The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1902-03-09

back Of him. The bears had hundreds OF
millions. Price started out to arouse senti-
ment among the producers. He hooded the
South with literature regarding the curtail-
ment of the crop. the needs OF the spinnerS.
the opportunity to appreciate values. II the
planters would go slow and not dump the
crop on the market in n lump. He invaded
Liverpool and Manchester with his inror-
nation regarding the drought IN the south
Thousands of dollars were spent by MN III
putting before the Englishmen the truth re-
garding the crop
PRICE CONTINUED TO FORCE
VALUES UP DESPITE OPPOSITION.
But the Enzlishmen scoffed. They pre-
ferred to depend upon Neiil. whom '"'S
paid for his services. rather than this new
conner WIN gave his services gratuit0us!y-
But Price. despite the tremendous oppo-
si,ior he had engendered. forced values
up. From a level of about so In august
: lssa. the market advanced to above . Genus
in
This had been accomplished only after the
most violent of fits and starts AT unes
il seemed as though the market was gong
! TO the dogs. When the bears would mo a
soft spot they would start faioihs. 80
! Price. the bull leader. would ne comPei'e"-
to step in and bolster up the market. AishV
J lines ne had to step into the breach. AS tE-
season advanced the movements of tha cT"S
went to confirm the predictions OF p pro-
nounced shortage. John Hyde. statis'iciann or
the Agricultural Department. came out WIN
an official estimate confirming Price. Buston.
| one of the leading bears of Liverpool. mdfa
q tour of the cotton belt and declared the
crop was a failure and would be millions
of bales short Of what NELL predicted
But The Liverpool people would not hs
convinced. They had faith In the planters
| stories. They looked upon these renortS
~ 80. ~ oil ono nf wolf" 1neI NaN
| heard bad crop tales before; had stuck 10
| NetlI and had come out all right To he
| sure. Neill was wrong many tunes. ana
crops we're bad occasionally. but they came
out all right by following the prophet and
| aisregardilg the
So they sold futures instead OF buying d"
! ,,:aI cotton. and so added to Prices huc
den.
COTTON GROWERS LOOKED
UPON PRICE As
Price had managed to get cotton a trifis
above 4 cents. but IT seemed Impossible i"F
him to get il any higher-He mad mads
a magnificent fight. but the season wasne
half over when. on January 1. 80. at a con-
ference in his house. In New York City, he
and his friends determined to issue an ad-
dress to the cotton men of the south. adv1s-
irg them to sell spot cotton, and declaring
that the advance in cotton was all mat tho
conditions could stand
Such a wave Of Indignation as swept
through the South hadn't been known since
the war. Price had been looked upon by
the cotton growers as a great captain NOW
he was denounced as a traitor. He mao ac-
knowledyed defeat in the height OF the CAM
paign. and for a moment 1t seemed as II
the sentiment he had built up ana the feei-
ing of antagonism to the "oppressors' ne
had fostered would. by reason of his deser-
ton. turn the tide and result In democrat
tzation in the market owing to the rush 10
unload spot cotton.
But II didn't. The crop was really short
err than Price believed II was. and his agi-
tation had been more powerful than ne re-
allied. There was a short period OF weak
ness, and then the market got into a rut-
II wouldn't go up much nor II wouldn't oe-
cline much. There II remained week In ana
week out. What Price was doing meantime
he alone can tell. He seemed bearish for a
time. then bullish: then bearish and again
bullish, Apparently he had lost his reckon
ing.
MARKET WAS SLOWLY But
SURELY BECOMING HEALTHY.
Meanwhile. the market was slowly. out
surely becoming healthy and the facts were
sinking home to the foreign spinners. CON,
sumption was greater than any one hso
anticipated. the mountainous surplus stocks
in the dumping stations Of Liverpool. Havre.
Bremen and New Orleans dwfndled at an
astonishing rate, and then suddenly the
spinner awoke to the fact that he had TO
get more cotton or his looms would no.
be kept busy until fall. Once the real
buying started there seemed to be no end
to IL. Cotton prices began to JUMP anu
the way values were enhanced made oio-
timers gasp. Liverpool became cotton
crazy. The bears became panic-strfcken-
And Price failed for 81. 100000.
Every prediction Price made early In the
SEASON was verified. His campaign as
1900 ----aaa~% A nYaCtrfod IN
to the time he lost heart it was superb. Ana
vet the great he builded was his
undoing.
George H.. Phillips. who twice has been
forced to lay down the corn crown. has Eau
more intimate relations with the FARMER
than any Spectator who has played Iarss
mart In the market arena. In the rail- OF
1900 his operations In cash grain were SO
large as to recall. the days OF Letter ne
worked a corner III corn. and. sustained o!
Of wealthy farmers who did as
he advised and who were powerful enough
to control a good deal OF grain. ne MAD me
shorts panic-stricken. Phillips was iess
snowy and spectacular than any man who
had been a great plunger. He was content
to plod along and work out his schemes.
and when he put through his corner sue
c~essfully and gathered hundreds Of thou
Of dollars In profits for himself and
his party. he was hailed as one Of the most
OF young men. He came to
New York in May. 1901. and was welcomed
at the Produce Exchange as the corn
NEWS THAT
CORN KING HAD FAILED.
On August 2 zane the surprising news
that the corn king had failed. Then II
developed that his books were all In a
tangle and only expert examination would
show whether he owed several hundred
dollars or had that much still
10 his credit. The accountants found that
Phillips had $l34.00 DO he could call his own.
and with this he resumed business He
mad lost none OF his ambition or courage,
md soon was cornering corn and oats. 1t
he was about to shake up the
shorts once more. when a sudden drop In
prices found him unable to meet margin
.alls. and on January II of this year he
for the second time. The lesson
taught the farmer and the one by
which he has profted most is the power
)f the producer.
These four young men have not been con-
to nurse their wounds and live In the
memory Of the disasters they have met.
letter. bold and intrepid as ever. has been
n dozens OF big operations and Is said to
retrieved In part his losses. Price. who
rot married two days after his failure, 10
m his feet again and gives promise of shak-
ng up the dry bones In the cotton market.
is the head of the Kansas City.
and Orient Railroad. and has at
aimed from President Diaz the most valu-