The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-02-14
SURE TO GO HIGHER
COTTON MILLS NEED MANY
 THOUSAND BALES.
Theo. H. Price Submits Some Addit- ional Figures, and Sticks to His Original Estimate-sharp
 Advance Predicted.

NEW YORK. Feb. l3.--tspccial - have to- day received and secured permission to pub om one of ihe largest cotton mills in the Piedmont section of South Car Dlina:
 Dear Si--i w.ile you a personal matter foc the pu. pose of correcting an erroac us iih- presson or idea under which MT Sheppe' son and' soms other rop gu''s-ers are lab, ins as to the stocks of cotton being held by southern cotton mills. Southern cotton mills have not tbiGy in their wal chou es more than 50 to 90 per cent. of the total am It tEat they Mil use om now uhtA April lst.
 .'rhe bulk of the mills have contracted wi h spot cotton hGuaes fsr all the co.t.n neede to them through the season, but the cot ton is yet to be shipped into the mills in iegu- far monthly shipments. IL is safe to say that there will be shiIped into the miis in thi= gust next not less than 25o.ooo ta.es of cot ton Where all this cotton Is to me fron. is to me a mystery when y.u consi~e a. the mills of North Carolina have nRt b1ueh. or contracted for half their requirements for the renaipder of the season.
 .I wlite this letter ill confidence and do not wish my name mentioned in referring to cup- Ject matter of same buy all over the>l"r about 35. 900 bales and l believe we will see a cotton famine this year that will prove a record bl eaker.
 I republish this letter as the most direct evi- dence that l have yet received of a situat ion that I have for some time foreseen anl wh ch believe will e,ult in the widest cottlD ma ket the trade has ever witnessed The o4n- sus report on the cotton cen, us for the In ,e States for last year has just been published.
 
 the United States last year at 3 GO u bales. This makes no allowance for Cana a, where at least iC0oco' and prcbablT POO o 10, bales of American cotton are con umed. The current estimates of American nsunlp II upon which the trade IS working ale 3.43o, GOO As there is no question as to the cor rectness of the census figures, 1t is evi .ent that an .unqnticipated demand of at Last 325 900 bales of American cotton must be met out of a supply that it is obvlCts is ut terly inadequate
 From every quarter I am receiving teie grams and letters entirely nfirmatory of my crop estimate.
 We get occasio onal day of large receip.s S. but it Is now generaly admitted that sich cotton comes fo ward is shipped because it is bought and as the market advances tn remnant of the remaining supply will doubt less come into sight until practically the last bale has been shipped
 The shipment of the last bale will not. how ever stop the consumption until there IS n1 more cotton to be spun and it appears not i'm ized this Summer. The excess Of exp 'rts from America to date is about 700 900 bales as compared with the. same perioi last year
 The visible supply in Am" at the end of last was only 3o0 900. The dif- ference of 400 00O is a m nu5 quantity that will have to be made up ou of a smaller croI tfeme prices.
 Mir. Borden bought up yesterday all inc p-int cloths at Fall River that could hc oh.aiu~l for delivery up to May next at 3 Ito cen per yard; 3I6 is today freely bit fir all classes of print cloths The spot ma kets o the South have advanced LIS to Is cent ach day for three days in su sion.
 I take the ab,ve method of answering very large number of inquiries that I am rscei> in in regard to the cotton market.
 I sincerely believe that il is commercially inevitable that cotton will sell at cxtrcrle prices this year and that it will advance very sharply in short time. and I publish tAes views as the only practicable method of an sweting the very numerous inquiries l am re- CeiNing, HEOIORE. H. PRICE.