ture shows the actual growth % cotton in the
United states IN the year 1eef-1 70 have been
80 as commercial Caies. q which il5.55o bales